Chapter 1

Howie stood with another boy against the school wall. The boys in the class lined up against the wall while the two best athletes picked a boy for his team. They picked until all the boys were chosen. As a boy was picked, he went to his team. There were two boys left to be picked.

Howie dreaded middle school PE. He hated the groan when the other boy's name was called and Howie went to the team that had to take him. Howie was six feet tall and weighed one hundred eleven pounds. He was weak and slow. He was the classic, 'can't walk and chew gum at the same time' kid. He was blond and fair. When he ran, his face turned red. He heard his PE teacher say, " 'As Ole Dizzy said, He runs hard, just too long in one spot'."

Howie had about as much luck with girls as he had with PE. Only one girl, Wanda, had ever invited him to a party. At the time she invited him, Wanda was five eight and weighed one hundred sixty pounds. Howie was the only boy in the sixth grade class as tall as she was.

Howie's father, Howard, was an athlete. He was the only ranked tennis player that had ever played at the college. Even now, his golf score was in the seventies at the local country club and he beat the current college tennis team members.

Howie's mother was devoted to her husband. She didn't understand Howie at all. Howie had little social understanding.

Howie had difficulty in school. He couldn't remember things and had very poor concentration. In the academic tracking system of his school, he was in the middle track, the low middle. Later, Howie would have been labeled Specific Learning Disability with an Attention Deficit Disorder, but then, the school just said Howie was immature.

Howie's father had been awarded a Fullbright to study and travel in Europe. The Fullbright paid for his family to accompany him, but unfortunately, Howie would have to be taken from school. His father solved that problem when his older brother, Scott, agreed to take Howie until they returned. Howie's parents planned to be gone two years and four months, from May until August two years later.

While his father and mother flew to Ireland, Howie flew to Amarillo, Texas. There he boarded a bus for Guymon, Oklahoma. His uncle met him in Guymon.

Howie had never seen his uncle, but he recognized him immediately. He looked similar to his father, but rougher.

Howie got his bags and went to the man who looked like his father. He asked, "Are you my Uncle Scott?"

The man said, "I sure am. You must be Howard Junior."

"They call me Howie."

Scott said, "Dolph."

Howie felt Dolph's rough strong hand when Dolph shook his hand.

Dolph picked up the heavier of Howie's bags like it was nothing.

"Follow me. My truck is over here. You drive?"

Howie said, "I'm thirteen. I have never driven."

Dolph said, "You'll have to learn. You'll need to drive on the ranch."

Howie thought, Well part of this is going to be neat. Guymon is dusty and small. I thought towns were only like this in the movies.

The pickup was an old Chevy. It was a working truck. Howie noticed that it didn't have air conditioning or a radio.

For the first fifteen minutes of the ride, no one said a word.

"Howie, you don't talk too much. That is good."

When they went through Wheeles, Oklahoma, Dolph said, "Wheeles isn't much."

Howie thought, And I though Guymon was bad. This could have been the set for a John Wayne cowboy movie.

They drove twenty minutes more and turned onto a dirt road.

"This is my land. I was left it by John Stroop. We were in the Korean War together. If a fellow didn't have family, he left his insurance to a buddy. When Stroop died in Korea, I got the land and ten thousand dollars. Another soldier left me his insurance money. I bought the adjoining property at a tax auction with money from their GI insurance policies. The land I bought isn't tillable. I got it for the state minimum. It's not much, but it is paid for. I live with a Mexican girl, Maria. Except for a few old wandering Indians, we are the only people for miles."

The land was flat and dry. Howie saw a line of tress, a small house, and a windmill. The trees were a windbreak. Dolph's small house had two bedrooms, a bath, a small living room and a large kitchen. There was a porch along the kitchen.

When they were in the house Dolph said, "This is Maria. She doesn't speak English. She is an illegal."

Howie didn't know Spanish, so they nodded at each other. He guessed her age at nineteen. She had coal black hair and light brown skin. She was slim, and attractive, but not pretty.

Maria heated beans and ham. They all ate.

Dolph said, "I retired from the Army. Most of the food I buy is surplus Army food I get at the Army commissary."

When they were finished lunch, Dolph said, "Wear a cap. The sun is too hot to be bare headed. Look around outside while I enjoy Maria some. She has only been her a little over a month."

Howie heard Dolph and Maria in the bedroom. Howie examined the outbuilding with the tractor in it. Next he went to a chicken coop. Beside the coup was a shed and fenced area that had a couple of dairy cows in it. He looked at the windmill. He saw it pumped water into a pipe. The pipe split into two. One pipe ran to the house, the other behind the shed and into the ground.

Howie walked up the dirt path that separated the two wheat fields. He saw some trees and walked toward them. The trees were further than he thought. He walked for a long time before he got to the trees.

