The ancestors fed the campfire with shreds of wood, grass, and roots. Seal and Beth watched them closely. Though they were dead, they still acted like the living.
“I can tell they are not alive,” Beth said. Seal couldn’t tell the difference and knew there must be something special about Beth.
The travelers carried a tub from an abandoned room, the piping already scavenged made it easy to remove. They stuffed the drain with a tight plug of bunched grass. “We will fill it with water so that you can wash,” one of them said. She recalled his name from their first introduction. “Thank you, Floyd Joseph.” He nodded.
As they filled the bath, a giant man appeared. He lumbered towards them. The man, twice as wide and twice as tall as Seal, carried an object larger than a refrigerator on his back. Seal recognized it as an old water container you’d find on a farm. Her dad owned a few.
“Don’t worry. He helps us. He is not a real man, though.”
Seal saw his patchwork of skins sewn together across his face and bared arms. He frightened her.
“He carries our heavy packs. No horses live here. He is one of a kind. We are lucky to have him.” They told her the story of how a man named Pavel Sted created him. “He was the last living man to come here, before you. He can bring creatures life. This is one of them. We could not survive easily without him here. Especially against wandering Paleskins.”
She looked at its stitched skin. It appeared made up of dozens of men. The skin, all different shades. Some patches were wrinkled like an elderly person, while some appeared unblemished and smooth, like that of a child. It had one brown eye and one gold one. Its head was bald. A thick swath of brown canvas wrapped around the thick trunk of his body like a toga. A metal chain bound the makeshift clothing tightly. The chain rattled with each step and its wide gait carried it swiftly across the rough terrain. The container it carried sloshed back and forth, half filled with water. He lowered it from his back with powerful arms and tilted it forward over the tub. Seal knew this was a lot of water to waste. She felt grateful.
“Hello, girl,” the patchwork man said in a deep voice that barreled from its chest.
“Hello,” Seal asked. “What is your name? I am Seal.”
“I am William.”. Seal did not expect such a normal name from the creature.
“I don’t like him. Not at all. Make him go away,” Beth said. “He is scary and filled with dead things.”
“I not scary,” the creature said in his deep voice. “I help.” He pointed to the tub of water proudly and smiled. A gap between the stitches of the skin on his face widened when he did.
“Hey you,” an old man, whose name Seal could not recall, yelled out, “leave that girl some privacy so she can bathe.” The patchwork man stiffly circled until his back faced the tub. But he did not leave Seal.
“Seal,” Beth whispered, “Don’t trust it.”
“It’s okay. We won’t be here long. Let me get clean and then we’ll join the others. Go ahead if you want, so you are not near him.”
“Oh no,” Beth said. “I’m going to keep an eye on this big one to make sure he doesn’t peek.” The patchwork man said nothing and did not twitch. He stood and guarded Seal. She hoped not to find out from what.
Seal felt better after scrubbing the dirt from her body. These ancestors were treating her as an honored guest because she was alive. She took advantage and washed her clothes, too. She let them dry against her body and sat on a grass woven mat to keep from getting her filthy again.
The ancestors sat with her, encircling a small fire. She took the time to know each of them better. The first of them introduced himself as Joe Andrews. He was of the western People, as was Floyd Joseph. The old woman that first greeted her called herself Tina Peterson of the Lake tribe, known as the Upper People. Then there was Sue, daughter of Earl and her father, Earl Pettigrew of the People of the forest. They both appeared to be the same old age. They had been woodsmen and did not live on the plains like the Lakota.
Sue, daughter of Earl made bread over the fire. Its edges charred black under the heat. Floyd Joseph handled the hot bread, taking it and letting it cool before handing a piece to Seal. She stuffed it in her mouth, nearly swallowing it whole. She listened to their stories, the little they could remember of themselves. William, the patchwork man, also joined. He stood over them all and watched silently. Beth watched him.
Tina began her own tale. “It is a simple story, not told by anyone living because the living cannot know what is after death. When we died, we came here. We came at an old age, and we are weak, no use to the Paleskins and the work they desire.”
“The Paleskins rule down here. The Sisters, the three of them, are the strongest. They are cruel and petty. All Paleskins are like them. Most stay near the Sisters to serve them, but there are outcasts. The outcasts wander and make their own trouble for us.”
“Some of our kind tried to fight back,” Tina said. “Those were the first to be enslaved. They fed the Paleskins, whose appetite for our blood never ends.” She paused to gnaw on the scorched bread.
Floyd Joseph added, “We are too weak for their mining. Because of that, they have little use for us. Those that escape gather in small groups like ours for safety. But they hunt us, anyway. We wander, and William protects us as best he can. The earth barely grows anything here, some wild wheat, the odd root that has not withered. We keep ourselves from getting too weak on whatever we can find.”
