She watched Sun Flower in the trail in front her and she really hoped it would not be long before she too would feel this kind of love in her heart. She could see the longing in her eyes each time she held and kissed Star. Sun Flower was the sister she never had, she had grown to love her as much as she loved her brother Running Wolf and she truly wanted her to be as happy as she was now.
Star had finished nursing and now with a full belly had fallen asleep. They stopped to put her back in the cradle board and had just started down the trail again when they heard Grizzly Killer riding up from behind them. They stopped and turned both of them smiling waiting for their husband when Ol’ Red come through the brush with his saddle empty.
There was immediate concern on both of their faces, they had never seen Ol’ Red leave Grizzly Killer before. Sun Flower jumped off her horse and ran to the mule checking the saddle for blood. Relieved, she turned to Shining Star and said, “Hurry as fast as you can back to camp and tell Running Wolf to hurry, I will take Ol’ Red and find our husband.”
Shining Star never hesitated a moment, she urged her mount into a trot and then a lope slowing only when the trail required it.”
Sun Flower remounted and using Ol’ Reds reins as a lead rope started back up the trail. She pulled her rifle, Zach’s old .36 caliber squirrel gun from its scabbard and checked the pan adding just a pinch of fresh powder to it, then snapped the frizzen back in place. She wasn’t moving fast, she didn’t know what might have happened or where it might have happened and she didn’t want to charge into to something she couldn’t handle.
Shining Star made good time but it still took her over two hours to reach camp. Star was crying and her horse was lathered white as she rode into camp yelling for her brother. Running Wolf and Raven Wing had just walked down the stream a little ways. White Feather had their baby but they both heard the desperate cry of Shining Star and ran back to her. Buffalo Heart and Red Hawk were there and helped her out of the saddle. Red Hawk helped her get the cradle board off her back then took Star. Buffalo Heart took her worn out horse and was taking off the saddle just as Running Wolf ran into camp.
Shining Star ran to him and was so excited she was speaking in Ute even though they had been speaking nothing but Shoshone ever since Bear Heart, White Feather and the boys had arrived over three weeks ago. Running Wolf listened and the others watched as his face turned from worried to concern. Raven Wing spoke nearly flawless Ute but none of the others understood any of what Shining Star was saying.
Running Wolf just nodded at her then told Red Hawk and Buffalo Heart to saddle the horses and get their weapons. Red Hawk handed the still crying baby back to Shining Star then ran after Buffalo Heart to bring in the horses. The Indian saddles were not much more than a blanket or piece of robe and a strap tied around the horses belly like a cinch on a regular saddle. They were but minutes getting the three horses saddled.
Zach had given each of the boys a rifle that he had taken from Skinner and his murdering bunch after they were killed. He had spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks teaching them how to shoot. So as they mounted up and headed up the trail all three of them had a rifle in hand with a bow and quiver over their backs.
The boys still did not know what they were riding into or just where they were going. Although they knew by the urgency in Shining Star’s voice and then in Running Wolf’s actions that this was something to take mighty seriously.
They followed Running Wolf as he pushed the horses to their limit. They were going uphill every step of the way and had between ten and fifteen miles to go. Where the trail straightened out going across meadows he kept them at a fast lope, slowing only when the trail would again get steep and narrow. The boys were staying right behind him no matter the pace he set.
He was moving too fast to be following the tracks, but he knew this trail well. From what Shining Star had told him he figured he knew about where Grizzly Killer had been when he sent the women on ahead.
The speed they were moving was wearing the horses down very fast. These were all mountain horses, fit and strong but an uphill run of nearly two straight hours was tiring them out. Running Wolf did not slow the pace. He could feel his chestnut’s ribs rising with each deep breath trying to take in more air to feed his tiring muscles, but he didn’t slow the pace.
