THE HARVEST

CHAPTER THREE: TWO GHOSTS, PART ONE THE GATHERING STORM       p. 19 

Kunai bathed the two ghosts as she scrubbed both of their bodies carefully, cleaning every recess and crevice. Kittie thought, "They must think we are filthy, as thoroughly as she is cleaning us; perhaps they are getting ready to put us in a pot and cook us."

Kunai said, "There, you are both clean on the outside. Tomorrow we will cleanse your spirit as well. Stand, and I will dress you in traditional garb. After tomorrow, you, my brother, and my sister will be honorary citizens of the K'punaka Nation. At that time, we will give you a tribal name." Steve and Kittie stood up as Kunai took a large white towel and began to dry off their skin. She walked away from them to a wardrobe and opened its door to reveal a selection of native garb. "Come over to me. I will dress you, because tonight you are our guests, and you will have the seat of honor at our feast." The Two Ghosts looked at each other uneasily. Something didn't feel right.

That night, they were honored by the K'punaka people, and they feasted. Afterwards, they gathered at a central location with a teepee in the middle. Inside the teepee was Chief Nuknuk, who sat behind the fire. He began to tell the history of the tribe that began with the story of creation. After about an hour, he finished the story of how all the chiefs of all the animals agreed to sacrifice their lives for the food of the humans who came to the earth from the stars. Steve yawned, and he tried his best not to; it was their fault for feeding him so much food, he thought. He looked at Kittie, and she was mesmerized by the tale, and another outsider sat in the front row with them. She was a Black woman with fine features and Jamaican dreads.

After the chief had finished, Kuzih walked to the front of the teepee from the inner circle. He said, "Tonight we have two very special guests the Trickster has sent us." They come to spy on us during our preparation for war against the Trickster's Nation."

That woke Steve up, and he nudged Kittie. Her eyes were wide open with fright, but they both stayed put and listened.

He continued, "Bring the Mountie to me!" He pointed to Kunai, she got up and walked behind the teepee, and she grabbed Trembley and hauled him out to the front of the teepee for all to see. He was tightly bound and gagged, and he seemed doped up yet alert enough to know what was happening to him. "I want our special guest to see what we do to spies during war, and tomorrow, after the spiritual cleansing ritual, if they do not see our ways, they will receive the same punishment as Inspector Trembley."

Steve shouted, "You'll never get away with this; they know where we are!"

Chief Nuknuk said, "They think you kidnapped him." Their camera shows you pulling a gun on him and forcing him into a car. Tomorrow, they will find his car at the bottom of Olive Lake in an area of the lake that is nearly inaccessible, and they will think you have perished." 

Angela Bailey took over for Kunai, and she continued the demonstration for the guests. She pulled out a sharp dagger and swiftly cut the inspector's throat. Blood spewed from his throat like a fountain as she pulled his head back and carefully scalped him. When she finished, Kunai held up the scalp and walked over to Kuzih, bowed, and gave the scalp to him. The medicine donned the scalp and whooped loudly. The entire tribe began to shout and dance, and then the wolves in the timber joined in with their cousins, the humans.

Kunai led the guests back to the lodge and shoved them in the door one at a time. Outside, she said in a loud voice, "Don't let the two ghosts escape." They may be our food for tomorrow night's war feast," and Kittie could hear the blood-splattered daughter of Kuzih laugh as she walked away from them.

Kittie said, "God, Steve, she makes my skin crawl. Just think, she touched every inch of our bodies. That woman is nuts, and who is that Black woman who so readily cut the throat of the inspector?"

"If you ask me, the whole nation is nuts; Chief Nuknuk, Kuzih, Kunai, the Black woman, and the whole group...they fucking murdered an inspector of the RCMP! And he was on their side, a member of the Voice church. Kittie, they won't blink an eye at scalping us. That motherfucking Wescott, what has he gotten us into on this one? I think we should take a run for it."

"Run where?" She noted. "The whole area is named after them. Everyone who sees us will know we are the two ghosts."

"Well, won't the Trembleys' nieces and nephews be upset over his disappearance?"

"Right, Steve, and who do you think they will be looking for?"

"Well, it is a big land, and we can go unseen to the States." He answered.

"I think we should pretend to see the 'light' and join the tribe...we are undercover after all."

"Okay, okay..." He paced back and forth. "We pretend we believe and become one of them and hope they can't read minds like the people of the Voice, right?"

"I can lie pretty well, Steve. Hell, I believed I was a drug smuggler when we were in Miami. We can do it if we set our minds to it."

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