At the end of that week, Judge Riley called for a special session with the students involved in the crash. Chase let Judge Riley know that Rain and Jessie appeared as hostile witnesses, but the two boys told the judge Jack Holland had caused the wreck in which the Morris family had lost their son. The judge dismissed all charges against the Lakota man. Upon the dismissal, Ben quit his job as a bus driver, planning to move away and devote himself to the rescue of large breed dogs. Before he left, he asked Chase to allow him to say goodbye to his two sons.
Rain and Jessie approached Ben’s home, which sat on his ranch near the kennels of the dogs he worked with. As the boys reached the steps, two children emerged from inside the house. The first was a young Native boy of ten, his long black hair finely braided and hanging down his back. He said, “Welcome to my father’s home. I am Benjy Black Bull.”
Jessie shifted his cast about awkwardly so that he could shake the boy’s hand. “Hi,” he said. “I’m Jessie Dalton and this is my brother—”
“We know,” the 13-year-old raven-haired girl said. “I’m the Black Rose, daughter of the Irish Godfather of Havelock. My father is a trickster like the Coyote. His ancestors are Saints from the Emerald Isle, but Billy Connors is the Devil dressed in white.”
Benjy smiled. “Despite biker protocol to never talk to cops, you sure did help clear my dad of serious charges. For that, I thank you.”
Jessie said, “We just told Judge Riley the truth.”
Rose said, “Ben needs to ask you guys a favor. He’s moving at the end of the week to a new rescue ranch outside of Havelock. The place has an appropriate name since Ben’s going to be rescuing some of the most angry dogs on the planet. In the 1800’s there was a Lakota camp there. One of the braves rode to steal horses from the nearby Pawnee. When he returned to the Lakota camp, he fell dead at his mother’s feet, riddled with many arrows. In memory of her son, this mother insisted the camp be called, ‘Wounded Arrow.’ It is there that Ben shall rescue dogs. What he wants from you boys is to take care of the ten dogs housed here for at least two more weeks until he can transport them to Havelock.”
“Sure,” Rain said. “We would be glad to.”
Rose and Benjy followed the boys inside the house. Ben was seated across from them at a wood stove in the center of the floor. He pointed at a pile of thick buffalo hides, indicating that they should seat themselves before the stove. Sitting there on a small stool, Ben said, “One of the greatest meteor storms took place over the United States on Nov. 13, 1833. The skies were lit up by thousands of shooting stars every minute for four hours. It was marked by several nations of Native Americans: the Cheyenne established a peace treaty and the Lakota calendar was reset. Abe Lincoln spoke of it years later. The founder of the Mormons, Joseph Smith, believed the falling stars were a sign that Christ was coming back. It was big medicine. The Night the Stars fell from the Sky a band of Cheyenne marked a peace treaty on a white buffalo robe. The Treaty of 1833 marked on this robe was a turning point for the Cheyenne. My people, the Lakota, joined them during Red Cloud’s War. Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache became allies of the Cheyenne at the end of the Indian wars. When such fierce enemies suddenly find peace it is also big medicine.
“When I went to the Hollands’ last week to get Molly and her pups out of the hands of the Den, the Nomad was there. He’s an enforcer, who carries out contracts for the Memphis mob. A Creole Indian came to the Elder’s Den with the map placed in a cigar tube. He gave it to Daws, saying a geis had been placed on this treasure. The Nomad told Daws he would negate the curse if he retrieved it for him.”
Rain asked, “How could this white buffalo robe be cursed?”
Ben said, “It’s two other items that are cursed by wanagi, a spirit among my people. The Lakota are of the Seven Council Fires, First Nations people who live on Rosebud, Pine Ridge, Cheyenne River, and Standing Rock rez. One of those items is a .50 caliber Sharps rifle used by Buffalo Billy Cody when he killed 4000 buffalo. The other is a Colt .45 pistol used by Custer at the Little Big Horn. During the Battle of the Rosebud, the Cheyenne and Lakota led by Crazy Horse, retreated, leaving behind the wounded Chief Comes in Sight on the battlefield. A 15-year-old Cheyenne girl, Buffalo Calf Road Woman, carried him to safety. She also fought at the Little Bighorn.