The land beyond the trees was really dry and dusty. There was a hand water pump near the trees, but no house.

Howie pumped the handle and water came out. Howie drank some water and wiped his wet hand across he forehead.

He saw some movement. When he looked carefully, he saw an old Indian sitting on the ground and leaning against a tree.

Howie went over and sat under the shade of the tree. He was near the old Indian, but Howie didn't say anything.

He sat for about ten minutes before the Indian said anything.

"What are you doing here?" the Indian asked.

"I am visiting my uncle. He told me to look around," Howie said.

After about ten minutes, Howie asked, "Why are you here?"

The Indian said, "I came here to die."

After a few minutes, Howie said, "I am just visiting, my father said I could learn something here."

They sat for a few minutes.

"Black Eagle," the Indian said.

"Howie Scott," he said.

"I am a Medicine Man. I taught the young Kiowa our ways," Black Eagle said.

Howie sat for thirty minutes, nodded and then he left Black Eagle alone.

Howie walked back to his uncle's house.

Maria was cooking when Howie came into the house. He didn't see his uncle.

Howie was hot, tired and dirty.

Maria moved her hands together.

She wants me to wash my hands.

Howie took a quick shower and put on a clean knit shirt. He went to the living room and read a book that he had brought from home.

His uncle came into the house not long after Howie started to read. Dolph washed his hands and sat at the kitchen table. "We need to get you some shirts. Knits shirts don't hold up here."

Howie said, "I walked to the trees. An old Indian was there."

Dolph said, "Black Eagle."

Howie nodded.

"He was a Medicine Man and teacher. He was born there."

Howie asked, "Is it all right for me to go there?"

Dolph nodded.

Maria served chipped beef in a tortilla. They drank chilled water.

Not long after sundown, Dolph and Maria went to the bedroom.

From his bedroom, Howie heard them as they made love.

Howie was awake for a long time that first night.

This is really different country. Everything is so dusty. I wish they had air conditioning. It is hot.

Maria woke Howie before sunrise. He dressed quickly in Levi's and a knit shirt.

At the table, Dolph said, "You will take care of the chickens. I will show you how."

Dolph showed Howie how to gather eggs. Next he showed him how much and where to feed them. After he showed him about the water, he said, "I will show you other things later."

Howie asked, "I would like to go back to the where I saw Black Eagle."

Dolph nodded and left.

Howie gathered the eggs and took them to Maria. Maria stopped vacuuming and put the eggs away. She smiled at him. "Gracias," she said.

Howie walked back to the trees and saw that Black Eagle was still there.

Howie sat near Black Eagle. He waited about thirty minutes and said, "Would you teach me some of the Kiowa ways?"

Black Eagle waited a few minutes before he spoke, "Yes. I will teach you. I had a dream about you."

Howie nodded.

Black Eagle took something from a small pouch he wore. He sprinkled it on Howie and spoke in the language of the Kiowa.

Black Eagle gave him a Kiowa name. He said his name in Kiowa. "It means tall grass."

Howie brought Black Eagle water from the pump. Black Eagle taught Howie some Kiowa words. Then Howie walked back.

At noon, Dolph had his main meal.

Howie said, "Black Eagle will teach me some of the Kiowa ways. It that okay?"

Dolph said, "Good. You can learn more from Black Eagle than you can in school. Take him some eggs everyday. Maria will make extra tortillas for him."

After the meal, Dolph and Maria went to the bedroom. Howie got four eggs and three tortillas and put them into a sack.

He walked to Black Eagle and gave him the eggs and tortillas.

"My uncle said I could learn more from you than in school."

"Your uncle has a good spirit and he enjoys the young girl," Black Eagle said.

For much of the afternoon, Howie followed Black Eagles' instructions and made a shelter for Black Eagle. Then Howie walked back to the chicken coup and did his chores.

They had a light supper. When it was dark, they went to bed.

Howie's second week, Black Eagle taught him to find water and game.

Black Eagle told him, "Tall Grass, you must quietly observe the land and yourself."

Dolph taught him to drive a straight shift truck.

Dolph said, "I do not like for Maria to go to town alone. You stay with her."

So Howie's second job was to drive Maria to town when she needed to get supplies.

She talked to him. He was very surprised that he learned Spanish quickly.

Howie tended to the chickens in the morning and evening. He milked a cow and he helped Dolph repair the house and outbuildings.

On June fifteenth, Howie weighed one hundred twenty five pounds. His coordination and strength had improved markedly.

Howie asked Dolph, "Black Eagle would like to teach me to shoot. Is that okay?"

Dolph answered, "Do you need a rifle?"

Howie said, "I don't know. He just said that I should learn to shoot and hunt."

