Brave Beginnings (38 page)

“Really? Where?” Larry asked, standing
up.

“The Mandan tribe. He’s going to get Julia.”
He threw off his gloves, picked up the axe and handed it to Larry.
“Take this to the sheriff and tell him what you know. Keep looking
for the body. I need to go after Ernest!” Without waiting for Larry
to agree, he bolted up the stairs.

***

Meanwhile, Woape and Onawa turned from the
bag they were packing when Gary entered the lodge. “Is she still in
this tribe?” Woape asked.

He sighed and shook his head. “No one’s seen
Sarita since early this morning.”

The uneasy feeling in Woape’s stomach
increased. “She went to find Julia and Chogan. I just know it.”

Onawa slipped a container full of water into
the bag. “Do you think she’s going to try to kill Julia again?”

“Of course, she is,” Woape said. “She won’t
stop until Julia’s dead.” She shook her head in aggravation. “The
chief should have at least made someone watch Sarita. I hope he’s
happy with the outcome of his decision.”

Gary went over to Woape and took the cloth
out of her hands. “You’re not going.”

“But I have to.” She grabbed the cloth back.
“Julia’s in trouble, and someone needs to warn her.”

“I’ll do it,” he replied as he took the cloth
back. He glanced at it. “What is this for?”

“To soak up any blood in case Sarita stabs
her. She can’t drown her at the spot Chogan took Julia to, and she
doesn’t know how to fire a gun.”

Onawa pressed her hand to her chest. “You
think Sarita took a knife with her?”

“What else would she use?” Woape asked.

“All the more reason for me to go,” Gary said
and shoved it into the bag. “Julia’s my sister, and I’ll go warn
her.” He motioned to the bag. “Is this all I need?”

“I should go with you,” Woape replied.

“No.” When she started to protest, he held
his hand up to stop her. “I’m not asking you to stay. I’m telling
you to. You’re due to give birth in one month. You’re not in any
shape to be traveling on a horse, and a buggy would only slow
everything down. You also need to be here for Penelope. I’m the
logical choice.” He paused before he added, “And after the way I
treated Julia in the past, I owe this to her.”

Woape’s hand went to her belly where her
child tumbled around. He had a point—a good one. “Alright.”

Woape’s aunt came into the lodge with
Penelope who was content to play with the flower in her hand.

Woape smiled at her daughter and then looked
at Gary. “I’ll stay here. But you be careful.”

He grinned. “Of course, I will. You should
know by now that I always come back for you.” He gave her a kiss
before he picked up the bag.

She hugged him as tightly as her pregnant
belly would allow. “I hope we’re not too late.” Just how much of a
head start did Sarita have? If she went on foot, then there might
be time to stop her. But if she found a way to Chogan’s teepee…
Woape prayed Sarita had to make the trip by foot.

“No horses are missing,” Gary told her. “I’m
sure I can get there in time.”

Despite his assurances, Woape glanced at
Onawa who appeared as uncertain as she was. But how could they know
anything for sure until Gary returned to them and told them what
happened? With a long sigh, Woape retrieved the horse and gun he’d
need for the trip.

***

Meanwhile, Julia caught sight of a couple of
trees and glanced over her shoulder. They were going east, and the
north track they took wasn’t much of one, which meant they were
probably just north of Bismarck.

She turned to look at Ernest who hadn’t said
anything up to this point. “I need to attend to some personal
business.”

He frowned. “Again?”

“I drank a lot of water before you showed up
to nearly kill my husband,” she snapped.

He pulled back the reins so abruptly she had
to hold onto the side of the buggy so she didn’t fall out. Gripping
her chin in his hand, he turned her head so she was looking at him.
“You will not refer to that savage as your husband. That marriage
doesn’t count. Do you understand me?”

She winced as his fingers dug into her skin.
“You’re hurting me.”

“He’s not your husband, Julia, and the sooner
you understand that, the better.” He let go of her chin and locked
the brake. “Fine. We’ll stop here so you can do your business, but
I won’t be stopping again until we reach the cabin so keep that in
mind.”

