by Paty Jager
Wade stood his ground. To show fear now would not only give the Indian the upper hand it would also lower his authority with all the scouts. He stared boldly back at the Indian, ignoring the gun rammed into his breast bone. “I’d think your time would be better spent searching for the Nez Perce and not harassing me.”
The rumble of many hooves and jingle of metal slowly grew in volume. The scout tipped his head and shoved the barrel one last time into Wade’s chest before whirling his horse away and loping south.
Wade relaxed, rubbing the area where the barrel had surely left a bruise. He waited for the column of riders to come into view. Sturgis rode in the front of the seventh cavalry with his officers.
This reoccurring scene of him without a mount while troops rode up had become old.
Sturgis raised his hand, halting the formation. “Lieutenant Watts, I didn’t expect to find you here.” The colonel’s eyes strayed to the saddle on the ground at his feet. “And without a mount.”
“I rode south to check the word of the scouts and lost my horse to a cougar.” He picked up his saddle and belongings.
The colonel surveyed the destruction and bodies. “Did you see the renegades who did this?”
“No sir, I came upon it only moments before you.”
Sturgis’s gaze remained fixed on Wade. The calculating going on behind those eyes worried him.
He didn’t need Sturgis or anyone else watching him to see where his loyalties lay. If they even had an inkling he talked with Sa-qan, he’d be escorted back to a fort and watched. This campaign had become a passion of the highest military officials.
Sturgis motioned for a sergeant to ride forward. “Murphy, go to the ramada and bring Lieutenant Watts a horse and detach men to bury these two.”
The sergeant saluted and whirled his horse to the rear of the troops and trotted off.
“I’ll wait here for Murphy to bring my mount and help with the burial detail.” Wade phrased his comment to indicate they could continue.
Sturgis shifted in his saddle. “We’ll wait. You can ride in the front with the other officers.”
Wade saw the slight nods of agreement bob between the men in the front. They would watch him. This quiet distrust would challenge his ability to talk with Sturgis about seeking a peaceful end to this campaign next to impossible.
Murphy arrived with a black gelding and a group of four men with shovels. Sturgis gave the command for the troop to dismount. The trumpeter sounded the order. The formation dismounted while the men with shovels began digging holes.
Sergeant Murphy held the black as Wade outfitted the animal. He paused to find Sturgis and the other officers conferring in a small huddle. Wade thanked Murphy and walked over to the shallow graves now being covered. No one said any words over the bodies but the hushed voices and furtive glances at the newly dug dirt told Wade it weighed on every mind.
Colonel Sturgis remounted, signaled the trumpeter who blew “to mount,” and the group made ready to move out. Wade swung up onto his horse and fell into formation beside another lieutenant.
Sturgis moved them out, and they advanced along the path Wade had walked the day before. No one asked his whereabouts, but the scrutiny of the men around him vibrated the hairs on his neck. They wouldn’t sneak up on the Nez Perce, not if Sa-qan warned her people. Being in the front of the line made him a solid target.
****
Sa-qan shifted to smoke and entered a Nez Perce warrior scouting the back trail. She maneuvered him to a position to witness the approaching soldiers. Her heart lurched at the sight of Wade in the front of the long line of soldiers. He would be the first into the attack by the Nimiipuu. The warrior she had entered fought her intrusion. By allowing her feelings for Wade to overtake her, she’d disoriented the warrior. She swirled out of the warrior’s body, allowing him to make his own observations and decisions about the soldiers.
His horse spun around and took off at a lope back toward the Nimiipuu camp. The people would be warned.
She shifted to eagle form and circled high up in the sky. How could she keep Wade from harm? Wewukiye had helped the night before. Even after talking with him she did not understand why he had helped when he strongly believed Wade was not good for her or the Nimiipuu. She tried questioning him, but her brother had only said he must get back to Dove.
