Lakota Dawn (26 page)

Chase sneaked up behind his target and rendered the prospector unconscious with a blow to the head. He sent forth a certain bird call to let his companion know he had succeeded, then waited until it was answered to indicate Bent Bow had achieved his objective. After he heard that signal, Chase stood and shouted to his cousin, “We are here, Two Feathers, and our enemies are defeated! It is safe to show yourself!”

Chase watched his cousin come forward with a scowl on his face, dangling a bow in one hand and an empty quiver in the other. Chase grasped the prospector’s arm and dragged the man to where the second gold-seeker lay on the ground with Bent Bow standing over him. He smiled. “You earned a large coup, my friend. You are brave, skilled, and cunning. Your father will be pleased with your victory.”

Bent Bow grinned. “We make good companions, Cloud Chaser.”

Two Feathers joined them, glanced, still frowning, at each in turn, and glared at the two disabled white men. “You stole my coups,” he said angrily.

Chase shook his head. “You were trapped; we saved your life.”

“I did not need your help to defeat only two foolish Whiteeyes,” Two Feathers scoffed. “I would have found a way to trick them and survive.”

“It did not look that way to us,” Chase refuted.

“Your arrows are gone and you were ensnared,” Bent Bow added.

“I have a knife, cunning, and strong hands. And the Great Spirit provides many weapons nearby—rocks, limbs for clubs, dirt for blinding.”

“You could not reach your enemies with them,” Bent Bow argued. “Soon, they would have charged you and slain you with their firesticks. Cloud Chaser heard their words and told them to me. Your peril was large.”

Two Feathers glared and retorted, “If I could not have reached them with such weapons from Mother Earth, he who failed at the Sun Dance, I could have waited there and sneaked away beneath a blanket of darkness.”

“You insult me with such words, Two Feathers; that is cruel.”

“I speak only the truth, weakling son of our war chief.”

“Your tongue is sharp and cutting on this sun, my cousin,” Chase scolded the irate man, “so you must sheathe it and practice the Four Virtues and honor your Sacred Bow vows. I will fetch the felled prospectors’ horses to transport them to our camp. Bind their wrists for loading them,” he ordered and left to do so, as they should allow his father and their council to decide the men’s fates.

When Chase returned with the animals, his tawny gaze widened in shock, then narrowed in anger; and Bent Bow was staring at Two Feathers with a similar expression on his own face. “Why did you slay them when that should be our chief
and council’s choice?” he demanded as he viewed the men’s slit throats and the wet red blade in Two Feathers’ hand. The wicked warrior casually wiped the victims’ blood on dried grass and sheathed his knife.

“They are evil and had to die,” he said flatly. “There was no need to take them to our camp and risk them being seen going there or being found there.”

Chase quelled the urge to strike him. “The deed is done, so we must hide their bodies and possessions and free their horses. It would be perilous to have such things found on our land and near our camp.”

“Do as you wish, Cloud Chaser, but I ride for camp. They are unworthy of my touch. Let the forest and sky creatures devour them.”

Chase and Bent Bow watched Two Feathers hurry to his horse, leap upon its back, and gallop away. Chase took a deep breath to calm himself. “We must cover the men and their belongings with rocks and brush, my friend, for no White-eyes or Bluecoats must find them in this condition.”

“That is wise, Cloud Chaser, for our people’s safety. Your cousin seeks to flee the place of his great shame and weakness and flee from the eyes of those who witnessed it and saved his life. He did not give us thanks for our good deed; that is bad.”

“I do not know why, Bent Bow, but my cousin hates me,” he repeated the sad observation. “It does not please him I was one of those who rescued him from certain death. He killed the Whites as revenge on me for my White blood.”

“I could not halt him. When I turned to fetch my weapons where I had placed them to free my hands to strike the man, he drew his knife and took their lives. It is wrong for him to have such bad feelings for you. He shames himself with them and his actions.”

“That is true, my friend.” Sensing Bent Bow’s dismay, he coaxed, “Do not blame yourself; you did not fail in your duty. My cousin is sly and quick, and you could not read his wicked thoughts before he carried them out.”

The son of Blue Owl nodded his gratitude.

