Fr. Claudio was an early riser, and had gotten Tony’s message shortly after he’d left it. When he called Tony back, Tony explained, briefly, what he might be up against. Fr. Claudio was more than happy to give Tony a copy of the ‘Manual.’ He made arrangements for one of his assistants to bring it to Tony on the first flight he could get to Detroit.

In the meantime, Fr. Claudio gave Tony a list of other items he would need for properly performing an exorcism. As soon as it was a decent hour, Tony called Fr. Jerzy. Tony already had the holy water. And he still kept with him the consecrated silver crucifix he’d gotten as a Confirmation gift. The ‘Manual,’ a copy of The Rites of Exorcism, was on its way.

But the only way to get several consecrated Communion wafers was to see Fr. Jerzy. Justin went with Tony, since no one was going anywhere alone until Reg was caught, or....

Fr. Jerzy was a little wary of giving a layman consecrated wafers, even one who was a close friend of his favorite nephew. But he also understood that Tony did the same kind of ‘work’ as Justin, and that he’d risked his life, along with the others, to save Jerzy from Fr. Berowski’s angry spirit.

And when Tony mentioned that Fr. Claudio was sending him a copy of the Rites of Exorcism, Jerzy’s concern was mollified. If Fr. Claudio trusted this man with that particular book, then his need and respect for the wafers must be genuine.

Terri and David were up by the time Tony and Justin got back. Claire was still sleeping, which was just as well. She didn’t need to see any of what they were planning to take along for catching her brother.

“Think we should get the local cops to go in with us?” Justin asked, as the team began assembling all the gear they thought they’d need.

“I was thinking about contacting the State Police, actually,” Frank said.

“Oh...um, Tommy can lift how much, again?” Justin asked.

“I don’t know for sure,” Frank replied. “But he broke through a plate-steel door to escape.”

“Are we sure we want ‘outsiders’ helping with this?” Karen asked. “I was thinking that we might call the Tribe and see if we can get a few volunteers from the tribal police to just secure the ‘borders’ of the property, to keep Tommy from getting away. They don’t have any authority outside the Rez; but they’re trained, armed, and they aren’t obliged to answer to any other authorities unless the situation gets so out of hand that we’ll be doing the same.”

“I’ll bet that once you tell them we’re hunting the guy who tried to kill Weeping Sparrow, they’ll be more than happy to help,” Justin agreed.

“Call them,” Frank told her.

Master Naka was gathering together the items he would need for a Buddhist/Shinto exorcism.

“Got any ‘a dose liddle finger cymbals?” Tony asked him.

“I do.” Master Naka held them up, not quite catching that Tony was joking around. Tony had no idea what was needed for exorcisms in the Eastern religions. He just thought the little cymbals were amusing. “However, most Shinto ceremonies depend more on the location than the items used,” Naka explained.

Tony simply nodded. “Ya know...since we’re stalkin’ intelligent quarry on foot,” he said, “maybe we oughta be usin’ a bait pile instead. I’m t’inkin’, put down a nice table clot’, wit’ Leigh laid out on it.... But puttin’ a knife an’ fork out might be overkill.” He started laughing at his joke.

Leigh rolled her eyes and went to get her sword. When she got back, she and Karen worked out some new verbal and hand signals for when to raise Spheres and Shields...signals that Reg wouldn’t already know.

“Remember, the demon may need permission of some sort to enter the next body,” Master Naka pointed out. “And if I may request it, please attempt to use non-lethal force to restrain him, perhaps the man-catchers, before drawing blood, if that is possible. At least, do not draw blood until after the rituals have begun.”

“The important part of using the man-catchers to restrain him is going to be anchoring them properly,” Frank reminded the team. “Have you had time to put any thought it that, Justin?”

“Yeah. I was thinkin’ that, if we bring the Land Rover, we can use the winch on that, and the hitch on the truck as anchor points. I don’t suppose you have any tranquilizer darts we can use, do you, Frank?”

“I’m a psychiatrist, not a veterinarian. And don’t forget that the demon may have the Haywire ability, since we haven’t been able to track Reg. I doubt he just happened to slip past all the area traffic cameras between shots; and a couple had obvious glitches. So if anyone is bringing anything complex or electronic, it might fail.”

“Hey, Karen,” Tony said, coming up from his lab, “did’ja happen ta tell da tribal members not ta wear red shirts?” He chuckled. Compared to the subdued mood of the others, his normal humor seemed overdone today.

The security system was activated, since they were wary of the possibility that Reg might still be lurking around, and it alerted the team to their visitor before he got past the sidewalk. Tony recognized him right away as one of Fr. Claudio’s assistants, and met him at the door. The two shared pleasantries for a minute, and the man handed Tony the package he’d been sent to deliver. A moment later, he was on his way back to Metro to catch his flight back to New York.

Tony unwrapped the book and held it reverently. “Youse all know dat Reg ain’t part ‘a da real world anymore, right? So whadever happens, it ain’t actually happenin’ ta Reg anyway.”

No one answered, though they all understood what Tony was implying...and reluctantly agreed.

“So, you comin’ too?” Tony asked Terri.

“I’d been planning on it,” she replied.

