Savage Hero (25 page)

Sharing the pipe took quite some time this evening, for there were many more present than usual.

Finally it was done, and the pipe was laid on a stone before Brave Wolf, the smoke still slowly spiraling from the bowl. Brave Wolf sat with his back straight and his legs crossed, his hands on his knees, as he looked slowly around the room.

“We are gathered here today to defend our rights as a people,” he said solemnly. “It is known now that there are those who are scheming to take not only our freedom from us, but also our lives. I have sent messengers out far and wide and spread the word to our friends about the planned massacre. It is good to see all of my friends today who have come to help defeat the enemy.”

He turned his eyes to Colonel Anderson. “Although Colonel Downing is white, he is your enemy as well, and I am glad you realize that and have come to help fight him,” he said. “Thank you, my friend. We are honored today by your presence. It is good to have allies such as you.”

He paused, looked away from the colonel, and momentarily smiled at Mary Beth, who was sitting quietly listening and watching. His pride in her made his heart swell; then he gazed into the crowd again.

“The First Maker made the mountains, rivers, and land for all of us to share in a peaceful manner,” he said. “In those mountains are plenty of elk and black-tailed deer. White-tailed deer dwell at the foot of the mountains, and the streams are full of beaver. There used to be herds of buffalo, but they are not as plentiful now because of those whites who needlessly kill them. We must protect what buffalo are left.”

He stopped, cleared his throat, then again looked slowly around him. “Above all else, it is our lives that we must preserve, and today we are gathered to talk about how that can be done, so that those who wish for our destruction will not be victorious over us,” he said forcefully. “When I sent word for our allies' help, I had thought it would be to stand up against those who came to attack. But I have thought better of that. Why should we wait for the fight to come to us? Let us take it to them, so that if there is bloodshed, it will not be on our soil!”

The listeners smiled, nodded, then grunted in approval.

“We shall have a vote,” Brave Wolf said, standing. “Those who are in favor of going to Fort Henry, stand. Those who do not approve, remain seated.”

Immediately everyone stood, women and children and warriors, as well as those soldiers who had found a place inside.

Feeling pleased that everyone agreed with his
plan, Brave Wolf motioned for everyone to sit again.

“We will leave before dawn tomorrow. Our warriors have scouted the enemy. They see no unusual activity at Fort Henry yet, which means the soldiers are not ready to attack.”

He smiled down at Mary Beth, then turned to his people again. “It might also mean that their colonel has not yet rejoined them,” he said, his eyes dancing.

“Let us all leave the council house and eat and dance and sing,” Brave Wolf said, nodding toward the doorway. “After the women heard I was planning a council, they busied themselves making a variety of food for us to eat afterward. I believe I can smell it over the cookfires even now. There is buffalo tongue, roasted buffalo hump, and much more to share.”

The women laughed softly and were the first to leave.

Mary Beth saw Dancing Butterfly looking toward her, and hurried away from Brave Wolf to join her.

“I am so excited about everything,” Dancing Butterfly said as she rushed inside her tepee with Mary Beth at her side. “Night Horse has remained hidden, but after the feast he is going to ask Brave Wolf if he can stay with his people. We can finally get married!”

“I don't believe Brave Wolf will ask him to leave, but what of the council?” Mary Beth asked as she helped wrap hot bread in big rolls of buckskin to
take out for the feasting. “Will the rest of your people agree to let him stay?”

“Why would they not?” Dancing Butterfly asked, lifting a heavy pot of rabbit stew from her fire. “They have seen how humble he has become since he has returned home. Surely they no longer see him as part of the enemy.”

“I hope you are right,” Mary Beth said, but she did not believe that many had yet forgiven Night Horse for what he had done. She had heard too many wondering why he was still in the village now that he was well enough to leave.

“I know I am right,” Dancing Butterfly said, beaming. “Perhaps when you say your vows with Brave Wolf, Night Horse and I can say ours at the same time.”

Mary Beth gave Dancing Butterfly a quick look, then glanced away when Dancing Butterfly questioned her with her eyes.

