Grizzly Killer: The Medicine Wheel

by Lane R Warenski

  Benny and Grub got the pack horses and themselves back away from the willows and this thick cloud of buzzing pests, but Ely’s gelding started bucking and jumping further and further into the dense willows. With each jump more and more mosquitos rose up from the willows. Grub and Benny could no longer see the horse only the top of Ely’s head, it would go out of site into the willow then when his horse would jump again his head would fly up above where they could see it again. Then Ely too went out of site again and a moment later they heard a tremendous splash. Just a minute after the splash they heard a string of cussing coming from the stream that even made Grub start to blush. Ely was calling his horse everything you could imagine and some things you couldn’t.

  After a few minutes of silence and with a big smile on his face Grub saw the willows start to move again as Ely made his way back toward them. He was dripping wet and limping, he had his rifle in one hand and his coyote skin cap in the other and water was dripping from everywhere. Grub started laughing at the site but Benny didn’t know whether or not he dared to laugh. The more Grub laughed the madder Ely was getting. Ely was turning red and that made Grub laugh even more. The laughing got contagious and Benny couldn’t hold back any longer. He started to chuckle but it soon turned into a belly grabbing laugh. Then Grub yelled, “Don’t ya usually get out a yer skins fer ya take a bath?”

  Ely started to call the two of them names, some that Benny had never heard before, but the laughter was contagious and soon Ely was laughing too. Grub got to laughing so hard he nearly fell off his horse. And that got Ely and Benny laughing at him.

  They had been so tense, alert, and worried now for the last three days, dodging the Blackfeet, that this was a much needed release. They laughed on until their side’s ached and when they were finally tired out. Benny handed the lead ropes of the pack horses to Grub and told Ely he would go fetch his horse. Ely said, “You best keep that ornery bastard away from me, I’s just might up and shoot ‘im. Already would have if’n my powder wasn’t wet.”

  Grub led all of the pack horses straight away from the river and into a stand of quakies about a quarter mile from the stream. There were several deer bounded away as he entered the tree line and he went into the trees far enough he could no longer be seen. It was quite a while before Ely and Benny came riding in. Benny had to go a long ways to get around those willows and Ely’s gelding had gone over to the other side of the river. Ely told them that after his loco horse had jumped through the willows and landed in the stream his hooves went out from under him, then the miserable critter rolled right over him trying to get up.

  They waited until dark to light a fire, keeping it well shielded. They all felt like they were safe but they still didn’t want to take a chance of the smoke being seen. They kept the fire small and used just dry quakie branches so it was nearly smokeless as well.

  Benny had the last watch and had just made a walk around the horses when he heard something off to his left. The moon was nearly full but with all the shadows under the trees it was almost impossible to see anything beyond just a few feet away. Benny froze there motionless, every sense on full alert. Then one of the horses stomped the ground and another blew. He knew there was something out there, but he didn’t know what. Was it just an animal in the night or could it be the Blackfeet had found them?

  With his rifle in the ready to fire positions he started backing towards the cold fire pit. When he got to where Grub was sleeping, he gently nudged him with his foot. Grub was awake instantly with his hand on his rifle. Just then another horse stomped the ground and Grub reached over and gently shook Ely. He was naked, still letting his buckskins dry by the fire. He just pulled on his moccasins and set there with his rifle ready.

  Grub motioned for Benny to stay on this side of the horses as he went out around to the other side of them. Benny heard another faint sound like something brushing by a bush then he saw a shadow move toward the horses and fired. The bright flash of the pan into the dark shadows under the trees blinded him for a minute so he couldn’t see a thing. As he reloaded Ely and Grub never moved. He waited several minutes then asked Ely, in a low whisper, if he should go see if he hit anything. Ely’s one word said everything Benny needed to know, “No.”

