by Joel Baker
After lunch, James led Nina’s mare to the ramp. Then Matthew and Dalton lined the rest of the horses behind the mare. They were pretty sure if they could get the mare on the ramp and moving toward the bridge, the others would follow. It helped that the mare showed every sign of being in season. The males would follow her anywhere. All the horses, including the mare, were blindfolded.
With someone at each halter, James started the mare forward. She hesitated at the first step on the ramp. After some encouragement from James, the mare started up the ramp with the rest of the horses following. When all the horses were on the bridge, those outfitted with travois harnesses, were loaded with the Colter supplies.
“Should we take their blindfolds off?” Matthew asked.
The horses had started to fidget and move around. There was adequate space on the bridge, but without guardrails, it was a concern. The sound of the water rushing under the bridge also seemed to agitate the horses.
“Dalton?” James asked. “What do you think?”
“I say we lead all the horses off this thing,” Dalton said. “Even I’m starting to get the willies.”
The bridge was in a state of disrepair. The guardrails lay in the river below, rusted and bent. The concrete had fallen off the edges of the bridge in large chunks. Rusted rebar stuck out of sides in all directions.
“Two of the horses still need their travois loaded,” James said. “I’ll stay here with the mare to keep them calm. Dalton, you lead the rest down off this thing.”
When the horses had finished the crossing, it was time for the women and Nate to cross carrying the children. When everyone assembled on the far side, they decided to head to the east following the river. Two hours later, they set up camp for the night.
****
“You and your stupid cattle,” Mato said. “Why couldn’t you be satisfied with buffalo?”
Cass and Mato were chasing the cattle who kept wandering off whenever they looked away. They’d managed to overtake the rest of the Lakota and the buffalo. A huge cloud of red dust hung over the herd. The buffalo were in no hurry and grazed as they went.
“I value the buffalo,” Cass said. “It’s just that with cattle, your food doesn’t stampede. The tribe had cattle before the Go Back. Then the buffalo came down from Canada and everyone started going a little crazy. They thought the buffalo was free food, whenever they want it. Except this food has a bad habit of walking off hundreds of miles.”
“How about we find some young men to watch the cattle?” Mato asked.
“Here come three of them now,” Cass said, pointing in the direction of the buffalo herd.
“The young braves were riding hard toward where Cass and Mato sat waiting.
“Mato,” the lead rider said. “Sioux riders were spotted not far to the east from us.”
“How many were there?” Mato asked. “Where were they headed?”
“We counted over thirty,” the brave said. “They were headed due east and in a hurry.”
“Any chance they saw any of our people?” Cass asked.
“We don’t know,” the brave said.
“Was there an old woman with them?” Cass asked, thinking of the witch.
“No,” the boys said looking at each other. “We saw only warriors.”
“Did you leave someone to trail them?” Mato asked.
“No,” the brave said, thinking he probably should have. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not a problem,” Mato said. Sometimes it’s better to just let them go. Now watch these cattle. Make sure none walk off. Cass and I need to go to the camp.”
Both men rode hard for the main group. They pulled up by their tents, and turned their horses over to another young man. Both headed for the elders tents.
“What made you think the old hag would be with the Sioux?” Mato asked.
“She’s known to ride out with warriors on a raid,” Cass said. “She was with them when they murdered my father.”
****
The old hag was called Nightwalker by the Sioux. No one could remember when she came to the tribe. Many believed she wasn’t even an Indian. She was thought to have been alive at the time of Go Back. She seemed all skin and bones to those with the courage to approach her. Her power with the Sioux was unquestioned.
No was even sure if Nightwalker was Sioux. She was found one day living in a small cave, close to the Sioux winter camp. She was covered in tattoos and had numerous piercings. Even though the temperature approached freezing, she wore almost no clothes. Her scalp showed clearly through the fine strands of her grey hair.
She was both a healer and a dream walker. She was given shelter for the winter, and healed many of Sioux using various chants, totems, and rituals the Sioux both feared and admired. In the spring of that year, Nightwalker had visions predicting first the death of the Sioux leader, then a great victory over a local isolated Chippewa tribe. Both visions came true.
She called for the Sioux to war against the Chippewa. Cass’s father refused to answer her call. It had split the Lakota from the Sioux Nation. It had also cost him his life. The Sioux had been bitter enemies of the Lakota ever since. Cass looked for every opportunity to avenge his father, but not at the risk of his people.
****
Mato and three of his warriors rode out in the same direction the Sioux had reportedly taken. The Sioux were long gone, and the men returned to the camp. Neither Cass nor Mato could figure out what the Sioux were doing this close to Lakota territory. Since the start of the Sioux Chippewa wars, the Sioux were all relocated close to both sides of the Mississippi River.
The buffalo herd continued their move north by west. The Lakota followed them faithfully for another week. The pace was slow, and the boys driving the cattle were able to keep up. Cass and Mina took long rides and eventually ventured far in front of everyone. Cass was sure they were still at least a day ride from the Lakota permanent settlement. They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.
“Look!” Mina said, pointing toward the rise ahead of them.