“Are we bringing the escorts along?” Frank asked. He nodded toward the security monitor, where they could see 2 ‘phone company repairmen’ working on the connection box at the corner.

Terri’s shoulders sagged. She knew that Frank would rather not have them along. It put them in more danger than they’d signed on for, and put the team into the position of having to both pay attention to their safety and modify their plan of attack to account for the presence of non-Envoy law enforcement officials.

“So, are we takin’ Claire along?” Justin asked. “She might be able to help us find this place faster and easier.”

“NO!” Karen and Leigh both answered immediately.

“I guess I can stick around and guard Claire,” Terri told them. She tried to sound upbeat, but her disappointment was evident in her voice.

The team had everything they could think of collected, and most of it loaded in the vehicles. Justin grabbed the ‘Operator’s Manual’ for the clubhouse and handed it to Terri. “Here. You can review this if you get bored,” he told her. Then he handed her an envelope that he pulled from his back pocket. “And give this to my sister, if...you know....”

Terri nodded.

“Hey! Bedder yet,” Tony said, looking up from the exorcism book, “if ya get bored, ya can finish putting in da pole behind da bar But...stay outta my workshop.” He grinned, and went back to his reading.

Terri went up to Frank and kissed him. Then she grabbed a magazine off the coffee table, pulled a chair over by the door to Claire’s room, and flopped down into it and opened the magazine, trying to look unaffected by the rest of the team leaving.

Frank went over to her. “Remember,” he said quietly, “when the ‘heroes’ go off chasing the bad guy, he sneaks around behind and kills the loved ones they’ve left behind. Here’s the shotgun.” He handed her the gun she thought he was taking with him.

Terri stood and grabbed one of Frank’s lapels. “Now, you come back. Don’t do any crazy, self-sacrificing shit and get yourself killed.”

“Who? Me?” Frank winked at her, and followed the others out to the garage. “So, who’s riding with whom, in which cars?”

“I’ll drive ‘Charlie,’” Leigh said.

“An’ I’ll ride wit’ Leigh,” Tony added, going around to the passenger door of the Land Rover.

“I guess I’ll be going with Essiban and Mons,” David told them.

“You don’t have to, if you’d rather ride with someone else,” Karen told him.

David shrugged and climbed in the back seat of the pickup.

‘Then I will ride with you,” Master Naka said, nodding at Frank, who was standing beside the Lincoln.

Everyone checked that their comm units were currently in good working order, and started pulling out. “Next stop, Mt. Pleasant,” Frank said.

“Mind if I play some music?” Leigh asked Tony. “Wagner?”

“It’d be bedder if it were Verde,” Tony answered with a shrug. He wasn’t really paying attention anyway. He was trying to decide which ritual would be the best in this situation. He had it narrowed down to two possibilities, and flipped back and forth between them in the ‘Manual.’

“Hope you don’t mind,” Justin said over his shoulder to David. He popped in a CD of serious metal. He wasn’t in a very happy mood, anticipating what they were about to do, and the dark music seemed to fit.

“It seems there IS one thing we can agree on, Mons,” David replied. He began playing vigorous air guitar in the back seat

Karen pulled her iPod out of her pack and put the earbuds in. She wasn’t into metal, but she had enough punk loaded for a trip to the UP. She wouldn’t run out of stuff to listen to between home and Traverse Bay.

Frank turned on his police band radio. Master Naka said nothing, watching the scenery go by.

They were halfway to the reservation in Mt. Pleasant when Leigh switched the music to European techno. She didn’t bother asking Tony, because he didn’t seem to be listening anyway.

A minute later, Tony hit the mike button on his comm unit. “Yo, Frank! Mind pullin’ over?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Dis stuff Leigh’s list’nin’ to ain’t my t’ing.”

“We’ve got metal in here,” Justin said, as the three vehicles eased onto the shoulder.

“Nah, dat’s OK,” Tony told him. He hopped out of the Rover and into the back seat of the Lincoln, clutching his book to his chest. Then the cars sped up and back onto the road.

It was about 1pm when they turned onto the main road through the Rez. Jeff White Bear, the young tribal cop who always seemed to be waiting for them when they came up there, was sitting in his truck at the corner. He nodded amiably at Karen, and led the three cars to the police station.

In the parking lot were 12 trucks, and 48 men and women in jeans and t-shirts leaning against them or sitting on the tailgates and hoods or milling around smoking. None were openly ‘packing,’ but the beds of the trucks were loaded with tarp-covered bundles. The people ranged in age from their early 20s to their 50s, and recognizing some of them, Karen realized that they must have all been former ‘posse’ members for Weeping Sparrow.

“14 of ‘em are trained trackers,” Jeff told Karen, “though we know Mons is a fine tracker on his own.” He nodded at Justin.

“You all know that this guy is crazy, right?” Justin asked them. Several nodded.

“Weeping Sparrow already filled us in,” a couple people told him.

“You all know that no one goes anywhere alone? You’re all in at least pairs?” Justin asked. “And you have some means of communication?” More nods, and several people held up walkie-talkies. Justin got the frequency from one of them, so the Envoys would be able to contact them.

