The terrain began to change as we entered the eastern edge of the Fond Du Lac Reservation. The lush birch trees and jagged rock outcroppings of the Canadian Shelf, gave way to tall pines, old trailer homes and tamarack swamps. I squinted my eyes against the wind, feeling the tears streaming behind my ears. I was wishing Odd Whitefeather had shown up in helicopter. I wanted to go faster and somehow felt we were losing time.
We took the rutted road that my crew had cut into the woods, it looked well traveled and Odd Whitefeather barely slowed as we rounded the tight corners. Pine branches slapped at our arms and small birds and red squirrels wisely got out of our way. My heart began to race as we approached the end of the line. Suddenly, we were slowed to a crawl by the back end of Bing Louie’s Caravan, the door was open and I was sure it’d been abandoned. The van was parked at the end of a long line of vehicles. Odd Whitefeather shook his head as he pushed the ATV ahead, doing a remarkable job of navigating between the parked cars and the pine trees.
I began to recognize more of the cars and pickups and I wondered what everyone was up to. There was no reason for them to be out here, and considering what had happened here in the past, I thought these people should know better than to come out here. The ATV slowed to a crawl as we approached the clearing. Odd Whitefeather braked, rolled his head and finally killed the engine. I stepped off the machine as he reached for his straw hat.
We walked out of the woods and onto the lawn of the Soliah Home. The afternoon sun was overhead and I cupped my right hand over my eyes to get a look at the place. It looked just as it did five years back, which didn’t surprise me at all. The paint still looked fresh, as did the cedar shake roof; flowers still lined the walkways where weeds dared not grow. I wondered what looked after the old place and found that I really didn’t want to know.
“This is far enough,” the old man said. “We are going to need some help, his magic is very strong.”
I nodded my head. I was still looking around for Bing and the others that had driven out here. “Where is everyone, you don’t think they went inside, do you?”
“They are in there, the bait to his trap. He does not care about them. The one he is interested in is you, Huckleberry. He needs you so he can move on from this place.”
I turned and looked at the old man. “How could you possibly know that?”
“This devil came to me in a dream and asked me to bring you here. I asked him why he needed you. So, he told me.”
“And here we are?” I asked him, shaking my head. “A devil asks you to do him a favor and you come through for him? Didn’t you think that might be a bad idea?”
“I did not bring you out here to help him. I brought you out here to protect you from him. A great man once said that you should be close to your enemies.”
“Are you kidding me? That’s a line from a movie. Listen, we came out here to find out where Bing went off to, now we know. Why don’t we ride back to town and get the cops. I think the further away I can get from this place, the better.”
“This is family business, there will be no cops. You might also open your ears when advice is given. That movie you speak of has changed my life. Do not speak poorly of it. Now, take a seat in the grass and let me call for help. This will only take a minute.”
“Who would we call?”
The old man held up his hand and gave me a harsh look. I sat down in the grass, thinking the old man was crazier than I thought. The fact that he possessed a little magic up his sleeve only made him more dangerous. I thought I’d play along for a while; but the first chance I got I would run for the hills.
Odd Whitefeather unzipped his fanny-pack and fumbled among the things inside there. He removed a small satchel that looked like an animal skin, and he took a pinch of something that looked like pipe tobacco. He then chanted something or other, in a language that I certainly didn’t recognize. He did a little dance and released the tobacco, continuing to chant as he did so. The ground seemed to be instantly full of electricity and I nearly screamed as I felt my rump getting zapped. That was the last thing I remembered for a long time.
Chapter Three