Grail Quest (15 page)

The Chief and his son, behind him, exchanged words and smiles. The other men around us seemed to be amused. The Chief said to me, “You not know where are Mandan. You not know where is Chief
 
Onalaska. How you take big girl to him?”

Oh, oh. I feel a challenge coming on. I had to think fast. “We find him when we travel ever northwest. We find him on banks of a big river.”

“Hah. How you do that”

“Daytime we see sun. Nighttime see star in north. We guided by prayers to White Man’s God. Do you not see Leahna carries totem of
 
White God’s Son?”

That brought more mumbled comments and stares at Leahna. “Hah. You full of prairie dog breath. I will give big girl big sons!”

The big Buck strode over to Leahna. He grabbed her arm and peered at her crucifix. I was right behind him. I heard Moyock cock the pistol. I grabbed the Buck’s left arm…and jerked him away from Leahna. “Unloose her you clumsy oaf!”
 
Buck snapped his arm away…Right hand
 
came up with a knife…My gunstock came up in his crotch!
 
He doubled over and sat down…His breath came out in gasps…He choked on his scream.

I grabbed Leahna, and whirled to face any reinforcements. Moyock came beside us to face the crowd. We backed toward our hobbled ponies. Two of oafs friends got behind us. “Shoot, Moyock!”

He did. Friend number two was almost as surprised as number one, who spurted blood like a fountain. From the noise and deadly wound, our foes froze. Panicky, most found legs and raced for the woods. Most unfortunate incident. Too bad. Moyock reloaded. We mounted our ponies and headed up river. We didn’t get too far before Leahna’s sharp eyes saw Buck and friends running through the woods, armed with bows and arrows. Their fear of the pistol didn’t last long. I said, “They mean to pick us off from a distance.”

Up ahead I saw a large pile of driftwood that might offer some cover. We raced up to it.
 
Making our
 
ponies lay down, we crouched behind it on the water side. I told my friends to stay down. I wanted to find Buck.
 
I exposed myself over the top of the pile. It wasn’t long before Buck and friends appeared.
 
They were well within arrow shot back in the tree line.

“Hah! White Squire we have you now. I think little thunder stick not hurt trees. First I scalp you. I take big girl. Give her many big sons.”

“Hah, you full smoke. I fixed you. You not make babies now, old lady!”

Buck fired an arrow at me. I dodged it. My flintlock was laying on the pile facing him. I remained up right. I wanted a clear shot at him. “See. You can’t shoot straight, old lady!”

Enraged he stepped more openly and rapid fired three arrows at me. I flopped down and aimed my piece.

He couldn’t resist.
 
“Hah, White dog, who trembles with fear now?”

It was almost too easy. I took my time, lined up on his chest, shot him in the throat. He had no more comments on my lack of bravery. Once again the magic of a firearm convinced the crowd that there were greener pastures elsewhere.

The following day we came upon a small Natural village. They didn’t act hostile so we stopped to talk. We asked how far to the Mandan? They didn’t know who we were talking about. They had no lore about white Naturals. They were uneasy about us and suggested we’d want to continue on our trip. They didn’t know what to make of my white skin and beard or Leahna’s red hair. The ponies really startled them. They led us to a shallow place where we could cross the river. They called it the Wa-ba-sha. I left tobacco for the chief and his wife.

We made camp early that night in a large savanna. I had to decide which way to go from there. From its direction I was sure the river we just crossed was not the one we looked for. Talking about our situation, neither Moyock nor Leahna had any suggestions. We turned in and I studied the stars. Since we were on a quest for a Holy Grail, I looked to the heavens for guidance. My prayers did not bring a sign.

Now where do we go?

At daylight I still didn’t know which way to go. While drinking tea and munching jerky we heard a dog yipping. Looking to the west we saw a familiar critter sitting on its haunches.

“Coyote!” Leahna shouted.

Indeed it was. I loaded my flintlock and took aim. Before I could set my sights, Coyote ran out of range. He sat down and lolled his tongue at us. Leaping on my pony I started after the witch. Every time I got close enough to shoot, I had to stop and lay my long gun over the pony’s back to steady it. Coyote took off again. He seemed to understand that my gun was a threat to him. After the third time, I thought this is ridiculous and rode back to my companions. “What do you make of that?” I said.

“Very strange,” Moyock said.

Leahna calmed down until she saw Coyote had returned to the first place we saw him. “I not like this. Long time no see Coyote.
 
Maybe he want us to follow him. Why he want us to follow him?”

Moyock and I looked at her, and then at each other. “He did that, stop and go, when he first led me through the thicket,” Moyock said.

“I don’t know the answer to Leahna’s question. Why should he want us to follow him? And why should we want to follow him? He may lead us into danger. He may have some idea of separating Leahna away from us.”

“Nooo. I no want go with him.”

“As Raven he followed us down the Ohio River.” Moyock said.

“He followed us? I not see him before he claw Tenesan,” Leahna said

“While flying, he seemed to stay behind us. I never did see him much up ahead. Then he saved Leahna’s life, Squire…Now he’s ahead…Maybe not dangerous to us.”

“Maybe danger to me. I not want be witch-mate!”

While Coyote sat waiting, we discussed the situation. I assumed he was too far away to hear what we said. Even if he could, did he understand English? How magic was he? So far all we knew about him was that he could shape-shift, and adored women.

“We don’t know where we are,” I said. “We haven’t found the two great rivers. I think we need to continue west. So far, that seems to be the direction Coyote wants us to go. We
 
must be on guard. We must look around us all the time. We’ll follow him for awhile. Leahna, you must not take your charm from around your neck. Wear it outside your dress.”

