{"sf1_id":741380,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Home, Home on the Range...","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":3536,"posted_at":"2014-08-08T11:12:00.000Z","tags":["Buffalo","Feral","Human","M/F","Mountain man","Mythological Creature","Native American","Transformation","bison","breeding","indian","spirit"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/741380-home-home-on-the-range","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/741380","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=741380\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#3 of Mad Amos Malone Stories\n\nFor those of you unfamiliar with Mad Amos Malone, he was originally created by writer Alan Dean Foster, who also wrote the original Spellsinger series.","content":"            Amos Malone was sitting across the fire from\nthe Caddo medicine man known as Snow Bird. Now if you don't know of the Caddo\npeople, don't fret, because they didn't make a bad name for themselves like the\nShawnee or the Cherokee. They were a kind hearted people who lived off the land\nand tried to be good neighbors to their fellow red man.Snow Bird was smoking his pipe,\ndelighting in the superior tobacco the white man had provided. In the old days,\ngood tobacco was easy to get, but now everything was second or third rate. That\nwas how the Indian was treated by this infestation called the white man. The\nbig brute across the fire was an exception. Then again, he was so dark and\ngnarled that it was difficult to say if he was really white...or really human.\nAnd he was speaking, so Snow Bird listened.\"So my friend, where do you think\nthe white man went wrong?\"It was a loaded question, but the\nmedicine man knew that his answer must be honest. He drew a pull from the pipe,\nheld it in his mouth as he thought. When his brain had cogitated, he blew the\nsmoke out in little rings. The mountain man looked on in admiration.\"When the white man found this land\nlong ago, we were running it. We had no taxes and we had no money so we had no\ndebts.  There was plenty of game, from\nthe beaver to the buffalo. The air and the water were pure. Men hunted, women\ncooked and watched the little ones. People came to me for healing, not to the\nwhite man in his dark clothing. We hunted and fished all day, and had sex all\nnight. Only the stupid white man would think he could improve on that!\"Amos laughed in appreciation of\nSnow Bird's honesty. \"Yep! And if you think it's bad out here, you should go to\nWashington and see how they do it up close!\"The medicine man puffed on his\npipe. \"No thank you, oh hairy son of mine. That you would go there at all earns\nyou the name of Braveness. But if you persist in going there repeatedly, even\non our behalf, I will have to change your Caddo name to Foolishness.\"\"You might be right, great father,\nbut remember, while you have adopted me into your tribe, I am by far your\nelder.\"The medicine man nodded. If the\nstories were to be believed, this mountain man, indeed a mountain of a man, was\nso old it would make your head hurting trying to comprehend it. He was said to\nbe wise beyond reason, yet he traveled with an old ugly horse no respectable\nIndian would eat, much less ride. It was like a tattered and multi-patched\nblanket. Many times, Snow Bird himself had offered him a fresh mount. Each time his offer was politely\nrefused. \"Worthless may not be pretty to look at, but there is no better equine\nbetween San Francisco and New York City.\"The medicine man doubted that was\ntrue, but the white man was known to be crazy, and crazy men were better left\nalone.\"So why did you call me here Snow\nBird? Your message sounded urgent.\"There was silence as the tobacco in\nthe pipe lit up from a particularly long draw. When the Indian exhaled, the\nsmoke came out of his mouth like a miniature tornado.\"The buffalo will soon be no more.\"\"I am aware of that Snow Bird. The\nfools shoot them dead from the iron horses and leave them, or strip the skins\nand let the meat rot. I'm only one man. I can't stop the stupidity of\nthousands.\"The Indian nodded. \"Against the\nstupidity of so many, not even the gods can prevail. But you are not a man,\nAmos Malone, nor are you a god. You are something in between and you can do\nsomething to save the buffalo.\"\"I'm listening.\" The mountain man\nleaned back and crossed his arms.\"I have had a vision. In it, you\nare to find the one called Buffalo Woman. She will tell you what you can do to\nsave the herds. If you do not, they will soon be gone forever, and even the\nwhite man will see his folly.\"\"Buffalo Woman? Dammit Snow Bird,\nshe's just a legend. How am I supposed to find a legend?\"\"They call you Mad for a reason\nAmos Malone. No sane mane would ever search out Buffalo Woman. But I think you\nhave no need to worry. She will seek you out. You must go to the Hill of Ten\nThousand Crows, and you will find her waiting for you.