Chapter 11: The Face of Change

Fighting Hawk sat at the cook fire of Gray Eagle. He was concerned about the orders to kill the buffalo hunters. Fighting Hawk smiled and said that the army was going to hunt them down for a while. Gray Eagle stared at him in disbelief. Fighting Hawk explained that when they were ready he would lead the warriors out to the plains and the next wagon train would be ambushed by buffalo hunters that couldn't find any buffalo. They would kill the people of the wagon train with their buffalo guns from far away, then move in and take what they wanted and leave. The army would hunt the buffalo hunters, and they would keep the hunters too busy to shoot the buffalo. Fighting Hawk said that it was only a small thing, but it might give them some time. Gray Eagle saw the simple plan, and knew that it would be good to scare the hunters; he just hoped that the army would believe it. He relaxed again with the decision made and asked what Fighting Hawk was doing in the southern valley.

Fighting Hawk said that he was building a fence, and when it was finished he would show Gray Eagle the whole plan. Gray Eagle smiled and shook his head. Sometimes he thought that Fighting Hawk would find a way to hide his own dead body, until after the funeral celebration.

Big Cloud helped him with the hunting, along with the boys. They even helped with the hard parts of the clearing the trees. Fighting Hawk found that too much of his time was being taken up with the project, but by midsummer the fence stretched across the whole valley. With so much time left over, Fighting Hawk had them clear the rest of the trees that covered that end of the valley. Without the need of a fence, he had the logs split and the construction of a large barn was discussed. Fighting Hawk had a hard time getting the idea of the construction across to people who had no idea of what he wanted. Some of the boys had come from wagon trains, and they could understand. By explaining and drawing pictures, he could have the boys directing the work. Fighting Hawk couldn't believe how easily the older men accepted the direction of the boys, until he realized that his own young age, coupled with Big Cloud and the other boys doing the hunting that they had become accustomed to the situation.

By the end of summer the northern end of the valley was fenced off with a large barn built. The required nails were gotten from the wagon train ambushed in the plains. The army was busy hunting down the buffalo hunters responsible, and the word had spread back to Kansas City of disease and bandits that awaited the settlers. The wagon trains moved to the Northern pass of the Oregon Trail and South to the Santa Fe Trail.

The hunting of the summer supplied a large number of pelts that Fighting Hawk had no real need for. Big Cloud and the boys refused to accept them, as they said that they belonged to Fighting Hawk. It was for him that they hunted, so the pelts belonged to him. He suddenly had an idea and accepted them. He motioned for Big Cloud to follow and they went to visit with some of the older men. Some of the men had shown a talent for doing certain jobs. Those jobs were left to them while the others did things that they were good at. Now Fighting Hawk went to visit with some of them. He asked if they would like to learn how to do the jobs better. When they said that they would like that, he asked them to be ready to take a long ride the next morning.

Fighting Hawk and Big Cloud prepared four horses to carry the skins. The next morning they all set out to travel to La Junta. It took them almost a week of hard travel to get there. Their journey was uneventful, and the old men traveled well.

When they got to La Junta, the solders wouldn't let them into the fort. Fighting Hawk asked to talk to two of the scouts. This brought raised eyebrows, but the scouts were called. Fighting Hawk waited patiently until they came.

When they arrived and saw Fighting Hawk, they quickly got him inside to talk with an officer of the fort. The officer treated Fighting Hawk like a child. Fighting Hawk was amused, but hid his feelings. The scouts had a hard time with the soldier. Fighting Hawk watched as they quietly tried to get him to understand that Fighting Hawk was a very important person. They explained that offending him could get a lot of people killed. The soldier still acted like an idiot, but at least he was respectful about it.

The scouts translated Fighting Hawk's words. Even though they knew that he spoke some English, they didn't know how much, and were happy when he didn't seem to take offense at the officer's words. It made Fighting Hawk smile to himself. He explained that they had furs to trade and wanted to come into the fort to trade and look around. He realized that it was to his benefit now that the officer thought that he was nothing but the young boy that he looked like. Fighting Hawk watched as the officer wrote the pass for them to enter the fort, and stared amused as the officer put it in his hands and pointed to the guards at the gate.

