by Linda Bridey
Skip laughed with her. “Yeah. That was brilliant, huh?”
“I loved it. Doesn’t this feel better? You don’t have to be so shy with me, Skip,” Peanut said.
“It isn’t a question of having to be or wanting to be, it’s a case of I can’t help it,” Skip said. “I’ve always been like that around girls and I don’t know why. My old man wasn’t. Not that you wanted to know that, but I guess he was popular with the ladies.”
Peanut smiled. “I want to know more about you, but I can’t if you don’t talk to me.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. You’re pretty cute yourself. How come a handsome boy like you doesn’t have himself a girl?” she asked.
Skip’s face turned pink. “Uh, well, it’s because I’m so shy and I’m, um, I have … issues. Oh, boy. This is embarrassing.”
“Don’t be embarrassed, Skip. Just talk to me.”
“I wasn’t allowed to enlist in the army because I have what they call mental defects. Sometimes I get real anxious about stuff or real mad. Scary mad, but not with women or kids,” he rushed to assure her. “I ramble, as you noticed, and I sometimes get distracted from what I’m saying and go on to something else. You probably saw that when I’m talking to other people.”
Peanut said, “I have, but I think it’s cute. Thank you for all of your help with Annie. It’s really nice of you.”
His gaze shifted to the baby who was gnawing on her fist. “I don’t mind at all. She’s so sweet and a lot of fun.”
Dino trotted his horse back to them. “Sorry about that, guys. We’re waiting for you up here. I don’t know what got into Uncle, but it was fun. I’ve never seen him like that.”
Skip said, “It has something to do with him seeing his spirit helper. I’ve never seen anything like that. I have a feeling that we’re gonna see a lot of things like that here.”
Dino grinned. “I sure hope so. C’mon.”
Skip smiled at Peanut before they trotted after Dino and when she smiled back at him, it took all of Skip’s will to look away from her again.
Chapter Eight
“Good gravy! No wonder Runner got so big. Look at the size of you,” Ken said as he shook hands with Raven.
Raven laughed. “Yes, and his mother is tall, too. Thank you for taking care of our runaway for us. I’m indebted to you.”
“Nah,” Ken said. “I don’t know what we woulda done without him. He’s been a huge help. We’re gonna miss him.”
Doreen said, “That’s right. I hope you don’t mind, but he became like a son to us.”
Raven said, “No, I don’t mind. I’m grateful to you for extending so much kindness to him and for taking him into your home.”
Doreen said, “Well, c’mon and sit down. We’ll be ready to eat soon. I made a couple of roasts since I didn’t know how many of you were coming. There’s plenty of fixin’s, too.”
“I would be happy to help you,” Squirrel said. “I am familiar with your kind of kitchen.”
Doreen said, “I’d love that.”
“I’ll help, too,” Jaylyn said, following them.
Eric watched her go, admiring her beauty. He caught Jonathan grinning at him and frowned in return.
The meal with the Merricks was bittersweet for the couple and Runner. He and his family were leaving afterwards so that they could make it to Wind Cave that night and then move on to Buffalo Gap the next day.
Raven knew how the Merricks felt; he’d been as brokenhearted as Zoe when Runner had taken off. Runner was as unpredictable as a whirlwind, but he was charming and affectionate. He’d come into his power young and his spirituality sometimes confused people, but more times than not, he made sense. He was slow to anger, forgave quickly, and easily endeared himself to people.
Runner hated the sadness in Ken and Doreen’s eyes, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. It was time to do what he’d come to do and return to Dawson. However, it still hurt his heart that his leaving would grieve them.
When supper was over, Jaylyn and Peanut insisted on helping Doreen clean up. The others sat in the parlor visiting. Then the moment came to say goodbye to Runner’s surrogate family.
Raven shook Ken’s hand again. “Please come visit us sometime. We would love to show you where Runner grew up.”
“We just might do that. Thanks,” Ken said.
