Sweet Savage Surrender (39 page)

"Nits make lice!" he heard them say.  They were not reluctant to implement their leader's most savage intentions.  One soldier
fired at a child toddling in the sand and missed.

"You call yourself a soldier," another soldier said drunkenly.  "Let me try the s
on of a
bitch."  He
also missed.

"You're both poor excuses...."  Grunting in disgust
,
a third soldier took careful aim an
d killed the
child. 
Baby's
heads were dashed against trees. 
The wounded were killed, bodies scalped and ripped open with knives.  A woman's body was cut open
,
her unborn child dropped on the ground beside h
er.  Everywhere there was carnage.

The soldiers fired rifles, pistols and cannon loaded with small shot.  Terrified
,
the people ran, scattering, shrieking and crying.  The few warriors seized their
weapons
and gathered around the women and children,
herding them up the creek bed.

John pushed himself through the soldiers, obsessed with finding the woman he loved.  He was so intent
,
in fact
,
that he  grew careless, not seeing the hate-filled eyes that watched him.  But Lone Wolf
,
who ridden into the camp to have council with his father and bring buffalo meat to the hungry camp, saw him.  He vented his rage on the man who had brought his people to this camp.  Skyraven's bluecoat!  It was he who was responsible for this day of dea
th and treachery.

Lone Wolf's long dark hair flew wildly about him as he ran forward, shouting his harsh war cry, pulling John off his horse.  Locked together in combat the tw
o men rolled upon the ground.

From her hiding place
,
Skyraven gave a gasp, recognizing John Hanlen the moment he hit the earth.  In the scuffle his hat had fallen off and his light golden hair ga
ve proof of his identity
.  "No!"  Seeing her soldier here among those bringing such tragedy
,
she felt pain grip her heart, mistakenly thinking that he was among the shooting,
hollering
, murdering soldiers.  Covering her face with her hands
,
she sank down into the soft earth, sobbing out her grief.  And yet even now she couldn't bear it in her
heart if Lone Wolf killed him.

John fought hard against the
other well-muscled man
.  He had to find Skyraven, he couldn't dally here.  Skyraven. The very thought of her somehow gave him added tenacity and strength.  Freeing himself from the Indian's grip, John pulled away.  "I don't want to ha
rm you," he said emphatically.

"You don't want to harm me..."  With a bellow of rage,  Lone Wolf lunged again,  a hunting knife poised high in his hand, his eyes wild with hatred.  John ducked away just in time
,
and the blade found the earth instead of his shoulder, but the Indian was undaunted.  Issuing another cry
,
he threw himself once more at John.  Again and again he lunged with his knife and again and again he missed, but only by a hairbreadth.  Lone Wolf was no longer thinking clearly.  All he knew was that the bluecoats had ravaged his people's camp and that at this very moment he had one of
their soldiers in his sights.

"I will kill you, white
man!"

John could have drawn his pistol and yet he did not.  "There has been enough killing.  I don't want to shed your blood.  List
en to me.  I did not do this!"

His words were useless
,
for clearly the Indian was intent upon his death, as vengeance for the women and children who had so mercilessly been slaughtered.  John called upon some inner reserve of strength to ward Lone Wolf off.  Kicking out with his foot
,
he pushed the Indian to the ground
,
but like a wounded lion the Indian gathered his strength and jumped at John again, dealing him a blow to the stomach that made John curl up with pain
.

He
fought against the blazing pain, panting as he carefully aimed a kick which caught the Indian in the head.  He struggled to get up, knowing that he was fighting for his
life.  He didn't want to die, d
idn't want his body to be used as justification for what had happened.  That would be Chivington's way.  To point out the body of one soldier and try to make it seem that this slaughter
had been done in retaliation.

"Before this day is through I will kill you...."  Lone Wolf hunkered down, ready to spring again but a gun shot stopped him in mid air.  C
lutching at his chest he fell.

"Got him, that God damned Indian!"  A voice shouted out in triumph.  "Just like turkeys at a turkey shoot.  Haven't had
this much fun in a long while.

John's eyes met those of a young man who was so young he didn't even have whiskers.  "Fun?  You call this fun?"  He looked a
t him in horrified loathing. 

"Sure is.  And now I'm gonna get me some of his hair.  As proof of what I done."  The young man thr
ust his chest out proudly.

John shouted out a string of curse words, damning the man for a barbarian and a fool.  He was determined that there would be no such  mutilation done to the body and moved forward purposefully to block the soldier, but  when he looked again toward the spot where Lone Wolf had fallen
,
he saw that the Indian had somehow managed to drag himself away.  Only the blood on the snow gave proof that
Lone Wolf had ever lain there.

