Eagle Woman
by Don Mahanay

Chapter 14

The next morning, Pupa was up bright and early getting coffee ready. She was anxious to start her quest to get answers from the peyote plant. She felt really lucky that Big Crow had just gotten back from Mexico, because he didn’t always have the little cactus on hand and she was afraid she would have to wait to start her quest. Pupa sat there drinking her coffee and mentally planning her trip out in the wilderness where she would go to turn her life over to the peyote plant. She would allow it to take her to where she needed to go to get the answer she so desperately needed. As Pupa sipped her coffee, she was beginning to wonder why Jode hadn’t knocked on her door yet, she knew that he would have to be at the stables pretty soon. Those horses wouldn’t feed themselves.

She got up from the table, paced back and forth a few times, then went to the door, opened it to see if Jode was anywhere in sight. The sun hadn’t come up yet, but she could see the light in the east and she knew that Jode was always at the stable before daybreak. Pupa stepped out on her porch so she could look down the street to see if he was on his way. Straining her eyes to see as far as she could, she spotted a stray dog scavenging the streets but no Jode. Disappointed Pupa hung her head and turned around to go back inside when she spotted a brown paper sack on the porch setting next to the door. Stepping over and picking it up, she noticed it was about the right weight to be what she was waiting for. Hurrying into her house, she went to the kitchen to get a better look. Pupa tipped the sack and out rolled three fat healthy Peyote cactus on her table. She examined them and saw that the roots had not even dried out yet. They were very good samples of the plant of the Gods, very juicy and fresh. Jode is a true gaucho, Pupa thought.

Gaucho to the Socike didn’t just mean cowboy, but it meant cowboy with manners and a person that had respect for other people and their property, especially older people.

Pupa started to put the little cactus back in the paper sack when she noticed writing on the sack.

     Dear Pupa, I received a call early this morning that one

of the horses has his leg caught in the fence and is just

standing there. I knew you would probably still be in bed, so

I didn’t knock. Big Crow said he was honored to furnish you

with the trip. There is no charge for the Peyote. Big Crow

said to be careful and watch out for Sand Walkers. Please

watch your step and do be careful of Sand Walkers. Jode 

“That Jode is a real Gaucho. Yes sir, a real Gaucho,” Pupa said out loud. Going about her normal morning chores, she started thinking about the Sand Walkers. They are the evil spirits that hang near the same plane as the ancestral spirits, but not on the same plane. It is a plane that one has to go through to get to the ancestral spirits. The Sand Walkers are wicked spirits that can take any shape or form. They can travel in their plane or in mortal man’s plane, but by all accounts are too afraid to travel in the ancestral plane. Pupa starts to think about the weapons that she needs to take on her journey, in case she has to battle the Sand Walkers. She will take her war club and fighting knife. These are weapons that were made for her when she was a young woman and had passed the test to become a brave. These weapons she trained with, as all her ancestors did when they were young. When they got older then they taught the younger men and women how to fight.

In an hour she had all of her chores done and had even managed to have breakfast. Pupa opened the trap door to her root cellar, went down and brought up her war paint. This was something that she thought she would never have to do again in her life time, but here she was, once again taking the walk of the warrior. 

She never had to fight flesh and blood as her ancestors did, all her battles were with the Chief of darkness and his braves.

The paint was all dried and cracked, but Pupa wasn’t worried, she added a little water and let the jars set on her kitchen table to get soft.  Next was to get her traditional winter brave uniform ready. This done, she went in and showered. By the time she was finished the paint was soft so she took a butter knife out of the kitchen and stirred them. They had softened nicely and were ready to apply.

Pupa took them in her bedroom and started applying them. When she finished her face she had two straight yellow lines on the left side of her face starting at the corner of her eyebrow running at a forty five degree angle down passed her chin line. Red paint circled her left eye to make her eye look big. The right side of her face and neck was covered all white with a circle of red paint around the eye to match the left side. She was surely a frightening sight.