  A half hour later Grub came back, moving silent as a ghost. When he got back to his partners he whispered, “I don’t figure it to have been Injuns, but if’n it was I figure Benny’s shot spooked ‘em, but since we ain’t sure we all best watch ‘til daybreak.” Ely just nodded then reached for his buckskins. They weren’t all the way dry but he figured they would dry with him in them the rest of the way.

  The cold damp buckskins got Ely shivering and he, as quietly as he could, kept moving around their small fire pit to stay warm. They heard no other sounds throughout the rest of the night. As the sky started to turn gray along and eastern horizon and the stars were fading away. The three trapper became even more alert, Grub and Ely figured if it were Indians trying to get their horses they would hit them in force at daybreak.

  As the shadows started to lighten and the sky kept getting lighter, the three of them got more nervous and tense. Ely stopped his walking and they all took cover, low to the ground using trees and dead fall for cover. Soon there were birds starting the sing in the willows below them along the stream. Then a curious camp robber squawked and flew right down by their fire.

  Grub watched the bird looking for any scraps they might have left, then fly up on a branch right above them. Then he shook his head and said, “There ain’t nothin’ out there boys, if’n there was these birds wouldn’t be singin’ and that their camp robber wouldn’t be so darin’.”

  Ely watched the camp robber fly away and nodded, “Reckon your right partner, but we best go see what this youngster shot at last night.”

  The three of them, with rifles ready, slowly started out through the trees and brush in the direction Benny had fired. They hadn’t gone but maybe twenty yards when Ely looked over at Grub and said, “That kids got him some sharp eyes, come an’ look see what he found in the dark.”

  Grub and Benny both went to where Ely was bent over looking at the ground. Benny’s worried look turned to a smile when he saw a large cougar laying there. Ely looked up at Grub and pointed to the round hole that was right behind the big cat’s shoulder. Grub said, “Well we already knew the kid could shoot.”

  Benny and Grub each picked up a front paw and dragged it back over by their fire pit. Ely was following them, after a few feet he said, “Hold on there a minute, look at this here hind paw.”

  Grub and Benny stopped and they all bent over looking at the swollen and scraped paw. Grub just smiled and said, “So that’s why this here critter was in so close to us, lookin’ fer an easy meal. He’s been in a beaver trap.”

  Ely was feeling the paw and said, “These bones is sure ‘nough busted. I bet that’s why he made the little bit of a noise Benny heard as he was stalkin’ in on our horses.”

  “An’ look how his belly is drawn in, bet he ain’t et in a week or more,” Grub added. Then the older trapper looked at Benny and told him, “Ya done good last night youngster, you was payin’ right close attention or this here lion would have been right in ta them horses or maybe even us. If’n them horses would’ve spooked an’ broken lose, no telling how long we’d been roundin’ ‘em up. You go ahead an get ‘em skinned while Ely and me get us some grub on.”

  It was full light now but the sun hadn’t yet come up. Ely got a small nearly smokeless fire going, figuring what little smoke was rising would dissipate through the leaves and branches overhead. They really believed they had lost the Blackfeet but in this wild and dangerous wilderness, if you wasn’t careful you didn’t live very long.

  Benny was truly thankful these two rough old mountain men had taken him in. He learned from them every day, he liked them, they treated him with respect. They would give him a hard time about being young and green but it was all in fun and they made sure he knew they was just funning with
him. Grub was light hearted, a joker, always laughing or singing. Ely was more serious, and quiet. However, they both were skilled trappers and hunters and they knew the ways of game. They liked teaching Benny, he was excited to learn and he remembered most everything the two mountain men taught him.

  Ely was more worried about the Blackfeet that had been dogging them than he wanted to admit. That fact made him a little more quiet than usual and Grub knew something was bothering him. They rolled up the cougar hide and packed it away knowing this time of year they would have to scrape and treat it soon or it would be lost to them. They also knew they needed to get out of this country before the Blackfeet found them or they found the Blackfeet.

