Cheyenne Moon (13 page)

The last thought that she had was of Shadow Spirit, she so hoped that he was safe and had not ran into Black Heart on his search for her.

Shadow Spirit was weary and scared, he had searched for days with the only sign of Abby being the tiny emerald that he found at campsite. He could not believe that he had searched this long in the bitter cold and the snow not to find even another trace of Abby. 

He had found a burned farmhouse and a man’s body in the front yard. There was no one else, if there had been anybody in the house they had been burned along with the structure.  There were some wooden toys in the yard, so there must have been a child. He prayed that Black Heart had not gotten hold of a child, for he loved to sell them to Comancheros even if he had to travel to Texas. The Comancheros liked white children. They received much more in goods for their purchases when they resold them to the Mexicans to work in fields than Black Heart had gotten.

Shadow Spirit decided to find shelter for the night and start for home with the new sun. He would retrace the path he had used to look for Abby maybe he had missed something, some small sign. He wished that Storm had stayed with him, but he ran off again yesterday.

Shadow Spirit found a lean-to that had been deserted a long time ago. It was built up against a hill with the hill being the back, there was a fairly solid wall on the north side and a broken down wall on the other side but no front. He was very thankful that the wind was coming from the north. White people had no idea how to make a decent place to get in out of the cold and snow. He could have taken a few buffalo hides and made a shelter that would have kept the wind out on all sides, but he did not have the hides.

He ate more of the pemmican his mother had packed for him and covered up to try to get some sleep. He was beginning to fade into sleep when he thought he smelled food cooking, it smelled like meat roasting. He had been without a real meal for days and his mind was playing tricks on him.

Shadow Spirit woke at daybreak stiff, sore and cold.

He had dreamed of roast venison all night. He ate dried berries and drank water from his canteen. All the streams that he had found were frozen. He had been filling his water bag with snow and drinking it as it melted from the heat of his body.

Shadow Spirit was determined to find his wife, he could not give up. He could not go back to his people without Abby. He would be of no use to them. Gray Wolf would do a fine job as acting chief.

He had changed his mind about going back over the ground he had already covered. There was another place that he had not looked. There was a fort about a week’s ride from where he was camped, the soldiers could have found Abby and taken her back to the fort with them. She would have never told them where she was living for fear of them finding the Cheyenne village. 

Yes, he would go and watch the Fort for any sign that Abby had been taken there and if she had, he would find a way to get her away from the soldiers and take her home to the Black Hills.

Shadow Spirit knew the danger of getting close to this fort for it had many soldiers to protect it. The fort served as a major point for boats coming and going on the Missouri river. It was in a location that was a key to protecting the whites traveling west. There were woods to the right of the fort, he figured that he could make a camp there and wait, but if Abby was not at the fort then he was just wasting time, but he knew of no other place that she could be.

Shadow Spirit was ready to set out when he again smelled food cooking, he must be going crazy, there were no cabins close to where he was and he had seen no smoke. The only structure that he had seen was the old burned out barn that was ready to fall down. He had went up the path to see if maybe there was a family living at the end of the path, but when he rounded the bend and saw the barn he had turned around. Maybe there was a hunting party close that was roasting meat.

Shadow Spirit began the long ride to the fort. He was hopeful that Abby would be there. Anyone seeing her would know that she was with child, this was January, and their baby should be born in late April. Surely, no one would treat her badly because she was dressed as an Indian.

Abby woke to the smell of bacon cooking and biscuits, Polly probably had to make more today because she and Joshua had been so hungry yesterday. These were the same smells that she had woken up to when she was growing up and this brought back wonderful memories of her childhood. Her mother always made sure that there was a hot breakfast waiting for both Abby and her father every morning.

She looked over at Joshua who was still sleeping, with his thumb in his mouth, sucking lightly. She slid out of the bed slowly as not to wake him and went in search of Polly.

Abby had been unable to sleep when she had tried to during the afternoon yesterday, but had finally just collapsed when she went to bed for the night

“Good morning, did you sleep well?” Polly asked as she stirred milk gravy.

“I slept great, but you should have waked me up sooner, we need to be on our way, I have to get back to my husband.” Abby said.

“Well I don’t think that you will be going anywhere for a while, go to the barn door and look out.”

