Red Prophet: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Volume II Read Online Free PDF Page B

laughed and laughed. Ta-Kumsaw showed no expression.
    “
Every
Red, Ta-Kumsaw?” asked Harrison. “You mean, even Lolly here? Even my pet Shaw-Nee, my tame Red, even
him
?”
    For the first time Ta-Kumsaw looked at his brother, who lay snoring on the floor. “The sun comes up everyday, White man. But is it tame? Rain falls down every time. But is it tame?”
    “Excuse me, Ta-Kumsaw, but this one-eyed drunk here is as tame as my horse.”
    “Oh yes,” said Ta-Kumsaw, “Put on the saddle. Put on the bridle. Get on and ride. See where this tame Red goes. Not where you want.”
    “Exactly where I want,” said Harrison. “Keep that in mind. Your brother is always within my reach. And if you ever get out of line, boy, I’ll arrest him as your conspirator and hang him high.”
    Ta-Kumsaw smiled thinly. “You think so. Lolla-Wossiky thinks so. But he will learn to see with his other eye before you ever lay a hand on him.”
    Then Ta-Kumsaw turned around and left the room. Quietly, smoothly, not stalking, not angry, not even closing the door behind him. He moved with grace, like an animal, like a very dangerous animal. Hooch saw a cougar once, years ago, when he was alone in the mountains. That’s what Ta-Kumsaw was. A killer cat.
    Harrison’s aide closed the door.
    Harrison turned to Jackson and smiled. “You see?” he said.
    “What am I supposed to see, Mr. Harrison?”
    “Do I have to spell it out for you, Mr. Jackson?”
    “I’m a lawyer. I like things spelled out. If you can spell.”
    “I can’t even
read
,” said Hooch cheerfully.
    “You also can’t keep your mouth shut,” said Harrison. “I’ll spell it out for you, Jackson. You and your Tennizy boys, you talk about moving the Reds west of the Mizzipy. Now let’s say we do that. What are you going to do, keep soldiers all the way up and down the river, watching all day and all night? They’ll be back across this river whenever they want, raiding, robbing, torturing, killing.”
    “I’m not a fool,” said Jackson. “It will take a great bloody war, but when we get them across the river, they’ll be broken. And men like that Ta-Kumsaw—they’ll be dead or discredited.”
    “You think so? Well, during that great bloody waryou talk about, a lot of White boys will die, and White women and children, too. But I have a better idea. These Reds suck down likker like a calf sucks down milk from his mama’s tit. Two years ago there was a thousand Pee-Ankashaw living east of the My-Ammy River. Then they started getting likkered up. They stopped working, they stopped eating, they got so weak that the first little sickness came through here, it wiped them out. Just wiped them out. If there’s a Pee-Ankashaw left alive here, I don’t know about it. Same thing happened up north, to the Chippy-Wa, only it was French traders done it to them. And the best thing about likker is, it kills off the Reds and not a White man dies.”
    Jackson rose slowly to his feet. “I reckon I’ll have to take three baths when I get home,” he said, “and even then I still won’t feel clean.”
    Hooch was delighted to see that Harrison was really mad. He rose to his feet and shouted at Jackson so loud that Hooch could feel his chair shake. “Don’t get high and mighty with me, you hypocrite! You want them all dead, just like I do! There’s no difference between us.”
    Jackson stopped at the door and eyed the governor with disgust. “The assassin, Mr. Harrison, the
poisoner
, he can’t see the difference between himself and a soldier. But the soldier can.”
    Unlike Ta-Kumsaw, Jackson was not above slamming the door.
    Harrison sank back down onto his chair. “Hooch, I’ve got to say, I don’t much like that fellow.”
    “Never mind,” said Hooch. “He’s with you.”
    Harrison smiled slowly. “I know. When it comes to war, we’ll all be together. Except for maybe that Red-kisser up in Vigor Church.”
    “Even him,” said Hooch. “Once a war starts, the