Yelloweye
13
The Oil Field War
The Family
“SO THAT’S IT?” Ashley said flatly. “The end?”
“Not quite,” Aubrey answered. She held up an envelope that was on the bottom of the box. She looked at her parents and her husband. They all nodded. Aubrey handed the envelope to Ramie. Ramie took a deep shuddering breath and opened it, shaking out the contents in her hand. She opened the pages and began to read.
Caitlin: It’s Time
My Dearest Loving Parents, My Beautiful Sister, My Brave Brother, My Kind Sister-in-law, My Adorable Little Niece.
I’ve just turned twenty-one. Our contemporaries in now-time consider that to be an occasion for cutting loose, getting drunk, gambling, and otherwise being adults. They’re idiots. In our twenty-one years, Phile and I have lived forty-two. Each. In one of our lives, we have functioned fully as independent adults since we were twelve. In the other, we were just weird, I guess. But we have tried to be responsible, even though we were wild and reckless at times. We were learning double and triple the amount normal kids do. It was a little overwhelming.
We always knew our family was a little strange, but wish we had discovered earlier that we weren’t the only ones who lived in different times. Miranda and Jason, we are so sorry for what we did when we were young and filled with rage. And we are so glad that you came to join Ramie and Kyle in this life.
Yelloweye visited us last night. I thought we were going to leave right then, but I needed to write this to you first. And yes, here in the bunkhouse, Mandy and Phile are holding me and drying my tears as I write. Later tonight, we will tap our drums and take Bells and Bows, Midnight, Mandy, and Merv Longsteer with us as we cross to Oxėse. We don’t know if we will ever be able to return after the coming battle. It was so hard to hug you each tonight after our party and not cry.
So, you need to know that I’m two months pregnant with Wolf Rising’s baby. Y’all are going to be grandparents again! Mandy has declared that as soon as we get to Oxėse, she is going to be working on getting Phile to plant her fertile soil, as she says. The thing is that whether it is Wolf Rising or Phile, it is the same father, just different genes. Just as Wolf Riding Woman and Caitlin are the same person. Perhaps one day, you will meet all of us and we will be one happy family.
We don’t know how soon the battle is coming, but with the activity in Yellowstone we all believe it will be soon. Our people have never been violent, but their peaceful ways have been destroyed. They see only that an armed conflict is on the horizon and we are trying to prevent that. We’ve managed to channel most of the energy into the First People’s Drum Day. Most believe it will be like a march on Washington, but we plan a more complete solution. It has to be done in an absolute and final way. I am sorry for the lives that will be lost, but greed rules in the hearts and Mother Earth has had enough.
We love you all so much it hurts, but we serve Mother Earth and she has summoned us. Certainly, we must love her even more. We can see Yelloweye outside the door. Beyond him, Wolf is pacing. Bells and Bows are standing at the fence with Mandy’s Wildfire and Merv’s pack animals. It’s time for us to go.
When you open the box and read the story, it will be history. You can help us write the next chapter.
This land is forever ours. Even when we are dead and buried, we are here to protect our pack and our land. The spirits of this land do not rest. And we are deadly when we hunt.
We love you.
Caitlin, Wolf Riding Woman, Phile, Wolf Rising, Mandy
The Family
The family sat in the office crying. Aubrey wrapped Ramie and Kyle in a hug and Cole held Ashley and Mary Beth. Outside they could hear the sounds of the cattle drive as Rafe and his cowboys herded them into the pens. Inside, there was only the sound of sniffling and sobs occasionally broken by a baby’s quiet demand.
“My babies are going to war!” Mary Beth sobbed against Cole’s chest. There was nothing he could do to comfort his wives but hold them and join their tears.
Eighth Live Report
“We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special bulletin,” the announcer said on the television. It was two o’clock in the afternoon and the corner window still showed Earth Sister standing motionless on the horizon. This announcer was in a studio somewhere in New York.
