"There was very little documentary evidence to support the truth of this story, and up until now it has been regarded as myth or legend. I have even called it that myself in my book on the Hidatsas. But the parallels with your Miss Tandy seem so close that I can't see what else it could be. There are also stories among the Kiowas that medicine men could appear as trees, and talk to people of the tribe. Apparently trees and wood have a mystic life-force of their own which medicine men were able to exploit for their own purpose. And that is why I believe your story of the cherrywood table. I thought at first you were trying to hoax me, but your evidence is overwhelmingly convincing."
"So you believe it?" asked Amelia, brushing her hair away from her eyes.
"Yes," said Dr. Snow, peering back at her through his spectacles. "I do believe it. I also took the trouble to do what you suggested, and I called Dr. Hughes at the Sisters of Jerusalem. He confirmed what you told me. He also told me that Miss Tandy was in a critical condition, and that anything that anyone could do to save her would be very important."
"Dr. Snow," I said, "is there any way to fight this medicine man? Is there anything we can do to destroy him, before he kills Karen Tandy?"
Dr. Snow frowned. "What you have to understand, Mr. Erskine, is that the magic of the Indians was very powerful and far-ranging. They drew no clear distinction between the natural and the supernatural, and every Indian saw himself as being in close touch with the spirits that ruled his existence. The plains Indians, for instance, spent as much time on their religious ceremonies and medicine signs as they did on perfecting their hunting skills. They considered it important to be able to hunt their buffalo with craftsmanship and cunning, but at the same time they thought that only the spirits would give them the strength and the bravery to be able to carry out the hunt successfully.
"The Indians were seekers of visions and practicioners of ritual, devoted to ceremonies that brought them into close touch with the cosmos. They were in fact, one of the great magical societies of modern times. Much of their secret lore has been lost to us, but there is no doubt at all that they had real and extraordinary powers."
Amelia looked up. "What you're trying to tell us, Dr. Snow, is that none of us have enough magical power to be able to combat this medicine man…"
The doctor nodded. "I'm afraid you're right. And if the medicine man is really three hundred years old, he comes from a time when the magic of the Indians was still amazingly strong. It would have been pure ethnic occult art, undiluted with European preconceptions, and unimpressed by Christianity.
"The occult spirits of North America, at the time of the early settlers, were a million times more powerful and dangerous than any of the devils or demons of Europe. You see, a spirit can only work its magic in the world of humans through the medium of men and women who believe in it and understand it. Spirits do have an independent existence, but they can have no material power in our own material world unless they are summoned, consciously or subconsciously. And if no one believes in a particular spirit, or is able to understand it, it cannot be summoned, and so it remains in limbo.
"The demons of Europe were pitiful compared with the demons of the Red Indians. All they were — or are, if you still believe in them — were opposites to the good and holy tenets of Christianity. In The Exorcist, the story uses the demon Pa-zuzu, the personification of sickness and ill health. To the red man, a demon like that would have been ridiculous — nothing more terrifying than a mongrel dog. The whole concept of life and health and the meaning of physical existence was rolled up in the red man's equivalent spirit, and that made this particular spirit an incredible being with monstrous powers.
"To my mind, the real decline of the red man came not so much through the treachery and greed of the whites, but through the erosion of the occult powers of the medicine men. When the red tribes saw the scientific marvels of the white man, they were unduly impressed, and lost faith in their own magic. It's arguable that this magic, if it had been used properly, could have saved them."
Amelia interrupted the doctor with a question. "But what about Karen Tandy's medicine man? What do you suppose he was doing? I mean, why should he want to be reborn in her?"
Dr. Snow scratched his ear. "It's difficult to say. From what you've told me about her dream of the Dutch ship, I'd hazard a guess that the medicine man's existence was being threatened by the Dutch settlement on Manhattan. Maybe the medicine man had tried to prevent the rest of his tribe from selling the island so cheaply. With the kind of occult powers that medicine men possessed, he may have been able to see how instrumental the possession of Manhattan by white men would be in the development of a white America. It's also possible that the Dutch, being strict Calvinists, considered the medicine man an evil influence, and were out to destroy him. Whatever happened, he obviously thought that the only way he could escape was by leaving his seventeenth-century existence, and reappearing in some other time. I wouldn't have thought he chose Karen Tandy deliberately. She probably just happened to be a receptive home for his reincarnation, at the right place at the right time."
"Dr. Snow," I asked him. "If we're not equipped to fight with this medicine man, then do you have any idea who might be? I mean, can anyone at all summon enough power to destroy him for good?"
Dr. Snow looked thoughtful. "This is such a remarkable occurrence that one wishes that a young girl's life wasn't involved. Just think of it, Mr. Erskine, within two or three days we could actually meet an Indian medicine man, living and breathing, from another time far in America's past. It seems almost criminal to think of destroying him."
MacArthur turned round from his seat by the window. "We all know the wonders of anthropology, Dr. Snow, but this is a human life we're trying to save here. Karen Tandy didn't ask to have this witch doctor grow inside here. I think it's up to us to do everything we can to save her."
"Yes, I know," said Dr. Snow. "But there really is only one way we can do that."
"And what's that?" Amelia asked. "Is it difficult?"
"It could be. And dangerous. You see, the only person who can fight a medicine man is another medicine man. There are one or two around still, in some of the reservations. But none of them would be nearly as powerful as this man. They might know some of the old rituals, but it's doubtful if they'd have anything like the same abilities and strength. And if they couldn't beat him, if they couldn't destroy him utterly, they'd inevitably be killed themselves."
"But wait a minute," I said. "That medicine man is still in the process of rebirth. He hasn't grown to his full size, and he's obviously not as strong as he could be when he's completely redeveloped. If we could get hold of another medicine man now, we could kill him before he emerges."
"It would be very dangerous," said Dr. Snow. "Not only to our own medicine man, but to the girl as well. They might both die."
"Doctor," I said, "she's going to die anyway."
"Well, I guess that's true. But how are we going to persuade some poor old peaceful reservation Indian to risk his life for a white girl he doesn't even know?"
"We bribe him," said MacArthur.
"What with?" asked Amelia.
"Maybe we ought to talk to Karen Tandy's parents," I suggested. "They'll be in town by now. They're obviously quite wealthy, and I guess a couple of thousand dollars would take care of it. Dr. Snow, do you think you could find a medicine man?"