Zach replied, “They might at that, but I want to try to talk some sense into ‘em and not have to do ‘em in, but if they are like their brother that might not be possible.”
Running Wolf patted the sorrel on the neck then slapped him on the hip and sent him off toward the river for water then turned toward Zach and said, “Just remember what Chester Mann said ‘bout Cal and Ben Beaumont back at Sweet Lake, if any of that is true I doubt talkin’ is gonna work.”
Zach stared off into the distance and said, “I remember all right, that’s why we’s gonna find ‘em ‘fore they find us.”
Running Wolf put the saddle and bridle on another of their spare horses while Zach scraped out a shallow grave then took the time to cover it with rocks. He wasn’t in any hurry now for he didn’t want to ride into a half dozen worked up Arapaho warriors. He figured, for now, he would let the Arapaho do what they would do without any intervention from him and Running Wolf.
It was full dark by now but they decided to cross to the other side of the Seeds-Kee-Dee and continue south staying out away from the river so they wouldn’t be seen. They figured the Arapaho’s might try to meet up with the ones that stayed behind to torture Lester and they didn’t want to be on their trail if they did. As they crossed the river they let Ol’ Red and the horses drink their fill and as they continued on to the west the sorrel they had turned loose started following them. As they moved up on top of the river breaks to the west the sorrel was right behind the other horses just like he was on a lead rope as well.
Once they were sure they couldn’t be seen they stopped for the night, built a small fire in a depression so the flames couldn’t be seen and rolled out the Arapaho’s sleeping robes one on each side of the fire. They sat on the robes and ate pieces of the buffalo jerky from the Arapaho’s pouches then laid down for the first real sleep they’d had in several days. The last thing Zach heard as he went to sleep was the mournful howl of a wolf in the hills just west of them.
When he first opened his eyes and listened to the familiar sounds, he knew all was well. The sky was still filled with stars but there was a slight graying along the eastern horizon and it was cold. Although the days were still hot these high plains got mighty cold at night. He could hear the horses munching on the sparse dry grass shoots and Jimbo was gone out on his morning hunt so he knew all was well. He lay there missing Sun Flower and Shining Star and watched as the stars started to fade. He rolled toward the fire and blew life back into the coals, added some small sticks and had a small fire going in no time at all. Jimbo brought in a rabbit and dropped it by the fire then left again and disappeared into the scant light of early dawn. Running Wolf smiled as he picked up the rabbit, skinned and gutted it then hung it from a branch over the fire to roast.
By the time the rabbit was ready to eat Jimbo was back with one of his own. They had their scant supplies loaded and Running Wolf went out to the sorrel and with clumps of sage rubbed the dry lather from his sides and from under his legs. He spoke to the gilding in Ute as he rubbed him clean saying if he was going to come along he might as well be comfortable doing so without being rubbed raw by the salty residue.
They left just before the sun peaked over the eastern horizon and quartered south by east back toward the river. When they got to the top of the breaks they stopped and looked over the river bottom both north and south looking for any sign of life. They saw no smoke or movement for several minutes, then a slight movement on this side of the river pulled their gaze to a spot just to the south of them. As they watched, concentrating on that spot, a doe with two fawns rose up out of the brush, walked a few feet and started browsing on the brush that was growing along the river. They continued south staying up on the break for another half mile then worked their way down a wash to the ancient flood plain of the river and continued southeast toward it.
They carefully moved through the brush and sparse cottonwoods to the water’s edge and let Ol’ Red and the horses drink their fill. Zach, with a silent hand signal sent Jimbo across the river to scout the other side making sure all was clear. After Jimbo returned they continued heading south staying in the brush and trees alongside the river on the west side. He had Jimbo stay on the east side and with a broad sweep of his hand he told Jimbo to scout way out ahead.
