If you have been following the Busted Gulch story here at the Storytellers Saloon then you know Ruechari has been selected for a special destiny...yet to be revealed. Having grown up in the KitKat Nation. Chief DamagedGoods was the only father she h...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Chief DamagedGoods took his daughter's hand and pulled her forward.
"Bob, this is my daughter and Shaman of her tribe, this is my Boni."
The way that Bob looked at her she knew she would not have a problem talking this one into taking her away. Not like the time that cowboy ThreeGun came and spent a spell among their people. She had tried to win him over. Practically begged for him to take her with him when he left, but he would have none of it. So, she was left to wait a little longer for her escape.
Since the moment she could walk her father was trying to teach her to be a Shaman, telling her of the importance, something about good and evil and blah, blah, blah, she wanted to live her own life. She wanted to see the city, and she most definitely did not want to marry Kuruk of the Apache Tribe.
With many tribes losing their lands to the white man and being forced to reservations and the Apaches being forced from their farms because of the Comanche Tribe. An alliance between their two tribes sounded reasonable enough but not for Boni, she wanted more. She didn't want the responsibility. She wanted to be free.
"I need you to lead him through Devil's pass. While I take the tribe further south," the chief told her. "You may need to rely on your training. Are you prepared?"
He always asked her this and nothing ever happened. To her the stories were just warped myths and legends meant to frighten small children into submission, for fear of straying too far from the tribe meant being eaten by some mythical beast.
"Yes, Father," she said. She'd say anything to get away from this place.
The chief looked at Bob and said "I'll need you to make certain she stays with you. It's the only way I can guarantee your safety and hers. She'll know the way back to the tribe and once you've brought back the whiskey, I will give you our chocolate liquor."
Bob nodded.
They set off together with 4 other men in Bob's posse.
That night was to be a full moon, and Ruechari knew this was bad. She remembered from her father's stories this was the time the Skinwalkers are at the peak of their powers. Not that they can't shift at other times but the moon's pullover them makes them wild, feral to an extent, but Boni seemed unconcerned.
Dusk was upon them. When Bob and his band decided to stop for the night. Ruechari felt Boni have a moment of panic.
"I think we need to move on a little further. We can take shelter in the crystal caverns," she told them.
Bob scoffed. "Look I appreciate your father lending you to us as a guide but my men are tired and so are our horses. We camp here."
Bob and the others started setting up camp. Dusk turned to twilight and the moon had begun to rise. The other men had turned in for the night and Bob just sat staring at her.
The fire kept burning despite her warnings to douse it.
The twilight became night and the moon rose high in the night sky. Nothing happened and Ruechari felt the ease begin to sink into Boni's body. Bob had fallen asleep and she wondered again if he was the key to her freedom. The fire was beginning to die down, as there was no one left to stoke it.
That's when she heard it, the cry of the wild. Ruechari felt a moment of sincere terror. Her eyes were adjusted to the dark but they seemed to come out of nowhere.
She heard a scream and one of Bob's men had disappeared into the night and she jumped to her feet but did not see anything.
A second scream and another of Bob's band had been snatched.
If she did not do something soon there would be none left.
She heard the snarls. Bob and his last two men were now awake and standing close to the fire that was nonexistent, guns at the ready. Bob pushed her behind him.
Boni shook with fear.
What had her father said?
What should she do?
Her mind felt paralyzed with overwhelming fright as a wolf that looked more human then animal leaped at another of Bob's men.
Shots were fired but it did not stop the beast from coming, tackling the man to the ground and dragging him away, screaming for his life.
The only person who seemed to keep his head was Bob. He gaze intent on the darkness.
The last member of his band was quaking in his boots. He heard a noise and nearly shot Bob, but Bob had pushed her and him out of the way at the last second, right before another snarl and scream and then there were two.
Her and Bob stood together. Ready to face their fate head-on. Boni battled her fears. They all died. They all died because of her. She should be able to protect them. Just then another came at them. This one the biggest of the pack.
Fur black as night and eyes, golden flaming orbs. This beast did not act like the others but approached slowly and then stood on two legs. Ruechari saw it snarl, she would almost swear it smiled.
And in a blink of an eye, it lunged for Bob.
Boni screamed whether from fear or pain Ruechari could not tell all she knew was she was no longer human. Her scream became a garbled growl and when she swung at the beast her hand was a massive paw. The wolf crumpled and whimpers before her. She stood on her two legs and let out a growl that shook the night.
.......
"Aw, Hell!"
Bill's eyes widened in alarm. Ruechari was in the throes of a nightmare she refused to wake from. He tried several times to bring her back to the present.
When she screamed, he had let her go and quickly backed away. His gun at the ready, now that he was facing a huge Grizzly bear where Ruechari use to be.
