The Travelers 1

by Lee Hunnicutt

  Jack landed next to Beth with the full weight of the bear on him. The carcass of the bear completely covered Jack. One foreleg fell across Beth’s chest. Both Beth and Jack were covered in the bear’s blood.

  Sonny who was running full bore downhill looked over his shoulder and was surprised to see that the bear was no longer chasing him. He stopped and turned just in time to see Beth struggle to her feet. He, like Jack, was rooted in horror as the bear turned its attention to Beth.

  What happened next was almost too fast for him to follow. From where he stood he couldn’t see Jack leap on the bear’s back nor could he see Jack’s head appear over the bear’s shoulder as Beth had. The next thing he saw was the bear’s blood spurting all over the place. When the bear turned to face uphill was the first time that Sonny could see Jack latched onto the bear’s back.

  When the bear hit the ground, Sonny began to run back up the hill. When he got to Beth and the bear, Tall Boy was already there. Sonny stood there in shock. Beth was covered in both her blood and the bear’s and Jack was nowhere to be found. By the looks of Beth, Sonny thought for sure she was dead.

  Tall Boy brought Sonny back into reality with a sharp poke to his ribs.

  Tall Boy said, “Help me roll the bear off of Brown Boy.”

  “So that’s where Jack is.” thought Sonny.

  Tall Boy ran around the bear, reached across and grabbed the leg that was across Beth and began pulling it. The bear didn’t move.

  Tall Boy yelled at Sonny “Just don’t stand there like a fool. Help me!”

  Sonny sprang into action. He went to the bear’s hind feet and crossed them. As Tall Boy pulled on the foreleg, Sonny twisted the feet clock wise. This maneuver works fine on rolling a man or woman over but didn’t work at all on an eight-hundred-pound bear. Sonny then positioned himself at the bear’s hip, squatted down, put both hands on the bear’s hip and with his legs and arms began to push as hard as he could.

  Tall Boy hanging on to the bear’s paw, threw all of his weight backwards. Slowly the bear began to roll over.

  There Jack lay, still as death, covered from the chest up in bear’s blood.

  Sonny looked down at Beth and Jack and knew that both his best friend and sister were dead. He was stunned.

  He dropped down on his knees between Jack and Beth. He put his fingers on Beth’s neck and to his relief found she had a strong pulse. As he turned to Jack, Jack began to moan and his eyes fluttered open.

  He looked up at Sonny and saw two Sonnys. Neither one of the Sonnys would stay still. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them. Sonny’s images came together into one.

  Jack tried to sit up but fell back in a faint.

  From being shocked into not being able to think, Sonny’s mind shifted into high gear. He looked up at Tall Boy and said, “Go to the village and get help. Get two travois and have Falling Moon Woman and her sisters clean their pots and boil up as many pots of water as they can. Hurry!”

  Tall Boy started to turn. Sonny stood up and grabbed him by the arm.

  “It’s important that they scrub the pots clean before they boil the water.”

  Tall Boy started to leave again but Sonny didn’t let go of his arm.

  “Do you understand? The pots must be clean. No food in them.”

  Tall Boy looked a little annoyed and said, “Yes, I understand. Now if you don’t let me go, they will both die before I can get to the village.”

  Sonny lowered his eyes and said, “Yes, of course. Go fast.”

  Without another look, Tall Boy sprinted towards the village.

  Sonny knew two things. One, no matter what the preparations, he would never have sanitary conditions for the dressing of Jack and Beth’s wounds but he had to have things as clean as possible. And two, to clean Jack and Beth up, he wanted warm water. Cold water might deepen their state of shock. He knew, from what his father had told him, that shock would kill them quicker than unsanitary conditions.

  About ten minutes later, Two Feathers galloped in, followed by Spotted Horse and Gray Dog. Two Feathers was off of his horse before it came to a complete stop. He ran over to where Beth and Jack lay and asked Sonny “How are they?”

  “It’s hard to tell. They are both covered in the bear’s blood. I don’t think any bones are broken but they may have things broken inside.”

  Tall Boy and Falling Moon Woman galloped in. Their horses were each pulling a travois. Soon other tribe members were showing up on foot.

