Passion's Series (30 page)

Chapter Seven

Raven heard the wolf alert the village of their return.  When he walked through the gate with Dawn in his arms, the village fell silent.  New Moon walked and reached out to take her daughter.

“I am able to walk, Mother.  If you will just give me your arm.”

Moon nodded and waited for Raven to release Dawn’s legs to lower to the ground.  “Come now.  We have much to talk about.”  She looked to Raven, “Thank you for returning my daughter.  You should go to the visitor’s lodge now.  The chief will call you to the council house when he is ready.

As New Moon walked with her daughter toward their lodge she leaned down and whispered at Dawn, “I see your ankle is tightly bandaged.  Raven did well in caring for you.  I think it no longer pains you.”

Dawn grinned as she looked sideways at her mother, “Raven was quick to find herbs and binding my ankle.  You are right, Mother, it does not pain me.”

***

“Mother,” Dawn spoke hesitantly as New Moon pulled back the blanket that covered the doorway to their lodge.  The Chief and her mother had spent a long time questioning her.  She worried she may not have defended Raven as well as she had hoped.

The Chief and New Moon turned back to Dawn.  New Moon smiled at her daughter who seemed more a woman every day.  “Do not worry, child.  We may be in your uncle’s tent for a time.  Raven is brave and he will hold himself up.”

“It is my fault he faces this trial.  Why am I not called in as well?”

“You spoke at length with your uncle,” She nodded toward the chief.  “You spoke the truth.  You were wrong in what you did, but you will learn from it.  We all have a path to follow.  It is up to each of us to find our path and to follow it.”

“I know my path, Mother.”

Chief Dancing Cloud rested his hand on New Moon’s shoulder, “I will go to the counsel.  Speak further with your daughter.  We will begin when you join us.”  Dancing Cloud ducked slightly and passed through the doorway. 

New Moon turned her attention back to Dawn.  She saw how her daughter stiffened her back, but she also saw the pain and uncertainty in her eyes.  “I understand you have received a glimpse of your path, but you do not understand all.  You are young.  You still have a lot to learn.”

New Moon’s heart ached with the lessons she knew her daughter must still endure.  “Raven is a full warrior now, but he is young as well.  You must allow him to find his own path.”  With this New Moon turned and left the lodge.

Dawn wasted no time in clearing away the remains of their meal.

Akechee placed her hand on the back of Dawn’s head.  Dawn turned to face the old woman who her father called mother.  Akechee gently pulled her into her arms.  Dawn allowed her Choctaw grandmother to pull her close.  She often found comfort in the old woman’s arms.  Akechee cooed and cradled her while Dawn allowed herself a rare moment of tears.

“I am so sorry, Grandmother, for the trouble I caused Raven.  Will he ever forgive me?”

Akechee squeezed the girl she loved as much as she loved Red Panther.  “Your mother speaks the truth.  You must allow Raven to walk his own path.”  She held Dawn back so she could look into her eyes.  “Raven will not feel he must forgive you because he will see no fault in you.  This I know.  Now dry your eyes and go for a walk.  You have much to think about.”

Dawn looked over at little Fox who was playing contentedly with Akechee’s spoon.

“Do not worry over Fox.  I will care for him.  Go.”  Dawn kissed the old woman’s weathered cheek and hurried from the lodge.  She walked from the village even as the wolf on the gate called out to her.  In response, she raised her arm high and waved it back and forth then broke into a run.  She knew the watcher would report to her mother, she did not have long to be alone and think.  She would run first and then cool her emotions in the cool water of the little cove her mother loved so much.

As she ran, her thoughts slowed.  She was able to gain a feeling of control.  Had not her dreams told her she and Raven would walk the path together?  Her mother suffered doubt because she did not understand.

‘
Mother thinks my dream comes from my heart alone.  I will not forget my dream.  I know it is a promise from the Great Spirit
.’  She slowed her pace again and finally stopped as her inner voice scolded her for not telling her mother the entire dream.  ‘
There are others that will interfere,’
she argued with herself.  ‘
They will try to lead me away from my path.  The testing will be great.  I accept this.  There is danger on the path.  I accept that.  I will pay the price.  I will know when Raven needs me and I will go.’

