Donners of the Dead (24 page)

“They were worried about you,” he said. “They told me they saw you and your men heading up. We knew what was up there. They tried to warn you. I do not blame you for not believing them. It is almost impossible to believe. But, as you know now, it is very true.”

“How long has this been happening?” I asked.

He motioned for the arrow man to come over. The arrow man did so in silence, bringing with him a long pipe. He gave it to Dicutta who nodded in thanks. Arrow man went back to the Diggers’ side.

As Dicutta dipped the pipe into the flames to light it he said, “Do not mind him. He doesn’t say much but he meant no harm to you or your friend. As you know, we have to be careful out here. When they found Avery, they weren’t sure if he was still man.”

I shot Avery a look. His face was grim in the dancing light.

“To answer your question, Eve,” Dicutta went on, putting a gentle emphasis on my name, “we do not know for sure how long this has been happening. In these parts there has always been the story of the Chinoka, a man who became stranded in a snowstorm with his family. When his youngest son died from the cold and Chinoka was starving, he ate him. After that, Chinoka became so much stronger that he became insatiable for the taste. He killed his wife and other child, ate them, then ran off into the woods where he stayed. He survived the storm but knew he was no longer welcome with his tribe, so he lived in these mountains, preying on those unlucky enough to get in his way.”

“We were told a similar story, about a monster called the Wendigo.”

He puffed on his pipe in thought. “I have not heard of Wendigo, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this exists elsewhere in the world. To consume another human being is one of the greatest taboos—now we see there is a reason for this.”

“So the Chinoka is what killed the Donner Party?”

“I don’t believe so. Chinoka, so far, is just a story, but the Donner Party was real. Faced with the hardships they had gone through, I am not surprised that some of them may have resorted to cannibalism to survive. I suppose many that were accounted for as dead were never really dead at all—but missing.”

“Now they can be accounted for as dead,” I said gravely.

Dicutta raised his brows. Taking in a deep breath, I recounted what had happened to us after Avery and I had been separated. Aside from the occasional grimace or swear from Avery, both of them were silent as I went through every grim and startling detail. It goes without saying that I left out the more private moments between Jake and I. I could already tell Avery was having a hard time with the fact that I cared so much about saving Jake’s life. It wasn’t as if Jake had been all that honorable when Avery and I had taken off in the night.

“You have certainly been through a lot,” Dicutta said. He looked at me with scrutiny. “Tell me, you have Paiute blood in you?”

I nodded. “Yes. My father was Paiute.”

“He is no longer around?”

I looked down at my hands. “No. I believe him to be dead.”

“What was his name?”

“My mother, she would call him Yanny. His real name was Yahuski.”

Dicutta’s eyes went wide. The Diggers began to murmur something.

Avery squeezed my arm with comfort as I looked to Dicutta. “Do you know him?” I asked excitedly.

“Yes,” he said, but his smile was sad. “Even though he was from a neighboring tribe, I knew him.”

My lungs felt as if they were seizing. This was the moment I had been waiting for, the chance to find out the truth. Only now, after all I’d seen, I was afraid of the truth. I was afraid that he’d tell me that my father had disappeared in the mountains and become one of them. Every time I saw the monsters, I kept thinking that one of them would be my father, that I’d recognize his humanity among the animals.

“Can you tell me what happened to him?”

He blew out a ring of smoke so that it floated up to the ceiling. He watched it in silence. The cabin was deafening, suffocating, because of it. I needed to know.

“Your father,” he said slowly, “was a great man. Very generous, very friendly. If you ever had a problem, you could go to Yahuski. He would help you. Perhaps because he was nice and giving and everyone liked him, there were a few that did not. When he met your mother, a few members of the tribe were angry. They told him he could never come back. He chose your mother—he chose love—instead of those who would rather see him banished, despite all the good he had done. And so, he left. He went to go live with your mother. He then had you. From the reports of a few of his tribe who would go into town to barter, he had a good life.”

“He was happy,” I told him as lush memories of my father rolled through me.

