Grizzly Killer: Under The Blood Moon

by Lane R Warenski

  He went back to where the body was and carved the shape of a very large bear track in its chest. Then covering his tracks as best he could in the dark he followed Jimbo back to where they had left Ol’ Red.

  He rode swiftly back to Running Wolf and after briefly telling him what he had done, he told him to find the women and keep them moving but not towards Black’s Fork until they knew the Blackfeet were not following. He was going to watch from a distance to see what the other five were going to do.

  The eastern sky was starting to gray and as the stars began to fade, they hurriedly packed what was left of their camp on the horses. As Running Wolf started to cross the river following the tracks of their wives he turned and said, “Be safe, my brother, the Blackfeet may be fearful but they are still mighty warriors.” With that Running Wolf went out of sight in the willows on the west side of the river.

  Zach was tired going without any sleep at all but he knew he had to push on through the day. He knew very well with the Indians being as superstitious as they are, they would be spooked by what he had done but he didn’t know if that would be enough. If they continued to follow they would now be much more cautious. He couldn’t let them see him but he had to know just what they were doing.

  He headed east this time instead of west with Jimbo staying right close and they got behind some very low hills about a half mile east of the river and headed north. When he figured he had traveled about four miles he stopped and he and Jimbo bellied up through the brush to where he could see. These low hills were getting closer to the river and eventually formed a low bluff right at the river’s edge and from where Zach was now watching he was less than a quarter mile from the river and right in line with the Blackfeet.

  They were building a burial scaffold for their slain friend and Zach watched with interest as they wrapped his body in his robes and laid it out on the scaffold along with all his weapons. Then they set his severed head on the scaffold uncovered as though it was watching over his body.

  When this was done they started to argue and their voices were raised so much he could hear some of the words but he did not speak the Blackfoot tongue and had no idea what was being said. As he watched the arm movements of one warrior that was particularly loud he figured they were arguing about whether to continue or turn back and if that was the case he knew he had really spooked them.

  A little while later, they mounted up and with a lead rope on the dead warrior’s horse they continued on following the trail of the travois. Zach was disappointed and he could tell just by watching the body language that at least two of the Blackfoot Warriors did not want to continue but they were obliged to follow their leader. He thought that if he could make another successful attack on them that would be enough to send them back.

  He didn’t know just how to do that now. He didn’t think he would be able to get close enough in the light of day. So, for now, he waited until they were a mile or more ahead then he went down to the burial scaffold and got the slain Blackfoot’s head, wrapped it in part of the robe from the scaffold, tied it onto the back of his saddle and crossed back to the west side of the river heading into the hills to the west.

  When he knew he was far enough from the river and in the hills so he couldn’t be seen, he turned and started at a good fast lope straight south. He stopped once and climbed up to the top of a hill where he could see the river bottom and saw he was now ahead of the Blackfeet but they were getting close to where Running Wolf and their wives had left the river. He continued on moving just a fast as Ol’ Red could in these broken hills west of the river until he crossed the drag marks marking the trail where the women had gone last night. He could also see the tracks of Running Wolf’s chestnut over the top of the travois’ drag marks.

  He turned and followed the trail three or four miles into the hills until he came to some trees and stopped. He quickly found three downed logs about ten feet long and set up a tripod right in the middle of the trail. Then he took the severed head from behind his saddle and hung it by the hair from the center of the tripod with its distorted face staring right back down the trail. In the dirt right in front of the tripod he drew two big bear tracks, then continued on the trail, not knowing how far the women would have traveled into these hills on such a dark night.

  The trail kept leading higher and about a mile further up led around a large bare knoll with a rock outcropping on top of it. He stayed right on the trail around this knoll but once on the back side of it he left the trail and headed toward the top and the cover of the rocks. Once off the trail a couple of hundred yards he stopped and went back covering his tracks. The back side of this knoll was covered with oak brush and once inside a large stand of it he tied off Ol’ Red and went up to the rocks on foot. He found from there he could see the trail all the way back to his gruesome tripod and even another half mile or so below that.

  It was less than an hour when he saw the five Blackfeet riding up the trail toward the tripod. About a hundred yards from the tripod they stopped. They were too far away for him to hear anything or even tell much about their body language but he could tell they were mighty nervous by their hesitation to proceed. The leader started forward very slowly and motioned for the others to follow him but only one of the other four started to move with him. When the leader was about twenty-five yards from the tripod he stopped again and they all were looking hard all around. The leader stepped off his pinto and again motioned for the others to come up but they stayed right where they were.

  Zach sat there watching, hidden from view and wished he was close enough to better determine their mood but figured they were mighty spooked. He watched as the leader led his horse back to the others and again he could tell even at this distance the others did not want to continue.

  He knew very well these were five tough men and their pride was what pushed them on, but he also knew they were Indians with a strong belief in spirits, superstition and magic. They could see their friends head blocking the trail in front of them and took it as a very bad omen. Maybe the spirits were protecting Grizzly Killer and all who were with him. Did they, as Blackfeet Warriors, have the power to go up against the powerful medicine of Grizzly Killer and the spirits that were protecting him?

