Crazy Horse
Created | Updated Aug 17, 2003
One time Analiese was walking down the road out on the prairie, a long way from home. By and by, she got tired of walking and decided to hitch a ride.
The road was a secondary so there wasn't much traffic and Analiese wasn't real sure where she was going anyways, but she turned and stuck out her thumb everytime a car passed by. A few passed by too, but they didn't stop.
The sun was climbing higher in the sky and the day was getting hotter. The heat stirred up dustdevils here and there and the passing cars stirred up dust too. Pretty soon Analiese was covered with dust.
By and by though a rusty red pickup came down the road and started to slow down. When Analiese stuck out her thumb, the truck came to stop just down the road a ways beyond where she stood. Analiese ran after it and when she caught up to it, she stood on the passenger side running board and peered inside.
The driver was wearing a baseball cap with the NY logo of the New York Yankees. He had long brown hair that cascaded down his back and a single braid on the left side bound with a bandana. He wore a jean shirt, Wranglers and scuffy cowboy boots. His face was very solemn but his eyes seemed kind and concerned.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked.
"Oh, just passing through I reckon," replied Analiese.
"Where are you going?"
"I reckon your way."
"Is that a fact?"
"I reckon so."
"Well, get in then."
Analiese tossed her bedroll in the bed of the truck and settled down on the seat. The driver threw the stick into Second, then Third. The transmission kind of whined a little. It was an old truck, maybe 1950s Chevy.
After a few miles watching the prairie go by, Analiese asked, "You live around here?"
"Yep, this is my home," answered the driver. "Where you from?"
"The other side of the mountains," Analiese replied.
"So, you a ghost dancer then?"
"Maybe, I could be. Then again maybe not."
"Then maybe you're just a ghost, eh?"
"Could be, could just be a ghost. What's that rock for?"
"Rock? What rock you talking about?"
"The one in hanging behind your left ear."
"Oh that. That's my medicine."
"Medicine huh? You a stone dreamer?"
"How you know about stone dreamers?"
"I don't know. Maybe I dreamed about a stone dreamer once."
The driver cracked just the hint of a smile. He kept scanning the horizon and the road ahead.
"No, I don't think I'm a stone dreamer. I think I dream about dancing horses mostly."
"Do tell? How do they dance."
"Like Four-leggeds mostly."
"Huh? That's interesting. You going to the Black Hills then?"
"Yep, how'd you know?" The driver caught himself then and answered his own question. "You dreamed about it didn't you?"
"Probably."
The driver drove on in silence for many more miles. Finally, in the distance a dark mountain range became visible, like the hump of a bison. In another hour the dark color had resolved into the dark green of pines and soon they were in the middle of the national forest.
"You see those peaks over there?" asked the driver.
"You mean the kind of pinkish, bald ones?" asked Analiese.
"Yep, that's the center of the world," replied the driver proudly.
"The center huh? It sort of looks like the center. Do the thunders live there then?"
"That's what people used to say. You dream about thunders?"
"If I did I'd need to talk backwards."
"I s'pose. How would you do that?"
"Backwards talk to need I'd did I if."
At that the driver chuckled and grinned. Analiese thought he had pretty teeth and a fine smile.
"You're a very pretty man when you laugh," she said approvingly.
"You don't say? Well you're a very pretty girl. Now, where are you going."
"Like I said before, your way."
The driver shook his head, chuckling some more and drove on. Soon they were in a place where the trees had been clearcut. In the distance was a great gash in the earth, a pit mine, Analiese thought.
The driver turned off the main road and headed up a dirt track that sort of faded out near the top of a ridge. On the ridge stood a small drilling rig. The driver stopped the truck, set the emergency brake and got out of the cab.
"We're stopping here for little while," he announced.
Analiese got out and followed him towards the rig. When they got near it, a white man emerged from the rig's cab.
"Something I can do for you?" he yelled over the roar of the drill.
The driver waved him over away from the rig so they wouldn't have to yell.
"Look, this better be important," said the white man petulantly.
"Why's that?" asked the driver.
"Because I got a schedule to keep, that's why's that."
"You don't say? Well, this is indian country. Why are you drilling here?"
"This is the United States of America, chief," replied the white man. "The land of opportunity, and the operator's taking advantage of that opportunity. You comprende?"
"No, what opportunity?"
"Well, you see that strip mine over there?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"It's coming over here pretty soon and when it does there'll be big dump trucks, enormous big dump trucks rolling all over this ridge."
"Sorry to hear that," said the driver.
"Sorry? You should be glad. You might even get a job driving one if you watch your mouth and show a little initiative."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Yeah, I bet you will."
