Comanche Dawn (51 page)

“More dangerous than the Northern Raiders we have been killing?” Whip asked.

“Like a great humpbacked bear is more dangerous than a lesser bear! They have a warrior society called the Tied Penises. They guard the retreats. They tie a cord to their penises and stake the cord to the ground so they will not abandon the ground they guard. These Wolf People fight! That is why we stayed off of the plains in the old days.”

“Now we have ponies!” Whip said, brandishing his lance.

“Yes. Use them well. Remember Horseback's vision. The spirits say we must kill only those who come out to fight. We will take back all the horses they stole from us. Even if we find a village, we must take no Captives. You listen, Whip. No captive girls this time to make good, or sell to the
Yutas.
If you take one, our medicine will go bad. Take only the scalps of those who come out to fight us.”

“What if they will not come out to fight?” Whip asked.

“Then we will take no scalps. Those Wolf People scalps are not much good anyway.”

“No scalps?” Whip said, a complaint in his tone.

“That is what the spirits have said in my son's vision. Is it so, my son?”

Shaggy Hump looked into the eyes of his son, for Horseback had been riding backward on his pony the whole time, facing those who followed him.

“No, my father, it is not so!” he said, but he was a Foolish One now, and meant the opposite of what he said when he wore his Foolish paint and rode his Foolish pony.

“If someone gets killed,” Shaggy Hump said, “that is all right. It is good to die on a day like this. But if I die, do not let the Wolf People keep my body. They will cut it all up and send me to the Shadow Land to live forever with my guts hanging out and my eyes burned away.”

“
Hah,
we know the way,” said Trotter, respectfully.

“Good. Those Wolf People are horrible. We should stay away from them, but my son says we cannot let them take our horses like that. The tracks show only three warriors. Maybe we will catch them before they reach their village.”

“They were stupid not to take all of our ponies,” Whip said. “They will regret leaving ponies behind so we could follow them.”

“Perhaps they wish us to follow,” said Bear Heart.

Shaggy Hump nodded. “
Hah,
be ready. Trust my son's medicine.”

“Do not worry about deer tracks ahead,” Horseback said. “This is the country of the antelope nation.”

Shaggy Hump caught Trotter's eye and pointed forward with a nod of his head.

“I will watch for deer sign anyway,” Trotter said. “We must honor the deer
puha
that protects us.”

As Trotter urged his pony past Horseback, the Foolish One reached out with his buffalo scrotum rattle and jabbed Trotter's pony in the flank. The mount began to kick and wheel, finally tossing Trotter into the grass.

The warriors gathered around the unhorsed rider and laughed, making strange lines appear in their war paint.

“My son, you are a good Foolish One!”

“Your words make me angry, my father.” His grin showed white teeth in the middle of a face painted half-black, half-red, with streaks of each color running into the other.

*   *   *

His first fight as a Foolish One came far out on the plains, where the land of tall grass began. Horseback's party overtook the Wolf People warriors as they cooked horse meat over a fire of dried buffalo dung. There were only three enemy warriors, as the tracks had suggested, but Horseback sent Bear Heart to circle the Wolf People, to make sure a larger camp did not lie beyond the next hill.

Bear Heart returned without having been seen by the enemy warriors. “There are only three. No village beyond. They are on the open prairie. No timber or even a creek bank to hide behind. They do not expect us to catch up to them so quickly.”

“How many horses?” Shaggy Hump asked.

“Three of their own, and eleven of ours.”

“They stole twelve,” Whip said.

“One died. That is why they have stopped here. To butcher the dead pony.”

“Which pony died?” Trotter asked, for he had lost two of his mounts in the theft.

“The red horse with high white leggings on the back feet.”

“Kwitapuh!”
Whip said. “That was my horse!”

“They have three horses of their own,” Shaggy Hump said. “When we take them, perhaps my son will give you' one to replace the red pony that died.”

“I must have the best of the three as my replacement That red horse with white leggings was a good pony.”

Echo frowned. “
Hah,
a very good pony. For the vultures.” He pointed to the sky.