“Reports began arriving two hours ago that an unusual crowd of Native Americans had begun filtering in to cities across the country. The Native Americans all seem to be dressed in traditional garb and many carry drums of varying sizes. This scene in Central Park shows an estimated thousand Oneida, Seneca, and Mohawk Indians with a scattering of other tribes preparing a circle of perhaps 100 or more drums. In Jacksonville, Florida, Seminole and Miccosukee Indians have gathered. In Atlanta, the Cherokee Nation has set up camp at Centennial Olympic Park,” he said.
“Nor is this invasion of Native Americans limited to the East coast. In Washington State, there are thirty-two Federally recognized tribes and another eight that are not recognized. It appears that all forty, however, are represented at Seattle Center with over 5,000 surrounding the famous Space Needle. Oklahoma City has discovered just how many Native Americans there are still left in what was once known as Indian Territory. Thousands of members from the thirty-three recognized tribes and three non-recognized tribes have gathered in Will Rogers Park at the amphitheater. Reports are flooding the news desk from as far away as Hawaii where KÄnaka ‘ÅŒiwi, KÄnaka Maoli, and Hawai‘i Maoli have gathered on every island.
“In each area, the Native Americans have gathered around drums silently, as if awaiting a signal. We have finally established contact with a representative of the Northern Cheyenne, a thousand of whom have moved into the same area as the National Guard troops awaiting deployment in Cody, Wyoming. Rhea?”
The picture switched to the reporter in Cody who had been getting quite a workout today. The camera panned from Stampede Park where the National Guard vehicles had been parked to the reporter. Behind her, hundreds of Indians in traditional and ceremonial garb had camped in open space.
“This is Rhea Matthews of KWYO in Cody, Wyoming, reporting for the National News Network. While we were caught up in the confrontation between the Wyoming National Guard and members of the U.S. Army, a quiet phenomenon occurred behind us. Hundreds of members of the Northern Cheyenne tribe, with a reservation near Lame Deer, Montana, quietly set up a huge powwow on the empty plot of land lying just east of the Stampede. When we began to approach the circle, we were met by a representative asking us to not attempt to enter among the natives. There is no barrier between us, nonetheless he pointed toward the circle where large dogs or perhaps wolves were pacing the perimeter like sentries. I am here now with John Little Elk. John, can you tell us a little about what is going on here and in cities across America?”
“I am John Little Elk, a drum maker and story teller of the Northern Cheyenne. Two years ago, I met a remarkable woman named Earth Sister. She and the White Wolves told me of a great evil that was approaching and that our Earth Mother would not suffer it any longer. They said we must make the thunder of our drums heard in every heart and they asked me to take this message to the 500 tribes of America.”
“There are 500 Native American tribes?” Rhea asked.
“The United States Government recognizes 345 tribes plus 240 independent native villages in Alaska. Nearly 200 more are not officially recognized as independent tribes by government treaty, but they exist nonetheless. I will mention that there are another 230 tribes identified in Canada.”
“Did you visit them all?”
Little Elk laughed. “I had the privilege of meeting many First Peoples, but I am not magic. I have many helpers who have been carrying sacred drums to the People across the continent.”
“And why are they all gathered here today? Is this to join the protest in Yellowstone Park?” Rhea asked.
“Two years ago, we decided that we had been invisible for too long. We established a First People’s Drum Day. We awaited the White Wolves to give us the date and the time. We know now that it is today and the drums will cry out on behalf of Mother Earth. I must go to my people now,” Little Elk said. He turned and walked past the wolves and into the gathering.
“There you have the story,” Rhea said. “This is an event that has been planned for two years and no one outside the Native American community has apparently heard about it. Now back to New York.”
Rhea’s image was replaced by the network anchorman.
“In terms of major protests, this ranks fairly small,” the anchorman said. “Estimates are currently that there are between 100,000 and 150,000 Native Americans gathered in a reported forty-seven states and Canadian provinces. That they have chosen this day cannot be a coincidence and we shift you now to Evan Waitley at Yellowstone’s Grizzly Village. Evan?”
The image on screen shifted back to Yellowstone where Evan Waitley held his microphone. In the distance, they could see Mandy still standing at the top of the rise.