As Chase noticed the excellent condition of the two breechloaders,
a Hall carbine and Sharp’s ‘48 rifle, he said, “We will keep their weapons, and I will teach you how to use them on another sun.” He also kept the ammunition, as it might be needed later. He noted that the two roans had telltale brands, so he decided to free their horses and hide their other possessions. “It would be dangerous for them to be discovered in our camp,” he told Bent Bow. “Let us do our tasks now, return to our scouting duty, and then ride for our camp.”

At dusk in the meeting lodge, the Red Shield chief and council sat in a group with Chase, Bent Bow, and Two Feathers positioned before them as they listened to the revealing episode and observed their demeanor.

After each had given his version of the incident, Rising Bear asked Two Feathers, “Why did you ride alone and hunt so far from camp?”

“That is what my restless spirit told me to do. When I saw the White-eyes, I tried to slay them to prevent them from gathering the yellow stones and stealing them. If they showed them to others, more would come here. They used their powerful firesticks against me,” he reminded them.

“None of your arrows struck them?” an elder asked.

“That is true, for my enemies hid behind rocks.”

“Why did you insult those who rescued you?” another elder asked.

“I did not need their help, so they stole my coups.”

“Coups belong to the warriors who earn them, to the ones chosen by the Great Spirit to receive them for good deeds,” Nahemana said.

“Since I was guided to our enemies, Wise One, does that not mean I was chosen to earn them, but others intruded and stole them?”

Nahemana shook his head, but Blue Owl pointed out, “You were helpless when they arrived and were guided by generosity to save you. It is bad to use knifing words on companions and band members, and it is bad to slay the captives of another warrior and to defy a scout’s orders.”

Two Feathers repeated the things he had told Chase about how he could have defeated the prospectors if given the time, and he considered it
his
right to deal with
his
attackers in the manner in which
he
chose.

Bent Bow, delighted by his father’s pride and defense of him and Chase, repeated his responses and actions—and those of Chase—at the scene.

Following more questions and remarks, the chief and council huddled to discuss the matter in whispers and reached their decision swiftly.

“It is good Cloud Chaser and Bent Bow rode the path shown to them by Wakantanka,” Rising Bear said. “It is bad what Two Feathers said and did after his rescue. Two Feathers must enter the sweat lodge and purify himself of his weakness, shame, and wickedness. During these suns and moons, great danger surrounds us as a mist we cannot see through and battle. We must not slay Whites unless there is no other action to take, for all Lakotas are being watched for attacks and raids, and to do them will call down the Bluecoats’ anger and big weapons upon us. We will tell the Shirt-Wearers to give our words to all warrior societies, who will tell their members. Until war is thrust upon us, we will not provoke it.”

“But what if we are challenged to a fight, my chief and council?”

“If so, Two Feathers, we,” Rising Bear said as he gestured to himself and the elders, “will decide what action must be taken on that sun. Do not forget, we voted for peace at the great war council.” He did not think it was necessary to add,
If you seek out more Whites to slay, you will be punished, perhaps banished,
as their decision implied that grave warning.

Following the tense meeting and Two Feathers’ hasty retreat, Blue Owl spoke to Chase outside the buffalo hide lodge. “I thank you for helping my son remove the stain on his face and against his honor; you have done many generous deeds for him. If war comes, my son will ride to my right and you will ride to my left when I lead our force against our enemies.”

Chase was elated by that enormous honor. “I thank you, Blue Owl, for your kind words and generosity, but your son
is a good warrior and the greatest deeds were his. I only gave him the chance to prove such things to himself and his people. All weakness and doubt have been driven from his body by the Creator. He has earned your pride in him.”

They talked for a few more minutes, then went their separate ways.

Before he reached his tepee, Chase was stunned and suspicious when Two Feathers approached him and spoke unexpected words within the hearing of War Eagle, Wind Dancer, and a few others.

“I come to ask forgiveness for speaking and acting rashly and to thank you for saving my life, Cloud Chaser. I come to bury the hate knife between us. For the good of our people, we must have peace. Do you accept my gratitude and offer of truce and friendship?”