Raven also shook Doreen’s hand. “Thank you for all you’ve done for Runner. Helping him has helped all of us, too. We’re in your debt.”
“It was our pleasure,” Doreen said, her vision blurred by tears. “Safe travels to you all.”
The rest of their group thanked the Merricks for the fine meal and said their farewells before going outside to leave them to say goodbye to Runner privately.
Ken wasn’t given to hugging very much, but he embraced Runner. “You do what God put you on the Earth to do, son. I never believed in that sort of thing much, but you’ve convinced me. It won’t be the same around here without you to eat all of our food or to cause trouble with the Zeisloft boys.”
Runner laughed as he returned Ken’s hug. “You’ll finally have some peace and quiet. I’ll write you often and you really should come visit. You’ve been a good father to me. I love you.”
Ken let him go. “I love you, too, son.”
Doreen couldn’t control her tears when Runner hugged her. “Now, you listen to me, Runner. You finish up here and go back home to your mother. Don’t you dare run away again. Mothers’ hearts can’t take that sort of thing. You’ve only been with us for a couple of years and I love you like my own. I can only imagine how hurt your mother was when you left.”
Runner held her closely. “I promise not to live up to my name again in that way. I may bring more family here someday, so I’ll stop to see you.”
“You’d better.”
He nodded and stepped back, looking into her eyes. “Thank you for loving and caring for me. I, too, owe you. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Doreen said, giving him a last, brief hug.
Runner tapped his heart. “You’ll be with me here forever and you’ll find me in your hearts. Don’t be sad.”
They nodded even as tears shimmered in their eyes. They followed him out onto the porch, watching him as he mounted his horse. He sat silently, looking intently at them for several moments. Then he smiled at them and waved before turning his horse around and trotting away.
The rest of their party waved and called out goodbyes to the couple again as they followed Runner. The couple watched the string of riders canter out of sight, amused by the war trills they let out. Then they sighed and went back inside their house that was suddenly too empty and quiet. Never would they forget the boy who’d walked into their life, bringing so much joy and love with him.
That night when they went to bed, the Merricks found that a dreamcatcher had been hung above their bed. A note hung from it that read, “May you be blessed with only love, joy, and peace, now and always. No bad dreams will come to you now. It’s a small repayment for all that you have meant to me and always will. Love, Runner.”
Although they would still miss him terribly, their hearts were a little lighter because it seemed as though he’d left a piece of himself behind, making them feel like he was still with them. They lay in bed that night holding hands and fell asleep looking up at that dreamcatcher, comforted by its presence.
*****
The moon was in mid-ascent when they arrived at Wind Cave, the sacred Lakota landmark. It was the largest maze cave in the world and discoveries of new tunnels and chambers within it were still being made.
The Lakota and other tribes had known of its existence for a long time, but they’d never gone inside it. To have done so would have been considered disrespectful to the spirits residing in the labyrinth. Their people regard Wind Cave, or Wa-shun Wanka, as the womb from whence all buffalo had been born. Nearby Hot Springs represented the milk that fed the buffalo, and Buffalo Gap, or Pte Ta Tiyopa, was the Do
orway of the Bison Cow.
For centuries, this was the place through which the herds of bison had left the area in the spring with their new calves and returned every fall. It was thought of as the birth canal of the bison. All of it interconnected and these holy places were treated with the utmost reverence.
As they neared the location, Runner said, “Although our people have known of Wind Cave for many years, two white brothers, Jessie and Tom Bingham, came upon this holy place in 1881. They heard the wind coming from the opening and became curious. They did not go in, but once they announced its existence, others came to see it. Some people tried to mine here.”
Black Fox actually growled. “Mining on our sacred ground, land that was stolen from us, blood shed over.”
“That is why the spirits are angry,” Reckless remarked. “These holy places have been violated.”
“Yes,” Runner said. “They soon found that there was no gold or silver here, but they wanted to make money from it somehow. They enlarged the entrance and some of the tunnels so they can take people on tours through the caves and tunnels deep inside.”
