Chapter 12: The Time has Come

When Fighting Hawk got back to the village the warriors all separated to their lodges. Fighting Hawk went to the lodge of Gray Eagle. As they sat around the cook fire Fighting Hawk told him of the news from the scout. Gray Eagle asked if he could be trusted, and Fighting Hawk thought for a long moment before he answered. "He has always been honest with me, and he could not benefit from telling me. It could be a trap, but our scouts would see them. I think that he has told me the truth. I don't think that he wants a war with the Cheyenne." Gray Eagle listened and nodded his head. He thought about the news a long time before he answered. "It is time to tell you of my plan."

Fighting Hawk stood when Gray Eagle motioned for him to follow. They went into the reading Lodge. Fighting Hawk had noticed a large chest at the end of the lodge, but Gray Eagle had said that when the time was right he would explain everything. Gray Eagle stood in front of the chest and paced off three steps. He dropped to the ground and dug, using his knife. It took him only a few minutes to dig up a small skin. He pushed the dirt back into the whole. Then he unwrapped the skin to reveal a key.

He fitted the key into the lock on the chest and turned the key. When he opened the chest Fighting Hawk was shocked to see that it was filled with valuables; gold coins, silver coins, paper money and even jewelry. It was truly a fortune, and Fighting Hawk frowned. This was against everything that Gray Eagle had always taught him, and he was confused.

Gray Eagle made sure that he had seen what the chest held, before closing it and locking it again. He motioned to the skins on the ground, and they sat. When they were settled Gray Eagle started, "Long ago, even long before I met you, I had a plan. I didn't know how to make it work, but I knew that I needed the right boy to make it work. When I met you I prayed that you would be that boy. Since I have met you, you have been a constant surprise. Your brain is quick and you are smart. You have made me proud every day since I have taken you as my son. I knew that you would turn out to be the right man, but still I had to wait. Now I can wait no more."

Little Mule made a polite noise before she entered. She carried drinks, and sat them on the ground in front of Fighting Hawk. When he nodded she understood that he wanted her to leave. She quickly clasped his hand, and left the lodge. Gray Eagle frowned and took his head in his hands. Fighting Hawk poured them each a drink and waited for Gray Eagle to continue.

Gray Eagle sipped the drink and as he sat it down he said, "I had hoped that before now you would have read all of the books in here and we had sat down to make plans. But with the news, you need to know what I had hoped. The valuable things in that chest are for you. For many years we have been taking these things from the wagon trains, and even the soldier's money trains. I hope that we have taken enough. When you leave the Cheyenne village, it will be as a white man, once more. As an important white man, with valuables, you will be able to help the Cheyenne. I still don't know how, but I do know that you will have to have what is in that chest before they will listen to you."

Fighting Hawk was stunned. The thought of living as a white man again was disgusting, but he saw the hopes of the Cheyenne in Gray Eagles eyes, and felt the weight on his shoulders. He spoke slowly, "I have never thought of living as a white man again. The thought disgusts me. But I see that it is what I need to do. I have already worked out a plan, and I have already started in it. The valley to the south that you were curious about; that is what we need. Already I have fenced the north end, and there we will keep cows and other animals. The south end we will grow corn and wheat." Fighting Hawk looked to see Gray Eagle staring at him.

Gray Eagle shook his head and said, "No. We need to find a way to make the white man leave, not to become white men." It was Fighting Hawk's turn to stare. He couldn't believe his ears.

Fighting Hawk spoke softly and with real concern, "Gray Eagle, I thought that you understood. The white man will never go away. If you give them what is in that chest, they will just come back again looking for more. You will never have enough. They are here and they will stay, and more will follow. You have two choices; kill them all and keep killing them until you are all dead, or learn to adapt to the situation. These books have taught me to learn the ways of your enemy; use what is good, and improve what is not. Anything else is death, or defeat."

Gray Eagle spoke heatedly, "So, we are to become tame children to the white man. Let him pat us on the head as he comes and takes what he wants from us, and we smile and lick his hand? I would rather see all of the Cheyenne dead!" He looked hard and angry.

Fighting Hawk shook his head. "No. We are not to become tame, or allow the white man to take anything from us. We will be strong and live the way of honor that you have taught me to live. But we have to live to do that. Is eating a cow so much worse than a buffalo? With the buffalo dying out, we have no choice but to find something else. It does not make the white man weak to eat cattle. And corn and wheat will allow us to grow strong without stealing from the white man. You don't want the white man to take from us, but you want to steal from him? Is this the way of honor that you talk about?"

Gray Eagle lost some of his anger as he looked at the ground. Fighting Hawk knew that he was right, but that Gray Eagle had to work it out for himself. Fighting Hawk stood and said, "Think about my words, and my plan. If you wish me to abandon the plan, tell me what you want me to do, and how you want the Cheyenne people to live. You are the chief of the Cheyenne, and I will follow my chief to my death, or my life." Fighting Hawk walked from the lodge, and went to his own lodge. He had not gone more than a dozen steps before Little Mule was at his side. "Fighting Hawk, is there trouble with Gray Eagle? I heard him yelling all the way outside the lodge."