“Did Weeping Sparrow know about Reg’s current state, of being 3 now, rather than just 2?” Leigh asked. She caught the eyes of several of the men and women, and the determination she saw in them gave her their answer. They knew, but would have gone even if they hadn’t.

Heads turned, and the Envoys saw Weeping Sparrow hobble out of the building. She patted David on the cheek when she came to him. “Glad to see you’re studying hard.”

“Why not? They’re almost as crazy as you,” David told her, with a gleam in his eye.

“So, you wanted a blessing?” Weeping Sparrow asked them.

“Yes, please, ma’am,” Justin replied.

She first gave them a few words of advice. “Watch out, for danger may come from any direction. Be careful, for failure could be fatal. And keep track of your ‘buddy’ at all times.” Then she began chanting in Ojibwah.

Karen and David translated for those who didn’t speak the language. “The blessings of the Spirit That Moves All Things upon you. This is right. This is meet. And the time is right for this.” It seemed almost like something one would expect to hear from a war leader before a battle, more so than from a wise woman.

Karen had given the drivers of the trucks copies of the directions to Claire’s property, and they began pulling out, four to a truck, as soon as Weeping Sparrow finished speaking.

Justin went to Weeping Sparrow. “Thank you for all you’ve done for us. If something...happens to us, would you look in on my sister?”

“Though you might not all be back after this, that may not be necessary,” she said, patting him on the arm.

The Envoys got back in their vehicles and followed the last of the Indians’ trucks out of the parking lot. It was hot and sunny. It would’ve been a nice day for a drive up north, if not for the purpose behind the drive.

“Got any Apocalyptica?” David asked Justin as they pulled out.

“Much.” He slid a different disk into the CD player. Karen put her earbuds back in.

Frank pulled out his cell and called the State Police post in Newberry. This was the post he’d worked with during the Weendigo case, so he knew the cops there. And it was far enough away from where they were going as to redirect any attention the call might attract.

“I assume you’ve heard about the Morrison case, right? Have you had anyone reporting people missing in the last 24 hours and just not taken the official reports yet?” he asked.

“No. But there’s a lot of people camping out up here already, because of the heat. We did get the all-points, though, so we’ve been keeping an eye out. You don’t think he’d get this far, would he? Past the Detroit cordon?”

“Probably not,” Frank replied, “but he may have gotten out before the cordon was complete. And since he has been up in your area before and had an affinity for it....”

“Right. We’ll let you know the minute we hear of anything that could be related.”

“Thanks.” Frank hung up the phone. He checked the rear view mirror, and saw Tony’s beaming face. “What?”

“I think I’ve figured out which rite to use. Got any goodies in the trunk?”

“Don’t I always? Thermal goggles. Shotguns. Anti-stab kevlar vests. Torches, to set backfires to flush him out.”

“Hey, Tony ” Justin called over the comm unit. “Are the exorcism prayers gonna be enough to keep Reg’s soul from goin’ to Hell if he dies?”

“It depends. If you ain’t a good Cat'lic ta begin wit’, yer goin’ ta Hell anyway.”

The two started bickering over the comm units, arguing about which of them was more likely to go to Hell because they aren’t ‘Catholic enough.’

After a couple minutes of this, Frank interrupted them. “Stop the idle chatter.”

“Why? Do you think Tommy or Jamie could be listening in?” Justin asked.

“No. Because every time Justin talks, I’m forced to listen to his awful music.”

Master Naka smiled, and the others, except Justin, laughed out loud.

Frank’s phone rang about 2:30pm. It was Terri. “Just making sure your phone was on and you’re OK. Claire’s still sleeping.” Terri was obviously bored and spending her time worrying.

“It is and I am. We have 48 little Indians with us.”

“49,” Tony corrected from the back seat, to include David.

“OK. 48 that we didn’t have when we left Detroit.”

“Just...be careful. Love you.” Terri hung up before Frank could say anything.

It was a little past 3pm when they turned off onto the road where Claire’s property was located. Even with the maps, directions and the best satellite photos they could find, they still drove past the driveway three times because it was so overgrown.

Eventually they found the hole leading through the brush, and turned in. There was no sign that Reg/Tommy/Jamie had come through here with a vehicle recently. In fact, about 75 feet up the winding drive, a small birch tree was growing up in the middle of the path, undisturbed. The cars stopped and the Envoys got out.

All they could hear was the buzz and hum of insects. The mosquitoes were showing in-flight movies. And the black flies swarmed in the little pools of light that broke through the tree canopy. Tony grabbed a machete to cut down the small tree, which was only about as thick as his wrist.

Justin stopped him. He had a shovel, and began digging around the tree, to move it.

“It ain’t gonna survive, ya know,” Tony teased him. “It never works ta move wild plants.” He snickered at the futility.

Karen came up behind him and punched him in the arm. “Stop. It makes him feel better.” Karen had been watching the ‘black cloud’ forming around Justin ever since Tommy escaped. They all knew it might come down to having to kill their friend in order to save him, and Justin was steeling himself to do that. So at least trying to save this small life gave him a way of remembering his humanity in the face of the inhumane act he was preparing to commit.

Tony shrugged and slid into the front seat of the Lincoln. He pulled a short, thick tube from a pocket and turned the inside rear-view mirror.