“Let us go and join the others,” Mary Beth murmured. “I am so happy that Brave Wolf has decided to take the battle away from the village.”

“It is good to know that we will not have to fear being killed as we sleep in our lodges,” Dancing Butterfly said, shivering. “No one knew when the soldiers were planning to come. Now the warring is going to them. That is a much better plan.”

“I plan to go with them,” Mary Beth blurted out. “I want to be a part of what happens at Fort Henry.”

“You cannot do that,” Dancing Butterfly gasped out. “Fighting is for men only.”

“I do not believe there will be an actual fight,” Mary Beth said, walking from the tepee with an armful of wrapped bread while Dancing Butterfly walked beside her carrying the heavy pot of stew. “When the soldiers at Fort Henry see how many are approaching them, and especially see that among them are white soldiers with Colonel Anderson at their head, they will not even attempt to fight. They will surrender immediately.”

“You do not know that for certain,” Dancing Butterfly said, giving Mary Beth a worried frown.

Mary Beth swallowed hard, for it was true that she was not certain of anything, except that she would not stay behind. After all, she was part of the reason behind this fight.

Only tomorrow would tell whether or not she had made the right decision.

Love knows nothing of order.

—Saint Jerome

The morning air was filled with a hazy fog, making it almost impossible to see a foot ahead of them as the soldiers and Crow warriors rode toward Fort Henry.

Mary Beth felt proud to be a part of the group. She had feared that when it came down to the final decision, Brave Wolf would not allow it.

But he had seen the pleading in her eyes and had heard the longing in her voice when she explained how she wanted a role in the demise of Colonel Downing.

It was not because of anything he had done to her personally, because he had actually wanted what was best for her. But it was the venom she
had heard in his voice when he was plotting against Brave Wolf. The colonel wanted to kill as many Indians as he could with the manpower of his soldiers.

At heart, he was a vicious, prejudiced man.

She still could not understand how he had been given back his command after being arrested for attacking an innocent Crow village.

Only last night she had learned from Colonel Anderson that Colonel Downing had been reinstated because he had relatives in Washington who had spoken up for him.

As the morning sun broke through the fog, Mary Beth jumped with alarm when far to her left a large herd of elk were startled, their sharp hooves stirring a swirling cloud of dust, their white rumps looking like war bonnets.

Then Mary Beth looked behind her and saw the many soldiers who rode side by side with the warriors. She felt goosebumps rising on her arms to see their camaraderie . . . to see the soldiers and the warriors together in such force . . . as allies. She could not help wondering why it couldn't be that way with all whites and Indians. Then there would be no more bloodshed between them.

She gazed ahead again, and sighed when she saw what seemed to be a dreamland. The sun slanted through the trees at her left side, where the meadow reached into a forest of mixed aspens and cottonwoods. Growing there were the same wildflowers that she had been plucking when Brave Wolf rescued her from Colonel Downing.

She glanced over at Brave Wolf, who was just now telling Colonel Anderson about where he had left Colonel Downing.

She drew a tight rein when Brave Wolf and Colonel Anderson stopped, a command being sent behind them which stopped all the warriors and soldiers.

“We shall go and see if he is still there. If so, our chore will be much easier,” Brave Wolf said, dismounting. He gazed at Colonel Anderson as he swung himself out of his saddle, then looked over at Mary Beth. “Come. I know you also want to see what Colonel Downing's fate is.”

“Thank you,” Mary Beth said, sliding into his hands as he reached up to help her from the saddle. She glanced nervously into the thickness of the forest, then into Brave Wolf's eyes. “Do you think he is still there, or do you think he's been rescued and is even now at Fort Henry plotting against you?”

Brave Wolf dropped to his haunches and studied the ground around him, then looked ahead at the grass that grew up to the lovely meadow of flowers.

He ran a hand over the grass and ground, then glanced up at Mary Beth, and then at Colonel Anderson. “I see no sign of many horses coming through here, which there would be if a search party had come this way,” he said. “It is my guess that he is still there.”