"I have a 22 and a 30.06, if you need them."

Black Eagle started with a lance. Next he taught Howie to shoot a bow. He taught him to stalk and hunt. Black Eagle didn't use a firearm. Everyday they practiced throwing and shooting a little while.

Black Eagle taught Howie to protect himself and hunt with a knife. The old chief was a fanatic about noise discipline.

In July, Maria told Howie, "You need new clothes. Yours are too small."

He bought Levis and short sleeve cotton shirts like Dolph wore. Howie bought them a size too large. He weighed one hundred forty four pounds.

On the way to buy clothes, Maria told him that the girls would be interested in him very soon. Maria saw him naked when she awoke him soon after he moved in. Then his body was very immature. She saw him in the shower the morning they went to buy clothes. He had definitely matured. She didn't understand how he could change so quickly. He ate twice as much as she and Dolph did. Dolph didn't mind that he ate a lot. He just ordered a lot more food.

"Maria, I don't know anything about girls," Howie said.

"Don't worry. In a little while, there will be a lot of girls willing to teach you," she said.

He learned from Black Eagle and worked hard. Black Eagle and Dolph liked Howie. He gladly helped Dolph and Maria. The dust was impossible to keep out of the house. She was surprised when offered to help her vacuum the house.

By the end of the summer, Howie was fluent in Kiowa and Spanish, but his greatest change came from his increased confidence. He no longer looked like a scrawny boy, but like a young man. Yet he was different from most ranch hands. They were wiry and looked like country boys. He looked more sophisticated and he was more muscular.

When men came recruiting workers for the wheat harvest, Dolph allowed Howie to take a migrant worker job that worked across Western Oklahoma and Texas.

For a month, Howie did nothing but work on the wheat harvest. It was hot grueling work. Every day they worked and moved. The pay and the food were very good.

Most of the young men lost weight on the wheat harvest, Howie gained to one seventy- three. He really put away the food. It was good the harvest people were not stingy with the food. The heat dulled most of the young men's appetite. Howie was used to the heat. He put all his money in the bank to pay for college. His clothes fit snuggly by the end of the harvest.

Howie and Black Eagle were truly glad to see each other when Howie returned from the harvest. Black Eagle was glad to see that the harvest had not changed him. Free beer was available to anyone who worked on the harvest and whores were abundant. Howie stayed away from the beer and the whores. He was not corrupted like some of the young men.

The second day back, Black Eagle asked, "Tall Grass, would you like to join the Kiowa Nation?"

Howie responded, "I would be honored, but a blond Kiowa?"

Black Eagle said, "In your heart, you are Kiowa."

With Dolph's approval, Black Eagle took Howie to the Kiowa Grasslands to join the Kiowa Nation. Three weeks later Black Eagle and Howie walked back to Dolph's ranch. Tall Grass had been accepted as a Vision Man of the Kiowa, like his Kiowa father, Black Eagle.

Howie also had a Kiowa identification card and driver's license under the name Tall Grass. And Black Eagle no longer spoke of being ready to die.

Oklahoma recognized education by medicine men, like Black Eagle, as a legal form of schooling. Black Eagle continued to teach Howie the Kiowa ways. Dolph drove Howie and Black Eagle to the Kiowa village where Black Eagle lived.

Dolph didn't object to Howie staying with Black Eagle if he had a place for Howie to stay.

Black Eagle's village was twelve tarpaper shacks. The shacks were built on the south side of a rise near a small spring. None of the houses had running water or electricity. They used coal stoves for heat. The Indian agent brought coal and food.

Howie and Black Eagle fixed up his small house in the village. Dolph helped with some of the work, but it was Dolph's skills dealing with the government that were most helpful. With Dolph's help, Tall Grass obtained insulation and roofing from the Indian Bureau. When they got the roof tight and the insulation in place, they got electrical and plumbing supplies. Dolph bought them a small Swedish coal stove that burned coal more efficiently. The stove allowed a couple of large pieces of coal to heat the shack all night.

The house had proper insulation and plumbing, although it would not have won any beauty contests. The wiring was basic, if electricity came, they wouldn't have to tear out insulation. Black Eagle and Tall Grass had a place to stay in the village.

While Black Eagle was teaching Howie, he helped others with their houses. Howie was a tireless worker. Most of the village inhabitants were old women. Whenever Black Eagle told Howie that someone needed help, Howie accepted the suggestion as if it were an order. Howie was accepted as Tall Grass and appreciated for his efforts that repaired the seniors' houses. He got the houses ready for winter

Black Eagle said, "There is a widow that needs help. She lives by herself. And it is time you became a man."

That evening, Howie and Black Eagle examined the widow's house. The roof leaked and there was no insulation. There was no plumbing or wiring either.