by Rita Hestand
"Did you challenge a Sioux for a maiden?" She accused.
"Where did you hear such a thing?" Big Knife's voice boomed through the cave.
"In the camp." She snarled at him. "Have you been wounded."
Big Knife looked into her face. "I did no such thing. And I am not wounded. They purposely planted that idea in your head to get you to come here. They must have followed you up here." Big Knife glanced out of the cave. "Did you see anyone following?"
"No, of course not. I left in the middle of the night. No one even saw me leave. I went in circles too so if there was anyone following, they would soon tire of following me."
Black Wolf and Bear Paw moved out of the line of his vision quickly so as not to give themselves away.
He came back toward Naomie and shook her by the arms, Black Wolf watched with fascination. "You little fool. Do you think I would do such a thing? You warm my bed, Naomie, I need no other. This war I plan will take most of my concentration, I have no time to frolic with Sioux maidens. How could you have fallen for such a story! Do you realize what you have done?"
"You have said you would marry both me and Sasha, how could I be sure you would not pick up another?" She hollered in her own defense.
"That was only to further my position with Walking Bear. I did not care for Sasha, had I married her, it would only be to further my position in the camp, and you know this. Where is the trust, Naomie?"
Naomie faltered a bit, obviously realizing she'd fallen for a trap.
"Walking Bear is dead!" She shouted to distract him from her mistake.
"Good," He glanced over his shoulder at her. He came closer, staring into her eyes. "You gave him the toad stools?"
Black Wolf noted there was no sorrow in his voice.
"Yes, just as you told me to." Naomie said hatefully. "I cut them up very small so no one could be sure what they were."
Big Knife held her by the shoulders now. "I know it was hard, as you liked the old man, but he was old and stubborn and would not listen."
"We didn't have to kill him."
"We did have to. How many would listen to our talk of war with him there? No, it was necessary. You did well my love. Now he can do no harm to my plans. Now perhaps we can persuade the rest of our people to join us in the war against the blue coats."
"Once Nakota returns, he will be Chief, and I doubt many will go with you then." Naomie's voice lowered now as though she was almost afraid of Big Knife's reaction to her words.
"Nakota is a weakling" Big Knife paced about the cave now. "He is like his father and wants peace." Big Knife paced the mouth of the cave, glancing out at the falling snow. "I know this has been hard for you Naomie. But it will get harder still. Now that you are here, you'll have to stay."
Naomie was quiet for a moment. Then she burst out.
"Aren't you even glad to see me?" she asked in a softer voice.
"Of course I am glad to see you, but you probably brought some of them with you. I realize you didn't think, and we'll handle it my love, but they set you up. Until you came no one knew where we were." He fretted vocally. "We need time to plan our first attack and make it known to the blue coats that we will no longer live like slaves to them. You must get used to me being the Chief now, and that I have duties to my men and to kill the blue coats. There will be times I cannot make love for I must be ever on guard, Naomie. You must harden yourself if you are to stay with me. First, we will rob them of their gun supply, then we will attack them with their own guns. We will show them the power we have over them soon. Then all the Arapaho will join us. They will hold their heads up high and be proud again."
She ignored what he had said and pouted. "I think when I killed Walking Bear, I proved how loyal I am to you."
"Yes, you did." He came back to her and lifted her chin to stare into her face. "But this is just the beginning,"
"Black Wolf is at the camp now."
"Why did he return."
"How should I know?" Naomie answered flippantly.
Big Knife shook his head and stared at her again. "He came to feed you gossip so you would come up here. That is why. You have put us all at risk. Naomie, you mustn't listen to anyone but me. There is a shipment of guns coming and we will steal them so we can fight them more easily. You must keep quiet of anything you know, as they might try to capture you and get you to talk."
"I will be silent. But, how do you know this about the guns?"
"We have a scout from the fort spying for us. He got news to us yesterday."
Naomie sounded restless with the talk of war.
"How could I know anyone would follow me, I heard you were wounded and sought another woman. What was I to think?"
She came up to him close, "I have done everything you told me to do. I killed Walking Bear and I get no thank you for it. You should have let me stay here, then this would not have happened. I carry your child. I should be with you always."
He stared down at her and reached to pull her to him. He kissed her passionately and she calmed down. "You are right. I am sorry. But if they have found us, we will need to move, and quickly. There are many caves here, we'll find another." He said when she turned away from him again. He went to tell his men to pack up.
He came back and kissed her once more. "I am glad you are here, but now you must stay. There is no choice. It is too dangerous for you to be in the camp any longer. By now they probably suspect you of killing Walking Bear."
"Yes, Sasha does I know, and I agree!" she said inviting another kiss. "I no longer belong in that camp. The women, they look at me as if I were a snake. They all suspect me of Walking Bear's death now."
"They are going to move again," Black Wolf muttered to Bear Paw.
"Yes."
"I will follow, you stay here until Nakota shows up then you follow my trail as I will leave markings for you." Black Wolf told him.
Bear Paw nodded.
"We must hide until they leave."
They went behind a clump of bushes and waited.
