By Lyn
Copyright 1999
"Well now what? I'm not spending all day in this teepee." Jimmy grumbled.
"We've got to trust Buck, Jimmy. We're going to do exactly as he asked."
"If we have to spend all day in here, I'll go crazy."
The tent flap opened and a woman entered. She had jet black hair and piercing blue eyes.
"I am Weeping Woman. I have been asked to stay with you until the war party returns. Is there anything you require?" she said in perfect English.
"You're white!" Jimmy blurted out.
"I'm Kiowa, at least in my heart. I was just born white."
"I thought the Kiowa didn't like whites. It doesn't sound like Buck had it too easy among them."
"Running Buck has suffered because of the actions of his birth father, not because he has white blood."
"But it's not Buck's fault his mother was raped!" Emma insisted.
"Running Buck was born of violence. Some feel it taints the spirit."
"That doesn't make sense. Buck has a kind and generous soul!"
"It is just the way it is."
"So what do we do now?" Jimmy asked. "I don't want to sit in here all day."
"I will show you around the village. Show you where you will be allowed to go and where you may not travel." She motioned toward the doorway. "Follow me."
There were two warriors waiting outside. As Weeping Woman led the way, the two men followed behind. She took them through the village, which Emma realized was set up very similar to a town. Children ran in front of them, chasing a dog.
"You may come as far as the creek to get water. Do not go beyond the teepees on the other sides and you will not be harmed. Try to leave these boundaries and they will shoot you."
The war party rode quickly the first two days, eating up the head start the slavers had. Their captives would be in wagons or walking and would have to move at a much slower pace.
The trail was easy to follow. part of Buck's duties was to steer the war party away from white settlements. The Kiowa would not normally be so concerned with such things, but they didn't want to be slowed down by confrontations with the white men.
By the morning of the third day they had found the slavers. Red Bear and Buck, along with two other warriors, watched the small caravan as it made it's way across the flat, open Kansas prairie.
Red Bear returned to his horse, the others following and they rejoined the rest of the war party. then he led the group away from the slavers until he was sure they would not be seen. Running them on a parallel line to the slavers course, they moved ahead looking for a place to launch an attack.
They found a grove of trees about an hour's walk ahead of the slavers. from here they would be able to watch as the caravan approached and not be seen themselves. The warriors settled in to wait.
Jimmy knocked Emma to the ground as gently as he could. The arrow just missed them both. he began crawling toward the nearby trees, half dragging Emma behind him. He desperately looked for Weeping Woman among the Indians running through the village. Approximately half of the tribes warriors were after the slavers, leaving a depleted number of men in defense of the village. Weeping Woman had promised to find his guns so he could help.
The raid was unexpected, as they always were. The Comanche warriors had rode in at dawn intent on taking horses. Women would be an extra bonus, as they too had been hit by slavers and had lost many women.
Jimmy saw Weeping Woman darting amongst the teepees, his guns slung over her shoulder. She dove for the ground at his side. he grabbed his guns from their holsters and began firing.
The eagle dove and soared overhead. Buck watched it, an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. What was it trying to tell him? He felt a strong need to get back to the Kiowa village. His friends were in trouble.
But he didn't have time to think about it now. The slavers and their captives had come into view. Red Bear waited until they drew closer then let out a loud war cry, leading his warriors on the attack.
The slavers hadn't even contemplated the possibility of retribution and were totally unprepared for any attack. Within minutes they were dead or captured and wishing for death. Buck had done his part, never taking much satisfaction in killing, but doing so out of necessity. He took down two slavers himself as they tried to kill a woman captive in their eagerness to escape.
Buck looked up into the sky again as he led his horse through the open field, walking around dead slavers, stopping to help a Kiowa woman to her feet. the eagle was still there. He stopped and stared.
"What is wrong, little brother?"
Buck glanced at Red Bear, then back at the sky. There was something very wrong. He knew it.
"We've got to get back to the village. Quickly."
Red Bear followed Buck's gaze, then looked at his brother's face.
"We will leave then." Red Bear turned to one of his warriors, giving him instructions. Then he swung up onto his horse.
"Running Buck?" The young man was still staring at the eagle. He seemed to jump slightly as his attention was brought back, then he, too, mounted his horse and the brothers rode off.
Emma pulled at the arrow, the tip embedded in Jimmy's arm. With another tug it pulled free. Weeping Woman stood by with a burning stick, plunging the end into the wound, cauterizing it to stop the bleeding. Emma wrapped a strip of her petticoat around the wound as a bandage.
