Montana Territory

by Charles G. West

  It occurred to him that he should have spoken in the Crow tongue. He was about to do that, but he heard the rustle of bushes behind him, so he stopped and waited. A young Indian woman emerged, still trying to free herself from the chokecherry branches that held on to her. Her dress was wet. When she looked up to see him watching her efforts, she stopped as if she thought she might have made the wrong decision to come out of her hiding place. “Come on,” he said, “and you can help me cook some of this meat.” Then he turned his back on her again and continued toward his fire. Still undecided, she paused a few moments more, then decided to follow the strange white man. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and wearing a buckskin shirt and a flat-crowned hat with a feather stuck in the band. She wondered if he might be the white man her tribesmen called Hawk. If he was, he was a friend to the Crow. Even if he was not that man, he seemed to have no evil intent toward her, so she decided to follow him.

  She walked up to within ten feet of the fire, where he busied himself situating his coffeepot in the flames. She stopped then to ask a question. “Are you the white man they call Hawk?”

  “Yes, I’m Hawk,” he answered. “What is your name?”

  “My name is Winter Flower,” she replied.

  “Crow?” Hawk asked, and she nodded vigorously. “Well, Winter Flower, why are you here in this place? Are you alone?” She said that she was alone and that she was trying to get back to her family on the Crow Reservation. “On the Stillwater River?” Hawk asked.

  She nodded vigorously again and began to explain her presence there on the Yellowstone. Soon the story poured out of her. When she and her younger sister left their father’s cabin to dig up wild turnips, they were accosted by two white men on horseback. She recognized the two men as evil men who came to the reservation to sell whiskey to the young men of her village. “One of them asked me if I wanted to go with him,” she said. “When I said no, he tried to grab me, but my sister and I ran. He ran me down on his horse and knocked me to the ground. Then he tied me up. The man who took me asked his friend if he wanted my sister and he said ‘No, she is too young.’ They didn’t tie her up, and I was afraid they were going to shoot her, so I told her to run to tell our father what had happened to me. The man who held me tried to grab her, but she was too quick, and she ran into the forest. The other man was still on his horse, but he didn’t try to run her down. He shot at her, instead, but he missed her. Morning Sky can run very fast, and the man’s horse would not hold still, so he missed when he shot at her again.”

  “So, she got away,” Hawk said, and Winter Flower nodded. “But you got away, too. It looks like you were in the river.”

  “Yes, they drank much whiskey and got sleepy. They didn’t tie me very good, so I got away while they slept. They have been looking for me since this morning, and I think if they find me, they will kill me. The one called Luke said that he would kill me if I tried to run away. So, I slipped out of their camp and crossed the river, hoping they would not follow me. But they must have seen footprints where I went into the river because I heard them on the other side behind me. So, I crossed back to this side and found a place to hide.”

  Based on what she had just told him, Hawk had a clear picture of what she had been through. He had no idea where the two men might be now, on this side of the river, or the other, how far behind her they might be, or how strong their determination to find her was. Without knowing any of this, it was difficult to decide what to do. So, he decided to do nothing. “You’ll have to trust me,” he told her. “I’ll take you home to your village, but first, we’ll stay right here and see if they figured out where you went. I’ve got a blanket in my bedroll. You can go back in the bushes there and get out of that wet buckskin dress and leggings and we’ll dry ’em out by the fire. I’ll keep watch while you change. Then you can drink some of this coffee to warm you up a little.” She looked at him as if astonished. He guessed that she expected him to quickly pack up his things and gallop away on his horse with her behind him. “Trust me,” he repeated. “I promise I won’t let them take you, if they find us.”

  Feeling that he might not understand how dangerous the two men were, she was not sure if he was making the right decision or if maybe he was with them. But at this point, her options were limited, so she decided to trust the man called Hawk. From what she had heard in her village, Hawk was a man to be trusted. She nodded obediently when he handed her his blanket, then took it and went behind the closest patch of bushes from the fire. “Whatever you want,” she answered when he asked if she wanted deer meat or bacon.

