As I sat in front of Man Killer’s lodge, I observed my surroundings. I estimated there to be close to five hundred members in the band. They were a warm, industrious people, who went about their business while they watched me with amusement. The fact that I had lasted the night with Man Killer had no doubt impressed them; maybe as much, if not more, than the cougar. I quickly decided that she was the most beautiful of the women in camp. I was also quite relieved to have survived in one piece. I counted a great many dogs in the village and they moved about freely, where they sometimes fought over the scraps of food and bone the People had left for them.
“Get a good look at him while you can,” shouted the voice of a young brave.
There were three of them and they stood less than ten yards away. The oldest of the three looked to be close to thirty and he glared at me for reasons I could only guess. He was solid and muscular; his brown face was painted with bright red smears. He had a bent, tuba-like nose, perhaps the largest that I had ever seen; his black hair was long and wild-looking. He didn’t like me. That much was plain to see.
Man Killer was suddenly at my side.
“I don’t see why you waste your time on him,” shouted the mean looking one. “He will be dead in a few minutes. He is not one of us.”
Man Killer grabbed me by the arm. “But, we’re already married. You were away and could not stop it. Isn’t it a little late for us to be fighting? What would it solve?”
“It would solve plenty, because he would be dead.”
I returned my attention to the three men. They were now laughing openly and pointing at me. The one called Stump Nose was snarling his teeth at me like an angry dog. This made the men roar with laughter. My manhood was being questioned and I had heard enough. I stood up and slowly walked towards him, mentally preparing myself for the battle.
We squared off. Stump Nose slipped his tomahawk from the leather thong at his side and he held it in his right hand. I had no weapons, but I did have my training and I had been publicly insulted. I had given in to Soliah and it had nearly cost me my life. I was done giving in. I took off the uniform jacket and tossed it to the ground.
“Look,” said Stump Nose. “He is already giving up. This one is smarter than he looks.”
“Oh, I’m not giving up,” I replied. “I just want us to be clear about something. After I defeat you I want you to stay away from Man Killer. She is my wife.”
“After I defeat you I will eat your heart and feed the rest of you to the dogs. I am looking forward to that and the dogs are always hungry.”
I rushed at him with all of my speed and he responded almost as quickly. I took the tomahawk from him and threw it as far into the woods as I could. He caught me with a chop of his empty hand, but it was a glancing blow that I barely felt. I circled him twice in the blink of an eye and stopped five feet in front of him. Stump Nose let out a mighty roar and he charged at me. I stood my ground and dipped my shoulder to meet his rush. I bent forward and when he was upon me I suddenly lifted up with all of my strength. Stump Nose flew in the air, his arms and legs flailing. He rolled in the dirt and the camp exploded with laughter.
I had learned the technique from Otis, using an attacker’s weight and momentum against them. It had worked to perfection and Stump Nose screamed with rage. He charged me again with the same results. I have never seen such anger and I thought he may have lost his mind. This delighted the many villagers who had gathered to watch us fight. I stayed focused on Stump Nose, just as I had been taught. He came at me slowly with fire in his eyes.
“Have you had enough?” I asked, knowing that this had only just begun.
“I am going to gouge out your eyes and you will eat them before I kill you. I promise you that.”
He moved close and tried to go for my knees. Again, I remembered my training and I kicked him square in the face with my bare foot. I could feel something break and blood gushed from the huge nose and he howled in pain. He had started this and I had been instructed to never let my opponent gather himself after he was down. I moved in and kicked him again in the side of the head and he fell to the ground. I felt like I had stepped outside of my body and was watching myself rain blows down on the fallen man. Now it was my turn to scream, because Stump Nose was either dead or he was out cold. I didn’t want to kill him, but he had given me no choice. If he was dead, he had brought it on himself.
I walked back to Man Killer’s lodge and sat back down where I had been. The crowd dispersed just as quickly as they had appeared and they left Stump Nose where he had fallen. Nobody moved to check on the fallen man. I felt that this was strange and I found myself suddenly hoping that someone would move to help him. I sat there for a few minutes and the guilt began to eat at me.
I remembered my time with Crooked Walker and what he had taught me about the rats. I stood once again and began to dance slowly and to sing the words that he had taught me. The first of the rats appeared in less than a minute and he was followed by many more. They swarmed Stump Nose and this brought the villagers out of their lodges. They circled us and watched the spectacle with amazement. I continued to dance, praying to the Great Spirit that I was not too late. Stump Nose moaned in agony and the sound of the rat’s clicking teeth filled the camp.
