Justification For Killing (75 page)

“
The best I can understand
he is saying he wants the God of the Universe to be with
us.”

“
Tell him thanks. We
certainly need all the help we can get.”

Forrest explained to the
Padre their desire for some solid gold. With his head still bowed
the Priest questioned the need for such an object? Forrest was
stumped. How could he tell this man of God he needed the Padre’s
gold to repair a time-machine that would allow them to leave 1812
and return to 2012, but he had to tell the priest
something.

The best Forrest could
come up with was a story that Forrest was traveling with a group of
settlers, and while crossing a river they lost all their supplies.
They had seen an Indian encampment and thought with gold they might
be able to trade for some provisions. Forrest explained they had
seen the Indian women cleaning buffalo skins and figured they must
have fresh or dried buffalo meat.

With this revelation, the
Padre became quite agitated. Raising his head, he revealing two
large, black almond eyes. He looked at his visitors in the face and
said in plain English, “Captain, is this the best story you guys
can come up with?”

“
What! Anhur! You rascal…
I should have known you would be around when we needed our skins
saved.” The Captain happily said grasping the “Padre” by the
arm.

After greeting the
Captain, Forrest and Rocky, Anhur informed them this particular
band of Indians was extremely savage. He explained they were the
Penatekas Band of Comanches with a chief named Wahaatu Tasiwoo or
Two Buffalo. Two Buffalo had recently raided this very Mission,
killed the Padre, and stole the only gold object that the Mission
possessed – a solid gold crucifix.

“
Yes, Anhur it is this
crucifix we seek. We must make a golden disc to insert into our
time-machine in order to return home to the twenty-first
century.”

“
Yes, I am aware of the
disc you need,” knowingly Anhur responded. However, Anhur warned
them about this band, and under no circumstances were they to deal
with Two Buffalo – he was a murdering savage. Many within his band
were captured Chiricahua Apaches. The Apache were just as blood
thirsty as the Comanche. Before saying good-by Anhur remarked to
Captain Scarburg – “My friend, if you get within the Indian
encampment, find the young son of Two Buffalo – he will be the one
to whom you seek, not his father.”

RED WOLF

Bud and Lou were
sound asleep in the control room of
Pegasus
. Olive Marie was not asleep.
She was thirsty, and she was not in the control room. She had
pretended to be asleep only to slip outside and make her way down
to the beaver pond for a good, cold, refreshing drink of
water.

Lying on her stomach, lips
immersed in the incredibly fresh tasting liquid she never realized
she was not alone.

Standing behind, watching
her refresh herself drinking the water was a young Comanche brave.
The single, eagle feather in his braided hair, and the beads,
symbols and stitching on his buckskin shirt indicated he was a
chief. But his age seemed to defy this lofty position.

As she continued sipping
the cold, invigorating water she had a feeling someone was watching
her. Startled, she jumped up from the water’s edge, turned and
stood staring, not two feet away, into the young Comanche’s dark
brown eyes. His right hand gripped the hilt of a twelve-inch, razor
sharp, skinning knife strapped to his waist.

She did not scream - he
did not speak.

Olive Marie’s sky blue
eyes and blonde hair mesmerized him. This was the first white woman
this young Comanche had ever seen, but there was something else
about her that enchanted him.

As the shock subsided she
angrily asked, “Who are you?” As though he could understand
her.

The young man’s face
contorted into a frown, and he slapped his right hand against his
chest and said, “Ekapitu Tseena.” Grabbing Olive Marie by the arm
Ekapitu Tseena or Red Wolf began dragging her from the pond toward
the center of his encampment. The women working on the buffalo
hides dropped their stone scrappers and rushed to meet the young
warrior and Olive Marie. The rest of the band streamed out of their
tepees or places of work and quickly encircled the two.

Two Buffalo stood in the
center of the mass of Indians as Red Wolf savagely pushed Olive
Marie into his presence. Red Wolf was indeed, Two Buffalo’s son.
Red Wolf explained how he had found the white woman drinking water
at the edge of the pond. No, Red Wolf said, responding to his
father question, he did not see anyone else. Two Buffalo shouted
demands at Olive Marie who could only stand and listen to his rants
– obviously she did not understand a word he was saying.

