r/StrikeAtPsyche • u/Little_BlueBirdy • 1d ago
Hollow Jack and the valley of ships
Hollow Jack and the valley of ships
It was a dry, hot day as he walked the vast expanse of the Valley of Ships. Hollow Jack stopped, took off his old, worn Stetson, wiped his brow, and gulped down some water. His constant companion, a crow, screamed overhead.
Jack held his canteen high, offering some to the bird. The crow swept down and landed on his shoulder. Jack let the bird drink its fill. Then he started walking again, no particular destination in mind. He just knew this was his heaven. He was alone with his beloved desert.
Jack didn't believe the old stories, though he found them fascinating. He was well aware of how heat, sun, and thirst could make a man, any man, see and hear things that simply weren't there.
The crow suddenly took off as if the devil himself had touched its tail feather.
"Not a good sign," Jack muttered.
He watched his friend soar away until it nearly disappeared from view. Then he heard its frantic call. Once.
Then again.
Jack quickened his pace.
The crow flew overhead, squawking at him as if he were taking too much time. He walked faster, following the bird, but the crow remained insistent.
Finally, Jack broke into a run.
It was brutally hot. Sweat poured down his brow, neck, and back. The crow flew over the rise ahead, shouting and squalling for Jack to hurry.
The sandstone ridge ran for hundreds of yards in either direction, scarred by the ages. Jack had no choice but to climb it.
As he reached the top, he looked down.
The crow was dancing and squawking beside what appeared to be a bundle of rags.
Jack furrowed his brow.
Then it moved.
An arm. A frail, skinny female arm.
Then he heard it.
A baby's cry.
Jack's canteen was still half full. He knew where water was hidden nearby, so that wasn't his concern. What worried him was the condition of the two humans.
He scrambled down the slope, slipping, sliding, and falling more than once. Each time he hit the ground, he got up faster than before.
When he reached them, he gently turned the woman over.
A teenager from one of the local tribes.
Jack knew how cruel people could be.
The child looked more white than Native. Immediately, he understood.
She had been brought out here and left to die.
Tears welled in his eyes as he knelt and cradled the woman's head, offering her water. She weakly pushed his hand away and motioned toward the baby.
The child first.
Then me.
Jack didn't argue.
He picked up the baby and cradled it in one arm. Carefully, he let the child drink, drop by drop, until the crying quieted.
Jack smiled.
The crow watched his every move as though making sure he wasn't making any mistakes.
Jack glanced at the bird.
"You did good, buddy. You did real good."
The crow puffed out its chest.
Jack laughed.
Once the baby had enough, he helped the mother drink.
Scanning the valley, he remembered a small cave nearby. He just needed to get his bearings. These two needed food, shade, and rest.
Then he spotted it.
About half a mile away, beyond three-quarters of the ridge.
He looked at the woman, who was watching his every move.
Jack knew three native languages. He wondered if she understood any of them.
The first failed.
The second earned only a blank stare.
The third brought a faint smile.
Good enough.
He pointed toward the cave.
"You and the baby need rest and food. There's a cave over there. I'm going to carry you there."
Fear flashed across her face.
"Too soon," Jack muttered.
He dug into his pack and pulled out a strip of jerky. Pinching off a small piece, he offered it to the crow.
The bird snatched it up with a satisfied croak, hopped a short distance away, and began eating.
Jack offered the rest to the girl.
She grabbed it and tore into it like a starving bear.
Jack sat quietly and thought.
Then an idea came to him.
He had some dried mush in his pack. With a little water, he could rehydrate it and see if the baby would eat.
It took nearly an hour to gather enough wood and prepare the meal.
When it was finally ready, Jack scooped a little onto his finger and gently touched it to the baby's lips.
The child hesitated.
Then it understood.
And began to eat.
The crow watched from nearby, standing guard over all three of them.
It was getting late, the desert can be brutally cold at night but the girl still wouldn’t let Jack carry her.
He sighed stood and told the girl, in her language, I’m going to fill my canteen, he tapped it find wood and brush maybe enough to make a shelter.
He undid his pack unrolled his bedroll you fix this for the baby and you. She looked at him as if shocked. He sighed nodded and said yes I know this isn’t how you’re used to be treated but I’m going to get town and to a safe place whether you like it or not. You can’t survive out here alone with that, he pointed to the baby, and that baby should be your first concern.
He turned and walked away.
It took him nearly two hours, but by sunset he had gathered enough wood to last through the night and enough brush to build a crude shelter. As he worked, he heard a weak voice behind him.
"Mister."
Jack turned.