  Two Feathers, with great care, picked up Beth and gently carried her to a travois.

  Spotted Horse picked up Jack, who had begun to babble and carried him to the other travois.

  Jack sat up and said in English “What inning is it? Am I up?”

  Sonny put his face in front of Jack’s and could tell that Jack wasn’t seeing him and that Jack had no idea where he was.

  Jack fell back on the travois.

  Sonny walked between the two travois, holding his sister’s hand on the way back to the village. Two Feathers walked on the other side of Beth.

  Sonny looked over at Two Feathers and although the warrior’s face expressed no emotion, Sonny could tell that Two Feathers was as heart sick as he was at Beth’s terrible wounds and appearance.

  The sight of his sister and friend covered in blood was horrific to Sonny. While waiting for help to come he had examined both Beth and Jack. He had felt their arms, legs and ribcages for breaks and could feel none. Jack had a knot on his head besides that he seemed all right. Sonny was still worried about Jack because he knew that concussions could be fatal.

  Beth seemed to have a concussion or had fainted from loss of blood or worse, a combination of both.

  When they arrived at the village, Whistling Elk, Falling Moon Woman and her sisters were ready to take over but Sonny was adamant that he supervise the cleanup of both Beth and Jack.

  Sonny was firm in his demands that only the boiled water be used in the cleaning of Beth and Jack’s wounds.

  By the time they arrived at the village, the water in the pots had begun to boil. Sonny told the women to take the pots off of the fire so that the water could cool. In order to use the light of day they had set Beth and Jack outside of Whistling Elk’s Teepee. He told Whistling Elk and Falling Moon Woman that Beth and Jack should be covered up and that their feet be elevated. Sonny then ran to Two Feathers and Falling Moon Woman’s tent to get the supplies that he would need for the cleanup.

  When he came back, both Jack and Beth were lying on buffalo robes, covered in blankets.

  To Sonny, it seemed like an eternity for the water to cool sufficiently to begin cleaning Beth and Jack. When the water was cool enough Sonny asked Falling Moon Woman if she or one of her sisters could clean up Jack. Falling Moon Woman had her two sisters begin to clean Jack and Sonny set about cleaning up Beth.

  In one pot, Sonny had placed a bar of soap. He had torn up a clean tee shirt to use as a wash rag. He began washing Beth’s head and face. To his relief there was nothing but a few scraps and bumps on her head and face. As he cleaned down to her chest, he could now see the extent of the gash she had suffered from the bear attack. It was a cut about fourteen inches long and had in places, cut her to the bone. He had to keep his head clear so he didn’t think about the seriousness of the wound. He cleaned it as best he could and used the rest of the Bacitration Ointment on the gash. He knew what he was doing was pretty pitiful but it was the best he could do.

  He turned to Whistling Elk and asked him what he could do to close up the gash. Whistling Elk gently pushed Sonny aside. He began to pull the skin together and apply a brown smelly goo that he had mixed up while Sonny was cleaning Beth.

  Sonny shuddered to think about what Whistling Elk was doing to Beth but he had heard his father tell him that some of the herbal medicines that the American Indians had used were as good or better than some of the medicines used by modern man. His father had also said that most of the secrets of these medicines had been lost forever.

/>   All Sonny could do was hope for the best.

  When the women began to bathe Jack, he started to come around. He looked around to see where he was and wondered why Falling Moon Woman’s sisters were rubbing him. He asked, “What’s happening?”

  Falling Moon Woman’s oldest sister, Small Deer Woman said, “You had blood all over you and we are cleaning it off.”

  “Why was I covered in Blood?”

  “You killed a bear and had the bear’s blood on you.”

  “Why would I kill ….?”

  All of a sudden, it all came back to him. He swiveled around in panic to look for Beth. He saw her not six feet from him. He could see Sonny working on her.

  Jack said, “How is she?”

  Sonny didn’t look up, answer or stop what he was doing.

  Jack began to get agitated and tried to get up but was too dizzy. Falling Moon Woman came over to him and put her hand on him and said in a soothing voice “She’s alive but she has been cut badly by the bear. He Who Walks With Deer is cleaning her wounds now. Lie still. There is nothing you can do. It is best that you rest.”

