Two days passed. Buck and Red Bear both tried to watch over the Kiowa people in their compound. They encouraged what men there were to help watch over the women and older girls. Where they felt they couldn’t watch over all the women they had them move to the front of the compound facing the chain fence instead of the wood, where there were numerous guards and a better possibility of an officer passing by.

But even then some of the soldiers caught a few of the women unguarded. Buck and Red Bear usually found out about it later. Or worse yet, one of the women would be escorted out of the compound and around to the backside of the fencing where the others could hear her rape, but were powerless to do a thing about it.

Occasionally the soldiers would come in and torment a few of the children. Any man that tried to interfere was immediately beaten or whipped. Red Bear took his share of punches trying to defend the his fellow captives.

They began to regain some of their strength, but both Buck and Red Bear knew it wasn’t enough. With a diet of bread and beans they weren’t likely to regain full strength.

Buck was surprised when, on their fourth night, an opportunity arose to escape. Two guards had just opened the gate to do their nightly rounds inside the compound when a shout arose from the far compound. Without even thinking the careless guards turned their attention on what was happening across the field as every available guard ran toward the ruckus. Buck and Red Bear crept up on the two guards and in a matter of seconds the two men slumped to the ground dead.

The women and children silently moved out of the compound and headed north, disappearing in the darkness. The men soon followed, Buck and Red Bear bringing up the tail. They weren’t far away before they heard the alarm that they had escaped.

~*~*~

The fifty or so escaped captives split up. By agreement they would spend the night and better part of the next day traveling as fast as they were capable of. Then they would find places to hide, traveling at night and hiding by day. Divided up into small groups they would be harder to find and follow. Or at least that’s what Red Bear hoped.

There were eight people in Buck’s group, Red Bear, Morning Dove, her father, one of the elders, and a mother and her two children. Red Bear carried one of the tired children as Buck kept to the back of the group, trying to cover their tracks. He sensed more than heard another group of the captives off to their left, but he knew that as they got further and further away, they would also lose sight of the others. Hopefully they would all meet up with other tribes eventually.

They kept moving.

~*~*~

Teaspoon and the others were on the trail again by sunup. He knew they were getting closer and wanted to get moving. They had all seen where the group of captives had merged with others, seen the freshly dug graves as some had died on the way. The trail was easy to follow.

~*~*~

Buck’s group walked into the morning. Despite their good intentions one other group joined theirs. It was made up entirely of women and children and both Red Bear and Buck knew that they would need their help.

As the sun moved overhead they began to look for a place to rest where they would be well hidden. They were counting on the army not starting their search until sunrise, and then they would have several trails to track. If the others hid their trail as well as Buck hoped he had, then it would slow the army down even more. But Buck feared that they weren’t far enough away from their original trail south yet.

~*~*~

Tree Frog, his son Raging Waters and his warriors were also following the trail, running parallel to it to the west, scouts keeping them heading in the right direction. Tree Frog had come upon the destroyed village and his daughter’s body within hours of Teaspoon and the riders.

Red Bear’s group was heading right toward them and safety.

~*~*~

Teaspoon had his riders stop as he rode ahead. He was certain they were getting close and he didn’t want to ride right into the army encampment.

The boys were sitting or pacing, their horses ready to ride when Teaspoon came riding hard up to the small group.

"The army’s out searching for something. There’s a troop heading slightly off to the west of here about two miles south."

"What should we do?" Noah asked for all of them.

"We’re gonna head that way ourselves. They must be following someone and I’d bet that someone is Buck and his brother."

"Just like Buck to have the Army chasing him down." Cody muttered as he swung up on his horse.

~*~*~

Red Bear and Buck had found a small grove of trees. It was the only cover in sight and they both knew their small group could go no farther. The children were exhausted and the women weren’t much better off. Buck hated to admit that he was in need of a few hours sleep himself. They were fortunate enough to find a cluster of bushes with what appeared to be a den of sorts, probably deer, in the middle. They hid the children there, most of them falling asleep immediately upon lying down. The adults scattered amongst the trees, hiding behind bushes and covering themselves with detritus from beneath the trees.

As tired as Buck was, he couldn’t sleep. Instead he sat just inside the stand of trees, watching the south for signs of pursuers. He barely moved when Red Bear sat next to him.

"You should be sleeping little brother."

"So should you."

"I know. I was restless."

"Me too. I just have a feeling that they are closer than we think."

"I had the same feeling. We will keep watch together."

~*~*~

Buck’s head snapped up about an hour later. Something was different. Buck scanned the horizon, his ears tuned in to the sounds around him. Sounds. There weren’t any except the rustling of the prairie grass. No bird sounds.

"Red Bear."

"I know. I’ll wake the others."

"It’s too late." Buck said as fifteen soldiers rode into view.

"I’ll try to lead them away." Red Bear said, standing to run.

"No." Buck said, grabbing his brother’s arm. "I will. They will need you to lead them." Buck stopped his brother when he started to object. "You know I’m right. Besides, I was always a faster runner than you." The memories of childhood races brought bittersweet smiles to both their faces. He embraced his brother, each saying silent good byes. Buck walked off as his brother moved in amongst the bushes and trees, telling those hiding there to keep still.

Buck moved off through the tall grasses, scrambling on all fours until he was a good distance off to the south and east. When he felt he was far enough from the trees that maybe, just maybe, the soldiers wouldn’t suspect there were others hiding there, he stood and began to run eastward. He heard the soldiers shout and the trample of hooves as they headed after him. He couldn’t take the chance of looking back to see if they all followed him. He just hoped they were. Leaping over a small rock in his path, he ran on, as the first gunshot was fired.

On to Chapter Eight