She felt that just the sight of her would keep the Sand Walkers away from her. She then put on her winter uniform added her black headband and the eagle feather. The nights got very chilly at this time of year, so she rolled a blanket and tied the ends together enabling her to carry it draped over her shoulder and across her chest.

Next, she got a frozen plastic jug of water out of the freezer and tied the two ends of a strap to it so she could carry it like the blankets.  Putting her weapons in her belt she then got a sack with a long strap and placed Maria’s ashes in it still in the box and plastic bag just as it came from the funeral director from Benson.

She was now set to start her quest. On her way out, she put a small tin of matches in her blanket roll and grabbed the small sack of Peyote. Walking across the reservation she was about to reach the edge where the small market is. Everyone who saw her would greet her, even the ones that didn’t recognize her. They all knew she was a brave in good standing because of her dress.

She decided to stop at the market to pick up some beef jerky for her trip. Pupa walked in the market and grabbed a half dozen sticks and went to the head of the line, showed the clerk what she had and the clerk wrote it down. This was one way people at the store and the store owners showed respect to a person on a quest like Pupa’s. Any tourist that happened to be in the store at that time, would find their view blocked by the Indians getting in their way of sight. God help anyone who pulled out a camera for any quest that required a uniform and war paint was sacred to the Socike.

Pupa walked out of the store into the bush and headed for the wilderness. After walking for about an hour, Pupa started to look for a sign of some kind. She sat down on a large rock when a ground squirrel ran down a tree, moved a small rock and disappeared in a hole under the small rock. The small rock fell back into place when the squirrel went in the hole. She wondered if that was the sign she was looking for. Pupa sat down her jug of ice and blankets to gaze at the sky, no sign there. Taking the water, she sipped the liquid that had melted and pulled out one of the beef jerkies and started chewing on it, when she saw the crow, actually a raven, the largest of the birds in the crow family. She had missed the Raven before because it was sitting in a shadow of a large rock.

Getting eye contact with the crow, Pupa concentrated her thoughts. “Mr., Raven, are you my guide?”

The crow just stared back.

Pupa got nothing back. Then in a moment she received what the Raven said.

“I beg your pardon, (Mrs. Raven)!— Are you my guide?”

With this, the crow flies straight up and circles above, until Pupa put the blanket and the strap to her ice jug back on, then she flew off.

Pupa walked after her. The crow flew ahead a ways, then waited for Pupa to catch up. This went on for an hour and Pupa noticed that the crow flew in one direction, then headed off in another, and all of this had been up hill. Pupa was in good shape for her age, but this was getting irritating.

She had been on many quests, most of them when she was quite a bit younger. She had never had a guide that changed directions on their path to the Gate Of The Planes before. They had always gone in a straight line.

Pupa had many different guides before, sparrows, blue birds, and once even a rabbit, but this crow was getting on her nerves, zigzagging like she did. Pupa sat down on a rock about twenty feet from the crow. They both just looked at each other. What are you up to, crow? Pupa wondered. Then it crossed her mind that this crow might be a Sand Walker.

Pupa turned her head to look at the path she had been taking up this hill. She studied the landmarks that she took a mental picture of, as she walked this not so steep hill. Yes, there is the big oak tree and the clump of willows before that, there’s the Huge rock that looked like a giant’s head, Pupa thought. With her eyes she followed the path she had taken and noticed that the crow had showed her the easiest path to where they were at this time, not the shortest. Sorry to doubt you Raven, she thought. Pupa got up and headed toward the raven.

After about fifteen minutes more, the Raven headed up a steep cliff and landed on a dead limb on a small tree hanging over the top of this cliff.

Pupa looked up. That’s a steep cliff, she thought. “Oh well,” she said, and started to climb. In another ten minutes she was at the dead tree.  Pupa sat down to rest a minute, and in a few minutes she caught her breath and looked around to find the raven. The raven was gone but there was a cave with an entrance about the size of two horses. This must be the Gate To The Planes, she thought as she walked around the entrance. Unloading her ice jug and blankets, she started gathering wood and made a pile by the side of the entrance of the cave. This she did in preparation for her journey. She kept the sack with Maria’s ashes in it on her at all times. After all, that was the reason for the trip, to help Maria find her ancestors.