"That still doesn't explain why you're drilling here."
"No it doesn't does it? Well, you see the oldtimers didn't strip off the overburden like we do now, so this hill is just honeycobbed with old mine tunnels. And when them trucks come here, they might just collapse those tunnels making new shafts. Unfortunately, that could get expensive for the operator, having to yank those trucks out of the holes, so he contracted with my boss to locate the tunnels, drill into them and pump water underground to support them so they don't collapse as easily. Kind of high tech, ain't it?"
"I don't rightly know about high tech, but I wonder where you're getting all the water for that?"
"Oh, we'll get plenty. There's a coal seam on the otherside just bursting with water. We'll pump it out here, add a little sand and gravel and inject it into the tunnels. That'll fix things up right."
"Huh? Up right you say? Sounds like you're just going to make somebody's well run dry while you taint somebody else's stream. That's not exactly up right is it?"
"I don't know about that," replied the white man irritably.
All this time Analiese had just been looking and listening. Suddenly she blurted out a little yelp.
"Why speaking of up right, that drill just went up and wrong I think!"
"Ah s**t!" yelled the white man spinning around.
He watched in shock as the earth seemed to swallow his drilling rig. First the rearend with the draw works sunk tipping the cab way up in the air. Then the whole thing just sort of slid out of sight, the portable derrick folding like a jack knife.
"Wow!" exclaimed Analiese. "That was something I never saw before, something sinking right into the ground like it was the ocean or something."
"My gawd! How am I going to explain that to my boss?" asked the white man in desperation.
"Well, I guess you could tell him you hit a reef or something," answered Analiese sympathetically. "Kind of hard to see underground isn't it? Maybe harder than seeing under water, what do you think?"
"It's them damn seismic boys. They must of made a miscalculation and now I'm going to pay for it."
"That's tough," said Analiese. "Maybe you should come home with us before the boss finds out."
"Home with you! Who the hell are you anyway?"
"Name's Analiese and this here is my good friend and companion, Crazy Horse."
The driver seemed startled to hear the name and the white man just shook his head.
"You're crazy alright. Now get the hell out of here before I run you off!"
"Suit yourself, mister. But then you better be for getting on that cellphone of yours and getting some help because quite frankly I think me and Mr. Horse here could take you in a heartbeat."
Analiese picked up a jagged rock and began to toss it into the air and catch it like a baseball pitcher.
"Hey, maybe I'm just little upset, okay? Didn't mean to get you all riled up."
"I'm not riled, mister. I'm not riled at all. Of course I'm not the one with the drilling rig stuck in somebody's sewer either."
The white man began to scratch his head as the driver moved around to his rear.
"Look I don't want no trouble now, honest," he said quickly.
"Okay," said Analiese. "You want a ride back to town then?"
"Sure, if you don't mind," answered the white man. He wiped the sweat from his brow with a blue bandana.
"Do you mind?" asked Analiese looking at the driver.
"No, I guess not. Didn't they give you truck, white man?"
"Yeah, they did, but I guess I just parked it too close to the rig this morning, so its in the hole too. Not thinking I guess."
"Yeah, I guess," agreed the driver. "Okay, I guess we better get going. It's starting to get dark."
The trio walked back to the old rusty red truck. Analiese got in the middle, staddling the gear shift while the white man rode shotgun.
"Where's your shop?" asked the driver.
"Just about 20 miles from here as the crow flies and not too much further by the road."
"Maybe you should pay for our gas then," said Analiese.
"I guess that'd be fair. I'll let you use the pump at the yard, okay?"
"Okay, Mr. Horse?" asked Analiese.
"Okay, Analiese," answered the driver.
After they dropped off the white man and pumped the gas, they rolled up to a diner.
"You want something to eat?" asked the driver.
"I wouldn't mind," answered Analiese happily.
After they'd settled into a booth and ordered, the driver stared intently at Analiese.
"What are you looking at?" she asked mischieviously.
"Why, you girl. Why do you call me Crazy Horse? You know about Crazy Horse?"
"Yep, I do. I know all about Crazy Horse. I spotted you first thing."
"Is that a fact? How'd you know it was me?"
"Why, from the pictures of course."
Crazy Horse chuckled at that.
"I think you're the one who's crazy, girl. You know there ain't no pictures, don't you?"
"Yeah, I know. That was a joke. I recognized you by your rock, your 'medicine', eh?"
"Yeah, my medicine," Crazy Horse answered as he gazed out the window pensively.
Then he stared at Analiese again.
"Did you do that?" he asked
"Do what?" she replied innocently.
"Make that earth swallow that monster."