\"\"The Hill of... Snow Bird, are you\ncrazy? That place is sacred ground. I may be mad, but I ain;t stupid. The\nspirits in that place are strong, strong enough that I might not come away\nalive!\"\"True, hairy son. But if you tell\nthem why you are there, I believe they will help you in your mission. And if\nBuffalo Woman is there, she will have already convinced them.\" Amos was bored right now, not with\nthis conversation but with his life, hence the reason he had answered this\nsummons. But bored wasn't the same as suicidal. White men didn't believe in\nIndian lore, and often paid for their ignorance with their lives. They might\nput their misfortunes down to accidents, or missteps or other natural causes,\nbut to one who knew and could see past the natural, many bad things happened\nbecause of the supernatural spirits of the earth.Buffalo Woman had never been seen\nby any living man, Indian or otherwise. She was strictly a legend. And despite\nthis, Snow Bird wanted him to find her. Having seen some unbelievable things in\nhis day, Amos wasn't ready to totally dismiss her existence, but he wasn't\nprone to believe in it either. He therefore set off for the Hill of Ten\nThousand Crows.The hill, to a white man's eye,\nlooked like any other. It was topped by a large, very dead oak tree. More often\nthan not, it had birds perched in it, though they might be vultures instead of\ncrows. It had a good view of the surrounding plains, but was rarely used by men.\nEven a pagan white man knew when he wasn't wanted. The place was often called\nevil, but it wasn't. It was protected by the spirits of dead warriors who had\nfallen on these plains. Hundreds of year's worth of battles had been fought,\nand the bones remained buried nearby. The hill was a focal point, and they\nprotected what they felt was theirs with great diligence.Stay for a few minutes and nothing\nwould happen. But the longer a person stayed, the more they felt a feeling of\ndread. Stay long enough and the spirits would coalesce and remove you any way\nthey could. If he found anyone there, anyone; it would have to be a lunatic or\nworse.Worse is what it was. Worthless was\nnone too pleased to be walking up to such a haunted spot as this lonely hill.\nHe finally had enough and stopped, sitting his butt on the ground and dumping his\nrider. If the human wanted to approach this place, good for him. There was\ngrass to be eaten and it wasn't anywhere near the hill.\"Damn idjit horse!\" Amos bellowed\nafter his mount. \"Good thing my legs are working fine!\"The half horse, half unicorn\nsnickered and moved further away.Amos climbed the rocky tor, making\na beeline for the tree. The birds that normally perched there were gone. A\nchill wind was blowing through its branches, creating an eerie cacophony of moans\nand groans. He stopped and looked around, hoping that there would be no one\nhere. At first glance, his hopes swung high. They plummeted when he spied a\ndelicate foot sticking out from behind the other side of the tree.Not knowing what language this\nperson might speak, and only assuming that they were still alive, he called out\n\"O-si-yo!\" When he got no reply, he called out again, \"Ha-Li-To!\" Still\nnothing. He tried a few more greetings. \"Hau? Buzhu?  Ya' At' 'eeh?\"The foot withdrew from sight and\nwas replaced by an entire body that peered around the trunk of the tree. It was\nof an Indian maiden, wearing a white dress covered in fine beadwork. \"Hello!\"\nshe said in plain English. \"You need not try and impress me with your knowledge\nAmos Malone. While I can speak Cherokee, Choctaw, Lakota, Chippewa and Navajo,\nI am quite comfortable speaking in your tongue.He sucked in a breath. A lot of\nIndians knew English, but her pronunciation was as perfect as an Oxford\nprofessor's. And that wasn't the only thing perfect about her. So was everything\nelse, from her eyes to her toes; she was the perfect semblance of a woman.\"Ma'am, I don't know who you are,\nbut might I say what a lovely thing you are. And, if I might ask, how do you\nknow my name?\"She smiled, dimming the high noon\nsun. \"I looked for a champion, and found you in the mind of Snow Bird. He calls\nyou his son, but that is a matter of tribal pride, not, how would you call it?\nOh yes, a matter of biology. You are not Indian Amos Malone, nor are you really\na white man. In fact, it would be closer to the truth to say you are no man at\nall...\"\"Now see here miss...; ...what is your name?\"\"You already know all you need to\nknow about my name. I am the one they call Buffalo Woman.\"Amos stopped talking. He had\npictured a large, heavy set old witch woman when he had set out. This slip of a\nfemale was nothing close to that. She looked young, and yet ageless. Her skin\nwas dark, yet shown with a radiance that rivaled the sun. Her eyes were deep\npools of amber, and her hair dark strands of pure silk.She was the Helen of Troy of the\nAmericas. There might not be a thousand ships to launch out here in the plains,\nbut if there were, they just might float about the grasses and weeds to fight\nfor her beauty. Amos was suddenly less sure of himself than he had been in a\nlong time. Since Buffalo Woman was real, then whatever his task was, was going\nto be just as real. He didn't like tackling things that were controlled by\nbeings more powerful than he.He bowed. \"Ma'am, allow me to tell\nyou what an honor...