“What do they mine for?” Seal asked. She finished her piece of bread, but still felt hungry. They handed her another piece of the burned bread.
“Gems and metals that glow and glitter, even under this gray sky. They have us grind them up to cover their skin. Their status is based on this. They do little but command us and use their time to play cruel games. It makes them feel important, and it gains influence with the Sisters. They play with us like cats do with a cockroach. They are trapped with us. We are trapped with them. We serve our punishments together.”
“What of giant bison calf,” Seal asked. “Have you met it?”
“We have never heard of such a thing,” they said. Seal didn’t think that was possible. Everyone knew the stories of the bison calf that was actually a woman.
“Do you know of Iktomi and the Fawn? The Wind and the Prairie Rose” Seal recalling the last story her dad had told her before she became lost down here.
“No,” they all said. Seal came to realize they only remembered their names and little else from their lives. She told them of the story of the Wind and the Prairie Rose and they listened intently and a calm she had not seen before on their faces settled in. They thanked her for telling them this story.
After, Seal laid down to asleep. They waited until she awoke again. The dead have no use for sleep. They served her more of their bread and a simple tea of hot water mixed with dried grasses. Its slightly bitter taste made Seal feel alert.
“Last night you said Pavel Sted created William and makes things alive. Do you think he can do that still?” Seal thought of Beth. If this Pavel could make her fully alive again, she could come home with her after they found Javin.
They murmured together.
“He might. We know what you intend and it’s dangerous”, Joe Andrews said.
“It’s my only hope,” Seal said. “I must try.”
“It is a long shot, but she can kill two birds with one stone. Help her sister and find her friend.” Sue, Daughter or Earl chimed in.
Joe Andrews spoke up again. “I would advise you let your sister walk on. She exists in between life and the spirit world. That you still live is a miracle. Turning back and trying to leave is your best hope. There is a road. Follow it east and you can live.”
Tina interrupted to argue with Joe Andrews in their language and he threw up his hands.
She said, “You can go east, but Pavel lives the opposite way, at the end of a road. Follow it and it will take you to a walled town. There you will find him. They say he was the first not of our people to enter the Hunting Ground. It is possible he may help. He knows things. He can help your sister and he can help you find your friend. But Joe Andrews is also wise in his counsel. You are better off leaving while you can and hope the boy follows. It is your choice.”
“If you go west,” said Many Goats, “be wary. That town is often abandoned, but it is also used by the Paleskins. The road can be unsafe too.”
“Thank you,” said Seal. “You have helped me more than I can ever repay.”
“It is our way,” Tina said. She asked, “Which way will you travel?”
Seal knew she needed to find this Pavel. He would help her save her sister and help her find Javin. She would not leave them behind. “I am here for a reason. I have to try.”
“Here.” Sue handed Seal a pack filled with charred bread and odd cubes. “The cubes are pemican. It will give you energy.”
Seal looked at the cubes and guessed they were some kind of meat and fat mixture. The pack also contained two water-skins. “You will never have enough water, but you may find some along the road in abandoned places.”
Floyd Joseph approached her and took her elbows in both his hands, each missing two fingers, causing them to look like a bird claw. “If you must sleep, leave the road so you can hide from the Paleskins. Trust only the ancestors you find, like us. They will help you, always.”
Seal thanked each of them and turned to leave with Beth. She heard gasps from behind. The patchwork man stood behind her, his chains rattling softly.
“We do not permit you to go with her,” Tina Peterson said.
He shook his head at her. “Enough time with you. I go with her. I go with her to see my father.”
“We will die without you,” another pleaded. “You must stay.”
“You survived before me,” William said. “I follow. Protect her.”
“I don’t like this idea,” Beth said.
“William, I do not need your help. Thank you. Please stay,” Seal said. She did not want to cause any harm to those that helped her.
“No,” William said. “I follow. Protect.”
“I’m sorry,” Seal said over and over to her ancestors. She did not know what to do. She felt horrible.
The dead argued among themselves, and Seal walked towards the road. She demanded William stop again, but he continued following. He would not listen and for every three steps she took, he one enormous step.
“We can run,” Beth suggested. “I don’t think he can catch us.”
“I would catch you,” William said without emotion. Seal was not sure if it was a threat or a promise. “I will keep you safe. Trust.”
“I don’t trust,” Beth said.
“Trust,” he repeated. Seal continued to walk. The rattling chain and heavy steps followed close behind. The broken motel sign and the lost spirits of her ancestors disappeared into the distance. She prayed they would stay safe.