One of the Indians
standing at the edge of the circle was ordered to join the chief
and his son in the center of the circle. The Comanche summoned was
Soobe Tamu or Long Rabbit. Long Rabbit was the exact person Olive
Marie needed at that precise moment. Soobe Tamu could speak
English, French, Spanish and four other Indian dialects. He was
Chief Two Buffalo’s interpreter.

“
Who was this white
female?” The Chief asked through Long Rabbit. That was simple, she
answered - Olive Marie Scarburg. Olive knew the next questions were
going to be tougher - Where was she from? Washington, D.C. - this
did not sit well with the Chief. The penetrating stare the Chief
was giving her let her know in no uncertain terms that this was not
the correct answer. Long Rabbit asked Olive Marie if she were
traveling with anyone – Olive Marie stood silently looking at the
stern face of Wahaatu Tasiwoo. She knew she could not with clear
conscious answer this question. Two Buffalo requested Long Rabbit
to ask Olive Marie the same question again. Again, she stood
defiantly silent. Indian men do not take kindly to lowly women
rebuking them – Two Buffalo stepped forward and with his back of
his hand struck Olive Marie in the face. The blow was so hard she
was knocked from her feet. She lay prone on the cold dirt, although
dazed, she could hear a shout coming from somewhere behind the
throng of now agitated Indians that began to encircle her. “Leave
her alone,” the voice in the distance demanded in English. “Do not
touch her again or I will kill you!!”

“
What?”
Thought Olive.
“I recognize that voice!”

It was Rocky – he began to
run to Olive Marie’s rescue, but a Comanche brave withdrew an arrow
from his quiver, placed it in his bow, stepped into Rocky’s path
and swiftly shot the arrow at Rocky – the arrow buried deep within
his right shoulder. Rocky sprawled on the ground anguishing in pain
as the mass of Comanches, with axes and hatchets drawn began racing
toward the three intruders. Obviously their intent was to transform
the three unwelcomed whitemen from their earthly bodies into
ghostly beings so they could go meet their forefathers. In other
words, they were to be killed!!

Captain Scarburg seeing
the imminent threat withdrew his pistol and fired two rounds into
the air – the explosive reports from the old 1911 Colt .45 caliber
stopped the Indians dead still in their moccasins. They had seen
firearms before, but never one so up close and personal. To them
this weapon was magic, but they knew of its death dealing
properties. The Captain and Forrest pulled Rocky up on his feet and
began to make their way toward the center of the circle where Olive
Marie still lay weeping on the ground.

As the three walked toward
the crowd of Comanches, the Captain waved the Colt pistol back and
forth. Intimidated, the Indians stepped back making an opening
allowing them access to their Chief unimpeded.

The Chief was impressive –
tall, bronze skinned, standing with arms crossed, feet spread, jet
black, braided hair covered by a full, eagle feathered headdress
that flowed from his head to the ground. He was an imposing person
to see, but the first thing that caught Captain Scarburg’s eye was
the golden crucifix hanging around Two Buffalo’s neck. It was a
beautiful object, shining brilliantly in the light. The Captain
recognized this religious symbol of Christianity must assuredly be
solid gold – but how could he obtain it?

Helping Olive Marie to her
feet he asked, “Olive does anyone here speak English?” She nodded
her head and pointed at Soobe Tamu.

“
He does, his name is Long
Rabbit.”

Captain Scarburg
turned to the Chief and pointed the pistol directly at Two
Buffalo’s chest. “Long Rabbit tell the Chief we are sorry for the
intrusion into his camp – we mean him no harm.” After a couple of
back and forth retorts between the Captain and Two Buffalo, the
Captain inquired as to the possibility of a trade for the golden
crucifix. The Captain realized if old western movies were any gauge
of reality, negotiation was a back and forth affair to the Indians.
To them this was the fun part of trading. The more time it took the
more they enjoyed the bartering. The Captain did not have the
luxury of time – Rocky was bleeding to death. They needed to obtain
the gold cross, and they needed it now. They needed to change it
quickly into a golden disc, repair
Pegasus
and get Rocky to a
doctor.