  Jack tried once again to stand.

  Falling Moon Woman would have nothing of it. She put her hand firmly on his chest, keeping him on the ground and said sternly “Do as I say. There is nothing you can do. Rest!”

  “But I feel so helpless.”

  “I know but there is nothing you can do.” she said gently.

  Jack fell back weak from the effort.

  After Whistling Elk had finished dressing Beth’s wound, Two Feathers took her into Whistling Elk’s Teepee. Spotted Horse carried Jack to Two Feathers and Falling Moon Woman’s teepee.

  Falling Moon Woman and Small Deer went into Whistling Elk’s tent and undressed Beth and finished bathing her. They had made a bed of buffalo robes for her.

  Whistling Elk ran everyone off except Falling Moon Woman and the two of them began their vigil over Beth.

  Whistling Elk buried medicine arrows around Beth’s bed and began his most sacred of curative chants.

  Falling Moon Woman built a fire in the tent. She went outside and called her sister. Falling Moon Woman picked up her cooking pot and handed it to Small Deer to cook up a thick buffalo stew. Once the stew was cooked she was to bring it back to Falling Moon Woman.

  Falling Moon Woman called her other sister Flying Dove and told Flying Dove that she would have to cook for Two Feathers and the boys while Falling Moon Woman was with Beth and Whistling Elk.

  For the rest of the day and that night nothing changed in Beth’s condition. However, the next morning she began to come around.

  Jack was feeling much better and was now on his feet standing with Sonny and Tall Boy outside of Whistling Elk’s teepee.

  Falling Moon Woman stuck her head out of the Teepee and beckoned the boys to come in.

  Beth was propped up in bed and Falling Moon Woman was spooning stew to her from a bowl.

  Beth smiled weakly at the boys as they came in and sat down.

  When she had finished eating Jack ask her, “How do you feel?”

  “Sore and weak and my ears are ringing.”

  “I guess so,” said Sonny “That bear gave you quite a wallop.”

  “After I ran into the bear, I don’t remember much.”

  “Well,” said Jack “you became tangled in the bear’s feet and both of you tumbled down the hill …”

  For the next few minutes the three boys told her what had happened the day before.

  Sonny looked at Beth, reached under the buffalo robe, took her hand and although he knew the answer, he asked, “Why did you run into that bear?”

  She looked at him for a moment and said, “I don’t know. I just did it. All I could think of was in the next few strides that bear was going to catch you and I didn’t want that. The next thing I knew; I was running towards the bear.”

  Sonny’s eyes filled with tears and in a choked voice said, “You idiot! Don’t you ever do anything like that again. You could have been killed.”

  Beth gave a weak smile and said, “Don’t worry, the next time you come across a bear, you’re on your own.”

  Sonny smiled, gave a loud sniff and ran the back of his hand over his eyes and nose.

  Tall Boy said, “Brown Boy ran up the back of the bear.” He turned and looked at his grandfather, Whistling Elk and asked “Have you ever heard or seen someone climb up the back of a bear?”

  Whistling Elk smiled and said, “Climbed the bear eh? I’ve never heard of that before.” He smiled and looked at Jack and said, “Is this a new way that white men hunt bear Brown Boy?”

  Jack looked confused. He didn’t remember running up the bear’s back. His recollection was that he jumped on the bear’s back.

  He smiled sheepishly and said, “I thought that I jumped on his back.”

  “No, no you ran up its back. I saw it,” said Tall Boy.

  Jack looked at Sonny and then at Whistling Elk and shrugged.

  Whistling Elk laughed and said, “In a situation like that things happen very fast. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what happened. Who knows? Tall Boy saw what he saw. It was all fast.”

  Beth said, “Whatever happened or however it happened, I’m glad you got there otherwise I probably wouldn’t be here now. It’s time for me once again to say, ‘Thanks Jack.’”

  Jack didn’t know what to say and was at a loss for words.

  Whistling Elk solved the problem when he said, “Time for you all to go. She needs to rest and then to eat some more. Food and rest is what she needs. Go!”

