Everything Happens for a Reason

"Do you feel that?" asked John, softly through the darkness.

"As soon as I was next to him, I said, "Yes, there's someone out there. He's not close yet, but if we stay here past sunrise, he will be." With that said, I gently roused Laurie from her sleep and we broke camp.

Fifteen minutes later we were off and on our way to where we were going to give Mo his freedom. As the sun began to peek over the mountains we found ourselves in the middle of the Great Plains, where just beyond, lay The Ancient Lands of my ancestors. All of a sudden, I heard the sound of the helicopter churning up the stillness that once was, and making it's way toward us. I cautiously reached into my saddle bag and withdrew the Sniper's scope that Mike had given me and deliberately mounted it atop the 30.06 rifle that I had pulled from its holster. I prayed that it had been sighted in for this rifle. It was as if God had instantly heard my prayers, because no sooner had I mounted the scope on the rifle, when Laurie smiled and said, "Daddy said that, that scope was designed and sighted in for the rifle you're using, baby." I was glad that she didn't hear me exhale in relief.

In the next few minutes the chopper was upon us and hovering above us. A loudspeaker on the aircraft rang out, saying, "This is Zach Harper. I order you to turn that animal over to me and you won't be harmed."

Laurie shot him her middle finger and yelled, "FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE! THIS IS INDIAN LAND AND YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE, GOD DAMMIT!" Out of nowhere, a shot rang out, and I heard Laurie scream and saw her put both hands to her head as she fell off of Gus. John and I dismounted and hit the ground, hiding in the tall grass of the Great Plains. Suddenly M-60 machine gun fire began raining down from the chopper. As the ground exploded all around us, I took not only the safety off my rifle, but took aim on the asshole in the chopper that was firing the M-60. The second I pulled the trigger, his head exploded, bathing the cabin of the chopper in blood. I took another shot into the choppers crankcase, making white smoke begin to pour from the aircraft's exhaust port. Then I took another shot into its fuel tanks, just for good measure.

The chopper's engines coughed and the pilot ended up setting it down about five hundred yard in front of us. I watched as, the moment the chopper landed, two men scrambled from it right before it exploded into flames. When the explosion rang out, so did gunfire from every direction. I didn't see the horses anywhere and it was all I could do just to get to Laurie. When I found her, she wasn't as bad as I had originally thought. As opposed to having a severe head wound, I discovered that she'd only been creased. Basically, it was a flesh wound that would heal nicely with no ill effects.

Gunfire began to pour in on us from countless directions, and I thought we were all about to die, until I heard John shout, "HOTAMETANEO'O, NENAASESTSE! EMEOTO!" Cheyenne for: Dogmen, come! We need help!

The tribal drumbeats I heard when I fought the Old One, now rang out loudly all around us, at a near deafening volume. And when the drums stopped beating, I looked around us and all I could see, as far as I could see, were thousands of Cheyenne warriors from centuries past, dressed for battle. I began to hear the screams of whomever it was that had been firing on us, and when I looked up again, I saw standing before me, none other than Lone Wolf, Grey Fox, Chief Dull Knife and Chief Black Kettle, alive and in the flesh. Lone Wolf spoke to me and said, "You are Cheyenne. We will always be with you," before they all disappeared into thin air, and then the gunfire was silenced.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement on the canyon wall. I quickly picked up my rifle and hit the ground. As I peered through the scope, I saw a man making a new nest to fire from. As I increased the power and zoom on the scope, I discovered that he was of Asian descent. Another interesting aspect of him was the medallion he wore around his neck. It had a Viet Cong flag painted on it. It was then that my great, great, great, grandfather's words came back to me. "Look for the gold star on a blue horizon with a red sky!" Historically, the Viet Cong Flag had a gold star in the middle with red on the top half and blue on the bottom half. As I took aim, so did he, and I saw him smile right before I killed him and watched his body fall from the canyon wall.

Chapter Fourteen

After all was said and done, we came to find out that Zach Harper had been so terrified by what he'd seen that day, that he went off of the proverbial deep end and had to be institutionalized for the rest of his life. The Montana Cattlemen's Association was disbanded and reformed, with Mike Watson being unanimously elected as president. The Asian sniper that I killed was a man named, Vin Dihn Trang, a once communist guerilla, now turned international terrorist. INTERPOL had placed a bounty on his head of fifteen million dollars. I gave it to the Cheyenne Nation and the United States Government met that donation with their own, that equaled the same amount I had donated. That allowed them to build a new hospital and several houses as well as a new school. Furthermore, the Untied States Government, through the Department of the Interior, issued a formal apology to the Cheyenne People for two hundred and fifty years of abuse, tyranny and neglect.

Mo lived free and wild till the end of his days. When my heart told that his time was drawing near, I rode into the Oxbow to bid him goodbye and found that he waited for me so he could die with his head in my lap. However, the following spring after we freed him, Jessi gave birth to a baby colt, a solid black stallion with a brilliant white star on his forehead.

Laurie and I were married the following summer, and from all of the people in attendance, I think the entire state of Montana, half the state of Texas, and the entire Cheyenne Nation all turned out to be there. I got John Kettle to stand as my best man, and Harvey Crutcher, who later married Emma, as a groomsman. Laurie had Emma and Deirdre as maid of honor and bridesmaid. We have lived in Montana for twenty years now. Our son, whom we name Michael James, M. J. for short, and our daughter Jamie, both run the ranch now. Laurie and I still continue to love one another just as it was destined to be before the both of us were ever born. So, you see, everything really does happen for a reason now, doesn't it?"

THE END