***
When Lacoma found Nakota he told them that they had followed Naomie to a cave and he would lead them, Nakota informed his men that they had found Big Knife.
"We will follow you then."
"How did he manage to get Naomie to come up here?" Nakota asked Lacoma.
"He planted a seed of gossip, that Big Knife had challenged a Sioux for a maiden." Lacoma chuckled.
Nakota laughed, "That would do it."
But it took nearly an hour for Nakota and his men to reach the cave and by then they were gone. Still Bear Paw stayed behind to inform them.
"Big Knife knew she would be followed, so they moved to another cave." Bear Paw informed him.
Nakota nodded, "Black Wolf is following?"
"Yes, but he will leave us a trail, to find him."
"Good." Nakota was pleased. "We must hurry as the snow is falling harder now."
***
It started to snow as they were high into the mountains and already winter was catching them unaware. Black Wolf knew he would have to make his trail more obvious in the snow, so he tore the fringe of leather on his pouch and dropped them along the trail. He only hoped the snow would not cover them as he tried to plant them on scrubs and low tree limbs.
"Must we go so far up into the mountains?" Naomie complained after over an hour of climbing. Black Wolf stayed back far enough they did not see him, but he could hear most of their conversations.
"Yes, we'll find a good place to hide, then we can plan our attacks. They won't be expecting us to attack so soon. We must always surprise the blue coats. When we get those guns we will be as powerful as they."
"I am so tired. I have ridden half the night to get here and now this." Naomie complained once more.
"Woman," he came up to her and grabbed her jaw roughly. "You chose to come here I told you not to, now you whine. Either you are with me, or you're not!"
She was shocked by the rough treatment. "I carry your child, an
d this is the way you treat me?"
"Then keep up as I have no time to take care of you now. That's why I didn’t want you here."
Naomie frowned and pulled away from him. "I thought you loved me."
"It is not time for love Naomie." He scolded. "It is time for war, and war is an angry time." He told her. "We must use our wits to stay alive. This is not a game Naomie. We must win this for our people."
"Our people do not want war with the blue coats. This is vengeance and you know it." Naomie cried.
"A man must stand up for himself and his people. The blue coats tell us where to live, what to eat, how we can trade. I will not live under their yoke any longer. They have destroyed the buffalo, moved us to land that will not grow anything. How can we survive?"
She sighed and touched his shoulder now, "I understand it, but I don't like it. Killing is not something a woman does."
"You are right my pet, it isn't. And I understand how you feel. But in the end, we will be the victor!"
"I hope you are right," she murmured.
Chapter Eighteen
The higher they climbed, the more slippery the trail as it was mostly rock in the high places. The temperature dropped too, making Black Wolf shiver. After traveling all night, they found a place about two hours before sunup. Black Wolf was a bit weary himself.
He found a place some distance from the cave, as long as they did not move again, he was set until Nakota and the rest of their men arrived. He wouldn't confront them alone unless their plans were to attack immediately.
He listened for conversation, but he could no longer hear them.
He kept his eyes trained on the cave entrance.
He could not make coffee or cook a meal. He resigned himself to a cold and bitter night.
As soon as he learned what their plans were, he could send someone to warn the blue coats. He'd heard them say they would attack a shipment of rifles. That was really bad news, but he wasn't sure where they would attack them, and he had to hear more of their plans.
Black Wolf came prepared for the weather this time, as he took his blanket roll off his horse and unwrapped it. He'd stolen a slicker from a cowboy once and found it useful to keep the wet from a rain or heavy snow, he layered the slicker with a buffalo hide he'd made himself. Wrapped in the hide over a slicker, he was able to keep from freezing, even though he had no fire. He wore several layers of clothes too. He'd made his mocassins with a lining of sheep skin and they kept his feet warm.
He spent the night out in the snow and waited for Nakota and the others to get there. He knew thinking of Sasha would warm him quickly, so he indulged in memories. The way she came and stood there in front of him, naked and lovely asking to be taken. He hadn't expected it, after throwing such a fit in front of her. But obviously her frustrations had caught up with her too. He knew he had chosen wisely when he picked her to be his wife. She was wise in some ways and naïve in others, both were charming to him. He closed his eyes and imagined them kissing, naked on a bear rug. What a thought. With it, he went to sleep and smiled.
Nakota and the men arrived the next morning.
"You have found them?" Nakota asked.
"Yes, just over the ridge there in another cavern. But I'm surprised a bear has not moved them out of there, as it is time for them to hibernate up here." Black Wolf chuckled.
"It would be nice if the bear would run them out, wouldn’t it?" Nakota laughed.
Black Wolf chuckled. "I have heard part of their plans. And it is interesting that they now have a scout at the Fort that is spying for them. There is a shipment of rifles coming in, and they plan to steal them. Repeating rifles."
"Rifles, then we must foil their plans and quickly."
"Agreed. We will have to stay close to them now."
"Did you see my wife and kids?" Nakota asked.
"Yes, and your woman is carrying a knife for all precautions."
"Good, she is a very sensible woman." Nakota smiled. "Thank you for seeing after her."