Pupa made a small pile of wood at the cave entrance and lit it . She stood there in the smoke, to purify her soul, or spirit. To the Socike, they are the same. In a few minutes, she took out the Peyote cactus and flattened the paper bag they came in, and then laid it on a rock. Taking one of the cactus, Pupa peeled and sliced it. She ate it and drank some water, then went to the cave and sat cross-legged at the entrance. She was waiting for the Peyote to take her on her journey.

Pupa started to get up to peel another cactus when she heard a buzz coming from the cave. Slowly turning to see what was causing the buzz, she came face to face with the biggest rattle snake she had ever seen. As she watched the snake it seemed to swell even larger. The snake was coiled in a defiant position with it’s head reared above her. Pupa inched away from the snake, trying to get out of striking distance. The snake lunged at her face, she could see the fangs coming for her, they were six inches long if they were an inch. Pupa Blocked the strike by lifting her left arm, catching it under the chin and straightening her arm and swinging it to her left. This deflected the snakes strike, and Pupa managed to scramble to her feet. They both stared at each other, not moving, when Pupa heard the distinct evil voice of a Sand Walker.

“I know why you are here, and I was sent to stop you,” the snake said, not moving his mouth except enough to flick his tongue in and out in a rhythmic way.

Pupa concentrated and with her mind asked the snake his name.

“I am Kiki, the great brave of the Toto’s, and I command you to go back, do not try to go forward or I’ll kill you,” the snake said.

“You are a Sand Walker,” Pupa said with her mind.

“All Totos are Sand Walkers, except Brava, that traitor that married your ancestor, Eagle Woman.  “O, great ancestors, give me strength to defeat this evil spirit!” Pupa said out loud.

“That will never happen,” Kiki said, and once again he delivered a strike at Pupa’s throat.

She grabbed the snake by the neck and squeezed, pulling it down with her left hand and grabbing her knife with her right she stabbed him in the head. The snake was flopping and trying to wiggle loose.  She noticed that her left hand that would have been too small to reach around his neck and her arm which would have been too weak to hold him had turned into a giant eagle leg. The talons dug deep into the snake, holding it steady, her ancestors had answered her prayers.  She squeezed and worked the knife back and forth in his head until the snake lay perfectly still. As pupa watched, the snake vanished while still in her grip and her arm and hand turned back to normal.

Pupa stepped over to the paper sack wiped her knife off and started peeling another peyote. In a minute she had it peeled and sliced. Just as she was chewing the second slice she felt a sharp pain in the middle of her back and she was knocked forward on her face.

Pupa turned over on her back and saw a male brave standing straddling her legs, with his war club raised ready to bash in her skull.  His face was painted all black with white lightning bolts painted on each side of his face. “I’m back,“ he said to Pupa, not moving his lips.  Pupa swiftly kicked him in the groin and followed through with a kick to the chin, knocking him backwards and down. Pupa was on her feet with her war club in hand swinging at his head.  Kiki, the same spirit that was in the snake, rolled to his right, making Pupa’s war club miss him by inches. With his left hand he back-handed her on the left side of her face knocking her over. He raised his war club to strike, but Pupa struck first. In a minute, the brave vanished like the snake.

They come back stronger than before, she thought. I had better get going or the first Sand Walker is going to finish me before I even get started. Pupa grabbed the cactus, put it in the paper sack, tucked the top of the sack up into her belt and pulled the top of the sack down over the belt so it would stay there. Pupa started on a slow trot into the cave. Her eyes had become like the eyes of the cougar, being able to see in the dark.

“I didn’t know the plane of the Sand Walkers was that close to the plane of the humans,” Pupa said out loud as she walked.

“It’s not,” a sinister voice bellowed from ahead. “But, we thought we’d give Eagle Woman’s daughter a welcome she would never forget before we kill her.”

“Kiki?” Pupa asked.

“Kiki, is a mouse, you are dealing with Kota the bravest of the Toto’s Braves. And I’m going to kill and eat you, Eagle Woman’s daughter,” the booming voice said.

