The Travelers 1

by Lee Hunnicutt

  He knew where he would find Sonny. He was sitting on the riverbank. Jack sat down beside him.

  Neither boy said a word. They both sat there staring at the river, watching the water move by.

  Jack’s face was emotionless. Inside he felt dead, cold, empty.

  Tears were streaming down Sonny’s face.

  Falling Moon Woman looked at Whistling Elk. She lovingly stroked Beth’s forehead and put her hand on Beth’s cheek. She then slowly stood up and walked out of the teepee. With a heavy heart she walked to the riverbank to join the boys. She knelt in front of Sonny, took both of his hands in hers and looked into his face.

  Indian children are taught at a young age not to cry and if Sonny had been born Cheyenne it would have surprised Falling Moon Woman to see a boy of Sonny’s age, a boy two years away from being a warrior, in tears. It wasn’t that Cheyenne men didn’t feel pain at losing a loved one, it was that they expressed their loss differently.

  Sonny looked at Falling Moon Woman and said, “She’s dying, isn’t she?”

  “Yes.” she answered.

  Sonny took a long ragged breath and began to sob.

  Falling Moon Woman knew his pain. Her father was killed in battle and her older brother, whom she doted on, was trampled in a buffalo hunt and took two days to die. She knew exactly how he felt.

  She saw his tears and heard his sobs and it was more than she could bear. She began to cry. Tears streaming down her face. She gathered Sonny in her arms and began to rock him back and forth cooing to him softly.

  Jack sat next to them as if he were made of stone. He was beyond grief. He had wanted to cry but couldn’t. For a while he had felt a deadly explosive anger but now he felt nothing. He had put himself far away, far away into nothingness.

  Whistling Elk was on the edge of exhaustion. He looked across the teepee at Beth and her image floated before his eyes. He closed his eyes just for a moment and immediately went into a deep sleep.

  He began to dream.

  In this dream he was upstream from the village at the same place that Sonny encountered the bear. He was dressed in his finest buck skins. The same ones that he had met the children in when Sonny had walked with the deer but instead of his coup stick he had a war spear in his hand.

  He was puzzled. How did he get here? Why wasn’t he in his tent watching over Beth.

  He looked around and it took a minute to realize where he was. He then looked at what he was wearing and that he was carrying his old war spear. He could smell the air and feel the coolness of the autumn breeze.

  This was beginning to become too confusing for him when all of his questioning thoughts were cut short by a loud roar.

  Whistling Elk looked into the woods where the noise had come from. Out of the trees, standing on its hind feet, came the largest grizzly bear that Whistling Elk had ever seen. He knew that he couldn’t run from the bear so he stood perfectly still to see what the bear would do next.

  The bear walked over to Whistling Elk so that he was no more than ten feet from him and much to Whistling Elk’s surprise said, “I am the spirit of all bears and I will fight you for the girl.”

  Whistling Elk, in astonishment, took a step back and for a moment couldn’t speak.

  The Bear said, “Have you no tongue or are you an old woman too terrified to speak?”

  This angered Whistling Elk but in his perplexity he said, “I am an old man and you are a large bear. What sport is it for you to fight me?”

  The bear laughed and sneered “Are you not Whistling Elk, great warrior and famous medicine man of the Cheyenne or are you just some old fool who tells lies of deeds not done around the fire at night?”

  Whistling Elk said coldly, “You will see who I am.” With a thunderous war whoop, he threw himself at the bear. burying his spear deep in the bear’s chest.

  With one paw the bear swept Whistling Elk off of his feet. The blow ripped the left side of his face off. The skin holding his ear and cheek were dangling underneath his left jaw. Blood ran down his neck and onto his chest.

  Whistling Elk was immediately on his feet with his knife in his hand.

  The bear then snapped the spear shaft like a twig. Roaring in pain and rage he charged Whistling Elk.

  Roaring in pain and rage Whistling Elk charged the bear.

  When their bodies collided the mountain shook and boulders began rolling down the mountain side.