Rubbing her chin, she quietly got out and
found a private spot behind the trees. Making sure he wasn’t
looking, she lifted her skirt and ripped off another piece of her
petticoat. She tied it to the tree and sniffed back her tears. She
prayed someone would find Chogan soon so he could be healed from
the bullet wounds. The only thing getting her through this ordeal
was knowing he was still alive and would soon be looking for
her.

With another glance around the tree, she saw
that Ernest was checking on the horse. Deciding she might as well
use this opportunity to relieve her bladder, she did so and then
returned to the buggy before he came looking for her. The last
thing he needed to know was that she was leaving a trail for
Chogan.

As soon as he sat next to her, she asked,
“Where are we going?”

“Canada.”

Her heart plummeted. “Why all the way
there?”

“You know why, Julia. I let that savage live.
You wouldn’t have come with me if I killed him. You would have
rather died than go on knowing he was dead.” He unlocked the brake
and slapped the reins on the horse. “I’m not a fool, Julia. I know
he’ll come looking for you. He’ll search all over this country for
you. But—” he grinned—“he won’t expect you to be in Canada, will
he?”

Her heart constricted as she thought over
what she’d just learned. He was right. Chogan wouldn’t think Ernest
would take her out of the country. She closed her eyes and took a
deep breath so she wouldn’t panic. If she panicked, she wouldn’t be
able to think straight, and right now, she needed to keep a clear
head.

All wasn’t lost. She was still in North
Dakota. She was leaving a trail. There was still time for Chogan to
find her. She mustn’t give up hope. Resting her hand over the
slight bulge in her stomach, she renewed her determination to
escape. She had to get away from Ernest. Then maybe she could find
Chogan or, at the very least, if Ernest found her, she might delay
his plan and give Chogan time to find her. Either way, she had to
try.

***

Two hours later, Gary reached the teepee in
good time, but the only person he found was Sarita. She was lying
in a pool of her blood. He slid off the horse to check her pulse,
but her stiff arm was enough to tell him she’d been dead for a good
couple hours. The bullet wound in her heart surprised him. Neither
Julia nor Chogan had a gun.

Standing up, he pulled out the gun from his
holster and inspected the area. “Chogan? Julia?” he called out.

The breeze swept around him, emphasizing the
emptiness in the silence. No one was here. He put his gun back and
glanced at Sarita’s body. It was a real shame. Why did she have to
be so insistent on marrying Chogan when there were other men to
choose from? He tugged on his horse’s reins when he realized
something.

He knelt back down by her and studied her
stiff fingers. More blood, but also hair. Hair that was too short
to be hers and too dark to be Julia’s.

“Chogan?” he whispered.

Looking to the left, he spotted blood on the
rock jutting out from the ground, and upon turning Sarita over, he
saw a bow and arrow covered in her blood. Just as he thought.
Someone else was involved. But who?

He stood up again and shouted for Chogan and
his sister. Nothing. He led his horse over to the teepee and peered
inside it. More blood, but it came from handprints that were too
small to be Chogan’s hands and unlikely to be Sarita’s hands. They
had to belong to Julia, and from the looks of the open carpet bag,
she was rushed.

So Julia left in a hurry, probably not
injured but having just touched someone who was wounded, and there
were no indications that Julia touched Sarita’s body. So that meant
Chogan had to be wounded. He stepped around the area and saw drops
of blood on the grass that lead to a buggy, minus the horse.

Gary hopped back on his horse and tried to
decide which direction to go. Where could Chogan have gone? The
endless prairie spanned in front of him. It’d be like looking for a
needle in a haystack to find either Chogan or Julia at this rate.
Gary removed his hat and ran his fingers through his damp hair. As
he placed his hat back on, he caught sight of a white strip of
fabric blowing in the breeze.

He tapped his horse in the sides so the steed
went forward until they reached the bush. Gary got off his horse
and held the fabric which had blood smeared on it. Whether Julia
had blood on her hands when she tied this to the bush or Chogan
came by and touched it, he could only guess. But it was a clue. She
went north. Hopping back on his horse, he urged the steed into a
run.

***

Meanwhile, Conrad rode to the Mandan tribe
and was greeted by several Indians who took him to the chief when
he told them he needed to talk to Julia. They refused to reveal her
whereabouts, and he didn’t know if he should be upset or
worried.

