(for Heidi, Uwe, Bodo, and Bernd)
The Ojibwa Shaman slit the white man's throat, releasing his last breath as a jet of bright red mist into the cold winter air. Pressing one knee into his victim's back, he grabbed a massive fistfull of the man's long black hair, yanked back the head and ran his blade across the tight forehead. With a sudden, hard wrench, he ripped off the entire scalp as if it were the pelt of a rabbit. Steam rose from the man's naked, blood-slick skull, making it look like it was on fire.