\"She cut him off. \"Save the\npleasantries Amos. I have need of you. The buffalo will soon be gone. I wish to\ninject new life into what is left, so that they may continue to roam the world\nas they have done for thousands of centuries. \"He took off his cougar skull cap\nand scratched his head. \"That's all well and good ma'am, but how does this\ninvolve me?\"\"I am the mother of the buffalo.\nWhen they came to this land it was because I brought them to it. I have stayed\nto watch over them. Death is no great thing, for all things will eventually\ndie, making room for others. But the white man, he is a fool. He acts now and\nthinks later. Much of what he kills, he does without reason. Many of the\ncreatures of this land are dying or dead. I will not let my buffalo die without\na fight.\"\"Well, if it's a fight you're\nstarting, you can count me on your side!\"She demurred. \"No, not a fight Amos\nMalone. Breeding.\"He pulled at his beard. \"I don't\nthink I get you ma'am. Buffalo breed on their own. They just don't breed fast\nenough to replace what the white man shoots.\"\"Yeas Amos, you are correct. So I\nmust provide what remains with strong blood. That takes more than a little\neffort. I need a good breeding bull.\"He didn't like where this was\ngoing. \"I hope you aren't suggesting that I mate with a buffalo cow? A human\nand a buffalo ain't gonna have no child together!\"She smiled. \"No, more's the shame.\nThat would make this easy. No, I am suggesting that a bison bull of superior\nbloodline mate with the cows.\"\"I guess I ain't as smart as I\nshould be, because you aren't making a lick of sense.\"She whistled loudly. Much to his\nsurprise, Worthless came trotting up the hill, suddenly acting as if there were\nnothing special about this chunk of up-heaved dirt he was standing on. \"Your\nsteed is remarkable Mr. Malone, but not so much so when compared to you. \" She\npulled Amos' sleeping kit from the saddle, gave the horse a kiss and sent him\non his way. He was literally dancing on his hooves as he returned to the plains\nbelow.\"Take your attire off and put this\non.\"She had handed him his old,\nmoth-eaten buffalo skin blanket. A blanket that had seen a lot of use, but none\nof it during the day. He complied, wondering what the point of this exercise\nwas. She smiled. \"You make a fine, cutting figure in that Mr. Malone. I'm sure\nyou gave its previous owner a noble death.\"She then pointed to the ground.\n\"Roll a few times for me, would you?\"\"What?\"\"Roll on the ground. I'm sure a\nlittle dust won't upset your bath schedule.\"He sighed. This was getting weird,\neven for him. \"Fine!\"He dropped and rolled a few times\nin the dust. By the time he got to his feet, he was feeling dizzy. His head was\nhanging low, and he couldn't get up off of all fours. That's when he noticed\nhis hands were no long hands, but hooves. He shook his head in dismay. Oh, he\nhad been in worse fixes than this, but it would be hard to explain how.\"You see Mr. Malone, I have asked\nthe spirits here for help. You have a lot of traits that my buffalo have, and a\nfew they could use more of. So I decided that you would help restore the\nbalance.\"He tried to talk, but only managed\na snort and a grunt. She smiled at him, dropped to the dirt and rolled herself,\nsoon darkening her white dress with tan colored dust. By the time she too got\nup, she had become a cow, only unlike him, she was white.If you do not know the significance\nof the spirit animals to the natives of this land, then I will allow you to\nkeep your ignorance. I have no time to explain their beliefs to you now. Amos\nhad seen a number of them in his years, and only once had they had the result\nthat he was being asked to give here. Because of his early experience, he\ntended to shy away from bears now, especially if he was riding up the Pacific\ncoast. She led him down to the plains.\nWorthless caught sight and scent of him and fell to the ground in laughter.\nHorses didn't have a proper laugh, but Worthless wasn't all horse. Amos felt\nlike lowering his new set of horns and goring his mount, but overrode his anger\nand followed Buffalo Women out to the waiting herd. There were other bulls out there,\nand as this was rutting season, it meant that many of them were tending to\ntheir chosen females. Amos fell into his role rather too well, and started to\nget into battles with the other bulls. Buffalo Woman was going to have none of\nthat. Summoning up the spirits of the dead, she used them to drive off the other\nmales. That left one massive bull and a herd of waiting females. Amos wanted to rebel against this\nconscription, but the smell of the females was driving his nose absolutely\ninsane. One by one, he mounted the cows, for day after day, until he thought\nhis heart would explode. Once Buffalo Woman was satisfied that each one was\npregnant, she allowed him to rest.Though he couldn't communicate, he\ncould understand. She, being a bit superior to him, managed to speak in her\nferal form. \"You have done well Amos. After you have rested, there is one more\ncow that needs to be serviced and you can be on your way.