Song Of The Warrior

by Georgina Gentry

  Clearwater. Billy remembered stripping some fancy beaded decorations off a body, then he moved up the bluff where three or four Nez Perce braves had held the army back while the tribe escaped. “Hey, Deek, come here!” he motioned. “I just found that damned Bear’s body.”

  “Good!” Deek grinned and tucked a scalp in his belt, wiped his bloody knife on the grass. “I want his hair and any gold he might be wearin’.” He started across the grass.

  “Hey, he’s still alive!” Billy exclaimed. “If that don’t beat all.”

  “Just barely alive.” Deek spat to one side as he came over, stood looking down at the prone body. He looked around to make sure there were no troops close. “I’ll cut his throat; I want his scalp.”

  “Wait a minute,” Billy said. “Bear is one of Joseph’s best warriors.”

  “So?” Deek shrugged, reaching for his knife. “Even better reason to finish the redskin off.”

  “Wait!” Billy held up a hand to stop him. “Suppose there’s a slim chance he knows where Joseph has hid the gold?”

  Deek paused and scratched his dirty beard. “What difference does it make? He’s all but dead.”

  “I got more reason to hate him than you; I think he was topping that girl I wanted.” Billy looked down at the still body. Bear was barely breathing and covered with blood. “If there’s the slightest chance he knows, I’d hate to lose that treasure. Maybe we can keep him alive long enough to find out.”

  “Boy,” Deek said, grinning, “you got a good head on you.” He reached for his canteen. “I hate to have an Injun drink out of my canteen.”

  “Think of gold,” Billy said as he propped the unconscious man up, wet his bandana, and wiped the man’s dusty, bloody face. “You can buy a dozen new canteens. Aren’t you the one who’s always imagining himself weighted down by nuggets so heavy, you can’t carry them?”

  Deek grinned and nodded. “You’re right.” He handed over his canteen. “This man needs a doctor bad.”

  “Maybe I can convince General Howard this Bear has important information; you know, as a scout. Maybe we can take him back to the fort and keep him alive long enough to find out.”

  “And then we’ll kill him?” Deek said and spat tobacco juice to one side.

  “And then we’ll kill him!” Billy agreed, wiping Bear’s face with the wet bandana. The big Indian stirred a little and Billy held the canteen to the warrior’s lips, dribbled a little in his mouth. “In the meantime, maybe it’ll take us both out of this damned Injun war!”

  It had taken both of them out of the Injun war, all right. Billy grinned now, remembering, and watched Bear pace his cell. In the last several weeks, the wounded brave had recovered rapidly, thanks to his iron will and his strong body. “Hey, Injun, you might as well tell me. Once we know where the treasure is, we’ll turn you loose and you can rejoin your people.”

  Bear paused in his pacing the tiny cell and glared at the smirking lieutenant sitting outside, chair tilted back against the wall. “No.”

  A half-empty bucket of dirty water sat in the hall outside the cell where a private had been scrubbing that morning. “Injun, you aren’t very grateful,” Billy said. “If old Deek and I hadn’t showed up that day to save your life, you’d be laying out there right now, your bones bleaching on that bluff near the Clearwater.”

  Bear snorted and resisted the urge to charge the bars. Billy Warton was goading him, Bear knew, hoping Bear would show anger so Billy could taunt and tease him. “Soldier, you didn’t save me out of the kindness of your heart.”

  “That’s right,” Billy said, grinning, “but sooner or later, you’ll tell. In the meantime, you’re keeping the two of us out of the fighting. We just keep sending General Howard messages that you’re about to give us really important information.”

  “Never!” Bear grabbed the bars and glared out at Billy.

  “Never’s a long time, you red-skinned bastard!” Billy came out of his chair, grabbed up the bucket of filthy mop water, and threw it at Bear.

  The dirty water soaked him and Bear gasped, fought to control his temper. If he charged at the bars, Billy would poke at him like jabbing a wild animal in a cage and laugh when Bear attempted to grab the mop handle. Bear gritted his teeth and willed himself not to react. Everyday, he was growing stronger as his wound healed. He would have to be strong and well to escape, follow after the Nez Perce; rejoin his people. Yet Bear would never tell the hiding place of the treasure, even under torture. Besides, he was smart enough to know that if he ever told that secret, Deek and Billy would kill him; they wouldn’t need him anymore.