About midmorning Jimbo showed up a hundred yards or so ahead of them on the east side and it was plain to both of them the big dog had found something. Running Wolf took all of the horses and tied them in a thicket while Zach crossed the river to his dog. As Zach approached Jimbo started his soft low growl from way down deep in his chest then turned and started south wanting his master to follow. They went less than a quarter mile when Jimbo dropped to the ground hidden in the brush and Zach did the same.
Ten minutes or so later, Jimbo tensed and started the soft low growl again. Next Zach could hear the soft clomp of horse’s hooves hitting the ground. Soon after he saw, through the veil of brush, the six Arapaho warriors riding in single file back to the north. They were following a trail out in the sage maybe a hundred and fifty yards. They were still painted for war but the paint on their horses was about all washed away from the hard run of the chase. Zach knew this could mean the Beaumont brothers were dead or they had escaped and the Arapaho warriors had given up the chase and were heading back to meet up with the ones that had stayed behind to torture Lester.
He lay there motionless and watched as they rode by and disappeared to the north. He didn’t know what to think. Were they dead and no longer a possible threat to him and his loved ones or had they escaped and would still be a worry for the future? As he made his way back to Ol’ Red and Running Wolf he had a feeling deep down inside himself that he would still have to deal with the Beaumont’s.
When he was back on the west side of the river he told Running Wolf what he had seen and what he felt inside. But Running Wolf couldn’t believe two men who had never been in this country could escape from six Indian’s that were so close behind them. He told Grizzly Killer that if they followed the Arapaho’s trail they would find the bodies of the Beaumont’s. But the feeling Zach felt was strong and he just didn’t believe Cal and Ben Beaumont had gone under.
As they started south once again, he talked to Running Wolf about life on a frontier homestead. “I think the Beaumont’s grew up much like me on a small farm in the woods. Just ‘cause they’re new to the west don’t mean they’re not mighty good woodsmen. I grew up in the woods on a farm and I figure they learned ta track and hunt and shoot just like me. They could be experienced Injun fighters too having to fight the Osage, Chickasaw, or Missouri or maybe all of ‘em for their land. So don’t figure jus’ ‘cause they ain’t been here for long they’s gonna be easy ta find or kill.”
Running Wolf smiled as he said, “They might of give ‘em the slip but now Grizzly Killer and Running Wolf is after ‘em and we won’t be so easy ta fool.” Zach just smiled back at him and waved Jimbo out in front to scout as they kicked their mounts into an easy lope heading south.
Around midday, they came to where the Arapaho had camped the night before. They split up each studying the ground carefully looking for the tracks of the two Beaumont horses but none could be found. They started in circles around the cold camp fire and as they each circled they got further and further from the camp site. They could easily see where the Indians had used this same approach but had finally given up. They then rode the back trail nearly half a mile but with the Arapaho’s horses and their own tramping over the trail all the tracks that the Beaumont’s had left were gone.
Zach felt sure they would continue south following the Seeds-Kee-Dee so they decided they would continue following the river as well but without a trail to follow they just weren’t sure where Cal and Ben Beaumont would be. They talked as they rode along about how they had lost the Arapaho’s that were so close behind them and finally figured they must of jumped off the trail hiding their tracks extremely well and hid in the brush along the river while the Arapaho warri
or’s went by. If that was the case they could be behind them now instead of further to the south and that was an unpleasant thought. There were the Arapaho warrior’s back there as well and by now they would have found their dead friends and they didn’t know whether they would be looking for revenge or care for their dead and return to their own lands.
As they thought of all of the possibilities, Zach started to wonder just how good of an idea it was to continue. They were nearly to the place where they had crossed the Seeds-Kee-Dee going to hunt the buffalo and that meant it was two days of hard riding to get back to their camp south of the Sweet Water and their wives. If he knew more about the Beaumont’s or if the Beaumont knew the country, he figured he would be able to find them within a reasonable amount of time but there was just no telling where they would have run to get away from those Arapaho.
They decided to split up, with Running Wolf crossing the river to the west side to look for any tracks or sign over there while Zach covered the east side. They would meet at the crossing they had used for the buffalo hunt and would check for sign out as far as two or three miles from the river. Jimbo was working the river bank staying well out ahead of his master.
