He looked to his left, then to his right, where tall pines stood like sentinels near the canyon wall.
He felt safe here, and content.
Then he reached his hands to Joylynn’s waist and drew her into his embrace. “I have neglected you,” he said regretfully. “But once the hunt is behind us, you will be the sole center of my attention. You will see that the waiting was worth it. I plan many good things for you on our wedding day.”
“You are everything to me,” Joylynn murmured, placing a gentle hand on his cheek. She laughed softly. “So you have something special planned for me, huh?”
“You will see,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “My neglect of you will end after the hunt. Until then, though, my people’s welfare comes first. They all need warm homes, and new cache pits are being dug for the food that will be stored there.”
Joylynn groaned at the memory of helping his mother dig her cache pit. “Again?” she said, but her tone was teasing, not whining.
“One more time you will help my mother prepare her cache pit, but after this, when new crops are harvested, you will dig one for our own food,” he said. His eyes twinkled. “Maybe by then you will be so heavy with child, the other women will offer to dig our pit for you.”
Again Joylynn worried about being pregnant again, unsure of whether she could carry a child full term.
But when he drew her closer and kissed her, everything but High Hawk and the joy she felt with him was forgotten.
“I have missed you . . . in . . . that way,” she whispered against his lips. They had not been free to make love since their first time together. “You know what I mean, don’t you?”
“Ho, as I have missed you in that way,” High Hawk whispered back to her. “Once the Wolf band is settled into a normal way of life again, I will satisfy your hunger, over and over again.”
“As I will yours,” Joylynn said, blushing when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned and found Blanket Woman standing there, her hands on her hips.
“One cannot get tepee poles in the ground when kissing seems more important,” Blanket Woman said, glaring at Joylynn. “When will you prepare mine? This old woman is anxious for her first lodge fire.”
Joylynn wanted to tell her that everyone was anxious for the same, but she kept her thoughts to herself.
She wondered, though, if she and High Hawk’s mother would ever be on friendly terms.
“Ina, this is your tepee we are building, not ours,” High Hawk said, reaching for his mother and embracing her. “I know how anxious you are to feel that things are normal again in your life. But everyone else feels the same way, yet I have heard no one but you complaining.”
“I disappoint you in so many ways,” Blanket Woman said, sudden tears in her eyes. “I will try not to, my son. I will try hard not to.”
“Ina, you are loved so much by this son, do not worry about trying so hard to do things that you think will please me,” High Hawk said. He leaned back from her and gazed into her eyes. “Ina, we have a new chance at life here where no white man’s feet have left any prints. It is a time to rejoice. Smile. Take heart. All is good.”
Blanket Woman flung herself into his arms. “I will not complain ever again,” she said, a sob catching in her throat. “I . . . I . . . sometimes feel so sad and bitter over the loss of land that was ours from the beginning of time, then the loss of my husband, and finally my firstborn. It is hard for this old woman to forget the losses that bring such pain to my heart.”
“I will help you forget if you will only let me,” High Hawk said. He looked at Joylynn, who was listening to the conversation between mother and son. “And so will this woman who will soon be your daughter.”
Blanket Woman looked at Joylynn.
Suddenly she smiled. “I will not complain any more about you, either,” she said. “From here on, you are my friend.”
“More than that, Ina,” High Hawk said. “She . . . will . . . be your daughter. Your daughter. She will be the one who will give you grandsons and granddaughters.”
Those words seemed to bring a soft light into the older woman’s eyes. She broke away from High Hawk and went to Joylynn. She surprised everyone who was watching by hugging her.
“I welcome you into my life,” Blanket Woman said, her voice breaking. “I welcome the children you will bring into my life.”
Joylynn wasn’t sure what to do or say, for what if she disappointed the older woman by not being able to give her grandchildren?
High Hawk’s smile was what she needed. She felt a quiet joy within her heart and knew at that moment that somehow she would bear him a son and this woman a grandson.
Suddenly she hugged Blanket Woman. Joylynn was filled with warmth when the old woman returned the hug.
High Hawk’s eyes widened. He was astonished by this sight, but knew now that even this was a part of his dream of paradise.
He smiled and went to the two women he loved, drawing them both into his embrace while his people worked at building their lodges and the children romped and played.
He did not see Andrew and the way he was watching the joy of the people he was supposed to have hunted down and killed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Joylynn had helped dig Blanket Woman’s cache pot, giving the two women time to bond. Blanket Woman had promised never to cause Joylynn any trouble again, and she believed her. She so badly wanted their future to be bright and warm; she wanted them to be a true family.
High Hawk’s scouts had been sent in various directions to look for buffalo and had returned with good news. Plenty of buffalo had been spotted on this new land, where no man had had a chance to kill them off.
Joylynn was riding proudly beside High Hawk as they set off for the hunt. The warriors planned to kill only as many buffalo as were needed to keep the Wolf band in meat for the duration of the winter.
Joylynn was proud to be a part of the hunt, even though she was not going to take part in the actual hunt, but would be an observer.
