Chapter 22

All during the next week, the Kiowa and Lakota scouts took turns keeping an eye on their mutual enemy to the east. The Kiowa visited their allies, trading their jewelry for blankets and the other necessities they would need for the trip.

Each day, Growling Wolf prayed for Ames to show up, but he knew that it was just a little too soon. There was nothing they could do except take the guns with them and find a way to trade for some ammunition. He also worried that Ames wouldn’t find them once they moved. Then he chided himself. Ames could find anyone, anywhere.

He needn’t have worried at all because Moonbeam knew exactly what to do. Ames had also been teaching those who wanted to learn how to write in French and Moonbeam was his best student. She didn’t know a lot of words, but she could draw well.

Using one of the precious pieces of paper he’d left her and a pencil, she drew the tall black mountains that Cricket had told her he’d seen in his vision. She drew the sun in the westward position and underneath it, she carefully wrote, “We have gone here. Come to us.”

Then, she folded up the paper, put it in a watertight pouch, and stuck it in the secret crevice in the first room of the hiding place where Ames had instructed them to leave him messages if need be.

Cricket kept urging both the Kiowa and Lakota to ready themselves as quickly as possible. With every day that passed, he felt the bloody battle in his vision coming closer. He did whatever he could to help the other injured heal and travois were made so that those who couldn’t ride horses or walk could be transported until they were strong enough to travel under their own power.

Finally, they were set to move out. With profound sadness, the Kiowa band gazed at their beloved homeland for the last time. The now empty camp seemed to echo with the sounds of happier times, of the days when they’d had plenty and had lived in relative peace.

Their hearts heavy with grief and anxiety over what the future held, they pulled out at dawn six days after the Ojibwa attack. They would stop at the Lakota camp and continue on with their unlikely kin. They traveled as silently as possible, mothers keeping their babies quiet. The older children played but no loud laughing was allowed.

They pushed hard to reach the Lakota camp, but it took almost three days due to traveling with the wounded. Soaring Falcon had given the order to help them erect tipis when they arrived and had the women prepare food for the tired travelers.

Although distrust and animosity existed between the tribes, they behaved themselves for the most part. A few fights broke out between some of the braves, but these were quickly broken up. They stayed there for a couple of days to give their wounded more time to heal. The able-bodied helped the Lakota get ready for the next part of the journey.

While the Lakota were upset about moving on again, they didn’t feel nearly as sad as the Kiowa still did. However, they did want to reach a place where they could rest for a while instead of constantly moving. On the second day they’d been on the trail, three scouts galloped after them, riding right up to the head of the line to the chiefs.

Fang told Growling Wolf, “The Ojibwa have breached our old camp. It is a good thing that they have women and children with them to slow them down. We must move faster.”

Slither had given Soaring Falcon the same news and the chiefs looked at each other. Growling Wolf knew that he personally couldn’t travel any faster than he was now. His body constantly ached, and he was so stiff by the end of each day that walking was torture. He was too old for this sort of trek anymore, and he was going to slow them down.

But there were others who couldn’t move faster, either. Growling Wolf was willing to go off as the elderly tended to do when they became a liability to the tribe, but the others were a different story. Many of them were young and would heal completely. They just needed some time.

“Let me think, Fang,” he said.

Fang nodded and moved back the line to talk to Lightning Strike.

After an hour, Soaring Falcon asked, “What are you thinking, old man?”

Growling Wolf laughed at his teasing. “This old man still knows some new tricks.”

“Such as?”

“My old bones are not going to make this trip as fast as is necessary and neither will our wounded. I know that my wife and daughter will fight me about doing what I should. Not to mention others. So, I cannot go off to die without causing a commotion,” Growling Wolf said.

Soaring Falcon nodded. “I do not want you to go off, either. I have grown used to seeing your ugly face and would miss it.”

“I may be ugly, but at least I am not an idiot Lakota chief,” Growling Wolf shot back.

Soaring Falcon laughed. “So, what is your idea?”

“The Hidasta are not too far north of here. Perhaps a day, maybe two away. I can go with the wounded and a few of our men. I am sure they would grant us sanctuary until we can come find the rest of our tribe,” Growling Wolf said. “The rest of you could travel much faster without us.”

Soaring Falcon grunted. “Your people are not going to continue on without their chief.”

Growling Wolf nodded. “They will continue on because I have made up my mind to name a new chief. It is time.”

“You have?” Soaring Falcon gave him a sharp look. “Who would you name?”

“That is for him and me to discuss first.”

“Yes, of course,” Soaring Falcon said, not hiding his curiosity well. “When are you going to tell him?”

His impatience amused Growling Wolf. “Are you always this nosy?”

“Yes.”

They laughed quietly together before Growling Wolf asked, “What was it about Cricket that you liked so much that you agreed to hold a council with us?”

Soaring Falcon smiled. “I have asked myself that, as have others. The best I can come up with is that he has a pure spirit and seemed to have the best interests of everyone at heart. He is also funny and makes me laugh. I am glad that he is healing well. Is he the one you are naming chief?”

Growling Wolf fought a huge laugh, but a snort of laughter escaped him. “No, no. He has enough to handle being our medicine man. He is not who I want to appoint.”

