by Linda Bridey
Chapter Ten
When they arrived at the spot Runner indicated would make a good place to stay that day, they quickly struck camp. Breakfast consisted of some berries that Skip and Peanut found and some rabbits that Jonathan and Raven scared up. Then they settled in for a nap.
In mid-morning, Annie woke up hungry and in need of changing. Peanut took her off to nurse so that she had privacy and so that she didn’t wake the others. When she came back, she walked by Reckless and was brought up short when she saw the change in him.
A streak of silver ran down the right side of his hair, which had been pure black before. He shivered despite the heat and his sickly pallor alarmed her.
She hurried over to Mike and shook him awake.
“Something is wrong with Reckless,” she said.
Mike immediately rose and went to his cousin, kneeling by him.
“Reckless? Open your eyes,” Mike said. He ran his fingers over the white stripe in Reckless’ hair.
Reckless looked at Mike and the doctor saw the pain in his eyes.
“What’s wrong, Reckless?” Mike asked.
Weakly raising a hand, Reckless tapped his chest. “Hurts.” His voice was barely audible.
Mike ran for his bag and hurried back to Reckless. He pulled out his stethoscope and listened to Reckless’ heart and lungs.
“Peanut, please put on some water to boil,” Mike said.
She followed his order right away. Mike got out a bottle of nitroglycerin.
“Reckless, do you think you can swallow one of these?” he asked.
Reckless shook his head. Mike placed it under Reckless’ tongue.
“Let that dissolve,” Mike instructed him.
Owl crouched on the other side of Reckless. “What is it?”
Mike briefly met his eyes. “He’s had a heart attack.”
Owl’s eyes opened wide. “A heart attack?”
“I think it’s from the strain of holding us all in the spirit vision for so long,” Mike said.
Shifting onto his knees, Owl said, “It was too much.”
The pain in Reckless’ chest eased a little and he opened his eyes, meeting Owl’s gaze. “Had to. Important.”
Owl stroked his hair. “I know, but don’t do that again.”
“My destiny,” Reckless whispered. His gaze intensified. “Father.”
Fear and joy warred within Owl’s breast. “Is that your decision?”
Reckless smiled. “Yes. Grandfather said not be afraid. No fear.”
Nodding solemnly, Owl said, “Then so be it.”
Mike looked from one to the other. “Is he saying what I think he is?” he asked Owl. “Are you Reckless’ father?”
Forcing away his fear, Owl said, “Yes.”
Mike rocked back on his haunches a little in shock. “But—never mind. It’s not important at the moment. I want to keep him quiet. Stay with him. I’m going to brew him some tea that’ll make breathing easier for him.”
Owl sat cross-legged by Reckless, taking his hand. “Rest, Reckless. I’ll be right here.”
Reckless squeezed his hand a little and then closed his eyes. Owl sighed, leaned his forehead against Reckless’ hand, and began praying for his son.
*****
Several people had overhead the exchange between Owl, Mike, and Reckless, including Black Fox. He took everyone except Mike and Owl out of earshot of the camp and told them the story that Owl had told Reckless.
Jonathan asked, “Why didn’t Uncle Owl claim Reckless?”
Black Fox said, “It would have only confused Reckless and others. He Who Runs was Reckless’ true father, the father of Reckless’ heart. And Reckless was the son of He Who Run’s heart. They were father and son just as much as you and I are, Jonathan.”
“But Minx is truly Uncle He Who Run’s child?” Raven asked.
“Yes.”
“Grandfather, may I speak?” Runner asked politely.
Black Father nodded.
“Great Grandfather told me that Reckless’ parents had been going to tell him the year the army fought our tribe in the canyon, but then they were killed. They hadn’t wanted to tell him before Bear and Wolf were born and upset the family depending on how Reckless took it, so they waited.”