It was late afternoon when Zach saw the bluffs out in front of him that marked the trail that had led them to the buffalo grounds. He hadn’t seen Running Wolf for the last couple of hours and figured he would be at the crossing in another hour. He hadn’t seen a horse track at all, not even from the wild horses that lived on these vast hills and flats. This country continued south, along the Seeds-Kee-Dee all the way to the deep red gorge that cuts through the eastern end of the Uintah Mountains. His mind wondered as he rode along about his wives and he felt something strange pulling at him to get back to them but he realized that was just his missing them and he laughed at himself over that thought for he had only been away a few days, but just a few days or not he still missed them.
He rode to the crest of a hill to his east, stood in the stirrups and studied the land all around him for as far as he could see. He could barely see the tops of the Uintah Mountains way off to the southwest and to the northeast the towering heights of the Wind River Range. He could see for miles both north and south along the river and in all that country he didn’t see any sign that a man had ever been there. He could see hawks soaring on the air currents as they hunted over the sage, and he could see three different herds of antelope on both the east and west sides of the river.
He had jumped rabbits off and on throughout the day and had been hissed at by several badgers as they scurried back to their holes and barked in in their familiar defensive stance. He had seen a couple of big blow snakes and one rattler that he led his horse’s way out around and more small lizards than he could count. He saw a pair of coyotes’ duck into the brush behind Jimbo down by the river and had passed a family of foxes as the young ones played with each other and didn’t seem bothered at all by his passing by. He smiled as he thought of all the life out here and he felt a love of this land as strong as his love for his family.
He was maybe a mile east of the river when he hit the trail they had used going to the buffalo grounds and he turned west heading to the river crossing. Jimbo was waiting for him when he got to the river and he led the horses out into the shallow water and let them and Ol’ Red drink. He went on across to the west side looking for tracks but the only ones he could see were of wildlife.
Movement caught his eye to the northwest so he slowly moved back into the tall brush of the river bank and waited. Just a few minutes later, that movement came into view again as Running Wolf, leading his two extra mounts came up out of a shallow wash and into plain view once again. He softly chuckled as he saw the sorrel still following the other horses just like he was tied with a lead. He moved back out of the brush and waved. Running Wolf stood in the stirrups and waved back. As he got closer Zach could see an antelope tied over the saddle of Running Wolf’s spare mount and realized just how hungry he was.
They let Running Wolf’s horses drink all they wanted and filled their water pouches and talked of just what to do. Running Wolf admitted he was wrong and would not doubt the Beaumont’s skill as mountain men again. He said, “It took great cunning to escape the Arapaho dogs and us, and I will not forget.”
They decided not to stay by the river at this crossing so they moved a couple of miles east and camped at the base of the high bluffs. As they roasted strips of antelope around a small fire they decided without having a trail to follow they would go back to the women and get the winter’s supply of meat back to their home on Black’s Fork. As they lay down for the night two wolves were howling to each other up on top of the bluffs and a pack of coyotes were chasing a rabbit down by the river. The wind was calm and the stars that filled the sky above looked as though you could reach out and touch them. A shooting star shot across the Milky Way and again Zach wondered if it really could be the soul of someone traveling to the other side.
The Arapaho
Zach heard Ol’ Red stomp the ground and his eyes opened instantly. He listened for any other sound but the air was dead quiet. He had to turn his head slightly to see the big dipper and could tell it was near morning by how far it had moved around the North Star. A slight movement caught his eye and through the darkness he could see Running Wolf slowly reaching for his rifle and he did the same. He quietly came to his knees and in a voice so soft it was barely perceptible he told Ol’ Red to stand quiet. He pulled his buffalo sleeping robe back into position and slowly moved away from the still warm coals of the fire. He knew without looking that Running Wolf was doing the same.