Black Fox yanked his horse to a stop. “WHAT?”
His grandfather’s murderous expression made Runner almost afraid to continue. “They take people through the cave on tours. They have widened the passageways and put in wooden staircases to make it easier for them to pass through. The government put a stop to mining and homesteading and it is now a national park.”
He sighed. “The American Bison Society has brought back bison, pronghorns, and elk here. They are trying to do the right thing, but they do not understand what these lands mean to us and they will not listen. Now there are many people coming through here to see it just because it is pretty, not because they truly respect it or the spirits here.”
Black Fox swallowed hard, but he couldn’t stop tears from trickling from his eyes. He was heartsick over the invasion of the hallowed ground and knew that his ancestors must also weep over it.
“That is why you needed to come now. To see it before the desecration becomes worse. What they call improvements, I consider disrespect. There is talk of putting in concrete stairs and widening passageways and entrances even more,” Runner said. “I have taken the tour many times so that I could learn what they were doing and why. I also became friendly with a couple of the rangers here and they have agreed to let us go into the caves tonight so that you can see it before all of these horrible changes are made.”
The chief’s blood reached the boiling point and the urge to kill anyone who would dare attempt to deny him entry into what he viewed as rightfully his people’s land gripped him. His chest rose and fell rapidly with the force of his anger. “They will let us see it? That which is rightfully ours? This land that has fed thousands upon thousands of our people and that of our Cheyenne brothers and sisters for so many years? Even the Pawnee and Kiowa respect Paha Sapa and they are our enemies! This land belongs to all of us and no one who values their lives will stand in our way this night!”
His family members’ hearts sang with answering voices as they recognized Black Fox’s battle rally. Not since the clash in the canyon had they heard him speak so and they would eagerly follow their chief into combat once again if necessary and do so without fear.
Jonathan and Runner had never seen their chief act like this, so ferocious, and it was both frightening and thrilling to behold. The looks of rapture on the others’ faces enthralled the young men and their Lakota blood also rose to the fore.
“Grandson, take us to Wa-shun Wakan so that we may see the womb of our sacred Bison,” he said.
Runner nodded. “Yes, Grandfather.”
They didn’t speak Lakota, but Jaylyn and Peanut knew that Black Fox was furious by his tone of voice and angry gestures. Thus far, they hadn’t seen him be anything but kind and genial. They wondered what Runner had told him to make him so angry.
Eric saw their frightened expressions. “Don’t be afraid, ladies.” He translated what Runner had told the others.
“That’s awful!” Peanut said. “I didn’t really know anything about the Black Hills.”
Jaylyn agreed. “I’m not Lakota, but it still makes me angry that they were forced away from here.”
Mike rode close to them. “Lakota isn’t just in the blood: it’s in the heart. I was only sixteen or so when White Horse began training me to be our medicine man. It didn’t matter that I was a white boy. I asked him about it one day and he said that I had been raised with a Lakota heart and that he sensed power in me. He was pretty forceful about it and I never questioned him again.
“So don’t think that just because you don’t have Lakota blood that the beating of your hearts can’t be Lakota. I don’t feel the power as strongly as Reckless and Runner do, but it’s all around us. Reach out with your hearts and you’ll feel it, too.”
Runner spoke in English. “We’ll tie our horses here. If we take them closer, the breathing of the Giant will scare them.”
“Breathing of the Giant?” Jaylyn asked.
Runner smiled. “Wind Cave is called so because the air moves both in and out of the cave, depending on the weather. One legend tells of a Giant who lives deep inside the cave and the wind is thought to be his breathing.”
The idea of a giant inside the cave into which they were about to enter didn’t sit well with Peanut, but she refrained from saying so. Once their mounts were tied up, with the exception of Dash, who had been instructed to stand guard, the group made their way to the cave. Runner lit the lantern he’d brought. He smiled when he came to the other ones that his friends had left for him right outside the entrance.
