Erik had never worked so hard in his life. His body couldn’t die here in this place, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t feel pain. He had Dovecrest scratched and dug at the sand around the pit for what seemed like hours. All they had to use were their bare hands. The sand scraped painfully and lodged under their nails until their fingers bled.
“This is not any fun.” Erik said. “What I wouldn’t give for a shovel.”
“I’d settle for a teaspoon,” the Indian replied.
Still, they appeared to be making progress. The hole slowly filled in around them, allowing them to stand on the new sand as it fell in. Just a little more and Erik knew he would be able to stand on Dovecrest’s back and reach the edge of the pit. Then he could push in more sand from the top with his feet until he could reach in and pull his friend out.
“What time do you think it is?” Erik asked.
“I don’t think this place has time. Though if we were still back home I’d guess it would be the middle of the night.”
“My watch stopped working when we got here.”
“There’d be no way to keep time here anyway. There’s no sun. No moon or stars either.”
Time did seem to stand still here, he thought. It was never light or dark-everything was simply black and illuminated by an unchanging reddish glow. He wondered if that was how the mythology of the black and red colors of evil came about.
“No days of the week here,” Erik said. “No Mondays. That’s probably the only good thing about this place.”
“Definitely the only thing. If I never see another grain of sand in my life it will be too soon.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go to the beach again.”
They continued the small talk for some time, mostly to keep their minds off their misery.
“So,” Erik asked, “How do-or did-your people view heaven and hell?”
Dovecrest laughed. “That’s a very complicated question. I don’t know if I have a simple answer.”
“There is no simple answer to anything, is there? That’s why God made the world so complex. So we’d have things to worry about.”
“In that respect, the world of my people probably is simpler than your world. My people-and most of the tribes of this land-never thought of themselves as powerful people, as conquerors. My people were simple. They lived off the land and prayed very simple prayers. For a good harvest. For a mild winter. For plentiful shell fishing. For health and fertility. We consider ourselves to be humble, pitiful people whose lives depend upon the creator’s mercy and bounty.”
“That sounds like a very Christian way of life.”
“That depends. I know of your history. Your crusaders thought of themselves as Christians.”
“Good point. But Christ preached humility. The meek shall inherit the earth.”
“Yes. And so they shall.”
“So what is your concept of hell?”
“Since my people are God’s people, they would not go to hell.”
“Yet you believe in demons.”
“Yes, demons spawned by the evil one.” Dovecrest laughed. “Do you know: the greatest demon that the tribes spoke of most was the white man. The ‘white devil’.”
“I guess I can understand that.”
“No, you probably can’t understand that. But I appreciate the attempt.”
The Indian was right. He had no idea what it must have been like. He felt suddenly ashamed of himself and of his race. Even if he hadn’t been personally involved, he was ashamed of what had happened just as a fellow member of the human race.
They were getting very close now. As they dug and filled in the hole, the outer rim widened, making the angle less steep. Erik figured that they’d soon be able to crawl their way out.
“Looks like we’re almost free of this pit,” he said. “What’s our plan once we get out?”
Dovecrest stopped digging and looked at him directly. “My friend,” he said. “I have absolutely no idea.”