Friend Seeker (Perry County, Pennsylvania Frontier Series)

by Roy F. Chandler

  Three Feathers heaved a great sigh. "That is a true ambush, Friend Seeker. The war leader's thoughts marched many steps ahead of his enemy's. Our leader chose his spot and maneuvered his enemies until he could destroy them without loss to his own. He planned beyond a simple trap and won a powerful victory."

  Three Feathers continued, "This is your land, Friend Seeker. Here, and in places like this you will live your life. But what do you know of it? Could you trap the Piscataway if they came? Could you lose a pursuing band? Do you know each hollow, each spring, each ridgeline? I fear you do not.

  "From this sun forward study the land around you. Plan how you would defend it and how you would escape across it. If there is a hollow tree, remember it. If there is a tree fallen across a brook, know how to reach it. Knowledge of the land is strength. It can serve you better than the strongest bow or heaviest club. When you go among the Piscataway, will they trap Friend Seeker because he did not know the short way, the hidden trail, or the depth of water?"

  Friend Seeker looked upon the land with new eyes. Although he had explored much of it before he now saw the probable ambushes and marked out short cuts, impassible thickets, and special hiding places.

  The teachings of Three Feathers were many and the examples he drew from a life of memories entranced the mind of Friend Seeker. Each lesson became a part of his knowledge and he collected them as treasures, hoarding them for consideration during his solitary runs and exploration.

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  Chapter 10

  During the first winter snow, One Flower came from south of Kittatinny Mountain. A brother escorted her to the safety of Three Feathers' lodge and received certain furs and wampum as gifts. He left with a promise to return in the spring.

  One Flower, a woman of middle years, had been captured by the Chippewa and traded to a Piscataway lodge needing more hands. Her life had been hard on the Potomac and she appeared old beyond her seasons. Having suffered much, she was grateful for the comforts of Three Feathers' lodge. Blue Duck welcomed her help and One Flower became one of them.

  Despite an easy acceptance in other things, One Flower proved demanding in her instruction of Friend Seeker in the Piscataway tongue. This pleased Three Feathers and he suggested she cut a switch and apply it liberally if her student became lax in his learning.

  Friend Seeker was not lax. To understand the words of his enemy was a weapon beyond price. With it, he could listen and learn much. Without the enemy tongue, he would be guessing.

  Interest and determination did not make the task simple. The words came hard with peculiar tongue twistings and rollings foreign to the smoothness of Delaware. Wisely, One Flower began with the names of important things. Friend Seeker laboriously committed them to memory and began other words. By the time of the shortest day, the Seeker could speak some simple thoughts and could understand more complex ones.

  Three Feathers appeared gratified by his progress and announced the time had come for Friend Seeker's training with Oak Neck, the Iroquois. The Seeker welcomed the break in a numbingly consistent routine. Traveling alone in winter cold to Chilesquakee Creek beyond Shamokin would be an adventure. A full turning of the moon among the Iroquois would be both a rare opportunity and a valuable experience. He departed bright with anticipation.

  The route to the longhouse of Oak Neck crossed two rivers and required three days travel. Friend Seeker crossed the Juniata using a dugout left by fishermen where the Juniata joined the greater Susquehanna. If the river was not frozen, he would use it again on his return.

  In addition to his weapons of war, the Seeker bore a heavy pack. Despite Blue Duck's subdued objections, Three Feathers had included a pair of mink pelts tanned to spider web softness. From E'shan, the young arrowpoint maker, Three Feathers had obtained two hands of perfect points. These had cost him dearly but he deemed instruction by Oak Neck worth the cost and, as he pointedly remarked, not feeding a wolf's belly like Friend Seeker for a moon's turning might still prevent the lodge from starving in the Spring.

  These and other weighty objects added to the Seeker's personal equipment, for Three Feathers was insistent that his student not appear needy among the Iroquois. The Seeker grumbled that the lodge of Oak Neck would think him a burdened squaw, but Three Feathers did not listen.