“Why do you call me ‘Eagle Woman’s daughter’? Eagle Woman is way up my ancestors’ line. You are too stupid to even know who you are dealing with,” Pupa said.

“You are the stupid one. You only think you know the spirit world. Well, I’m going to give you some lessons. First lesson—you are Eagle Woman’s Daughter just as your mother is and as your daughter is, and as your granddaughter would be if she could find her ancestors,” the voice said, starting a sinister laugh over the thought of Pupa’s granddaughter being lost in the spirit world.

This made Pupa mad that a Sand Walker would laugh over her granddaughter being lost. “If you were as brave as you claim, you would show yourself.”

In a minute Pupa was kind of sorry she had said this. she had just stepped into a big cavern in the cave and she could see what was talking to her. She had no words to describe what she was facing. As big as the cavern was, she could not get past the thing that awaited her. It had no legs and was a purple being with eighteen arms and hands. In each hand was a weapon. Four had war clubs, four had knives, four had tomahawks, four had wooden clubs and two had spears.

“What in the world are you?” Pupa asked.

“I’m not of this world, daughter of the despised Eagle Woman. I told you I would give you lessons in the spirit world,” the being said. “Now either go back or come and let me kill you, then I will eat you and your spirit will become one in me to make me even stronger and you will not join your ancestors but become one with me.”

Pupa looked this being over, she could see no eyes, but as she moved from side to side, the arms that were closest to her would become active, it was if they sensed where she was at all times. Just as she was about to attack with her war club Pupa screamed with pain.  There was a spear sticking through her calf, the pain was as if it was red hot steel.

The being began to laugh, “I got you, Oh despised one’s daughter.  That’s another lesson for you, never stick around to visit with a Sand Walker! They will kill you!” The being had thrown one of it’s spears and it went through the lower part of her leg.

Pupa grabbed the spear and pulled it out, The burning stopped after it was removed. She jumped forward and swung with her war club, it sank into the flesh of this being, but her hand was hit with a wooden club causing her to loose her grip and the war club disappeared into the being.

“I’ve got your war club,” the being laughed out at her, and continued to laugh after he had gotten the words out. Come on try your knife.

Pupa had only her knife. She stepped back keeping an eye on his arm with the spear, making sure he didn’t throw it. She picked up the spear and ran forward with it, ramming it into the being up to three-fourths of the shank. In a moment, it sank in further and disappeared all together.

“You killed me, you killed me,” the being screamed with pain!

Wham! The being hit Pupa at the back of the knees causing her to fall and to drop her knife. She grabbed her knife and rolled back away just as the being came down with the tomahawk where she was laying.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha,” the being was cracking up, he tried over and over to talk, but lost his words in his laughter. “You should have seen your face when I said, ‘You killed me.’ You actually gave me my weapon back.” With this, his hand that had held the spear reached into himself, pulled out the spear and held it in a threatening manner.

He can see me, Pupa thought.

“Well, sort of.”

“What?” Pupa asked.

“Oh, a, nothing.”

“You said, ‘Sort of,’ You said, ‘Sort of’,” Pupa said. “You can’t see me.”

“Well no, but you can’t get by me either.”

Pupa stepped back out of the larger cavern and kneeled. “Great spirits of all spirits, I ask you to give me wisdom to fight this monster.”

She heard in her head, “You have purified yourself, use holy water.”

“What the heck does that mean?” Pupa asked herself. “I don’t have any water here, it’s outside, besides it’s not holy, just drinking water,” Pupa said to the great spirit. This holy water must be something I thought up, not what the spirit actually said to me. It doesn’t make any sense. “No” I have to believe or I will die on this quest. What did the Great Spirit say to me? “I had purified myself.” I did, I did that with the smoke. “Use holy water.”

Pupa rushed into the great cavern with her knife drawn above her head like she was going to strike the monster with it, but she just spat on the monster.

Immediately, the monster started to scream, then Pupa heard a sizzling and saw smoke coming from the monster. It was dissolving.  In a few minutes all that was left was Pupa’s war club.

