Lakota Surrender

by Karen Kay

  “As you wish.” Tahiska stole a kiss as she returned to the middle of the stream to tie his hands, and when she glanced up to admonish him, he merely shrugged.

  She smiled in return, fluttering her eye lashes at him, flirting outrageously, then suddenly, without warning, she plunged forward, swimming furiously back to shore.

  Tahiska was quick to recover and to follow, and as she’d predicted, he won.

  Chapter Twelve

  “You must learn to smell just as well as you see,” Tahiska spoke to both Kristina and Julia as the three Indians and two white women sat around the near smokeless fire. It was a warm day and no one sat close to the fire, its only use being to cook the evening food. “Nothing is too minute to escape your notice. A blade of grass turned the wrong way could indicate an enemy. You must learn to trust what you hear, what you feel, and what you see. If ever you were lost from me, only using your senses would return you.”

  Kristina nodded. She now understood most of what was said to her in Indian, although she could not speak the language at all well herself. Even Julia, who accompanied her to the Indian camp every day, could understand, could even speak a little in sign.

  “Tomorrow, if the sun shines, you both will be put to the test. Are you ready?”

  “What do you mean?” Kristina asked, while Julia glanced quickly at Tahiska and the others.

  “I must assure myself that you can follow a track. You must be able to roam the plains without ever becoming lost. You should be able to do this in daylight or evening, with the sun or without. These things I teach you are very important. How else could you ever return if you cannot find your way?”

  “I do not question why you require me to learn these things,” Kristina stated. “I only ask what you plan.”

  Tahiska stared at her, then said, “I will hide, I will leave a faint track and you and your friend must find me.”

  “I see.” Kristina exchanged a fleeting look with Julia. “It sounds easy enough; why don’t we try it now?”

  “It is almost time for you to return to the fort,” Tahiska said, indicating the sun. “It is also not so easy to track at night. And there are other dangers after the sun leaves the sky. Tomorrow you will come here and we will put you to the test then.”

  Julia cleared her throat. “Must I do this, too?” she asked in English. “I don’t believe I will ever have use for this since I never intend to live or to travel on the plains. I have no objection to accompanying Kristina here tomorrow, but I see no reason why I should participate in the search.”

  “It is not a bad thing to learn,” Wahtapah interjected, speaking half Indian, half sign. “You live here on the plains. Someday you may need this lesson. Besides, have you not learned the same things as your sister, Kristina? Have you not studied nature as well? The search will do you no harm.”

  “If the white woman does not wish to participate, why do you try to persuade her?” Neeheeowee spoke in his own native tongue. “If she persists in being silly, is it not her own decision?”

  “Speak so that they, too, can understand you,” Tahiska admonished in the Cheyenne dialect. “These women are friends, have they not proven themselves? Why do you insist on treating them as though they were alien?”

  Neeheeowee surveyed his friend, his look hard. “They distract us from our purpose. We are here to kill two white men. What would they say if you told them our true purpose? Do you suppose they would sanction us?” Neeheeowee glanced at both women. “I will say no more of this now, but think well on this, my cousin.”

  Tahiska nodded, though he was silent for several moments.

  “What did he say?” Kristina queried.

  “He said that if your friend does not wish to participate, we should not try to persuade her.” Tahiska spoke without looking at Kristina, his stare still on his Cheyenne friend. “Tell her she is welcome to participate, but if she doesn’t wish to be put to the test, my Cheyenne friend here will watch over her while you attempt to track me.” Neeheeowee’s glance leapt to his friend’s.

  Tahiska didn’t smile, but if observed closely, one would have seen the humor in his eyes.

  Not a single cloud marred the bright blue of the sky. To the eye the prairie stretched endlessly, its green grasses and colorful wildflowers bending in the ever-present wind.

  Kristina scanned the horizon for miles while she listened to Wahtapah’s wisdom.

  “…you must look when it appears there is nothing of note to see, listen when there is only quiet. He will keep downwind to make it harder for you, but don’t despair, he will leave a sign for you to follow. Remember the bent twig, the grass that does not blow in the wind as the others. These things you must follow. Do you have a knife?”

  Kristina gestured toward her waist.

  Wahtapah smiled. The blue and yellow beaded pouch had been a present to her from his brother. But the white woman wore it so that she could never use it in time if danger presented itself.

  “In our villages,” he spoke in sign, “our women wear the knife at their backs. There it is easy to reach from any position. Do you wish me to tie it on?”

  “I would appreciate it,” she gestured. “But I also have a gun.”

  Wahtapah nodded. “This is good.” He tied the knife onto her waist correctly, then pointed in the direction he had seen Tahiska leave. “Do not worry. You will find him.”

  The sun shone directly overhead. Kristina stopped and perched herself under a solitary tree, though it presented little shade. She’d been searching for Tahiska for three hours. Had he stopped? Did he even now wait for her or was he continuing to evade her?

  So far his trail had been easy to follow and she was sure she would find him immediately. But after three hours, she had decided that he hadn’t wished to make it quite so easy for her. Did he watch her even now?