“During that fight, Custer was shot in the chest by White Bull and knocked off his horse. He remounted and rode to get away when Buffalo Calf Road Woman rose up out of the grass and struck the blow that knocked Custer off his horse. Fearing a gruesome death by torture, Custer raised his pistol and shot himself in the temple. The girl’s war club is the fourth ancient relic of this trove. If I had that map, I could return the robe and war club to Pine Ridge. The last Colt pistol from the Little Big Horn sold for $275,000, and the Sharps would bring in three times as much, but both need to be released from the evil forces that inhabit them. Yes, Bill Cody was good friends with Sitting Bull, but he also slaughtered 4,000 of our buffalo brothers. The instrument of that senseless slaughter needs to be destroyed.”
“What about the robe?” Jessie asked. “How much would it be worth?”
Ben said, “Ten million for the robe. And three for the war club.”
As Ben drove Rain and Jessie home from his place, both boys remained strangely silent. The Lakota man thanked them for volunteering to take care of his dogs. Jessie returned Ben’s wave as he drove away. Rain responded by nodding politely.
“Why didn’t you hand that map over to Ben?” Jessie asked as they joined Beef already seated there on the porch of the general store.
Beef said, “Your brother has himself a case of gold digger’s fever.”
Jessie said, “But it’s not right to claim Native artifacts. They are religious and sacred. It would be like trying to make money on the crown of Christ or that Shroud of Turin.”
Rain snorted, “Quarry Oaks is what is written on this section of the map. Beef, you said the quarry is outside of Lincoln. All we gotta do is find out which tunnel the stuff is hidden in.”
Jessie said, “Let’s just help Ben recover those artifacts.”
“Gold fever,” Beef said, “won’t let him. He won’t be free of that fever until he finds those relics. And when he retrieves those two cursed guns, a demon will take over him and he’ll be royally screwed.”
Rain said, “Demons? Ghosts? Geis? Curse? Get real, Beef.”
At the sound of a Harley rumbling along on the highway a block away from the porch, Rain said, “Jessie? Run home! Truck and Big Mo were there working on bikes an hour ago. Go get them!”
Jessie darted away up the alley, cradling his cast against his chest. Rain and Beef seated themselves on the bench situated against the front wall of the old store as a massive Harley Davidson rolled off the highway and came up the street to the General Store. The biker was bald with the tattoos of twin stags inked on his shiny skull, their antlers intertwined, ending in sharp points just above his eyes. The man killed his engine. While the motley biker glared at the two boys, he climbed off of his bike and put the big stand down.
“I’m the Nomad,” he said, peering intently at Rain. “Because of you, Jack Holland may go to prison. For that, you are going to suffer. Jack lost something the day of that bus crash. Do you have it?”
Rain said, “Don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
The Nomad said, “On October 7, 1876, a buffalo hunter killed a white buffalo in Texas. He kept the hide his entire life, despite Teddy Roosevelt offering him $5000. Big Medicine was born on Montana’s Flathead Indian rez. The name Big Medicine was chosen due to the sacred power attributed to white bison. Its body is now displayed at the Montana Historical Society. Miracle was born in Wisconsin. Medicine Wheel was born on May 9 in Pine Ridge. He escaped his pasture and was shot by a tribal police officer. Spirit Mountain Ranch donated a herd of white buffalo to the Sacred World Peace Church. Their herd includes 17 white buffalo. Someone could take one of these hides and fabricate that peace treaty that the Cheyenne marked on that white buffalo robe in 1833, but that would be a fraud. No, I want the real deal, the white buffalo robe of the Cheyenne—”
Before the man could finish, Jessie came out of the nearby alley, stumbling as he sprang onto the porch of the store. “Dad’s coming!” he gasped breathlessly.
With a wild laugh, the Nomad started his bike and went roaring down the street and out of town. Seconds later, Chase and four Outlaws went thundering past the general store, revving their monster bikes as they pursued the Nomad down the nearby highway.