“And never got the chance,” Eric added. “Maybe they weren’t really meant to. Maybe Wakan Tanka decided they should keep it to themselves. At least Reckless has another father with him. Not that Uncle Owl could ever take Uncle He Who Run’s place, but I’m sure it’s still comforting to Reckless to have him acting in that capacity.”
Black Fox said, “You may be right. Wakan Tanka knew what was going to happen and perhaps he wanted Reckless to still have a father here in this life.”
Dino said, “I hope Aunt Hannah and their kids will understand.”
“So do I,” Black Fox said. “There is nothing to be done about that now, though. I am going to talk to Mike.”
He walked back to camp and went to the fire where Mike mixed up a different kind of tea.
“How is he?”
Mike shook his head and stood up. “Weak. He can’t be moved right now. I don’t know where the nearest hospital is from here anyway.”
Black Fox nodded and sighed. “What can I do?”
Mike swallowed hard. “Pray that he doesn’t have another attack. He won’t survive it if he does.”
“I will do that. Can he be moved by car?” Black Fox asked.
“Yeah, but we don’t have one,” Mike said.
Black Fox playfully cuffed him upside the head. “I know that! But can he?”
Mike smiled. “Pa would have done that.”
“He has rubbed off on me some,” Black Fox said. “We will get a vehicle.”
“Where are we going to get a car? We’re out in the middle of nowhere,” Mike said. “There’s no way to even get a vehicle up here.”
Black Fox grinned. “Oh, ye of little faith,” he said, patting Mike’s cheek. “Watch me get a vehicle here.”
As he walked away, Mike called out, “You know, sometimes I regret teaching you Bible verses! You’re not Jesus, you know!”
Black Fox made a dismissive hand gesture. “I am a Lakota chief who has just gone on a spirit journey. That is close enough.”
Mike burst out laughing as he went back to working on Reckless’ medicine.
*****
Peanut stood by Skip and Dash, who had been harnessed. “I can’t believe Black Fox convinced a complete stranger to take Reckless to Rapid City.”
Skip smiled. “Grandfather has a way with people and it didn’t hurt that he offered the guy money. He’s always been able to get things done when it seems impossible. It’s why he’s such a great chief.”
“You love him very much,” Peanut said.
“Yeah. He and his wife are the only grandparents I’ve ever known. My mother’s parents passed away a while back and my father’s parents are in prison for embezzling from Dawson,” Skip said.
Peanut’s blue eyes filled with shock. “They embezzled money?”
Skip nodded. “Yep, and now they’re in prison.”
After Brown Stag had told him to look deeper into his lineage, Skip had been thinking about going to visit his grandfather, Jay Keller, to see what information he could glean about his heritage.
“That has to be hard.”
Skip shrugged. “Not really. I’ve never met them and I hate them for the shitty way they treated Pa when he was growing up. They’re the only people he truly hates, especially his mother.”
“Why were they so mean to him?” she asked.
“Because they were hoity-toity and embarrassed by Pa’s mental condition. He’s manic depressive, has anxiety problems, and is sometimes so tired that he can’t get out of bed for days. Sometimes he can’t even stay awake long enough to eat. We have to get him up to go to the bathroom and stuff like that,” Skip said.
“That’s a shame,” Peanut said.
“He calls it ‘hibernation
.’ When he’s not hibernating, he makes up for lost time. He’s the best father and there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for us,” Skip said. “He makes Ma happy and everyone loves him.”
“He sounds like a special guy. Sort of like you,” Peanut said.
Skip smiled and blushed, once again silenced by his shyness.
Peanut just chuckled and turned her attention to what Black Fox and Raven were doing so that he didn’t feel even more self-conscious.
*****
Eric and Jonathan carried the saplings they’d cut down over to where Raven and Black Fox were laying out thin cordage. The experienced travelers had prepared for every eventuality and they’d brought along extra rope and cordage as well as cutting and carpentry tools.
“Thanks,” Raven said. “These are perfect. The reason we wanted live trees was because they have more give in them than dead ones. They won’t break under a lot of weight like dead trees will.”
A crowd gathered around to watch the building.
