Chapter 30: Preparations

It was almost three weeks after Fighting Hawk left that he returned with a deer across the back of his horse. He arrived at the house in the southern valley to find it empty. He cut the deer from the horse and set about the task of preparing the meat. He knew that he had been seen riding into the valley, and also knew that word would spread quickly.

He was not surprised when a flock of women arrived to take charge of his deer. They politely pushed him from his task and waved him off toward the house. He smiled and shook his head as he watched them brandish their knives and start in on the deer.

He decided that was time to get cleaned up, and headed off toward the house. He had just dressed in some clean clothes when he heard the commotion in front of the house. As he stepped out onto the wide porch he wasn't surprised to see all of his women standing there. They were obviously waiting to see if he was still angry with them before rushing to greet him. They each stood with their head down, waiting to see what he would do.

He slowly smiled at them and held his arms open to them. They rushed forward squealing with happiness, as he held them all in his arms. He was not surprised to see Pretty Storm once again without her dress. He suspected that she was happier without clothes. She was proud of her body, and just as proud that she belonged to him. This was her way of telling everybody that what they saw belonged to Fighting Hawk.

Even though each one wanted to see the scar and put her hands on the healed wound, he suspected that there were other reasons that they were maneuvering him toward the sleeping furs. He didn't put up much of a fight, and he was happy that he was right when he stepped back out on the porch again in the middle of the afternoon, with a satisfied smile on his face. They spent the rest of the day taking every opportunity to touch and hold him. He knew that they were happy to see him again, and in some ways afraid for him. But it was the life of a Cheyenne warrior, and they would have to accept that.

Early the next morning Fighting Hawk went to see Running Deer. When he arrived the older man looked at him hard. "You seem to find ways to make your legend grow. You couldn't have picked a better time than the middle of festival to get shot. With all of the visiting warriors and maidens the story was back in every village before you were even awake. Did you know that you saved Grey Eagle and took the bullet meant for him? The story was that you knew it was going to happen and you used your body to save him. There were so many weeping maidens that you would have thought that it was raining with all of the water hitting the ground."

Fighting Hawk snorted and shook his head. "If I had known that it was going to happen, Grey Eagle and I would have been so far from there they would have had to send word to us that would have taken weeks to reach us." Running Deer grinned and smiled. Fighting Hawk smiled back and they both laughed.

"So Hiding Hawk, what can I do for you today?" Fighting Hawk smiled at the name and said, "I was wondering if you had a chance to work on the gold for me yet?"

Running Deer scoffed at the question. "Fighting Hawk, you must realize that you asked for that more than a month ago. Of course I have been working on it. As a matter of fact I had finished and then I started all over again." Fighting Hawk looked at Running Deer in confusion, but Running Deer just smiled happily at him.

Fighting hawk knew that Running Deer was enjoying himself, and he knew also that he deserved this little game. "Okay, so why did you start over?"

Running Deer's smile really broke out into a full face smile as he turned and went over to a shelf and picked up a couple of small squares of gold. He then turned and dropped one into Fighting Hawk's waiting hand. The square of gold was exactly what Fighting Hawk was expecting. It was the same weight of a gold coin, but was only a simple square. With this he could use these squares anyplace and they wouldn't be traceable, or even questionable.

Fighting Hawk Smiled at the square and nodded his head. Running Deer Smiled back and said, "Yes that was what I made the first time. I thought that it was what you wanted, but then something happened that made me change my mind." Fighting Hawk looked questioningly at Running Deer and it earned him another of those full face smiles, as he dropped the second square into Fighting Hawk's hand.

Fighting Hawk looked down and was shocked to see imbedded into the square, a hawk in flight with its claws extended, just as if it was about to attack its innocent prey. The details were perfect even to the individual feathers that he could see. He frowned as he looked at Running Deer. This level of work was totally unexpected, even though it was beautiful. "How did you make this?"

Running Deer was still smiling as he began his tale. "You know White Wolf; he said that you sent him down here to the valley to work. Well, he worked at doing most of the jobs that we have here. He was fine at hunting, but we have more hunters than we need, and he tried here at the smith, and working with Black Otter, as well as cutting trees and planting. He just couldn't find anything that he was really any good at. He wasn't bad at anything but he wasn't happy doing it either. But then one day Black Otter needed to have some fancy swirls on a piece of wood, and with all of his other workers busy he asked White Wolf to do it. What he got back surprised him. It was excellent work, and he asked him if he liked to do that kind of work. White Wolf actually smiled for the first time since he came to the valley and said that he had enjoyed himself, so Black Otter set him to doing other carving jobs." Fighting Hawk smiled as he realized that White Wolf had found something that he was happy doing and maybe it would be something that he could feel good about.

