Free A Coffin for Santa Rosa by Steve Hayes Page A

Someone was pouring liquid down her throat. Raven opened her eyes and saw Almighty Sky bent over her, holding a gourd containing water. A silver moon sat on his shoulder. Feeling groggy, she blinked, wondering if he was a hallucination. His wrinkled, weathered face remained before her. But when he moved closer the moon slipped off his shoulder and returned to the starry sky. She looked about her and realized they were now standing outside the hogan.
    ‘Drink, Ish-kay-nay ,’ Almighty Sky said. ‘You will feel better.’
    She drank. For a few moments nothing happened. Then her stomach twitched. Suddenly, like a volcano erupting, she vomited. Almighty Sky gave her more water. She vomited again. Then her stomach settled, her head cleared and, as he’d told her, she felt better. Realizing she was still naked under the red blanket, she collected her clothes from the bush, ducked behind the Morgan, dressed quickly and returned beside the old shaman.
    ‘Come,’ he told her. ‘It is time to make good smoke together.’ Before she could protest, he led her over to the elders. Huddled in blankets, their bronze impassive faces showing no effects from the peyote, they sat smoking large fat cigarettes. They puffed slowly, holding the cigarettes pinched between finger and thumb so that the tobacco packed inside the loosely-wrapped corn husks would not fall out.
    ‘Wait,’ Raven said as Almighty Sky went to sit down. ‘There is something I must tell you. While I was chewing peyote I had this vision.’
    ‘Tonight there were many visions, my daughter. Yours will keep till morning.’
    ‘No, it won’t! It can’t wait! You don’t understand. It’s important!’
    ‘Tell me then, if you must.’
    ‘I saw my friend, Gabe – Gabriel. You remember him, don’t you – the tall Pale Eyes whose life was saved by the Sacred One?’
    ‘Yes, Ish-kay-nay , I remember. He was a man who spoke straight.’
    ‘Well, right now he’s in danger. He … he’s tied up in a barn and we got to get him out of there!’ Raven quickly explained what had happened to Gabriel and how in her vision she’d seen Stadtlander’s men hang him. ‘He could be dead already for all I know, but there’s a chance he isn’t an’ if you’ll help me we can—’
    ‘We?’
    ‘Your warriors and me.’
    Almighty Sky wrinkled his withered lips, showing shrunken toothless gums, and gestured about him. ‘Look around you, Ish-kay -nay . Do you see any warriors?’
    ‘No, but—’
    ‘All you see is a defeated people.’
    ‘My father,’ Raven said stubbornly, ‘told me there was no such thing as defeat. He said defeat was only a state of mind.’
    ‘Your father was a brave man and a true friend of the Apache. I will not quarrel with his words.’
    ‘That mean you’ll help me?’
    The old shaman sadly shook his head. ‘I only wish I could, my daughter.’ He closed his eyes and was silent so long she wondered if he’d fallen asleep. Finally, he looked at her and said: ‘It is no secret that we Apaches call ourselves Nde , The People. We have lived here as warriors for a thousand moons. Like our ancestors, we roamed free, hunting where we wanted, fearing no one, living in harmony with the Earth God. But no more. The day of the warrior has ended. Forever. We havebecome farmers who cannot farm, beggars with no food to beg for, prisoners in our own land, our once-proud spirit broken by Agency laws, starvation, and firewater.’
    Raven had never heard Almighty Sky speak so passionately. Her heart ached for him. But she desperately needed his help. ‘What you say is true, Wise One. But surely there are still men among you who can ride an’ fire a rifle?’
    ‘We have no rifles, Ish-kay-nay . The White Eyes’ law forbids us to arm ourselves. As for ponies, those that have not been killed for meat to feed the hungry are so feeble they cannot be ridden.’ His tone softened and for a brief moment he rested his fragile, wrinkled hand on her shoulder. ‘Go