Upon arrival at one of the lodges, he took
off his hat to show his respect to the chief and explained the
situation to him, aware the younger man who stood by the chief
listened with an intensity Conrad usually didn’t find in men in
their early twenties.

“This is why it’s imperative I talk with
Julia as soon as possible,” Conrad concluded. “Will you please tell
me where I can find her?”

The chief set his pipe down and shook his
head. “Julia is not here. She and Chogan left. They did not say
when they will be back.”

“Do you know where they are?” Conrad asked.
“Ernest is after them, and I suspect he means to abduct her. He
might even kill Chogan if Chogan tries to stop him.”

The chief shook his head. “I do not know
where they went.”

Shifting uneasily from one foot to the other,
he pressed, “Has Ernest been here to look for them?”

“No one by that name has been here.”

Conrad sighed. This was either good news or
bad. If Ernest already found them, it obviously wasn’t good. “It’s
important that I find him before he does any harm. He killed his
wife and stole a good sum of money from the bank he worked at.
There’s no telling what he’ll do.”

“I’m sorry but I do not know where Julia and
Chogan are,” the chief replied.

The young man stepped forward to speak to the
chief in the Mandan language. The chief shook his head and puffed
on his pipe. Then he answered the young man who motioned to Conrad
and shook his head. By the resolute tone in the chief’s voice,
Conrad understood the younger man lost the argument.

“You must go,” the chief said. “What you
seek, you will not find here.”

Disappointed, Conrad put his hat on his head,
thanked the chief, and left the lodge. Just where was he supposed
to go in the vast prairie wilderness outside the tribal walls to
find Julia who might or might not be safe at the moment? He glanced
at the early evening sky. Nightfall would be coming in the next
couple of hours, and that didn’t do him much good. Ernest had a
good head start, and he could be anywhere.

An expectant woman came up to him from where
a group of people huddled outside the chief’s lodge. “I know where
Julia and Chogan went.”

He turned to her in interest. “Do you?”

She nodded. “Julia’s my sister-in-law. I’d
like to see her safe. Is she in danger?”

“She could be. I’d guess Chogan is in
immediate danger if Ernest is coming for her though,” he replied,
his disappointment with the chief forgotten. “Where did Julia and
Chogan go?”

“I will take you,” someone said behind
him.

He turned to see the young man who had argued
on his behalf to the chief.

The young man approached the woman. “You stay
here with your family. Tell me where they went, and I will take
this man to them.”

The woman seemed ready to argue when her
friend touched her arm and spoke to her in Mandan.

The woman replied to her before she looked
back at Conrad and the man. “Fine. I will tell you.”

“Thank you. Both,” Conrad told the two,
relieved. Maybe now, he could bring Ernest to justice, something
that was long overdue.

~~********~~

That evening, Julia stared at the rundown
shack Ernest had taken her to. The moon outlined the place,
emphasizing that someone had abandoned it long ago. From the
distance where she sat in the buggy, she couldn’t make out who
Ernest was talking to in the doorway.

She glanced around the vacant prairie. Except
for the small barn that had seen better days, a lone horse tied to
a nearby tree, and the two men talking by the old shack, there was
nothing and no one. They were as far from others as they could get
because she hadn’t seen another human being for a good hour.

Her shoulders slumped as she leaned forward
to gather her clean clothes. With a trembling hand, she felt
beneath the collar of her blouse and touched the necklace Woape
made for her. Chogan would come for her. He had to. She felt it in
her heart. If she could get away, he’d find her sooner. She blinked
back some tears and eased out of the buggy. Her body felt stiff,
even though Ernest had relented and let her stop two more times to
relieve her bladder where she faithfully put up two more markers
for Chogan to find.

She glanced at Ernest and the man. Both had
their backs turned to her. Bending down, she slowly ripped another
portion of her petticoat. She looked back at them. They didn’t
notice what she was doing. Who knew when she’d get another chance?
Taking a cautious breath, she stepped toward the tree and saw they
were still talking, oblivious to her. Perhaps Ernest figured he had
her in a spot where she couldn’t run off and let his guard down.
He’d been careful to watch her before.