Chase was positive that Two Feathers was lying and being clever, was certain his cousin despised him even more for being the one to rescue him and for earning another coup at his cousin’s expense. Even so, he had no choice except to clasp wrists with the man and pretend to believe him, as it would make himself look bad to refuse. “I accept your thanks, truce, and friendship,” he said, faking a smile. “It is good you offer them to me.”

“It will be a hard path for me to walk, Cloud Chaser, for evil still tries to place doubts within me about your loyalty to us in future suns. I will seek to defeat that evil and to trust you.”

After his three cousins thanked him and told him his action was good and wise, Two Feathers watched them walk away together, talking about Chase’s new victory, one which should have belonged to him; and one day, he vowed, his half-breed cousin would pay for dishonoring him.

That night, Chase told Macha, “I do not trust my cousin. His offers are false and sly, but I do not know how he will use them to harm me. But do not fear or worry, my beloved wife,
for I will be on alert against his evil,” he added before she could voice those he was sure she must be experiencing.

“You have won the hearts and respect of our people, so they will not let him harm you. But I will also stay on guard against his tricks, for they are sure to come, if not in this season, then in one beyond it. You are wise to doubt him. After his return and the news of his attack was revealed, Robin did not look happy. I think it would please her if he was slain.”

“Do not go near him,” Chase cautioned, “for he knows if I ever lose you, it will cause me much suffering.”

“As it would cause me much suffering to lose you. I suffer even now from hunger for you,” she added, then sent him a provocative smile.

“That is a pain I will seek to end,” he vowed, taking her in his arms.

Two days later, scouts galloped into camp with grim news. After the incident with the prospectors, more parties of two braves each had been assigned to search their surroundings for other encroachers.

As soon as their report was given and plans were made in haste, a large band with Wind Dancer as the leader rode away to handle the perilous matter. It included his best friend Red Feather, War Eagle, Cloud Chaser, Swift Otter, River’s Edge, Bent Bow, and two other warriors.

Within two hours by Chase’s reckoning of
wasicun
time and using his long-range fieldglasses to avoid getting too close and risk being seen, their target was sighted gradually crossing the rolling terrain: a box-bed wagon filled with various-sized crates and barrels. Two armed men rode on its wooden seat and an armed man on horseback traveled on either side of it, making the odds nine to four in the Red Shields’ favor. The wagon was traveling in a direct path toward Bear Lodge Mountain, where Crow were camped for the winter, thirty miles northwest of the upper section of the Black Hills. Although the awesome site, called Devil’s Tower by
wasicuns,
was beyond their treaty-assigned territory, the White “peddlers” were carrying
suspected goods which they believed must not reach their Indian enemies, and they were crossing Lakota grounds to do so. As instructed, the scouts had not attacked and had returned to camp for orders.

Wind Dancer selected a location near the Wakpa-mni-sa that Chase and the others thought was perfect for the impending ambush. The band, their presence obstructed by the many and full trees and high grass, hurried to the Redwater River to conceal their horses and themselves amidst dense trees and bushes before their enemies’ arrival.

The Red Shields prepared to respond to Wind Dancer’s bird signals as the wagon jostled along on a trail well trodden by passing Indian bands. They heard its wheels squeaking, its leather harnesses creaking, the iron shoes on the team and mounts thudding against the hard ground, and the men laughing and talking. The day was sunny and mild, with a steady and light breeze blowing in their direction, taking their scents away from enemy horses.

When the wagon and riders were between them, Wind Dancer gave the signal to surround them—three cries of a local bird—and he was obeyed.

Chase, selected as speaker to prevent exposing his brothers’ English skills, yelled, “Don’t fire or you’re dead! Keep calm and you’re safe!”

The astonished driver jerked back on the harness reins and halted the team as the band of Indians seemingly appeared from nowhere and enclosed them with weapons at the ready, while theirs were lowered. He had reacted with caution, as had his three companions, to the shouts in their language.

When the four white men focused on him, Chase said, “We don’t want to kill you or injure you, so drop those rifles and pistols to the ground, slow and easy. If you don’t follow my orders perfectly, my friends will take any other kind of movement as a threat and will shoot you. Do as I say and you won’t be harmed. I give you my word of honor.”