From her vantage high in the sky, she saw the warrior ride into the camp. A smoke signal warning of the soldiers puffed in the air, calling the warriors away scouting back to help. The Nimiipuu moved out, herding the horses into a canyon with the camp following. Warriors spread out along the rims in front of the canyon’s entrance. They would hold the soldiers off and give their families time to keep moving away from the fighting.
The Nimiipuu had readied themselves for the soldiers; now she must find a way to keep Wade from harm.
She caught an air current and rode it down toward the advancing soldiers. The soldiers numbered more than previous skirmishes. Not as many as the Nez Perce warriors but they could harm the women and children should they get through the warriors.
Her keen sight found Wade. His eyes moved, searching for an attack. He knew the Nimiipuu had been warned.
She swirled to smoke and entered the horse next to Wade’s. The poor animal used every bit of its being to keep up with the forced trot. She moved into the officer. He was hungry, tired, and suspicious of Wade.
Sa-qan held her sympathy for the two at bay so the soldier would not experience her presence in his body. She probed to find out more. Sturgis had told them all to watch Wade. Suspicions filled their minds as to how he traveled about from troop to troop. They believed he held Nez Perce sympathies.
She slipped back into the horse and allowed her fear for Wade to surface. To help him stay out of the attack could make this Sturgis even more suspicious. Her plan to enter his horse and make the animal unruly when the attack started could confirm their suspicions of Wade.
Unable to reason out a good plan, she slipped from the horse, floated into the air, and shifted into an eagle high above the soldiers as the men in the lead trotted between ridges lined with Nimiipuu warriors.
Several rows of soldiers passed before the Nimiipuu fired into the group. Horses nickered and shouts rang out as the bullets hit their targets and soldiers fled to the yellow, red, and gray cliff walls, ducking behind the bushes.
Sa-qan kept her eyes trained on Wade. He dodged the bullets, dove from his horse, and scrambled to the cliff side like the others. She flew closer to the canyon, searching the side for a hiding place. An area large enough for two bodies to huddle in a formation of rocks would hide them. She landed halfway between the spot and Wade. She shifted into her mortal form and climbed down the canyon wall.
Wade hunched behind a bush his attention on the far ridge. She placed a hand on his shoulder.
He pivoted, gun in hand pointed at her. His eyes widened in surprise and the weapon quickly fell to his side.
“Sa-qan, you shouldn’t be here. You could be hurt.” He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her down behind the bush.
“I have found a place we can wait for the fighting to end.” She placed a hand on his cheek.
His jaw tightened and his eyes peered at her. “I want you safe, but I can’t walk away from my duty as an officer.” He nodded toward the commotion.
“I wish you safe as well.”
“Watts? Lieutenant Watts? Are you hit?” A voice called from not far away.
“They can’t find you,” Wade whispered and moved to the other side of the bush. “I’m fine, sergeant. Carry on checking for wounded.”
A bullet buzzed past Sa-qan, causing her to flinch. The deadly slug landed in the ground next to Wade. He had to come with her. She could heal him once more, but she did not want him to suffer again.
Wade dropped to the ground and crawled to her. “You have to go back with your people. It isn’t safe. You could get hit by a bullet from either side.”
“I will not leave unl
ess you come with me. You can hide until the warriors return to their families. They are only holding the soldiers back to give the women and children time to get away.” Sa-qan held out her hand. “Come with me.”
He placed his hand in hers, but his eyes held regret. “I can’t run away. I’m an officer. I won’t shoot back, but I can’t desert my men.”
“Someone, please. Aghhh…” The plaintive plea of a man came from not far away.
Wade released her hand and crouched, moving toward the voice. She started to follow.
“Sa-qan! Go!”
She sucked in air at his harsh tone, but the sadness in his eyes gripped her heart. He sent her away for her sake. He did not know she could not be killed by bullets. But to tell him the truth she would also have to tell him she was not a mortal. He had overlooked her being a Nimiipuu but could he understand her being a spirit?
Pú-timt wax pí-lept
(14)
Wade’s heart tore when he peered into the fearful eyes of Sa-qan. He hated being gruff with her, but she had to get out of the battle zone. He’d never forgive himself if she suffered a wound or died. As much as he loathed this campaign he’d sworn to do his duty and as an officer that meant to serve his men and country, not his own needs.