One at a time they scurried back into the woods. I stopped singing and fetched my jacket, which I quickly slung over Stump Nose’s naked body. I then waited to see if he would live.
He opened his eyes and held his hands up before his face. He gave me a puzzled look as he found the jacket and discovered his nakedness. He suddenly leapt to his feet and taking the jacket, he rushed off into the woods.
“You should not have done that,” said Man Killer. “You should have let him die.”
“Well, excuse me for saving his life,” I said in disbelief. “I thought maybe he has a mother who cares about him.”
“You were wrong. His mother hates him more than anyone in our camp. He will try to kill you again.”
I looked at Man Killer and could find no humor in her face. She turned and walked away from me and the village quickly returned to normal. I walked back to the lodge and sat down, thinking that I had better just stay put. I had somehow created a tar baby and I was stuck up to my elbows. I needed time to think.
I would have plenty of time for that. Man Killer did not return for three days.
I was thinking about backtracking to the canoe and felt I knew the way. I had grown tired of the slow life in the village and I needed to find my way back to Walker to rescue my grandfather. Above all, I was deeply hurt and very worried about Man Killer’s sudden departure. When I asked around the village, the only response was a shrug of the shoulders. “Man Killer does as she pleases,” I would hear if they said anything at all. I was left to my own devices and I had just about eaten all of the jerked meat in our lodge.
I saw her from one hundred yards away and our eyes locked. Neither of us looked away as she walked across the village and headed straight for me. This caused my heart to pound inside my chest and sweat to bead up on my forehead. I wanted to jump up and wrap my arms around her, just before I laid into her and told her how angry I was. The look in her hungry eyes made me tremble where I sat. She strode past me and went directly into the lodge.
I sat there, stunned by the recent turn of events and I wondered what I was supposed to do. The three nights without her in the lodge had been lonely, but there was also the element that I wasn’t sleeping with the Man Killer. There was some comfort there.
“I am waiting for you,” Man Killer cooed from inside the lodge. I had never heard her speak that way and it nearly doubled my pulse. I stood on my shaking legs and slowly walked into the lodge. Man Killer was wrapped, more or less, in her buffalo robe. Her buckskin dress lay on the floor.
I took a deep breath and felt a tingle of fear creep up the back of my neck. She was looking at me seductively and beckoning me with her bare arm. She patted the buffalo robe next to her.
Why couldn’t she be nam
ed Bright Flower or Nancy, or something? No, she was called Man Killer and she had warned me to stay away from her side of the lodge. Still, I had never had such a tempting offer and after all, we had been married and sleeping together was the natural thing to do. The voices inside my head began to have a heated argument. I felt the fear drain from my body with each passing second. She gave me a coy smile and caressed her bare shoulder.
“Don’t be afraid of me.”
“This is not right. I am not ready,” I said the words, but I had absolutely no idea of where they had come from. I then spun on my bare feet and walked outside into the sunshine. I had remembered what Odd Whitefeather had taught me about the two voices and how to fight off sudden urges.
I cursed his name under my breath.
She emerged from the lodge, fully-dressed and as mad as a hornet. “He does not find me attractive!” Man Killer shrieked at the top of her lungs. She then sprinted off into the village, repeating those words at a piercing decibel.
I stood there at the front of our lodge and felt the terrible pain of total humiliation. An old woman shuffled towards me, moving like a tortoise under her long robes. She beckoned me close with her wrinkled hand as if she wanted to tell me something. I leaned into her and she slapped me with enough strength to knock me over. “Moosh,” she spat. She then turned and began her slow departure. I would later find out that she had called me a dog, a terrible insult in their culture.
I ran to Man Killer using all of my speed and I pleaded with her to stop. She didn’t even give me a second look. Now she was screaming how I was a poor excuse for a husband and that she should have married Stump Nose. That was when I snapped. I moved in and took her over my shoulder. I then carried her off in the direction of our lodge. Man Killer pounded at my back and the blows stung with pain. She was a strong woman and she wasn’t pulling her punches.
I took her inside the lodge and nearly tossed her onto her buffalo robes. We would not be seen again until late the next morning.
Chapter Eleven
Brindle's Odyssey Page 17