"No. Only us." He shook out his shoulders. "Where did you come from that you can hear them?"
"It's a really long, complicated story."
"Very well." He tossed me a canteen and then settled a pot over the fire. "I will make us dinner while you tell me this story."
Dinner? I almost laughed. But didn't. "It's kind of crazy," I said. "I don't think you want to hear it."
"Crazy," he repeated. "Perhaps we share a spirit." A ghost of a smile crossed his features.
Not a chance. I definitely wasn't his kind of crazy.
"Speak!" he ordered.
I jumped once more. Seeing his mind, knowing about his solitude and fearing him as I never had anyone else, I made a swift decision to tell him the truth. Because no one would believe him if he shared it, and I didn't want to end up buried in his cave.
"I'm from the future," I started.
He glanced up from gutting the rabbit without otherwise reacting.
Slowly, I began to speak, as much out of fear as nervousness and the slim hope that if I made it until dawn, maybe someone would send a search party out for me. I told him everything from when my parents died to what I did in college and how I met Carter and my mission here in his time. My life was relatively mundane until Carter.
Fighting Badger listened while prepping a stew. He settled back to let the food cook and watched me as I spoke.
"… and that's it," I finished. "Sound crazy?"
"No."
Why was I relieved by his response? "You can't tell anyone what I told you, though. It has to be our secret."
He nodded. "Running Bear would not start a war," he added. "He is very kind."
"Would you?" I asked.
Fighting Badger appeared pensive. "This is my home. The spirits could not go with me if I left them. I would have to collect more."
"Oh, Jesus no!" I exclaimed before I could stop myself. "But I think you're right. You should stay here and not start a war."
Rather than appear angered, he was amused by my outburst. "You are the first who has spoken to me without believing me crazy."
"I do think you're crazy," I replied. "But not because you can hear the spirits."
He seemed to find that funny. I didn't know why. I wanted to tell him he was a psycho lunatic, and yet, I found myself connecting with him over a skill neither of us was able to share with anyone else. That I had something in common with a serial killer was one of the greatest surprises of my life.