A large black dog stood staring down at them. The sun shimmered off the surrounding hills, making the dog appear almost as a mirage. Mina and Cass stopped and shielded their eyes against the glare.
“What do you think he wants?” Mina asked.
“I don’t know,” Cass said. “What is one of those dogs doing this far from their territory?”
“He’s just standing there, staring at us,” Mina said. “What should we do?”
“No sudden movements,” Cass said, quietly. “Let’s just turn around very slowly, and walk back the way we came.”
“That’s your best idea?” Nina said.
“It’s all we got,” Cass said.
Cass slowly turned his horse south. Nina continued to watch the dog on the hill. As she turned to join Cass, Mina rubbed her eyes. The heat shimmering off the golden prairie grass, made her see things. This time, she thought she saw a little girl with yellow hair standing by the massive black dog, her arm draped around its neck.
****
“Where is Jessica?” Shannon asked, suddenly looking around.
“She’s up there on the hill with Max,” Molly said, pointing to a rise to the east.
“What were they looking at?” Shannon asked.
“How would I know?” Molly said. “You’re the one who talks to them.”
“True,” Shannon said laughing. “Dalton told me he thinks we’re less than a day from the land of the dogs. I tried to verify that with Banner, but he’s not talking again.”
Molly looked back at the travois her horse had pulled all the way from Colter canyon. It carried everything she and James owned in the world. It seemed to Molly a small pile for so many years. But she knew her most precious possessions, her family, were all around her. She looked up and saw James riding back towards her and Shannon.
“Good news,” James said to the women. “There’s a small stream up ahead. We can rest there and have lunch.”
&nb
sp; “I just called Max,” Shannon said. “He and Jessica should be coming back shortly.”
All three watched as Jessica and Max came down off the hill. The grass was almost as tall as Jessica. When they reached the horses, James lifted Jessica up on his horse. Max followed closely behind. Twenty minutes later they arrived at the stream. Nina and Fala were already cooking a stew over an open fire.
“Something smells good,” James said, swinging Jessica down off the horse.
Jessica ran over to where Jason was throwing rocks into the stream. She picked up a stone and threw it into the water. Banner and the other dogs had disappeared, but everyone was confident they were watching from a distance.
Everyone sat in a circle when the stew was served.
“Be careful Jessica,” Shannon said. “The stew is really hot. Give it a second to cool.”
No one said anything, but everyone was getting sick of eating stew. They’d been adding to it since they left. It had certainly seen better days.
“Jessica?” Molly asked.
“Uh-huh,” Jessica said, looking up at her grandmother.
“What were you and Max doing on the hill back there?” Molly asked.
“Watching the people,” Jessica said.
Now everyone was quiet and looking over at Jessica and Max.
“What people, sweetheart?” Shannon asked.
“A man and a pretty lady,” Jessica said. “They were riding horses.”
“Could you see what they looked like?” Shannon asked.
Jessica thought for a moment, her brow wrinkled in concentration.
“They looked like Nate and Nina, I guess,” Jessica said. “Only they were younger like Fala and Matthew. They both had long black hair that was shiny.”
“Did you see anything else?” Shannon asked.
“Their horses were real fancy,” Jessica said. “They had pretty feathers in their manes.”
Shannon looked at Dalton, then James.
“What do you think?” Shannon asked.
“Get Banner and Max in here,” Dalton said. “Get them right now.”
Shannon concentrated with the summons, and both dogs came up to them a short time later. Shannon asked them a series of questions before looking back at the others. The dogs turned and started backtracking to the south.
“Okay,” Shannon said. “I asked the dogs to go take a look to see if anyone is on our trail.”
Everyone turned and watch the dogs head south at a steady trot. A third dog joined them, and then the fourth.
“Max confirmed everything Jessica told us,” Shannon said. “He also said he saw a distant cloud of dust. He thought it was probably a large herd of buffalo. Banner thinks this could be the herd the Lakota followed south. If so, he thought it best if we reached the land of the dogs before the Lakota overtake us.”
Chapter 9
Cass and Mina hurried past the buffalo herd and jumped off their horses by Mato and three of his warriors. The sun was hot on their back and their horses lathered.
“Mato, we need to talk,” Cass said, a little out of breath. “We were several miles out front of the buffalo and saw one of the dog people staring at us from a hill.”
“That’s our territory,” Mato said. “What was one of the dog people doing this far south?’
“I don’t know,” Cass said. “I was afraid he had friends with him, so Mina and I got out of there.”
“Okay,” Mato said. “I’ll take a couple of men and ride out there in the morning and see if we can see anything.”
“I’ll go with you,” Cass said.
“What if he and his friends are still there?” Mina asked.
“I’ll probably wish I’d brought more men,” Mato said. “The dog people have always stayed away from us, as long as we are in our territory and away from them.”
“Then what was he doing up on that rise?” Mina asked.
“Hopefully headed back to his territory,” Mato said. “Otherwise, things must have really changed while we were gone.”