“We are now five minutes from the time that Shale Oil Company has indicated they will begin pumping the pressurized gasses into the shale layer, forcing the oil into prepared channels. A company spokesman—not here, but in Houston—has indicated that the only sign there will be of the commencement will be a high-pitched whistle as the gasses and steam begin to flow. He says that while this will undoubtedly disturb wildlife in the area for a few minutes, the whistle will rapidly fade as the pressure equalizes, causing less than ten minutes’ disturbance.”
“Evan,” said the studio voice, “has there been any change in the status of the encampment or a report of arrival of the U.S. Marshals?”
“The encampment, as you can see below us, has shown some sign of life, with people moving about. A large fire has been lit in the center of the camp and appears to be surrounded by drums. We projected earlier that there would be a ritual mourning of some sort and we assume that is what is being prepared. Perhaps this will be echoed by the gatherings you have reported across the country. As to the Marshals that you saw leaving Cody, they did arrive at the Eastern Gate and moved toward Fishing Bridge on the north side of Yellowstone Lake. Their progress, however, was suddenly arrested when what appears to be a large portion of the bison herd here in Yellowstone ambled onto the road and are simply not moving. This occurred before the cutoff that could take traffic around to the south. From what the Park Service is reporting, the herd seems disinclined to move and is just standing in the roadway.”
“Thank you, Evan. And we are, in fact, just seconds…” the station reporter’s voice was drowned out by a piercing scream and Evan plastered his hands over his ears as he doubled over, ripping his headset away from his ears. The camera swung wildly for a moment and came to rest on Evan with Mandy far in the background.
“That, apparently was the high-pitched whistle we were warned about,” Evan said once he had regained his microphone. It has left our ears ringing and continues, though slightly abated in the background. We can assume that the pseudo-fracking has commenced.”
“Evan! Behind you! Something is happening with the Earth Sister speaker.”
The reporter, of course, did not hear without his headset and continued talking, but apparently, the cameraman either heard or noticed and began zooming in on Mandy on the distant rise. She was raising her hands and as they rose, a distant rumbling grew.
“There is not a cloud in the sky, but we are getting some thunder in the background. Wait!” The cameraman got Waitley’s attention and the reporter turned to face Mandy. “It’s hard to believe that this thunder could be under her direction, but as Earth Sister raises her hands, there is no question that the volume is increasing. It seems to be coming from the mountain overlooking this basin.”
Mandy’s hands suddenly dropped and a boom echoed over the valley from mountain to mountain. It completely overrode the scream still issuing from the pseudo-fracking site. And at once, the boom was echoed by the drums in the village. Some fifty or more big drums surrounded the fire with at least three people beating on each one. And their call was answered again from the mountain.
The screen suddenly split into four parts with images labeled, Yellowstone, Seattle, Oklahoma City, and New York. It appeared that the drums in all locations were exactly matched. All but the Yellowstone window scenes and windows were renamed Hilo, Cody, and Ottawa. The three windows were rearranged on one side of the screen as the larger picture of Yellowstone expanded.
“It sounds like more drums with an amplification system were set up on the mountain to completely fill the valley with sound. The ground, itself, is shaking under the reverberation of the drums. And now, Earth Sister is pointing at the drilling site as if she were directing… Oh, my! This is unbelievable. Wildlife that we have not seen all day are suddenly teeming in the valley. If this is an illusion, it is not just visual. We can feel and hear the hoofbeats. And… There are larger animals coming over the rise behind Earth Sister. She’ll be trampled!”
The Family
The family watched in disbelief as the scene unfolded live on the air. The network announcer kept screaming for Evan to pull back to a safer location, but the newsman had no headset and couldn’t be heard over the noise of the herds thundering down around Earth Sister on the rise. The animals parted around her as if she were a rock in the stream and stampeded toward the installation. And then two animals stopped momentarily on either side.
“That is the biggest fucking moose I’ve ever heard of!” Kyle whispered.
“It’s not just a moose. It’s Phile,” Mary Beth said. “That’s my son.”
“That’s not all,” Ramie said. “Caitlin is riding Wolf. I’d recognize that beast anywhere. I’ve ridden in his head. Oh, please be safe, little sister.” After the brief pause, the two animals loped ahead with their riders. It took a moment for everyone to realize that Mandy was no longer with them or on the rise.
