"We were asked to seek you out and to tell you the Great Sun is failing. He grows weaker."
"He wishes me to return?"
"That was what he said, but I felt that he wished you to decide for yourself. He spoke first as Ni'kwana, second as a father."
"He is not my father!"
"I said he spoke as a father. As one who wished you well." Also, I added, "you have been followed by a man named Kapata."
"Kapata?" Her contempt was obvious.
"He intends to wed you," I spoke cheerfully, "and become a Sun, perhaps even the Great Sun."
Her eyes were cold, imperious. "One does not 'become' a Sun. One is or is not a Sun."
"I understand that does not matter to him. He has his own ideas. He will marry you and usurp the power." I shrugged. "However, it is none of my business. I know nothing of your people or your customs."
"Obviously!"
She turned her attention to Keokotah. "You know of this?"
"We met the Ni'kwana. He spoke with us. He spoke most to him." Keokotah paused. "We have done what was asked. You may go."
"Imay go? You dismissme? I shall go where I choose, when I choose."
"Then please be seated," I said. She looked at the fire where the chicory bubbled slightly. "We do not have much, but--"
"It ismayocup entchibil! I smell it from far!" She was no longer imperious but like a very young girl.
"She speaks of the 'dark root,' " Keokotah said. "It is one way of speaking what you drink."
Filling a cup made of bark, I handed it to her. She accepted it, and then a woman came forward and placed a mat upon the ground near the fire. Itchakomi seated herself and sipped the drink. Slowly the others came into the camp and gathered about.
Seating myself opposite her I waited until she had drunk from the cup. "Kapata is close," I spoke carefully. "He has some of your people but more of the Tensa. They seek you."
"He is nothing."
"He is a strong, dangerous man."
"You fear?"
"I? What have I to fear? He seeks you, notme. I shall be gone with Keokotah. You have warriors."
This I said, but I had seen her warriors. Three of them were old men, well past their prime. They had come for their wisdom, not for their strength or fighting ability. Against the Tensa they would prove a poor match. Some of the younger ones looked able enough, but they were too few. I shifted uneasily. None of this was any affair of mine. I wished only to be away, and Keokotah felt the same.
One of her Indians added fuel to the fire.
"There are also the Conejeros," I suggested. "You have seen them?"
"Their feet have left marks on the way we walk. I know them not."
"They are dangerous men. They are warriors and there are many."
"You fear?"
Irritated, I said, "We have met them. Three are dead. Two have gone for others. I suggest you find a place that is safe for the winter. Soon the snows will come. You cannot cross the plains."
"We have canoes. The water is strong."
She ignored me, speaking to Keokotah. Yet her eyes strayed to my guns in their ornate scabbards. That she was curious was obvious, but I had no intention of gratifying her curiosity.
She was, I must admit, uncommonly beautiful, and would have graced any gathering, anywhere. She had poise and intelligence and quick wit. I suspected she was not entirely of Natchee blood, judging by her appearance, but that was merely a suspicion.
We had been speaking in Spanish interspersed here and there with an English or Cherokee word, but I soon discovered that her command of English was not small. We had heard of Englishmen as well as Spanish who lived among them, and some of De Soto's men had stayed on with the Natchee, preferring the safety of the Indian villages to the long, doubtful trek that would have awaited them.
Knowing what I did of the Europeans who had lived among the Indians I was not surprised. When De Soto first landed he discovered a man named Juan Ortiz already living among the Indians, and when the French Hugenots living at Charlesfort abandoned their settlement, one young lad, Guillaum Rufin, decided not to trust himself to the frail craft they had constructed and remained with the Indians. Several of the Frenchmen in a later colonizing attempt by Jean Ribaut had escaped a Spanish attack and gone to live with the natives.
"The Tensa and Kapata look for you. The Conejeros are everywhere. To get to the river, find your canoes, and then escape will be very hard."
"So?"
"Go into the mountains, wait there for a week, then go quickly. They look for you now. If you leave no tracks, they can find none." I gestured toward the path they had followed to us. "This goes into the mountains. We will follow it."
She considered what I had said, and then Keokotah spoke. "The Ni'kwana trusted him. He thought--"
"We do not know what he thought. Only what he said." She paused. "We will do it. For three days we wait."
She arose and went to where the women had made a bed for her. She lay down and composed herself with a woman lying on each side of her, but each at least ten feet away.
Keokotah looked at me, shrugged, and rolled up in his own blankets. I withdrew the longer sticks from the fire to let it die to coals, and then lay down myself. First I checked my guns. The night was overcast. It was very still. Once a brief flame struggled against the darkness and then faded and died.
When morning came we left quickly, but not until I had gone off some distance to where there was an old campsite. Gathering some of the ancient coals I brought them back to scatter over our fire. Then I lifted handsful of dust and let it drift from my fingers over the fire, carried by the slight breeze. To casual glance our campfire would look months or even years old.
We moved out quickly, going down a slight declivity to the stream that flowed past the hogback mountain we had used for a landmark. There seemed to be an opening through which the stream flowed that would allow access to the mountains.
