Ancient Forces Collection (9 page)

As evening approached, most of the village turned out for Swift Arrow’s council. Scott and Becka stayed in the background since they didn’t want their friendship with him to cause a problem. He had already been accused of following the ways of the white man, and having two white kids by his side probably wouldn’t help him much. Still, from their vantage point they could see most of the tribe and enjoy looking at all the ceremonial clothing.

“I wish Ryan were here,” Becka sighed for the hundredth time. “He would love this.”

“Yeah,” Scott said, apparently barely listening. “Check out that fellow over there. He must have a thousand feathers.”

Becka turned to see a tall brave wearing a full headdress made of bright red feathers from head to toe. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “He looks awesome.”

Scott nodded. “But he must have wiped out the entire cardinal population from here to the Arizona state line.”

“Those aren’t cardinal feathers.” Becka almost laughed. “They dye the feathers to get them that color.”

“Oh yeah,” Scott said, obviously trying to cover his ignorance, “I knew that.”

Becka smiled.

“But the thing that really gets me is — ”

“Shh,” she said, “Swift Arrow is talking again. Listen.”

They directed their attention back to the clearing where Swift Arrow stood on a tree stump, trying to explain Christianity to his people. “You need not be afraid of angry gods,” he was saying. “There is only one God, and he is a loving God. The Father of us all.”

There was a quiet buzz among the people. Swift Arrow continued, “The evil in the world comes from the devil. But he is not all-powerful. He is only a fallen angel. You do not have to make sacrifices to him for protection. All you have to do is believe in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. He came down from heaven to die for what we have done wrong. He came to suffer and take the punishment for our sins. We need only believe in him and ask him to be our chief, our Lord. We need only obey him and accept his free gift of salvation in order that we might have everlasting peace with our Father.”

“What of the teachings of our ancestors?” a tall brave with three feathers in his hair demanded.

“It is as you’ve always suspected,” Swift Arrow answered. “Some of it is true, and some of it is false. Dark Bear has twisted the teachings to suit himself. He is keeping you from the real truth.”

Scott leaned over to Becka and whispered, “He preaches a pretty good sermon.”

Becka nodded as she searched the crowd.

“Who are you looking for?” Scott asked.

“Dark Bear. I was hoping he’d at least drop by for a listen.”

“Or a major showdown,” Scott added.

“Well, even that might have been okay. But if he’s not here, where is he? What is he up to?”

Not far away, at the site of the avalanche and Dark Bear’s holy place, a small fire burned. And Dark Bear danced around that fire furiously. He paused only for a moment, just long enough to throw an angry look back toward Swift Arrow’s council. And then, ever so slowly, he reached into the satchel hanging around his neck. He pulled out a handful of fine, blue powder, then tossed it into the fire.

There was a loud whoosh as flames shot high into the sky, then immediately died down. Once again, Dark Bear lowered his head and began dancing . . . and chanting . . .

“Jesus Christ is not the white man’s God.” Swift Arrow continued speaking to the crowd, and some were beginning to listen. “He is everyone’s God. He was born a Jew and lived and died in Palestine two thousand years ago — nearly fifteen hundred years before the white man came and drove us from our land. The white man has embraced his truth, yes, but so have millions of Chinese, Africans, Latin Americans, and people all over the world. The God of the Bible is not the God of the white man. He is the God of
all
people.”

A loud crack of thunder jolted the group. Instinctively, Swift Arrow turned toward Dark Bear’s holy place. In the distance, he could see the reflection of a fire as it burned. Against the cliffs, he could make out the flickering of a shadow . . . the shadow of a man dancing.

Swift Arrow forced himself to continue. “It is not my fault that the rain has not come. It is not a punishment from the gods. Dark Bear has misled you.”

A handful of people nodded their heads in agreement. A few coughed lightly. Soft at first, the coughing grew until it was obvious someone was starting to choke.

Becka tensed. It was the same choking Scott had experienced earlier. Now others were starting to cough and gasp for breath.

