Gold Raven (83 page)

"Of course I know."

"Please tell me... if you could get hold of some rifles, more weapons, would you go and save my husband's life. Would some of
the others?"

"If we could, I would and I know I could rally others to go in
with me."

"Tell me... how long before they will reach the place of battle?"

"It will take a while. They will attack, retreat giving the armies
time to gather, then attack another place and hide, as the armies
follow a trail they will lead them into a trap, until it brings them to the designated place
for the battle."

"An ambush, why do you feel they will not win?"

"The militia is on guard and ready, expecting this to happen
sooner or later. They will gather many numbers, as well as weapons.
Those fighting will end up out numbered."

"I see. This designated placed, where is it?"

"Why the questions? What are you planning Gold Raven?"

She was still a moment, still thinking, planning before answering, fearing his
reaction, she forged onward, honestly.

"I'm planning to go and get
my husband back! I want him back, alive and well. I also plan on
taking as many of you with me as I can convince to believe in me and
help me bring them back."

"You are a stubborn woman! You never learn! We have no weapons!"

Ignoring his words she answered.
"Listen to me Greeneye, there is a chance, a strong chance that I
can get us weapons; rifles, swords! The rifles are new,
Greeneye, with plenty of ammo. I'm begging you, pleading with
you, help me, please! Help me save my husband's life. I beg you -
I beg you. The chance I am asking you to take is a big one, it is, but I’m pleading with you, gather
who is willing, tell them we have guns-..."

"But you are not sure of thi-..."

"Tell them please! We have to try! We have to take this
chance! We have to! Because if you do not, I will die trying. My life
means nothing without him Greeneye, nothing! Please, I beg you!"

He stood a moment staring down at her, and then asked. "How
great is this chance of weapons you speak of?"

"Only few knew of their hiding place, my brother, me, his wife
and one of his men. That man is now dead. They are there Greeneye, I feel it! My brother didn't know it then, but he was preparing me for
this day. I will fight with you, by your side, and if need be, I will die by your side, if you please – please believe in me. I cannot live without him, I cannot!"

"Your brother, perhaps he has taken them? Maybe found by
someone else."

"Greeneye, if we don't take this chance, and he dies for nothing,
then I will never, as long as I live, forgive you for letting him die!
Think of it Greeneye, if I am right, you and all your braves - will
have – new - rifles! New! Swords as well, other weapons! Are they not worth taking this chance for?
I'll be fair, if we don’t find enough weapons, enough for every brave with us, then we come home and I will wait and pray and you will be
released from blame. But if you do not, I will make the rest of your life
a living hell – I promise you that."

"I am convinced you could too." Greeneye admitted grudgingly.

"What will it be then? There's not a lot of time to waste."

"You are a strange woman, Gold Raven. Draw a map of where
the weapons can be found, you stay here and we-..."

"Ohhh no no no, no map! I go along; you're not leaving me
behind! We leave together, or I leave on my own."

"You are a woman, Gold Raven. Have you forgotten that? You
should act as a woman does!"

"I tell you what, get my husband back and I'll start that, right
away. When do we leave?"

Greeneye exhaled, looking up into the cool night
sky.

"Well?" She asked impatiently. With a tilting gesture of his head,
he indicated that she go get ready. "We leave at dawn." He
announced.

"I'll be ready; I'm sleeping here tonight.
I will be right back with my things." She hurried off,
stopped, turned back and yelled. "I will need a horse." He nodded in
the affirmative.

Knowing that he would get no rest that night, he ducked into his
dwelling and informed his wife of the things she already knew, once again, she had listened in. "You must go, or our lives will never know peace again." He hugged her close and left to gather his braves.

Chapter Thirty-One

With the night torches burning, the village circle was crowded
with many of Greeneye's braves who waited to hear what their new
chief had to say. When he was certain that all were gathered, he
explained his decision to ride out before dawn in order to bring their brothers back to the village safe and sound.

"But how? With what will we arm ourselves to battle and save them, when we have nothing more than what they left with?" One of
the warriors called out.
"There is a place where we will venture to first. Waiting for us at
this place many weapons."

An excited gasp, and then murmurs spread through the crowd.

"Rifles?" Someone said, as if speaking of money.

"Yes, rifles...many of them."

"Where is this place? Who has them now? Who is it that will get
them for us?"