“They took her to safety,” Cole whispered.
Then the first wave of bison hit the chain link fence. For a moment, it looked like it would hold while the defenders poured gunfire into the herd. But then the fence bowed inward and gave way to the thousands of tons of force stampeding into the installation. Once the fence was down, the stampede picked up momentum again, crashing into buildings like a tidal wave and bringing them to the ground.
The drumming thunder and stampeding animals drowned out the sound of the gunfire from the enclosure. A few animals went down, but the herd continued without noticing. Small animals seemed to move to the side or simply avoid the hooves of the larger beasts. In the center of the massive surge Caitlin and Phile, in their White Wolf robes, rode their spirit animals with drums raised over their heads urging the stampede forward. In the small screen, the drumbeats from other locations across the continent looked to be exactly synchronized with the beat of their drums.
A lone gunman remained, firing from a central tower that was already being rocked by the herds. With a look of determination on his face, he sighted in and squeezed off two rapid bursts of fire. Then the tower toppled.
But it had been enough.
“My babies!” Cole, Mary Beth, and Ashley all screamed at once. Even from the distance of the camera, it was easy to see the two rocked back off their animals. In another flash, three figures appeared in the stampede that parted around them. They picked up the bodies and disappeared again.
There was no slowing of the stampede. As one wave moved past the installation, another appeared on the horizon to rush across the valley. It continued for over an hour, the disconsolate parents and siblings unable to tear their eyes from the screen.
Ninth Live Report
Evan Waitley appeared to be transfixed. His microphone dangled loosely from his hand as he stared across the valley at the utter destruction rained down on the installation by thousands of animals. Birds swooped in from a darkened sky and picked remnants from among the rampaging beasts, carrying them off or devouring them on the spot.
The network continued to try to get his attention, finally lending a voiceover for the scene.
“Reports have begun arriving that the ravaging of Shale Oil Company was not limited to this Yellowstone location. The company managed evacuation of only three of the twenty-three sites in the Rocky Mountains where pseudo-fracking operations had begun construction. All twenty-three sites have been reported as destroyed by Forest Service helicopters. The destruction has been so complete that it is as if the operations had never existed.”
“In other news, drumming continues at all sites currently occupied by Native Americans in over seventy cities. Reports indicate that the numbers are increasing as non-Indians have approached from every direction, some carrying drums to join the rhythm, others beating on pots and pans, garbage cans, and pipes. There is scarcely a corner of any city of any size that cannot hear the beating drums. Even those who have joined late have picked up the rhythms set by the native drummers and have synchronized with them.”
Scenes flashed from around the country as local reporters vied for their moment on national television. Helicopters overflew different sites where Shale Oil Company once had installations. All were gone with no sign but the trampled ground where thousands of hoofs had trod.
Evan Waitley eventually looked down at his microphone and discarded headset. He donned the headset and turned to the camera. Tears streamed down his face. Across the valley, only a few animals remained. Even those animals killed during the action had been dragged away by predators and scavengers. No sign of the installation remained.
“I’m overwhelmed,” he choked. “I am a seasoned reporter, having served embedded with U.S. troops in war zones of the Middle East. In the most intense bombing raids of those wars, I have never seen such utter destruction. And no one can say we were not warned. Will Shale Oil Company attempt to recoup losses by suing the perpetrators? Who? Mother Nature? Was this, in the final analysis, an act of God?” The reporter faltered and pointed toward the road between him and the protesters’ village. The camera swung to cover the area.
“The drums continue in the village, though there is a different tempo now. The thunder drum on the mountain is at a low rumble.” The camera picked up the arrival of a dozen black SUVs driving out onto the fields off the road. Two hundred yards from the village, they pulled to a stop and the officers piled out of the cars.
“We can see that the U.S. Marshals have arrived on the scene. It is unclear what they intend to do. They are not being supported by National Guardsmen as intended and the fifty or so deputies seem an unlikely number to confront what we estimate to be a thousand souls in the village. Certainly, they have no buses to begin transporting the people.”
The marshals donned their riot gear and armed themselves, making a show of their superior force. Mostly smaller animals continued to roam the installation site where a helicopter camera showed the last of the cement blocks that had been used being smashed to dust.
