Lou was frozen in her steps. 'Oh, god. I wish I could have just told Buck I love him' she thought as her captive spoke the almost foreign language to her still holding the blade to her throat. She spoke in English, hoping that her captive might understand some. "Please, I ride for the Pony Express. I'm looking for Buck Cro… Running Buck." She stuttered. She thought that with the use of his Kiowa name, although in English, they might take her to Buck. She then tried to pronounce his name in Buck's native tongue, just like he had taught her over the past few months. With the sound of the Kiowa language, her captive removed the blade from her throat & turned her around to look at her face. His face was covered in war paint, & it scared Lou. She didn't know what was going to happen to her or if she'd ever see any of her family again, including Buck.
The Indian spoke to her in Kiowa & she couldn't do anything but shake her head & say the few things Buck had taught her that might make sense to the Indian - she asked him for a drink of water.
He grabbed her roughly by the neck & led her & Lightning to his camp, where he threw her to the ground & handed Lightning's reins to a child who tied Lightning to a piece of rope with several other horses attached to it. These horses too were adorned in the tribal war paint.
The Indian then looked over his prisoner & turned to another man, donned with a rather large feather headdress & spoke in a low tone to him, then the man with the large headdress looked over at her. When she saw his face, she thought she knew him, but how could she. She only knew Buck & his brother Red Bear. She swallowed hard as he started to walk away from her, & feelings of anticipation overwhelmed her. Tears started to run down her face as another painted warrior came over to her, pulled her up, knocked off her hat & glasses & started to walk around her, like a Vulture surrounding it's prey. Lou wasn't sure what to do but stand there, scared out of her skin.
All of a sudden the man pulled her towards a tepee. Lou knew instantly what was about to happen & started to struggle, screaming out for Buck.
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