Running Deer smiled at Fighting Hawk's reaction and continued his story. "After that he started to carve other things, like horses and wolves and he even created a statue of you. He had come to me with a carving of the hawk in flight and asked if I could help him make one out of metal. I wasn't sure what he was going to do with it, but as soon as I saw it I knew what I could use it for. I explained what I was doing and showed him one of the squares. I asked if he could carve a hawk like that only smaller; small enough to fit into the square. He asked me for some very small knives that were very sharp. I made him the best blades that I had ever made, and he brought me back that hawk carved on a piece of hard wood. I made up a batch of the clay and wet the hawk and pressed it in the clay and baked it. When it was done I used it to pour molten steel into it. My steel still isn't very good, but it works great to make a casting. Once it cooled I broke the clay and filed and brushed the new hawk. It was perfect; every detail transferred from the wood to the steel. I was very happy. I decided to try to make something a little more difficult."

Fighting Hawk could see the excitement as he talked and knew that even though he really didn't have any interest in the exact details that he was getting, Running Deer couldn't contain his excitement. Fighting Hawk smiled and listened. "I went to Black Otter and told him what I needed and it only took him an hour to get it to me. It was beautiful. Twelve open squares in a frame, all the same size. I mixed more clay and pressed the frame into the clay. I scraped off all of the excess, and then I wet the hawk and pressed it into the top of each square. Then I gently lifted the frame and placed it in the oven. When it was done I gently took it out and set it to cool. It was beautiful, even if it was made of clay. Then I poured a batch of steel into the clay mold. I waited until it cooled completely. Then I broke the clay and cleaned each of the twelve perfect little hawks in the bottom of each square. It wasn't deep, only about a half an inch, but it was perfect."

Fighting Hawk smiled at the pride in his voice over his accomplishment. "I had a mold that could handle twelve squares at the same time. Since I had so many squares already made I just dropped one in each new square and put it on the forge. Once it melted I moved it off and once the squares cooled I quenched the whole thing. Then a solid hit while it was upside down and the new squares dropped right out. I had the boys cleaning, polishing and stacking the squares all day as I made more. When I ran out of the old squares I melted more gold and poured each square. The line on the side of the mold made it easy to see how much to pour. We now have fifteen boxes for you to take, and each square is marked with the Fighting Hawk symbol. You will be able to tell that it is your gold no matter what anybody says." Running Deer beamed with pride and Fighting Hawk had to admit that he had done a great job, and he was not the type to withhold compliments. When he left Running Deer was strutting and proud of himself and Fighting Haw was just as proud of him.

When Fighting Hawk found White Wolf he was sitting and carving another statue. Fighting Hawk could see that it was of himself doing some great deed. He frowned. "I see that you have found the thing that makes you happy." His words startled White Wolf, but he was happy to see Fighting Hawk. His grin threatened to turn into a full face smile at any moment. Fighting Hawk was managing to keep his own under control.

"I am glad that you are once again out among the people. We were worried for you." Fighting Hawk smiled and nodded his agreement and his thanks.

"You were right. You said that if I came to the valley and worked at enough different jobs that I would find one that was made just for me. I think that I tried everything before it happened, and I was sure that I never would find anything that was just made for me. But then it happened and I wasn't even trying to do anything different. It was just something that needed to be done. The next thing I knew, I was finished and I didn't even remember doing it. And it was beautiful. I loved just looking at it. When Black Otter saw it he asked if I enjoyed the work I was doing and that is was when it hit me. I did enjoy it. And it was then that I remembered what you said; find something that I liked to do. Well, I found it, and I am happier now that I have ever been. Thank you, just doesn't seem like enough."

Fighting Hawk smiled and nodded his head. "If you want to do something for me, there is one thing that I would like." Fighting Hawk smiled and waited for White Wolf to understand that he wanted something from him. White Wolf suddenly devoted his full attention to Fighting Hawk and nodded his head.

"I travel in the white man's world. If you keep making statues of me it will only be a matter of time before white men see it. Sooner or later one of those will fall into the hands of a white man, and then there will pictures of me. When I travel among them somebody that has seen one of the pictures will kill me. I am flattered that you would want to carve a statue of me, but I would prefer that you not do it." Fighting Hawk watched White Wolf look at the beautiful carving in his hands in horror and shock. He suddenly understood the concerns of Fighting Hawk and what it might mean to the Cheyenne people to have Fighting Hawk too well known.