"Heck, me? How would I make the earth do that?"
"Not sure, but I got a feeling you figured out how to do it."
"Could be. Actually, what I figured out was you wanted it done. That's why you went up there isn't it?"
"I guess so. But I didn't think I'd have the power."
"Well, you should have known I was coming to help you. What does that dancing horse tell you anyway?"
"The dancing horse tells me I don't know very much and therefore can't help a whole lot."
"Sometimes, it only takes a little bit of luck," said Analiese.
Now, it was her looking out the window.
"The sky's turning purple," she said quietly. "It's beautiful isn't it?"
"Yes, it's beautiful," Crazy Horse agreed.
"So what should we do tomorrow? I thought we might take a ride over to that strip mine and see what falls in, what do you think?"
"I think you're going to get us both killed," answered Crazy Horse.
"They can't kill us," said Analiese. "They already did that, remember?"
"I don't remember them killing you."
"You should. I died the day they murdered you. And I've been dying over and over ever since. It was a good day to die though, don't you think?"
"Hou, I agree, girl."
Analiese wiped a tear from her eye and lit a cigarette. She blew a few smoke rings and watched them drift on the draft as the screen door of the diner banged shut. A man dressed in a business suit carrying a briefcase and hardhat settled on a stool at the counter.
Analiese watched him intensely.
"The boogeyman just came to town," she said pointing at the man with her lips. "That would be the boss I think."
"I think you're right," agreed Crazy Horse.
"Well, tomorrow will be a good day to die too," said Analiese.
"Probably."
"Do you really think so?"
"You've never lied to me yet."
"And I never will."
"So tell me now, truly, when will the buffalo come back?"
Analiese grinned. "You know. When you've heard the thunderbird flapping his wings perched on the center of the world."
Just then a low rumble of thunder shook the window glass.
"That'll be the phone. I think it's for you," she giggled.
"How do I answer?"
"Tell him you'll get back to him in the morning."
Crazy Horse smiled and stirred his coffee, while Analiese stubbed out her cigarette and swallowed the last of her beer.
"Better get some sleep, huh? Big day tomorrow."
Crazy Horse nodded as he left the tip. After he paid the check, he walked outside. The night air was cool.
Analiese was sitting in the cab, where he joined her. Together they drove off into the night as lightning flashed on Harney Peak illuminating their silhouettes in the cab. Then it started to rain as they disappeared into the misty darkness.
The road was a secondary so there wasn't much traffic and Analiese wasn't real sure where she was going anyways, but she turned and stuck out her thumb everytime a car passed by. A few passed by too, but they didn't stop.
The sun was climbing higher in the sky and the day was getting hotter. The heat stirred up dustdevils here and there and the passing cars stirred up dust too. Pretty soon Analiese was covered with dust.
By and by though a rusty red pickup came down the road and started to slow down. When Analiese stuck out her thumb, the truck came to stop just down the road a ways beyond where she stood. Analiese ran after it and when she caught up to it, she stood on the passenger side running board and peered inside.
The driver was wearing a baseball cap with the NY logo of the New York Yankees. He had long brown hair that cascaded down his back and a single braid on the left side bound with a bandana. He wore a jean shirt, Wranglers and scuffy cowboy boots. His face was very solemn but his eyes seemed kind and concerned.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked.
"Oh, just passing through I reckon," replied Analiese.
"Where are you going?"
"I reckon your way."
"Is that a fact?"
"I reckon so."
"Well, get in then."
Analiese tossed her bedroll in the bed of the truck and settled down on the seat. The driver threw the stick into Second, then Third. The transmission kind of whined a little. It was an old truck, maybe 1950s Chevy.
After a few miles watching the prairie go by, Analiese asked, "You live around here?"
"Yep, this is my home," answered the driver. "Where you from?"
"The other side of the mountains," Analiese replied.
"So, you a ghost dancer then?"
"Maybe, I could be. Then again maybe not."
"Then maybe you're just a ghost, eh?"
"Could be, could just be a ghost. What's that rock for?"
"Rock? What rock you talking about?"
"The one in hanging behind your left ear."
"Oh that. That's my medicine."
"Medicine huh? You a stone dreamer?"
"How you know about stone dreamers?"
"I don't know. Maybe I dreamed about a stone dreamer once."
The driver cracked just the hint of a smile. He kept scanning the horizon and the road ahead.
"No, I don't think I'm a stone dreamer. I think I dream about dancing horses mostly."
"Do tell? How do they dance."
"Like Four-leggeds mostly."
"Huh? That's interesting. You going to the Black Hills then?"
