Quite A Catch
Byt ABS ad Donna
As Methos and Duncan wandered around the streets of Edan, checking things out, they saw Paul Racine
hanging a sign on one end of the building that Kasumi and Hop Sing had taken over. It read *Kasumi's
Oriental Kitchen*. The little Japanese girl, dressed in shorts and a tank top, was directing him from the
ground, telling him to move it a little to the left.
Methos sighed. "Authentic Japanese cooking. Now that's a switch from Lupe's shove it in a pot and boil
it till it’s dead," he noted to his companion.
Hearing their voices, Kasumi turned and bowed politely. "Greetings,
Methos-san, Duncan-san," she said shyly. "I am not quite ready to open yet, but I
would gladly share our lunch with you."
Duncan said, "Oh we wouldn't want to be any trouble," while Methos growled, "Speak for yourself," not so
under his breath.
She laughed and motioned them in. The room was looking lovely. It had been thoroughly cleaned from top to
bottom. Five small tables filled it, all with brightly colored tablecloths and a flower vase on each one. The
actual kitchen was behind a counter, and they could see a selection of vegetables all chopped up and ready
to cook. "It will only take a minute. Paul-san? Would you please drag Hop Sing away from his laundry room so
that he might eat as well?" She tested the wood stove, and satisfied that the fire she had started in it was
sufficient, she started to stir fry some marinated meat along with vegetables. The smell of teriyaki and
oriental spices was tantalizing. She had managed to either find, or make adequate substitutions to the
spices and sauces that she normally used for her cooking.
Methos rubbed his hands together and made for a table. Now that they had been accepted, Duncan went hungrily
as well. It would make a change. Lupe was not a BAD cook- she kept them fed and always seemed to have
enough - but she was not very imaginative. Jonathan said that was because she preferred her meat uncooked
and had no idea what cuisine meant.
This gave Duncan an idea. "What about sushi? Are there any fish in the river?"
"You catch fish, Duncan-san, I will fix," Kasumi laughed as steam from her large pan moistened her
face. She had found the small kitchen surprising well equipped.
Hop Sing and Paul came in, and after bowing politely to their guests, Hop Sing put out plates and hand
carved chop sticks out from them all. "So sorry plates not fancy," he said as he put the plain, earthenware
on the table.
"I wish I had access to porcelain," Kasumi said as she brought out the steaming stir-fry. "I could use a
formal tea set and some nicely painted bowls and plates."
"Not much chance of that, I'm afraid," Methos said,” unless they magically appear, like everything else
does when we want it." He took a deep breath and sighed. "Not that I'm complaining. I'd eat this out
of a wooden bowl."
Both he and Duncan dug into it like starving men. Paul Racine chuckled. "I hear we might have a steady supply
of poultry and other birds soon," he said as he ate his own helping. "I found a rice field down by the
river during my explorations, and the three of us managed to harvest some of it!" He smiled up at
Kasumi, who was sitting a large bowl of fried rice on the table to go with their meat and vegetables.
"We always had chickens," Methos said, regretfully taking a breath of air between bites. "Man by the
name of Mellors is going to round up the game birds. Pheasants, quail, those wild turkeys . . . "
"Wonderful!" both Duncan and Paul said at the same time.
Hop Sing nodded. "All those birds good eating. Methos-san, Kasumi and Hop Sing want to know if you
see building behind this?"
Methos shook his head. "I haven't checked out every building, Hop Sing. Why? Is it in ruins?"
"No ruins yet. But need repair," Hop Sing said. "Big bath have small leak. Water work though."
"Big bath?" Methos put down his chopsticks and went to the room mentioned. Looking in, he smiled. "Oh,
this brings back memories," he sighed. The back room of the laundry was a public baths - with a huge,
recessed stone tub. "Reminds me of Rome," he added
wistfully.
"Wow!" Duncan said as he looked around. "I can see very definite possibilities for this. So it holds
water?"
"Yes," Paul chuckled. "For a while at least. We all bathed in it last night in fact."
"Sorry I missed that," Methos grinned. He looked it over. "A bit rough on the bottom, but worth it, if I
remember correctly."
"Mind if we joined you tonight?" Duncan asked. "Is the water from the hot springs too?" Paul nodded, turning
on the faucet to show them. Air bubbles from the leaks showed them what needed to be repaired. "Heck, I'll
even go catch you some good fish to pay for the privilege!"
Methos agreed as well, eager for both the seafood, cooked by Kasumi's artful hands, and the chance to use
the tub. They all finished their lunch, and then Methos and Duncan went back to the Town Hall to tell
Archie they were taking the afternoon off!
"Great," said their assistant. "I get to stew here in boredom while you go play."
"We'll save you some squid," Methos said, but Archie's green pallor said he really did not have to bother!
They swung by Sarah Jo's house and picked up a couple of fishing poles. "We caught something that looked and
tasted a lot like catfish in one of the streams. There was also a lot of perch. She fried what we caught up
in cornmeal. Boy did they taste good!" Together, the two of them headed out of town toward the fishing hole
that Duncan had been talking about.
It was far enough away that they went on horseback. They were still some distance from the hole - and
quite far out of town to the south - when Sangria started to snort and shy. "What is it, boy?" asked
Methos. Just then they heard a woman crying out!
For the moment they could not understand her words. Then the two men exchanged looks. "It's an American
Indian dialect," Methos said.
"Yes," Duncan said, booting his horse in the direction of the voice. They came to a marshy area near a small
river, and the horse's legs were soon sinking deep into the muck.