“And some people don’t want other people to be happy,” said Dicutta. “Your father went on an expedition through these mountains, looking for lost cattle. He was ambushed by a couple of his tribesfolk. Men who were bitter. Angry. Jealous. They took everything he had and killed him. I am very sorry, Eve. Very sorry for your loss.”

I was stunned. I sat there, blinking, trying to take it all in. Avery squeezed my arm again, and though I was glad for his comfort, I wanted Jake to provide it instead.

“So he never became a monster?” I asked.

Dicutta shook his head. “No. Men are the real monsters here. They often are.”

I needed time to process all of it, but I was already feeling a strange sense of relief. I had never believed my father would come waltzing back into my life; in my own way I had already grieved for his death. But now I knew. Now I had answers. As sad and unfair as it was that his life was taken out of jealousy, I could put my aching heart to rest.

Dicutta watched me closely for a couple of long minutes, the fire crackling between us, before he finished up his pipe then slowly got to his feet, making his way over to Jake to check on him.

I was about to inquire how he was when Dicutta silently waved me over.

Avery helped me to my feet, and I went to Jake’s side, already feeling stronger thanks to the venison and pine nuts.

I stood beside Dicutta, finding out that I was nearly a foot taller than the old man. We peered down at Jake who was slowly moving his mouth back and forth, eyes fluttering and brows pressed together. Dicutta took my hand and placed it on Jake’s heart.

“This is where you belong,” he said. I felt the heat of Jake’s skin and the steady beat of his heart underneath my palm. “He is your tribe.” I looked down at Dicutta. His eyes twinkled. He walked away, leaving me and Jake alone. I could see him motioning to Avery to give us space.

I kept my hand to Jake’s heart, the steady pulse bringing me more peace. With my father gone and my heritage mixed, I never felt like I belonged anywhere. Now I knew—I belonged with Jake. We were a tribe of two, but a tribe all the same. Two broken people looking for their place in the world and finding each other. Dicutta could see that. It was time I saw it too.

Jake’s head rolled to the right and his mouth opened. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but I was thrilled he was in some form of consciousness.

I leaned down and whispered in his ear while pressing lightly on his heart, “Jake, it’s Eve. Can you hear me?”

He mumbled something.

“Jake? Do you know where you are?”

“Pine nuts,” he murmured.

“What?”

He turned his lips toward my ear. “You smell like pine nuts. Pine Nut.”

I pulled back and saw him grinning lazily at me, his eyes tired but shining.

A huge smile stretched across my face. “You’re going to be okay. You collapsed but these nice Paiutes took care of you. Avery is alive too!”

“Well I’ll be…” he remarked. He took his hand, and with some effort placed it on top of mine. His heartbeat tickled my fingertips. He stared up at me, his eyes searching mine, filled with something I couldn’t describe but felt all the same. “I wasn’t ready to leave you.”

“And I wasn’t ready to leave you.”

He managed a sly grin. “I imagine it would be hard to leave me after that time in the cave.”

I gasped, trying not to laugh, and smacked him lightly across his taut stomach. With burning cheeks, I looked over my shoulder to see if Avery or Dicutta had noticed but they were busy talking to the others on the far side of the cabin and preparing some food.

I looked back at him, shaking my head. “Jake McGraw, you are incorrigible.” I quickly gave him a kiss on the forehead.

He coughed with a wince then said, “If being incorrigible is what it takes to get you to kiss me, you may have a problem on your hands.”

I let out a small laugh and reached for his hand. I squeezed it and looked deeply into his eyes, hoping I could tell him how I felt without saying it.

From the soft nod he gave in return, I knew he understood me.

“Y
ou won’t believe
your eyes, Eve. I’m serious,” Avery said as he yanked at my arm, pulling me out of the cabin and into the golden sunshine.

“All right, all right,” I told him with a smile, picking up on his strange enthusiasm. It was the third day of us staying in the cabin with Dicutta and the Paiutes. Jake was almost good as new but Dicutta wanted him and I to rest up for another day. We had a long walk ahead of us to get down to River Bend and we needed the extra care and nourishment to feel better.