“That pony was good!” Whip said, glaring at Echo. “And stolen on the watch of a Foolish One!”

“Pookai!”
Shaggy Hump snapped, cutting in front of Whip. “Are you going to watch your brothers fight from a distance?”

“I will ride before anyone!”

“Then you will probably die in the fight and will have no need to replace your stolen pony that the vultures say is good. Anyway, the horses we take belong to my son, for it is his
puha
that guides and protects us. If you live, and if the spirits tell my son to give you a horse, he will.”

“If I live, I will remind your son that his father said so.”

Shaggy Hump turned to the rest of the young men. Since Horseback had become a Foolish One, Shaggy Hump had done much of his speaking for him, as it was too confusing for the warriors to think in opposites like a Foolish One.

“Remember my son's dream,” he said. “Kill only if the Wolf People warriors come out to get us. It is good enough to leave them afoot, a long way from their village. We will be far away by the time they get back to their village.”

Whip sniffed derisively, but would not argue with Shaggy Hump.

Horseback shook his Foolish rattle. “The Wolf People are good, but their ponies are very bad.” He turned his mount, and led the party over the low, grassy hill.

When Horseback loosed his battle cry, the three enemy warriors mounted their ponies to flee, but they had made the mistake of leaving their bridles on tired mounts. The horses of the
Noomah
riders were tired as well, but they were warm and drew spirit power from the war cries of their riders.

Quickly, the Wolf warriors gave up hope of keeping all the stolen horses and rode away on the three they had bridled. The True Humans surrounded and held the herd of eleven, as the two Foolish Ones in the war party galloped ahead to count strokes on the Wolf People. The men with the herd sat upon their horses and watched anxiously as the chase reached far across the sward.

Horseback and Echo overtook the slowest rider, one to either side. As Horseback belabored the fleeing Wolf warrior with his rattle, Echo reached for the war bridle of the pony. Catching the reins, he angled away. Horseback caught the tuft of hair growing from the back of the warrior's otherwise shaved head and pulled the other direction, unhorsing the rider.

Once on the ground, the enemy warrior drew a knife to confront the two Foolish Ones, but they had no trouble dodging his thrusts as they rode around him yelling, “Ye-ye-ye-ye-ye-ye!” Their twin cries streamed thinly across the prairie as they dishonored the enemy horse thief with repeated blows.

“Look!” Whip cried. “The other two Wolf warriors have stopped. One has a Fire Stick!”

The onlookers could tell by the way the Wolf warrior put the butt of the gun on the ground that he had not yet poured in the magic powder, or dropped in the little heavy ball.

The Foolish Ones rode headlong toward the two enemy warriors, oblivious to the danger of the gun.

“They must hurry,” Bear Heart said, “before the Fire Stick is ready!”

“I am going to help the Foolish Ones,” Shaggy Hump said. “If the Wolf warriors kill my son, I will not let them cut him to pieces!”

“I am going, too!” Whip shouted.

The two
Noomah
horsemen thundered away, leaving only Bear Heart and Trotter to hold the captured herd.

The Fire Stick warrior put the gun to his shoulder. Smoke streamed from the breech, but no thunder erupted.

“My son's medicine is good!” Shaggy Hump shouted as he abandoned his charge. “The Fire Stick will not roar!” He stopped to watch the fight again from a distance.

Before the Wolf warrior could prime his gun with more powder in the frizzen pan, Horseback and Echo were upon him. The third Wolf warrior got off his horse, strung his bow, and tried to notch an arrow, but Horseback struck him with his rattle, then reached for his pony's bridle.

At the same time, Echo clashed with the Fire Stick warrior, knocking him over with the shoulder of his pony as the warrior tried to raise the gun again. The Foolish One then wheeled quickly, swooped low, and yanked the gun from the grasp of the Wolf warrior, crying, “Ye-ye-ye-ye-ye!”

“That is a big honor!” Shaggy Hump said to Whip as they watched from their position between the herd of ponies and the fight. “Echo takes the weapon from his enemy's hand.”

“Yet, the enemy lives,” Whip added.