  The ancient trail along the west bank of the Susquehanna showed little use. During cold months most of the land lay empty and lodges had retreated to permanent winter places and did not move about. Though hunters ranged far, they did not seek game along trails and even message carriers made their journeys few.

  For a full day's travel, Friend Seeker encountered no one. He camped alone away from the cold that rolled wave-like from the partly frozen river. The night was bitter, but wrapped in a thick buffalo robe he roused only to toss sticks on his small fire. Morning light came with the sun hidden behind gray overcast. Limbs cracked with cold and the Seeker's fingers both numbed and ached as he organized his pack. Everything seemed stiff and heavy. The ground, frozen rock hard was cold through his straw-packed moccasins and he wished the trip behind him.

  Overnight, the river had frozen and once the Seeker saw a trio of wolves, intent on something hidden on the far shore, lope across the ice.

  Late in the day he met a pair of hunters returning to Shamokin and soon thereafter saw women fishing through the ice with huge warming fires burning on the bank. They were on the far side of the river so he did not greet them. He considered crossing the Susquehanna to sleep in the great village, but the ice appeared thin near the river's center and he decided not to risk it.

  His camp that night lay along a ridge. He found shelter against a biting west wind while far across the river a few flickering fires marked the warm comforts of Shamokin.

  Shamokin lay at the forks of the Susquehanna. The Chilesquakee Creek emptied into the river's west branch a long hike to the north. A second frigid night had thickened the river ice and the smaller river branch appeared safe to cross. Friend Seeker chose a wide expanse where swift currents would be less likely to encourage thin ice and crossed without difficulty. By afternoon he found the right creek and the longhouses built there.

  Two longhouses made up the Iroquois village. They faced each other across a common that included an immense fire pit and a number of notched poles of symbolic importance. Each longhouse was hide and bark covered with thick earth walls rising chest high. Smoke escaped from a number of adjustable openings, an indication that numerous families lived within each lodge. From the clearing edge Friend Seeker hailed the village and men appeared quickly at each longhouse entrance.

  Oak Neck remembered Friend Seeker and he accepted the apprentice warrior's gifts and courtesies with fitting dignity. With little formality, Friend Seeker was given a place and introduced to a few younger warriors who practiced their Delaware on him. As he had no Onondaga or the commonly used Seneca, the Seeker appreciated even their crudest efforts.

  Within the longhouse, families enjoyed privacy in partitioned sections. Most shared fire pits, reducing the number necessary, and Friend Seeker joined a clump of young single men in a cubicle near the fire of Oak Neck.

  At the Oak's whim, students leaped forth to exercise, take a trail, or listen to words of experience. The Seeker could see the advantages of such close communal living, but the constant hurly-burly of many people was confusing enough to make him miss the tranquility of Three Feathers' lodge.

  Among the Iroquois, Friend Seeker was not a favored student and Oak Neck was not above using the visiting Delaware to test his own young warriors or to inspire them to greater efforts.

  Oak Neck was a harsh enough instructor, but Friend Seeker believed Three Feathers to be more demanding. Oak Neck might grumble or ridicule, but he did not heap on extra labors the way Three Feathers did. The Oak taught by example and was quick to show a wrestling grip or a spear thrust.

  As his students demonstrated, the Oak's methods were effective. When the young men wrestled, Friend Seeker rarely triumphe
d. Though as strong as most and quickest of all, he lacked experience and was regularly thrown or caught in painful holds, but each defeat was learned and the Seeker filed it in his memory, dusted himself off, and sought the next challenge.

  With bow and war arrows, he was as good as any and when they ran, all others fell behind. For this he could thank the training of Three Feathers.

  As village chief and representative of the Iroquois confederacy, Oak Neck had other duties. Friend Seeker observed the activities, learning what he could from the judgments and decisions. Iroquois ways were sometimes different from the Delaware, and Friend Seeker could admit they were often better. The hold of the Iroquois leader on his people was tighter and the families of the longhouse were more disciplined in their responses. That resulted in unified actions without individuals or groups flaunting their independence to the detriment of all.