“What we are seeing now is a team of U.S. Marshals, armed with rifles and shotguns, moving toward Yellowstone Grizzly Village. The rhythm of the drumming has changed. The amplified drums from the mountain are softening. It is as if they have been waiting for this moment all day and the entire destruction of the pseudo-fracking installation has been just a warmup. The only people we can see from this vantage point are the drummers and they are shielded from view of the marshals by the rows of tents. It seems that everyone but the drummers has disappeared.”
The drumming changed rhythm again to a drone, echoed by the drum in the mountains. The drone rose in volume as it had earlier in the afternoon. Marshals were taking up positions where they could see and raising their rifles. However the drums were being controlled, though, the three strong beats followed by a pause and a single strike were in perfect sync with the beats that echoed from the mountain.
In cities around the country, there was sudden silence and crowds began to disperse without a word.
Before the echo died, the village was gone.
A single shot rang out from a marshal who was apparently too keyed up. There was nothing for it to hit. In front of the marshals, a prairie stood that appeared undisturbed by human presence. Guns were lowered as the marshals took in the situation.
“We heard earlier that the National Guard was ordered to restore this basin such that no sign of human occupation existed,” the newsman reported. “It seems that their job has been done for them. We have broadcast this and we have witnessed it. But I cannot explain it. There is not even a sign of the installation…”
The reporter broke off, interrupted by a boom from the site of the installation. The camera swung to the site and a geyser shot into the air over a hundred feet. It lasted for about ninety seconds and then subsided.
“It appears Old Faithful has a young competitor for attention,” the reporter said. “This is Evan Waitley signing off from Yellowstone National Park.”
The Family
The television, of course, continued to broadcast repeats of the day’s activities complete with analysis from animal behaviorists, geologists, and politicians. Someone picked out and enhanced the picture that showed Caitlin and Phile, the White Wolves, shot from their animals. The family snapped off the television and held each other in silent tears.
Cole extracted himself from his wives, who clung to each other. He reached for the radio on his desk.
“Delta Oh Niner, base calling,” he said into the hand mike.
“This is Delta Oh Niner,” came the response. “Everything is golden.”
“Send a team up to the ridge to see if there are any survivors,” Cole said.
“Survivors, sir?”
“The news has reported the complete destruction of all twenty-three Shale Oil Company sites. If there are survivors, we need to render aid. If they are firing, use your own judgment, but if there are injured, radio for helicopter extraction.”
“Affirmative. Delta Oh Niner out.” Cole placed the mike back on its clip.
“How can you offer aid to those people?” Ashley screamed. “They killed our children!”
Cole rushed to his wives and caught them in his arms.
“I hate them, too,” he said softly. “But if our children left anyone alive, it was for a reason. This is our land and we protect it and those who honor it.”
“You have been so good for us today, my love,” Ramie said as she kissed Aubrey. It was dark. Cole had settled his wives in their room and ‘the kids’ went back to their bunkhouse home. The two-bedroom apartment would be too small soon. The two little girls could share a room for a while, but soon they would need more space. Cole had mentioned the possibility of switching houses with them, but Ramie couldn’t imagine her parents giving up the ranch house, no matter how many generations were arriving. Kyle had mentioned possibly building something new, maybe on the site where the original cabin had been when the first Laramie Wyoming Bell had homesteaded it. That had a certain symmetry to it.
“Don’t give up hope,” Aubrey whispered to her wife. She turned and kissed Kyle with as much passion as the exhausted pair could muster. Exhaustion had overflowed on the babies, as well, and they were sound asleep in the other bedroom. “We haven’t heard the end of this story yet.”
“The box is empty,” Ramie said.
“Have you opened it to be sure?” her lover asked. “Don’t. Not yet. I just think the box holds many possibilities that it has not revealed yet.”
The Family
“I didn’t want to be there, but… but…” Cole and Mary Beth looked down at the damaged man in the hospital bed.