Fighting Hawk looked at her concern. "No. Gray Eagle has seen the pictures in the fire. He wants the pictures to be real, but he has to see that it is still just a fire. Once he sees the truth, we will speak again." He saw her nod her head, but her look said that she didn't understand. He spoke softly in English to her. "He wants his dreams to be real, but he must see that they are dreams, and we must live in the world as it is." She looked at him curiously, but when she nodded her head this time he knew that she understood. He only hoped that she didn't understand too well.

That night he slept alone in his blankets. The women could sense his mood, and Little Mule had told them about the words with Gray Eagle. He did not sleep well, and the women were too concerned about him to sleep well either. The sun rose to find a lodge of red eyed people moving slowly to the river for the morning bath. After their bath they felt better, but they still looked tired.

Water Lilly came to sit at Fighting Hawk's cook fire. When she saw him she made the comment that Gray Eagle looked the same as he. He smiled and they laughed. When she asked if they had fought, he told her that they had not, but that it was something that Gray Eagle had to work out for himself. She looked curiously at him, but said that it had been a long time since she had seen him like this. As she stood to leave she said that it was good. He needed to have something to make him think sometimes. Fighting Hawk laughed as she walked away, with Little Eagle stumbling along beside her.

Black Otter came to visit with Fighting Hawk shortly after Water Lilly left. He suspected that he was waiting, but was too polite to be where he could be seen. He sat easily when Fighting Hawk motioned him to the fire. Black Otter was excited as he spoke, "I have learned much from our trip to the white soldier's fort. I want to build another barn, and practice the things that I have learned."

Fighting Hawk thought about this. He nodded as he said, "Build another barn close to the north mouth of the valley. Get the boys to help you move the trees, and tell their mothers to start cutting the tall grass in the valley. Ask Running Deer if there is something that he can do to make their job easier."

Black Otter listened closely to all of the instructions and nodded at each. When Fighting Hawk was finished, he jumped to his feet eager to get to his tasks. Fighting Hawk watched the activity of the camp as Black Otter delivered the instructions to the lodges. He watched as less than an hour later two wagons rolled out of the village. He reminded himself to have them leave the wagons in the barn as they would attract attention in the village.

Fighting Hawk went to see Big Cloud and the boys, and asked them to do a little hunting for him. The boys smiled as they grabbed their bows. Big Cloud shook his head and went along to make sure that they didn't bring back too much.

Fighting Hawk went to the reading lodge to resume his studies. He now had good reason to work harder than ever before, and Little Mule was at his side the whole time. She refused to leave his side, unless he specifically ordered her to do it. He knew that she would only be waiting outside if he did, so he let her stay. When he found out that she could read he had her helping him; she would fetch a book here and look up a word in the dictionary, and put a book there. He found it nice to have someone to help him.

It was three days before Gray Eagle came to sit at his cook fire. He was quiet for a long time, but when he spoke his voice was clear and strong. "You were right. We must learn the ways of the white man, or die. He is not weak or stupid, and we can learn some things from him." Gray Eagle got a big grin on his face as he said, "And I can think of one cow that I would truly love to eat." They both burst out laughing, but Fighting Hawk knew that Gray Eagle would only get to eat that cow over the dead body of Water Lilly.

Before the first snows of winter both barns were full of hay. They had filled the barns quickly, before Fighting Hawk told them that they needed to tightly press the hay together and tie it up into bundles. The bundles were stacked together without any space being lost. After Fighting Hawk told Gray Eagle of the activities of the last month, he explained that they would use the hay to feed the few cows that they had and the horses all winter. Gray Eagle saw the benefits of some of the white man's ways.

Fighting Hawk settled himself for a long winter of study. He found that with each book that he read that the next went quicker. He was easily reading three books each week, at least until he encountered the math books. Some of the ideas in the books defied common sense, and he had a hard time understanding them. He wished that there was someone that he could talk to about it. Without help he had to work each problem out on his own, but he found that once he understood it, it made learning the next easier.

By the time that spring came he had finished all of the math and science books that they had, and he encountered a book of chemistry. He couldn't figure out anything that it said, no matter how hard he tried. He threw it across the lodge, but always picked it up again. He finally figured that there was another book that he needed to read first, and set it aside. It constantly nagged at him with each book that he finished.

The beginning of Fighting Hawk's sixteenth year found him standing at the celebration fire. He and Big Cloud stood before the warriors with the four boys that were to be named as warriors. There were no challenges, until Swift Pony was named. There were voices that said that he was too young to be a warrior. Swift Pony quickly removed his vest, and took up his wooden knife.

The warrior that stood before him smiled, but took an easy jab at him. He was surprised when Swift Pony made a quick cut and his knife went flying. The warriors hooted and laughed. That ended the play, and it became serious. It was short but violent. The warrior landed a few good blows, but Swift Pony ended it. He dove between his legs, and used his elbow at the back of his knees. When the warrior went down, Swift Pony had his hand in his hair and the wooden knife at his throat. A quick movement and the warrior had a rough scrape across his throat. Swift Pony stood proudly and waited. There were no other challenges, and the warrior even smiled and clasped his wrist. He even told Swift Pony that he was welcome to hunt with him anytime.