  “We’ll have some deer jerky,” he announced. Then thinking he had plenty of provisions, he said, “And some bacon, too.” He doubted that she had been given anything to eat by the two men who had captured her.

  CHAPTER 2

  “Luke!” Bud Jenkins yelled. “Over here!” He stepped down from the saddle to take a closer look, then he waited for his partner to catch up to him. They had found the girl’s tracks leading into the water, so they had crossed over and found her tracks where she came out on that side. But she had been more careful from that point on. When Luke Ivey pulled his horse up beside his partner’s, Bud pointed to a broken branch between two berry bushes growing on the edge of a low bluff. “That’s what she did,” he said, looking over the low bluff at the water below. “She pushed through this here bush and jumped in the river, thought we wouldn’t see no tracks, so we wouldn’t know she went back across the river. She’s smart, but she ain’t as smart as me and you, right, Luke?”

  “I ’spect not,” Luke said. “Come on.” He wheeled his horse and loped past the bluff to a point where the bank was not so steep and entered the water there. When Bud caught up to him on the other side, he said, “You look upstream, I’ll look downstream. We oughta find some tracks where she came out.” As he expected, it wasn’t long before he discovered Winter Flower’s tracks where she had come out of the water. “Down here, Bud,” he called out, and waited for him. When he caught up to him, Luke chuckled and pointed to the footprints coming out of the river. “Looks like she tried to brush her tracks out with a branch or somethin’. I reckon she was in too big a hurry to do a good job. Let’s see which way she ran.”

  They scouted the riverbank for only a short while before finding a single footprint heading downstream. “She can’t be far,” Bud speculated. “She mighta found her a place to hole up and hide. Best keep a sharp eye.” They went on foot, leading their horses, so as not to miss any other signs of her escape route, and after a distance of about fifty yards, they discovered another footprint in the moss at the base of a cottonwood tree. “She’s runnin’ straight down the river,” he said with a laugh. “Reckon she’s figurin’ on runnin’ all the way back home?” They continued along the river until Bud suddenly stopped and exclaimed, “Whoa!” When Luke came up beside him, Bud pointed to a column of smoke drifting up through the trees ahead.

  “What the hell?” Luke puzzled, “You reckon she stopped to build a fire?”

  “No, jackass, we done run up on somebody’s camp,” Bud replied. “Best leave the horses here and slip up a little closer, so we can take a look-see.” They tied their horses there and moved cautiously up closer to the source of the smoke. Parting the branches of a large laurel bush, he peeked through to see the small camp.

  Pushing up beside him, Luke said, “I don’t see but one horse down by the water, and there ain’t but one man I can see, and he’s settin’ up close to that big cottonwood.”

  “On the other side of him,” Bud whispered, excitedly. “That looks like a woman settin’ next to him with a robe on.”

  “It’s her!” Luke blurted, although with the blanket covering her head and shoulders, he could not be absolutely sure. “It’s gotta be her. The little bitch has took up with another man. Well, I’ll take care of that real quick,” he declared as he drew the .44 riding on his hip.

  “That might not be too smart,” Bud cautioned. “We shoulda brung our rifles.
With him settin’ up close against that tree like he is, he ain’t givin’ you much of a target. And that far away, you’d be lucky to hit the damn tree with your pistol.”

  “Well, he don’t look like he’s goin’ anywhere,” Luke said. “Let’s go back and get our rifles.”

  “There ain’t no use in takin’ a chance on pluggin’ that tree instead of him,” Bud suggested. “Why don’t we go back and get the horses, then just ride on into his camp peaceable-like?” Luke cocked his head to the side, a sign that told Bud he wasn’t too sure that was a good idea, so Bud explained his reasoning. “If we just ride on in like we’re peaceful travelers and don’t give him any idea we’re lookin’ for trouble, we’ll be able to ride to the right of that campfire so there won’t be none of him behind the tree. As soon as we get the angle on him, we can blast away. That way, we can get a better look at who’s under that blanket.” He punched Luke playfully on the shoulder and commented, “That might be his old granny under there.”