  Billy sat back down, propped his feet up and grinned. “I could begin to starve you.”

  “Then I’d die and you’d never find out,” Bear said calmly. He wondered if there was any news of his Nez Perce people, but his pride wouldn’t let him ask. Besides, he wasn’t sure Billy or Deek would tell him the truth.

  Willow. He closed his eyes and pictured her lovely green eyes, her soft mouth. Was she still alive? Did she wonder what had happened to him? Was she expecting his child? Sometimes at night in the narrow cell, he dreamed of making love to Willow, kissing her breasts, emptying his seed within her so she could make him a child. He worried, too, about his beloved younger brother. Maybe Willow would look after Raven. He hoped they were both still alive. Sooner or later, Bear was determined to escape and find his way to them.

  “You haven’t even asked about how goes the Nez Perce War,” Billy said.

  Bear shrugged as if he didn’t care.

  “General Howard is chasing them across the Lolo Trail.”

  Bear didn’t answer. Taking the whole tribe through those narrow mountain passes? It had been his idea, but he knew his people must be desperate enough to try it.

  “Don’t want to talk, huh?” Billy brushed back a lock of hair, got up, swaggered close to the bars, but not close enough so Bear could reach out and grab him. “Deek’s coming again tonight; we’ve bribed the guards to leave.”

  Torture; that meant torture. Bear didn’t change his expression. A couple of times already, the pair had tied him up and beat him, trying to get information. It wasn’t just the lure of the gold, Bear thought, this pair actually enjoyed hurting people.

  Billy laughed. “Nothing to say, Injun? Why don’t you ever scream when we’re trying to get information?”

  He was determined not to give them that satisfaction, even if they beat him to death. “You can kill me, I won’t tell you anything.”

  “You ever top that half-breed girl?”

  Bear didn’t answer. The love between he and Willow was sacred. A man doesn’t boast of conquest when it’s the woman he loves.

  “I thought so!” Billy seemed to be gritting his teeth. “Was she good?”

  Bear didn’t answer.

  “I’ll just bet she was! I’m gonna have her yet myself; you hear, Injun?”

  Bear turned and went over to sit on his bunk.

  “You damned redskin, look at me when I talk to you!”

  Bear continued to stare at the wall, knowing it put Billy in a fury to be ignored.

  “When General Howard captures them all, brings them back, I’m gonna enjoy that little chit! Maybe I’ll lay her flat on her back right outside this cell and rip her clothes off! She’ll be screaming and begging, and you can watch me!”

  In spite of himself, at the images those words brought to mind, Bear lost his temper and charged the bars with a roar, reaching through, trying to get his hands on the sadistic officer.

  Billy laughed and stepped back out of reach. “I knew that would get you; you really love her, don’t you?”

  Bear clenched his fists around the bars, wishing he could reach the man and kill him very slowly.

  “Deek will be here soon; it’s almost dark.”

  Bear shrugged as if it didn’t matter. When they bribed all the guards to leave, they tortured him, trying to force Bear to tell where the treasure was. “You’re wasting your time; I wo
n’t tell you anything.”

  “Well, in that case,” Billy said, rubbing his weak chin, “let’s just say we do it for our own amusement.”

  The light in the tiny cell was fading fast. Could he survive another beating from these two? He had to hold out, no matter how much they hurt him. Sooner or later, one of them was going to get careless. Bear was watching and waiting for that chance. When it happened, Bear intended to escape and take off on the trail of the Nez Perce.

  He had kept himself alive all these weeks by thinking of Willow’s face when she saw him. Again and again, he imagined sweeping her up in his arms, kissing her. Did she and the others even know he was alive? The answers would come when he finally escaped and made his way back to his people and Willow’s loving arms.

  There was a noise outside.

  “Hey, Billy, you in there?” Deek Tanner called out.

  Now the long night would begin, but Bear wouldn’t tell them anything, no matter how much they hurt him. Bear would die before he told these two the secret of the Nez Perce treasure.