Long Rabbit realized the
Captain wanted the crucifix hanging around the Chief’s neck, but
Long Rabbit also knew it would take something extraordinary to
entice Two Buffalo to part with it. Long Rabbit suggested a trade –
he believed Two Buffalo might be willing to trade the golden cross
for the Captain’s magnificent pistol.

At first the Captain would
not consider this trade – he could not let the Comanches have a
modern firearm – his Colt automatic, but on further thought he
realized Rocky’s life was more valuable than his old gun, and the
Colt’s magazine only held seven rounds. He had used one bullet when
he killed the Secret Service agent in the basement of the Murdock
estate, and he fired two more just a few minutes ago – there were
only four rounds remaining in the gun. The Captain figured Two
Buffalo could not do much harm with four bullets, and it will be a
hundred years or more in the future before anyone would be able to
refill the Colt’s magazine with new bullets.

While this exchange was
taking place between Captain Scarburg and Long Rabbit from the
shadows behind Two Buffalo out stepped the Comanche Chief’s young
son Red Wolf, he extended his hand to Olive Marie as a gesture of
friendship. Speaking through Long Rabbit he profusely apologized
for his Father’s slap, and especially for the rough treatment he
had given her as he pulled her from the pond.

Olive Marie was hesitant
to accept his apologies. When Long Rabbit translated Red Wolf’s
words Olive Marie defiantly crossed her arms and turned her back
toward him. Not used to a woman’s insolence Red Wolf was flustered
and was hesitant to offer a final attempt, but he relented. He said
Olive Marie’s friend was dying – and he could help. He explained
the Comanche’s medicine man, Broken Wing, had attended many, many
wounded warriors. Red Wolf thought Broken Wing could perform his
healing skills on Rocky and his life might be saved. This
immediately got Olive Marie’s attention. She listened intently to
every word Long Rabbit had to say.

She knew first and
foremost, it was imperative that medical personnel minister to
Rocky as soon as possible. She knew the arrow in his shoulder must
be removed. Its removal could not wait for the gold to be melted,
the 1-7/8 inch by-pass module constructed,
Pegasus
’s computers reset, and the
final trip home. Rocky would have bled to death long before they
could arrive back in Washington – that was assuming they ever got
back to D. C. Knowing this she reluctantly accepted his apology,
but not before she asked for a couple of favors – first she wanted
Red Wolf to ask his Father to trade his crucifix for her Grandpa’s
pistol, and she further requested Red Wolf let them use the
Comanche’s hot, roaring fire to melt the gold cross into the disc
to repair
Pegasus
.

Red Wolf’s piercing brown
eyes looked questioningly at Olive Marie... he peered deep within
her blue eyes... it was as if he were seeing into her soul... what
did he see? Turning to Two Buffalo his father, Red Wolf nodded his
approval...

Following the trade of the
Captain’s 1911 automatic pistol for the Chief’s golden crucifix the
two ‘Chiefs’, Two Buffalo and Captain Scarburg took a seat around
the campfire. Two Buffalo removed a beautifully carved ‘peace pipe’
from its ornately beaded pouch and packed its bowl with leaves from
a tobacco plant. As he reached toward the burning fire for an ember
to light the pipe Captain Scarburg grabbed his arm. Startled, Two
Buffalo turned quickly to admonish the Captain, but was surprised
to see the shiny chrome Zippo in Grandpa’s hand. With a flip of his
thumb, the Captain fired up his trusty, old lighter and touched the
flame to the bowl end of the pipe. Two Buffalo was astounded! He
could not remove his eyes from the beautiful little lighter with
the Special Forces emblem on the side.

The interest in the
Zippo did not go without notice. Captain Scarburg motioned Long
Rabbit to tell Two Buffalo he wished to give the lighter to the
Chief as a friendship gift. On hearing the interpreter’s words, Two
Buffalo jumped to his feet, withdrew his razor sharp, ten inch long
skinning knife from its scabbard at his waist and brandished it at
Captain Scarburg.
What! What did I do to
make him so angry?
Before the Captain had
time to ponder this development Two Buffalo flipped his skinning
knife into the air and caught it by its blade. He placed the knife
on his forearm with the handle facing the Captain and spoke a few
words – Long Rabbit explained – Two Buffalo is giving you his knife
in exchange for your shiny fire maker.