Chapter Twenty Six

Seal was unbound and standing in a familiar place. Her skin glowed, and she bore no wounds or fatigue from her recent torture. To her surprise, Perdita had traveled with her, crumpled at her feet. The Paleskin glowed with a shadowy light. Perdita, unaware of her surroundings, let rage take her. She lunged at Seal, grabbing the girl by her throat. A giant hoof kicked her away from Seal. An oversized white bison calf towered above them. The beast lithely twisted inside of the giant white tent to face the evil woman. Seal stood next to her protector and looked down upon Perdita.

A voice filled their heads with a deep bass and soft, melodic tone wrapped around one another. Perdita appeared pained by the intrusion on her mind.

"I greet you again, Cecile Kipp of the Lakota. You who are the Storyteller. I heard the call they forced from your lips, and I heard the warning underneath it. No one summons me. I chose to come." The bison bowed deeply and Seal greeted the magnificent animal in return. "And you! Wicked and vile schemer, this is what you wanted, is it not? Here I am. Do you think you can destroy me?"

The Great Buffalo Calf could feel the hatred in Perdita. She could see the Paleskin's deeds in a long trail, like a ribbon floating from her. They were all black deeds. Over a century of dark acts of murder, betrayal, lying, enslavement, and abominations against not just the Lakota, but different peoples across the world. As she looked further along the dark ribbon, the very end turned white. This Paleskin was not always evil. She had been a woman once, from a distant land that had believed in a just God. She had been devout and faithful and had helped the poor and those in need. She had once cooked for them and nursed them. She had cleaned them and set them on better paths. Then a great evil corrupted her soul, against her will, and this monster took over.

The Great Buffalo Calf felt pity for the woman that had once been human. But the Paleskin's current thoughts were now only on how to kill and take power. The voice filled their heads again, "Paleskin, you were told by Zuzeca, black snake, that The Storyteller could free you. I can tell you he spoke true. But like you, Zuzeca is a cunning liar and not to be trusted. You will be set free, but not in the way you envisioned." The giant white buffalo calf looked at Seal, "Storyteller, tell this one the story of her defeat. Let her be freed of conceit and be humbled by your words."

The Great Buffalo Calf stepped back.

Perdita tried to interrupt but found herself paralyzed, stuck in place.

Cecile began…

"My father told me two stories of Ptesáŋwiŋ, the White Buffalo Calf Woman. The second of them said that long ago she came to my people and gave them a great gift, and when she left, she made a promise. She would return in their time of greatest need. Not called like a servant. Not dragged like a slave. She would come back the way a relative comes back. Because her people remembered her and made her welcome."

Perdita struggled against her paralysis and felt it slipping when the Calf's attention turned to the girl.

"You thought you knew our seven sacred rites and that they would set you free, but they are ours and not yours. You did not know them, and you never will. You heard what you wanted to hear and missed what was plain to see." Seal looked again to the White Calf. It remained motionless, eyes unblinking.

The Great Buffalo Calf spoke softly. "I heard my people's proper call underneath. I have missed my people, Storyteller. It was a fine welcome."

The Great Buffalo Calf turned her attention towards Perdita, "I came because they remembered me, not because you summoned me. I came because a girl with nothing left asked nothing for herself, but everything for her people. Your ball rang like a bell in an empty church. I chose to come and this is the story of your defeat."

"You lie," Perdita screamed. Her rage overpowered the remaining invisible hold exerted on her. "We outnumber your kind. Your single Buffalo Woman cannot save all of them as we slaughter them. There will be nothing left."

Perdita sprang forward. Her fingers, pointed like daggers, thrusting forward to impale Seal under her chin. The evil Sister moved faster than Seal could follow. She could not hope to dodge. But the White Buffalo Calf was faster. She charged from a standstill to full speed with two steps. The giant broad head bowled into Perdita. Her arms cracked first, breaking into useless pieces. The rest of her body followed and her spirit broke free. The collision hurled her body backwards through the doors of the tent. The dark spirit soared away across the sacrificial hunting ground. She sailed over her army and the dancing Lakota before disappearing into the distance.

"Thank you for saving me," Seal said.

"There was some good in her. She could have saved herself. She chose her own path and failed my test. But this is not over. The ball still lies where you threw it, filled with a hundred years of stolen life. It must go back to the sky it was taken from. Return to your body. Finish the story."

Seal nodded. She felt herself slipping through the ground, the same sensation she experienced when she first came here. The white, blinding vision faded to gray. She was back in her body, still bound to the cottonwood tree. The body of Perdita lay at her feet, crumpled into an empty husk. But two of the Sisters and hundreds of Paleskins remained. She had to find the Spiritseeker before they did. She had to give it back to the sky.