She turned back toward the cove and ran with all her might.  Her resolve strengthened as she felt the strength in her legs and her so recently injured ankle.  She was strong and she knew it.  She wanted to run longer but a lingering feeling that told her to return to the village pulled at her heart.  ‘
Just one quick dip’
, she told herself, would do much to ease her turmoil.

Coming to the boulders, she slipped between and hurried toward the water.  Her hands froze as she reached down to remove her dress.  She had heard
a twig snap.  The sound was light, but it came with a strong sense of danger.  The sound was behind her but her vision rose up as if drawn to the brush that grew close to the water.  A large wolf, her own totem, was almost invisible where it crouched within the yellow grass and brown cane.

The wolf’s attention was not on her but on something behind her and to the right.  This was conformation that the one tiny sound had originated from that direction.  She placed her hand on the knife she wore tied at her waist.  She looked back over her shoulder.  No fear would show on her face.  She remembered the Great Spirit’s promise.  She would walk the path.  Her chin rose in defiance.

“
Bueno, ¿qué tenemos aquí?"
what do we have here?

             
'
Why did I not listen to my sense of danger?’ 
Her self-scolding lasted but a moment.  ‘
I will hold myself up.’

The large man in buckskins took a step closer.  Dawn held her position, half turned, looking over her shoulder.  She did not need to let her gaze travel over this evil person.  She had seen and evaluated everything about him with one glance.

His speech gave him away as Spanish though he dressed with all the garb of a trader.  He stunk as one that avoided going to water as if it would wash his flesh away.  A knife was tucked into the left side of his belt its handle tilted toward the right to make it readily handy.  Just right of his center hung a large hatchet.  Over his left shoulder and crossing over to rest under his right arm was a long rifle.  ‘
He is right handed… and he does not see the wolf
.’  All this she knew from one quick glance.  She also knew she would be unable to defend herself.

“Great Spirit,” she whispered in Cherokee, “Give me strength...”

“Will wonders never cease?” the dreadful man chuckled as he responded in the beloved tongue.  “You speak Cherokee.”  His mirth seemed hard to control.  “I think I just walked upon Fitzgerald’s little brat.  We were told he spawned a little golden haired Cherokee.  I just walked up on the jackpot.  You’re coming with me, my little pretty.”

Dawn did the only thing she knew to do, she let out an ear-spiting war cry, spun, and attached, her arm holding her knife high.  She hardly felt the meaty fist bat her away like a pasty fly or the boulder that cracked her head.  She did know as she slipped into unconsciousness that Raven would be there when she woke.

***

The inside of Chief Dancing Cloud's lodge was silent, the atmosphere within heavy.  New Moon sat across from him, and next to her was Raven.  Climbing Bear, Fastest Running Antelope, and the older braves from the hunt
spread about the rest of the room.  A slight haze from the fire's smoke filled the air, providing a pleasant aroma of burning wood and the added scented herbs.  All waited on Dancing Cloud.  He sat quietly, thinking as he peered out the vent hole in the ceiling.

Raven Cloud sat rigidly, staring over the chief's shoulder with expectant tension filling him.  He realized he once again showed his inner turmoil by the stiffness of his body.  Letting out a long breath he attempted to relax.  There was trouble in what he had allowed to happen on the hunt.  As soon as Raven willed his jaw to unclench, the black cloud that draped his shoulders and warned him of danger practically snapped his teeth back together.  He glanced toward New Moon.

She was sitting with relaxed poise, back straight and head held high.  This was despite all of the worry in her own mind.  Though her thoughts focused on Raven's fault and Panther's disappearance, her ability to separate body from mind was long perfected.  He knew Moon could see his tense worry with ease, and knew that the others in the lodge would pick it up as well.

