Next Lesson
"Why you askin' me all this, Kojay?"
The sly smile that was only in his eyes, "Practice. There are so few People now, and so many wasichus."
Vin laughed at that, the tables turned so rightly, and only Kojay would say it like that. Medicine man's job was an important one, more now than ever, maybe, to lead the People and find a future to hang on to. Chanu had been askin' too many questions, and now Kojay, just too many questions Vin couldn't or wouldn't answer; when he did Kojay just asked one more, when he danced around the answer Kojay pushed harder. Practice. Hadn't talked so much in years, still wasn't enough.
"Why did you stop hunting the Buffalo?"
"Weren't 'nuff left."
With that, Kojay shook his head sadly and silently. Looked out over the camp of People working and children playing, reached out and took the braided rawhide from Vin's hands. He was teaching again, always was, but the lessons were getting harder and harder. Reading woulda been easy compared to this.
"It is the way of some of your people to not be full of truth. This sometimes is hard for our people. The badness is to tell a story to yourself which is not true." Kojay corrected a turn of the braid and handed it back. "Why did you stop the hunt of the Buffalo?"
Vin sighed and looked over at Chanu, who only sighed. Was the old man going deaf?
"Weren't hardly none left, Kojay," he repeated.
Kojay nodded, "This is a truth you speak, but not the answer to the question."
The old man waved his hand away at the two younger men before him, dismissing them both. As they rose and started to walk away, the old man added, "There are always more buffalo. You must know where to look."
Vin sighed and he and Chanu walked away through the small camp, away from Chanu's father.
"You understand him?"
"No."
"But you believe him."
Chanu laughed. "Not always. Sometimes, I think he is just an old man, not a medicine man, and his voice is empty like the wasichus's wagons that come from the army. And then . . ."
"Then?"
"We must believe him."
"Why?"
"Because if we do not believe him, we are without hope, and without hope, we are no longer."
"Chanu, sometimes you sound just like your daddy."
Chanu laughed, this white man was good; confused in his heart, but Father would help him. He needed help, this Chanu knew but could not give. He wanted to help this man like this man had helped him, helped him to see the truth when there whad been only lies, like this man was listening to the truth now but would not hear it, was hearing but would not listen. Father would find the truth and send him to it, or perhaps, drag the truth to him.
+ + + + + + +
The folks in town got over the wild west show, some quicker than others. Vin found himself, as usual, wandering between the saloon, the reservation, and just riding between the two. Kojay seemed like he wanted something from Vin, and the more he wanted, the more Vin pulled up hard and away. The tracker found himself studying the empty end of a shot glass one afternoon, while JD and Buck argued over the finer aspects of courting women.
"A wild filly like Casey has got more secrets than a tame one, JD, and you got to take charge with a filly like that, respectful like, but take charge. A filly ain't bein' polite when she comes to a fence and lets you go over first." Buck nodded and narrowed his eyes with a wicked smile at the youngest of the seven.
JD dug in for the fight. "If you lead somebody around by the nose, it don't say much for them and it says even less about you."
"Boy, it ain't too late to catch her yet, but you'd best be getting' to it."
"Buck----"
"You ain't listenin' to ole Buck.---"
"I don't gotta listen, you keep sayin' the same thing over and over-"
"That's cause you AIN"T LISTENIN!"
Vin leaned forward suddenly, eyes narrowing, looking at Buck.
Ain't listenin'.
Buck shot him a frown, alarmed at the look on his face, then turned back to JD.
"It's never too late, JD. No matter how far you travel down the wrong road, it ain't never too late to turn back. Listen to me-"
Listen to me.
Listen to me.
Listen to me.Vin shook himself lightly, like a horse shakes off trail dust.
Couldn't be.
No way he could know.
Hell, Vin didn't even know for sure anymore.Listen to me.
Listen to me.The tracker shot upright, tipping the table slightly and startling his companions in his haste. Without speaking, he strode quickly out of the saloon to his horse, leaped into the saddle, wheeled the black and galloped away.
"What the hell-"
"He's done sick of listening to YOU, Buck!" was JD's only response, the both of them hearing the fading hoofbeats as Vin rode away.
+ + + + + + +
Vin galloped all the way to the reservation, reined up and trotted through the camp, finding Chanu and asking after his father. Chanu pointed silently towards a teepee. Vin dismounted, handing over the reins, threw the skin back and disappeared behind the flap. Kojay was inside, waiting for him.
The words died on his lips when he saw Kojay sitting there expectantly. What had made so much sense earlier now felt barren and crazy. Kojay waited. Having nothing else to offer, Vin spoke softly.
"They told me not to kill anymore."
Kojay leaned forward, raising his eyebrows in question. "Who?"
"The buffalo," he whispered.
"Who?" Kojay said more firmly.
"The buffalo," he repeated in the same whisper.
"The buffalo spoke to you?"
Vin nodded.
"That's it then." The old man smiled.
"What?"
"The truth. They spoke to you."
"The buff said-"
"It is not important. It is important that now you know they spoke to you. Sometimes we forget the truth. It never dies, if we remember the truth, it is always there, waiting for us. Sometimes we get lost, but the truth leads us home."
Vin sank down beside the old man, remembering leveling the rifle at the resting buffalo, laying on his belly, feeling the dry solid shared earth beneath them, pulling the stock tightly against his shoulder, closing one eye and laying his head along the coolness of the rifle butt. Closing his finger over the trigger. The great shaggy bull turning towards him and the voice that filled his mind.
Why did you stop hunting the buffalo, Kojay had asked, so long ago, when he had known, all along. Vin had know all along too, and knew it now.
Again.
"Kojay?"
"Yes?"
"Where are the buffalo now?"
The old man smiled and shook his head. "Next lesson."
The End