The next day broke sunny and promised to be another hot one. The buffalo got an early start and the area was blanketed by a large red dust cloud. Mato and Cass rode out with three other warriors after breakfast. It wasn’t hard for Cass to find the ridge where he and Mina saw the dog. The men rode to the top of the hill and studied the signs in the dirt.
“The dog prints are big enough,” Cass said. “I think these are prints of the dog people.”
“Look at this,” Mato said, pointing to the ground. “Does that look like a child’s footprint by the dogs?”
Cass studied the print. It was certainly the print of a child wearing moccasins. He and Mato began following the prints down the far side of the hill. At the bottom they found the prints leading to where a group of people had camped. They counted six horses, of which four were dragging travois. There seemed to be more than one of the dog people with the group, and at least two of the sets of prints belonged to children.
Cass and Mato called the other Lakota off of the hill. There had been a fire and the unknown group had eaten before continuing on to the north. They searched the entire area before huddling around the dead campfire.
“I counted five men, four women, and two children,” Mato said. “I think there were at least two dogs, maybe more. Is that what you see?”
Everyone nodded their heads yes.
“The question is, who are these people, and what are they doing here?” Cass asked.
“Another odd thing,” Mato said. “The horse had horseshoes. Who does that but white people?”
“What about the dogs?” one of the others asked. “I never heard of the dogs allowing humans close to them.”
“I did,” another man said. “I talked to a cousin who lives in a tribe on the Mississippi. He told me a story he heard around the fires of his tribe. It was about a white family who were friends of the dog people.”
“What else did they say about them?” Mato asked.
“The stories also talked about powerful weapons the family had,” the man said. “There was a rumor that the family killed many Sioux warriors on the other side of the Mississippi. It was in a battle called the Horseshoe Massacre. They were said to have moved west with the dog people, but disappeared somewhere in the southwest.”
There was silence among the group as each of them was deep in thought. The sun was hot on their backs. In the far distance, the men noticed the edge of the cloud of dust, raised by the herd of buffalo, heralding their approach.
“If they were in the southwest,” Cass asked. “How did the dog people get north of us and stake out a territory?”
“Maybe there are two groups of dog people,” Mato said. “One group in the south and one in the north.”
“I don’t know,” Cass said. “We have only found the tracks of a few dogs here.”
“The marks the travois left in the dirt are very deep,” Mato said. “They must have really been loaded down with a lot of weight. It looks like whoever is coming north, is coming to stay.”
“There’s nothing more we can do here,” Cass said. “I think we’re going to have to wait till we get back to our winter camp before we find out what’s going on.”
The men rejoined their families trailing the herd of buffalo north. At the current pace, they thought it would be less than a week before they were home. That night, Cass told Mina what they found at the campsite.
Mina had a chill run down her back. Cass felt her shiver and sat up in bed.
“What’s wrong?” Cass asked.
“Probably nothing,” Mina said. “Remember this morning when we first noticed the dog on the hill?”
“Yes,” Cass said.
“There’s something I didn’t tell you,” Mina said, now sitting up. “I thought I saw a little girl with blond hair, standing with her arm around the dog’s shoulders. I didn’t think it was possible, so I thought I imagined it.”
“It just may be you were the first to see these friends of
the dog people,” Cass said. “We’ll know soon enough.”
“There’s something a little creepy about that,” Mina said. “I don’t think I can get to sleep now.”
“Me either,” Cass said, smiling. “What do you think we should do?”
****
Everyone in the Colter party kept glancing over their shoulders at the red dust cloud on the southern horizon. It didn’t seem to be getting any closer, but was still of concern. Banner and Max returned and reported that the Lakota were following the buffalo in this direction. They didn’t seem to know the Colters were even here.
The Colters crossed several small rivers as the terrain became more rugged. Dragging the travois was becoming increasingly difficult. Several times they were forced to stop and redistribute the loads. As near as they could tell from the maps, they were either in northern Nebraska or southwestern South Dakota.
It was midmorning and clouds were rolling in from the west. Nate told them to expect rain within the hour. Banner, who had been out front of the riders, appeared on a hilltop. Matthew stopped and looked up at the clouds. He then turned and rode back to where the others waited.
“Banner says there are many empty houses not far from here,” Matthew said. “He says they are the houses where the Lakota live when it snows.”
James glanced back over his shoulder, but couldn’t see the red dust clouds because of the lowering clouds overhead.
“Does Banner know how far we are ahead of the Lakota?” Molly asked.
“Max says we are far ahead of the buffalo,” Shannon said.
Everyone looked up at the darkening sky. Rumbles of thunder could be heard in the distance. Periodic bolts of lightning traced the skyline to the west.
“I say we go for shelter,” James said. “Anyone who agrees, hold up your hand.”
No hands were raised, since everyone was hurrying to follow Banner toward the Lakota settlement.
****
The squall rushed towards where Cass and the other Lakota had stopped for shelter. They had experienced these sorts of storms before, and knew how dangerous they could be. One of the dangers was that the entire herd of buffalo could turn as one and stampede back over the spot the Lakota had chosen to ride out the storm.