  They both chuckled over that and Luke said, “Then I reckon that’d be a woman for you, since you said my gal’s sister was too young for you.”

  Sitting close by the trunk of the large cottonwood, Hawk heard Rascal nicker. He had been watching the big buckskin near the edge of the water, the horse’s ears constantly twitching, and knew their company was near. “They’re gettin’ pretty close,” he said, and Winter Flower moved even tighter up to the tree behind his shoulder. He cocked the hammer back on the Winchester lying on the ground right beside his hand. “You know how to shoot a gun?” She answered with a nod of her head. He reached down and eased the .44 out of his holster. “Here, use this only if you have to. That’s just in case I ain’t as smart as I think I am.” He gave her a reassuring smile and said, “All we gotta do now is wait and let ’em come to us.” In a matter of minutes, the two men slow-walked their horses into the little grassy clearing. “When the shootin’ starts, you roll over all the way behind this tree, understand?” She nodded.

  “Hello, the camp!” Bud sang out. “Saw your smoke. Mind if we come in?”

  “Not if you’re peaceful,” Hawk answered. He didn’t move to get to his feet, sitting where he was as the two men continued walking their horses to the other side of his fire. He figured they were intent upon getting a better angle to shoot at him. He wondered if they considered the fact that it also made them a better target and that his rifle was already aimed at the spot where he guessed they would stop.

  “No matter, friend,” Bud replied. “We ain’t lookin’ to stop. We’re searchin’ for a little Injun woman that’s been travelin’ with us, and I’m afraid she’s gone off and got herself lost.”

  “Is that a fact?” Hawk asked.

  “Yes, sir, it is,” Bud answered. “We’d be awful worried if we thought we’d lost her. Ya see, she’s tetched in the head and we’re tryin’ to get her to her folks on the reservation. I don’t reckon she wandered by here, did she?”

  “Not since we’ve been here,” Hawk replied. “We just got here a little while ago, though, just me and my woman. We ain’t seen anybody else.”

  “I reckon that’s your woman settin’ there beside you,” Luke said, “all huddled up under that blanket.”

  “Yep, that’s her. She’d come out and say howdy, but she’s kinda shy, don’t you know?”

  Luke was rapidly losing his patience in the game of verbal sparring. “I’m thinkin’ you might be makin’ a big mistake and that ain’t your woman a-tall.”

  Hawk sensed that they were about to make their move, but he maintained his casual front, even while his finger slowly eased onto the trigger. “No, no mistake,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I can tell my woman from all the others. Maybe you boys have been lookin’ in the wrong direction.” To Winter Flower, he whispered, “Remember what I told you.” She nodded, clutching the pistol with both hands.

  Bud was convinced that their bluff wasn’t working, and he saw the Winchester lying conveniently looking in their direction. He decided it best to respect the other man’s bluff and ride on out of the camp. There was no doubt the woman huddled between the man and the tree was the Indian girl they had stolen. Their best bet was to ride on out, then return that night and shoot him, take the girl and everything the man had. He was about to say as much to Luke, but he had waited too long. Exhausted of the tiny amount of patience he normally had and frustrated by the game of casual the stranger was playing, he reached for his six-gun. The peace of the riverside was shattered by the crack of the Winchester as Luke rolled backward off his horse. Bud had no choice but to go for his gun and managed to get off a shot, but the sudden crack of the rifle caused both horses to jump, spoiling his aim. Before he had time to cock the .44 again, he joined Luke on the ground, both men dead from shots in their chests.