"She is very sensible, and it was very necessary considering Big Knife and Naomie. All is well at camp, for now. But if he gets those rifles, it could mean a lot of trouble for the blue coats and us." Black Wolf told him. "Fighting the blue coats is not the answer."
"I agree. Then we will just have to make sure he doesn't." Nakota told him. "Once we get back to being peaceful, I have a few plans that should make our reservation sustainable."
"Good, I'd be eager to listen to them."
Black Wolf nodded.
Nakota looked down at the ground now, "And my father?"
Black Wolf swallowed hard, "I am sorry."
Nakota bent his head further, "I want to kill the man with my bear hands. I was almost sure he was no longer alive, or you would have been happy to tell me."
"Naomie did this, but Big Knife talked her into it. Both of them will need watching until we can settle this." Black Wolf told him.
"It will be hard to restrain myself from either of them right now." Nakota told him.
"Yes, it will. I feel the same for the sorrow the two have brought us all."
They made another cold camp that night. However, Bear Paw fished in a frozen hole of a spring. He caught several fish and brought them to all the men. They ate it raw that night as they couldn't afford a fire as close as they were. There was no coffee, no warm food, but at least they didn't go hungry.
As they bedded down for the night Nakota looked at Black Wolf. "And how was my sister?"
"Sad, but very good." Black Wolf smiled.
"Sounds like she might have missed you some."
"No more than I missed her. But it was well worth the trip to see her."
Nakota smiled, "I knew she would come to you."
"She is the best woman I have ever known, Nakota. I will love her forever."
"You did have a good trip."
Black Wolf smiled, "Very good."
"Night my brother," Nakota smiled.
"Night."
The next morning they were all nearly frozen, the only thing that warmed them was taking turns walking around.
"What I'd give for a buffalo hide right now," Bear Paw laughed.
"Yeah, that would be nice." They all nodded.
But one of the men came out of the cave and they were getting their horses to ride.
After they mounted up, Black Wolf and the others followed.
It was too cold to talk so they rode, and the snow came once more making the trip very hard in the rocky areas. With over three foot of snow on the ground the trip was long and tedious.
The wind picked up which didn't help.
One of Big Knife's men fell off a cliff and died instantly. His horse fell atop him, he couldn't have survived.
Black Wolf wished they would ride faster to get out of the weather. With days of no warmth it was getting to all the men.
Even bundled as well as they were, the freezing nights were enough to kill them all.
A week of trekking through the heavily rocked mountaintop they got a break in the weather.
Black Wolf camped far enough in back of them that they finally could have a fire. Bear Paw had managed to keep an eye on Big Knife and his men as he went ahead of them to make sure they didn't lose sight of them. Using bows and arrows they hunted for meat and finally got a warm meal.
As they got down the mountain, they headed for Fort Hall. "The army will know where the supplies are coming from, we can get details and some help there." Black Wolf told Nakota.
"Good."
General Blevins was in charge of the Fort at the time and he knew the supply train that was coming. With graying hair and a hefty beard the general was easy to spot at the Fort. "They are coming from the wagon train trail. They should be here in about a week. How did you know about that shipment?" He looked at bit miffed that they had knowledge of it.
"Big Knife has left the Arapaho tribe and has started up his own group of warriors. They plan to attack that supply wagon train and take the
rifles. And they know about it as they have planted a spy in your fort. They plan to attack the Fort after they are armed. We have to stop them General. They are planning a war with you. We the Shoshone and Arapahos do not want this war. But Big Knife has planned it and if he gets those rifles, he can do a lot of damage."
"Where did this information come from?"
"We've been following Big Knife from our camp sir. And one other thing you should know. One of your scouts is feeding Big Knife all of this information. Because of this they will know every move you make, unless you find him."
"I see. Big Knife, you say? Yes, I have a pretty big file on him now. A spy in my fort, a scout, you say? Do you have a name for this scout?"
"No sir. We don't know who it is, but he is a scout, so that should narrow it down some." Nakota came forward, "He is an Arapaho. Big Knife has stirred up some of my people and even other tribes to join him. Once they get the guns the trouble will start all over again sir. My people on the Wind River Valley Reservation do not want this war. Nor do the Shoshone. That's why we have come to try to stop it. But we need help."
"Have the Sioux and Crow joined in on this?" The General asked.
"Not that we know of. I doubt it, as Big Knife will want all the credit for starting this war." Nakota told him.
"Alright, I'll send a detachment with you then. We need to make sure they don't get those guns. Although my men on the train are heavily armed, they aren't expecting any trouble."
"Sir, not to be nosey, but is this a routine shipment, or special?" Nakota asked.
"They are Henry lever action repeating rifles, new issue, but if he gets this shipment, it could mean a real war between us. Do you know exactly where they plan to attack? Ironically, the Sioux got a hold a shipment of rifles before they took Custer out and needless to say, Custer was outdone by the artillery alone."
Black Wolf was ready to tell him no, but Bear Paw interrupted. "I heard one of them say about twenty miles east along the Snake."
"Alright, get some rest tonight, we'll head out in the morning then." The General told them. "but I'm afraid we'll have to bring them back here for a trial." The General said.