  She was more than a little annoyed with him. She’d only had a few weeks to observe the Indian ways. He could have made it simpler for her. She didn’t see the purpose anyway. While she loved Tahiska to distraction, she couldn’t foresee herself living a life in the wild, away from the civilization in which she had been raised.

  But he insisted.

  She pulled an Indian beaded pouch from beneath the folds of her dress. It was filled with wasna, and though at first she had found the mixture of pounded buffalo meat and marrow distasteful, she was grateful for its sustenance now. She had long ago finished the last of her water and this was the only food left, though when she finished her meal she discovered she was thirsty. Kristina breathed in deeply and standing, returned to the trail left by her lover.

  Which way had he gone? Kristina stared at both tracks. One had been made by human feet, another by an animal. Which was which? One trail of trampled grass led west, the other east. She was beyond deciphering the human trail from the animal. She bent down closely to see if she could see the moccasin print in either trail. But she could detect nothing.

  What was she to do? She had to follow one of them.

  A frog croaked. Kristina listened intently. Surely Tahiska would have headed in the direction of the frog. Hadn’t he taught her that a frog indicated water, either a spring or perhaps a marsh? She didn’t even dare to breathe. She listened. West, the sound came from the west.

  She would follow that trail. She only hoped that Tahiska would stop soon.

  The sun fell lower and lower in the sky. Tahiska sat hunched beneath his cover, waiting. He was beginning to worry. He had sat in the same position for too long. He had expected her long ago but had patiently held his ground, allowing her the opportunity to make mistakes and to correct them herself. But now he wondered how much longer he could wait. Within a few hours the sun would set and he didn’t want Kristina to be wandering about in the dark. Other dangers lurked in the darkness.

  Perhaps she had made so many mistakes she was unable to correct them and had returned to camp.

  He kept this thought in mind as he waited yet another hour. Maybe he should give up the game an
d return to camp. At least there he could correct her and they could try this yet again tomorrow.

  This decided, Tahiska rose. He puzzled. He had left a clearly defined trail. Had Kristina learned nothing over these past few weeks? Or was something else wrong?

  He didn’t want to believe that anything else had happened. Surely she had just become lost and, seeing the uselessness of continuing, had set out back to camp.

  With this decided firmly in his mind, he carefully picked his way home.

  “Where is Kristina?”

  “We thought she was with you, brother,” Wahtapah answered for the three who sat around the fire. Both warriors had busied themselves with camp chores, while Julia carefully knitted a woolen blanket with the yarn she had just this morning hidden in her saddle bag. None had worried over the two lovers, assuming they were together.

  “No, she didn’t find me.”

  All three Indians glanced toward the western sky. Already the sun was setting in a profusion of reds, golds, and pinks.

  “We must hurry.” Wahtapah leaped to his feet, grabbing his quiver full of arrows and his bow.

  “Did she have weapons?” Tahiska asked, seizing his lance, while Neeheeowee quickly extinguished the fire. “You must come with us,” Tahiska spoke to Julia. “We will not be here to protect you.”

  “No,” Wahtapah spoke. “She will only hinder our progress. Let our cousin stay here to protect her while you and I search for your wife.”

  Neeheeowee nodded assent, motioning toward his knife and lance. “I will keep the camp safe for you.”

  Tahiska nodded as he and Wahtapah hurried from the camp. Again Tahiska glanced toward the western sky.

  At that same moment Kristina stood gaping at the sunset.

  She had discovered long ago that she had followed the wrong trail, and she’d just spent several hours trying to backtrack only to discover the tracks she was following now were ones she’d recently made herself.

  How long had she been going around in circles?

  She wiped her brow and turned in each direction to see if any of the landmarks looked familiar. Nothing. And now darkness was falling. She despaired over ever finding her way home.

  And worse, whatever animal she had been tracking had now discovered her. She could hear a low, distant growl. But unlike the Indian, she had no idea what sort of animal made that sound. She hoped it was a wolf. A lone wolf, according to Tahiska, unless starving, would never attack man; but what of a bear or a wildcat?

  She searched the horizon, looking for a shelter, a tree, anything, trying to remember what Tahiska had told her about bears. He’d lectured her on a defense, but she couldn’t recall it.

  The growl sounded again, this time closer.

  Kristina drew her gun and turning away from the sound, ran over the swollen hills of the prairie.

  She climbed the short, stubby tree. It afforded her little protection, but perhaps with her gun, it would be enough. The sun had long since set and darkness descended on the land like a black anvil.

  She knew Tahiska would, by now, be looking for her. But would he find her in time? Or would he, too, become confused by all her circling?

  The growl came closer and closer, and in the darkness Kristina couldn’t make out any shapes. Whatever was out there was now stalking her, and she had stopped running. She would make her defense here, in the tree, and if the creature turned out to be a wildcat, it would be so much bad luck for her.

  She cursed herself silently for following the wrong track and not doubling back when it had become apparent she’d erred.

  The growl! The creature had found her. She cocked her gun, but she could see nothing, only the constant growl, another, then another. Wolves! Many of them. She could see a pair of yellow eyes, some more. A pack of wolves! What had Tahiska said about them? That like the white man their courage depended upon their numbers. She counted as many as five pairs of eyes.

