Neiko's Five Land Adventure (Neiko Adventure Saga Book #1)

Chapter 3

Neiko jumped out of the car and danced around upon arriving from her cousin's. Then she turned and waved good-bye to her uncle, aunt, and cousin as they pulled out. Her mother greeted her as she entered the house. She told her of all the events, and then said, "I need to put this stuff up."

"Alright, honey," she said, smiling.

Neiko entered her room, threw her bag on the bed, and looked at the clock on her nightstand; it read: 4:30 p.m.

Plenty of time, she thought. She put everything where it was supposed to go, and she hung up the clothes her mom had thrown on her bed. The last thing she did was put up her toys. The last toy she got out was Ramses. She held him by his left foot and positioned him to face her. She stuck her tongue at him, giggled, and stuffed him in the fortress which was inside her closet.

After she finished all of her chores, she looked at her watch. "Only five o'clock? Man, I did all that in thirty measly minutes?" she grumbled. "Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to play Killer Instinct till about six, then go meet Mongie at the oak."

At six she turned off her game and went into the living room, she told her mom that she was going outside for a while, and then she asked, "When's supper going to be ready?"

"In about an hour," her mom said.

Oh good, one full hour. That's all the time I need, Neiko mused to herself.

Neiko reached the oak fifteen minutes early, but Monganata was already there waiting. Neiko looked at him and then at her watch. "You're early. What's up?"

"Not much. Nothing was happening at home, and Windsong had to run errands, so I came early. You're pretty early yourself. So why are you early?"

"Well, kinda the same thing, I guess. I finished my chores, then I played video games for an hour, and then I came out here to get some air."

So what happened at the meeting?"

"Actually, you didn't miss anything. It was a very boring meeting. No one planned anything, no Crackedskull advancements, and nothing really important was discussed, except a weapon theft—nothing alarming or anything that you would be interested in. Mainly the rest was listening to the Grand High Mohican talk the entire time. Oh, yeah, Sigma was so disappointed you didn't come. He told me to tell you he won't accept any more rain checks on that surprise. He said he will drag you to the next meeting kicking and screaming if he has to, and Puma said she would help." Puma was Sigma's wife.

Neiko chuckled. "He said that, huh?" she asked, smiling. "Well, I guess I will be coming to the next meeting, or you will have to save me from the terrible Sigma and Puma. Well, about that theft, who were the conspirators, and did they catch 'em?"

Monganata smiled. "I guess I will, and yeah, they did catch them. They were two Crow twins: Rasputin and Napoleon. They stole three pikes and four tomahawks. We managed to catch them at Yahweh's Ridge. We arrested them, put the weapons in the armories and put them away. They were also charged with other thefts as well."

Neiko whistled. "Man, they're regular pros then, huh? Boy, I wished I coulda helped you bust 'em. Oh, by the way, are they fans o' Bloodhawk and Raven? If they are, I would like to go tell their mommies and give 'em a good thrashing. Besides, ain't the Crows our friends now?"

"Well, no one knows for sure if they are tied in with the Crackedskulls or not. The Crows are our friends except that secret society the Black Hand, who Calling Wolf, the Crow chief, has tried to banish or disband."

Neiko whistled. "Really? I didn't think Calling Wolf would actually turn someone out even if they didn't fly right."

Monganata sighed. "That bunch has done more than just steal weapons, Neiko. They have sent him threats and attempts on Calling Wolf's life, and they have sent threats to various tribes. They even did the despicable act of kidnapping Calling Wolf's family, and holding them for ransom, saying: If you don't leave, we will kill them. I helped him save his family from spear point. I stung the gang, and Calling Wolf hasn't had too many threats since. There hasn't been too much activity from them except weapon thefts."

"Wow, are you sure they're not affiliated with the Crackedskulls? I mean they seem like some of Raven's company. When did you have the run in with this gang, and who's the big enchilada?"

"Gosh, Neiko, no one has asked me about that in a while. Well, there has never been any evidence of them working for Raven, and I put them in their place about twenty-five years ago. The Black Hand had two ringleaders and their names were Quick Death and Night Crawler. I'm not real sure they are still alive, and if they are, they haven't really done anything rash in a long time. Sometimes I wonder if I'll hear from them again someday."

"How did you know those two punks were from that gang? Are there any other secret societies in any of the other tribes?"

"Well, I could tell from their actions; like when they spit in Monchiska's face when he asked them a simple question. I checked their left arm because they have a specific mark on their left arm, and they both had it along with that violent, rash behavior of theirs which is typical of a Hand member."

"What does the mark look like?" asked Neiko. "So I know if I ever see it."

"Well, um—" mused Monganata, rubbing his chin as he gathered his thoughts. "It's a Black Hand holding a dagger covered in blood, and the dagger has a cobra handle; the cobra has a hood and an open mouth ready to strike. The mark is usually located on the upper arm on the outside, like under where a short sleeve shirt would cover it. Sometimes it's on the inside of the lower arm where only a good, trained eye could see it. As for any other lethal societies, there may be a few, but they're not as bad as the Black Hand except for the Crackedskulls that is," replied Monganata.

"Man, has Calling Wolf had any more problems from them, and why were they trying to run him off or kill him?" asked Neiko, confused.

"No," Monganata replied and went on to explain, "The only problems he has are from armed robberies or hijackings, and no one usually gets hurt. As for the rest of your question, I'm not really sure. The best way I can answer it is by saying they're like the Ku Klux Klan. They usually attack in disguise, so no one will suspect them, and they have a lot of codes and mysterious rules that they follow. But, I don't really know anything about them. Now they are almost obsolete, and I'm glad because I hated it when I met Night Crawler. I had a duel with him; I took his left eye and slashed him several times in the face and once in the neck with my knife. He gave me this." Monganata pulled up his sleeve showing a long, ugly scar. "He gave me this with his knife. After I almost killed him, he ran away, and I haven't heard from him or his brother since."

"If you had a rematch with that creep, I bet you would kick his butt," said Neiko, smiling.

"Really? Gosh, that was long ago. Even then, I was in my thirties, and they were only in their late teens or early twenties. Now I'm a fifty-year-old and a little too old for that type of combat and heroic stuff."

"Gee, you don't look fifty, you look pretty good for an old guy, besides you barely have any gray, and you probably got those from me," said Neiko kindly.

Monganata smiled warmly. "Well, you know how to flatter me and make me feel better. I appreciate the compliment." Monganata was a tall man with a stout build and in excellent shape for a fifty-year-old. He had long, black hair with two wide stripes of gray in the front. His skin was tan and he had large black eyes. He had a somewhat aged appearance with lots of energy and stamina.

They laughed together a few minutes, and Neiko's mother called fordinner. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.