As Sun Flower got closer to where she had last seen Grizzly Killer she slowed even more. All of her senses were tuned into the area in front of her. Any movement or sound even from a bird or squirrel would set her even more on edge. She had so hoped to find Grizzly Killer and the great medicine dog walking down the trail before her but she had seen no sign of him at all.
Then she saw movement to her left. She stopped, her rifle was ready, but no target presented itself. She was tense, every muscle tight as she strained her eyes looking for that movement again. Just as she was ready to move on, a porcupine waddled out from under some brush. She smiled to herself relieved it had just been a slow moving porcupine. Then from behind her she heard the movement of brush that could only be made by a large animal moving through it.
18 Magic Power
Zach had been standing on the branch for over an hour when the bear got into the water. He was relieved the water was nearly four feet deep. The bear then started to jump at them with those deadly claws reaching high enough to dig deep gouges into the bark of the branch they were standing on. Jimbo kept up his growling and Zach worked hard keeping himself and Jimbo balanced on that branch.
The grizzly finally stopped jumping but then he just climbed up on the bank and sat on his haunches. He was watching them closely and Zach figured he was just going to wait until one of them fell out of the tree. Over two hours later, Jimbo started to get restless. Zach was talking to him now, nearly non-stop, keeping him calm and still. The bear hadn’t moved at all, Zach figured Jimbo might have a slight chance if he could hit the ground running but he knew if he left that tree it would mean the same brutal death his Pa had met with not all that far from here.
Sun Flower spun toward the sound, as she did she brought her rifle up. Running Wolf saw her motion and the rifle and dove off his chestnut. He hit the ground hard even though Sun Flower recognized him in time and had not fired. She smiled a sheepish little smile as he got up on his feet. He just shook his head and jogged toward her.
Her relief that he was here was plain on her face, then she saw Red Hawk and Buffalo Heart and for the first time in several hours she felt deep inside of herself everything was going to be just fine.
The horses were white with lather, so much so it was leaving a trail of the white foamy sweat on the trail behind them. This little rest, however short it might be, was welcome for horse and rider alike. The boys had dismounted and come up for the little meeting and it was the first time they had actually heard what was happening and why they had just about killed their horses getting here.
Running Wolf explained to the boys, “Grizzly Killer was last seen just a short distance ahead. That for Ol’ Red to have left him, there must have been a bear there. If the bear is a Grizzly, it will be mighty hard to kill.” He checked his own rifle and told them to check theirs, to make sure they have fresh powder in the pan. If they have to shoot at a grizzly to aim for the shoulder, the bear can’t charge with broken shoulders.
He knew their horses were completely worn out and if they had to run from a bear the bear would probably catch them. All of them had lived in this wild western wilderness their whole lives and they all knew well the unbelievable short burst of speed a bear had. They could out run a horse in a short distance.
Running Wolf told Sun Flower to keep Ol’ Red and stay well behind them. He knew very well the horses needed more of a rest but now he was just going to be moving at a walk. He would have liked Red Hawk and Buffalo Heart beside him instead of behind but the trail just wasn’t wide enough.
Zach was beginning to wonder how much longer he was going to be able to keep Jimbo up on this branch with him or for that ma
tter, how much longer he could stay there as well. His injured leg was throbbing and had an ache that felt as if it was coming from the bone. The big dog was getting mighty restless. The bear hadn’t moved from the spot where he was sitting, but when Jimbo would move the bear would tense up getting ready to attack. He knew if Jimbo landed in that deep water the grizzly would be on him in the blink of an eye and Jimbo would be no more.
Then the bear moved, he stood up and stared right down the trail. Zach could see him sniffing, testing the scent on the breeze. He took a couple of steps forward then stood up on his hind legs still testing the air. At seeing this, Zach figured it had to be either his wives coming back for him or he hoped with all his might, it was Running Wolf, his trusted friend and brother.
Zach yelled at the top of his lungs, “It’s a grizz, and he’s right in the trail.”
