Eagle People (33 page)

MASHECK SAT IN HIS LODGE
beside the Japanese trader. The trader was shrewd and intelligent, but he wanted the women and young girls the tribe had. He knew once in Japan, the young girls alone would make him a wealthy man and the women would add to his riches. Guns were cheap now and there was no international control over where they were sold or taken, so Japan was dealing in slaves, the second oldest market in history.

“I will give you ten cases of guns for the women and girls, but that is my final offer. If you want to trade, I will have the guns here in a week.”

“Eleven cases.”

“Ten cases, and I can honestly go no higher.”

“Okay, ten cases then. Can you include ammunition with the guns?”

“Of course; I'll add ten cases of bullets, too. Call it a gift of trust.”

“It shall be done then.” Mascheck extended his hand and they shook.

“Now,” The Japanese said, “I have need of young boys, but not men. Some will be trained for work, while others will be used in ways that are none of my business. I can give double the amount of guns I pay for young girls.”

“How many do you need?” Masheck asked as he thought,
most of the boys will likely be used as sex slaves by men and women. Any man who'd do such a thing should be drawn and quartered, but the Japanese have a different culture than mine—and I need more guns.

“As many as you can get, but they must be under the age of fourteen.”

Turning to Zedock, he asked, “How many captured boys do we have in the tribe?”

“Oh, I'd guess two dozen from various tribes and most are real young. Off the top of my head, I'd guess most are under ten and maybe four over ten, around twelve or so. You know we don't let any male, usually, over twelve live. The twelve year olds have been with us a couple of years.”

Masheck said, “Go now and round them up for an accurate count and then get back here with their numbers.”

Zedock stood, nodded at the Japanese, and then left the lodge.

“As you heard, we may have around twenty-four boys. How many guns will they bring?”

“I will give you twenty-five cases of guns for that many boys, and the same in cases of ammunition. So, if you have the proper number of boys, you'll have thirty-five cases of guns and the same number of cases of ammunition.”

Masheck nodded and thought,
With that many guns and ammunition, I can wipe the Mountain People from the face of the earth.

Ten days later, the Japanese man arrived, loaded down with guns and ammunition. The slaves were gathered up and a group of the trader's men, mostly Asian, took control of them. He said, “Some of the guns are not AK-47's, but SKS, which is also a good gun. Both will fire when dirty or treated poorly by the owner.”

“How many AK-47's did you bring?” Masheck asked.

“Thirty four cases of them and only one of the SKS. The ammunition is being stacked beside your weapons.”

“When will you return?”

“In about six months. I have to return to Japan, turn the slaves over to an auction house, get more guns and ammunition, and then return. I hope you will have many new slaves for me when I come back.”  The trader smiled.

“It will give me time to conduct many more raids for slaves.”

“I can trade for all you can collect. Of the women, there is less demand for those over thirty, so try to get young ones.”

“We must take what a village has to offer, but if over thirty, unless a beauty with an exceptional body, we'll keep her for my men.” Masheck said, and then shrugged.

“Good, now come and count your guns and ammunition. I must return to the coast as soon as possible.”

Once the trader was gone, Masheck said to Zedock, “Now every man in the village will have a rifle, and we have much ammunition as well. We must raid the Mountain People soon, so we can gather more slaves, more valuable slaves. It angers me that we've been killing all males, regardless of their age, and they're worth more than the girls. In the future, when I trade boys, I'll ask for pistols, so we can all be armed better.”

“I see a day when all will fear the Snake People.”

“I agree; we are much stronger, and with each additional gun we grow more secure. But, for now, I want you to hit the Southern Mountain People in the morning, just as the sun comes up. I want the village totally destroyed and no one to escape. All males over ten, kill, but collect all women. The young ones we will keep and the older ones will either be turned into slaves, given to the men, or killed here.”

“It shall be done.”

The morning air was cold as Zedock and his men waited in the woods surrounding the village of the Southern Mountain People. No one was stirring, but smoke was starting to come from the lodges, and at times a cough was heard. The sun, slow to show this morning, was just coming up, but would be hidden by dark, almost black, clouds of rain or snow. The day would be cold, overcast, and eventually some sort of precipitation would fall. Snow or rain didn't matter to the Snake warriors, but Zedock worried about the slaves. Captives will need extra care if the weather turns too cold, or if these clouds bring us snow or rain.
I'll have the men gather up blankets and clothing once the attack is over,
he thought.
Hopefully I will manage to keep all of them alive. A dead slave does us little good.

Turning to Luther, he said, “Get the men on their feet and ready to attack. I want you to lead the men into the village and try to make short work of this place.”

“With our guns, they'll not resist long. I will attack as soon as the men are alerted.” He then moved down the line speaking to his warriors.

Giving a loud scream five minutes later, Luther and his men ran from the woods. All the men were yelling and moving as a huge human wedge toward the village.

Warriors from the Southern Mountain People ran from their lodges and made a gallant stand, but it was fruitless, as they were slaughtered in small groups or individually. One warrior ran at Luther, who noticed the warrior was armed with only a spear. Bringing his weapon to his shoulders, Luther fired one round and saw blood fly from his target's back. The warrior fell screaming, so another round hit his head, almost in the center of his nose. He fell back to the hard-packed soil of the village center, unmoving.