"Yep, how'd you know?" The driver caught himself then and answered his own question. "You dreamed about it didn't you?"
"Probably."
The driver drove on in silence for many more miles. Finally, in the distance a dark mountain range became visible, like the hump of a bison. In another hour the dark color had resolved into the dark green of pines and soon they were in the middle of the national forest.
"You see those peaks over there?" asked the driver.
"You mean the kind of pinkish, bald ones?" asked Analiese.
"Yep, that's the center of the world," replied the driver proudly.
"The center huh? It sort of looks like the center. Do the thunders live there then?"
"That's what people used to say. You dream about thunders?"
"If I did I'd need to talk backwards."
"I s'pose. How would you do that?"
"Backwards talk to need I'd did I if."
At that the driver chuckled and grinned. Analiese thought he had pretty teeth and a fine smile.
"You're a very pretty man when you laugh," she said approvingly.
"You don't say? Well you're a very pretty girl. Now, where are you going."
"Like I said before, your way."
The driver shook his head, chuckling some more and drove on. Soon they were in a place where the trees had been clearcut. In the distance was a great gash in the earth, a pit mine, Analiese thought.
The driver turned off the main road and headed up a dirt track that sort of faded out near the top of a ridge. On the ridge stood a small drilling rig. The driver stopped the truck, set the emergency brake and got out of the cab.
"We're stopping here for little while," he announced.
Analiese got out and followed him towards the rig. When they got near it, a white man emerged from the rig's cab.
"Something I can do for you?" he yelled over the roar of the drill.
The driver waved him over away from the rig so they wouldn't have to yell.
"Look, this better be important," said the white man petulantly.
"Why's that?" asked the driver.
"Because I got a schedule to keep, that's why's that."
"You don't say? Well, this is indian country. Why are you drilling here?"
"This is the United States of America, chief," replied the white man. "The land of opportunity, and the operator's taking advantage of that opportunity. You comprende?"
"No, what opportunity?"
"Well, you see that strip mine over there?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"It's coming over here pretty soon and when it does there'll be big dump trucks, enormous big dump trucks rolling all over this ridge."
"Sorry to hear that," said the driver.
"Sorry? You should be glad. You might even get a job driving one if you watch your mouth and show a little initiative."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Yeah, I bet you will."
"That still doesn't explain why you're drilling here."
"No it doesn't does it? Well, you see the oldtimers didn't strip off the overburden like we do now, so this hill is just honeycobbed with old mine tunnels. And when them trucks come here, they might just collapse those tunnels making new shafts. Unfortunately, that could get expensive for the operator, having to yank those trucks out of the holes, so he contracted with my boss to locate the tunnels, drill into them and pump water underground to support them so they don't collapse as easily. Kind of high tech, ain't it?"
"I don't rightly know about high tech, but I wonder where you're getting all the water for that?"
"Oh, we'll get plenty. There's a coal seam on the otherside just bursting with water. We'll pump it out here, add a little sand and gravel and inject it into the tunnels. That'll fix things up right."
"Huh? Up right you say? Sounds like you're just going to make somebody's well run dry while you taint somebody else's stream. That's not exactly up right is it?"
"I don't know about that," replied the white man irritably.
All this time Analiese had just been looking and listening. Suddenly she blurted out a little yelp.
"Why speaking of up right, that drill just went up and wrong I think!"
"Ah s**t!" yelled the white man spinning around.
He watched in shock as the earth seemed to swallow his drilling rig. First the rearend with the draw works sunk tipping the cab way up in the air. Then the whole thing just sort of slid out of sight, the portable derrick folding like a jack knife.
"Wow!" exclaimed Analiese. "That was something I never saw before, something sinking right into the ground like it was the ocean or something."
"My gawd! How am I going to explain that to my boss?" asked the white man in desperation.
"Well, I guess you could tell him you hit a reef or something," answered Analiese sympathetically. "Kind of hard to see underground isn't it? Maybe harder than seeing under water, what do you think?"
"It's them damn seismic boys. They must of made a miscalculation and now I'm going to pay for it."
"That's tough," said Analiese. "Maybe you should come home with us before the boss finds out."
"Home with you! Who the hell are you anyway?"
"Name's Analiese and this here is my good friend and companion, Crazy Horse."
The driver seemed startled to hear the name and the white man just shook his head.
"You're crazy alright. Now get the hell out of here before I run you off!"
"Suit yourself, mister. But then you better be for getting on that cellphone of yours and getting some help because quite frankly I think me and Mr. Horse here could take you in a heartbeat."
Analiese picked up a jagged rock and began to toss it into the air and catch it like a baseball pitcher.