  One flew out of the pack, jumping up and down in front of the tree. Kristina pointed her gun at him, but she couldn’t see him. She shot toward the sound he made, but she missed him. The growls only increased.

  She cocked her gun again. How many shots did she have left?

  All at once the whole pack swarmed around the tree, alternately jumping up into the branches. Kristina shot again, missed. One more shot, another, then nothing. She’d run out of ammunition.

  She climbed higher, but the little tree gave her practically no protection. She drew her knife. If she were to die, she would die fighting. She huddled into the tree staring down at the wolves, wondering who would get to her first, Tahiska or the wolves.

  Kristina left a trail that even a child could follow. Hadn’t he taught her to try to cover her tracks?

  Tahiska noted the forked trails and scolded himself for not thinking of such a thing earlier. Of course his track could cross that of another animal and would confuse her.

  A distant shot broke the stillness of the night. Both he and Wahtapah stood motionless, listening, the sound so far away it was almost inaudible. Another shot, then another.

  “It comes from the west,” Wahtapah signed.

  Tahiska nodded, and with heart pounding, tore off in that direction.

  He heard the growls as though from a long distance. His stomach dropped. Was he too late?

  He and Wahtapah sprinted toward the sound, their lances held upright, ready to be hurled.

  Though more than a hundred yards separated them from the animals, both men gave a shrill war whoop and rushed forward toward the tree. Tahiska noted Kristina had climbed nearly to the top of the tree, and he could only hope that she was unharmed, for the pack of wolves was hungry and would not easily leave their prey.

  Tahiska heaved his spear at a wolf, the immediate whimpering sound indicating he had met the target, then drawing his bow, he shot several arrows in succession while Wahtapah rushed forward with his own spear. Another screech, then another. The wolves backed away while Tahiska and Wahtapah sprang toward them, chasing them away until they were too distant to be any more threat.

  Tahiska turned around and bounded toward the tree.

  “Kristina?” he yelled as soon as he was within shouting range. He sprinted to the tree, leaping to the top in an athletic move that sent him sprawling onto a branch just below Kristina. “Are you safe?” he asked in Indian.

  “Tahiska. I… I am lost.” She could say no more. In truth, she could barely speak.

  He offered his hand to her to help her down from the tree. “I know,” was all he said. “Are you hurt?”

  “No.” She swallowed. “Just frightened.”

  Tahiska mumbled a response and encircling her within his arms, drew her with him to the ground.

  He held her there against him for a long while, unwilling to let her go even a little distance from him. He buried his face in her hair, breathing the scent that belonged only to her, thanking his god that he had been in time.

  “They did not get to you at all?”

  “No,” she whispered. “I knew you would find me first, but the waiting was frightening.”

  Tahiska buried his head within the softness of her hair. He squeezed his eyes shut and decided against telling her that had he and his friend been too long upon the trail, they would not have found her in time.

  She was safe now. That was all that mattered.

  “It was my responsibility. I did not consider another animal crossing my path and confusing you. Come.” Tahiska set her away from him and started back on the trail. “We waste time. You are always concerned about returning to the fort before the gates shut. It is a long way back to camp and we are on foot. Your people will worry about you. We must hurry. Are you able to walk?”

  “Yes.”

  He nodded then and started out, setting a fast pace, but still he looked back at her from time to time. Kristina, though tired and under the effects of shock, matched her speed to his, never once complaining.

  He was proud of her. Very proud. And when
he knew no one could observe him, he smiled.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The fort fairly bustled with activity. Kristina had never seen people so busy. Every barrack sparkled. Every building gleamed under the warming rays of the sun. Clean laundry hung out back of every home, the white sheets and curtains beaming in the sunshine, fluttering in the breeze.

  Women polished their silver, soldiers shined their boots, maids spread a fresh coat of wax over the furniture while the cooks prepared a feast.

  General Leavenworth himself, along with the artist George Catlin, were due to arrive soon and there was no one at the fort who wasn’t rushed, who hadn’t dressed in his or her finest clothing. Even the livery sparkled as though it housed gems instead of horses.

  Why were they coming here? Kristina had heard rumor that it had something to do with the Indians, but just what no one seemed to know.

  She had warned Tahiska that neither she nor Julia would be able to visit the Indian camp today. She hoped he would understand. So far she and Julia had ridden out onto the plains every day, but it just wasn’t possible today. Their absence at the fort would be noticed.

  Would Tahiska and his friends visit the fort? He hadn’t been inside these walls since the day he had met up with the three junior officers at the trading center. Odd. He and his friends were here on tribal business relating to trade, and yet they rarely stepped inside—even were reluctant to come within sight of the fort. And though Kristina could understand their aversion, she had tried to explain that not all white people were like the three bullies they had encountered. The Indians, however, preferred to keep their distance.

  Not that Kristina minded their absence. She wasn’t sure how she should act with Tahiska if they were ever to meet her mother and father within these walls. It was one thing to flaunt her relationship in front of Julia, where she could be more or less herself, but here at the fort? She was the Indians’ interpreter. She would have to be with them constantly. Would she be able to hide her feelings, or would others notice her special relationship with Tahiska? She felt the latter was true and she worried.