  Oak Neck taught often in the Delaware tongue. For this Friend Seeker was grateful although he knew Oak Neck's main intent was to allow his own young warriors to learn the speech of their neighbors.

  At the warrior's circle, Oak Neck spoke of old battles and their applications for the young warriors. He told how war parties would march with each warrior stepping in the footprints of the first so that trackers could not count their number. He explained how two armed with spears could most effectively attack a single enemy, but also how a lone warrior could defeat two warriors at once. It was stimulating fare and the Seeker absorbed it hungrily.

  "There are two types of war clubs, my students. Known best is the heavy club for smashing through shield or spear." The Oak flourished his own thick club with a sharpened stone held to it by shrunken leather.

  "The lighter club is often called the 'Delaware club' after those who used it so well." Oak Neck nodded toward Friend Seeker who managed to contain his swell of pride. The Delaware club is long, without a weighted end. It can be handled with great speed and although its blows are not as crushing, many blows can be struck.

  "Both clubs are useful weapons and a warrior must understand each, for who can tell which will be at hand or which his enemy will choose?' Thereafter, the students worked with both clubs, developing deadly blows while enduring many bruises.

  The young Iroquois accepted Friend Seeker but did not offer friendship. They were Iroquois and part of the great confederacy. He was a Delaware, an outsider. The Seeker supposed the lack of empathy was also in part his own doing. He was among them to learn, not to discover companions, and his preoccupation with the lessons set him apart. The Seeker could regret it, but the moon of his visit was passing swiftly and he had no moments to spare.

  It was natural that he also studied the Iroquois as potential enemy and sought their weaknesses and imagined ways to defeat them in battle.

  In time of war, an Iroquois village would be protected by scouts who could withdraw to a strong palisade surrounding the community of longhouses. That alone made attacking an Iroquois village a serious undertaking. Of course, runners would have been dispatched for aid and help would be swift in coming. He came to recognize that the longhouse, so much a part of Iroquois living, was itself a place of protection.

  A longhouse was immensely solid. Earthen or heavily logged walls protected those within and entrances were few and easily guarded. Given time, a longhouse might be burned, but the men of the Onondaga practiced counterattack, forming behind their tough hide shields with war spears protruding like spines on a porcupine. Advancing behind shield and spear the formation appeared indestructible and Friend Seeker was reminded of Three Feathers' memories of when the tribes fought each other in shield-protected rows of such warriors.

  Cooperation made the Iroquois powerful. Individually, they were little different from other warriors. Organized, their strength was awesome, and the Seeker doubted any could stand against their might.

  The strength of the Iroquois was a part of Oak Neck's message to the Delaware. If he chose to assist in the development of a young man, he also showed that warrior the futility of directing his prowess against the confederacy. Friend Seeker understood the message.

  With the new moon the Seeker prepared to depart the village. Oak Neck assured him of having done well and presented him with a long, needle-like knife chipped from strange black stone that had been carried from a distant place. It was a knife to be envied and the Seeker's fingers thrilled to the touch of it. He had only gratitude to extend to Oak Neck, but that was understood, and Friend Seeker crossed thick river ice and turned on his trail with satisfaction and eagerness to be away.

  Walking swiftly, his pack lighter than before, he could consider what he had learned among the Iroquois. The competition had strengthened his skills and his wrestling had improved a giant stride. He had heard countless tales and from them absorbed tricks of battle to beware of or to use himself. He had experienced the thought of men of other ways and that might prove valuable. The Piscataway would not be as the Onondaga, but now Friend Seeker would look for the differences and they would not surprise him.

  Before him lay only three more moons. Then the air would warm and his search could begin. He resolved to work harder with One Flower. Soon he would need the crude clucking of the Piscataway tongue.