Black Fox said, “Skip brought Dash’s harness so this will be easier than hitching a travois without one. The harness already has loops for the poles to fit into. We will use the two longest poles for the main frame.”
So saying, he took one pole to Dash’s right side. The mule was already harnessed, so Black Fox put the end of the pole into the loop and secured it in place. Raven did the same thing with his pole on Dash’s left side.
Raven said, “Now we’ll make the cross pieces. You have to keep the size of your load in mind when choosing poles. Reckless is over six feet tall, so the poles have to be long enough to accommodate his height so he isn’t hanging off the travois. We wanted the main poles to be twelve feet long because we had to consider the length from Dash’s harness loops to the first cross piece. He has to be able to walk without banging his legs on them.”
While he’d been talking, Black Fox had cut the first cross piece and started lashing it in place. As they worked, father and son explained the whole process. They lashed more cross pieces to the main poles and they had Dino and Jonathan cut smaller saplings into roughly six-feet-four-inch lengths. They supervised the young men as they lashed them together, making sure that the lashings were tight enough. Then the chief and Raven laid the bed of saplings on the main poles and cross pieces and tied them in place using stouter rope.
Black Fox smiled at Raven. “Lie down on it. If it holds you then we know it has been done right.”
Raven frowned. “You just don’t want to be dropped.”
“Correct. I am old and fragile,” Black Fox said, grinning.
“Fragile, my ass,” Raven said, lying down on the travois.
Black Fox laughed as he took hold of one of the poles sticking out past the end of the travois bed. “Eric, grab the other pole and we will lift it up. It will be a smoother ride for Reckless if we carry the ends, but if you do not have people to do that, you would just let the ends drag along the ground.”
Eric complied and the two strong men lifted Raven with little difficulty.
Black Fox said, “Justin, start Dash out.”
Skip let out a short, high-pitched whistle from behind Dash and the mule stepped forward obediently. Black Fox and Eric were able to keep up with Dash with ease.
After about twenty feet, Black Fox said, “Whoa!” and Dash stopped.
Slowly, he and Eric lowered the travois ends to the ground and Raven got off it.
Peanut said, “You did that so quick.”
“We’ve done it many times. Once you know what you’re doing, it goes much faster,” Raven said.
Black Fox sobered as he looked at the position of the sun. “We must go so that we do not keep Mr. Forney waiting. We do not want him to leave because he thinks we are not coming.”
Skip moved Dash over to where Reckless lie. He wasn’t in pain any longer, but he was very weak.
He smiled at them. “I see you have made me a chariot.”
Raven knelt on one knee by him. “Yes, and now you’re going to be carried like a king.”
“Just do not drop me.” Reckless’ gaze moved to Black Fox. “Uncle, once you see Mike and me off, keep going on your journey. You were meant to see it all and I do not want your opportunity ruined because of me. Promise me that you will continue.”
His eyes bore into Black Fox’s and his pleading expression convinced Black Fox. He couldn’t refuse his nephew when he saw how important it was to him.
“We will go on, but our hearts will be with you,” Black Fox said.
Owl stepped forward. “I will go with my son.”
Black Fox nodded. “I expected no less. We must go.”
Dino, Jonathan, Peanut, Squirrel, and Striking Snake would stay to guard their camp until the others returned. They said their goodbyes to Reckless and then the others began the three mile trip down to the road.
Chapter Eleven
Miles away from the South Dakota travelers, in their home town of Dawson, Mayor Joe Dwyer took an English saddle off a rack and left the tack room. A lot of people would be surprised to know that Joe rode English as well as Western, but he could train any type of horse. That afternoon he was working with a heavy hunter who needed more training over water jumps.
He’d just put the saddle on the chestnut Thoroughbred when his junior butler, Chester Cooper, rushed into the barn.
“Sir! You’re wanted on the telephone. It’s urgent,” he said.
Joe asked, “Who is it?”