Once out in the sage thirty or forty yards he stopped, waited, and listened for any sounds coming from out in the darkness. He thought he heard the faint sound of a sage being brushed aside and was concentrating on that when suddenly there was a presence right beside him. He reached for his knife before he realized it was Jimbo appearing as though from thin air. He marveled about the fact a dog that big could move so silently. Jimbo was right next to him and he hadn’t heard a thing. Then the sound came again, this time more to the right and he was sure someone was moving through the brush. Jimbo started his soft low growl and Zach put his hand on his head for quiet.
He waited just another moment then gave the hand signal to Jimbo to circle around and come up from behind whoever was out there. As Jimbo disappeared into the darkness he again wondered how that huge dog could move so fast and silently through the brush. Five minutes passed which seemed like an hour to Zach, then the faint glow of the coals of the fire suddenly went black and he knew someone had just come between himself and the fire.
He saw the flash as Running Wolf fired his rifle an instant before he heard the sound and just a heartbeat later he heard the sound of Jimbo’s vicious attack. He heard the war cry of several others as he brought his rifle up and shot at the dark shape that was now standing right over the buffalo robe he had been sleeping under. He felt a numbing pain in his left arm that spun him around as he heard the screaming attack coming right at him. With his right hand he reached for the pistol under his belt and was pulling the hammer back as he brought it up. Before he fired, Jimbo attacked, completely ripping the throat out of the attacking warrior.
Zach was silent and still listening for any other movement in the darkness. He heard someone running toward the river then he heard the soft twang as an arrow was released and the solid thud of it hitting flesh. A minute later the moan and dragging sound of someone being pulled through the brush. He waited a minute then gently touched the arrow sticking out of his forearm, then put the horse pistol back under his belt and with practiced speed reloaded his Hawken before moving back toward the fire.
Running Wolf called out to him asking, “Is my brother hurt?”
He answered “Only a scratch, and you?”
“I am fine but this Arapaho dog I got with me isn’t.” Zach checked the warrior lying on his sleeping robe and found a hole right in the side of his head just above the ear
. He threw several pieces of wood on the coals of the fire from the pile they had from the night before and fanned it into flames. He looked up and saw Running Wolf with his knife to a warrior’s throat half-dragging and half helping him up to the fire. The Arapaho had one of Running Wolf’s steel tipped arrows sticking out of the side of his knee and it was obvious he was in a lot of pain.
Running Wolf got him up to the fire and pointed at the ground. With a look of hatred in his eyes he tried to sit but ended up falling to the ground, unable to bend his knee at all. Running Wolf then cut a piece of rawhide from the Antelope hide and bound the warrior’s hands. Then he saw the arrow sticking out of his partner’s forearm and came right to him.
Jimbo came up as well, and whined sensing his master was hurt and Zach pointed at the Arapaho and told Jimbo to watch. Jimbo still had blood on his face and lips and he sat down right in front of this now tied warrior. The Arapaho tried to move back a little away from Jimbo but as he moved Jimbo growled at a level that would strike fear into anything and the warrior froze.
The stars had faded as Running Wolf cut the arrow with its stone tip out of Zach’s arm. They bandaged it with a piece of patch cloth and wrapped it tight with a strip from the Antelope hide. Then they went over to the Arapaho. He shied away from Running Wolf as he approached with his knife in hand. Running Wolf used hand signs and spoke in Ute to the Arapaho. “I am Running Wolf, an Uintah Ute and this is my brother, Grizzly Killer.”
At the name Grizzly Killer, the Arapaho eyes got wide but he never made a sound. Running Wolf continued, “I should take your scalp and leave you for the coyotes and buzzards but that is not our way.”
Zach smiled to himself as Running Wolf said those words for he knew how bad Running Wolf hated the Arapaho as their two tribes had been enemies forever. It was the Arapaho that had killed Running Wolf’s father and it was the Arapaho that had attacked Running Wolf’s village just last year nearly killing Sun Flower.
Grizzly Killer: Under The Blood Moon Page 21