  Both combatants pulled apart.

  Whistling Elk’s shirt was torn off of his back. Across his chest were five deep parallel lines where the bear had clawed him. Because of the bear’s thick hair one couldn’t see the multiple knife wounds that Whistling Elk had inflicted on him.

  Both were heaving for air.

  The bear said, “You fight well for an old man.”

  Whistling Elk laughed and said, “And you don’t fight half as well as a bear should.” and he charged the bear again.

  During the rest period Whistling Elk had looked at his chest to see his wounds and he saw his hair in thick braids hanging on his chest. It was a dark black not the iron gray hair of an old man and his skin was smooth and firm not mottled and loose as it had been. With each encounter with the bear it seemed that he became younger and stronger. Also he and the bear had grown in size. The tallest of the trees came only to his waist.

  When he next clashed with the bear they fell to the ground, the bear clawing and biting him and he plunging his knife over and over again into the bear. As they rolled around on the ground and into the trees, the trees snapped like twigs and the mountain split open.

  When it was all over the bear lay dead at Whistling Elk’s feet. Whistling Elk turned his head to the heavens and gave a cry that shook the mountains and caused the clouds to rumble with thunder and to shoot lightning.

  Beth woke up. Her mouth was dry and her tongue was thick. At first she didn’t know where she was and then she remembered. Her breathing was ragged and her heart felt like a bird fluttering in her chest. She felt terrible.

  With great effort she raised herself on one elbow. She looked across the tent and could see Whistling Elk asleep, sitting in his high back. She then looked toward the door of the tent and there standing upright was the bear she had run into three days ago. It held out its forelegs looked down at her and roared. Its face and open mouth rushed down towards her.

  Beth felt no fear. All she felt was mild curiosity that a bear should be in Whistling Elk’s tent.

  Just as it looked that the bear was going to devour her, he abruptly stopped his downward plunge. He dropped to all fours, nuzzled her with his nose, licked her face twice and in a rush that felt to Beth like being hit with a mass of compressed air, the bear entered or dissolved into her body.

  Jack’s head snapped up. He was abruptly pulled out of his grief and before he even knew what he was doing or where he was going, was on his feet running towards Whistling Elk’s teepee. He took the shortest route. He jumped cooking fires and cooking pots. He slid under a horse that was being led across his path. The horse reared knocking the warrior who was leading it to the ground. Jack didn’t stop to notice. He just kept running. He burst through the tent flap with his knife drawn.

  The tent was dark and Jack had come from bright sunlight. His eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness so he couldn’t really tell what he saw but what he thought he saw sent a chill down his spine. It looked to him like a large bear was standing over Beth and the large dark shape just disappeared into her body.

  Jack gasped, stepped back and dropped his knife.

  The noise of Jack entering the tent woke Whistling Elk. He gave a startled cry of “HiYah!”

  Jack tensed his muscles and spun toward the sound. He and Whistling Elk looked at each other for a moment. When they realized who each other were, they both relaxed. Both were breathing hard, Jack from running and Whistling Elk from the excitement of his dream. As their breathing returned to normal they both smelled a smell that they knew well. It was the smell of bear. The tee
pee reeked with the scent of bear.

  Jack looked down at the ground by Beth’s bed. Whistling Elk followed Jack’s gaze. There in the dirt next to Beth’s bedding were the tracks of a large grizzly.

  It took Whistling Elk a minute to orient himself. One minute he was standing over the body of a bear and now he was back in his tent. At first he was confused but in an instant he realized what had happened.

  He had dreamed of battling and defeating the bear. He knew what this possibly meant and with agility that surprised him he crossed the tent on his hands and knees to where Beth lay.

  He put his hand on her forehead and it felt cool to the touch. At first he thought she was dead and had simply cooled with death but Beth began to move and opened her eyes. He then pulled back the buffalo robe so he could look at her wound.

  When Whistling Elk crossed the tent and began to examine Beth, Jack got a grip on himself and moved forward to see how Beth was doing. He fully expected to see that she was dead.