Becka threw a look to Scott. This was not good. Not good at all. One, two, a handful of people dropped to their knees, coughing, choking, and struggling to breathe. And to make matters worse, they were the very ones who had been nodding their heads in agreement. “Dark Bear,” Becka whispered.

“We’d better do something fast.”

“Like what? What can we do?”

“Satan,” Scott spoke softly, “in the name of Jesus Christ, we command you to stop this coughing.”

“That’s right,” Becka whispered in agreement. “In the name of Christ, we demand that you stop this attack.”

Scott nodded. “Whatever evil is at work here, we remind you that the name of Jesus is stronger than any other name, and it is by his name that we order you to leave and command that peace and health be restored back to these people. Now. We command you to leave now!”

Immediately, the coughing subsided. While a few people remained on the ground, trying to recover their wits, others rose and began to breathe normally. Most, however, were simply anxious to leave. They knew what had happened, and they wanted no more of it. They started moving, shoving, and trying to get as far away from Swift Arrow’s council as possible.

Swift Arrow watched helplessly as his people left the clearing and headed for their homes. He looked broken and defeated. His council was over. And if anything had been proven, it was that Dark Bear’s strength and influence were more powerful than his own.

8

B
efore going to bed that night, Becka and Scott offered to pray with Swift Arrow. He clearly felt defeated, and they wanted to encourage him.

“Listen,” Becka told him, “when things get the toughest, that’s when God works his greatest miracles.”

“That’s right,” Scott agreed. “When we’re our weakest, that’s when he’s the strongest.”

Swift Arrow nodded, but it was obvious his heart was anything but encouraged. He had finally worked up the courage to face Dark Bear, and all he had been met with was defeat.

“Dear Lord,” Becka prayed as they bowed their heads together, “we know you shine brightest in the darkest places. And right now, at least on the surface, everything looks bad. We ask — we pray in Jesus’ name — that you step in now. That you take what our enemy has chosen for evil and turn it around for good. We ask this because of your great love for us and for this whole village. We ask this in your Son’s precious and holy name. Amen.”

Scott and Swift Arrow joined in saying amen. Then, before they headed off to bed, all three agreed to pray again first thing in the morning. Becka could see that that gave Swift Arrow some assurance, but she was still concerned. About Ryan.

She hadn’t seen him all day, and her worries had only increased. She chose to wait up for him. It was nearly ten o’clock when he finally lumbered into camp. He looked very tired, and there was a strangely distant look in his eyes.

“We missed you tonight,” Becka said as he approached, heading for his tent.

He slowed to a stop but said nothing.

She tried again. “You would have really loved the council. Swift Arrow made a great speech, and you should have seen all the people dressed in their outfits.”

“Ceremonial clothes,” Ryan corrected her.

“Right, ceremonial clothes. It was great.” She waited for him to say something else, but when he didn’t, she finally asked, “Where were you?”

“Off with Little Creek. He’s teaching me a lot of stuff.”

It was Becka’s turn to remain quiet. The silence grew.

“Listen,” Ryan finally said, “I’m sorry I haven’t been around very much lately, but I’m really trying to make the most of this trip.”

“Sure,” Becka answered hesitantly, not really understanding. By “making the most of this trip,” did he mean staying away from her? Was he saying he wanted to cool off their relationship? Or was it something else? Was it more about God than about her? There was so much she wanted to ask Ryan. Maybe another moonlight stroll on the ridge would help. Maybe there he could finally open up and share what he was feeling. She was just about to suggest it when he turned abruptly and started for his tent.

“Ryan . . .”

He turned back toward her. “What?”

But the words would not come. She shrugged. “Nothing.”

He started to turn, but she had to say something.

“Just . . . we could sure use your support tomorrow. Dark Bear did a real number at Swift Arrow’s council tonight. People were choking and gasping for air and everything. And tomorrow night is Dark Bear’s council. So we’re going to get together first thing in the morning and pray with Swift Arrow.”

Ryan nodded absently. “I’ll try to be there. Listen, it’s getting pretty late . . .”