Ghostly Campfire Stories of Western Canada by Barbara Smith

Author:Barbara Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Heritage House
Published: 2018-07-17T16:00:00+00:00

WAMPOHAMA

Rick finished hammering down the tent pegs and joined Katerina at the picnic bench, where she’d been sitting with her nose in the book she had found at a used bookstore in town.

“What’s the book called?” he asked absently. She angled the book for him to see.

“A Short Account of the Old Indian Witch, Wampo . . . Wampo . . . What? Is the book as long as the title?”

“Not quite,” Katerina answered, with some annoyance in her voice. “And the witch’s name was Wampohama.”

She didn’t see any point in offering more information. Rick hadn’t been interested in anything she had said for ages. In reality, their relationship had all but expired. Katerina even suspected that Rick had a new girlfriend. If this camping trip hadn’t been planned since January, she would have already told him to take a hike.

“What the heck are you reading about witches for, anyway?” he asked.

Katerina looked at him, trying to determine whether his curiosity was in the least bit genuine. After a moment’s assessment, she decided to give him a real answer.

“It’s history,” she explained. “Wampohama was an old Indigenous woman who died more than three hundred years ago. What makes her story especially interesting is that she lived right where Winnipeg stands today. The white settlers called her Mother Damnable. She made all sorts of predictions, so she was a prophet.”

“Right,” Rick said sarcastically.

What did I expect? Katerina asked herself. She knew that Rick was not known for his open mind. At least she had learned not to argue with him. Instead, she responded calmly.

“Come on, Rick. Don’t you think it’s possible to know things through—I don’t know—a sixth sense? Don’t you believe even a little bit in intuition?”

“I believe half of what I see,” he sneered, “and none of what I hear.” Looking satisfied at having made his point, Rick walked away.

A familiar slow, angry burn simmered in the pit of Katerina’s stomach, but it was not just due to Rick’s quick dismissal of her ideas. I know something about you, she thought. I haven’t seen it, I haven’t heard it, and I can’t prove a thing. Yet. But I know. She returned to her reading.

An hour later, as Katerina unrolled the sleeping bags, Rick poked his head into the tent. “There’s a game of shinny at the arena in town. I’m going to join the guys.”

“Hockey in August?” Katerina asked. Once again, she managed to keep her voice calm.

“Why not? You know me, if there’s a game going, I want to be in it. I’ll be late, so don’t wait up.” Rick walked toward his truck without a backward glance.

He was lying. For the first time, Katerina knew that as a fact. On their way through town, they had passed the arena. There had been a sign on it reading closed for maintenance till september.

If only she could figure out who his new girlfriend was. If she confronted Rick without knowing the woman’s name, he would deny everything and cover his tracks, and right now all she had was a hunch, a suspicion.

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