Pupa picked up her club and started on her way further into the cave. The color of the cave walls started to change. They became a bright red, then changed to green, then blue, then yellow and then the colors started to mix and there were streaks of these colors mixing and swirling constantly changing. All of this motion was making Pupa dizzy and she closed her eyes to get her balance. After she had steadied herself against the cave walls Pupa opened her eyes. The colors were still there, but everything was still now. Pupa continued on her walk down the cave.

She had been walking now for quite awhile and Pupa was getting tired, she had been on quests before, but none of them had been this hard. The thought had entered her mind to take a rest, but she thought it would be better to keep going. Pupa was starting to turn a corner in the cave when out stepped a brave holding a tomahawk and a large shield. Pupa rushed forward and spat on him.

The brave threw down his shield and his tomahawk. “That’s disgusting!—Why did you do that?” the brave asked.

“Aren’t you a sand walker?” Pupa asked.

“No!” he answered. “I’m Bo-ox, your guide to your ancestors.”

“Oh…, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize,” Pupa said.

“Follow me.” Bo-ox picked up his tomahawk and shield, then walked further down the cave.

Pupa followed behind, feeling a little sheepish. In a few minutes they reached a bend in the cave. After the bend, the cave opened into an area so open that there was blue sky with white clouds, green plants, trees, and the richest greenest grass Pupa had ever seen. She couldn’t help but think Baroka would really like to graze here.

A voice ahead of the brave said, “Thank you Bo-ox.”

Bo-ox nodded and made a sharp right turn, revealing a woman standing in traditional Socike war uniform. Pupa wasn’t able to see her before Bo-ox had taken the turn. She was even wearing a black head band, the same color as Pupa’s headband.

Pupa walked closer and recognized the woman as her mother that had passed away twenty years ago. “Mama!” Pupa shrieked and rushed to the woman standing there. “Mama,” Pupa said again when she reached the woman.

“Anita,” the woman said and gave her daughter a hug. The two women stood there hugging each other for the longest time, her mother whispering secrets in her ear. In a minute, they separated and Pupa’s mother said, “We don’t have much time. We know why you’re here, we learned right after you entered into the Gate To The Planes.  I’m very proud of you, my daughter, and I want you to meet another mother and father of yours.” She raised her arms to the sky. There came a swish sound that reminded Pupa of the sound she had heard once, that of a hawk when it dove at another bird very near her. It was the same swish sound.

In a mater of seconds, two people on horses were standing in front of her. A beautiful woman dressed in beautiful clothing on a black   horse and a very well built man on a snow white horse. They both dismounted and stood in front of Pupa. “We are very proud of you, also, daughter.”

Pupa’s mother introduced these people as her mother, Eagle Woman and her father Brava. Both people nodded.

The two mounted their horses, “Give me my daughter, Maria,” she said in a firm but gentle voice and held out her hand. “We must hurry.”

Pupa took the box out of the sack she was caring, and handed it to Eagle Woman.

Eagle Woman took out the plastic bag, dropping the box and taking a knife cutting the tape that held the bag shut. She smiled at Pupa and, at once, both she and Brava were riding in the sky in a huge circle. As they passed overhead, Pupa could hear that swish sound.  On the third circle that they passed over head, Eagle Woman started to pour out the ashes of Maria. The ashes shown as little specks of gold, floating in the air. On the sixth pass there were three horsemen instead of two. One white, one black, and one spotted horse that reminded Pupa of a horse that Maria had as a child, but was as big as the other two horses. On the ninth pass, the three horse men were standing in front of Pupa.

The face of the rider on the spotted horse was blurred and Pupa strained to see what he or she looked like.

In a minute Pupa heard the familiar words, “Nana, thank you.”

The face became clear, it was Maria. “Maria,” Pupa got out.

Then Brava broke in, “We must hurry,” and his horse stepped forward next to Pupa. He reached down grabbed Pupa’s arm, lifted her up behind him, and off they went, so fast that Pupa blacked out.