Abby opened the cabin door and a surge of extremely cold air hit her in the face. She walked the few feet to the old barn door where she could see outside, several more inches of fresh snow had fallen during the night and it was still snowing. The tree branches dropped from the weight of it and all around as far as she could see was nothing but a sea of white. There were no tracks in the snow so evidently Polly had not been out this morning. She ran back inside the cabin where Polly was putting breakfast on the table.

“How long do you think it will be before I can leave?”

“Spring,” Polly answered with a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“I can’t stay here until spring, my baby is due in late April and I have to get back up the through the mountains before it is time for him to come.”

“Why would you want to go into the Black Hills, nothing in those hills but wild animals and Indians?”

“Look, I appreciate your help but as soon as I can I am going to go. My husband is in those mountains.” Abby was going to have to tell Polly that she was married to an Indian and hope that she didn’t throw her out into the cold.

“Abby why don’t you tell me the truth, do you think that I am some horrible person that can only see one view?”

“I am so sorry I just thought that if you knew that I was married to an Indian that it would make a difference to you.”

“I know that there are ruthless people of all races. My husband brought us here when my daughter was six years old and my son only two. It was a horrible life at first but as we begin to work our little spot of ground and got a roof over our heads, I began to forgive him for taking me away from all that I had ever known. My family never approved of my marriage, you see my husband was Irish, and my father believed he was beneath us. I loved him more than anything and I would have gone wherever he wanted to take me, my father disowned me, and as a result he never saw his grandchildren.”

“I am sorry that I misjudged you.” Abby said.

Polly smiled and took Abby’s hand. “I understand that you would worry about being chastised, but you know what, people that talk about you or a race of people is just letting someone else rest,” Polly stood and went back to the stove and brought a plate of biscuits to the table.  “Now go wake up the boy and let’s eat.”

While they were eating, Abby remembered the horse that she had been riding the day before.  She had left the poor thing tied and had not thought a thing about it until now.

“Polly as soon as we are finished will you watch Joshua? I left my horse tied up behind the tree that we were sleeping in.”

“Your horse is safe I went for him while you were trying to sleep yesterday afternoon. He is in the cave behind the barn with my goats and chickens.” 

“Thank you I feel like we are causing you extra trouble.”

“You are but it is worth it I haven’t had anyone to talk to but my animals for so long.”

“I like talking to you also you seem to have great knowledge, but I still have to go when it is possible.”

“I know I will help you to get back to your husband when the time is right. Abby are you married to Chief Shadow Spirit?”

“Yes I am and he is the kindest man on earth. He treats me with the greatest respect. You should see how wonderful he is with his mother. She is a white woman on the outside but she is a true Cheyenne at heart.”

“I could see the love in your eyes when you spoke of him yesterday. How did his mother come to be with the Cheyenne?”

“Her family was all killed by the Crow, and she was taken captive, but later that same day Chief White Feather came upon them and killed the Crow and took her with him. She fell in love with him and they have been together for over twenty-five years.”

“When the Indians raided our farm I was in the house with my son, he had a cold and I was taking care of him. My daughter and husband were outside, I heard him yell for us to run.”

“What happened to your husband and daughter?”

“My husband was killed and I never saw my daughter again, they took her with them,” Polly sad sadly on the verge of tears.

“How did you and your son get away?”

“Come I will show you in case you have to hide sometime before you get to go home.”

Polly led the way to the back of the barn where a small door led to the outside. She lit two lanterns and handed one to Abby.

“What about the snow can we get through it? Abby asked as she picked up Joshua.

“Let him walk, I have cleaned a path, it’s not over his shoes.”

Once they were out of the barn Abby saw that there was indeed a path leading into the side of the mountain. They went in the cave and Abby was shocked at the intricacies of the caves. There were tunnels going off in several directions. They took one that veered off to the left and walked for quite a long way before it opened up into one huge cave that held two adult goats and a kid, several chickens, a mule and Abby’s horse. She had never seen anything like this.

“This is where I go when I see an Indian party on the path to my cabin. From where the path comes into the clearing I can get to this cave without anyone seeing me.”

“This is amazing. Do you keep your animals in here all the time?”

“Oh no they’re only here now because the harshness of the weather, if they stayed in the dark all the time they’d probably go blind.”

“Polly how do you take care of all this by yourself,” Abby asked.

“It’s not that much to do, just a few scraggly animals, and I have all kinds of time. I just turned sixty last month, and I am strong as an ox, you have to be to live here.”