Yet some of the Pawnee women saw Joylynn’s mere presence during the hunt as taboo, fearing that she might bring their husbands, brothers and cousins trouble if she rode with them. Some thought that the mere sight and smell of her would warn the buffalo to flee.
Others thought Joylynn was courageous to do so many things that they had only seen men do. They had been told that Joylynn had been a rider for the Pony Express, which was also a male preserve.
Most of the women saw her as someone strong and courageous enough to be a chief’s wife, whose strength and stamina would cause her to bear their chief many strong sons.
“I’m so glad that you are letting me go with you today,” Joylynn said, drawing High Hawk’s eyes to her. “But I understand why you don’t want me to be an actual participant in the hunt, even though I hunted often with my father. He would let out a loud ‘whoopee’ when I downed an animal to put meat on our supper table.”
She swallowed hard. “I miss my father terribly,” she said. “Mama, too, but I had more of a relationship with my father than Mama.”
“Your ahte is looking down from the heavens even now, pride in his eyes that he has had a role in bringing up a strong and wonderful woman like you,” High Hawk said. “I am sure your ina is looking down at you, as well, with love.”
“I always wanted to make them proud,” Joylynn murmured. “And now I want the same for you. I don’t want to let you down, ever. You . . . are . . . my world.”
“You are my world, my woman, as well as my people’s,” High Hawk said. He looked quickly to the right when the sound of many horses’ hooves frightened quail from their roosting places.
“Quail make a good meal,” Joylynn said, having also seen the flight of the birds.
“Today we seek much larger animals, whose meat will last for the duration of the long winter,” High Hawk said, again looking ahead for signs of the buffalo that had been sighted by his scouts.
He knew they must be drawing near the her
d, for they had traveled half a day now.
“How are you feeling about Andrew?” Joylynn asked. “Do you still believe he is being truthful? Or do you think that all he says and does is a ploy to draw us into trusting him until he is well enough to travel back down the mountain?”
“I want to trust him. Certainly, Two Stars believes that he is sincere. They sit often and talk about their religions and the differences between their Gods,” High Hawk said, his long black hair blowing in the wind. “If Andrew is playing a game with my people’s religious leader, he will pay dearly in the end for his betrayal. For now, I will trust as Two Stars trusts.”
Joylynn scratched at her left arm, where wet clay and herbs had been rubbed into her flesh before leaving for the hunt. High Hawk had told her that the clay and sand served useful purposes on the hunt. Clay reduced the chances of being bitten by insects. The parakaha, a fragrant herb, prevented sunburn.
Joylynn was dressed in fringed breeches that had been loaned to her by a young brave of her size. She also wore that brave’s fringed shirt, while High Hawk and his warriors wore only breechclouts and moccasins. High Hawk’s hair was loose and flowing, while hers was worn in one long braid down her back.
All but Joylynn carried bows and quivers of arrows for the hunt. High Hawk had taught her that gunfire spooked the buffalo, causing them to stampede. High Hawk had told her how he had laughed when he saw the ignorance of white men using guns to hunt them.
Joylynn carried her rifle only for protection, should a buffalo come after her. She would have no choice but to shoot it, only then risking a stampede.
Since they rode in an area that was safe from whites interfering, the Pawnee carried their bows unstrung. Bowstrings made of braided sinew would stretch and weaken if kept continually under the great tension that was necessary during the hunt.
“When there was no need to hurry into a hunt as we are doing today, young boys would join us,” High Hawk said. “It is a good time for the young braves. They take their small bows and arrows and shoot at birds that flutter up from the grass. The young braves sometimes even take careful aim at butterflies darting before them.”
He chuckled as he continued to describe what he recalled so vividly in his mind’s eye. “When I was older, but yet not old enough to join the true hunt, I was among those who would gather to walk in a line abreast and drive out birds, rabbits and other small creatures to be killed. At day’s end, enough small game was taken back to the village to fill our mothers’ cook pots. The true hunters would come in later with the larger meat for their families.”
High Hawk paused and placed a hand above his eyes, slowly scanning the land on all sides of him; his warriors did the same.
Then he lowered his hand as Joylynn edged her steed closer to his. “What else are the buffalo used for besides food?” she asked, truly curious. She wanted to return to the village with as much knowledge as she could.
She had much to learn in order to be the best wife possible for this young Pawnee chief.
“The best hide coverings are made from buffalo, not deer,” High Hawk said, glad that his woman wanted to know so much of his people’s customs. “Bed coverings, clothing and saddles are also made from buffalo hide. Sinew from the animal is used for stringing our bows. My people’s women soften and dress the skins with brains from the buffalo. Mallets are made of the hoofs. Water bags are made from the bladder.”
“Buffalo!” Three Bears said as he came up to High Hawk’s left side. “They have been sighted around the bend, where the stream turns into a wide river.”
“Spread the word,” High Hawk said.
In his eyes was an anxiousness and gleam that Joylynn had never seen before. She could not help feeling the same excitement, even though she would not participate in the hunt. Just being with High Hawk at such a moment was enough to cause her heart to race with excitement.
