Paco Valdez
AY
You stay at the oasis. Someone has to know about it. Someone has to come along. You keep telling yourself this, over and over again like it's some sort of mantra. At least here there is water, and with water you can live.
Hours pass by and the heat makes you doubly thankful that you have a water source near by. Betty gets restless and you pat down her flanks and attempt to soothe her.
At one point during the day, you look to the horizon and see a rider headed your way. You rejoice at this and wave and holler a bit to make sure they know where you are.
Then you swallow hard and start to wonder if it is a Vigilante headed your way. That would not be good. You pace around as the rider gets closer, battling between relief and anxiety. Will this rider be your salvation or your destruction?
The rider gets closer and you recognize him as a Kamani, one of the local native tribes. He doesn't carry much with him but the bare essentials.
You're not sure how the Kamani react to the white man. You know that they've had some run-ins with the US Marshal, but you also know that the US Marshals are little more than barbarians invading the land of these people. So you wonder if he is peaceful and if so, will he even help you?
He reaches you at last and gives you the equivelant of a wave that the tribes use, a hand stretched out before him. You return the gesture and he dismounts his stead.
"You are lucky to have found the oasis." He tells you with that accentless accent that the tribes tend to share, perfect pronunciation but slow and halted speech as though each word is a struggle.
"Lucky is not the word." You say.
His eyebrows screw up at this and his confusion is evident on his face. "It is not the word?" He asks. "I was sure that it was. Lucky means fortunate, does it not?"
"No, no." You say, "Lucky is the right word."
"Then why did you say it was not?" He asks.
"It's just an expression." You say.
Enlightenment dawns upon his face. "Ah," He says, "An expression." He nods a bit before continuing. "You white men enjoy using your expressions to confuse my people." He says to you, a bit coldly.
"That's not..." You begin, before you realise how pointless this whole debate really is. How do you explain what expressions are even used for to someone who so obviously doesn't understand the entirety of the language?
"Forget about it." You say to him. "Do you know how I can get out of this damn desert?"
"Of course I do." He tells you. He walks his horse over to the water and lets it drink. "You can follow me."
"Thank you." You say to him.
He does not speak to you much after that, answering your questions with simple one word replies. Something about how he looks at you and talks to you makes you uneasy. You wonder if you can trust him, but realize that you don't have a choice.
As the sun starts to set he mounts up on his horse and indicates that you should do so as well. You mount up on your horse and he asks you were you want to go.
He points one way and says that the town of Kallow is in that direction. He points another direction and says that Fullton is in that direction. And he points to one other area telling you that his village is that way.
From what you know, Kallow is a small mining town. You've never been there, but have heard about it from travelers. Fullton is the place you left to escape the Vigilantes in the first place. Maybe they won't look for you there, because no one would be stupid enough to go back. As far as his village goes, you know nothing about it.
You stay at the oasis. Someone has to know about it. Someone has to come along. You keep telling yourself this, over and over again like it's some sort of mantra. At least here there is water, and with water you can live.
Hours pass by and the heat makes you doubly thankful that you have a water source near by. Betty gets restless and you pat down her flanks and attempt to soothe her.
At one point during the day, you look to the horizon and see a rider headed your way. You rejoice at this and wave and holler a bit to make sure they know where you are.
Then you swallow hard and start to wonder if it is a Vigilante headed your way. That would not be good. You pace around as the rider gets closer, battling between relief and anxiety. Will this rider be your salvation or your destruction?
The rider gets closer and you recognize him as a Kamani, one of the local native tribes. He doesn't carry much with him but the bare essentials.
You're not sure how the Kamani react to the white man. You know that they've had some run-ins with the US Marshal, but you also know that the US Marshals are little more than barbarians invading the land of these people. So you wonder if he is peaceful and if so, will he even help you?
He reaches you at last and gives you the equivelant of a wave that the tribes use, a hand stretched out before him. You return the gesture and he dismounts his stead.
"You are lucky to have found the oasis." He tells you with that accentless accent that the tribes tend to share, perfect pronunciation but slow and halted speech as though each word is a struggle.
"Lucky is not the word." You say.
His eyebrows screw up at this and his confusion is evident on his face. "It is not the word?" He asks. "I was sure that it was. Lucky means fortunate, does it not?"
"No, no." You say, "Lucky is the right word."
"Then why did you say it was not?" He asks.
"It's just an expression." You say.
Enlightenment dawns upon his face. "Ah," He says, "An expression." He nods a bit before continuing. "You white men enjoy using your expressions to confuse my people." He says to you, a bit coldly.
"That's not..." You begin, before you realise how pointless this whole debate really is. How do you explain what expressions are even used for to someone who so obviously doesn't understand the entirety of the language?
"Forget about it." You say to him. "Do you know how I can get out of this damn desert?"
"Of course I do." He tells you. He walks his horse over to the water and lets it drink. "You can follow me."
"Thank you." You say to him.
He does not speak to you much after that, answering your questions with simple one word replies. Something about how he looks at you and talks to you makes you uneasy. You wonder if you can trust him, but realize that you don't have a choice.
As the sun starts to set he mounts up on his horse and indicates that you should do so as well. You mount up on your horse and he asks you were you want to go.
He points one way and says that the town of Kallow is in that direction. He points another direction and says that Fullton is in that direction. And he points to one other area telling you that his village is that way.
From what you know, Kallow is a small mining town. You've never been there, but have heard about it from travelers. Fullton is the place you left to escape the Vigilantes in the first place. Maybe they won't look for you there, because no one would be stupid enough to go back. As far as his village goes, you know nothing about it.