“Checking your lipstick?” Frank teased.

Tony turned. His face now had broad blackish-green stripes of camo paint across it.

The others passed a bottle of bug repellant high in DEET back and forth, spraying themselves and each other while Justin replanted the tree off the side of the path. Soon, the DEET was all they could smell.

Justin tossed the shovel back in the bed of the truck, and everybody ‘mounted up,’ to continue on to the cabin...or whatever was left of it.

They drove slowly up the winding track. As they went, the undergrowth thinned out, and the forest surrounding them changed from the primarily deciduous trees lining the main roads to more of the native pine forest.

They’d gone about 200 feet, and they could see a large pool of sunlight at what they assumed was the edge of a clearing ahead.

“Are youse guys sure ya wanna jus’ drive righd up dere? Shouldn’ we be a liddle more stealt’y dan dat?” Tony asked.

“If he’s here, then he already knows we are, too,” Frank told him.

The vehicles crept forward into the clearing, and they could all see the tidy little cabin at the center. It was just like many of the north-woods, summer-only style cabins that dotted northern Michigan. The lower portion was stone, most likely hauled here from the lake shores or dug out of fields years ago. The upper portion was wood, maybe from trees cut down to make the little clearing in which it sat. The wood was faded and weather-worn. But the shutters were closed, and it looked like it had been properly secured the last time it was used.

The wilderness that surrounded it had begun to encroach upon the clearing. The brush had grown up about knee high, and small bushes and trees had sprouted all over the open ground. The cars had to maneuver around some of them to pull closer to the cabin.

Justin was in the lead, and he stopped the truck. He got out and studied the ground in front of it. The others got out and stretched their legs, and moved up to see what Justin was doing. There was no sound of birds or wildlife, just the wind through the pines; that made the buzz of the insects and the ticking of the cooling engines sound even louder.

“It doesn’t look like anyone else has driven in here in a long time,” Justin told them. He went around to the storage bin in the back of the truck and grabbed the thermal binoculars. “Tony...you wanna get my back? I’m going point.”

“Uh...” Tony was never the quiet type. He just happened to be the person standing closest to Justin. But Justin was already crouched down, gun drawn, and creeping off into the brush. Tony squatted and followed him.

They’d gone about 5 feet when Justin stopped and turned around. “Why didn’ja tell me you’d be that noisy?” he hissed at Tony.

Tony shrugged. “You wuz already gone.”

The sound of the insects drowned out their conversation, and the Envoys began to notice that the bugs weren’t just especially loud. There seemed to be more of them than they would have expected. Most of the sound seemed to come from the far side of the cabin.

“Well...just wait there with the others,” Justin told him, pointing back at the cars. He turned back and continued on towards the cabin, and Tony went back to the team.

“Where’s Justin?” Frank asked.

“He tol’ me ta come back. Said I wuz too noisy.”

“He’s out there alone? ” Karen’s voice started to rise.

Frank signaled her to quiet down, and he followed Justin’s trail.

Tony began looking for observation points from which someone else could be watching them. He spotted a couple and got binoculars from the Lincoln’s trunk to scan the area more closely.

Justin stopped and scanned the treeline with the thermal binoculars. Then he looked at the cabin, hoping that if someone had come or gone from it recently, they might’ve left a heat signature that he could detect through the shutters or above the chimney. He could hear someone behind him, but it certainly wasn’t Tony.

“Anything?” Frank whispered.

Justin shook his head, and signaled that he was continuing forward. Frank followed right on his tail, trying to sense if Reg, and the demon, were here. After a moment of concentration, he could feel the creature, but couldn’t get a feel for where it might be hiding.

Back at the truck, the others had already lost track of where Justin and Frank were. They waited a few minutes, then Karen began to get impatient. She wanted to know what was attracting all the bugs behind the cabin. She had her suspicions....

Master Naka pulled his bow from its cloth wrap and began stringing it. It was taller than he was.

“I’m going to see what’s behind the cabin,” Karen said. She pulled her gun, adjusted her pack on her shoulder, scanned the treeline and stepped away from the truck.

Tony was about to follow her, when David spoke up.

“Guess I’ll go with Essiban,” he told the others. “I’m her student and it’s my job to keep her safe.” He started after her. Master Naka was already ahead of him, close behind Karen.

The three moved out about 20 feet from the edge of the clearing, and along it towards the adjacent edge. As they got far enough to see past the corner of the cabin, they spotted a large shed about 40 feet behind it. It looked like it may have been built as both outhouse, on one half, and storage, on the other. To Karen’s eye, it looked like the storage part may have been just large enough for a car.

Karen paused, to see if she could sense Reg/Tommy/the demon there. She did, though she couldn’t get a feel for exactly where he was. She sighed and continued forward. David and Master Naka didn’t seem to feel the heat/pressure of the Unknown, but they followed her all the same.

Tony and Leigh were left standing beside the truck. Tony scanned the perimeter again with the binoculars.

“Guess it’s just you and me,” Leigh said quietly.

“How romantic, hunh?” Tony replied, adjusted the focus slightly to look at the cabin.