High Hawk turned to her. “Go and stay far behind the warriors, where you can safely observe,” he said. “Do not move from that place unless by chance the buffalo are scared into stampeding, or they run toward you.”
“I will be alert at all times,” Joylynn murmured, resting her hand on her rifle, which was primed and ready as it stood in her gunboot at the right side of her horse. “Good luck.”
“Good . . . luck?” High Hawk repeated, arching an eyebrow.
“That is a way white people wish good fortune on their hunters,” Joylynn explained.
High Hawk smiled broadly as he reached over and took one of her hands in his. “The hunt today, a wedding tomorrow,” he said. “Tomorrow, my woman, you will be my bride.”
“Tomorrow,” she murmured, then watched him ride away with the others. She followed more slowly until she saw the buffalo herd just as she rounded the bend, where tall trees had until now kept them hidden.
She gasped in astonishment at how many buffalo she saw. A vast herd stood there together, grazing on the tall, green grass that swayed in the breeze.
She drew rein and searched out a less dangerous place. Seeing a slight hill where she could look down upon the hunt in safety, she rode up the slight incline. On the back side were thick trees that would also provide protection.
On two sides, the land stretched out far and wide, and on the other lay the river, with its pristine water reflecting the sun and the clouds floating away in the blue sky.
Just to be certain she would remain safe, she drew her rifle from the gunboot and rested it on her lap, then settled in more comfortably on the saddle. She had brought her binoculars, which hung around her neck.
She lifted them and gazed through the glass, watching the men slowly approaching downwind of the herd. The buffalo still were not aware of the danger drawing near.
Some of the herd grazed peacefully, while those closer to the river pawed the earth with one hoof.
She could hear some of the buffalo bellowing, others snorting.
And then her breath caught in her throat when she saw all of the hunters, with High Hawk in the lead, take their assigned positions as they formed a horseshoe shape with the open end toward the buffalo herd.
Some warriors now advanced on foot and made a line at the ends closest to the herd.
Those with the fastest horses were at a greater distance from the herd. But they waited and watched, and only when several of the buffalo suddenly sat down, resting in the grass and dirt, did the warriors ride at a hard gallop toward them.
The buffalo obviously heard the rumble of the horses’ hooves, for Joylynn saw them turn their heads toward the sound. Those buffalo that were standing could see the advancing warriors, yet still stood watching, as though not certain what to do.
Those that were sitting were just starting to rise. Gradually, they all began to move away. But just before they broke into a trot, the Pawnee hunters were among them.
The warriors on foot were shooting their arrows into the animals already, but they could not get closer because of the danger. This part of the hunt had to be conducted by those on horseback.
When the buffalo really began to run, Joylynn watched in awe as High Hawk and the mounted warriors were able to select which buffalo to shoot.
Joylynn knew, from what High Hawk had told her earlier, that they prefered to shoot a female because the meat was more tender and easier to prepare.
Joylynn had also been told that sometimes there was a competition among the hunters. The object was to see how many buffalo one could shoot with a single arrow.
As she peered through her binoculars, she saw that when a buffalo ran, it exposed an area behind the leg where the tough hide was thin. Some men were able to shoot low through this spot. If an arrow was shot with sufficient force, it went completely through and into another animal, killing two buffalo with one arrow.
She was awed by the accuracy of each warrior. Many buffalo were taken down, and before she knew it, the others had run away to be hidden from sight in a thick stand of trees.
She still stayed away from the warr
iors as they began to prepare the buffalo’s skin and meat for the return to their village. It almost made her ill to watch as the butchering began. It was not a delicate or pleasant task. It was messy work, with the summer flies and gnats almost unbearable. They were so bad that some warriors stood by, waving willow branches over the carvers.
But she knew they would much rather butcher the meat under these conditions than during the winter months, as they would have to do if their supply of meat ran out before spring. In the winter, the buffalo meat and skin began to freeze before it could even be processed.
High Hawk had said that the blood would cake and ice on the hunters’ hands. In such cases, the hunters would place their hands in the vagina of a downed animal, until they were warm enough to continue with the work.
Joylynn could no longer look through the binoculars. It was too gruesome a sight. She only hoped that when it came time to eat this meat, she wouldn’t remember so vividly what she had witnessed today.
“I will be all right,” she whispered to herself, sighing heavily as she continued to wait until the meat was loaded on the horses.
After a while, something told her to look in the direction of the hunters again, and when she did, she found High Hawk waving at her.
She quickly saw that all of the meat was packed on the backs of the horses and covered. The horses had been led down by the river, where the men were already running into the water with their breechclouts on, washing off the clay and soil of the day, as well as the blood from the butchering.
She knew that sand would then be rubbed into the skin to further cleanse it.
She gazed at High Hawk again as he rode toward her with his burdened horse. She could see that his body was sparkling and clean beneath the rays of the sun. His wet hair clung to his shoulders and down his back. Obviously, he had already bathed.
Glad that the hunting and butchering was done, and even more anxious to return to the village so that she could prepare for her marriage, Joylynn mounted her steed, rode down the steep incline and met High Hawk.
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