Leahna looked unhappy with my decision. Mumbling something I couldn’t catch, she exposed the charm as I told her. Moyock caught the other horses and brought them inside our camp to be loaded. My trade goods had dwindled to four robe sized pieces of colorful wool cloth, six pounds of tobacco and some beads.

When we started toward Coyote, he waited until we were closer than my musket range before he trotted west again. I told Moyock to let Leahna lead his pack horse. “I want you to push ahead.” I told him. “Keep your eyes open. Don’t get so far ahead that we are out of sight. If you can’t keep up with Coyote, let him go and fall back to us.”

The next few days we played a game of tag with Coyote, except we never got close enough to make him ‘it.’ He led us ever northwesterly. Coyote loped along at a steady .pace. If we intended to keep him in sight, he left no time for dawdling. All the while I wondered what he hoped to gain by us following him. Could it be we were just pawns to deliver Leahna…on a journey he couldn’t otherwise accomplish with her? The thought that perhaps I was a fox’s fool clenched my jaws.

“Leahna, did Coyote ever say anything about taking you somewhere else?”

“No. He not talk much.”

“When he said you were to be his witch mate, did he mean you would stay together there at the cave on the Ohio?”

“He not say. I so upset I not ask. If he want go somewhere, I not want go with him. I not know what he want.”

While in large prairies,
 
we came across a large shaggy beast that I wasn’t familiar with.
 
Leahna and Moyock had seen them before, but never hunted them. We saw them in groups that ranged from a few to several dozen. Even when we rode close to them, these animals paid no attention to us. Apparently not meat eaters, they seemed content to munch wild grasses.

Skirting crop land, we saw few Naturals, and those we did were small parties who seemed disinterested in making our acquaintance. Perhaps seeing strange people, riding strange animals, following a Coyote was too outlandish to contemplate. Better to stay away from them, they might be witches.

Near the end of the fifth day, out from the Wabash, we arrived at far and away the biggest river we’d seen since leaving the Potomac. Coyote loped to the north for about a half a mile and jumped into the water. He swam towards a wooded island. Then he sat down and watched to see what we would do.

“Too bad he swim. I hope he drown,” Leahna said.

Considering the abilities he displayed in the past, that remark was wishful thinking on her part. If he wasn’t eager for us to cross, he could have flown.

I estimate the distance to the island about thirty yards. “Do you know how to swim?” I asked Leahna. “Can you swim over to that side?”

“Can do. When no strangers on river, my Uncle teach me to swim. He say Leahna is little fish. I like to swim. Not for long time. No one with me to swim.”

If that was so, I was more concerned about getting our supplies over the water without
 
soaking them. I gave my flintlock to Moyock. “You and Leahna stay here until I see how deep and fast the water is.” Pulling my pony’s reins I waded into the stream.
 
The current was sluggish, the water never deeper than my arm pits. I’d have to make several trips, but I was confident I could carry our goods over without getting them wet. Coyote was out of sight.

Moyock said, “I can carry a pack. I hold it over my head in deep water. Not too far.”

Leahna said, “Hah. I taller than Moyock. If he can, I can too.”

With each of them making one cautious passage, I brought the rest of our packs over in three trips. Moyock returned to tie the remaining ponies in trail and lead them across the slough.
 
Leading our mounts we walked around the end of the island to the west shore. In this hot weather our clothes soon dried on our backs.

From there we could see enough of the wide river to know our swimming days were not over. Downstream from us another island lay closer to the western shore. The current in the main river flowed much faster than in the backwater we’d crossed. Undoubtedly the water was much deeper in this main channel. No sign of Coyote.

Studying the western island I thought our best route was to swim to it first. Without convenient landmarks, estimating distance across a body of water is tricky at best. I guessed the slant distance to the far island about one-hundred and fifty yards, give or take a few dozen. Our big problem was getting our weapons and powder across without soaking them.

While I scouted this little island, I told Moyock and Leahna to set up camp for the night. On the north end I found what I was looking for. A lot of debris had washed up on the shore from high water times. There I found three good sized tree trunks with which I planned to construct a raft of sorts.

In the morning the three of us were able to cut off, break off, and shift enough debris to get at the logs I wanted. Then we trimmed them as much as we could, and then manhandled them down to the water. Using deer hide ropes and cord from my packs, we tied two of them together. We floated the third in between them. Over them we tied several limbs crossways to act as a platform for the goods. It was an unwieldy raft that we guided through shallow water back to our camp. Half the day gone, I decided to set afloat before approaching bad weather set in.

Cautiously, we loaded our supplies on the makeshift shelf of our craft. Moyock having swum the much wider James River, I was sure he was the best swimmer among us. “Moyock, wait with the ponies until Leahna and I have the raft well out in the current. Then tie them in trail and lead them into the river.”

“I can do. I worry these deerskin ropes not strong enough.”

“Well, if they come loose, lets hope they follow you.” Pushing the raft, Leahna and I wadded out about twenty yards until we got into deep water. Then we swam alongside, and guided the craft as best we could. Moyock brought his herd into the river. Once they were well into the current, I thought if any ponies got loose from the string they would swim after us to the far shore.

Controlling the loose raft was awkward. While kicking our legs, Leahna and I pushed on the starboard side. “If you get tired, Leahna, just hold onto a log and rest.”

“Hah. You think I not keep up with you. I show you.”

And she did, never giving up, until within ten yards of the shore, gasping, she disappeared in the muddy water. “Leahna,” I screamed and dove in after her. I couldn’t see her. I thrashed about… couldn’t find her.
 
I came up for air…saw her head and arm rise. She went under again. Kicking I dove toward her. She came up again.
 
I grabbed
 
her arm. Pulling her, I swam to shallow water. She gasped for breath. I hoisted her waist to help her cough up water. Her leg was still cramped.
 
I carried her to dry ground. “Rub your leg,” I told her. I’ll come back to help you.”