Stolen Ecstasy

by Janelle Taylor

  Rebecca and her girls were settled into Red Tomahawk’s tepee, though she felt uncomfortable among these strangers. She begged Flaming Star to take them back to the Cheyenne camp, but he politely and firmly refused. He told her he would be leaving at first light to return to his camp and help his people battle their enemies. He promised to come for her as soon as Bright Arrow returned safely.

  Before the sun rose above the horizon the next day, Flaming Star and the Sans Arc braves had gone, as had the chief and his son. Pierre Dorion, a Frenchman who had been living with the Yanktons since 1784, accompanied Red Tomahawk and Six Feathers.

  Pierre hoped to see his old friends: Joseph Garreau, who lived with the Arikaras, James Murdock, who had promised to return this way when Lewis and Clark left the Dakota Territory, and Billy Culpepper. Pierre hadn’t seen him since Billy had gone looking for Jess Thomas and Lester Paul, his best friends and fellow trappers, who had vanished mysteriously in early summer. Pierre had heard the three men talking at the trading post on Lake Traverse and he wondered if they had rashly gone after Clay Rivera’s secret gold supply. If so, they were fools. Any one who had lived in this area all of his life should know who lurked behind that false identity and avoid him like a demon of Hell! Perhaps he should have warned Billy to stay clear of “Clay Rivera.” What Pierre Dorion couldn’t figure out was why Rebecca Kenny was a guest of the Yankton chief. With a little nosing around at the trading camp, he was certain the answer would soon be his.

  Along the Cheyenne River, Bright Arrow met with luck. He happened on the camp of a white trader and his Brule squaw. He knew what had to be done. He secretly waited until dark, then rendered both unconscious. He stole only enough trade goods to carry off his role, then swiftly put a great distance between the camp and himself. To prevent any recognition, Bright Arrow took a mirror and a sharp knife and cut his hair above the collar on his calico shirt, then he slipped into the dark breeches and black knee boots. He struggled to fasten the suspenders, finally succeeding. He pulled on a leather vest and black felt hat and checked himself up and down. Then he concealed all the items that would prove him “Indian.” He was now Clay Rivera; he was ready.

  Bright Arrow had one excellent advantage in this difficult situation; the Crow were friendly with most whites, especially traders. He had fooled whites for years with his claim of being half-Spanish and half-Indian. He spoke the white tongue fluently, and he did have a half-white heritage, which revealed itself even more in these clothes and hairstyle than in buckskins and braids. There was one slight disadvantage; he didn’t know what his brother looked like, for he hadn’t seen Sun Cloud since he was a small baby. Even that problem had a brighter side. His younger brother didn’t know him either and therefore couldn’t expose him to the Crow!

  He wondered who Sun Cloud favored—his father or mother. He cautioned himself to be patient, for he couldn’t enter the camp asking too many suspicious questions. He would have to play the trader who was ready for a rest with his new friends. He would make certain his hatred and fury didn’t reveal themselves. And even if he lost his life, he had to free his brother, the next Oglala chief.

  There was nothing more he could do to prepare for his daring ruse. He mounted up, took the reins of the pack-mule, and headed for the Crow camp. A sense of adventure charged his body, for the thought of tricking the Crow brought him immense pleasure. Suspense and excitement coursed through his veins, and he had to keep reminding himself that this wasn’t a casual mission, but a life-saving rescue.

  Bright Arrow nonchalantly rode into the Crow camp. Women, children, and braves gathered around to see his wares. Dismounting near one of the trees scattered throughout the camp, he secured the reins of his horse and mule, unloaded the supplies, and spread them on blankets as he had seen the traders do countless times. He told the women to browse freely, then sat down and waited for the chief to appear. A trader never approached a chief; he had to wait for an invitation to speak and visit with such a powerful man.

  It wasn’t long before several warriors came over to him. “Clay Rivera” met Lone Horn, White Quiver, and Sly Hunter. He learned that the war chief, Big Thunder, was off on a raid of the Oglala camp. Bright Arrow warned himself to expose no emotion. Head chief Arapoosh joined them. He was dressed in buckskin breeches and a red shirt with ermine trim. They sat down to bargain.

  As was normal, Bright Arrow gave Chief Arapoosh his choice of a gift. The man took another red shirt, the sign of a Crow chief in battle. Bright Arrow tried to prevent his hands from shaking in eagerness to get around the throats of these foes! Rabbit Woman, wife to Sly Hunter, made her deal with Bright Arrow. She called over a small boy to carry the items to her tepee. Bright Arrow casually noticed the action, thinking nothing of it until the woman roughly shoved the child and called him insulting names.

