Cheyenne Moon

by Cathy Keeton

  “I know that there are ruthless people of all races. My husband brought us here when my daughter was six years old and my son only two. It was a horrible life at first but as we begin to work our little spot of ground and got a roof over our heads, I began to forgive him for taking me away from all that I had ever known. My family never approved of my marriage, you see my husband was Irish, and my father believed he was beneath us. I loved him more than anything and I would have gone wherever he wanted to take me, my father disowned me, and as a result he never saw his grandchildren.”

  “I am sorry that I misjudged you.” Abby said.

  Polly smiled and took Abby’s hand. “I understand that you would worry about being chastised, but you know what, people that talk about you or a race of people is just letting someone else rest,” Polly stood and went back to the stove and brought a plate of biscuits to the table. “Now go wake up the boy and let’s eat.”

  While they were eating, Abby remembered the horse that she had been riding the day before. She had left the poor thing tied and had not thought a thing about it until now.

  “Polly as soon as we are finished will you watch Joshua? I left my horse tied up behind the tree that we were sleeping in.”

  “Your horse is safe I went for him while you were trying to sleep yesterday afternoon. He is in the cave behind the barn with my goats and chickens.”

  “Thank you I feel like we are causing you extra trouble.”

  “You are but it is worth it I haven’t had anyone to talk to but my animals for so long.”

  “I like talking to you also you seem to have great knowledge, but I still have to go when it is possible.”

  “I know I will help you to get back to your husband when the time is right. Abby are you married to Chief Shadow Spirit?”

  “Yes I am and he is the kindest man on earth. He treats me with the greatest respect. You should see how wonderful he is with his mother. She is a white woman on the outside but she is a true Cheyenne at heart.”

  “I could see the love in your eyes when you spoke of him yesterday. How did his mother come to be with the Cheyenne?”

  “Her family was all killed by the Crow, and she was taken captive, but later that same day Chief White Feather came upon them and killed the Crow and took her with him. She fell in love with him and they have been together for over twenty-five years.”

  “When the Indians raided our farm I was in the house with my son, he had a cold and I was taking care of him. My daughter and husband were outside, I heard him yell for us to run.”

  “What happened to your husband and daughter?”

  “My husband was killed and I never saw my daughter again, they took her with them,” Polly sad sadly on the verge of tears.

  “How did you and your son get away?”

  “Come I will show you in case you have to hide sometime before you get to go home.”

  Polly led the way to the back of the barn where a small door led to the outside. She lit two lanterns and handed one to Abby.

  “What about the snow can we get through it? Abby asked as she picked up Joshua.

  “Let him walk, I have cleaned a path, it’s not over his shoes.”

  Once they were out of the barn Abby saw that there was indeed a path leading into the side of the mountain. They went in the cave and Abby was shocked at the intricacies of the caves. There were tunnels going off in several directions. They took one that veered off to the left and walked for quite a long way before it opened up into one huge cave that held two adult goats and a kid, several chickens, a mule and Abby’s horse. She had never seen anything like this.

  “This is where I go when I see an Indian party on the path to my cabin. From where the path comes into the clearing I can get to this cave without anyone seeing me.”

  “This is amazing. Do you keep your animals in here all the time?”

  “Oh no they’re only here now because the harshness of the weather, if they stayed in the dark all the time they’d probably go blind.”

  “Polly how do you take care of all this by yourself,” Abby asked.

  “It’s not that much to do, just a few scraggly animals, and I have all kinds of time. I just turned sixty last month, and I am strong as an ox, you have to be to live here.”

  Abby watched as Polly picked up a bucket and proceeded to milk the goat. Joshua ran around chasing chickens and laughing. He walked over to Polly and put his little arm on her back as she continued to milk. She looked up at him and smiled. “You want to try,” she asked him?

  “I want to,” he replied smiling up at her.

  He squatted down beside Polly and shyly took hold of one of the goat’s teats. He squirted milk in his face and squealed with pleasure. When the milking was over Polly and Abby sat down on a bench that ran along one side of the cave wall and watched as Joshua played with the animals. He ran after the kid and patted the head of the fat old female goat she just stood and let him play with her ears.

  “He seems like he is having a good time, maybe he is beginning to get over what he saw happened to his family.” Polly stated.

  “He is alright during the day, but he sometimes wakes up crying during the night. I’m not sure how long ago it happened, I don’t know when Black Heart took him.”

  “You know I just do not understand how anyone can be that evil. How do you take a little child and sell it or murder it. He must have the heart of the old devil himself.”

  “Look Polly, Joshua finally caught the young goat.” He was sitting on floor of the cave with the little goat lying in front of him, with his hand slowly stroking the goats head.

  “I’m not sure if he caught it or just wore it out.” Polly threw her head back and laughed. “I guess we better get this milk back to the house and take care of it. I bet Joshua smells awful with the way he has been playing with the goats.”

