November 15th, 1878
Let’s see, where were we? Oh yes, the girl turned herself into a bird in front of everyone and flew off towards those injuns on the hill. I’m not sure it was the wisest thing to do, but it sure caught em by surprise…
Upon seeing Seri transform into a bird, the natives on the hill startled and pulled rifles, which caused her to turn around and perch in a nearby tree, but not before seeing several dozens more hiding in the grasses over the hill. The party began moving in the direction of a farmhouse, hopping on to horses where they were available.
Meanwhile, Holden finds a half-burnt note in one of the few remaining pockets in his clothing, it says simply, “Joshua – The Duchess, Abilene, KS”. He also discovers that he’s lost over a year of memory.
William notices dozens of natives closing on the party, attempting to flank them. They increase their pace, and make it into the Patton farm before being cut off. After quick introductions, the party takes position to defend the home. William calls out during the standoff, asking what they want. A warrior emerges from the fields and delivers a rough hand-drawn sketch of Holden.
While the party discusses turning Holden over, they overhear a ritual taking place in the fields, and shortly thereafter, the house is assaulted by a dozen tiny constructs made of wheat. During the assault, Holden manages to save William’s wife and son from one of the creatures.
As the fight is winding down, the sound of a battle is heard from the fields, and after a time a majority of the natives retreat. Sheriff Alistair Dent emerges from the fields, apparently having single-handed driven the war band away. After discovering to discernible reason why they would have wanted Holden, he recruits the party to create a pyre to burn the bodies.
I did not know that the whites could do that. She did not look to me like a yee naaldlooshii. I did not think she was one, she did not feel like one. And there was the rat.
I started following her, but before she got far, the people on the ridge readied weapons, and she turned back. All of us headed for a farmhouse not too far away; from what I understood, it was the home of one of the men.
They followed us, but did not attack. A few shots were fired, but from what I saw, the white men fired first. Not really surprising.
One of the riders approached, delivering a drawing. It looked like a drawing of the man we found at the center of the explosion. The whites started talking, and they all seemed to want the man to go out to the riders. They had invited us in, but now they wanted to send him out, and it seemed that they expected him to get killed.
The Chinaman was not convinced, nor was I. If the riders wanted the man dead, they could just attack. There were enough of them. But they might have wanted him for something else. Maybe some magic, maybe questions. Maybe something he had with him. Not that it was my place to ask. Not that they would have answered, if I had asked.
At least the man would not have had to go outside alone. The Chinaman and I agreed to go out with him, though I do not think any of the whites realised it. All they did was talk. They did not listen.
While they were arguing – though arguing is not the right word; they seemed to agree to send him out, but they were unable to get past the chattering stage – the riders were clearly up to something.
Before the whites managed to reach a decision, we were attacked by small dolls made from wheat. They almost looked like kachina dolls, though I cannot remember any stories of kachina dolls being used for attacks before.
We destroyed the dolls. The tribesmen did not follow up with an attack. Instead, it sounded as if they were under attack from someone else. After a while, the fighting died down, and a white man came in. He clearly knew some of the people, and from what I understood, he had driven the riders away, or killed them.