The stream had cut through the dark rock, and the game path along the stream was narrow. With Keokotah leading the way we climbed a steep hill and came out on top in a lovely valley. We camped where we could watch the entrance and settled down to rest, and to complete work on our buffalo hides. Keokotah and I moved our camp under several large old trees some fifty yards from the camp of the Natchee.
At daybreak I was up and scouting. The hole in which we had taken shelter must have embraced a thousand acres of fertile land, surrounded by rugged hills and cliffs covered with timber, mostly pine. Or so it seemed from where I studied them.
For several hours I scouted about. There were a number of caves, one a death trap. I tried dropping a stone into the darkness and it took some time to hit bottom. It was a place to avoid.
Here and there wildflowers still bloomed and I saw other plants I remembered--mountain parsley, wild mint, choke-cherry, and a half dozen others that might be useful. Already I was planning for the coming winter. No matter what Itchakomi decided to do, this would be a good place for Keokotah and I to winter.
Game would be apt to shelter here, and if we kept our presence small the supply would be sufficient to provide us with meat. Building a shelter was not out of the question, but one of the caves might be all that was needed.
As I studied the valley and the surrounding hills I heard the song of a meadowlark, always a favorite, and several times I stumbled upon flocks of quail. The hills would give us shelter from the worst storms and there would be fuel.
Itchakomi's people were gathered about their fire when I returned. Keokotah had built our own fire. He was broiling meat, and I joined him, bringing more fuel.
"A cold time is coming," I said.
He cut a sliver from the meat with his knife and began chewing.
"There are caves. I see many deer. I see bear tracks. Quail." I cut a sliver from the meat. "It is a good place," I said.
"What they do?"
I shrugged. "She will decide. I think they will go."
"They will stay," Keokot
ah said. "Itchakomi has eyes for you."
"For me? No chance of that. She despises me."
Sitting beside the fire I considered their problem. If they left now and could get to the Arkansas they might float down the river to its mouth. The severe drouth that had hit the plains before we had come was gone. The river was running full and strong. To get so far as the river would call for considerable luck, and we had been fortunate so far. They must have canoes somewhere not too far off if they had not been discovered by the Conejeros.
On the other hand the Conejeros might know of this valley or might find our tracks. We had seen no signs of recent occupation or of hunting or travel, so it was possible they had not found this place. Here we might last out the winter in comparative shelter. We would need more food, of course. A little judicious hunting would take care of that. Most of all we needed a fat bear, for of all things, fat is the hardest to come by in the wilderness.
One of Itchakomi's young warriors came to our fire and squatted on his heels. "You stay?" he asked.
"We stay."
He was uneasy. "Snow?"
"Much," I said, "and much cold."
The Indian poked a stick into the fire. "Natchee not much cold," he said.
Keokotah said nothing, but I glanced around at him and said, "Living where they do on the lower Mississippi they wouldn't have much experience with cold and snow. You know better than any of us what we'll have to do."
Keokotah was silent for several minutes, and then he made a sweeping gesture. "Snow!" he said. He picked up a stick from the small pile of fuel. "No find tree for fire, all cover! No find game! Snow! Much, much snow! Stay in lodge!"
"Then we'd better hunt," I said. "We'll need meat, and we'll need a fat bear or two. We'll need to gather what seeds we can before they're all covered with snow."
They sat silent, waiting. "Keokotah? You know the problems."
The Kickapoo shook his head vigorously. "You speak! You chief!"
"The women and the older men should gather wood," I said. "We must hunt, but hunt far away from where we live. We must not drive game away from us."
There was time yet, so we went quietly about what must be done. There was much wood lying about, trees that had blown down or fallen from age or lightning, many with limbs broken off. As in all such wild areas there was no limit to the available deadwood, and we gathered it close to the cave we had chosen.
My leg was still a handicap. Undoubtedly I had begun using it, even with the crude crutches, sooner than I should have done. I limped, but also the leg tired rapidly. My other wounds had healed, although the scars on my scalp and legs would always be reminders. My strength had not returned, and I had to work in spells, resting from time to time.
"She think you weak," Keokotah said, smirking a little, "I tell her you strong. Tell her you kill big animal."
"She can think what she likes," I replied irritably. "It does not matter to me."
Yet I was angry with myself that I could do no more, for winter was coming on and we were ill prepared for the cold. We had found good shelter in the caves, and we had brought much wood close by, not touching that already close but bringing wood from afar, where it would be hard to go when winter brought snow and ice.
Keokotah and two of the younger braves from the Natchee ventured down into the plains where they killed several buffalo and bought home the meat and the hides.
At dusk on the day after the return of Keokotah I killed a large bear, killed him with three arrows and skinned him out, saving much fat meat.
Keokotah went again to the plains but returned only with an antelope.
"No good," he said. "I look. Many tracks where we kill buffalo. I think Kapata find. Now he look close by."
I did not often swear but I did then, softly and to myself. I had hoped they would not find us and would go back down the river to avoid the winter. Now we would urge them to stay on and to find us.
My leg worried me. One month, I had thought when first injured, but now the summer had gone and it was still not what it should be. Was I to be permanently crippled? I could not accept that, although I had known brave men who had been and who had achieved greatly and lived well despite it. Many hurt worse than I had gone on to lead active lives. Yet I was alone.