Justin stopped suddenly, and Frank nearly crawled into him. Justin realized that Karen, Master Naka and David were moving through the clearing, headed around the far side of the cabin. He twisted slightly and signed, “We trap...they bait.”

Frank signed back, “Lots of bait.” He grinned.

“What part of ‘wait by the truck’ didn’t they get?” Justin signed. He sighed and continued toward the cabin.

All the Envoys could hear the breeze blowing through the tops of the trees. But below, the air was still. As Karen and her shadows neared the out-building, the stench slapped them hard in the face.

“Uh...smells like something died back here,” David said quietly.

“Smile,” Karen told him. He stared at her like she’d just told him to dance like a monkey. “No, really,” she said. “For some reason, the particular musculature or something, grinning suppresses the gag reflex.” She grinned, and turned back toward the out-building.

The small group took another couple steps forward, and a cloud of flies lifted off and swirled around them thickly. The movement revealed a shallowly-dug pit, and they could just catch the white glimmer of bone and the glistening of greyish flesh. Karen immediately recognized the mess as the non-tasty bits of more than one person. It was Tommy’s offal pit.

Karen stared in morbid fascination for a moment. But David turned and ran for the treeline, stumbled, and dropped to his hands and knees, hurling. Master Naka followed, trying to keep both David and Karen within sight. He burped quietly. “This is most unpleasant.”

Justin had been checking the ground near the front door and each window, and had found no sign of activity. Now he and Frank worked their way around to the back corner of the cabin. Frank noticed the activity near the shed and watched it, and Justin texted Tony, “Rifle. Top of Charlie.”

Tony got the rifle and climbed on top of the Land Rover with the binoculars. A minute later he came back down. “Not a very good field ‘a vision,” he told Leigh. He looked over at the cabin, then back at Leigh.

Leigh understood what he was asking. She nodded. The two scanned the treeline, crouched, and ran to the cabin, flattening themselves against the side and scanning the treeline again when they got there.

They saw no movement, so Tony slung the rifle over his shoulder and scaled the side of the cabin, finding toeholds where mortar had crumbled out of the stones, and finger holds between boards that had shrunk over the years. It took him a minute to find a spot where he could hold on and pull himself over the edge of the roof; then he belly-crawled to the highest point. Leigh followed him up, a little more gracefully.

Karen finally noticed that David and Master Naka weren’t beside her, and turned to look. Master Naka was halfway to the treeline, his head swiveling back and forth as he tried to keep an eye on both his teammates. David was just getting up from the ground, right at the treeline. Karen followed them.

David had stopped vomiting long enough to stand up. Then he smelled the offal pit again. He tried to run, to put as much distance between himself and the dead things as he could. But his toe caught a root and he went sprawling, planting his chin in the sandy dirt. His stomach lurched again, and he hurled more vomit onto the ground below his face.

“Oh...to have had a video camera....” Frank said wistfully.

“Hunh?” Justin had been busy texting Tony and keeping an eye on the treeline while Tony and Leigh moved in.

“Never mind.”

Justin crept around the corner to the back door of the cabin. Tony watched him over the edge of the roof. Justin studied the ground around the back door. Someone had been very careful to disguise it, but had gone in and out through that door, most recently leaving no more than a few hours ago. He whispered this to the others over the comm unit.

“Check for booby traps,” Tony said back.

“Why would I care about boobies?” Justin asked

“They might catch you,” Tony told him.

“Why did we even invest in the ‘tac’ radios?” Frank asked with exasperation.

“I heard that,” Tony said.

“Frank, you stay hidden. I’m gonna try to follow the tracks. But I’m gonna go around the house and try to make it look like I haven’t spotted them," Justin whipered.

Frank nodded agreement.

Karen finally caught up to Master Naka and David. She put an arm under David’s shoulder, and Master Naka did the same. The two helped him to his feet, then Karen pulled water and rags out of her pack. She wet a rag and started wiping the dirt and vomit from David’s face.

“Mmm, me heap big Indian brave,” he mumbled past the rag.

Karen dabbed at his skinned chin, gently brushing out a pebble.

“Frickin’ ow! I think I’ll need stitches.” He jerked his head slightly as Karen poured water on his chin. “Yeah...I’ll need stitches.”

Karen put the water and rags away, looked around nervously, and took David’s arm to lead him back toward the truck, where the first aid kit was.

“Well, you’ll have to bite the proverbial bullet, Misk’Omashkos,” she told him. “There’s BandAids in the truck.”

“No...seriously...how much of that shaman skill of yours is first aid training, Essiban?”

“None. But Frank’s a doctor.”

“Oh.” David was obviously not thrilled with the idea of letting Frank touch him. But as far as Karen could tell, it really wasn’t that bad anyway. David’s pride was more damaged than his chin.

“At least you are not dead,” Master Naka told him.

David paused, fighting the urge to throw up again. “Don’t remind me.”

Everyone heard a creaking sound, like trees branches rubbing together in a strong wind, and they stopped to look around. Leigh was doing a visual sweep by the cars, with the binoculars, when something big, moving fast, swept through her field of vision. By the time she’d pulled the binoculars from her eyes, the huge deadfall was neatly flattening all three of their vehicles.