  “Yeah, Deek, come on in,” Billy yelled. “I’m eager for the night’s entertainment.”

  “Lieutenant, it’ll be more entertainin’ than you know.” Deek stuck his head around the corner of the door, scratching his tangled beard. “I suddenly got me an idea as to how to persuade this Injun to tell us what we want.”

  Bear sighed. “You’ve wasting your time, Tanner; I’m not afraid of pain; warriors endure a lot of it.”

  “I’m not talkin’ about you, Injun.” Deek laughed. “I was walking down the street and saw somebody coming out the back of the tavern, drunker than a boiled owl,” Deek said. He came into the hall, pushing the protesting Rainbow ahead of him. “I don’t know why we didn’t think of this before.”

  A shiver went down Bear’s back as he looked at the small, defenseless woman. Surely even this pair wasn’t rotten enough to ...

  Billy frowned. “Think of what, Deek? That drunken little slut don’t know nothing about treasure—”

  “I know that.” Deek grabbed her shoulder, turned her so that she was looking into Bear’s eyes. “You suppose our big warrior will talk now to keep us from torturin’ her?”

  Twenty

  Bear stared at the girl as she twisted and struggled in a vain attempt to escape Deek’s grip. “Rainbow!”

  She paused and looked up at him. Even though she was drunk, there was unmistakable shame in her eyes. “I-I’m sorry, Bear, I never meant to—”

  “Why didn’t you go with our people?” Bear demanded.

  “Now,” Deek said, grinning, “you know why she didn’t. Somebody offered her a drink; she’d do anything for whiskey.”

  Rainbow looked away, not meeting Bear’s gaze. She was humiliated because all knew what the ugly scout said was the truth. “I meant to catch up,” she said, “but some soldier offered me a drink and then another. . . .”

  Bear closed his eyes and sighed, trying not to picture what she had done to earn the whiskey; what she had been doing to survive all these weeks.

  “What’s the point, Deek?” Billy said. “She doesn’t know anything.”

  Deek grinned and twisted her arm until she cried out, “What the soldier says is true; I don’t know!”

  Deek released her then and she fell in a heap on the floor, sobbing.

  Bear took a deep breath of relief. “You are wasting your time, the woman knows nothing.”

  Deek winked at Billy. “It’s gonna be a long night, Lieutenant, what about a little entertainment?”

  “What’d you have in mind?”

  As Bear watched, Deek ripped the girl’s shift down the front. “Why don’t we show the buck how to really enjoy a woman?”

  Bear hit the bars with a roar, grabbing vainly at both men, but they were safely out of his reach.

  Billy grinned and brushed his curls out of his eyes. “You know, Injun, if you’d tell us about the gold, we might not do this to her.”

  “Don’t tell!” Rainbow sobbed. “They’ve both had me before; it’s no big thing.”

  It was true, Bear thought; everyone knew she would lie with any man who would give her a drink. He could not tell the tribe’s secret. He could not. He went and leaned against the wall, staring out the tiny barred window at the night.

  Behind him, he heard Deek say, “I’ll hold her for you, Lieutenant, and then you hold her for me.”

  Rainbow sobbed.

  “God!” Billy said. “Doesn’t she have nice tits, though?”

  Bear didn’t turn around. He could hear the man grunting and her sobbing.

  After a long moment, Billy sighed. “Just like warm honey. Now it’s your turn, Deek.”

  “You know, Injun,” Deek drawled, “you tell us where that gold is, we’ll let you out and you can have her, too!”

  Bear forced himself not to respond. The sounds behind him left nothing to the imagination. Bear gritted his teeth. Over the past several weeks, he had endured torture to keep the secret of the treasure; he couldn’t tell it—even to protect Rainbow.

  He heard Deek grunt with satisfaction, stand up. “That was good. You sure you don’t want some, Injun?”

  “Don’t listen to them, Bear,” Rainbow sobbed, “no matter what they do to me, don’t tell them anything.”

  Bear managed to keep his face immobile as he turned around. Rainbow’s pretty face was bruised and tear-streaked. “Do what you will with the chit; she’s nothing to me.”

  “In that case,” Deek said, grinning, “you won’t care if I do this!” He twisted her arm until she screamed.