  The boys got to their feet and started to troop out. They turned to say goodbye but Beth was already asleep.

  During the next two days, Beth’s condition worsened. She had stopped eating and slept around the clock. When she was awake she had a hard time paying attention and was beginning to become delusional. The wound on her chest had become bright red and she was hot to the touch.

  The two white boys were worried sick about Beth. Tall Boy, although concerned, took a different view. He had been raised with death, death from disease, war, buffalo hunting, infant mortality. His sister had died in childbirth. Death was all around him. It was a way of life.

  Sonny and Jack had never experienced the death of a loved one. All of their grandparents, aunts and uncles were still living and none of their young friends at home had died. This was a new and terrible experience for them.

  Tall Boy would miss Beth and he would mourn her but if she died, she would have died a warrior’s death, a hero’s death. Her deeds would be sung around the campfire. He, Tall Boy, would tell his children about her fight with the bear and if he lived long enough, he would tell his grandchildren. She would become part of Cheyenne legend. In Tall Boy’s mind, no one could ask for more.

  Two Feathers didn’t take Tall Boy’s detached view of Beth’s situation. He was beside himself with worry and then on the third day with grief. He had seen too many wounds go bad and Beth’s wound had gone bad. He knew she was dying and this knowledge was tearing him up inside.

  As with Tall Boy, he had grown up with death but for him, there was something different about Beth. His feelings for a white girl puzzled him. These three white children had put everything on the line for him. He was a stranger to them and not of their race yet they would have died for him. It was Beth who had taken care of him and talked to him those three weeks on the trail.

  He now knew that he loved these children as if they were his own. Beth was his only daughter. She was a daughter who was brave as any Cheyenne and a daughter who had shown him kindness and love. And now he would never have the time to show her the kindness and love that she had shown him. To him this knowledge was worse than death itself. He wished with all of his being that he could trade places with her. That he could go to the great beyond and that she could live but he knew that this was not to be and it filled him with a great pain.

  Today would be the day that she would die. He walked out of the encampment an
d climbed a hill that overlooked the village. He sat down cross legged, looked down at the teepees. With his heart breaking, he began his chant of mourning. His song was clear and had a sadness that touched the souls of all that heard it.

  Sonny and Jack went into Whistling Elk’s teepee to visit Beth. Whistling Elk was seated across the tent from Beth’s bed and Falling Moon Woman was kneeling by Beth’s head.

  As they entered the tent, Two Feathers began his song. It was far away and soft on their ears. It gave them pause and a sense of dread.

  What they saw shocked and appalled them. Her skin had a pallor that they had never seen before. She was covered in sweat and her eyes were open, glassy, staring but not seeing. Her breath was shallow and ragged.

  Sonny dropped to his knees and put his hand on her forehead. He jerked it back as if he had touched a hot skillet. He turned his head toward Jack and said with tears in his eyes “My God Jack, she’s burning up.”

  He then turned to Whistling Elk and said, “Can anything be done?”

  Whistling Elk was exhausted and looked it. He hadn’t slept since this ordeal had begun. He shook his head and said, “I’ve done everything that I know to do. I can do nothing more.”

  Sonny looked at Falling Moon Woman, who in the last three days, had only gotten snatches of sleep herself. There was no hope in her eyes. She had seen this too many times before. She knew that it was only a matter of time before Beth would die. She didn’t expect her to live past noon.

  All she could do was reach out and touch Sonny’s shoulder.

  Sonny stood up quickly and ran out of the tent. Jack who had shown no emotion to all of this, looked first at Whistling Elk and then Falling Moon Woman. He then knelt down next to Beth, leaned forward and gently, lovingly kissed her on the forehead.

  When he touched her with his lips and felt how hot her skin was, it broke his heart. He looked up at Falling Moon Woman and she saw the agony on his face and in his eyes. He straightened up and to her surprise he leaned over and gave Falling Moon Woman a long hug. He exhaled and stood up. As he passed the old man he put his hand on Whistling Elk’s shoulder, paused and then followed Sonny out of the teepee.