Burning Recliner and Dead Cow

This was one of the most frightening experiences I have ever had.

I was helping a friend search for cattle that had escaped through a damaged fence. We were riding dirt bikes along remote farm roads, using battery powered spotlights to look near bridges and fields. The land was sparsely settled, and some of the old roads had become little more than overgrown tracks.

After turning onto one of those tracks, we saw what looked like a grass fire over the next rise. It was actually a blue recliner burning in the middle of the road. We stopped and threw dirt on it until the fire went out. We wondered what kind of person would place a recliner there and set it alight.

A short distance farther, we found one of the missing cows lying partly in the road. Its throat had been cut, its eyes were open, and there was blood everywhere. My friend pointed out a trail of bloody shoe prints leading away from the animal. We found several partial prints.

We considered turning back, but decided to walk the bikes so that anyone nearby would not hear engines. As we approached the end of the track, we saw paper plates attached to the barbed wire on both sides of the road. They were evenly spaced and continued up and over the next hill. The smell of another fire reached us, but it was mixed with something like incense.

We were both shaking and whispering. At the top of the hill, a plate blew loose and skittered behind us. Then we heard voices. Below us, about ten people stood around another burning recliner with their backs turned toward us. They passed a large pitcher from person to person, each taking a mouthful and spitting it into the fire while the group spoke in unison.

The sight of the slaughtered cow and the bloody footprints made us fear that the pitcher contained blood. We realized we had walked into something deliberately staged and potentially violent. We did not call out or approach. We backed away as quietly as possible, returned to the bikes, and left the area.

I have never forgotten the burning chairs, the dead cow, the bloody footprints, or the line of paper plates leading toward the gathering. I still do not know who the people were or what they were doing there.