“Clay,” said Methos, still on dry ground. “No wonder Sangria didn’t want to go ahead.” He looked past the
struggling Highlander to where the girl was floundering. She had gotten off her horse to try and
free it, and now she was in trouble herself! Frightened, the girl was unable to calm her horse, and
she was so close to the beast that, had it not become so mired in the clay, its hooves would surely have
sliced her to bits.
When Duncan managed to get his horse out of the clay he tied it to a tree. Looking around, he and Methos
found some sturdy vines, which they made into a makeshift rope. "Hopefully I can still do this,"
Duncan said as he made a loop and threw it out to the girl and her struggling horse. "Put it around his
belly if you can!" he yelled.
The girl did not seem to understand, and Methos cursed the fickle Magic of Edan. Most of the time, there was
a sort of universal translator in place. But every so often, this did not work as it should. As he made a
second rope, he tried to think of a reason why. Then, suddenly, he knew.
She was speaking a mixture of Native American tongues! Methos readied his vine rope and explained, in his
best Navajo, “Under the horse’s belly!”
The girl nodded, as if understanding. She took both ropes and tied them around the thrashing equine. Once
she had them in place, the other ends were tied to the free horses, and with Duncan and Methos urging them to
pull, they managed to drag the struggling beast from the clay quagmire. The girl waited until the horse was
almost past her, and then grabbed onto its tail and
thus was able to escape herself.
She and her horse were completely covered in red clay. So much so that Methos thought she was riding a bay!
That it was a stallion was immediately clear from the way Sangria reacted to it, and it reacted to the Blood
Bay! Duncan had to take the new stud off to clean him in the stream that was flowing past, not too far off,
while Methos got his horse under control. “By Ra, you
don’t like him, do you Sangre,” he chuckled affectionately.
All this took their attention from the girl, who was worn out by the event, and too tired to follow Duncan
to the stream. In the water, Duncan was laughing at the fact that the horse, under the heavy clay, was
actually a fine black and white paint!
Duncan had a good way with horses, and the beast had calmed down considerably by the time it was clean. He
tied it up, and then scooped the girl gently up in his arms. "Your turn," he said in Lakota, hoping she would
understand. He carried her out into the stream and started washing the thick clay from her as well.
“Thank you,” she answered in the same tongue. Methos, coming up, said, “She seems to understand all Native
Tongues. My Navajo, your Sioux.” The minute he said it, they understood her words.
Nodding, she said, “I am outcast. I am half-breed. I travel from one tribe to another – but none keep me
for long. They tire of me, and send me away.”
"We won't send you away," Duncan said as he scooped up water and poured it over her clay-streaked hair. "All
are welcome here in this place."
She smiled up at him. She could not have been more than twenty, but her eyes were tired. Old. She had
been passed around a lot, the men knew, because her parents had had the audacity to breed. Duncan was
especially touched by this, and he felt almost
sickened.
“What is your name?” he asked.
“Shiloh,” she said. “Shiloh Rainwater Southworth. My father was a soldier from the American War. He named
me after a battle.”
"I'm Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod," he said, and then paused. "At one time I lived with the Lakota." He
told her the name that he have been given, that meant *Black Wolf*.
She nodded, suddenly freezing. “Where is Juneau?” she asked in a panic.
"Is this Juneau?" a voice came from the across the stream. The buzz of another immortal hit Duncan and
Methos at the same time as a man dressed in buckskins walked toward them. At his side was a big dog. Or was
it a wolf?
One look at the ice blue eyes and they all knew exactly what it was – a Siberian husky! As Shiloh ran
for the approaching dog, Methos said, “Wait a minute. Plains Indians I can see, but you were with the Inuit
as well?”
Half way across the stream, kneeling in the ice-cold water, Shiloh let her dog bathe her face in “kisses”.
“I am half Blackfoot. I come from the Great White North.”
“Alaska,” said Duncan.
“Canada,” corrected Methos. They then turned their attention to the new arrival.
"Hello, my old friend," he said as he crossed the stream and headed toward Duncan.
"Coltec!" the Highlander said with a big grin. "Good to see you again! Welcome to Edan."
Shiloh looked up at Coltec and bowed respectfully. "Thank you for finding my dog," she said. "You are
Hoyoka! I cannot thank you enough for taking time to find my Juneau."
"Yes," he said with a smile as he reached out and stroked her cheek. "He is a good dog."
Shiloh smiled shyly as Juneau, an almost perfectly marked husky, growled low in her throat. “It’s a
female,” Shiloh said, not looking at the big man. It was almost disrespectful to correct him, but Juneau
was too smart a dog to allow such an insult to herself
go uncorrected.
Chuckling, Duncan introduced Methos, and together the two of them explained the new world they were on.
"Ahh," Coltec said, taking it all in with surprising calm. "At least I have an old friend here. So, will
your friends in this place called Edan welcome us?" He motioned to Shiloh and back to himself.
“Why wouldn’t they?” asked Methos.
“No one welcomes a half-breed,” said Shiloh sadly. “The Hoyoka should be given all the best of
everything, but I am not worthy to clean his moccasins!”
Coltec looked at her sadly, putting his hand on her head. "You have way too many hurts inside of you for
one so young, little one," he said. "If you wish, I can take some of the pain from you."
“I am not worthy,” she repeated.
Methos said, “If there is one thing I’ve found about this place, it’s that it is a chance to start over.
No one will see you as a half-breed, Shiloh, or as anything less than the beautiful woman you are. And
if you need someone to relate to, I believe we have a few who are half white, half Native American.”
She did not seem to recognize the politically correct term, but thanked him anyway.
Coltec whistled and a beautiful tri-colored pinto mare came trotting out of the woods and jumped the creek to
come to her master's side. The other three mounted up and together, they started back to the town. They had
meant to go fishing, but had caught something a lot better!
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