“You needed the job?” Cole demanded. The man had been identified as Tom Reynolds. Cole’s team had found only one survivor at the installation on the ridge. He wasn’t the only survivor of the Oil Field War, as it had been dubbed, but he was the only one hospitalized in Laramie. Cole’s team had found no other sign of life or of the installation that had displaced the Alexander Bell Ranch cattle just a few days ago. Even evidence that Cole had leased the National Forest lands had been erased. The animal-proof lock boxes, the chuck wagon, and the tent platforms they used while grazing cattle were all gone without a trace.
“Yes,” the man whispered. “I needed a job, but… it was the insurance.”
“What do you mean?”
“I believed Earth Sister. I thought I’d be killed. Company insurance pays triple if you are killed on the job. My Sara. She can’t get treatment. With the money from my policy, she could get well. I volunteered for the job expecting to die. They should have let me die. Now I have these hospital bills, too.” The man turned his head away and Cole could hear his sobs.
“You were committing suicide?” Cole asked softly. That was even more troubling. The man weakly nodded.
“Don’t give up hope,” Mary Beth said. “We’ll help you and your Sara. She needs you even more than she needs the treatment.”
Cole stopped at the desk as he and Mary Beth left the hospital and arranged to pay any expenses the man had that weren’t covered by his insurance.
“All this time—even while reading the kids’ story—I thought my part was just a failed experiment. I rode off in Kyle Wardlaw’s head and collected all kinds of lost treasure, stole it from Joe Teine, and hid it where we could use it to fight him in the range war,” Cole said. “I never really understood why there was still so much left. Why it keeps growing and there’s more in the Gold Watch Foundation now than there was when we started.”
“Now you know,” Ashley said. “I want to hate everyone who had anything to do with my children being killed. I want to destroy them, their families, and every trace that they existed, just like the animals did to the installations.” She paced around the office, stopping to look at Cole’s guns as if she was ready to strap them on herself. “I can’t. We have to… help those people who were caught up in the event without knowing… or understanding what they were doing. The injured. Widows. Orphans. Protesters. Mother Earth gave us this wealth so we could pick up the pieces after her war.”
“It was our war, too,” Ramie said. “We can’t lay it at her feet just because we didn’t ride animals into battle. We sat around moaning about how awful what they were doing was. All that time, my little brother and sister were preparing to do something about it. We aren’t that far removed from both sides.”
“There are few casualties that require medical aid,” Mary Beth said. She had spearheaded the effort to discover how many were injured and hospitalized when the installations were destroyed. “We have forty-seven in hospitals, who survived the attack, not including the Alabama police officer who was bitten by a wolf when he tried to wade into a drum circle to disperse them. We’ll chalk that one up to stupidity.”
“What’s the number of casualties that don’t require medical aid?” Jason asked. He wondered in the dark recesses of his mind if it had been as bad as when he and Kyle massacred the Twin Wolves’ village.
“Shale Oil has not been forthcoming about the number of people who were at the installations when the attack began. They managed to evacuate three of them,” Cole said. “It will take us a while to get identities, but the news estimates 240 people died in the attack. That means 240 families that need our assistance.”
“Then there’s legal defense,” Aubrey said as she held baby Katherine to her breast. “It looks like Lieutenant Bass may be charged with dereliction of duty, though analysts have said the case is beyond shaky and lawyers are already demanding an open trial rather than a military tribunal. The only charge that might stick is for unlawful imprisonment of those Special Forces people, a civil rather than military offense, and since they were giving unlawful orders that probably won’t go anywhere. It appears the other members of the National Guard are being excused for their part. There was a couple dozen protesters arrested. They weren’t Indians. They were people who came late to the party and got mad it was over.”
“I think those can defend themselves,” Ramie said.
“Yes, I agree,” Aubrey said. “But… arrest warrants have been issued for John Little Elk and Amanda Stevens for inciting a riot. They identified Earth Sister as Mandy.”
“There was no riot,” Cole growled.
“Apparently, inflammatory talk is the same thing. If they get caught, we need to defend them.”
“How are we for money, Pa?” Kyle asked.
“We can distribute close to a billion dollars without revealing the extent of our resources,” Cole answered. “I think maybe we should buy that company and just grind the rest of it into dust.”
Comments
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