Fighting Hawk asked the scouts if he was as stupid as he acted, and saw them both turn red. As he turned to walk back to the guard, he heard the scouts talking quickly as they dragged the officer away with them.

Fighting Hawk and Big Cloud led the older men into the fort. The guards took their weapons, at least everything but their knives. Fighting Hawk smiled at that, a Cheyenne with a knife was more dangerous than the other white men with muskets.

Fighting Hawk explained that he wanted the older men to wander around and watch the smith, carpenter and other workmen. These men were craftsmen in their own right, and quickly understood the benefit of watching how others worked. He told them to see how the buildings were made and to see everything that they could learn while they were there.

As they wandered off Fighting Hawk and Big Cloud moved to the trading post. It was very large and anywhere else Fighting Hawk knew that this would be more like the general stores of the big towns that he had seen. The old man running the post was a shrewd man. Fighting Hawk watched him closely while he and Big Cloud argued about the price that they wanted for the furs. After a few insults directed at the cheating white man Fighting Hawk was sure that he spoke Cheyenne. Fighting Hawk signaled to Big Cloud and the bickering stopped.

Fighting Hawk stood before the store keeper. "What you give for furs." He knew that it was unnecessary to speak English, but he had to carry on with the fiction to get what he wanted. The shop keeper pretended that he wasn't interested, and said that they were poor quality and that he couldn't use them. Fighting Hawk smiled at him.

Fighting Hawk then spoke smoothly in Cheyenne, "Do not pretend that you don't speak Cheyenne. These are good furs, and with the army hunting the buffalo hunters you have nothing. What you do have you have had to pay twice what you normally would. If you want us to take them to the trading post down south, we will go there and not bother you." Fighting Hawk waited as the man looked at him hard, and then he burst out laughing.

The old man still eyed them sharply, but he spoke with good Cheyenne, "You are one of the smart ones. Yep, I need furs and they are good, but I have seen better. I still can't give you that much. I will still get other hunters bringing me their furs. I will offer you one blanket for each fur."

This time it was Fighting Hawk that laughed, "If you want to rob us, use your gun, but don't insult us. We are not stupid, and I know what you will sell this fur for. We want four dollars for each fur." The shop keeper looked at them in surprise.

"What would you do with dollars?" The shop keeper was now suspicious. He watched them closely. Fighting Hawk smiled again and said, "We will buy things here at the fort, but they don't have to be from you." The shop keeper looked like he had just swallowed his tobacco. He sputtered and choked before he said, "Well you just tell me what you want and I will get it cheaper than you can." He looked hard at Fighting Hawk waiting for him to call his bluff. Fighting Hawk smiled again and said, "Yes you can get it cheaper than we can, but if you buy it for us, it will still cost us more than if we bought it." This time the shop keeper turned an angry red color, and Fighting Hawk hoped that he hadn't gone too far.

When the shop keeper reached under the counter, Fighting Hawk was on the counter with his knife at his throat before he even knew what was happening. He froze with his hand below the counter and suddenly two guards were standing close by with guns pointing at Fighting Hawk. Fighting Hawk ignored them, if they shot they would probably kill both of them, and the shop keeper knew it too. He waved them away, and slowly brought his hand back to the counter. Fighting Hawk eased the knife away from his throat. The shop keeper rubbed his neck where the sharp blade had rested.

The shop keeper looked at them again and said, "You're fast too, but I wasn't getting a gun." This time the shop keeper reached down slowly and lifted up a book, and opened it. As he looked up at them and said, "what if I give you my word that I won't cheat you?"

Fighting Hawk looked at him hard before he answered, "How good is your word to a Cheyenne?" The old man looked back at him again, and this time there was no smile on his face when he spoke, "My word is good to everybody, white man and Cheyenne alike. There may be others that cheat the Indians, but my word is good." Fighting Hawk could see something in his eye, and he heard the tone in his voice. He believed this man, and he nodded his head. "How much will you give for the furs?" The old man held up two fingers, and Fighting Hawk held up three. The old man laughed and said, "Ok two dollars and fifty cents a fur. And that is a good price." Fighting Hawk looked around the store quickly taking in the prices marked on things, and nodded his head. The old man smiled. Not a big smile like he had just gotten something for nothing, but more of a deal where everybody left happy.