“Keep an eye out,” Tony whispered over the comm unit, the hiss of air from burst tires audible even over that distance. “We may have company.”

Frank’s head sagged, and he shook it for a second. “Correct use of the past tense, Tony.” He stood and went around the cabin to check the dead tree.

Karen let go of David and sprinted toward the cars, not realizing that Leigh and Tony were no longer there. As she ran, her ankle caught on something, and she stumbled, almost falling. She looked down and noticed that her foot had been snagged in a snare. If she’d hit it going at a full run and fallen, she could’ve broken her ankle.

Frank looked over the tree. The deadfall trap had been expertly set. The tree itself had probably been dead for years, caught up on another when it had originally started falling. It was a clever use of what was available, and had probably taken about an hour to set up.

The rope that was used to trigger it led off in the direction Justin had gone following the tracks from the house. Whoever had triggered it, had snuck off immediately, but couldn’t have gone far. Frank studied the woods around the trigger point.

David and Master Naka saw Karen stop abruptly. They moved up to her, but when David stopped, Master Naka kept going. He seemed to be looking at something west, beyond what Karen and David could see.

“Don’t go farther than we can see you alone,” Karen told Master Naka. She wasn’t sure if he even heard her, he was concentrating so hard.

David squatted down and hacked at the offending piece of twine that was wrapped around Karen’s ankle. He seemed quite proud of himself when he stood up holding a length of it.

“He is over there,” Master Naka whispered into the tac radio. “Due west of the cars.”

“Where?” Frank asked, speaking more to himself than to Nakatomi. He, Tony, and Leigh began looking into the woods in the direction Master Naka had indicated.

Justin was already inside the edge of the woods. He began moving around to that side of the cabin, scanning ahead and around himself carefully. He was following a clear path now, that Reg/Tommy/Jamie must have been using frequently.

Master Naka stood ramrod straight, his left shoulder and face pointing directly west, his eyes closed. He drew a deep breath, nocked an arrow, and pulled the bow taut in a single fluid movement.

Frank spotted a brief flutter of cloth, the movement of someone about 50 feet away from him inside the treeline. He raised his shotgun to his shoulder and pulled the trigger with the same fluid movement Master Naka had just used with his bow.

Frank would’ve heard the not-quite-whistle of Master Naka’s arrow flying past his head, had he not just pulled the trigger of the shotgun. He saw Reg’s body collapse around the blunted arrow, which hit him in the center of his chest just ahead of Frank’s dragon’s breath round. And then his view was blocked by the 150 foot gout of flame that spewed from the muzzle, lighting the path the round took.

No one heard the “Ooff” of Reg’s breath being forced out of his lungs by the arrow.

Leigh and Tony watched as Reg staggered back and spun in slow motion from the force of the arrow. Then...he purposely stepped into the blast from Frank’s gun. He fell to the ground, on fire.

All the Envoys converged on Reg. His clothes and the ground around him were on fire now. Leigh and Tony swung off the edge of the roof and dropped to the ground. “Whoever gets there first, restrain him as fast as you can ” Tony told them through their comm units.

“Misk’Omashkos! Go get a fire extinguisher from...” Karen glanced over at what was left of their vehicles. “...from the cars, if you can!” She glanced over at Leigh, and raised her hand to signal Leigh to raise her Mental Shield.

The plan was that Leigh would raise her Shield, while Karen raised her Sphere, since Karen could hold her Sphere longer than Leigh. Then, if another Shield was needed, Leigh would raise her Sphere, while Karen let hers drop and raised a Shield. All they could do was hope that no more than the two Shields were needed.

Justin was just coming up to Reg from the side. “That yours, Frank?” he asked, looking at the path of flames burning through the underbrush.

Frank raised one eyebrow as he looked from the still-smoking shotgun wedged against his shoulder to Justin.

Justin pulled his canteen and poured the water onto Reg. “Reg, I’m sorry. The rest of you...fuck you.”

“You too,” Tommy hissed back.

Justin bent over Reg and grabbed him to flip him over. He had a couple zip-ties clenched in his teeth. Master Naka and Tony were preparing to start their exorcism rites.

In the split second before Karen’s Sphere went up or Justin could flip Reg over, Tommy/Jamie’s hand snaked out and grabbed Justin’s ankle. Justin brain kind of shut the pain out the moment he felt the hand on his ankle, so he didn’t really feel the bones being crushed as Jamie squeezed; but he heard the sound and knew it was going to be bad.

David ran up and started emptying the extinguisher he’d wrestled from the wreckage of the truck onto Reg and Justin and anything else that was burning. Frank had his sidearm out and had seen Reg’s hand move for Justin’s ankle. But before he could get a clear shot off, Justin was twisting around to leverage his ankle out of Jamie’s grasp, and wrapping his arms around Reg to keep him from moving.

Jamie grabbed Justin, and with unbelievable strength, pulled Justin loose and threw him at Frank, just as Frank pulled the trigger. The shot hit something, because instantly blood sprayed everywhere, so that no one could really tell if it was Reg who’d been hit or Justin. Frank managed to stumble to one side as Justin slammed into him, avoiding the full force of the impact and staying on his feet.