  As he watched from his rocky perch the Blackfeet moved back down the trail about a quarter mile, stopped and dismounted. They built a small fire and sat in a circle around it. Although they were too far away to know just what they were doing, he could see a puff of blue smoke above one of their heads and then the next and he knew they were passing a pipe around. Then one of them got up and lit what Zach figured was a clump of sage leaves and started around the circle to each one waving the pungent smoke around their heads warding off the evil spirits that was protecting this man called Grizzly Killer.

  After this ceremony was over the five of them mounted up and started out again. Instead of continuing on the trail they turned south and worked their way to the top of the ridge opposite where Zach was watching from. They followed the ridge top until they were a good half mile above their friends severed head then worked their way off the ridge and right to the trail of drag marks that the travois’ were leaving.

  So far he had been playing on their fear and superstitions hoping that would prevent any further bloodshed, but now he knew without any doubt his bad omens were not enough, he would have to kill these warriors before Sun Flower, Shining Star, Raven Wing, Running Wolf, or himself would ever be safe.

  Under the Blood Moon

  Zach watched from his rocky perch until the five Blackfeet were out of sight. As he and Jimbo made their way down to where they had left Ol’ Red, he thought about a year ago and the five Arapaho they’d had to kill right there at their home on Black’s Fork and how all of them worked together. Raven Wing with her bow, Running Wolf and Sun Flower with their rifles, himself with his rifle and even Jimbo had taken out one of them. As he mounted up on Ol’ Red he really didn’t want to put his wives in harm’s way again knowing how close Su
n Flower had come to death last year on Rock Creek.

  He didn’t know how far ahead Running Wolf and the women were right now, but he was confident Running Wolf would keep them safe, so he figured it was up to him to stop the Blackfeet. He knew very well he had the Blackfeet spooked but that alone was not enough. If he could add to that fear and kill another one, especially the leader, the others might flee back to their own country in the north.

  He mounted up, crossed the trail and headed to the ridge just southwest of them. These hills were steep and the trail the women had taken was right in the bottom of a draw that was winding its way deeper into the hills. Zach hoped when he got to the top of this ridge he would be able to see a way he could get in front of the Blackfeet again. These hills were mostly barren of trees, they were covered with grass and scattered sage with large clumps of oak brush and mountain maple here and there.

  He dismounted and crawled to the top of the ridge and from there he could see for miles ahead. There was no sign of Running Wolf and the women but he didn’t think there would be. He was sure they would be many miles from here. He could see the Blackfeet and looking ahead, he plotted a course in his mind that would put him in front of them but keep him out of their sight. He figured he could be a couple of miles ahead of them by mid-afternoon.

  He mounted up and started south making sure he was out of sight before he topped the ridge and started down the other side. The route he picked was rough and steep and he knew he was pushing Ol’ Red to his limit. Zach was about at his limit as well, having no had no sleep at all the night before and very little the night before that. He started to doze in the saddle but the terrain was just too rough for actual rest.

  He figured it was just three or four hours to sundown when he finally came across the drag marks of the travois. The tracks of Running Wolf’s chestnut were still over the top of them telling him the women had traveled all through the night. They were getting high enough into the hills now the oak and maple were thinning out and pines and quakies were becoming much thicker, especially on the north side of the hills. He spotted a high ridge he figured he could make before dark where he thought he would be able to see the Blackfeet and the trail for some distance. He headed for that spot staying well off the trail so as not to let them know he was in front of them again. After traveling about two miles, he could see a grassy area where the pines came almost to the trail and he could see this is where the women had stopped. He dismounted telling Jimbo to stay with Ol’ Red, then being very careful not to leave any sign he walked over to the small spring where they had let the horses drink and graze. From the tracks he could tell this is where Running Wolf had joined them. With a deep sigh he wished he could be in the arms of Sun Flower and Shining Star and get some much needed rest.

  He slowly moved back to Ol’ Red and Jimbo stopping a couple of times to brush away a moccasin track that he had left. He then mounted up and continued to the high point he was trying to reach. Once there, he quickly pulled the saddle off Ol’ Red and rubbed him down with some dry grass and led him into the timber just out of sight. He quietly talked to his beloved mule apologizing for the hard day and not letting him go to the grass along the creek for something to eat. It had been well over 24 hours now since any of them had eaten.

  As he came back to the edge of the pines he could see the Blackfeet were at the spot where the women had stopped and Running Wolf had joined them. He watched as the Blackfeet spent only a couple of minutes there and moved on again, now moving at a faster pace. There was a small running creek in the draw and the traveling was becoming more difficult. He could see the draw had become more narrow and rocky and he knew the women and Running Wolf would not be moving nearly as fast as they had been.