  “Are you all right?” Hawk asked, and turned to look at her. She had remembered what he had told her to do, so she had rolled over behind the tree. And now she was pressing her back tightly against the trunk, holding his .44 against her breast with both hands. “Here,” he said, “you can give it back now.” She released it, realizing only then that she had been clutching it with the muzzle aimed up under her chin. “I reckon I’d best clean up our campsite if you’re gonna feel like havin’ any of that deer meat I was talkin’ about.” She could only nod in response, her emotions not sufficiently recovered from the sudden shooting.

  Except for their weapons, horses, and saddles, the two kidnappers had very little of value between them. Hawk dragged the bodies away from the camp, then unsaddled their horses. “If it’s all right with you,” he told her, “we’ll eat some supper and sleep here tonight. Then, in the mornin’, I’ll take you back to your family. My horse needs a rest, and maybe theirs might, too. At least, you’ll have your own horse to ride. I know your family is mighty sick about what happened to you, so we won’t waste any time gettin’ you home.” He suspected there was a good chance there might be another issue of great concern to her, so he thought to reassure her. “I won’t ask you if those men violated you, but I’ll tell your father that I rescued you before they had any chance to hurt you.”

  She said nothing at first, but big tears welled up in her eyes as she nodded her thanks. Then she tearfully admitted, “The one called Luke tried to lie with me, but I fought him and he was too drunk to do anything.”

  “Your father will be glad to know that you ain’t been harmed in any way,” Hawk continued. “And he’ll be happy when you bring him two good horses and saddles.” This surprised her, for she assumed that he would take all of the two men’s possessions for himself.

  Finally convinced that she was safe now, she thanked him for her rescue and volunteered to take over the cooking of their meager supper, tending the sizzling meat with one hand while holding the blanket around her with the other. Amused by her attempts, he cut a three-foot length of rope from one of the kidnappers’ saddles and gave it to her to use as a sash for her robe. With both hands free, she gave him a great big smile with a nod of her head. He was sorry he didn’t have any fresh-killed game to cook, instead of his meager rations of jerky and bacon, but she seemed grateful for what he offered.

  * * *

  They got an early start the following morning, delaying breakfast until it was time to rest the horses. The Crow agency was in the opposite direction from where Hawk had been going, but it was only a ride of about thirty-five miles, not even a full day’s travel. So it wasn’t really much out of his way, especially since he was in no particular hurry to reach Fort Ellis. To the contrary, since he had been fired, he was beginning to enjoy the feeling of being free of the discipline of an army patrol. With Winter Flower perched on the back of a yellow dun gelding, formerly the ride of the late Bud Jenkins, they left the Yellowstone and started out to the southeast to strike the Stillwater River and Winter Flower’s home. Following a game trail Hawk had traveled before, they made their way across an expanse of rolling hills, devoid of trees, except along the occasional streams they
came upon. One such stream, a little healthier-looking than most, was selected as the stop for breakfast, although they had ridden no more than about fifteen or sixteen miles. It would leave them only about twenty miles to the Crow agency. It would still be early when they arrived at Winter Flower’s village. After he took care of the horses, he sat down by the fire Winter Flower had made and watched her as she fashioned a spit for the meat out of a green cottonwood branch. When the coffee was made, she filled his cup for him.

  She had said nothing about her sister to that point, so he thought it time to ask. “How old is your sister?”

  “Morning Sky has seen ten summers,” she replied.

  “How far were you and Mornin’ Sky from your village when those two men took you?” He had some concern that her sister might have lost her way, if the distance was great, and he could possibly find himself searching for her.

  “It was not far,” she answered, “not even a half a day’s walk. I’m sure she got home all right.” She smiled at him, aware of his concern. Feeling safe now that the nightmare of her abduction was past, she sought to learn more about the man who had saved her. “They call you Hawk. Is it because you wear that feather in your hatband?”

  “No,” he answered. “Hawk is my name—John Hawk. So, I reckon it’s more the other way around. I wear the feather because that’s my name.” She looked puzzled, so he said, “It’s not so unusual, is it? I mean, the men of your tribe wear feathers in their hair, right?”