Karen screamed, and her Sphere went up. Leigh’s Shield went up in the same instant.

“I think you’ll have to do better than that, Frank,” a voice neither Reg’s nor Tommy’s growled from Reg’s mouth. “I don’t think you even have the guts to kill someone.” He began scrabbling backwards.

Justin hit the ground and rolled up, landing on his uninjured foot.

“Kioto sho kai ai...” Master Naka intoned, his hands making elegant gestures.

“In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti...” Tony chanted, making the Sign of the Cross with his right hand. “Emitte lucum Tuam et veritatem Tuam....”

There appeared to be more holes in Reg now than there were solid places. “I enjoyed riding your partner to death, Frank,” the demon taunted. “And I can hardly wait for you!”

David held the empty extinguisher and stared at the burnt and bloody Reg trying to move away from Essiban and the others. Leigh was closing in, sword drawn.

He looked down at the extinguisher, then held it out above his head, and ran forward with a shout. He dropped onto Reg, ready to crush his head with the extinguisher. Instead, the heavy metal canister clanged onto the ground just above Reg’s head, and David’s forehead slammed into what was left of Reg’s chin.

Leigh raised her sword, and stabbed down, past David’s side, through Reg’s shoulder and into the ground below, pinning him in place. Reg (definitely Reg this time) looked up at Leigh. “Thank you.” He mouthed the words with his mangled jaw, though he didn’t have the breath left to say them aloud.

“Who the fuck is this?” the demon asked disparagingly.

“I keep my promises, idiot,” Leigh told it.

David lifted his head, bloody from the impact with Reg’s teeth, and Tommy locked eyes with him. “Hello, sweetheart. Come’ere....”

Green, pussy stuff began to ooze out of Reg’s mouth and over David, like an enormous slug creeping out of Reg and trying to envelop the younger man. And when it discovered that, for some reason it didn’t comprehend, it couldn’t enter him, it began to pull away.

The chanting of Tony and Master Naka had reached a fevered pitch. Tony lifted a host and broke it. Master Naka pulled a piece of parchment, a paintbrush and a small bottle of ink from his pocket, and began inking the symbols for the seal.

Tony threw the broken host at the creature, and it exploded into millions of little green, gooey droplets, coating David and spraying Justin, who had hobbled in to grab David by the collar. Justin hauled David off Reg’s body, throwing him to one side and using the momentum of the movement to follow him to the ground and cover him.

There was a deafening shockwave as the two exorcism rituals ended together. For the next several seconds, the only sound was the ringing in everyone’s ears. Master Naka knelt beside Reg’s battered body.

“Thank you, guys,” Reg whispered. “See you later.”

“Love you, Reg,” Justin whispered back, rolling off David.

Master Naka laid the inked parchment carefully over Reg’s mouth, sealing in his dying breath, and made the final symbol to finish the seal.

David sat up, looking dazed. Then he pulled his Chippewa war knife out and began stabbing each of the little green blobs.

Leigh stepped forward and tried to take the knife away from him, concerned that he might hurt himself.

“I need that!” David told her, clutching it to his chest.

Justin crawled around Reg’s body, studiously avoiding looking at what was left of it. “Maybe we should just knock him out,” he suggested, looking from David to Frank.

Frank stepped over Reg, and squatted behind David. The movement was so sudden, the others didn’t realize he’d just cold-cocked David...until David slumped forward.

Master Naka drew Leigh’s sword out of Reg’s shoulder, stood, laid it ceremoniously across his open palms, and held it out to her with a bow. She bowed and took it from him, then began carefully wiping it clean with a dry cloth.

Master Naka took his jacket off, and arranged it neatly over Reg’s face. And Karen knelt beside David, laying him on his back and taking the knife from his hands. She wiped the green goo off it, and slipped it gently back into its sheath.

Then, as Master Naka took a zazen posture and began praying the ‘passing rites,’ and Leigh began saying prayers in Latin and Danish, Frank and Karen helped Justin up off the ground and over to the truck.

They passed Tony, who was still standing where he’d been during the exorcism rite. He looked a little light-headed to them. He felt like he’d just ran a marathon after being on a 5-day fast, completely empty/hollow/drained.

“Tony,” Karen said, “come over to the truck and I’ll see if I can dig out a protein bar.”

“I’m not really hungry,” he told her. But he drifted along after them anyway. “Maybe we oughta call da perimeter guys ta pick us up,” he suggested kind of dreamily, looking at the tree that had flattened important parts of all three vehicles.

Karen and Frank got Justin settled on the tree trunk, and tried to extricate one of the med kits from the wreckage. “That’s a big tree,” Justin said, trying to ignore the pain that was just starting to throb in his ankle.

“Jus’ gimme a minute fer a nap,” Tony told him, “and I’ll take care of it.” He grinned lazily.

Frank got a syringe of morphine from the med kit and injected Justin. Then he started splinting his ankle, while Karen called in the reinforcements.

“Are we torching the body?” Justin asked. He couldn’t call it Reg without breaking down completely. And there wasn’t time for that yet.

“We should ask Master Naka, first, because of the seal,” Leigh said.