Abby watched as Polly picked up a bucket and proceeded to milk the goat. Joshua ran around chasing chickens and laughing. He walked over to Polly and put his little arm on her back as she continued to milk. She looked up at him and smiled.  “You want to try,” she asked him?

“I want to,” he replied smiling up at her.

He squatted down beside Polly and shyly took hold of one of the goat’s teats. He squirted milk in his face and squealed with pleasure. When the milking was over Polly and Abby sat down on a bench that ran along one side of the cave wall and watched as Joshua played with the animals. He ran after the kid and patted the head of the fat old female goat she just stood and let him play with her ears. 

“He seems like he is having a good time, maybe he is beginning to get over what he saw happened to his family.” Polly stated.

“He is alright during the day, but he sometimes wakes up crying during the night. I’m not sure how long ago it happened, I don’t know when Black Heart took him.”

“You know I just do not understand how anyone can be that evil. How do you take a little child and sell it or murder it. He must have the heart of the old devil himself.”

“Look Polly, Joshua finally caught the young goat.” He was sitting on floor of the cave with the little goat lying in front of him, with his hand slowly stroking the goats head.

“I’m not sure if he caught it or just wore it out.” Polly threw her head back and laughed. “I guess we better get this milk back to the house and take care of it. I bet Joshua smells awful with the way he has been playing with the goats.”

“I’m so glad to see him playing I don’t care how many baths I have to give him. It’s so good to see him happy if only until he remembers what had happened to his family.”

Shadow Spirit crouched down beside a boulder and tried see if there was any movement coming from where he had heard the groan. He saw a boot sticking out from beneath a pile of snow. He crept closed, hoping he was not walking into a trap. He drew his knife and bent to remove the snow from the body buried there. He was surprised to see a young soldier dressed in the gray uniform of the South. The snow around him was a bright red, his face was bloody, and he looked as if he had been beaten. There was a long cut right below his hairline as if someone had started to scalp him, but changed their mind. 

Shadow Spirit lifted him gingerly so as not to cause him undue pain. The boy opened his pain filled eyes and look at Shadow Spirit, he could tell the boy was terrified. 

“I am not going to hurt you,” Shadow Spirit tried to reassure the boy. He did not look to be more than fifteen summers.

He carried the boy to where he had made camp the night before. He had found this place by accident when he ran upon an abandoned stagecoach that had been turned over into a gully. One side was broken off so Shadow Spirit had turned that side down, that way it offered a windbreak and kept the new falling snow off of him. He crawled under the stagecoach and pulled the young soldier, who had passed, out under with him.

Shadow Spirit examined the boy’s wounds and cleansed them with snow. There were several long cuts besides the one on his head. His arms were covered in small scratches as if he had been drug throw blackberry vines. Shadow Spirit retrieved his medicine bag from his gear and put salve made from comfrey root on the boy’s wounds.  The salve would help the wounds heal and it would soothe the burning.

Shadow Spirit sat beside the boy and watched him. It was good that he was unconscious because the pain would be great if he were not. Shadow Spirit suspected that he had broken ribs along with all the wounds that covered his face and arms. He looked like he should be with his family not in the army. The white man seemed to have some kind of fight with someone all the time. He had heard that they were now fighting each other, brother against brother and they called his people savages.

The boy woke with a start as he stared at Shadow Spirit. “Are you the one who helped me?” he asked weakly.

“Yes I am.”

“Thank you,” the boy replied as he drifted to sleep. 

Shadow Spirit was losing valuable time in his quest to find Abby, but he could not leave this young man to possibly die from his wounds. He hoped the young soldier made it, but he had lost a lot of blood in the snow before Shadow Spirit found him. 

Finding Abby was the most important thing on Shadow Spirit mind. She was a strong person but if she had not found shelter by now she could not have possibly survived in this cold and snow. He would not accept that she was dead along with their unborn child. He would search until he had no more strength left in his body.

For two days Shadow Spirit fought the young soldier’s fever and pain. He continued to bath the boy in melted snow every few hours. He had finally given up and built a fire to melt the snow and roast a rabbit. He could no longer survive on pemmican. He believed he was far enough away from the fort that the smoke would not be seen. The fire also warmed the old coach to a bearable degree.

Shadow Spirit glanced over at the boy and he was awake and staring at him.