  When Whistling Elk saw the bear slash on Beth’s chest, he inhaled sharply. All of the swelling and most of the redness were gone.

  Jack knelt down beside Whistling Elk. He reached out and touched Beth’s chest. Her skin temperature felt normal and the horrible red scar was now fairly normal looking. It still had Whistling Elk’s brown goo on the cut but the skin color was no longer an angry red. Beth no longer had a death like pallor. Color was returning to her face and her breathing was regular.

  Jack closed his eye and tears ran down his face.

  Beth looked up and said in English, puzzled, “Jack, why are you crying.”

  “Oh Beth,” his voice coming in sobs “I thought you were dying.” He then broke down, with uncontrollable sobbing. He leaned forward put his arms around her and put his cheek against her cheek.

  Weakly, she put her arms around him and said with concern in her voice “Why would you think that?” She patted his back.

  Jack stopped crying, let out a long ragged breath, let go of Beth and sat up. He wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled down at Beth and said, “Oh I don’t know. I guess I’m just a worry wart.”

  Whistling Elk said, “Go get Falling Moon Woman. Tell her what has happened and tell her that Yellow Girl needs food and water.”

  “Yes,” said Beth “I’m starved and I could drink a lake.”

  Jack jumped to his feet, bent over, picked up his knife and ran out to tell Falling Moon Woman and Sonny the good news.

  Beth stayed in Whistling Elk’s tent for the next four days. Falling Moon Woman or one of her sisters stayed with her constantly. Each day she grew stronger.

  By the second day, she was strong enough for visitors and for the next three days Jack, Sonny and Tall Boy would come and spend the day with her.

  On the first day that the boys had come to visit, Beth said, “I had the strangest dream. I dreamt that the bear that Jack killed was standing over me. When I first saw him, it looked like he was going to kill me or eat me. His mouth was open. He roared and it looked as if he were in a rage but when he dropped down on all four feet, he nuzzled me, licked my face and then the strangest thing happened, it felt like he entered my body. Like a wind blew into me. One minute I felt sick and terrible and then the next minute I had this feeling of wellbeing.

  I guess I was just delirious.”

  Jack looked at Whistling Elk. Whistling Elk looked at Jack and then they both looked at Beth.

  Jack said slowly “I don’t know if it was a dream Beth. I saw it too. I was sitting on the riverbank with Sonny and Falling Moon Woman and I had a feeling that something was wrong. No, I felt that something dangerous and deadly was happening to you. The next thing I knew; I was standing here with my knife in my hand. I couldn’t see very well because my eyes hadn’t adjusted to the dark of the teepee but I thought I saw a large bear standing over you and then disappear into you. It went into you like it was made of smoke. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.”

  Sonny looked at Jack as if Jack were nuts. Tall Boy and Falling Moon Woman who were seated by Beth’s head looked at both Beth and Jack in amazement.

  The only person who didn’t seem surprised at all of this was Whistling Elk. He moved across the tent so that he was next to Beth. He took her hand and told her of his dream.

  He looked down at her and said with great affection in his voice. “From this day forward you are my granddaughter and you two, indicating Sonny and Jack, are my grandsons. Just as Tall Boy is my grandson by birth, you are my grandchildren. And you Yellow Girl, he placed his hand on her forehead, from today forward will be called Bear Spirit Woman.”

  He placed his hand on Jack’s shoulder and said, “And you will be called ‘One Who Climbs Bears to Kill Them’.”

  Jack laughed and said, “That’s a little long isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Whistling Elk smile and chuckled, “you are right. It is a long name. How about Bear Climber? How does that sound?”

  Jack smiled and said, “I like it.”

  “Then you will be called Bear Climber.”

  For the first ten days after the attack she was too weak to get out of bed. She spent those days in Whistling Elk’s teepee. Most of the time she slept. Except for calls of nature, Sonny and Jack never left her side. It was as if they thought that if they let her out of their sight she would disappear or something bad would happen to her. Although she teased them about their vigilance, it touched her that they cared so much for her.