“Switch, and he’s quite incoherent. Something about Reckless having a heart attack, but I can’t be certain that I understood correctly,” Chester replied.
Joe stared at Chester for about five seconds and then ran for the house. He burst through the sunroom door and hurried to his important office, picking up the receiver, which laid on the desk.
“Switch? It’s Joe. I’m here.”
“Hi, Joe. It’s D.J. I had to get Switch off here because he’s having a panic attack. I got out of him what’s wrong. I don’t know the whole story, but Reckless suffered a heart attack and he’s in the hospital in Rapid City. Owl and Mike are with him and they want Reckless’ family to come.”
Joe closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “That means it’s really bad.”
“Yeah. They want Aunt Hannah and their kids to come, too,” D.J. said. “I don’t know why.”
“It don’t matter. They’ve got a reason. Ok. Call Hannah up at the hospital. I’ll go tell them down at the camp.”
“You got it,” D.J. said.
Joe hung up with him and hurried out of the house again.
*****
That night as they sat around the campfire, Black Fox and company couldn’t get Reckless off their minds. They didn’t have the heart to play games and there was no flute music. After eating supper, they mainly sat staring at the fire.
Black Fox had been looking forward to seeing Buffalo Gap and Hot Springs, but all of the joy seemed to have gone out of the trip now. It was driving him insane not to know the status of Reckless’ condition.
Raven said, “Tomorrow we’re going to Rapid City. I can’t keep going without knowing how Reckless is.”
Black Fox sighed in relief. “I am glad you feel the same way I do.”
Everyone else agreed and they packed most of their belongings before bed so that they could move out right after breakfast.
Chapter Twelve
“Did you get any?”
The whisper from close by made Skip jump where he crouched close to the water along the stream. He’d heard a bullfrog earlier and he wanted to catch some.
“Just one so far,” he whispered back to Peanut. “Where’s Annie?”
“With Squirrel. I wanted to come wash up a little and then I saw you,” she said, continuing their conversation in a hushed tone.
He smiled at her. “Are you having a craving for frog legs?”
“Yeah. A really bad one, too,” she said.
Skip let out a croak and heard one in response, which he an
swered. In a moment, there was a reply from nearby. Skip continued to draw the bullfrog in, holding his spear at the ready. Peanut kept completely still and silent. The prospect of seeing Skip catch a frog excited her and she didn’t want to do anything to make him miss his prey. She thought about how delicious Skip’s frog legs were and her stomach growled loudly.
Skip barely held in a laugh at the sound. Then he saw the frog hop up onto the bank and he struck out with his spear, neatly skewering the amphibian.
Peanut grabbed his arm, shaking it excitedly. “You got one! More frog legs!”
His skin under her hands tingled from her touch. He laughed. “You’ll have to wait until I cook them.”
“You have four. That’s enough for a snack,” she said. “Cook them now. Please?”
Skip said, “Ok. You like them even more than Reckless does.”
“It’s because I’m pregnant. I had all kinds of cravings with Annie,” she said.
“Like what?”
“Eggs. I couldn’t get enough of them. It didn’t matter how they were cooked.”
Skip said, “And now it’s frog legs.”
“That’ll probably change after a while,” she said. “Next month it might be peas or something.”
Skip picked up the two dead frogs. “C’mon. We’ll go over here so I can make these for you without disturbing anyone over at the fire in case they’re asleep.”
“You don’t really have to cook them now,” she said.
“I don’t mind,” Skip said. “Here. This’ll be fine.”
He put the frogs down and gathered some dried grass, twigs, and a few larger sticks. Peanut watched in fascination as he built a fire without the use of matches. The flames grew larger, and she watched him in the firelight as he butchered the frogs.
Skip had filled out more during the past year and all of the extra exercise on their journey had further increased his muscle mass. He had no idea, but his form was very pleasing to the female eye—Peanut’s eyes, to be more exact. Finishing with the frogs, he threw the parts of them that he didn’t want into the underbrush and caught her looking at him.