Chapter Twenty-Three

When Adam awoke, he opened his eyes, but the hut was spinning, so he closed them again. He brought his hands up to his head and realized he was tied. When he tried to sit up, he found his feet were tied together. “Mike?” He slowly opened his eyes, wincing at the light coming through the opening. Bringing his hands up in front of him, he pulled the string with his teeth until he was able to pull them loose enough to get his hands out of the leather straps. After slowly sitting up, he untied his feet while looking around the hut. Mike wasn’t there.

He felt worse than he did after his worst drunk in Virginia City. He thought he must have looked worse, too, because when he slowly made his way out of the hut, everyone stopped to look and laugh. Mike rushed over from…somewhere…and helped him sit on the log next to the hut, answering his questions through her laughter at his curls sticking out at all angles and his eyes, barely open.

“What happened?”

“You drank the water of the seer. Peyote.”

“Why didn’t you tell me it was Peyote?”

“You must eat or you will be sick all day.” She squatted in front of him and pulled a small piece of meat from the chunk she was holding. “Here. Eat this.” After he swallowed, she handed him a gourd. “Drink this. It will make the pain in your head go away.”

After a few minutes, memories of the last night slowly came back. He opened his eyes wide, looking intently at her. “Mike?”

“Do not worry. I tied you. You did nothing.”

Adam blew out a long breath in relief. She puckered her mouth and cocked her head. “Mike, I didn’t mean that you’re not…it’s just that I would never…intentionally…”

She patted his knee. “You are using big words again,” she said as she went into the hut. She stuck her head back out. “Come.”

When Adam entered the hut he was still eating the meat she had given him. He was surprised it was staying down, but he wasn’t going to complain. After drinking whatever she had given him, he was beginning to feel better quickly.

“Remove your dopada’-nee’ and put these on. The buckskin will blend with the rocks so that you will not be seen.” While he was changing, she also changed into buckskin pants and top.

“You’re going?”

“Yes. I can move more quickly through the rocks than the men. I fit into small places. We will travel far on foot. Can you run far?”

“I’ll manage.”

“You will wear your buckskin boots. We will be running over rock that will wear on your feet.”

When they emerged from their hut, the Aha macave men who would be going with them were all dressed as Adam, except that they were barefoot. They handed a small poke of water with a strap to Adam and to Mike. Each one carried two knives. Three of the men carried a bow and a quiver of arrows. When everyone has ready Empote quatacheech said, “We go.”

Adam and Mike fell in line in the middle of the six Aha macave, and they trotted away from camp toward the mines. When they reached the precipice just to the west of the mines, Empote quatacheech signaled for each man to take a specific position among the rocks, two moving to the south above the mine entrance, and three moving to the east side. He motioned for Mike to work her way to a hidden ledge just above the mine entrance. From their height, they could all see the entire encampment below and anyone that went in or came out of the mine. During their watch, Army guards kept constant vigil on the surrounding mountains, looking for any movement, seeing nothing. When the sun had moved halfway between straight up and the horizon Empote quatacheech made the vulture’s call and the Aha macave, including Mike, slowly appeared behind Adam. They left as silently as they had come, and did not speak until they were back at the camp.