Spirits of crows, dancing By the morning of the third day in the village the clouds broke open the clear sky, bright sun. The snow began to melt. The trees sent clumps of snow down to the ground and slatted like giant raindrops. That evening a full bright moon rose over the midnight sky and lit up the dark. The light poured through the windows and rested on the bed where Inman and Ada where whispering.
They had spent all night talking about how they would go about their lives when they returned to the farm. Although they where straight forward and simple, they took a great deal of consideration for each one had its deadly effects. They had come up with that the war could not go on any longer and it would soon die out with men, and they took that in consideration with their plans. They had come down to three choices, Inman could return to the army and with them being short-handed as they where, they would accept him and send him back into fighting, their he would keep his head down and hope for a early end, or he could return to the farm and hope that no federals or confederates come knocking on their door looking for some one, and the last choice was to move west, where the fighting and killing was not a abundant as it was where they where presently staying.
inman pride
inman park bus terminal
Robert A. InmanAda and Inman lay thinking about which one to set fourth on, Inman decided it would be foolish to just go back to the war after he had spent so long running from it, and Ada figured that the second was to risky and would not work, so they decided on the 3rd decision, travel west until they hit Texas, or travel more west until they came upon Colorado, they would leave Ruby and her father on the farm to care for until they returned after the war was over. On the fourth day in the village the dry brown leaves where gliding down the wet mushy ground, the party decided that they all should set fourth for they did not know how long the dry weather would last until the next storm.
-it would take at least 7 hours to get back home. Ruby said Ruby assumed that they would all go as a part But Inman declined and said that it was smarter to travel with less people from his experiences on his own. They decided that Ada and ruby would go now in the Morning and Inman and Stobrod would follow during noon. Ruby figured that it was the smartest way to go and agreed, ruby and Ada set fourth, Inman closed up the camp and propped Stobrod onto the horse, and then Inman and Stobrod disappeared into the woods once again. They both traveled at a steady pace and soon came down around the creak where Inman saw the salamander, and thought to him self that now he was off to find his nice rock to be shaded from the harshness of war. They came around the bend where the poplar stood, still stained with blood and damaged where the balls bounced off; Stobrod lifted his head up and cussed to himself as they pasted it. Inman was surprised how steadily they where going, along the mountain rocks and forest, Inman wondered if the girls traveled this fast and if they where going to catch up with them, Inman watched the trees sway in the wind and leaves being torn off their weak brown stems and pulled in the blue sky into the clouds. They came around a bend where their was a clearing and a tail up ahead, all of a sudden Inman heard horses and footsteps coming down the trail, Inman quickly grabbed the horse rings and crouched down on the wet grass, Stobrod quickly looked up at the men coming up.
-"Teague" he said with was frightening sound to his voice,"that's a dangerous man" he said to Inman "and a hard one to kill at that".
But Inman did not need Stobrod's advice, he knew who he was, he fought with him in Petersburg he was as ruthless and they come, and often burned down towns and killed farmers to feed his man, Inman knew that talking to him would be as good as shooting himself in the head. There where four men on the patrol and along with them a bloodhound, the hound sniffed the air as they walked past them and darted off toward Inman, he knew that avoiding a fight was not possible, he drew out his Lemat and cocked it on full cock. Inman slapped the horse with his hand and sent the horse running, at that same moment he fired two shots, one bullet Rick shaded off the dogs head and slammed into a nearby tree, the other flew straight into one of the guards chest and sent a cloud of blood on the mans face, the bullet struck the mans heart and he quickly let out a scream before he lay limp one the ground, the others where confused by what was going on and went around in circles to try and find where it was coming from, Inman flew out of the bushes and fired at the men on the left side of him, one of the bullets struck Teague's horse and it sent him flying in the air as it kicked in pain, the other guard was struck in the cheek, the horse jumped also and ran off dragging the man behind him. The other guard managed to shot a ball at Inman and he could hear the bullet whiz by his head as it stuck a nearby tree, Inman jumped at the man and hooked his arm around his torso and slammed him onto the ground, once on the ground the guard was uncertain of what just happened and did not notice that his leg was still attached the to horse saddle and the bone that was pierced through his leg, the boy gave out a loud cry of pain before Inman sent a ball in the mans skull, Inman quickly remembered that their was still Teague left, but he was not in sight, Inman looked to the dead horse but no sign of him, he then looked behind him catching a glimpse of the butt of a rifle slam into the right temple of his head, Inman fell to the ground and bleed on the dirt road, he looked up and saw that he had now the rifle barrel aimed right at his head, Teague grabbed the Leman's from Inman and studied it.
-this is some weapon you got here, where did you get it? Said Teague calmly Inman just sat silent and continued to bleed, he began to get dizzy and he felt sick to his stomach --"well I guess it doesn't really matter where you got it from anyway, it aint going to be much use for a dead outlier like yourself, so I mind as well hold onto it" said Teague with a small grin coming to his face. He raised the Lemats to Inman's face point blank and squeezed the trigger on the buck shot. At that moment Inman thought of Ada and how glad he was to have spent what little time he had with her, he thought of how their life would have been if all did not go wrong. Just then as Inman was awaiting the last shot, he heard a loud roar, it was as loud a cannon going off and it rang his Inman's ears, Inman looked up and saw the expression on Teague's face, it was not like he had ever seen before, his smile has some pity and mercy and he stood their frozen, Inman was confused as to what was going on, he expected himself to be dead long ago, Inman looked up and saw the biggest bear he had ever seen in his life, it stood on its hind legs and had its teeth snarled and claws retracted, Teague gave out a loud scream before the bear slashed the side of his neck and tore a peace of flesh off as the giant paw left the wound, he fell off onto the ground and laid on the ground screaming and holding the wound, Inman quickly grabbed his Lemats, and stood over the helpless man. The shot rang out into the woods and Teague lay their motionless on the dirt road.
English: Bradley Inman
William Inman
Florence Elsie Inman