As fighting Hawk watched White Wolf slipped the knife under the chin and shaved the face from the statue. Fighting Hawk smiled as he watched the lovely statue turn into a faceless statue. "I thank you for that, but do you think that the others that you have made could be retrieved and destroyed? I would feel a lot safer if I knew that my face was not too well known. White Wolf looked thoughtful for only a moment before he nodded his head. "I will get all three back and make sure that you remain safe from my work." Fighting Hawk smiled as he clasped arms with White Wolf and headed toward the Cheyenne village.

As Fighting Hawk sat at Grey Eagle's cook fire, he made a respectful cough. He was quickly attacked by a small toddler screaming in happiness. Water Lilly was quickly through the lodge flaps after the errant little warrior. She stopped to watch Little Eagle laugh and scream as he was tickled in the arms of Fighting Hawk with a smile on her lips.

As Fighting Hawk released the bundle of energy he was suddenly hit on the back of the head. As he turned to look at Water Lilly standing there she said, "Don't ever leave like that again! You were still wounded and we were worried sick."

Fighting Hawk smiled as he stood up and hugged Water Lilly, "You should know by now that I can take care of myself. If I would have stayed those women would have kept me hobbling around that lodge until I was an old man. Even though they meant well, they were killing me just as surely as that bullet would."

Water Lilly whispered softly in his ear, "They only love you too much. Sometimes it is hard to let the one you love do what they have to. You kept your father safe for me, whether by accident or not, you saved his life and I thank you for it. But next time, let somebody else do it. I don't want to have to watch either of you die."

Fighting Hawk knew that she had tears in her eyes. He just held her tighter and waited for the tears to stop. When he finally released her they turned to see Grey Eagle smiling at them from the cook fire. "So are you trying to get another woman into your lodge?"

Water Lilly snorted and took a swipe at his head. He knew it was coming and easily dodged the swing. Fighting Hawk laughed and said, "Oh no, I know how mother gets when she isn't the only woman in the lodge. If she didn't kill the other women, the next time that I got injured she would be worse than all of them put together." Water Lilly snorted and stomped off, but Fighting Hawk noticed the smile on her lips.

Fighting Hawk and Grey Eagle were still grinning at each other as they sat at the cook fire. "Father, I wanted to visit with you before I left. I will be leaving soon, and I will be taking many of the white warriors with me. I believe that I have a plan to help the Cheyenne, and it will be a long time before it will come to pass. But each thing that happens will make it better for the Cheyenne people."

Grey Eagle grunted and nodded his head. "And as usual you won't tell me anything that you are going to do. I will have to wait until it is finished before you tell me what is happening?"

Fighting Hawk smiled and shook his head. "Some of it I can tell you, but some you will have to wait until I get back to learn how successful I was. The part that I can tell you is that I am going to have Black Otter build a trading post on the Santa Fe Trail. I will have one of the white warriors run the trading post and we will trade fairly with all of the Indian nations. On top of that we will stock large amounts of food and blankets that we will have for the winter. If a hard winter comes we will help the Cheyenne people first, the other nations second and maybe the white man, if we have anything left over. We will extend them credit until the summer to pay for what they took, but if we don't make them pay for it, they will just come back for more and expect us to give it to them. We couldn't help anybody for long doing that."

Grey Eagle nodded his head. "It sounds like it will be a good thing, if we can stop the white man from robbing and stealing from us. We will have to keep warriors there to make sure that we are safe and protected. But if Indians start killing white men, even thieves, the Army will get involved."

Fighting Hawk smiled, "Yes, I expect that they will. That is the reason that the buffalo hunters were turned over to the Army. We will put some white warriors at the trading post as workers and protection, and we will have some warriors close at hand. If the Army wants to get involved, we will use the white man's law against them just like we did with the buffalo hunters. They will have to treat us equally, or their own hanging of the buffalo hunters will turn the whites against the Army."

Grey Eagle looked a little stunned for a minute until a smile crossed his lips. "I wondered why you were so set on turning them over to the Army. Now I see that you had a plan all along."

Fighting Hawk laughed as he shook his head, "Oh no father. I wanted to kill them very slowly. I had planned to do just that but once I thought about it, I saw that we could use it to our advantage. Any rash action is usually a mistake. So I sat and thought about how we could make the best use of them, and still get our revenge. There was no way that they were not going to be punished." Grey Eagle smiled at that, with a firm nod.

Fighting Hawk spoke quietly, "When I leave, I will be taking John and Ben with me, along with a few others. We will be gone for a long time father. I don't even know how long, but I am sure that it will be well over a year." Fighting Hawk saw the surprise on Grey Eagles face.

He didn't speak but Fighting Hawk could see the pain in his eyes. He just nodded his head and said, "There will be many that will miss you. You had better visit with your mother before you leave or she will kill you herself when you return."