\"He grunted, blowing steam into the\ncool morning air. He was normally very reserved when it came to lending out\nsexual favors, for most women of the human kind found him to be large, brutish\nand unclean. They failed to understand that in the true nature of things, that\nwas just how he was.As a buffalo, with thick hair and\nan even thicker odor, that was nature of the beast. It was funny how the cows\nthought nothing of it. It made him think that maybe he had been born into the\nwrong species. He had never been much of one for perfumes and deodorants. Heck,\nbathing happened maybe once or twice a year if he was lucky. Anything more and\nhe considered it bad form.He was wondering which of the cows\nhe had no yet impregnated when a fresh scent came to his nose. It was a cow in\nheat, and she was close by. He snorted and licked the air, trying to narrow\ndown her location. When it dawned on him that the wind was coming from behind\nhim, he turned and stared.He had never dreamed that when she\nsaid she was Buffalo Mother, she was really the mother of the buffalo that had\nonce spread across the plains by the millions. She was standing there, staring\nat him, her eyes awash in the hormones that all females had when it came time\nto breed.As a human, he would have balked at\nsullying this fine creature. But as a bull, he seemed to have no morals, no\nqualms about mounting this supernatural being. She turned and he lifted himself\nup, striking her in the right spot on the first try. As he mounted her, he\nwondered vaguely what it would have been like doing this in his natural form.The act was over far too quickly. Animals\nnever wasted much time in the mating process. Distractions lasting more than a\nfew minutes might prove deadly with all of the predators lurking about. He\ndropped down to the ground, carefully following her back up the hill. At the\ntop, she motioned for him to roll again in the dirt. When he was done, he\nstood, human once again, wrapped in his buffalo hide blanket.She spoke again, a strange thing\nfor any man to endure; to hear words coming from the mouth of a beast. \"I thank\nyou, great Amos Malone. Is there anything I can offer you for your time and\nvitality?\" She winked with her big, expressive eyes.\"Errr, not a thing ma'am. I think\nI've had an experience that puts everything else to shame.\"\"Really? I thought I detected a\ndesire while we were connected. Something about doing me as a man?\"He turned red, though it was hard\nto tell with his dark, leathery skin. \"Well, yes ma'am, I did think that.\"\"Well, you're a man again, Amos\nMalone. I'm not going anywhere.\"He stuttered. \"No, no, no! Not with\nyou as a buffalo ma'am. I was thinking just you and me as, well, as we were\nwhen we first met.\"She let out a low laugh. \"As you\nwish Amos Malone. You have ample manhood below your belt for a cow, but it\nyou'd prefer me as you first saw me, it's a small price to pay for the service\nyou have rendered.\" She dropped to the ground and rolled in the dirt. When she\ncame back up, she was in human form again.\"Is this more to your liking?\" He\nwas about to tell her his opinion when she dropped her clothing, which he\nfinally realized was made of white buffalo skin. Underneath it she was all\nhuman, from her perky breasts to her black hair. She was the Indian maiden to\nbeat all maidens. Of course, he corrected himself; she was a mother, so hardly\na maiden. But what she was superseded anything any human female could ever\noffer.\"Ma'am, if you were any more\nperfect, I might have to bruise you a little just so I wouldn't feel bad about\nwhat I'm about to do.\"\"Why Amos Malone, I'll take that as\na compliment!\"\"But ma'am, should we really be\ndoing this? I mean, if you're already with child...\"She laughed, a soft ringing sound.\n\"There's room for another. And I think that you deserve something a little more\nrelaxing and a little less strenuous before you go. She spread his blanket on\nthe ground. As he settled in to a little relaxation, he heard an equine laugh\nin the distance. Whenever Worthless found humor in a situation, if often\npreceded the mountain man performing some folly or another.\"To hell with you, you damned\nuseless beast. Go find your own mare to mount and leave me alone!\" Since there\nwere no horses on the immediate plains, Worthless stalked the buffalo cows. One\nor two might still have the need for a little attention. The females on the plain\ngot wind of him and started a minor stampede."}