  “I’m so glad to see him playing I don’t care how many baths I have to give him. It’s so good to see him happy if only until he remembers what had happened to his family.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Shadow Spirit crouched down beside a boulder and tried see if there was any movement coming from where he had heard the groan. He saw a boot sticking out from beneath a pile of snow. He crept closed, hoping he was not walking into a trap. He drew his knife and bent to remove the snow from the body buried there. He was surprised to see a young soldier dressed in the gray uniform of the South. The snow around him was a bright red, his face was bloody, and he looked as if he had been beaten. There was a long cut right below his hairline as if someone had started to scalp him, but changed their mind.

  Shadow Spirit lifted him gingerly so as not to cause him undue pain. The boy opened his pain filled eyes and look at Shadow Spirit, he could tell the boy was terrified.

  “I am not going to hurt you,” Shadow Spirit tried to reassure the boy. He did not look to be more than fifteen summers.

  He carried the boy to where he had made camp the night before. He had found this place by accident when he ran upon an abandoned stagecoach that had been turned over into a gully. One side was broken off so Shadow Spirit had turned that side down, that way it offered a windbreak and kept the new falling snow off of him. He crawled under the stagecoach and pulled the young soldier, who had passed, out under with him.

  Shadow Spirit examined the boy’s wounds and cleansed them with snow. There were several long cuts besides the one on his head. His arms were covered in small scratches as if he had been drug throw blackberry vines. Shadow Spirit retrieved his medicine bag from his gear and put salve made from comfrey root on the boy’s wounds. The salve would help the wounds heal and it would soothe the burning.

  Shadow Spirit sat beside the boy and watched him. It was good that he was unconscious because the pain would be great if he were not. Shadow Spirit suspected that he had broken ribs along with all the wounds that covered his face and arms. He looked like he should be with his family not in the army. The white man seemed to have some kind
of fight with someone all the time. He had heard that they were now fighting each other, brother against brother and they called his people savages.

  The boy woke with a start as he stared at Shadow Spirit. “Are you the one who helped me?” he asked weakly.

  “Yes I am.”

  “Thank you,” the boy replied as he drifted to sleep.

  Shadow Spirit was losing valuable time in his quest to find Abby, but he could not leave this young man to possibly die from his wounds. He hoped the young soldier made it, but he had lost a lot of blood in the snow before Shadow Spirit found him.

  Finding Abby was the most important thing on Shadow Spirit mind. She was a strong person but if she had not found shelter by now she could not have possibly survived in this cold and snow. He would not accept that she was dead along with their unborn child. He would search until he had no more strength left in his body.

  For two days Shadow Spirit fought the young soldier’s fever and pain. He continued to bath the boy in melted snow every few hours. He had finally given up and built a fire to melt the snow and roast a rabbit. He could no longer survive on pemmican. He believed he was far enough away from the fort that the smoke would not be seen. The fire also warmed the old coach to a bearable degree.

  Shadow Spirit glanced over at the boy and he was awake and staring at him.

  “You are Indian ain’t you” he asked weakly.

  “Yes I am. Does that make a difference in the way that I have helped you?”

  “No I got nothin against Indians.”

  “What are you called?”

  “My name is Jacob Cantrell, what’s your handle?”

  “I am Chief Shadow Spirit of the Cheyenne.” He said with pride. “Are you feeling up to eating something?”

  “Nice to meet you Chief, I could eat somethin, what’s that smell?” Before Shadow Spirit could answer, Jacob continued. “That’s the best thing I smelled since my granny cooked for me back in the hill of Kentucky.”

  “It is rabbit I have had pemmican for too many suns and you need good hot food to help you heal.” Shadow Spirit answered.

  Jacob did not eat much, which was probably good considering he had a raging fever for two days. He ate then slept all afternoon. While Jacob slept, Shadow Spirit scouted around for some indication as to how far he was away from the fort where he suspected Abby was being held. He did not go far he was afraid that Jacob would try to get up and do more damage to his ribs.

  The land around where they were camped was hilly and rough and it was covered in a good two feet of snow. He found wolf tracks in the snow and followed them for a while hoping they belonged to Storm, but he never caught up. He did see where the wolf had made a kill, rabbit fur, and blood colored the snow swathed earth. He found no sign of the fort.

  Shadow Spirit returned to camp to find Jacob sitting up holding his ribs and crying softly.

  “What happened?”

  “I tried to get up and look outside, I thought you had run off and left me here. When I leaned over to get a look, I think I pulled somethin. It hurts like hell.”

  “Pull your shirt off, I have some stripes off deer hide in my bag, I will wrap it around you to help hold your ribs in place.”

  “Are you some kinda Indian doctor or somethin?” Jacob asked after Shadow Spirit finished wrapping his ribs.

  “No, but my mother’s grandfather was a doctor in the east. She has taught me some of the things that he taught her.”

  “So you are white on your mama’s side.” Jacob stated as he ate rabbit and dried berries.

  “Yes, but I am a true Cheyenne as my mother is since she married my father. I am also part Irish, my grandfather was an Irish immigrant.”

  “I knew you weren’t all Indian with those eyes. My mama was a little ole gal from Tennessee when my daddy married her, she was just thirteen years old. He had already been married, his wife died havin my half sister. My sister ain’t right she don’t talk or walk. I guess somethin happened when her mama was birthin her.”