John pushed his way through the camp, trying to do what he
could to counteract
Chivington's attack.  Realizing that in the confusion
no one would really know who
barked out orders
. He would attempt to
give the Indians added time to get to cover. So possessed was John on finding Skyraven that he didn't see Chivington until it was too late.  "You!"  His hand shook as he gave hi
s command.  "Arrest this man!"

"You are the one who should be arrested.  You fiendish bastard!  May you rot in
hell for what you have done!"

"He is a traitor.  Shoot him!  Shoot him!"  Chivington w
arbled his command to a
soldier,
a young man who John had
fortunately
friended at the fort.   Jo
hn's eyes met those of the soldier.  He saw devastation written in those eyes, a
n unbearable self-loathing.  The young man couldn't pull the trigger.

"I ain't
doin' any more killing."

"Arrest him then."  John was seized by four soldiers and dragged off to meet his
judgment
             
             

Chapter Forty-Two
             
             
             

Skyraven  held her knife poised to strike, horrified as she saw that the enemy were as thick as the trees
that
rose from the forest.  The birds screeched and shrieked, fluttering their wings in
frenzy
as they darted from tree to tree, protesting the intrusion.  Their angry voices blended with the other cries as women and children sought places to hide.  The women cried and the children wailed.  Such a pitiful sound.  Skyraven could hear the women'
s cries for mercy and knew that
they would have none.
             
She heard a blood curdling scream.  One of the
Cheyenne
women was struck down and killed before Skyraven's eyes and there was nothing she
could
do except to mourn her.
             
             
"God damn Indian bitch," swore a man who was stung by Skyraven's blade.  Kicking out his foot he sent her knife flying from her hand and she winced in pain, holding her injured wrist.
             
"Slit her throat.  You know what the colonel said."
             
Kicking and screaming, Skyraven refused to be subdued.  She fought against her attackers, biting and clawing those who held her.  With a strength born of fear and desperation she lunged free of her captors and took to her heels.
             
             
             
The Indians were putting up a fierce fight but they had few weapons and they were outnumbered. They had put up a fierce fight but
the
strength and pride of he people were draining out with their blood.
             
Skyraven heard a scream, one among so many, yet this one came from Desert Flower.  Three men were dragging  her from the place where she had taken refuge.  They were holding her down
             
             
             
             
Now the village was in panic.  Several lodges were aflame.  As she dashed out of her teepee she stumbled over a body and fell to the ground.   She quickly got up dodging the bullets that  sent the dust flying  around her.
             
             
             
Everywhere women were running and screaming, children were crying. reminding her of  Desert Flower and her
little
one.   Blue Fox was away on the hunting trip with the others.  Desert Flower was not as independent as she was.  Desert Flower  would need help with the baby. 
             
Black Kettle called to her as she rushed past his lodge on her way to help Desert Flower.  "Don't be frightened ,Skyraven.   This village is under the protection of the United States Government.  There is no real danger.  The soldiers will soon realize that they have made a mistake."  He had  no more than  gotten the words out of his mouth when his own wife fell to the ground, a bullet barley missing her. 
             
Helping Many Song Birds to her feet she said,  "you and your wife had better go back inside or join the rest of us in fleeing .  It looks as if these soldiers have made no   mistake."   She did not look back to see if they
were indeed fleeing but continued on to Desert Flowers lodge.
             
When Skyraven entered the lodge, Desert Flower did not even acknowledge her entrance.  She was sitting with the baby in her lap,  hardly moving just staring straight ahead.  Skyraven grabbed the horrified Desert Flower by the shoulders and gently shook her then led her to the teepee flap.  "I'm here to help you.  Stand there and wait for me while I put Big Bear in his cradle board"  she said taking  the baby from his mother ,  placing  him inside the cradle board and  quickly lacing  it.
             
Carefully lifting the teepee flap while strapping the cradle board to her back, Skyraven peeked out to determine  which way they s
hould plan to
go in order to
escape. 
She led them away from the line of fire only to run into more fire.  The soldiers seemed to be coming from every direction.
             
"Quickly Desert Flower, We must  go to the high river bank.  There are places to hide there."  She changed directions once again.
             
Desert Flower stumbled and fell once or twice but was soon upon her feet again.  They ran until they thought their lungs would burst but  did not stop until they reached the high river bank .
             
Desert Flower was panting and looked extremely pale.  "I...I  don't think I can... can run another step."   She was indeed breathless.
             
They had reached the banks of the
Sand
River
where vegetation grew in abundance.  Dropping down in a crevice in the clean moist sand they both lay flat on their
backs,
exhausted
.   Their chests heaved in an attempt to
bring in  more air.
             