Running Wolf heard Grizzly Killer’s words and turned with a smile making sure the rest had heard as well. The relief was plain on Sun Flower’s face, the love of her life was still alive.
Now they knew it was a Grizzly, the king of the mountains. A Grizzly had no natural enemies and thus it had no fear. It was bigger and meaner than anything else in the Rockies. Even a hungry pack of wolves could be chased off a kill by a Grizzly. They are fast and powerful, one swat of their mighty paw could break a horse’s neck and their four to five inch claws could open one up spilling a horse’s guts with one swipe and they were very hard to kill. A huge grizzly that Zach and Running Wolf and killed a year ago had taken over 12 shots from their rifles and a dozen arrows from the Shoshone hunter they were with before it finally stopped breathing.
Running Wolf figured, by the sound of Grizzly Killer’s voice he was only a couple of hundred yards ahead of them. He also now knew there was one of the great bears between them. Running Wolf knew full well these two boys would like nothing more than to prove they are great hunters. He had no doubt they will be brave in the face of danger, they would love nothing more than to show the great Grizzly Killer that they too could kill the great bears. So he warned them, “Red Hawk, Buffalo Heart, the most important thing to remember when facing this kind of danger is to survive. The brave always survives, even if that means running away to fight another time or another place. Grizzly Killer has taught me the only fight to start is one you know you can win. Survival is everything for what good is a brave man that is dead.”
Red Hawk looked at Buffalo Heart then they both looked at Running Wolf and Buffalo Heart said, “Grizzly Killer would never run from a fight.”
Running Wolf just smiled and asked him, “Is your memory so short you don’t remember him telling of running from the Arapaho, that Ol’ Red could hardly stay in front of the Indian ponies. Where do you think he is right now, do you think we will find that bear tied up and ready for us to shoot? What makes Grizzly Killer’s medicine so strong and him such a great warrior is he knows when to run and when to stay and fight. Do not ever mistake running from an unbeatable fight as a sign of weakness for it is only a sign a man is smart enough to survive. Survival is the most important outcome of any fight, if you do not survive you cannot help our people survive either.”
Sun Flower heard every word of what Running Wolf had just told the boys. She smiled at him, she felt so fortunate that this man before her, who was once a feared enemy was now her brother, married to her sister. She knew many of his beliefs had changed over the time he been with Grizzly Killer but she felt good deep down inside knowing now that Grizzly Killer and Running Wolf both believed that survival was the true sign of courage. She had friends not long ago that had never been taught that lesson. To prove their bravery two of them had tried to ambush and attack three Blackfoot hunters. She remembered the sadness and mourning the day they found their tortured and mutilated bodies. Yes, she thought her men would always survive and for that she knew they were the bravest of the brave.
Running Wolf knew it would be a mistake for them to give the bear just one target. They left their horses right where they were. They were so worn out he didn’t think they could get away from the bear anyway. They didn’t tie them so they could run if need be. He had Red Hawk go up the hill above the trail and Buffalo Heart cross the stream to the other side. He reminded them both to shoot for the shoulder but run and climb a tree if you must. Then he started straight up the trail.
Running Wolf had another idea, he yelled out to Red Hawk and Buffalo Heart to start singing, to sing their battle songs just as loud as they could, and he did the same. The bear was still standing on his back legs, his head a full eight feet high. Zach could tell he was getting nervous. He would swing his head looking up the hill then across the stream then straight ahead. Zach smiled inside at Running Wolf’s tactic for it really did seem to be confusing the bear.
The sound was coming from all directions, in front of him and from each side, then Zach saw Buffalo Heart about a hundred yards out across the stream. Bears do not have good eye sight but their sense of smell and their hearing are so good they make up for the poor sight. Just then the bear caught the movement of Buffalo Heart and made a short charge up to the streams edge. Zach yelled up toward Red Hawk, “Louder Red Hawk make more noise.” A moment later Zach heard a blood curdling battle cry and a dead tree was pushed over. At that the bear charged toward the hill side, but then Running Wolf let out long sustained howl and within seconds of that Buffalo Heart screamed out another war cry.