  Except when she was sleeping, there was a constant flow of visitors. Tall Boy and Stone Fist spent almost as much time with her as did Sonny and Jack. Falling Moon Woman or one of her sisters was always with her to help her eat or to help her on her feet and take her outside to the proper area when she had to relieve herself.

  It was during this time of recovery that Whistling Elk, Two Feathers, Falling Moon Woman and her sisters would tell her and the boys the great legends and lore of the Cheyenne. Even though Tall Boy and Stone Fist had heard these stories many times before, they never tired of hearing them. For Jack, Sonny and Beth it was the first time they had heard them and they listened to the stories with rapt fascination.

  When Beth was well enough to be carried out of the teepee, a tribal meeting was held. A large fire was built and the tribe circled in close so that all could hear. Meetings like this were very important in the lives of the Plains Indians. This was where tribal business was conducted but more importantly this was where tribal lore was recounted and great deeds were disclosed. Tonight’s meeting was of the last category.

  As the tribe gathered and settled in there was the normal crowd noise, people talking and gossiping, someone coughed. When Whistling Elk stood up, all became silent. All you could hear was the fire crackling and the soft rustle of the wind.

  Whistling Elk was wearing his best buckskins. He had on his war bonnet of eagle feathers. The feathers trailed to the ground. He also carried his coup stick.

  When the tribe looked at him dressed in his finest buckskins with his war shield on his left arm and his coup stick in his right hand, they knew that this was a man who commanded respect, a man who made them proud to be Cheyenne.

  The atmosphere was charged when he stood up. They waited impatiently for him to speak.

  Whistling Elk began to dance around the large fire and as he danced he began to chant and the chant became a song. This was his song to the Great Spirit, a song beseeching the Great Spirit to be with them this day and for them to listen to today’s tales of great valor and courage. He raised his face and voice to the sky and sang his song. When he finished his song he sat down.

  Sonny stood up and gave his account with the bear and then Tall Boy told of his part in the adventure. The tribe was interested but they were waiting to hear from the principal players.

  Beth was helped to her feet and was supported by Falling Moon Woman. If there was any whispering or fidgeting that all stopped when she got to her feet. She told her story of how she, without thinking, hurled herself
in front of the bear. She told what she could remember of the bear attack and how the next thing she remembered was in Whistling Elk’s teepee and the spirit bear was entering her body. When she told the last part the crowd gave a collective gasp and a low murmur broke out as the congregation began to talk among themselves.

  Beth shakily sat back down.

  Jack stood up and the tribe members once again fell silent. In a loud voice he extolled the deeds of his comrades, lauding their bravery and especially the bravery of a sister for her brother. He then did something that was entirely foreign to him. He began to boast of how he killed the bear.

  He had been coached by Whistling Elk and Two Feathers in this technique of storytelling. Whistling Elk had seen how reluctant the children had been to talk about or rather brag about how they had saved Two Feathers from Curly Bob and his pals. The Plains Indian was expected to brag and boast about his or her exploits.

  Because of their upbringing the kids were reluctant to be seen as braggarts but true to his teaching Jack began to boast. He found to his surprise that he was good at it. On previous occasions he had watched Whistling Elk and Two Feathers tell of their exploits so he just followed their lead.

  He had been taught by master story tellers and it paid off. When he had finished his story and had sat down, there was a breathless silence over the tribe. The silence lasted for a few seconds and then all matter of pandemonium broke loose. There was hooting and hollering. Some of the warriors were on their feet.

  At first this surprised Jack but when Two Feathers slapped him on the back, he knew that he had been a success.

  The celebrating was allowed to continue for some minutes, then Whistling Elk stood up and raised his arms. The crowd quickly became silent and sat back down. Jack’s story was good but they knew what was to follow would be better. Whistling Elk, the master showman still had his story to tell.

  A hush had once again fallen over the tribe and the suspense was tremendous.