  “You bastard!” Bear shouted. “Let her go; she’s just a girl!”

  “Let them kill me, Bear,” Rainbow begged. “I’m worthless anyway; can’t even look after my own child. Let them do anything they want, but don’t tell.”

  Bear shuddered, watching what they were doing to her. Torture and even death, he could endure, but he could not stand to watch anything small and defenseless being mistreated. He could not stand to see anyone hit a woman. He began to pace the small cell.

  “Hey,” Billy said, chuckling, “I think we’re getting to the Injun; it bothers him to see her hurt.”

  “You mean, like this?” Deek caught his hand in her hair and twisted her neck until she sobbed.

  “Stop that!” Bear shouted in a rage and slammed against the cell door, willing it to open. “If I get my hands on you—”

  “Oh, but you can’t,” Billy reminded him with a maddening grin. “We can do anything we want to her, and you can’t stop us. Just think of us doing this to Willow when Howard captures and brings in the Nez Perce.”

  “Bear, ignore them,” Rainbow implored. “Let them do whatever they want with me; I’m a shame to our people anyway.”

  He didn’t even want to think about what these two would do to his lovely Willow if they got their hands on her. If he could just get out of here! Willow would be safe as long as she was within his embrace; his strong arms would protect her.

  But what about Rainbow? They were doing unspeakable things to her again while she sobbed. Bear had never known such inner turmoil. He could not give away the Nez Perce secret for a whore’s honor. Besides, he had no guarantee that they would keep their word. How long could this go on?

  “Stop,” Bear begged. “Torture me instead!”

  “Oh, but that doesn’t seem to do any good,” the lieutenant taunted. “Besides, it’s fun to watch her cry and beg.”

  Deek pulled his big knife and it shone in the dim lamplight. “You know, I was raised by the Blackfoot; I know lots of ways to make someone beg for death, yet keep them alive.”

  “Just kill me,” she begged. “Just kill me, please!”

  “Now what shall I do first?” Deek said. “Shall I carve my name across her tits, cut her belly open, or what?”

  Bear tried to tear the cell door down then to get out to help her, but he only succeeded in hurting his hands.

  “Don’t tell,” Rainbow begged,
“they’re bluffing, they won’t really cut me up!”

  “Maybe instead of carvin’ my initials on her tits, I could cut up her face,” Deek said. “She has such a pretty face. I might put a scar on her forehead like mine.” He turned his head so that the light caught the ugly, livid mark on his face. “Now, some of the tribes cut off a woman’s nose if they catch her with another man. How do you suppose she’d look that way?”

  Billy had turned a little green. “Maybe you’re carrying this a little too far, Deek. Raping a woman, slapping her around a little is one thing; I’ve done it lots of times, but cutting her to pieces a little at a time—”

  “I’ve done it before,” Deek said with a shrug. “You’re soft, Billy. We’ll do what we have to do to get that gold.” He put the point of the knife against Rainbow’s breast. “What about it, Bear? Shall I cut her—?”

  “Stop it, white bastard!” Bear could stand no more. “Let her go; I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

  “No,” she protested, “let them kill me; I’m worthless and without honor!”

  Deek kept the knife point against her breast. “All right, Injun, talk and if I think you’re tellin’ the truth, I’ll let her go.”

  “I can’t trust you to do that,” Bear snarled, gripping the bars so hard his hands hurt.

  “No, but you don’t have much choice.” Deek scratched his dirty beard with the tip of the knife.

  “Don’t listen to them, Bear,” Rainbow sobbed and struggled to get out of Deek’s grip. “I can stand it!”

  “Don’t hurt her anymore,” Bear said. “I-I’ll tell you.”

  “How will we know if he’s telling the truth?” Billy asked.

  “Because,” Deek pushed his hat back, “one of us will go after the treasure; the other will stay here. If the gold ain’t where he says it is, we cut the girl to pieces right in front of him.” He put the knife against her breast again and a tiny trickle of blood ran where the sharp point broke the skin. “All right, Injun, tell us.”

  Bear took a deep breath. He wouldn’t tell to protect his own life or avoid torture, but he couldn’t stand to see anyone hurt a woman. Should he lie?