  “I am sorry to hear about your sister, we have a man in our clan that is much like your sister,” Shadow Spirit stated. “I have to ask you some questions. My wife is missing and I have searched from our camp in black Hills to where we sit now.”

  “I’ll help you if I can Chief, ask me whatever you want to.”

  “Do you know how far we are away from the fort?” Shadow Spirit asked.

  “I figure we are about a day and a half ride from here, but there ain’t no Indian woman at the fort, in fact there ain’t no woman at the fort.”

  “I have heard that there are several men at the fort that have brought their women out here.”

  “There are only ten or twelve men at the fort they are closin it down in the spring.”

  “How long have you been away from there?”

  “I left four days ago, they let me out cause my daddy got hurt and can’t work our farm anymore, and I was goin home when I was bush wacked by a bunch a outlaws.”

  “I hope your father is alright.”

  “I don’t know my mama’s letter was dated two months ago. A mangy old swaybacked mule kicked him in the head; mama says that he has been plum addled ever since can’t, even feed his self.”

  “I am sorry for your family but I must find my wife she is with child and needs me. My wife is white.”

  “Well I’ll be I’ve heard that some Indians were taking white women for wives. What’s the matter with your women folk?”

  “There is nothing wrong with our women. I just fell in love with Abby.”

  “I’ll help you find her, but she ain’t at the fort. How did you lose her, Chief?” Jacob asked.

  “She was abducted from our camp while I was away.

  “That’s rough, Chief.”

  “Do you think you will be able to ride in the morning Jacob?”

  “Why shore Chief, I’ll be fit as a fiddle, ain’t no beatin goin get me down.”

  Jacob seemed to forget that he had been out of his head for two days with an awful fever. Shadow Spirit was impressed with the strength he showed.

  “Let us get some rest tonight and we will head out to the fort with the coming of the new sun.”

  “I’m a tellin you that she ain’t at the fort. Don’t you believe me? I wouldn’t lie to you after you saved my life and all?”

  “I believe you, but she might have been taken there after you left,” Shadow Spirit stated. “Now let us rest.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Abby lay in bed that night wondering if it could be possible. She had a strong feeling that Polly was in fact Green Eye’s mother. What were the chances that she would come across her husband’s grandmother? Everything that Polly had told her about her daughter being taken by the Indians was almost identical to what Green Eyes had said. Abby was at odds with herself as to whether she should tell Polly her suspicion, if she was wrong she didn’t want to get Polly’s hopes up for nothing.

  Abby suddenly remembered that she had not asked Polly what her last name is. She would find out at breakfast without making Polly wonder why she was just now asking.

  Abby rose early the next morning because she had not slept well. The thought that she could be under the same roof with her baby’s great grandmother was just unbelievable.

  Abby began breakfast while Polly was out taking care of the livestock and milking the goat. She had the biscuits baked and the eggs and ham fried when Polly returned. She had one arm full of firewood and a pail of goat milk dangling from the other.

  “Good morning, you’re up early. Didn’t you sleep well?” Polly asked as she put the firewood in the box behind the cook stove.

  “I am alright; just had a lot in my mind is all. Do you want me to make some gravy to go with the biscuits and ham?”

  “Only if you or Joshua wants any, I am not in the mood for gravy this morning. I think I am coming down with something, my throat hurts, and I feel a bit feverish.”

  Abby walked to Polly and placed her
hand on Polly’s head. “You do feel a little warm, maybe you should lay down after you eat, I will take care of the milk.”

  “I think I might do that if you think you can take the milk to the spring.”

  “Where is the spring you haven’t told me anything about a spring.”

  “The spring is in the cave it runs down from somewhere high up in the mountains and opens up into a pool. That’s where I get water most of the time.”

  “I knew this water couldn’t be from a creek or melted snow it tastes too good.” Abby said as she sat the table and lifted Joshua into a chair.

  “I have a half gallon jar that I fill with milk and put in the spring, it stay ice cold even in the summer. I also make cheese and put it in there to stay fresh.” Polly said as she cleared her throat and winced.

  “If you give me directions I will be happy to take the milk to the spring for you.”

  After breakfast and Polly had prepared the milk, Abby walked the short distance to the cave entrance. The goats were resting when she passed by. The directions that Polly had given were clear. The spring was at the end of a tunnel that led off to the left of the large area were the animals were kept. Polly had rigged an old wooden gate at the entrance to the tunnel that reached from top to bottom; one of the chickens couldn’t even get to the water. Abby remembered seeing two large troths filled with water for the animals, she had assumed it was melted snow before she had heard about the spring.

  When Abby entered the section of caves that held the spring, she noticed that it was much colder. This cave was formed much the same as the other one only smaller. There were stalactite formations of different lengths and widths hanging all around. The spring itself was a wonder off nature. There was a small waterfall that ran down from a crack in the cave wall and ended in a pool that was crystal clear. The part of the cave wall that the water ran down was worn away a good two feet back in the side of the mountain.

  She could feel air blowing from somewhere. She put the milk jar in the spring and raised her lantern high so that she could get a better look at the walls of the cave. Up next to the roof of the cavern was a huge hole where the air was coming from. Abby could have sworn that, as she looked up at the hole that she had felt snowflakes on her face.