  As they headed out, Ely leading the way as usual, stayed in the trees. It was much slower but he just didn’t feel safe out in the open. He didn’t know for sure how far north of the Snake they were now, but he knew they were too far west to find their cache. They crossed the stream they had been following and he led the way up through the timber in more of a south east direction.

  They traveled without incident through the morning hours and nooned in a small meadow with good grass for the horses. Having stayed in timber all morning long neither of the older trappers figured checking their back trail would do much good, you just couldn’t see far enough in the trees. So after some hard, dry elk jerky they moved on, by late afternoon Ely started to think he knew about where they were and started looking for a place to hole up for the night.

  He still had an uneasy feeling, nothing he could point to and know there was trouble, just a feeling that told him they weren’t safe. He found just a trickle of water coming out of the hillside and followed it down. More seeps or springs must have been feeding it because the trickle soon became a small creek.

  They came upon a series of beaver ponds that were surrounded by willows and brush and Ely looked back at Grub. With nothing more than a nod of his head Grub let Ely know he agreed, this was as good of place to spend the night as they were going to find.

  After hobbling the horses, Benny stacked out the cougar hide and started to scrape it but Ely just kept pacing. Grub finally asked, “Pard, somethin’ been a botherin’ ya all day, what is it?”

  “Jus’ don’t know… I jus’ don’t feel like we’s safe. I’m goin’ to saddle back up and see if’n I can find some high ground and have me a look around,” Ely replied.

  Grub knew Ely could be what he figured was a might overly cautious, but he trusted Ely’s instincts at the same time and told him, “Pard, watch yer back side.”

  Ely nodded and said, “You and Benny keep the fire small, there’s not much of a breeze so the smoke should just go up, but keep it small. I doubt I’ll be back ‘fore it’s good and dark so I’ll give a whistle.”

  At that Ely saddled his horse mounted up and disappeared into the timber heading to the ridge-top he figured was east of them. In the thick timber he couldn’t see it, but he knew it had to be there.

  About a half mile from the beaver pond the hill started to get steep and another quarter mile he came out of the trees and looked up at a high rocky ridge. He tied his horse to a tree and started up on foot. It was a hard climb for over a hundred yards. He had to put his rifle over his back and use his hands to help climb up between the rocks. He slipped once and slid back down several feet. After that he slowed down a little, he knew very well if he hurt himself it could mean his doom.

  He made it to the top without another incident and keeping a low profile crawled out to the point of rock. The view from where he sat was breathtaking. To the east he was looking up at the towering heights of the bare rock peaks of the Teton’s. Below that was the dark green of the timbered hills and valley’s as the land sloped down to the mighty Snake River. They were closer to the big river than he had figured. To the south he could see, in the distance, the valley of the Salt River, the route they were going to take on their way to Rendezvous.

  He could see the small valley he figured was where they had dug their cache and he smiled knowing he was headed right towards it. To the west he could see forever, rolling hills and higher mountains disappeared into the distance. The sun was nearly set and the clouds were colored in brilliant reds, oranges, pinks, and purples. The clouds were pink even in the eastern sky and Ely just sat there enjoying this beautiful spectacle that Mother Nature was displaying.

  He carefully studied the country below him all the way to the Snake and the small valley where their plews were cached. Making sure he hadn’t missed anything when his eyes were drawn to a spot between where they were now and the Snake. He couldn’t tell what had made him look at that spot, for at first it looked like every other spot. Something was there, he knew it was so he just focused on that spot and nowhere else. A minute later, he could see just a trace of smoke coming straight up out of the timber.

  24 Medicine Woman

  When Zach opened his eyes the next morning the sky was still dark. He could hear the soft gentle breathing of Sun Flower and Shining Star laying on each side of him. He could hear the scratching and gnawing of some rodents that was trying to get into their packs. He laid there enjoying the early morning.