Keokotah was my friend but I could not impose a burden upon him, and I had no family closer than a thousand miles.
Deliberately I began going further afield. I pushed myself to hunt, to extend my movements. When I tired, I rested, but I continued to hunt, to bring wood, and to collect seeds. And then I set myself another task, to check for tracks.
Of course, along the game trail following the stream was the likely route by which an enemy might come, yet they might also come over the mountains. I tried to leave nothing to chance, but to be aware of tracks wherever I was.
Although her women dressed skins and gathered what seeds and herbs could still be found, I saw nothing of Itchakomi.
Not that I was looking. I had no business with her and no doubt she was about business of her own. Yet she was nowhere in sight, and I wondered. When Keokotah was about I never looked toward her cave. We had our own cave, our own fire. It was sufficient.
And then the snow fell.
There was a night when the skins with which we covered ourselves were not enough, there was a morning when I walked out into the crisp, cold air to find the hills about the valley white with freshly fallen snow.
That was the morning we knew winter had come. That was the morning I knew Itchakomi would not be going away downriver. It was already too late.
Icy winds would be blowing down from the north, and other Indians would be sitting warm in their lodges. Soon the rivers would freeze and no canoe would be able to travel upon them. Itchakomi had been foolish to wait so long, yet I would say nothing of that. I felt better that she ... they ... were staying. After all, I'd not like to think of them freezing out on those ghastly plains--ghastly in the winter, at least.
On the second morning Keokotah returned from a hunt begun before the snow, and he brought with him a prisoner, an Indian girl, an Apache.
Chapter Seventeen.
The girl was young and quite pretty. Furthermore, she did not seem at all put out by her capture.
"Where'd you find her?"
"She hides."
"From you?"
"No from me. She does not see me. She is Acho Apache, and she is taken from her village in a raid. She makes runaway and hides. I see her. I tell her 'come!' She is here."
"I see she is." She drew nearer to him. "Does she wish to return to her people?"
Even as I spoke I could see how foolish the idea was. If ever I had seen anyone who was pleased to be right where she was it was this Indian girl. "She is your problem, Keokotah," I said. "Just so she doesn't run off and bring them back on us."
"She no run," he said, and I believed him.
Limping, I walked outside. The air was cool off the snow-covered mountains. We had a few more days before the snow fell here, or so I hoped. Still, we were as ready as we were likely to be. We had buffalo robes, we had meat, and we had shelter. At the edge of the brush near the creek, something stirred. My eyes held, waiting.
It moved again. It was a buffalo calf.
I spoke to Keokotah. "The calf. Tell them not to kill it."
"They know. I speak strong to them."
Several times when I was close to the calf I spoke to it. Once I reached out to touch it, but it moved away, though not too swiftly, and I felt the poor creature was lonely. I talked to it, and sometimes when I went down by the stream it walked along not too far away, keeping pace with me. One day when Keokotah's Acho woman made fry bread I offered a piece to the buffalo calf. It smelled and then tugged it from my hand and ate it. Gradually, we became friends.
The snow came in the night, softly, silently, very white, very thick, and soon very deep. The Natchee stayed by their fires, as did we. However, later in the day I went out and after much persuading and
tugging, got the calf into the cave. He would not stay, but ran outside and into the snow.
"He like snow," Keokotah said. "Animal like snow."
"Tell them not to hunt near the opening of the valley," I suggested to Keokotah. "There will be no tracks to see."
The days went by slowly, and when I could I talked to the Natchee or to Keokotah and his woman.
Her people hunted southeast from us, she told us. As to where they had come from she did not know, only that it had been a very good place. It was "over there" and now she was "here." It did not seem to matter, for they had always been somewhere. Her grandfather had lived far from here, and his father still farther.
When I could I led her to talk, and when she understood that Keokotah approved she talked willingly enough. Gradually her story became the story of many small migrating tribes, moving from place to place over the years. Often they remained for many years in one general area, and then, pushed out by others or because of drouth or the scarcity of wildlife, they moved on. Their warriors went off on raids or were raided.
I saw little of Itchakomi. She held herself aloof, although once or twice I caught her looking our way. My message had been delivered and my responsibility had ended. Yet she had spoken with Keokotah and with his Acho woman.
In all this time we saw nothing of Kapata or of the Conejeros. Faithfully, we all stayed away from the opening into the valley so as to leave no visible indication of our presence. We kept our fires to a minimum and tried not to burn them when the wind would take the smoke down through the opening along the creek. Nevertheless, I knew it was merely a matter of time.
Despite the early snow the aspen trees were a river of gold flowing along the mountain and spilling down its sides. I stood by the creek one day simply soaking up the rare beauty of the late autumn, when suddenly Itchakomi was nearby.
On this day she wore white buckskins, beaded and worked with porcupine quills. She was, without doubt, a woman of rare beauty.
Standing there with a background of the golden leaves of the aspen she was something no one could look at and remain unmoved.
"You are beautiful!" I said, the words bursting from me, without warning.
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