  It was still light but the sun had set and the Blackfeet were now only about a half mile below his position. Jimbo started his soft growl from deep down in his throat. Zach rubbed Jimbo’s ears and quietly said, “Easy boy, you’ll get your chance.” A wolf howled from just up the canyon and another answered from the ridge behind them. He watched the Blackfeet come to a spot where a rock outcropping jutted out over the creek and they stopped there to camp. They watered their horses and picketed them on the grass along the creek and camped under the rock outcropping. Zach could see no way to get to them this night, they had picked a mighty protected spot to camp. He needed the rest so he just laid back on the soft pine needles where he was and closed his eyes.

  There was a faint smoky haze across the mountains tonight. Zach figured there must be a forest or prairie fire somewhere and the breezes were blowing the smoke in. Just before it set, the sun seemed to just stop over the western horizon looking like a giant fiery red orb. Not long after the sun set, the sky was dark all along the eastern horizon and he watched as the light slowly faded in the west as well.

  He could see the faint flickering light of the Blackfeet’s fire shining off the rocky overhang they were camped under. He then noticed a blood red glow starting just above the ridgeline on the eastern horizon. He watched as the red glow got brighter and was casting an eerie bloody red color all along the eastern sky. Just a couple of minutes later the moon appeared. It was as red as blood and now the dark red glow was covering the whole world.

  As he watched the Blood moon rise, he remembered the old Cherokee medicine man back home talking about the blood moon as a bad omen. He said whenever the moon was the color of blood someone was going to die. He knew the Shoshone believed it to be a bad omen from what Buffalo Heart and Red Hawk had told him. He didn’t know whether these Blackfeet believed the same thing, but the moon light shining that dark red color through this smoky haze even gave Zach the chills and he wondered just what would happen under this blood-red moon.

  As this eerie light of the moon moved higher into the night sky, it cast its glow down into the canyon where the Blackfeet were camped. He heard voices raised as if another argument was occurring, then a few minutes later he could hear chanting as if they were trying to ward off evil spirits.

  Zach didn’t really believe in all of the superstitions that the Indian did, but he had been with them long enough and had seen so many unexplainable things that he didn’t just dismiss them either. He wasn’t really afraid this night but he was uncomfortable watching from under the blood moon that was slowly rising into the night sky.

  He sat there for the longest time listening to the chanting come up from the canyon and wondered if he would get any sleep again this night, but after a while he laid back and closed his eyes again.

  When he opened his eyes it was still dark and he could hear Jimbo’s breathing right next to him and could see the outline of the pines against the brightness of the stars. He slowly sat up but could see nothing at all in the darkness looking down into the canyon. The moon had lost most of its red glow but it still was a little redder in color and darker than normal. He saw that the big dipper was more than halfway around the North Star and he figured it was two or three hours before dawn. He slowly made his way up through the pines to Ol’ Red with Jimbo right by his side and softly talked to his mule as he put the saddle on him. He then led him up through the timber until they topped the ridge.

  He mounted up, trusting Ol’ Red to see in the dark and told Jimbo to find Sun Flower and Shining Star. Jimbo led out staying just a few yards in front of Ol’ Red as they made their way farther up the canyon but staying up on the ridge above the creek. As the sky slowly started to lighten, there were a band of high clouds just over the horizon to the east and the closer the sun came to peeking over that horizon that band of clouds became a glowing flame of red orange color. He thought of the blood moon from the night before and wondered if the Blackfeet would continue.

  Just ahead he could see where the canyon split into another fork heading off to the northwest and he worked his way down the ridge to see which fork Running Wolf and the women had taken. He was following a game trail that led off the ridge to the flat area where the two canyons came together. There were elk, deer and mo
untain sheep tracks on this trail leading down to the creek and then Jimbo suddenly stopped with all the hair down his back standing up and Zach could see that over all the other tracks where a very large grizzly had stepped out of the brush onto the trail. He stopped, his keen eyes searching the whole area but he could see or hear nothing. He slowly continued on now only about fifty yards from the creek when a smile crossed his face. He was going the send the Blackfeet one more message. He stopped, looked around again but he knew Jimbo would have let him know if the bear was still close.

  He turned off the trail and rode Ol’ Red back up to just above where the bear had stepped onto the trail and then very carefully with the help of a small branch with leaves on one end he stepped right into the tracks of the grizzly. With a little work he covered the Bears front paw tracks and made it look like it was just his moccasin tracks walking down the trail. He continued this until he got just a few feet from the creek then instead of covering up the front paws tracks he left his hand prints in their place for two more steps. He then stood and stepped off the trail making sure he left no other sign he had been there.

  From a few feet off the trail he studied the tracks and then went to a couple of spots and did a little more work until he was satisfied. Then, with a smile of satisfaction he went back to Ol’ Red. The tracks he had left in the trail looked as though he was walking down the trail as a man then turned into a Grizzly bear right there before the creek and continued on as a bear. While by the creek he had seen the tracks of Running Wolf and the women. They had continued to follow the main canyon so he headed back up on the ridge to continue.

  He traveled a little over a half mile and from the cover of a stand of pines he stopped to look back. He could see the Blackfeet moving up the creek and could tell they were now moving faster than the day before, he figured they wanted to catch up and put an end to this journey.