The old man waved his arm around the store and said that they could start picking out what they wanted. Fighting Hawk reminded him that they wanted things from others and the old man frowned, but shook his head. He called into the back room, and an old woman came out. They spoke for a few minutes and then he motioned for them to lead the way. Once outside they headed to the carpenter shop.

As they walked in they saw Black Otter and the carpenter deeply involved in an argument of hand motions. All three looked at each other and approached. Black Otter stopped when Fighting Hawk approached and asked him to try and explain what he was trying to say. Fighting Hawk looked at the shop keeper and he nodded. He listened to Black Otter and translated what he said. The carpenter listened closely, and then told the shop keeper what he wanted to say in return. Black Otter then moved around and took the tool in hand and demonstrated what he had been trying to say. The carpenter watched closely. Once the ice had been broken between them, it seemed that they didn't need words any longer.

After a time Fighting Hawk motioned for the shop keeper and Big Cloud to follow. It had become obvious that the two wood workers didn't even know that they left, and they would have to come back. So, they walked to the smith's forge. Here they found Running Deer watching closely every movement that the smith made. You could tell just by looking that he was nervous; he had sweat on his brow, but it wasn't from the heat. When two more Indians came in that was the last straw for him. He turned with hammer in hand, but the shop keeper quickly stepped up to settle things out.

After he explained that the Indian was just watching because the also worked with metal, he looked at him curiously and visibly relaxed. Unlike the carpenter, there was no knowledge to exchange. Here Running Deer just watched and learned. He told Fighting Hawk that there were things that he still didn't understand, but that he had learned much.

The shop keeper asked if there was anything that he wanted to ask the smith, and Running Deer thought about it. He asked three questions, and the shop keeper translated the questions. When the smith heard them he got a big smile on his face. He finally felt at ease, as he explained the answers to the shop keeper, and he to Running Deer. After the smith had answered the questions Running Deer had a big smile on his face and offered his hand to the smith. They shook hands and they were both smiling.

Fighting Hawk asked Running Deer if there was anything that they needed to buy from the smith, and Running Deer had a faraway look in his eyes. He pointed to a few of the tools, but Fighting Hawk drew the line at the anvil. Running Deer seemed unhappy, but looked better when the shop keeper made a deal for the tools. Running Deer watched as each tool went onto a pile. When they were finished Running Dear wrapped the tools gently in an old cloth and cradled them like a fragile child.

Before they walked out Fighting Hawk and the shop keeper looked at Running Deer and both of them shook their heads. When they got back to the carpenter shop they found the two men busily working away together like a pair of old friends. The shop keeper asked Black Otter what tools that he wanted to buy from the shop. Like Running Deer, he had a dream like look in his eyes. He started pointing to tools and the shop keeper explained to the carpenter what was going on. He smiled as he watched the selection.

The carpenter placed every tool and clamp in a large pile. When Black Otter was finished, the carpenter went through the pile and separated them into three piles. One pile he dropped into an old cloth bag. The other he hunted here and there until he found another just like it, but older. Those went into the bag. He handed the bag to Black Otter. The last pile, he told the shop keeper the cost for the rest of the tools. Once the price was settled the rest went into another bag and Black Otter beamed proudly. They shook hands and Black Otter waved as they left the shop.

Back at the trading post Fighting Hawk and Big Cloud waited for the shop keeper to subtract the costs spent. Fighting Hawk already knew the amount, and waited to see if the shop keeper would try to cheat them. He was good to his word and named the cost to the penny. Before they started to spend the rest, Black Otter said that they needed nails. The shop keeper looked curious, but showed them his selection. Black Otter motioned to the nails and said that he wanted them all. The shop keeper once again raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. He collected the nails and put them in kegs. Then Black Otter went and set quietly by the door to wait and gently caress the bags of tools, Fighting Hawk and Big Cloud moved through the trading post.