  The chief and warriors laughed and elbowed each other. “The son of Gray Eagle is weak and womanly,” Sly Hunter taunted. “I will teach him more cowardice and his new place before I sell him,” he boasted.

  Bright Arrow tensed inside. He casually studied the child’s face and noted which tepee he served. He swallowed his fury and declared, “You are a brave man, Sly Hunter. All say Gray Eagle is matchless. You prove such tales false. You must choose a gift for your courage and daring. I have met few such great warriors. If you wish to sell the boy, I am in need of a slave to help me and serve me.”

  Sly Hunter grinned, then invited the trader to share his evening meal. He selected a new hunting knife. Bright Arrow continued, “You must tell me of such a daring deed. Why has word of such a glorious warrior not spread over the land?” Bright Arrow inquired, feigning false respect and awe.

  “I rode with my Pawnee friend Snake Tongue. We sneaked close to the Oglala camp. Gray Eagle was hunting with his son. Before I could slay them, Snake Tongue put an arrow through Gray Eagle’s chest. I wished to take his scalp, but others came to help him. I seized the boy and rode away. We will use the boy to take the Oglala territory. If Gray Eagle still lives, we will trade the boy for him. We will torture him and make him plead for mercy. I will be the one to remove his skin and hair while he still lives. We will conquer them and enslave them. Sun Cloud will not become the Oglala chief. He will die as did his brother Bright Arrow,” he sneered.

  “I have not lived in this area many years. I did not know Gray Eagle had another son. He does not allow whites, or half-whites, to enter his camp,” Bright Arrow added to further mislead his enemies.

  The warriors laughed heartily. “Bright Arrow captured a white girl. His people would not let him keep her. He took her and ran away. She killed him and escaped to her people. He has been dead many winters. He would have been no match for Sly Hunter. His hunger for an enemy defeated him.” Again, the men laughed and elbowed each other.

  “When I return in the spring, I will seek Sly Hunter and his tribe on the lands of the Oglala,” Bright Arrow remarked cleverly, flattering them.

  “If Gray Eagle does not die, we will use his son as bait. We will lure him into our trap and capture him. If others join the Oglala to give them strength to battle the Crow, we will slay the boy before their eyes,” Lone Horn snarled.

  “We will conquer them before the winter snows cover our lands,” White Quiver added.

  Bright Arrow knew that many items were being stolen from his trader’s pack, but he pretended not to notice. When he left this camp hurriedly, he would have to leave everything behind. He packed up the trade goods and stored them near the tree, supposedly showing his trust in the Crow. He told everyone present they could examine the goods on the new day and bargain for them, then followed Sly Hunter to his tepee.

  It didn’t take long for Bright Arrow to learn that Sun Cloud was not being brutalized by these enemies. Instead he was being teased, shoved roughly, insulted, mocked, and forced to labor. The boy noticed the trader but didn’t realize who he was. He did as he was ordered, remaining proud and aloof. Bright Arrow was pleased with his brother’s wisdom and cour
age. Gray Eagle had taught his sons well. In time, both would return safely to their father.

  Bright Arrow longed to send a secret message to his brother, so. that he would not worry or be afraid. He wanted to warn him to be ready to flee at a moment’s notice, but he dared not expose himself and endanger them. During his conversation with Sly Hunter that evening, he tried to buy the child again. He offered Sly Hunter and his wife many goods in exchange for a slave who would be helpful and entertaining on his journeys. He claimed he wanted to use the boy to gain attention in other camps, perhaps force him to earn money or goods by performing tricks and dances. The idea of humiliating and abusing the child pleased Sly Hunter.

  But the man refused to deal. When the hour grew late, Bright Arrow thanked Sly Hunter for the meal and talk. As he returned to Chief Arapoosh’s tepee, he laughed inside at the stupidity of the Crow warrior. He had unknowingly entertained one of his worst enemies! Soon the Crow and all enemies would learn of Bright Arrow’s return and his daring! There would be no more false talk, jokes, and laughter about him. He briefly wondered who had started such a false rumor.

  Bright Arrow lay on the sleeping mat, thinking and planning. If he could trick Sly Hunter into selling Sun Cloud to him, they could get out of the camp without suspicion or danger. But he realized this was a fool’s dream. Sly Hunter would not trade the valuable son of Gray Eagle. The best thing was to befriend these Crow until they trusted him and ignored his presence. Then he would strike. He would steal his brother right from under their noses and make a daring though perilous escape. His only concern was acting before Sun Cloud was endangered. Lone Horn had joked he would send Gray Eagle a piece of his son each day until he surrendered. Bright Arrow knew his father was a great chief, and a great chief would never yield to foes for any reason. Lone Horn was cold and savage; he might convince the others to take his jest seriously. Proceeding with haste was crucial.