She turned her gaze to him and he saw the sadness in her eyes.  He also knew she willed him to relax, or at least to show a strong face.  The thought drifted into his mind, ‘
This is how it must be.  This is a path I must travel.’

“Climbing Bear,” said the chief, breaking thick silence with crisp words, “You were uncle to the boys, and had most seniority on the hunt.  Though Raven Who Flies To Meet The Clouds was leading it, would you agree to share responsibility for ensuring the hunt's success?”

The other considered this question, arms wrapped about his chest in comfort against the lodge's mud-plastered walls.  He looked unworried, unhurried, and almost bored.

Slowly, he nodded, “Yes, I will accept such responsibility.  In Raven’s defense, I had not seen or heard the girl following us.”  The hint of a smile might have touched his lips, “Golden Dawn seems to have learned well from her most-respected parents.”

Dancing Cloud nodded, also hiding a smile at the thought of Dawn's skill at remaining unseen, “And you had not seen the young boy that followed your group either?”

Raven Cloud's eyes narrowed, letting a grimace pass over his expression before returning it to clenched neutrality.  After he had returned Dawn to Chota Town, the villagers were happy to see her safe.  New Moon had been worried about her daughter, and ushered her straight to their lodge.  The chief had
followed.  Raven went directly to the visitor’s lodge.  Tired, he reclined on his cot to allow his body a much-needed rest.  His mind however, refused to slumber.

Raven was relieved when he was finally summoned.  He sat unspeaking with New Moon and the Chief as the other braves filled into the lodge to take their place about the fire.  With this new knowledge that a young boy had followed Golden Dawn into the woods, the black cloud of apprehension tightened. 
I am responsible.  I alone will walk this path.

             
Bear shook his head, gaze shifting to the ground, “No, none of us saw the boy.”

“I will speak of the things Raven does not know but should have been aware of.”  The Chief nodded in New Moon’s direction.  “Dawn must be held responsible for her own actions in this.”

New Moon nodded in agreement but did not speak.

“Small Thunder also followed.  When Dawn became aware of the boy, after a day and half a day, she sent the boy home.  Small Thunder was dishonest to the elders by telling them he had only gone to hunt by himself and had gotten lost.  Golden Dawn put that lie to rest when she returned and spoke the truth of their actions.  Small Thunder followed her.  They were not far from the village.

“When Golden Dawn became aware of him.  She praised his ability to remain hidden from Raven and the others and told him to return home on his own.  She followed him to be sure he returned safely and then picked up the hunting party’s trail.”

Raven could see the chief’s pride in her ability and he also proud of her ability.  His heart was happy with the Chief’s next words, even though they spoke badly of his own ability.

“Golden Dawn then tracked the trackers.”

The chief shook his head a little, face solemn with consideration.  Silence filled the room again, though it broke quickly this time, “Raven Who Flies To Meet The Clouds.”

Raven gave a faint nod.

Dancing Cloud continued, “If you are to be a true warrior, you must be a protector of your people.”  He set his fingertips on his forehead, gesturing slowly, “To protect, you must have utmost presence, utmost awareness of the world.”  His hand moved from his eyes into a circle that encompassed the room, “Know who is around you, what is around you, and learn what best enhances the livelihood of all.  Do you think you have been doing this?”

There was not a response at first, only a pensive gaze at the wall behind the chief.  His thoughts of how he belonged, where he belonged, suddenly seemed very selfish and limited in scope.  The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like he had been trying to get others to change for him.

He spoke slowly, choosing each word carefully, “I have not been careful to consider others as I should,” he gritted his teeth, finding the words painful, “I must strive to see farther, to feel more deeply, to know the needs of the ones I watch over and to seek wisdom in all that I do.”

They were strong words, and Dancing Cloud seemed approving of them.  Raven knew the chief watched him carefully, wary of making any hasty decision.  It would be better if Red Panther were here to declare changes to his near-son’s status or requirements.  Chief Dancing Cloud’s involvement in this would normally be minimal by assuring the villagers that punishment would be carried out and ensuring the responsible party kept to any requirements.