Horseback answered the victory yell as he took the other warrior's pony, and both Foolish Ones rode back toward Shaggy Hump and Whip. The four horsemen came together where the first enemy had been unhorsed. This young Wolf warrior was running away as fast as his feet would carry him. He circled wide to join his two friends as the True Humans laughed at his cowardice.

“They will not fight us now,” Shaggy Hump said. “We are four with horses. They are three afoot. We have taken all the ponies. It is over.”

“Maybe they will fight one of us,” Whip said. “I must have a scalp!” He rode away from the other three
Noomah
braves and stopped alone on a rise in the plains.

“Come out and fight, Wolf boys!” he shouted, gesturing with his lance.

Echo scowled. “Whip is very wise,” he growled. “Those greasy Wolf warrior scalps are good to hang on a shield.”

“He thinks only of his own prowess,” Shaggy Hump said. “He does not care about our
puha.
”

“Come out and get me!” Whip screamed, his voice reaching an idiotic pitch. “Fight me! I want your scalps! Your fathers copulate with she-dogs! Your war cries sound like horse farts! Why do you not tie your penises to the ground now?”

Horseback chuckled. “Our enemies understand every word of Whip's insults. Look how angry he makes them.”

“They are not going to come out and fight,” Shaggy Hump said. “It is time to go. We are far from the safety of our camp.”

They trotted away from the battleground, leaving Whip to rant at the enemy warriors who would not come out and fight.

*   *   *

After two sleeps, the horse-takers approached their camp on the fringes of
Yuta
country. Before entering the camp, they dismounted and rubbed their ponies with grass to make them look sleek and beautiful. Then they returned in glory, shouting victory yells. A great celebration commenced, and when the warriors told of their exploits, Whip spoke longer than any.

“I was angry and wanted to fight because the pony the Wolf warriors killed was a good pony,” he said. “I know this pony was good, because it belonged to me. It was my fastest pony, and the Wolf warriors cooked it. Only a very good pony can replace this lost one, and that is why I was so angry at our enemies. I begged them to come out and fight me, but they would not. Our spirit-guides forbade us to kill any warriors who would not come out to fight. I do not know why the spirits would protect our enemies, but Shaggy Hump told us that Horseback, the Foolish One, had shadow dreams that forbade us to kill. I have no scalps to replace my lost pony. That pony was fast! I miss that pony. I won many races with that pony. As Father Sun is my witness, that was the best pony I ever rode! How will I ride as fast as an antelope now that our enemies have killed my finest pony? I have spoken.”

Whip's speech tainted the celebration, for everyone in the band heard the greed in his words.

As leader of the party of pony-takers, it was Horseback's duty to speak last and divide the spoils of the raid as he saw fit. He made his talk quietly to his father, for he did not wish for his words to be mistaken for the Foolish talk he often used, for he still wore his paint. When Shaggy Hump understood his son's wishes, he addressed the circle of people.

“My son, Horseback, the Foolish One, has searched his heart for the wisdom of spirits. My son says this: The spirits are pleased with our raid on the Wolf People. Our shadow-guides tested us on this raid, telling us we must not kill any Wolf warrior who did not come out to fight. The spirits are pleased that we honored their wishes, though we wanted to kill. Our
puha
remains strong.

“Now it is time to divide the things taken on the raid. Echo, the Foolish One, took a Fire Stick from one of the Wolf warriors. As a Foolish One he is forbidden to use a weapon, so the spirits have said that Trotter should own the Fire Stick, for he knows how to use that weapon well.”

Trotter could not keep the smile of surprise from branching across his face as men touched him to share his good fortune.

“Now, the ponies,” Shaggy Hump said. “My son has listened to the spirits. The spirits have heard a sacred oath sworn to Father Sun, here before this circle of True Humans. The oath proves that the red pony with the high white leggings—the pony butchered by the Wolf People—this pony was the fastest pony that ever lived.”

Shaggy Hump's talk cast a spell of utter silence over the people, and they all looked toward Whip, yet refused to meet eyes with him.

“The spirits have decided that no one pony can replace the red horse with high white leggings, so Whip must take all fourteen ponies from the Wolf people raid. My son has spoken.”