“The seal must remain in place,” Master Naka told them, not moving from his spot beside the body. “But he may be buried as you wish.”

“So the seal must stay on the body?” Frank asked.

“Hai.”

Frank looked down at the duct tape he’d just been using to secure the splint in place. He stood and went to the body, and lifted Master Naka’s jacket.

Master Naka’s eyes opened when he heard the distinctive sound of duct tape being peeled off the roll. “I believe the blood and brains will sufficiently paste it in place.”

Frank looked from the tape to Nakatomi and back, then continued with what he was doing. When several strips wrapped all the way around Reg’s head, completely covering his mouth and the parchment, Frank stood and went back to the truck for the med kit.

Then he went over and started cleaning up David’s forehead. There were two small gashes, where Tommy tried to bite off the skin when David let his head get too close. When Frank had gotten them cleaned and bandaged, Karen and Leigh helped him carry David over by the cars.

By now, the former ‘posse’ members were arriving. They helped the team get a pit dug and lined with stones. Reg’s body was laid in it and covered with dirt, then more stones were laid over the top, making a cairn. Everyone gathered around it, and said what prayers they knew.

Justin cried openly, as Karen and several of the ‘posse’ sprinkled tobacco over the cairn and smudged around it, asking the Great Spirit to lead Reg’s spirit to the land beyond.

Leigh cried...and smiled, knowing that, for Reg, the battle was over, and that she’d been able to do what needed to be done when the time came.

Afterward, those who could deal with the stench took care of the offal pit. They had Tony rig a fuse to one of Frank’s dragon’s breath rounds. Karen and some of the ‘posse’ smudged around the pit, sprinkled tobacco over it, and prayed that the spirits of those in it would go to the land beyond.

Then they dropped the dragon’s breath round in it, and Frank set it off from a safe distance. Flames leapt into the sky above the pit, carrying the awful odor of burning flesh and tobacco up with them. They let the fire burn itself out, then buried the ashes with more prayers.

Leigh called Aiden and Angie to let them know that it was over. She didn’t go into the grisly details; but she told them that, at the end, Reg was there and thanked them for what they were doing.

Frank called Terri. “It’s over.”

“You OK?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

As darkness fell, the Indians and Envoys got as much of the Envoys' equipment as they could out of the crushed cars, climbed into the trucks and drove back to the Rez.

The team was taken in, cleaned up and fed. And the posse made plans to go back to get what was left of the Envoys' vehicles. But Justin refused to let the doctors look at his ankle. “I’ll be flying to New York as soon as we get to Detroit, to have Aiden take care of it.”

He hated insulting the doctors, but this was caused by the Unknown. He didn’t understand how it worked, but because of that, Aiden would be able to make it as good as new.

Karen tried to argue with him, to talk him into at least letting them take x-rays and set it properly. But in the end, she gave in to him like she usually did.

Weeping Sparrow understood that Aiden had a special gift for healing, and she just patted Justin on the knee. “I will explain it to them. No one will be angry.”

However, she couldn’t talk them into spending the night, though they’d decided to leave David there. He’d regained consciousness, but was still incoherent. As soon as everyone else was ready, they accepted the tribe’s generous offer of the loan of a van and left.

They didn’t get any farther than the main road off the Rez. Karen made Frank turn around to go back for David. The more she thought about it, the more she felt it was her responsibility to care for him, in spite of having no idea exactly what to do to help him.

“I don’t know how yet, and I know it might be hard until Aiden fixes Justin’s ankle,” she told the others. “But he’s my student, and he was willing to risk his life to do something heroic for me. I owe him that much.

“Besides, how long can Weeping Sparrow hide him before his dad finds out something’s wrong? At least if he’s with me, a couple hours or more away, I can hopefully cover it up until he’s well.”

Leigh patted her on the shoulder. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

Weeping Sparrow was waiting in front of the police station when the van pulled up. How she knew they’d be back was anyone’s guess. She lifted her hand, and two of her posse led David out. They helped Karen get him settled in the van.

“Do not worry. You will do what is necessary to help him.” Weeping Sparrow patted the side of her face warmly and smiled.

Frank turned around in the driver’s seat. “So...anybody else gotta do anything before we leave...again? Bathroom breaks? Anything? Good.”

He turned back around and started the engine. This time they made it all the way back to Detroit.

As soon as they got into the clubhouse and got Justin (doped up on morphine) and David (still in his own little world) settled in, Karen and Leigh hunted for the soonest flight to New York. Karen sprung for 4 first-class seats, for herself, Justin, David and Frank, so Justin and David would be as comfortable as possible.

And once she had the flight info, she called Aiden to let him know they were coming.

Aiden met them at the airport with an ambulance. Frank rode with Justin and Aiden, and Karen and David followed in a cab.

At the hospital, Aiden made sure all the unbroken bits of Justin’s leg and foot were in the proper position, and Healed the rest. And he didn’t even totally tap himself out doing it.

But there was nothing he could do about the morphine. They’d just have to deal with Justin being all doped up until it wore off naturally. The four took another cab back to the airport, leaving Aiden at work, and got the first flight they could back to Detroit.

When they got to the clubhouse, they joined the others in getting a well-deserved rest.