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Seventh Episode A quarter hour later...
Tex, is everything OK? Yes, I was able to pick off one of those birds while the other took flight.
It's him! Exactly, you recognize him? It's Kaiva, the indian friend of Valance.
This tells us a lot about who the man is that was able to get away.
Yeah, and it shows that my nose was right again.
Why would they want to kill us? You need to ask? It's because we're getting too close to the truth.
How do you explain the aggression of those two monsters? Did Valance unleash them on us? I don't see another explanation.
Come on, let's take a closer look. They can't do anything bad now.
Tex, look. Now that they're dead they don't have the fierce expression that they had when they were alive. I've never seen anything like it.
Really strange creatures! They have the look of an ape but there's also something human especially now that they stopped snarling and showing their teeth. Are you saying that maybe at some point they were human?
The reality is that I don't know what to tell you, Willer.
There was a time when human beings must have had a somewhat similar look but I'm talking about millions of years ago.
Don't you think there might be a connection between the existence of these monsters and the experiments of Dr Stevens?
Yes, I was asking myself that. It's an idea that really horrifies me.
But if these monsterous creatures were the fruit of Dr Steven's experiments it could explain the moral conflicts and doubts expressed by my father.
Maybe from the start he reasoned or feared that this might happen.
But there's a way to find out. We have to take them to Dr Stevens and ask him for an explanation. Yeah, there's no way to avoid taking these guys to him.
Do we give up on speaking to the indians? No, that would be a shame since we're already closer to their village than we are to the doctor's house.
But what do we do with their bodies? We can't just let the buzzards... We have to hide them.
Yesterday I saw a little cave close to here. It would be easy to block access into the cave with a few thorny bushes.
Let's put them there together with the Kaiva's body and we can pick them up on our return trip.
The next morning...
How's your arm wound? It's a little sore but the pain is sufferable.
It would be better if you don't come with me, Thomas. Riding on a horse could make your wound start bleeding again. You want to abandon me?
I'm trying to help you. Nothing would happen during the day and, in any case, I could leave you my Winchester. There would be little need since I don't know how to use it.
Don't worry about my wound. I prefer to go with you. As you wish.
Let's go! Saddle up! I'm ready.
Let's go!
A couple of hours later...
This man would like to speak with you, Cavallo Zoppo! He claims to be Aquila della Notte, the white leader of the Navajos. It's true. I know him.
Thanks Waco, you can go.
Let me introduce you to another friend. He came from the far away lands where the sun comes up. He's looking for his father that has been missing for two moons.
We came to find you so that we can talk about him. We're hoping you can help us. Your friend isn't used to the punishing sun. Let's go inside to talk.
There's already someone who will take care of your horses. Let's have a drink and relax.
I would like to help you, Aquila della Notte, but no word of the man you're looking for has reached me...Towoka !?
The wound isn't serious. This ointment will make it heal quickly. Thanks, but...ah! Please go slow.
Well! Thanks anyhow for the help Cavallo Zoppo. It's too bad. I was hoping that you could give us some news on my friend's father, Dr Ferguson.
I hope that Capelli d’ Argento has better luck. He went to the village of Marianito. There's nothing left but to say farewell to you. Do you have to be in such a hurry to leave? Why don't you and your friend stay here to sleep?
I would like to but before sunset we want to reach Dr Steven's house. The doctor that lives in the big house at the foot of the mesa.
The white sorcerer that brings misfortune!
Why do you say this? Because his arrival has provoked a lot of pain for my people.
Cavallo Zoppo is right. The white doctor is a friend of the evil night spirits.
I have mistrusted him from the beginning when he hunted snakes and other animals and he took them alive! There's nothing bad about that.
The white researchers need these animals for certain tests that will allow the creation of useful new medicines. But it's not like that in his case.
What makes you say this? Many times I've checked with the little bones on his intentions and the response is always the same.
What were the little bones saying? That the white sorcerer brings death!
What are “the little bones”? It's a way to read the future. Like our magicians with cards and grounds of coffee.
Tell him about the evil spirit that wears the big cloak Towoka.
A spirit that wears a cloak? This seems absurd to me! Don't talk like that Aquila della Notte. It's not just me and Cavallo Zoppo who can testify that the spirit exists but also many men in our village could say the same because they have seen it.
Can you describe to me how he looks? He has the stature of a man, wild hair, a body covered with fur and sharp teeth like fangs.
Every time he has been seen wearing a large cloak that almost completely covers him but leaving the head exposed and the feet which are like the paws of an animal.
For many moons now he has claimed victims from among our people. He has abducted and killed some children, destroying their bodies and he made about 10 young shepherds disappear and they have never been found - not even some bones picked over by buzzards. They disappeared as if they were wiped off the face of the earth.
I find the story of that cloak very strange because I've seen creatures similar to what you're describing but they were wearing loinclothes around their waist. You've seen them! Where?!
My friend Thomas and I were assaulted by two of them last night. We woke up just in time to avoid being butchered by their claws. I had to give them a good dose of hot lead. What did you do with their bodies? I left them in a cave to keep them away from the buzzards.
Can you take us to the place where you left them? We will bring them here and burn them so that the evil spirit that lives in them will be destroyed. I was really intending to take them to Dr Stevens so that he could study them.
But I could leave one of them with you since the other would be sufficient for my purpose. That's good with us Aquila della Notte.
If you want to go right away, we'll come with you and take it. That's good Towoka! Let's go right away.
Seventh Episode To be continued...