Derailment: Day 12

Word Count: 72,010

Summary of Events:
Matthew, Adonikam, and Shelomith were feeling the heat, and they were out of water, so they went to the creek and got wet. Fox Paw was working on another gift for Badger Ears when Matthew came to answer questions again; then the men unexpectedly returned and caught Matthew in the camp. Matthew was dragged out of the camp and beaten violently until he lost consciousness. Once the men left Matthew Fox Paw went to him and found he was still alive, she tended to his wounds, stitching the large ones, covering them with poultices, and then set to cooking some food for him. When Matthew regained consciousness he ate what Fox Paw had made before asking her questions about how he'd gotten back to his camp.

Excerpt of the Day:
""Adonikam and Shelomith are fine?" Matthew asked.
"They sleep," Rebecca replied.
"How did they get here?" Matthew asked.
"I bring, when I see men, I take 'em here, keep safe," Rebecca replied.
"Thank you," Matthew said. "I don't know what I would've done if they would've been tortured and killed."
Rebecca glanced at Adonikam and Shelomith warily and shuddered.
"How did I get here?" Matthew asked.
"I bring," Rebecca replied. "When men leave you I go see you dead or no, and I find you no dead, so I take you to water, wash clean, sew holes, then bring back here and get plants for make better."
"I owe you a great debt," Matthew said. "You have treated me like the Good Samaritan treated the robbed man."
"What?" Rebecca asked.
"Where is my Bible?" Matthew asked.
Rebecca quickly gave it to him and Matthew flipped through it until he found the passage and began to read it . . .
. . . Rebecca looked completely bemused.
"There's a lot in there, isn't there?" Matthew said.
Rebecca nodded. "What lawyer?"
"A man who knows about laws and rules," Matthew replied.
"Like what keeps Wichita here and not free?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes," Matthew replied.
"And priest?" Rebecca asked.
"A man who knows a lot about God," Matthew replied.
"Like . . . like . . . " Rebecca groped for the word.
"Me," Matthew said.
"You?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes," Matthew replied. "Haven't I told you a lot about God?"
"Yes," Rebecca replied. "But I think like know lot about Spirits."
"The medicine man," Matthew said.
Rebecca nodded, although looking somewhat unsure. "What Levite?"
"A man who knows even more about God," Matthew replied.
"And what Samaritan?" Rebecca asked.
"They were kind of like me too," Matthew replied. "They were mixed blood between two different peoples, like I'm half white and half Comanche. They were considered outcasts, the other people didn't like them."
"Like us they put here and keep us not free," Rebecca said.
"Yes, kind of like that," Matthew replied.
Rebecca looked at Matthew's Bible with interest. Matthew waited to see if she had any more questions for him. She looked like she could well have a million that could possibly end up coming out in a rush.
"Lot people like me in Bible?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes, there's a lot of people who weren't liked much in the Bible," Matthew replied.
Rebecca nodded, looking at the Bible still with much intrigue. "They people really live?"
"A long time ago, yes," Matthew replied.
Rebecca came around and looked at the pages of the Bible Matthew was still holding open. She looked almost like she wished she could read it. Matthew felt a tremor of excitement, he felt he was verging on his breakthrough with her."