He continued toward the sound of moaning and found a private with a large hole in his leg and blood pooling beside his body. Wade removed the man’s belt and tightened it around the bleeding leg above the wound. The private wouldn’t make it if he didn’t find a doctor.
Shots exploded thirty feet down the ridge. The troops didn’t have a chance against the sharp-shooting Indians. Greasewood and sage made poor hiding spots. Warriors hidden along the ridges picked off the soldiers like ducks on a pond.
The troopers stood a better chance if they separated. Harder targets to pick off. He couldn’t sit here and nurse the man. He had to check on the others. Wade grabbed hold of the private’s infantry strap and dragged the wounded man. The diagonal placement of the strap across the man’s chest provided the perfect handle to move the body without picking him up and exposing them as easy targets.
He towed the man toward the sporadic blasts of smoke puffing up from bushes thirty feet away. The stench of gunpowder hung in the air, tickling his nostrils.
“Don’t shoot. It’s Lieutenant Watts with wounded!” he yelled, fearing the men would hear his approach and start shooting. Two privates sprang forward and helped him pull the wounded man into the small naturally formed trench the men had hunkered into.
He locked eyes with Sergeant Murphy. “Do we know if a doctor was in the front lines?”
“No, sir,” Murphy said, shaking his head. The man’s eyes grew as big around as a silver dollar.
“We aren’t going to die like Custer’s men are we, sir?” a private asked.
Wade shook his head. “They aren’t out to kill us, just detain us so their women and children can get away.”
Murphy tugged on his sleeve. “How do you know that, sir?”
“Because the Nez Perce were, until the government took their land away, a peaceful tribe. They just want left alone.” Wade ran a hand over his mustache and scanned the ridge where he’d left Sa-qan. Did she scurry away? Would she return to her brother safely?
“How do you know so much about these Injuns?” a private asked.
“It’s my duty to know about all the Indians in my territory.” Wade scanned the rims. Puffs of smoke dotted the plateau as the warriors shot into the area. “Murphy, where’s Colonel Sturgis?”
“I believe he took the majority of the troops back to try and flank the Injuns.”
Wade nodded. “Good counter maneuver. Stay put and low. It’ll take them some time to get around behind the ridges. Save the ammunition and don’t fire unless the Indians start coming down the sides. I’m going to see if there’s anyone else out there wounded.”
The Nez Perce had proved time after time they had excellent diversion tactics. By holding the army off here at the ridges it gave their women and children more time to escape. It could also put Sa-qan in danger. He hadn’t given her time to tell him how she planned to get away. She could get caught in the crossfire. His chest squeezed. She’d come to save him, yet she could be the one injured.
Wade leaped out of the trench and headed up the canyon slope toward the spot where Sa-qan had found him. If she’d listened, he wouldn’t find her, but if her stubbornness had kept her there waiting, believing he’d return, he had to see her. Crouching low, he worked his way up the slope. He didn’t want the Indians or the soldiers to see his ascent.
Wade found the spot she’d surprised him and searched the ground for tracks to reveal which direction she’d gone. His boot tracks stood out in the mud, but he couldn’t find moccasin prints. His heart raced in his chest. Sa-qan was a little thing, but her prints would still indent in the mud. Even a child or small animal would leave impressions in the wet ground.
Where are you? Wade scanned the cliff and then peered down the side, searching for a sign of her. A bullet buzzed past his head. He dropped to the ground, his heart pounding with fear for Sa-qan and adrenaline from the bullet. Either he regrouped with his men or he hunted the woman whose footprints vanished.
Until he took the uniform off, he’d better remember his duty as a cavalry officer and act accordingly.
The Warriors swarmed over the rims and down into the flat. The rest of the troops must have reached the plateaus and pushed the Indians from their perches. He clutched his rifle, waiting. A cold wind blew through the canyon, and he crawled up the cliff wall to press his body behind an outcropping to ward off the wind and hide from the approaching warriors.
