As the tribe prepared for war, there was one member pushed to the side -- the lone Indian. The lone Indian was barely old enough to be of any help and had not yet developed fully in size. Because of this, he was left in the dirt as the men cut down trees for firewood and skinned buffalo for food and clothing. He grew tired of his skills being under-minded, and decided to take matters into his own hands even though the older men warned him of the horse-riding ghost that protects the woods from wanderers.
As he strayed from his pack, the night crept in. Fog lingered along his path, almost too thick to see through. He did not let this frighten him and kept on his way in an effort to find some source of food large enough to bring back and feed his tribe.
Two hours passed and the lone Indian became tired. He cut some branches, gathered some brush, and sparked up a fire to keep him light throughout the night. Only an hour had passed when a gust of wind shook him awake and nearly put out his fire. He immediately grabbed more brush to re-ignite the fire and was startled when he looked up to see he was under a burial scaffold. Chills covered his body as he knew he was in trouble.
This is an image of the burial scaffold the lone Indian awoke to.
"Were the men telling the truth about the horse-riding ghost?" He whispered to himself.
"Why yes, they were and you were too ignorant to listen to your elders, weren't you?" said the horse-riding ghost from afar.
The lone Indian trembled to his feet and began to scroll through his memory in an effort to recall what the men told him to do in order to defeat the ghost. As the ghost drew near and came into sight, a spark arose from the fire and landed on him. The horse rose onto its' hind legs and quickly moved away from the fire.
"That's it!" the lone Indian thought to himself.
He finally remembered that, in order to defeat the horse-riding ghost, he must set him on fire. He ran faster than ever and grabbed as much brush as he could with his bare hands to throw onto the fire while the ghost was recovering from the burn. As the fire climbed higher, the ghost drew in close again.
All at once, the horse lunged through the fire to attack the lone Indian and, by instinct, he grabbed a piece of wood from the burial scaffold and jousted the ghost right off the horse's back and into the fire.
The lone Indian fell to the ground in relief as the ghost screamed in agony . . . he had been defeated.
The sun began to rise, and the lone Indian remembered that the attack was happening on his tribe within the hour. He grabbed his supplies, hopped on the horse's back, and grabbed as much brush and wood as he could as he galloped back to his tribe.
When he returned, his tribe bursted with joy. The men could not believe the courage the lone Indian had displayed as he rode into their campsite on his trophy. No matter the outcome of the attack that was to come, he knew today would go down in history as he discover that he was the first ever to defeat the horse-riding ghost.
Author's Note:
This story was inspired by, "The Indian Who Wrestled with a Ghost." The story starts out with a young that went out along a warpath alone. Each night, he was called out to by a ghost in some way. First, the ghost lifted his leg to cut it, then he awoke to a burial scaffold, and finally the ghost demanding food from the young man. The story ends with the young man having to wrestle the ghost which allows him permission to steal horses. I changed the story by making the ghost ride the horse and I made the story take place in one night.
Bibliography:
"Myths and Legends of the Great Plains" by Katharine Berry Judson (1913). Web source.
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