“What a surprise he will get when he sees us returning, and not alone, but with Colonel
Anderson,” Mary Beth said, smiling. She turned to Colonel Anderson. “I'm so glad that you realize the depth of this man's prejudices and are ready to see that he is relieved of his duties forever, not only for a short while.”

“Yes, it will delight me to do this,” Colonel Anderson said, his jaw tight. His eyes narrowed angrily. “Just let this sonofabitch's relatives in Washington try and save him this time. I shall go to Washington myself if need be, to speak against him
and
his relatives.”

“Come. Let us go now and get the man,” Brave Wolf said, standing and resting his hand on his sheathed knife. “I am the one who tied him. I shall be the one to set him free.”

“But not to true freedom,” Mary Beth said, wading through the tall grass and knee-high ferns. “He deserves what he will get, and perhaps even worse.”

They walked silently onward, and when they came to a break in the trees, where they could see the tree to which they had tied the colonel, Mary Beth gasped and went pale.

“He is gone,” she said, her voice breaking. “Someone
did
come and find him. Oh, Lord, how long has he been gone? Is it enough time that he has gotten his soldiers ready to attack?”

She turned to Brave Wolf and grabbed him by the arm. “Could he have gone a different route and already arrived at your village, Brave Wolf?” she gasped out.

Brave Wolf saw the fear in her eyes.

He placed a gentle hand on her cheek. “Do not
let fear of the unknown do this to you,” he said quietly. “Let us go and see if we can discover how he escaped. Then we can decide our next step.”

Mary Beth nodded.

She gazed over at the colonel, whose eyes were filled with the same fire she saw in Brave Wolf's, then walked on between them until they reached the tree where they had last seen Colonel Downing.

All that was left of his captivity were the pieces of his wife's dress that had been used to tie him to the tree.

Brave Wolf bent to his haunches and picked up one of the strips. He studied it, then handed it up to Colonel Anderson. “No knife was used to cut these. It is not a clean cut,” he said, reaching for a sharp rock that lay close to the trunk of the tree. “No. He did not use a knife, nor did anyone else use one to release him. He somehow managed to get this sharp rock close enough to cut the cloth in two.”

“I wonder when,” Mary Beth said, looking guardedly from side to side. “He might still be near, watching us.”

Brave Wolf studied the ground. “Blood,” he said. “There is blood here.”

“What could it mean?” Mary Beth gasped, paling at the sight of the blood.

Brave Wolf gave her a quiet look, then studied everything around him again. He noticed crushed leaves and bent grass which had not been damaged by him, Mary Beth, or Colonel Anderson. He
could tell that whoever had stepped there was going away from the tree, not toward it.

He stood and looked at the trail the colonel had left. He began stealthily following it and saw more drops of blood.

Mary Beth hurried up next to him, with Colonel Anderson soon at her other side. “What do you see?” she asked, trying to see what Brave Wolf was following. She shivered at the sight of more blood.

“I have always been skilled at tracking,” he said, glancing up at Mary Beth for a moment, then studying the path again. “Colonel Downing walked where we are now walking. But do you see? He did not walk in a straight line. He seemed to be staggering.”

“From weakness? Or from having been harmed by an animal?” Mary Beth asked, shivering.

“From weakness would be my guess,” Brave Wolf said, then walked to the edge of the forest, where the trail of blood led out into the beautiful wild-flowers. There he lost it because the flowers were too thick to see through to the ground. But he did see in which direction some were bent. That was where the colonel had surely walked.

“We shall make better time on horses,” Brave Wolf said, turning to hurry to his steed.

Mary Beth ran to keep up with him and was soon on her horse, riding between Brave Wolf and Colonel Anderson, with the contingent of soldiers and warriors following close at hand.

“There he is!” Mary Beth cried, catching sight of someone just pushing himself up from the
covering of flowers. “He surely fell there and was resting before moving onward. He had to have heard the approaching horses. See how he teeters even now as he tries to stumble back away from us? He is trying to run. Now he is falling again!”

They hurried onward and when they reached the colonel, found a pitiful sight. He lay where he'd fallen, his clothes in shreds, his eyes swollen and red. He cowered as Brave Wolf and Colonel Anderson dismounted and went to stand over him.