Only a fool wouldn’t hide. He’d be one against many. Hiding gave him the upper hand as the retreating Indians would think all their enemies chased them. It he shot one warrior there would be little doubt he would be shot.
Brush crackled above him. Wade glanced toward the crest of the plateau. A warrior crept along the cliff wall fifteen feet above him. Blood pumped, whooshing in his head. Fear and survival spun in his head. He didn’t want to die today, but he also didn’t want to kill. Sa-qan understood killing to survive. If the warrior spotted him, he’d have only one option.
Not wanting the warrior to read his thoughts or feel his gaze, he turned his head slowly and watched from the corner of his eye, raising his rifle in cautious increments. Relief drained him of strength when the warrior moved out of sight. He slumped against the rock wall, listening and waiting.
Twenty anxious minutes passed before he spotted troopers creeping through the bushes above and below him. He fell into the span of soldiers sweeping up and over the ridge.
Three miles ahead across the prairie, the tail end of the Nez Perce disappeared into a canyon. Wade watched as one of the mounted companies surged toward the gap in the ridges. The belch of smoke and crack of rifles firing rallied from those ridges and many troopers fell from their saddles. Another wave of warriors stood guard on the ridges along the canyon opening, pinning the troops down.
Wade snatched a spyglass from the sergeant closest to him and studied the area. Had Sa-qan made it to the group before they disappeared? Or was she out there somewhere hiding from the troops?
“We need to keep moving, Lieutenant.”
The sergeant held his hand out for his spyglass as the others wearily started toward the edge of the plateau. Wade’s worn out body cried for rest like everyone in this group.
“We’ll be no good to them after that climb and walking across that expanse of prairie.” Wade waved his arms gathering the odd assortment of men around. “Take time to drink and eat. Then we’ll follow.”
The cold wind on the top of the plateau blew through his wool coat, chilling his weary limbs. “Let’s move just over the top and out of the wind.” They all dropped over the rim and sat to take a rest.
The sergeant stole glances at the fighting going on. “Shouldn’t we hurry on over there?”
“How well do you
shoot when you’re tired, Sergeant?” Wade asked and took a drink from his canteen.
The man hung his head.
“We’ll rest for fifteen minutes then follow. Refreshed troops are more help than weary ones.” He surveyed the twenty or so men mostly cavalry who weren’t used to this much walking. “Where are the horses?”
Murphy shrugged. “We bailed off and I haven’t seen them since.”
He didn’t want to voice his opinion the Indians had probably captured the horses by now. It offered the only logical explanation why the handlers hadn’t brought them once the Indians retreated. He was damn tired of losing his mount.
Staring across the prairie to the canyon entrance, he watched the puffs of smoke from the rifles. Proof the warriors still kept the army at bay.
“Move out!” he ordered and stood, ignoring the throbbing and stinging in his feet.
The group shuffled along as one unit down the back of the ridge in a direct line toward the fighting. Which he surmised to be a stand-off. Or would be until the Indians decided their families had traveled well ahead of the army.
****
Sa-qan soared in the air above Wade and his small band of soldiers. He had survived. She had entered the warrior who walked close to Wade’s hiding spot and gave him a blind eye to the soldier. Now Wade led soldiers toward the ones shooting at the warriors. There would be no danger for him until he arrived at the fighting. The warriors remained on the ridges protecting the canyon or helping move their people and scouting ahead for more soldiers.
Wewukiye and Dove followed the people. She would know if they needed her. Her thoughts as usual filled with Wade and how together they could help the Nimiipuu. She pondered this every moment. There had to be a way to save the people, but she had not yet discovered one. To allow the soldiers to kill and force the survivors on a reservation would be to have failed. She could not fail.
Creator, what must I do to help my people? Her heart cried out again to the Creator. Why have you left me when your wisdom is greatly needed? Once more she tried to understand why he chose to ignore her. His silence worried her as much as failing.