"Hey, maybe I'm just little upset, okay? Didn't mean to get you all riled up."
"I'm not riled, mister. I'm not riled at all. Of course I'm not the one with the drilling rig stuck in somebody's sewer either."
The white man began to scratch his head as the driver moved around to his rear.
"Look I don't want no trouble now, honest," he said quickly.
"Okay," said Analiese. "You want a ride back to town then?"
"Sure, if you don't mind," answered the white man. He wiped the sweat from his brow with a blue bandana.
"Do you mind?" asked Analiese looking at the driver.
"No, I guess not. Didn't they give you truck, white man?"
"Yeah, they did, but I guess I just parked it too close to the rig this morning, so its in the hole too. Not thinking I guess."
"Yeah, I guess," agreed the driver. "Okay, I guess we better get going. It's starting to get dark."
The trio walked back to the old rusty red truck. Analiese got in the middle, staddling the gear shift while the white man rode shotgun.
"Where's your shop?" asked the driver.
"Just about 20 miles from here as the crow flies and not too much further by the road."
"Maybe you should pay for our gas then," said Analiese.
"I guess that'd be fair. I'll let you use the pump at the yard, okay?"
"Okay, Mr. Horse?" asked Analiese.
"Okay, Analiese," answered the driver.
After they dropped off the white man and pumped the gas, they rolled up to a diner.
"You want something to eat?" asked the driver.
"I wouldn't mind," answered Analiese happily.
After they'd settled into a booth and ordered, the driver stared intently at Analiese.
"What are you looking at?" she asked mischieviously.
"Why, you girl. Why do you call me Crazy Horse? You know about Crazy Horse?"
"Yep, I do. I know all about Crazy Horse. I spotted you first thing."
"Is that a fact? How'd you know it was me?"
"Why, from the pictures of course."
Crazy Horse chuckled at that.
"I think you're the one who's crazy, girl. You know there ain't no pictures, don't you?"
"Yeah, I know. That was a joke. I recognized you by your rock, your 'medicine', eh?"
"Yeah, my medicine," Crazy Horse answered as he gazed out the window pensively.
Then he stared at Analiese again.
"Did you do that?" he asked
"Do what?" she replied innocently.
"Make that earth swallow that monster."
"Heck, me? How would I make the earth do that?"
"Not sure, but I got a feeling you figured out how to do it."
"Could be. Actually, what I figured out was you wanted it done. That's why you went up there isn't it?"
"I guess so. But I didn't think I'd have the power."
"Well, you should have known I was coming to help you. What does that dancing horse tell you anyway?"
"The dancing horse tells me I don't know very much and therefore can't help a whole lot."
"Sometimes, it only takes a little bit of luck," said Analiese.
Now, it was her looking out the window.
"The sky's turning purple," she said quietly. "It's beautiful isn't it?"
"Yes, it's beautiful," Crazy Horse agreed.
"So what should we do tomorrow? I thought we might take a ride over to that strip mine and see what falls in, what do you think?"
"I think you're going to get us both killed," answered Crazy Horse.
"They can't kill us," said Analiese. "They already did that, remember?"
"I don't remember them killing you."
"You should. I died the day they murdered you. And I've been dying over and over ever since. It was a good day to die though, don't you think?"
"Hou, I agree, girl."
Analiese wiped a tear from her eye and lit a cigarette. She blew a few smoke rings and watched them drift on the draft as the screen door of the diner banged shut. A man dressed in a business suit carrying a briefcase and hardhat settled on a stool at the counter.
Analiese watched him intensely.
"The boogeyman just came to town," she said pointing at the man with her lips. "That would be the boss I think."
"I think you're right," agreed Crazy Horse.
"Well, tomorrow will be a good day to die too," said Analiese.
"Probably."
"Do you really think so?"
"You've never lied to me yet."
"And I never will."
"So tell me now, truly, when will the buffalo come back?"
Analiese grinned. "You know. When you've heard the thunderbird flapping his wings perched on the center of the world."
Just then a low rumble of thunder shook the window glass.
"That'll be the phone. I think it's for you," she giggled.
"How do I answer?"
"Tell him you'll get back to him in the morning."
Crazy Horse smiled and stirred his coffee, while Analiese stubbed out her cigarette and swallowed the last of her beer.
"Better get some sleep, huh? Big day tomorrow."
Crazy Horse nodded as he left the tip. After he paid the check, he walked outside. The night air was cool.
Analiese was sitting in the cab, where he joined her. Together they drove off into the night as lightning flashed on Harney Peak illuminating their silhouettes in the cab. Then it started to rain as they disappeared into the misty darkness.