After a short rest Skyraven sat up and looked around her, then crept to the edge of the creek bank to look on the other side.  There she saw the Blue coats still milling around the village.  Some were 
committing
terrible
atrocities
.  She also heard the sound of hoof beats, the clink of metal and the sound of the blue coats angry voices but she did not know where they were
co
ming
from.  She had to get away from the horror that met her eyes.  "Oh good spirit please be with us now in our hour of need"  she mumbled  raising her eyes skyward.
             
Crawling on her hands and knees she returned to the clump of thick
vegetation behind which Desert Flower and the baby were well hidden.
             
"You stay here with Big Bear in the tall grass near the river's edge.  Nobody can see you.  You are well hidden.  I am going to take a look further upstream to see what our chances are for escape .  If we can get away we can at least try to  make it to another camp."
             
Half
hidden
in
the available foliage, she followed along the river bank  for at least a half mile.  Looking back she could see soldiers following  small bands of Indians who were trying to escape  but she was well in advance of them.  "Please dear spirit be with me now." she repeated over and over.   She had to live.  She could do nothing for Desert Flower or for the others if she met her death now.
             
The sound of the hoof beats were more distant now.  She felt sure
that the soldiers were far away from where she stood and she had seen no soldiers go anywhere near where Desert Flower and the baby were hiding.
             
Reaching out to climb up the embankment she grabbed hold of a black rock then gasped in horror as she realized that it was not a rock at all but the toe of a soldier's black boot.  Her eyes traveled upward to meet the sneering gaze of a tall, lanky cavalry man and his evil grinning companion.
             
"Here's one, Charlie.  Can't let her get away that easy."  He said kicking his boot from beneath the grip of her fingers  and sending wet sand flying into her eyes.
             
Skyraven reached up and brushed the damp sand from her closed eyelids.
             
Although every nerve in her body was taunt as a bow string by now and her mouth as dry as the canyon walls, she had to say something.   She had to know why they had done this terrible thing to a peaceful people.
             
"We have done nothing to you why do you hunt us down like animals?"  she asked, trying to pretend a courage
that
she really did not feel.  She was frightened.  More frightened than she had ever been in her life but she would never  let the white eyes know it.
             
"She speaks English, Boyd and look at those blue eyes.  This one is part white."
             
"Sure as hell she is, Charlie.  We'd better take her captive.  Colonel
Chi
vington
may want to question her.  Her speakin' English an all."
             
"Come on, squaw.  Get up off your knees and come with us."  The big boned, blue coat reached down and wrapped his hairy arms around Skyraven's waist and lifted her to her feet.
             
As the two blue coated, white soldiers dragged and pushed her along to where their horses were tethered, for the first time in many moons Skyraven was not so sure she liked being half white.   In fact she was not so sure that she liked white men either .   And to think that just a few days ago she had given her heart and complete trust to one of the Blue coats, such as these.   Did he have anything to do with this attack?    Somehow she wanted to believe that he had not.  Still, Black Kettle had trusted the whites, had even received a medal, a flag  and papers from them saying that his tribe was friendly and that hadn't stopped all of this.   Both he and Left Hand had gone to
Denver
City
and had eaten in their homes She was utterly confused and extremely unhappy about the situation she found herself in.
             
"Come on.  Walk a little faster.   You ain't exactly a lady out for a  litle stroll and  we ain't got all day ."  The tall, thin man pushed her foreward causing her to lose her balance and fall to her knees.     They said nothing more  to her  but did  push and shove Skyraven along  from time to time .  Finally, they got to the clearing where the two horses stood pat
iently chewing on tree bark. 
             
             
             
"Guess she'll have to ride with you, Boyd.  My saddle bags are too full of
souvenirs
.  That buffalo robe I took from the chief's place before we burned it down is rolled up  across part of  my saddle already."
             
Skyraven recognized Black Kettle's favorite painted buffalo robe.  There was not another like it anywhere around.    She wanted to ask if Black Kettle was still alive but decided against it.  She really didn't have very much to say to these cut throats.  They would never tell her the truth anyway.
             
Without another  word she was jerked  upon the horses back in front of the stocky blue coat.   She had been through quite alot this day.    Her body was sore, she had several cuts and bruises.  Not only that but  her position was quite uncomfortable as they
proceeded
down the narrow trail along the river's edge.  She really didn't have enough room sitting in front of the heavy set man .  As they went down the hillside he placed his big arm around her but still,  his body slid into hers causing her to be caught
between
his body and the saddle horn.   The saddle horn pressed into her tender stomach.
             
She did manage to smile as they passed the place where Desert Flower and the baby were hidden.   The two soldiers did not notice for one would have to know they were there and  look very closely to see the dark eyes peering out and the hand raised in a sort of waving position.  It made her heart
rejoyce
d
to know that Desert Flower and Big Bear  were still there and were alright.