At first I thought the arrow pierced her, but as we neared, I saw that it passed harmlessly through the skin shift at her side & pinned her to the trunk of the tree.
The woman became still at our approach, watched us through strange eyes?—?so gleaming & black that they appeared to have no center. Her skin was neither white like ours nor brown like the Indians, but instead a translucent gray. Her lips were dull black, as if coated with charcoal, & broad bands of white, like paint, ran down either of her cheeks. Her skin, her hair, her pale tunic, were all speckled with beads of water.
The Midnoosky stood beside the woman, gestured from her to me.
?—?I don’t know, but I think he’s asking if you want her, Tillman said.
I reached to pull the arrow from the tree, but the woman seized my wrist. Her grasp was wet & leathery. I then saw that a slick membrane webbed her fingers. Her nails were black, slender & sharp. She turned her head slightly to look at me through one of her peculiar eyes. She blinked?—?so quickly that surely I am mistaken?—?but it seemed her eyelid flickered from bottom to top in an uncanny way.
She lowered her head & hissed at me, a frightful sound like a cornered snake.
Overhead, the flock of geese circled, cried.
?—?Oh, Jesus, Tillman said. —?You’re not taking her, are you?
With my other hand, I pulled the arrow from the tree. I hoped she would escape, but she was not quick enough. The Indian grabbed her waist, bound her hands with leather thong, led her away. Throughout the marsh, the other Indians gathered the dead geese & stray arrows.
We walked empty-handed back to our camp with little talk except Tillman’s occasional mutterings?—?All my life, never seen anything like it.
I am curious to hear Samuelson’s interpretation of these events when he returns to camp.
?—?No goose for supper, then?
Such was the trapper’s response.
I explained how we had come upon the flock & the women at the marsh, the two mingled so that one could not tell them apart. I told him of the strange woman who was pinned by an arrow.
?—?A real hell-cat, Tillman offered. —?I thought the Colonel had lost all sense, when it seemed like he was taking her in.
Samuelson lit his pipe.
?—?A shame, he said. —?Had my mouth set for goose. Bit tired of hare & thin broth.
I asked again if he had ever seen anything like it.
?—?Nope, he said around his pipe. —?I’ve heard it told, though, that’s how they first got their women.
When the world was small & mostly water, he said, women were geese. If a man wanted one, he had to go & catch her before she changed back & flew off.
?—?Course, then he’s got the trouble of bringing her home & trying to tame her.
Samuelson chuckled, as if this was surely the hardest part to believe.
Tillman paced about with some nervousness.
?—?You’re saying that’s what we saw, out there in the marsh today?
?—?I’m just passing along a story I heard told. Make of it what you will.
?—?It’s ridiculous! Pruitt said.
It all amused the trapper.
?—?So, he said,?—?a woman from a rib you’ll have, but not from a goose?
A small number of Mednovtsy Indians have accepted the Orthodox faith, but their nomadic life and distance from the Konstantin redoubt, as well as their casual attitude toward their new religion, means that they very rarely participate in religious ceremonies, and many have even forgotten that they are Christians.
?—?From Captain P. N. Golovin’s Last Report,
1862 (translated from the Russian)
Lieut. Col. Allen Forrester
April 30, 1885
With the snow rapidly disappearing, we are able to walk easily along the river shore. It is sparse country indeed, though majestic in its span. The mountains to the northeast are wrapped in clouds & what we make for plumes of volcanic steam. The peaks are of such luminous white as to look unearthly.
Pruitt estimates we have gained no more than 15 miles in the past two days. Our travel is slowed by our fatigue & need to search for food. We have seen no more waterfowl. Samuelson caught a few hares during the nights, but they are not enough.
?—?I’m sick to death of these d?——?d rabbits, but I’d swallow a dozen of them if they were on hand, Tillman said.
We are beginning to understand how the natives can be so gluttonous, consuming vast amounts of food in one sitting. It seems the lean meat of this land is not enough to keep up with the physical demands it places on one’s body.