"I will. I know where the place is. I know where the rifles are."
Hope stepped beside Greeneye, speaking up. Again, murmurs lit the air, this time louder. She was not dressed in her Indian garb, but
in the clothing she wore when Red Crow first discovered her. She
looked up at Greeneye, who was waiting for the murmurs to quiet
down, the men gathered had many concerns and he would wait for
them to voice them. He didn't have long to wait.

"You expect for us to follow -
this woman - when
all have felt the
sting of her actions."

"No, I expect you to follow me. To trust in me and my
judgment as the chief of our people and this village. That is what I
expect."

The murmurs lessoned, as his words sank in.

"My brothers, if I did not believe in her. If I did not believe in this
chance we must take, I would not have gathered you here. Know
this, if she is correct, that means that each man here will have in his
possession, his own rifle. Just, like the white man carries, does that
not make it worth it?"

"But we have never used these weapons? Neither have you
Greeneye, who will teach us how to use them?"

"I will teach you! I know how to use them!"

"You!? How do you know such things?"

"My brother...taught me." She answered. Everyone could
hear murmurs
from some of the women in the village who had
arrived there with Hope
,
'It's true, it's true...we watched her practice with guns.'
She looked up seeing many of their faces
as they nodded .
Greeneye looked at her with new eyes, this being the first time he
had heard of this.

All were quiet and watching, the cool night closed in around them
with the torches lit, the glow from them highlighting every breath
they exhaled that turned to mist.
Reluctant as they were, they believed in Greeneye's word. Having
waited long enough, he looked out at the group gathered and said,
"We leave at dawn."

With the dawn, Greeneye organized six pairs to hurry off to the
Shawnee, Choctaw and Chickasaw. They were to enlist whomever
would agree to join them, promising weapons to those present,
supplying them with the location of the meeting place designated by
Greeneye. They departed before the rest realizing how important
their numbers were. The place where all were due to converge was
south of them near the Texas border just inside Louisiana,
somewhere close to the banks of the Sabine river. The scouts were to bring with them whoever would come and meet them at Taos River
bend and hopefully there, when they joined them, they would have
the rifles.

Sixty warriors in all, including Hope, rode out. Once Greeneye
took her south towards Moss Bluff, she began to recognize which
way they were going. They rode for three days, stopping only when
necessary, to rest, water and feed their horses. On the fourth day,
panic and fear began to build up in Hope, afraid that she might not be
leading them correctly. One moment things looked familiar and then
the next...not so familiar.

They paused
several times and gave her time to close her eyes, relax and think to recreate the image in her mind of
the way her brother had traveled and the landmarks he had used.
Each time
Greeneye prompting her with questions to aid her along, until on the fifth day,
when she was about to burst into tears, Hope recognized the
mountain incline and ended up crying from joy that they were
heading in the right direction. Following that, her fear was that they
would never get to where they were going in time to make it to her
husband.

Because of her fears, she did not wish to stop. Greeneye had to demand it, reminding her that the horses had to be treated with care.
Having no choice but to relent, she gave in, but spent most of the
time they rested pacing with her adrenaline coursing through her
system as she organized what needed to be done. The braves began
seeing her with new eyes; they could not help but respect her endless source of energy, her tenacity to keep going, and her determination to
cover as much ground as possible. Greeneye, also saw things in her
he could not help but admire, there was a strength about her that was
rebounding, a spirit that was indomitable.

When it was time to ride, she was on her horse and leading the
way with a clear indication that they had little time to waste. Finally,
they reached the mountaintop, traveling along it until Hope could
pinpoint exactly where they would head down the decline leading
them into the canyon. Traveling the canyon floor, Hope was having a
hard time spotting the narrow opening.

In frustration, she screamed out, riding quickly down one direction then back up the next. Again, patient... the braves
dismounted. It was close to nightfall and she could not find it. She
was on the verge of tears once again. The braves had setup camp and
Greeneye fetched Hope from her frustrating search.

"Rest... the morning will come, and then you will find it."

"No! We don't have time... it's here! I know it is here! Why can't I
find it?"

"Rest." Was all he said.

Hope slept for a couple of hours, but only awakened from a
nightmare of hearing gunfire and screams. She lay looking up at the moon, and saw an owl soaring above. It went across the light of the
moon and seemed to be descending as if about to land. Watching it because she could not sleep, it landed not far from where they were bedded down for the night. It sat and looked around from a weather blown, bare tree, with sparsely leaved branches. Hope continued to stare at it. As if it sensed that it was being watched, it alighted from
the tree, appearing to fly straight into the mountain wall.