I had just been having a bowl of broth with Jake and Dicutta when Avery burst into the cabin, telling me he had something to show me. I exchanged an inquisitive glance with Jake but got up and followed Avery.

“What is it?” I asked. It was late afternoon and we were finally having a bout of good weather after two days of drizzle and mist.

“Winneca found something,” he said, pulling me to a stop. Winneca ended up being the name of the unsmiling arrow man. I still didn’t know what to make of him, but it was apparent that he and Avery were on a first name basis.

“What did—” I began. I trailed off as soon as I smelled her.

Sadie!

She whinnied at the sight of me as Winneca led her out of the aspen trees and toward us. Behind him were Ali the mule and Avery’s horse, Pigeon. Though it was heartbreaking what happened to Trouble, I assumed the same thing had happened to my horse. I was absolutely overjoyed to see her, and from the way she nuzzled me, I think she felt the same.

I suppose she was on her way back home when she found the other horses, and then together Winneca found them. Though he never smiled when I thanked him, I’d forever be indebted to him.

The next day, the three of us set out to find our way back home. I gave Jake Sadie, despite his insistence that I shouldn’t pander to him, and rode Ali instead. Dicutta and his men gave a heartfelt goodbye, and I promised him to keep myself safe during the journey. I also wanted to promise that I’d see him again, but the truth was I knew I wouldn’t. If the three of us got back to River Bend, there was no way I would stick around the town, let alone head back into the Sierra Nevadas. Though I hadn’t discussed it further with Jake, I knew that my life belonged with him, and our lives would be led somewhere far away from this land.

The thought of starting my life over was exciting. As we rode away from the Paiute camp and found the wagon ruts heading east, I wanted more than anything to talk to Jake in private. Though I knew we weren’t out of the woods yet—so to speak—we hadn’t had a real, moment of time together since we were alone in the cave. Everything after that special moment was a race against time, a battle against death.

But with Avery riding in front of us, it just didn’t feel right. Avery quite rightly knew there was something between Jake and I now. Even though we weren’t too physically affectionate with each other in the company of others, that didn’t stop us from trying to say everything with our eyes and body language.

It also didn’t stop Avery from addressing it midway through the day.

He cleared his throat and said over his shoulder, “So I take it you two are courting now, is that correct?”

Jake turned around in his saddle to look at me, waiting for my response. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his ruggedly handsome face. My goodness, I was lucky to have such a man when I used to not know what a man was. Jake had been such a surprise.

He smiled right back, white teeth against his dark beard, and said, “I reckon you’re correct, Avery. I hope you don’t have a problem with that.”

He shook his head. “No. I don’t trust you, Mr. McGraw, but I do trust Eve. Anyone she desires, she is fit to have.”

I changed the subject. “And Avery, with that question in mind, will you be courting Rose as soon as we get home?”

He shot me a smile over his shoulder. “Your uncle will fire me over it, but yes, I will be. Doesn’t matter since we still have those gold bars in Ali’s pack. I’ll buy Rose and me a new life.”

Just as me and Jake will
, I thought.
And my mother, of course, if she wishes to come with us
. I started imagining the greener pastures ahead, the books I could read, the schools I could go to. A life with the bravest Texan the world has ever known. These thoughts kept me going during that long ride until the trees turned to grass and the grass turned to desert, and there was the civilization of River Bend before us.

I wanted to cry. As much as that place had been my prison, it had also been my home, and after everything I’d gone through, it shimmered in front of me like Mecca.

“There she is!” Avery announced. He spurred his horse into a trot, and we followed behind him, eager to reach our destination. I rode with the silliest grin on my face, my hair blown back by the wind.

But, as we rode, the more my grin began to fade.

There was something wrong. Even though Uncle Pat’s was at the outskirts of town, there was something so still about the place. No sign of life there or at the Millers across the way.

As we got closer still, I saw the doors to both houses were open and chicken and livestock were wandering freely on the streets, looking lost and agitated. Those were Uncle Pat’s animals—even with Avery gone, he would have never let that happen.

“Something is wrong,” I whispered. I wasn’t sure if they heard me, but from the way they were slowing down and reaching for their guns, it was obvious they felt the same way too.