Soaring Falcon grimaced and looked away.

Growling Wolf tapped his shoulder to get his attention. “You are nosier than an old woman. I will announce it tonight if he is agreeable.”

“Fine. I do not care,” Soaring Falcon said, which made Growling Wolf laugh again.

They continued to banter about it as they rode on under the late September sun.

Two days later, a small number of Growling Wolf’s band bid their other relatives a temporary farewell. The rest of them left with the Lakota under the new leadership of Fang, who’d only accepted the role after he’d made it clear that when Growling Wolf rejoined their family, he would be back in control.

As Fang rode at the front of the line with Soaring Falcon, the Lakota chief sighed and looked at Fang disdainfully.

“What is wrong?”

“Just when I got used to looking at Growling Wolf’s ugly face, now I have to get used to an even uglier one.”

Fang grinned. “I think you are going blind, old man. My wife will tell you that I am very handsome indeed, and I keep her satisfied in our sleeping robes, too. Which is why we are expecting our third child this winter.”

Soaring Falcon groaned. “Just what I need. Another Kiowa.”

And so, another bond formed as the two bands travelled together. The chiefs knew that if they showed that they could get along that it would send a clear message to the rest of their members that they were also expected to refrain from fighting. With any luck, they could keep things amicable.

One night as they sat by the creek where they’d camped, Sky Dancer lie on her back, gazing up at the stars as Dark Horse sat next to her. He threw small pebbles out into the water, which made plunking noises. Her gaze traveled over his hair, which had grown a little, and down over his broad back.

They fussed at each other a lot, but they hadn’t had a major disagreement since that horrible day at the old Lakota camp. Even when he was aggravated with her, Dark Horse was still considerate of her. He was as unpredictable as the weather and could be cranky one moment and laughing the next, but he was never boring.

And she never had to guess at how he felt about her, especially the fact that he loved her. She looked up at the stars again then back at Dark Horse when he began humming softly. He had a pleasant voice and she enjoyed hearing him. It was only one of the things she’d miss about him if something happened to him. The passionate way they made love was another, but all of the little things about him were as important as that.

He picked flowers for her if he found some when he rode patrol and was fussy about how their sleeping robes were arranged. Many times, he insisted that she eat the choicer meat or that she took the last piece of fry bread. Some mornings he was up before her and made her tea, and he told her Lakota stories and listened to her people’s stories, too. She’d discovered that he loved stories, and the way his face lit up when someone was going to tell one was so funny.

The tune of the song he hummed changed into a slower rhythm and she recognized a Lakota love song. She smiled as she listened to him sing louder. He was serenading her and every little bit, he’d look to see if she was listening. And she was, very intently.

It stole over her softly, and little by little, the tight band she’d been keeping around her heart loosened. It was painful to let go of Badger, but she was honest with herself, and admitted that she’d gradually been moving past her grief for him. She knew that she would always love her first husband, but no longer was she in love with him.

No, every day, she’d been falling in love a little bit at a time with the man who now sang to her. The band stretched and snapped, and her heart flooded with what she’d been trying to hold back. It wouldn’t remain captive any longer, however.

Tears of sorrow and joy trickled into her hair as she lay there listening to Dark Horse. She tried to smother a little sob but couldn’t quite muffle it.

Dark Horse looked at her sharply, thinking that she was laughing at him, but when he saw the wetness in her eyes, he lay down beside her.

“Was my singing that bad?”

Sky Dancer laughed and cried at the same time as she rolled over to face him. “No, it was wonderful. You are wonderful,” she said caressing his face. “You make me angry, and you fight with me, but you also show in so many ways how much you love me.”

He hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. “You are no better. You never do as you are told, and you are cranky in the morning. But you are beautiful and very good to me. Now, tell me why you are crying. Are you thinking about your father?”

She shook her head. “No. I am thinking about you.”

Playfully, he nuzzled her neck, “And just what were thinking about me, my little minx?”

She giggled and pushed him away. “Stop that! I am trying to be serious.”

He tickled her and she laughed harder. “I do not want you to be serious. I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy,” she said, battling his hands.

He laughed with her and finally clasped both of her wrists in one of his hands. “Now what are you going to do?”

She said, “Well, I was going to have you take off your clothes so I could show you what I wanted to do, but if you would rather do this...”

Dark Horse let her go immediately, his hands quickly going to his breechcloth ties. “I have wanted you all day. I swear you have bewitched me and being with you is all I can think about sometimes. There are times when sitting on my horse is uncomfortable.”

This sent Sky Dancer into a fit of laughter and he grinned. She sat up and stilled his hands. “Wait. I need to tell you something first.” She put her arms around his neck.

The serious expression on her face made him also sober. He encircled her waist and waited for her to speak.

“I know that when we first met, we hated each other, but I am so glad that as time went on, we began to see each other as just a man and a woman. Our tribal affiliations did not seem so important anymore. I have come to see that you are kind, funny, courageous, strong, and yes, incredibly handsome.

“You make me laugh and feel safe and when we make love, it is the most wonderful feeling in the world. You make me feel cherished and loved.”