  He flushed his lungs with crisp air, flailing his arms to escape the last scents of the longhouse. His body felt strong, as though it could march forever and he lengthened his stride, pleased with himself and imagining how he would descend like the lightning itself to free Late Star from the misery of captivity.

  — — —

  Chapter 11

  One night the wind shifted and blew warm from the south. Three Feathers heard the change and rose to sniff the breeze and feel its strength against his cheek. Friend Seeker joined him, feeling the softness of thawing earth beneath his feet and smelling the thicker damp of warming air. Dawn was close; vees and echelons of high-flying ducks, geese, and cranes sped northward.

  The creek grumbled its small thunder, sliding past in silt-laden heaviness spreading far beyond its normal banks. Bears would be stirring and early grasses and buds would explode from winter sleep. Bugs and ants would reappear along with pesty flies and mosquitoes. Fishing would be poor until winter-held moisture washed away and the streams regained their clarity. Field mice would be out and snakes and furred predators would vie with owls and hawks for them. The first clutches of thumb-sized grouse and countless batches of tiny rabbits would feed the same owls, foxes, and wolves.

  With spring, all life revived. Friend Seeker could feel his own spirit lift and supposed that even Three Feathers' old blood stirred into motion.

  As expected, the day was warm and One Flower devoted most of it to a final vivid description of her life among the Piscataway. As her anger rose, her words speeded but the Seeker could understand them. His accent was probably as vile as One Flower claimed, but she could understand his Piscataway and he doubted he needed more. He believed himself prepared and chafed at the slowness of spring. His people would not return to the Big Buffalo until the streams ran clear, and Three Feathers would not send him forth until he had been seen by the lodges on the Buffalo Creek. He tried to remember how soon the streams would lose their mud but he had never cared before and could not be sure. When asked, Three Feathers only said, "Too soon," and gave him a harder task to perform.

  Days flowed as before, changed only by a certainty that all would soon be different. One Flower departed with her brother, bearing gifts from Three Feathers, and Blue Duck undertook small preparations to move from Sherman's Creek. The evenings were often chill and Three Feathers and Friend Seeker continued their regular soakings in the hot springs, infusing their bodies with warmth that would last through the night.

  As might be expected, Three Feathers claimed the hotter of the two pools, designating the lesser bath as his student's. During those relaxing times, he was prone to reminisce about his childhood, before the Delaware were scattered. The Seeker would drowse in the comforting warmth, relegating the oft-repeated tales to a c
orner of his mind while his own thoughts visualized the reception he and Late Star would receive upon their return. They would then hunt and explore together. Late Star might also choose the warrior way and they would follow it gaining great honor among The People. The dreaming was restful and the endings inevitably good. Later, Friend Seeker would wonder how it really would turn out. He doubted that the path could be so easy.

  For the final learning at the Sherman's Creek lodge, Three Feathers prescribed a special ceremony. Friend Seeker had worn his hair in any convenient manner but this day he sat uncomplaining as Blue Duck cut away excess, trimming it squarely across his neck. As directed, he scrubbed himself with sand in the rotten-egg smelling springs and donned only clout and moccasins. Blue Duck painted a single slash of vermilion on each cheek to catch the eye of the Great Spirit and a small turtle over his heart to show his clan. The Great Spirit would know he was a Delaware.

  Prepared, he knelt before his teacher who had also made ready by dressing in a handsomely decorated shirt of softest doe hide and by placing three dyed eagle feathers in his thinned, gray hair. A single black line painted across his brow showed the weight of responsibility and his features were heavy and lined with the importance of the moment.

  Blue Duck had withdrawn lest her presence distract and Three Feathers began the ceremony without delay.

  "Now the Friend Seeker prepares himself to listen to the one who knows all things.

  "Now the youth of the Delaware people prepares to hear the words of the true father.

  "Now he who has chosen the warrior's way seeks the thoughts of the Great Spirit who gave him life.