  They were sleeping under the stars as the weather was good and it was late June, but in the Rockies it was still mighty cool before the sun comes up. The warmth of the women felt very good and he didn’t want to move. He had just closed his eyes again for a few more minutes when he heard Jimbo raise to his feet and a moment later Ol’ Red blew and stomped the ground. He slid out from under the buffalo robe trying to leave the two women covered and as he quickly and quietly as he could pulled on his moccasins he could see Two Feathers, Badger and Running Wolf doing the same. Jimbo had left camp and all of the horses were standing, ears forward looking out into the brush making no sound at all.

  Zach walked over to Ol’ Red and the horses, and stared out into the darkness where the horses were watching. Just a moment later he was joined by the others. Just as Zach was about to ask Running Wolf if he had heard anything, out in the brush not far away Jimbo attacked.

  The fight was vicious and loud, and they all could tell it was a bear he was fighting. By now everyone was awake and scrambling to get up. The bear was not giving up and running away like they usually did. It sounded like he was giving Jimbo a real fight. The fight was getting closer and closer to camp. The horses were all nervous and one started to jerk on the picket line.

  The stars were just starting to fade as the sky was getting a little lighter above the eastern horizon, but it was still too dark to see out into the brush where Jimbo and the bear were fighting. Red Hawk ran over to try and calm the horses just when the bear broke off the fight and turned to run from Jimbo. In running from the fight he ran right to where the horses were with Red Hawk trying to keep them calm.

  The bear broke through the brush just ten or fifteen feet from where Zach and the others were standing, running right into Red Hawk whose back was to him as he tried to hold the horses. With Jimbo right on the bears tail the bear didn’t even slow down, he ran right into Red Hawk knocking him to the ground. All of the horses went berserk, the picket line broke and the horses were running in every direction. Red Hawk was down and one of the horses stepped on his right arm. Jimbo bit the bear on the rump and the bear turned to face Jimbo again.

  The fight started again right there where the horses had been tied. It was loud and vicious, in the dim light of early dawn, Zach could see the bear was no bigger the Jimbo. A young bear probably out trying to find a territory of his own. The bear had had enough and broke off again, this time running straight down the draw with Jimbo still right behind him. When the noise of the fight had subsided they turned at the sound of both babies crying. Raven Wing was standing holding Gray Wolf with Luna right at her feet while Shining Star was on her knees rocking Star back and forth in her arms trying to calm the suddenly awakened infant.

  Buffalo Heart went right to Red Hawk and helped him to his feet. His arm was severely bruised and he was
bleeding lightly from scratches on his back from the bears claws as he ran right over the top of him. Running Deer and Standing Bear were getting a fire started as Buffalo Heart helped Red Hawk over to the fire.

  White Feather took Gray Wolf from her daughter so she could help Sun Flower check Red Hawks wounds. By the time the fire was going good and they had water heating and the coffee pot on. Star had quieted down and Shining Star fed her and laid her back down. She then went over to help White Feather with Gray Wolf. Since Raven Wing and Sun Flower was still cleaning the deep scratches on Red Hawks back, Shining Star sat down with Gray Wolf and let him nurse from her as well.

  It was now light enough to see and most of the men were out rounding up the scattered horses. Jimbo had come back into camp and Zach was checking him over for wounds. He had some tooth marks that had gone through his skin on his right shoulder, but for the viciousness of the fight Zach was amazed there wasn’t a lot more damage. Zach softly told the big dog, “Your lucky that bear wasn’t no bigger than he was.” Jimbo looked into his eyes and Zach felt the bond between them grow even stronger.

  Raven Wing had mixed a poultice with her medicine kit and applied it to the scratches on Red Hawk’s back. After they were satisfied they had done what was needed for Red Hawk, Sun Flower took what was remaining of the warm paste and pressed it into the tooth marks on Jimbo’s shoulder.

  It was light enough to see now and Zach just shook his head as he looked around at the disaster area that just a while ago had been their peaceful, sleeping camp. Ol’ Red came right to Zach and he jumped up on him bare back to go out and help round up the spooked horses.