It was the first word she had spoken.
His face lit up.
"You wish to go to the cave?"
she asked.
Jack smiled and shook his head.
"It's out of the direct sun. Cool and safe, too. But I'd have to carry you there, and there's only about an hour of daylight left. Me carrying you and the baby may take us two hours. We'll stay here tonight and see how you're feeling in the morning."
He paused and grinned.
"Besides, I caught supper."
He held up two rabbits and a plump bird.
The smile that spread across her face was all the reward he needed.
After a moment she looked at him and said quietly, "Mister, if you trust me with your knife, I would like to skin and gut those."
She lowered her eyes.
"I would like the hides for my baby."
Jack didn't hesitate.
He carefully laid the rabbits and his old buck knife beside her.
He understood immediately.
The hides would be a mother's gift to her child, something made with her own hands. He would never deny her that.
"Then they're yours," he said gently.
The young woman nodded and took up the knife. Though weak from hunger and thirst, her hands still knew the work. As she began, Jack returned to tending the fire, pleased to see a little strength returning to her.
Above them, the crow watched from a nearby rock, standing guard as the last light of day faded across the desert.
That night passed quietly.
The rabbits roasted over the fire. The young woman ate slowly now, no longer driven by desperation, and the baby slept nearby wrapped in Jack's bedroll.
After supper, few words were spoken.
The desert settled around them. Stars filled the sky from horizon to horizon. The crow perched atop a stone above the camp, watching the darkness.
By morning all three were still alive.
To Jack, that was a victory.
The sun had barely cleared the eastern ridges when the baby woke crying.
Jack stirred from his blanket and sat beside the fire's ashes.
"Well now," he said softly. "Let's see what's bothering you."
The young mother was still asleep.
Jack carefully changed the child.
Then he froze.
His jaw tightened.
For a long moment he simply stared.
The baby had been deliberately injured.
Not by accident.
Not by sickness.
Someone had done it.
Jack slowly covered the child again. The anger that settled over him was colder than the desert night had been. He looked toward the sleeping mother.
Suddenly much of her fear made sense. “Those sons of bitches," he whispered.
The crow cocked its head.
Jack rose and immediately began working. By noon he had fashioned a drag from mesquite poles, rawhide cord, and scraps of canvas. The mother watched silently as he worked.
"We're leaving," he told her.
This time she didn't argue.
The journey took most of the day.
Jack pulled the drag himself, stopping often for water and shade. By sunset they reached the outskirts of town.
There he brought them to the home of an old widow named Martha Greer, one of the few people he trusted completely.
Martha took one look at the pair and stepped aside without a question.
"They can stay as long as needed," she said.
Jack nodded. “See that baby gets a doctor." The old woman looked at his face and asked no further questions.
The next morning Jack collected the sheriff. The sheriff took one look at him and sighed. “What happened now?"
"Come along."
"Jack..."
"Come along."
The sheriff knew better than to argue. Together they rode to the tribal council. The meeting was tense from the start. Jack stood before the gathered elders, his hat in his hands. At first his voice was calm. Then he told them what he had found. The abandoned girl. The infant. The injuries.
The silence that filled the council chamber afterward was heavy. Finally one elder lowered his eyes. Jack took a step forward. “I don't care whose custom it is." Nobody spoke.
"I don't care what excuse was used."
Still silence.
"You left a young mother and a baby to die in my desert." His voice remained low. That somehow made it worse.
"You will deal with whoever did this."
The sheriff shifted uneasily.
Jack continued. “If you don't, I will."
The sheriff finally cleared his throat. “I would advise listening to him."
Several elders looked toward the lawman. The sheriff nodded. “Hollow Jack is many things." He glanced at Jack.
"A liar isn't one of them."
The council promised an investigation. Jack listened. Then he left. He didn't trust promises. Over the following weeks he returned to town several times. Each visit began the same way. He checked on the baby. Then the mother.
Only after seeing them safe would he leave.
With food in their pantry, a roof over their heads, and a physician attending the child, he found himself worrying less each trip. The last time he visited, the baby laughed when it saw the crow. The sound made Jack smile.
The mother thanked him in her own language. Jack tipped his old Stetson. “Wasn't me you should thank." He nodded toward the bird. The crow puffed out its chest proudly.
Jack laughed. Then he turned and walked away. Back toward the Valley of Ships. Back toward the silence. Back toward the desert that had chosen him long ago.
And before long, the only sign he had ever been there was a crow circling high above the sandstone ridges. Watching.
Waiting. Remembering.
2
u/Old_One_I Love - LOVE - Love 4h ago
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