“You are Indian ain’t you” he asked weakly.

“Yes I am. Does that make a difference in the way that I have helped you?”

“No I got nothin against Indians.”

“What are you called?”

“My name is Jacob Cantrell, what’s your handle?”

“I am Chief Shadow Spirit of the Cheyenne.” He said with pride. “Are you feeling up to eating something?”

“Nice to meet you Chief, I could eat somethin, what’s that smell?” Before Shadow Spirit could answer, Jacob continued. “That’s the best thing I smelled since my granny cooked for me back in the hill of Kentucky.”

“It is rabbit I have had pemmican for too many suns and you need good hot food to help you heal.” Shadow Spirit answered.

Jacob did not eat much, which was probably good considering he had a raging fever for two days. He ate then slept all afternoon. While Jacob slept, Shadow Spirit scouted around for some indication as to how far he was away from the fort where he suspected Abby was being held. He did not go far he was afraid that Jacob would try to get up and do more damage to his ribs.

The land around where they were camped was hilly and rough and it was covered in a good two feet of snow. He found wolf tracks in the snow and followed them for a while hoping they belonged to Storm, but he never caught up. He did see where the wolf had made a kill, rabbit fur, and blood colored the snow swathed earth.  He found no sign of the fort.

Shadow Spirit returned to camp to find Jacob sitting up holding his ribs and crying softly.

“What happened?”

“I tried to get up and look outside, I thought you had run off and left me here. When I leaned over to get a look, I think I pulled somethin. It hurts like hell.”

“Pull your shirt off, I have some stripes off deer hide in my bag, I will wrap it around you to help hold your ribs in place.”

“Are you some kinda Indian doctor or somethin?” Jacob asked after Shadow Spirit finished wrapping his ribs.

“No, but my mother’s grandfather was a doctor in the east. She has taught me some of the things that he taught her.”

“So you are white on your mama’s side.” Jacob stated as he ate rabbit and dried berries.

“Yes, but I am a true Cheyenne as my mother is since she married my father. I am also part Irish, my grandfather was an Irish immigrant.”

“I knew you weren’t all Indian with those eyes. My mama was a little ole gal from Tennessee when my daddy married her, she was just thirteen years old.  He had already been married, his wife died havin my half sister.  My sister ain’t right she don’t talk or walk. I guess somethin happened when her mama was birthin her.”

“I am sorry to hear about your sister, we have a man in our clan that is much like your sister,” Shadow Spirit stated. “I have to ask you some questions. My wife is missing and I have searched from our camp in black Hills to where we sit now.”

“I’ll help you if I can Chief, ask me whatever you want to.”

“Do you know how far we are away from the fort?” Shadow Spirit asked.

“I figure we are about a day and a half ride from here, but there ain’t no Indian woman at the fort, in fact there ain’t no woman at the fort.”

“I have heard that there are several men at the fort that have brought their women out here.”

“There are only ten or twelve men at the fort they are closin it down in the spring.”

“How long have you been away from there?”

“I left four days ago, they let me out cause my daddy got hurt and can’t work our farm anymore, and I was goin home when I was bush wacked by a bunch a outlaws.”

“I hope your father is alright.”

“I don’t know my mama’s letter was dated two months ago.  A mangy old swaybacked mule kicked him in the head; mama says that he has been plum addled ever since can’t, even feed his self.”

“I am sorry for your family but I must find my wife she is with child and needs me. My wife is white.”

“Well I’ll be I’ve heard that some Indians were taking white women for wives. What’s the matter with your women folk?”

“There is nothing wrong with our women. I just fell in love with Abby.”

“I’ll help you find her, but she ain’t at the fort. How did you lose her, Chief?” Jacob asked.

“She was abducted from our camp while I was away.

“That’s rough, Chief.”

“Do you think you will be able to ride in the morning Jacob?”

“Why shore Chief, I’ll be fit as a fiddle, ain’t no beatin goin get me down.”

Jacob seemed to forget that he had been out of his head for two days with an awful fever. Shadow Spirit was impressed with the strength he showed.

“Let us get some rest tonight and we will head out to the fort with the coming of the new sun.”

“I’m a tellin you that she ain’t at the fort. Don’t you believe me? I wouldn’t lie to you after you saved my life and all?”

“I believe you, but she might have been taken there after you left,” Shadow Spirit stated. “Now let us rest.”