The bear made a short charge down the trail then went from side to side. It was obvious to Zach he was confused not knowing which way to charge. Red Hawk pushed over another dead tree making a mighty crash. At that the bear stood in the trail throwing his huge head back and forth. He humped his back and scraped his mighty claws across the ground throwing dirt and rock for thirty feet or more.
Zach shuddered as he watched this awesome display of power and realized that is what his father had faced that fateful day up Grizzly Creek.
The boys were getting closer and thus louder and the bear was worked up into a frenzy himself, he was scraping the ground and snapping his huge jaws at nothing but air. Running Wolf then stepped through the brush in the trail only sixty yards from the mighty bear and let out another battle cry so loud and fierce chills ran down Zach’s back. To their surprise the grizzly turned and ran up the trail away from them all.
Red Hawk was the closest and he brought up his rifle but he just followed the bear in his sights as he ran out of sight, he knew better than to shoot and maybe wound the big bear. However, that bear running away was more than Jimbo could take. He jumped off the branch they had been on for the last four hours. He must have forgotten that Zach was still holding his collar. The force of Jimbo’s jump pulled them both right out of the tree. Zach landed flat on his back in the four-foot-deep icy cold water with Jimbo right by his side.
Sun Flower had just come into sight so all four of them saw the ungainly fall into the water. Red Hawk was the first to start laughing, then his laugh was contagious. Buffalo Heart was just chuckling softly as he crossed the stream, but then he got a good look at Grizzly Killer trying to get a good footing in that deep cold water and he broke into a full gut-wrenching laugh. Running Wolf soon followed and the laughing truly was contagious, Sun Flower too started to laugh, she just couldn’t help herself. Soon Grizzly Killer himself was laughing.
They had been so tense and worried for so long the laughing was a release of all their emotions, the fear and anxiety, the dread of not knowing. So they laughed, and laughed some more. It felt good to laugh, the danger was over and everyone was alright, even the bear. Red Hawk brought on armload of dry wood off the hill side to start a fire but they were all laughing so hard they were having a hard time getting it to light.
Zach had crawled out of the water and was sitting on the bank his injured leg still in the cold water for the cold was helping with the ache that just wouldn’t go away but the rest of him was shivering. Sun Flower, still laughing was helping him out of his wet buckskins when Jimbo came back do
wn the trail. He ran right to Zach wagging his tail letting him know the bear was gone.
Buffalo Heart had just gotten a fire started from the wood and makings Red Hawk had brought off the hill when he looked up and asked, “Grizzly Killer, how did you get the medicine dog to climb that tree? I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that. I know the dog has powerful medicine but I didn’t know he could climb a tree.”
Zach couldn’t let an opportunity like this pass. He got real serious and told Buffalo Heart, “Jimbo has more than just powerful medicine… he has magic power as well. He could have run away from that bear, but he wouldn’t leave me alone, so he just turned himself into a squirrel and ran right up the side of that tree to the branch I was on. Then, when he was up there with me, he turned right back into a dog.”
Both boys had doubtful expressions on their faces but Zach could tell neither of them were sure whether to believe him or not. Sun Flower just looked at him and rolled her eyes letting him know she knew he was spinning a tall, tall tale. He winked at her but never said another word to the boys. Running Wolf was chuckling to himself as he walked back down the trail to bring up their worn-out horses.
The horses needed rest and good feed and there wasn’t enough daylight left to make it back home before dark. Even though they knew their loved ones in camp would be worried they felt it best to find a meadow then let the horses rest on good grass until morning.
Zach had warmed up by the fire but his buckskins were still very wet, so just waring his breach clout they loaded up and at just a walk moved down the trail about a mile to where a beautiful meadow came right to the edge of the stream.
Grizzly Killer: The Medicine Wheel Page 15