Jimmy leaned his head back against a tree. The raid was over, the Commanche having made off with only a few horses. There were several injuries, but thankfully no deaths.
The two women moved off, helping with the other wounded while Jimmy rested a few moments. His wound wasn't bad, he'd had worse, but he was willing to sit for awhile just the same.
A warrior came and stood over Jimmy, saying something in Kiowa and gesturing at him. Jimmy looked up at him, then picked up the gun laying at his side and handed it to the man. The warrior didn't take it, continuing to talk to him in Kiowa. Weeping Woman approached, talking to the man.
"What's he saying?" Jimmy asked.
"You may keep your guns. You have proven you mean no harm to the Kiowa. He also wishes to thank you for your help."
"Tell him he's welcome. And thank him for his trust."
Buck watched the eagle overhead. They were less than a day's ride from the village, but the horses needed rest and they had to stop for the night. Buck wasn't feeling the urgency he had two days before, but he knew something had happened. He could only hope that his friends were all right.
Red Bear studied his younger brother. He knew the boy was troubled, knew that the eagle that seemed to follow them on their trip north seemed to be the reason. He had given Running Buck time to tell him about it, but the boy had not been forthcoming with any information. It was time to find out.
"What is it you think is wrong, brother?"
"I don't know. I just know that something has happened."
"And the eagle has told you this? Is that why you watch it so carefully?"
"Yes."
Red Bear nodded, understanding and believing.
"You have a powerful spirit guide Running Buck. You could be a man of dreams."
"No. This is different. I'm not sure I can explain it. But I don't have visions, just a feeling."
Red Bear stood, moving over to his bedroll. He took a small leather pouch and a pipe out of a larger pouch containing a few personal items. He returned to the fire, filling the pipe from the small pouches contents and handed it to Buck.
"Perhaps it is time you dreamed."
Buck looked at the pipe, then at his brother and finally at the eagle floating lazily above him. Looking back at his brother, he nodded. He lit the pipe, making the proper offerings in the four directions. Taking the pipe he took a long drag on it, filling his lungs with the pungent smoke. He offered the pipe to his brother.
"No, this is your journey."
Buck took another drag on the pipe and began to chant. Following rituals used by Kiowa for generations, he soon found himself in the grips of a vision.
When he awoke the next morning he described his dreams to Red Bear. They made very little sense to him, just disjointed bits of memory mixed with things he had never seen before. He was left with a jumble of emotions and a strong sense that something was about to go very wrong. Even the eagle overhead seemed to be circling with a certain amount of urgency. they began to ride hard.
The second raid came shortly after noon. The Kiowa village had had time to recover from the first raid two days before, wounds had begun to heal, and their guard had begun to relax. But not completely. The Kiowa were warriors and weapons were always near at hand. Defensive actions were instantaneous.
Jimmy dove behind a tree, his gun firing, finding it's mark as a Commanche warrior fell to the ground. Emma was crouched behind a fallen tree with her rifle, Weeping Woman next to her.
Jimmy heard a branch behind him crack and he reeled in that direction. But Weeping Woman was already up and moving, the hatchet in her hands swinging, connecting with the exposed belly of the Commanche. But another was right behind him. Somehow some of the Commanche warriors had gotten around behind them. Both Jimmy and Emma began to fire, looking for cover as they did. Weeping Woman stood her ground, swinging with the hatchet.
It looked as though they were about to be overpowered when a piercing cry split the air. A horse came galloping from the trees, a gun firing from it's back. The rider dove from his horse, tackling a Commanche that had snuck up behind Jimmy with his tomahawk raised. Jimmy saw the flash of a knife as it was raised overhead then plunged downward. It wasn't until his savior looked up that he realized it was Buck.
"Good timing!" Jimmy yelled, sighting at an approaching warrior.
"Didn't think I'd let you have all the fun, did you?" Buck yelled back, once again firing his gun. he looked around quickly, noting Emma unharmed over by a tree trunk and a bandage wrapped around Jimmy's left arm.
Buck grabbed a sturdy branch lying at his feet, swinging it around and striking the man approaching behind him. His knife flew through the air, keeping the warrior from rising. Other Kiowa were now joining the fight in this area, Red Bear among them.
Buck watched as his brother fought, always strong and confident. Buck ran to his side, fighting with him. Red Bear took a knife cut to the arm before Buck took out the attacker. Moments later red Bear returned the favor as Buck felt a knife enter his right shoulder. The attack caused him to stagger forward, an arrow flying through the air where his chest had just been.
The fight finally came to an end, the remaining Commanche riding off, taking what wounded and dead they could.
On to Chapter Seven