The high pressure weather system that they were currently experiencing forced air into the cave and it flowed around them, as though urging them inside. They had to create a human wind buffer so they could light the lanterns. As they held them up, illuminating the cave entrance, a black fox appeared before them. It wagged its tail and then ran inside the cave, disappearing from view.
Mike stopped them from entering and said a prayer, expressing gratitude for being granted the privilege of being allowed entrance into such a holy place. He told Wakan Tanka and the spirits of all their ancestors that they did so with only the greatest reverence. As he finished, the wind grew stronger, pulling at them as though the spirits were giving them permission to enter.
Runner led the way inside. “Stay close to each other and watch your step.”
Eric took Jaylyn’s hand, smiling at her in the lantern light. His eyes seemed to say, “I’ll keep you safe.” She smiled back and squeezed his hand.
Skip took Annie from Peanut. “I’ll hold on tight. Don’t worry,” he whispered.
“I’m not,” she whispered back.
As they moved through the passageways, the natural splendor of the caves held them in awe. Box work patterns in the limestone rock ceilings overhead created intricate artwork that had been caused by the recession of the warm sea that had once flowed over the area eons before. Skip stopped walking whenever he wanted to look at it, mindful of the baby he carried. He wasn’t taking any chances that he would trip while holding her.
Holding up his lantern, he surveyed the spectacular sight while smiling. Following his gaze, Annie saw it, pointed at it, and babbled.
“Yeah, it’s beautiful, huh?” Skip said to her.
Black Fox smiled and looked back at them, thinking how nice Skip looked holding the baby. She chattered back to him and clapped her hands. The chief thought it appropriate that one so little was along with them, as though she brought even more good medicine to them. Perhaps she did.
Runner had warned them that it would be cold inside so they’d put on more clothing. Peanut had put a warm hat on Annie and Skip kept her wrapped up well in her baby blanket. Reckless began humming a song of thanksgiving and soon all except Peanut and Jaylyn joined in. Although they didn’t know it or how to sing it like the others, they appreciated the song’s beauty.
As the melodi
c sounds reverberated off the walls, Peanut listened to Skip sing with conviction and thought about what Mike had said about not needing Lakota blood to have a Lakota heart. Though she might be a white girl who’d been a stranger to them, Black Fox’s family had never made her or Jaylyn feel like outsiders; they’d been taken in and cared for immediately.
Peanut had never experienced such a sense of belonging before. She doubted that many people would be allowed along on such a holy journey and she was almost grateful to Claude for his vile actions. Otherwise, she might have missed out on it all. Had that happened, she would have been profoundly sad.
Chapter Nine
Runner said, “We’ll have to duck through this entrance.”
They followed his direction and joined him on the other side. They now stood in a large cavern in the middle of which was a beautiful pond. Their lanterns illuminated the clear water and created a glowing effect in its center. Suddenly the fox reappeared, barking at them as it stood by another jagged archway.
Runner frowned. “I don’t remember this room.”
The fox ran into it and then came back out, barking excitedly.
“It does not matter. We are to follow,” Black Fox said.
He took over the lead, ducking into the room. It was as large as the cavern they’d just exited, but there was no water, only solid stone floor. As Reckless came inside, he groaned and almost went down. Raven and Mike caught him under his arms.
“Here,” he said, panting. “We are to meet him here.”
Mike and Raven noticed that he was sweating profusely despite the cold temperature. They helped him sit down and he assured them that he would be all right now.
Mike said, “Form a circle, everyone.”
As they did, Mike stepped into its center and built a fire using the materials he’d brought in his pack. He also took out a pipe and a bone rattle with eagle feathers attached to the ornate handle. The Lennox sisters watched in fascination as he took off his tunic and applied paint to his body, using the appropriate symbols.
The scents of sage and cedar filled the cavern as the fire burned brighter and Mike purified himself with the smoke. Lighting the pipe, Mike presented it to the Four Winds before taking a puff and blowing the smoke out slowly. He then gave it to Black Fox, who puffed and passed it to Raven. Everyone took a turn until it came to Jaylyn.