Born of Hatred

'Six… sixteen,' he said between haggard breaths.

'Your surname?'

'W…Ward.'

'Tell me about your mum and dad.'

Sam found it hard to catch his breath, but he forced himself to speak. 'Mum was the daughter of a bank robber, Dad was a U.S. Marshal.'

'Bet that made for an interesting upbringing.'

Sam sighed, and took another deep breath. 'Mum died when I was four. Smallpox.'

'I'm sorry,' I said. 'How's your breathing?'

Sam looked surprised. 'Better. I thought I was going to die.'

'You just needed something to focus on until your breathing calmed. You stay here and concentrate on your breathing, okay? I'll be back in a few minutes.'

'Stay a minute.' Sam's voice was barely above a whisper.

I sat down on the soft ground beside him.

'That is…was Victoria… Missus Warren,' Sam said and spat onto the ground. 'Bad taste.'

I'd already assumed that the person in the barn was the owner of the ranch, so I kept quiet and let Sam continue.

'Why did they do that? What was the point?'

'I don't know, but I plan on finding out.” I let a silence fall between us for a short time. “So, not much of a murderer then?'

Sam shook his head and tears fell in steady streaks.

'You want to talk about it?'

'No,' he said firmly.

'If you ever change your mind, let me know.' I stood up. 'I need to finish checking inside. You going to be okay?'

'Is that the worst thing you've ever seen?'

I didn't know if lying would make him feel better or worse, but the truth was all that wanted to come out of my mouth. 'No,' I said. 'What happened in there is horrific, and disturbing and wrong. But it's not even close to the worst things I've ever seen.'

'How do you push them out of your mind?'

'You don't,' I said. 'You just learn to deal with them. The brain is great at doing things like that. Eventually what you saw will be a foggy memory. It'll take time, but it will happen.'

I left Sam to ponder my words and re-entered hell. At the rear of the barn, above several closed barrels, was a tomahawk axe imbedded in one of the barn's wooden posts. Blue feathers hung from the bottom of the deep brown, wooden handle, blond hair stuck to the blood-slick blade. I pulled the axe free, and found more remains inside the cut on the wood.

I moved the barrels and found Mrs Warren's scalp on the floor. It had probably slipped off the axe and fallen onto the floor. I left it where it was and sighed.

'What the hell are you doing?' someone shouted from the front of the barn.

I turned to discover a beautiful young woman stepping into the barn, a rifle aimed directly at me.

'I asked you a question.' She glanced at the dead body, and her eyes focused on me once more. They were hard and cold, a dark brown that matched her long hair.

'You're also pointing a gun at me,' I said. 'I’ve just gotten here, too. So how about you lower the rifle? Or we at least go have this conversation somewhere that doesn't smell like blood and shit.'

The woman stepped away and waved for me to come out of the barn. I did as she asked, and walked round to the side of the large building, where Sam was still sitting.

'Sit,' the woman said.

'No,' I replied.

'Mapiya?' Sam asked, getting back to his feet. 'What's happening?'

'You know her?' I asked.

'She was staying here the same time as me.' He glanced over at Mapiya. 'Where is everyone? What happened to Missus Warren?'

'I was going to ask you the same thing,' she said.

'Lower the gun and we'll talk,' I told her once again.

'You should,' Sam told her, agreeing. 'I tried pointing a gun at him and I didn't get anywhere.'

'You're a child,' Mapiya said, and I noticed Sam flinch at her words. 'I would have no qualms about killing this gentleman.'

'Nathan,' I said, introducing myself. 'And you're what, a dozen feet away? I'm pretty certain that you'll only get to fire one bullet. Better make sure it counts.'

Mapiya steeled her gaze. 'It will.'

'Or we could talk.' I tossed the tomahawk at her feet. 'That was used on Missus Warren.'

She stared at the axe with obvious hatred, but the gun stayed pointed at me. 'None of the tribes did this.'

'Of course they didn't,' I said. 'There's almost no evidence at the house that anything even happened here. And then they leave a bloody axe next to a dead body? No killer who takes the time to be as meticulous as whoever attacked this place was would be stupid enough to leave such an obvious piece of evidence behind.'

The rifle wavered for a moment, and then lowered. 'I heard something in the woods last night. But it got the jump on me and knocked me out. I ran back here after waking up.'

'Any idea what attacked you?'

Mapiya shook her head and winced slightly from the movement. 'Still stiff,' she said, and rubbed her neck. 'I never even saw them coming. They were fast, and could have killed me.'

'So why didn't they?'

There was a pause before Mapiya spoke. 'I've been wondering the same thing. Any idea what did all of this?'

I shook my head. 'From what you've told me, it happened at night. It would have been a concerted effort to get everyone at once. Otherwise, there'd be evidence of at least some resistance. And the only blood is either from horses or Missus Warren. She was a message. But that leaves the question, where are all of the other dead bodies.

'

'And the horses?' Mapiya asked.

I glanced down at Sam and hoped the memories of the horses wouldn't make him sick again. 'They were the celebratory meal.'

'There's a fort about three hours ride north of here,' Mapiya said. 'They're friendly with the local Crow tribe. If we can get there before it's too late, they should let us stay.'

'So, you trust us now?'

Mapiya shook her head. 'Not really, but you didn't kill anyone here. And I know Sam. If he trusts you, I'm willing to extend the same courtesy. For the moment, anyway. We both seem to want the same thing, so let's at least travel to the fort together. If whatever took these people hasn't quite finished yet, I'd rather have the extra eyes and weapons.'

We rode in silence, me and Sam on Valour and Mapiya on her own dark brown horse. I couldn't help but watch Mapiya ride with confidence. She was a natural.

'She's beautiful,' Sam said from behind me.

'Yes, she is,' I said and looked down at the glint of a knife which I could see strapped to her ankle. I smiled.

After a long ride, Mapiya stopped her horse at the top of a slight hill. She pointed toward a large fort in the distance. 'Fort Pennywise,' she said. 'Named after some General, although can't say I ever learnt why.'

'There are no lights,' I said. 'And no one on the walls.'

She didn't wait a heartbeat, just went from standing to galloping toward the open front gates. 'Hold on,' I