Chapter 4

When the celebration had quieted down and the women had all had a chance to kick and spit on the two bodies, Black Wolf called Snake and Morning Mist to one side to discuss what they should do. Morning Mist was the woman most looked up to in the village, so Black Wolf figured that she could make decisions for the rest of the women. He was smart enough to know that it would be impossible to get that many women to agree on anything in less than a week, and they did not have that much time to waste.

The two men and the woman worked out where they would spend the night. They would eat the scout's horse for supper. Any meat left over could be jerked. In her 32 summers of living in these mountains, Morning Mist knew of every good camp site, and she knew of a suitable place near their present location. They could spend the night there and move on in the morning before anybody from the Army showed up to harass them.

They had a good supper for a change, with plenty of food for the children and some left to preserve. The women divided the work among themselves, some took care of the children and some worked on jerking the surplus meat. While they did that, the three leaders decided on a place for a new village. It had to be a place that had sufficient water and fuel, but was very difficult to reach by a man on horseback. Black Wolf was sure that the women and children would be safe from the Army if they were hidden in a place where a soldier had to dismount to find them. Morning Mist knew of such a place, and they decided to head there in the morning. The journey would take 4 days, but the women would be on their own, since both Snake and Black Would would have to hunt to find enough food to feed them all. As they could, the women would look for food along their way.

The next morning, they put their plan into operation, and the women gathered up the children and started on their way. Black Wolf headed back in the general direction of where he had left the horses and other items he had captured a few days before, and Snake headed on a different direction. They intended to catch up to the women once they had killed some game.

The women were not happy when they were told to take the 4 horses with them, but were mollified when it was pointed out that the horses were their emergency food supply. There were 4 horses for the women to care for because Black Wolf and Snake left on foot, since horses would have interfered with making a successful hunt.

Black Wolf headed for his horses and other loot at a fast jog; by cutting cross-country, he was able to reach them only shortly after noon. The horses were all in good condition and none of the other items had been disturbed. He gathered every thing up and led the horses toward where the women would have to travel. He hobbled the horses where there was plenty of grass and enough water to get by and left them to do his hunting.

By a kind of gentleman's agreement, each of the hunters had an area that only he hunted in, so Black Wolf had been able to set aside an area where there was no hunting being done. Black Wolf's idea had been to keep an area well stocked with game in case he ever needed to procure a lot of meat in a short time; he thought that now was the time. He quickly found, killed, and field dressed an elk. The kill was too large for him to carry, so he went for one of the horses to use as a beast of burden. He led the horse back to the others and waited for the women to arrive.

Snake and the women arrived at about the same time, and Black Wolf joined the march without a word to anyone, as a successful hunter should do. Only the very young or very inexperienced were ever boastful about their kills; others would brag for them! Black Wolf was the recipient of many admiring glances from the women, not all of them young, as he pulled into line with his new kill and his string of horses.

Snake worked his way up to Black Wolf and remarked, "You have captured more than horses on this day. You could claim 20 wives if you wanted them, you are now so rich!" He was wearing a big grin when he said this, so Black Wolf knew that there was no malice in the comment.

Black Wolf replied. "What would I do with 20 wives? Two or three will be enough for me. I will give 3 horses to you so that you can claim a wife or two, if you are in need." Black Wolf said this with a smile, but the look in his eyes told Snake that Black Wolf meant his generous offer.

Normally, only the most affluent of chiefs would make such an offer, so Snake was stunned by the magnitude of the gesture. He sputtered for a moment and was finally able to say, "I do indeed feel the need for a wife, so I will take you up on your generous offer. I hope, one day, to return the favor." Black Wolf squeezed the younger man's shoulder and gestured at the string of horses for Snake to take his choice. Snake spent a few minutes examining the horses and pointed inquiringly at 3 of them. Black Wolf smiled and nodded, and that day gained a lifelong friend and follower.

That night, they camped and Morning Mist was presented with Black Wolf's elk and Snake's antelope for conversion into the evening meal. There was much good cheer and laughter that night as the women were able to fill the bellies of the children with more meat left over to use for breakfast the next morning. That evening, neither Black Wolf nor Snake had any trouble finding young women who wanted to share their blankets for the night.

The next morning, both Black Wolf and Snake took a horse on the hunt so that each could bring back more meat than he could carry by himself. Black Wolf found another elk, and Snake brought in two antelope. It was again a happy camp that night, and neither man slept alone.

The hunt the next day was not as good, since each man brought in only one antelope, but two antelope were enough to provide a fine repast for the whole group, men, women, and children.

After supper, Morning Mist sought out Black Wolf for some serious discussion. "Black Wolf, I know that normally you would never consider it, but for the good of the village, I think that it is necessary that you take me as your wife. Without a husband, I will lose influence with the other women. They will see me as a pitiful failure because I cannot attract a man. I know that I am old and not attractive to a handsome young man like you, so I will not demand that you service me, even though I would like it. As long as we keep that a secret from the other women, I should be able to remain their leader."

"Morning Mist, I am flattered beyond belief that you would want me as a husband. Of course I will take you as my chief wife and be proud to do it. If you wish, we can announce our mating, tonight."

"Yes, that would be a good idea. I will call everybody together, and you can make the announcement."

So that was how Black Wolf acquired his first wife and became the leader of the village, something unheard of for a man of only 15 summers! Though there were a few boys almost old enough to have a public name, Snake was the only other man in camp, and he was not jealous of Black Wolf's choice of a chief wife.

Black Wolf's mother had survived the ordeal with the soldiers, so she was still part of his household. He wisely left it to the two women to determine who was actually in charge of his fire; he planned to be happy with whoever turned out to be superior. Because Black Wolf's mother was as politically astute as Morning Mist, she let the other woman take over without any argument. They became a happy family, and, to everybody's surprise, Morning Mist eventually became pregnant despite her advanced age.

Snake also took a first wife that night. She was only a year older than Snake, but she was already qualified to do everything an Apache woman needed to do. Snake was very happy with his choice and Bright Moon was glad to have a man she could call her husband. With so many unwed women in the camp, both new wives looked the other way as the husbands tried, over the next few months, to keep a number of other women calm, if not satisfied.

They reached the spot Morning Mist had chosen and found that it did, indeed, fit Black Wolf's specifications. The women set themselves to building the huts they needed, though the huts would have to be temporarily covered with tree branches and grass until enough skins could be accumulated for covering. Somehow, Black Wolf's mother had managed to save his robe made from the skin of his namesake, but it was never even considered that it be sacrificed for a hut cover. Black Wolf had worn it on the night that he announced his marriage to Morning Mist, and all the spectators agreed that he had looked magnificent in it.