As his group rushed past the lodges, warriors waiting for just this opportunity stepped from the flimsy structures and released arrows. Four men fell, their screams almost unheard over the continuous yells of others. Each released a second arrow, but a Snake warrior flipped his weapon to automatic and killed all of them with one long continuous burst of bullets. Body parts and gore flew through the air as blood splashed the bullet scarred wall behind them. Luther grinned as he watched the doomed men do an almost comical dance as the bullets struck.

A few minutes later, the firing slowed, and then almost stopped, with only an occasional shot heard. Then it grew quiet, except for the groans, moans, and screams of the wounded.

“Finish off their injured men and take all the captive boys and females to the village center.” Zedock ordered as he walked among the captives looking them over.
Fine looking bunch we got this morning. Must be a good fifteen or so boys and a good twenty girls,
he thought with a huge smile.  
Hard to tell how many women yet.

As if reading his mind, Luther walked to him and said, “Forty-five women, but not all are of prime age. I'd guess thirty are still in their twenties and the rest older.”

“Any grandmas that you could see?”

Grandma was a term used by the tribe to label any woman too old to conceive a child. Luther smiled and said, “Six, as far as I know, but one is a real looker.”

“Bring all of them to me.”

As the old women were pulled from the group, a young boy screamed, “Nana!”

“I'm okay, Nathan.” one of the woman replied, but Zedock couldn't see her.

“Nana!” the boy screamed again, but a guard struck him hard on the head with a gun butt.

Luther walked to the guard and said, “That boy'd better live, or I'll have your head. The captives mean more to us than you. I want all of you guards to remember, without our slaves, we have no People.”

“He'll live, I didn't hit his ass that hard.”

The older women were brought forward and lined up for Zedock to view. Most were old, well into their sixties, with wrinkled eyes and white hair, but then he spotted one in the middle of the group.  She was short, just a bit over five feet, shapely, with blue eyes and red hair. Her complexion was smooth and slightly tanned.

He stopped in front of her and asked, “What are you called?”

“I am Nora.” she replied with her head up and chin out.  

He could see the defiance in her bottomless blue eyes. He ignored her anger and asked, “How old are you?”

“I am fifty-four and the mother of three of the women you have taken captive.”

“Are you a grandmother yet?”

“I am.”

Zedock then said, “Luther, place her with her daughters.”

Long tense minutes passed as the women welcomed their mother and the boy that had been struck with the gun butt came around. The boy stood rubbing his head, but he remained quiet.

Zedock finally said, “Luther, line these five women up, belly to back.”

Luther roughly lined them up and said, “They're ready.”

“I want all of you captives to see what happens when you disobey the Snake People. We are now your new masters and we, no one else, will determine if you live or die. We have the power to let you live or die.” Zedock said.

While he allowed time for his words to sink in, the five older women began praying.

Then, without another word, he pointed his rifle at the women and pulled the trigger. One round flew through all five and they dropped. The captives screamed and cried, but Zedock simply walked down the line of dead and wounded grandmas and placed a bullet in each head. In a matter of seconds, a large puddle of blood formed under the dead women. Their bodies twitched, but hardened man he was, he ignored it.

“Try to escape and we will kill you and if you have a child, we'll kill your child too. Think well, before you disobey us. Disobedience will not be tolerated. Luther, get these slaves moving.”

Before they left the village, snow began to fall and Zedock called out, “Luther, have the captives put on their extra clothing. The temperature will drop like an old woman's chest in a bit.”

“I'll see to it.”

The walk was cold and they'd not brought horses on the trip, because they wanted to move with little noise. The stealth had been worth a little walking. When Zedock looked at the captives, he no longer saw fellow human beings, but cases of rifles and ammunition.

Snow began to stick. They continued to move, because the Snakes knew home was near, and they'd be more comfortable in their lodges. Once home, hot food would be eaten, their wives were near, and sleep would come. The prisoners were scared, some even injured, but all suspecting their future was taking a terrible turn for the worst.

It was after midnight when they moved into the Snake village, and the captives were moved to the large lodges built for their stay. The warriors, except for guards, all went to their lodges to relax and eat. Zedock walked to Masheck's lodge and knocked on the door.

The winds were high enough that little dust devils in white moved across the center of the village, and Zedock shivered as he waited. A minute later the door opened and Masheck smiled as he said, “Enter, please, it's cold outside.”  

He then opened the door wide.

Zedock entered and the heat from the fire was overpowering to him. He'd been in the wind and cold for so long, warmth felt hot.
We must have all been close to hypothermia,
he thought.

“The shaman says the temperature is around twenty degrees, with the winds gusting up to forty miles an hour. Why didn't you hunt a hole, instead of walking back?”

“No food for one thing, and we'd already completely destroyed the village before the snows came. I was concerned that we might lose some of the slaves in the snow, too. Visibility was poor and the risk great, especially if we stopped over night. So, here we are. We lost no one on the return trip.”