  Rebecca had been in the Yankton camp for five days. As a good guest, she helped Laughing Face with her daily chores and her preparations for winter. The wife of Chief Red Tomahawk was a fat and jocular person. The woman often burst into girlish giggles for seemingly no reason, as if she shared some hilarious secret with nature. Because she spoke no English, there was little verbal communication between them.

  Laughing Face had begun teaching Rebecca more sign language and a little Nakota. By the time her stay had ended Rebecca would know words in the Lakota and Nakota tongues; only the Dakota tongue would still be unfamiliar. As she studied, she wondered why the Sioux Nation had three dialects. She found that the vocabulary and grammar of the two tongues were similar, which made rudimentary achievements easy for her. The lessons were not complicated but they required patience and memory and practice.

  Sign language was the “tongue” used by most tribes when meeting or trading with others. These swift and deft hand motions were vital for communication during intertribal or international exchanges, for creating alliances, and for settling disputes.

  Rebecca studied the signs naming the nearest tribes and practiced them. A slice across the throat with the right hand indicated the Sioux. Two fingers forming a V with the thumb and two smaller fingers folded into the palm on the right hand represented the Pawnee. Twice rubbing the back of the left hand was the sign for Indian. To say Cheyenne, a person made chopping movements on the left index finger from hand to fingertip. For Crow, a person held the flat part of a balled fist to the forehead, with the palm side outward. Laughing Face showed her many other signs, but those identifying tribes seemed the most important to Rebecca.

  Little Feet continued to ask Rebecca questions about Moon Eyes; she could not comprehend the meaning of death, of never seeing her sister again. She wanted to know why she had been left behind, covered with dirt. No matter how Rebecca explained this loss, Little Feet talked and acted as if she expected to see her sister arriving at any moment. Each time the question was posed to her, Rebecca was plagued by anguish. She wondered how long it would take for her to accept such a tragedy, or if she ever would. Tashina noticed that her sister was gone, but she was too young to ask where or why. In time, both would forget Moon Eyes; living with death was one of the harsh, demanding terms of existence in the wilderness and on the prairies. Rebecca prayed for her sadness and grief to lessen, for there was no way to return her daughter to life. She had to stop tormenting herself with guilt and agony.

  Rebecca hoped Flaming Star had reached home safely; she had no way of knowing he had arrived that very morning. She couldn’t free her mind of one of the conversations they had had during their journey to Red Tomahawk’s camp. He had told her that he knew nothing of Cloud Chaser’s alleged visits with Bright Arrow’s parents and the council, insisting that she was terribly mistaken. He had said that the Oglala tribe knew nothing of her trip near their camp, and that no Oglala—family, friend, or tribesman—knew of Bright Arrow’s return to his lands. Finally, he had claimed that the meeting at which she had supposedly been rejected for a second time had never taken place? This was an enigma that demanded questions and answers. Had Cloud Chaser tricked her? Had Windrider aided him in such deceit? It couldn’t be true, she told herself. Windrider would never deceive her with words or actions. Yet she couldn’t help recalling her initial suspicions about Windrider’s motives…

  Her troubled mind wandered to Bright Arrow. She prayed for his prompt return, for his survival, for his success. She tried to envision him in the camp of the Crow; she could not. She tried to imagine how he would act and what he would say. She worried that he would expose his hostility and fury. She fretted over Sun Cloud giving away his charade, then recalled that the child couldn’t possibly recognize his older brother. She knew how Bright Arrow looked, for she had seen him as Clay Rivera many times. She became so deeply enmeshed in thoughts of Bright Arrow’s safety and survival that she failed to notice the perils that were rapidly surrounding her…

  Rebecca needn’t have worried over Bright Arrow, for his plan was progressing satisfactorily. It was his third day in the Crow village, the day for action. He had traded or given away many of the goods on the mule, and he no longer had a logical reason to remain in the Crow camp. He wished he could carry the trade furs to his Cheyenne friends who needed them, but the mule and goods would slow his pace during an escape. He would have to leave by the next day or risk exposing himself. Though he craved revenge on these cold-blooded warriors, his major concern was getting his brother home.

  The Crow chief Arapoosh had gone on a raid, and Bright Arrow hungrily eyed his war shield. It was made of thick buffalo hide, and a painting of a man wearing an eagle-bone breastplate filled the center. Coup feathers, a rabbit’s foot, and a weasel tail decorated the outer edges. Bright Arrow’s longing gaze shifted to Arapoosh’s eaglefeather warbonnet, which was worn only during major battles or special ceremonies. Indians of any tribe understood the markings and colors of other tribe’s feathers; during a battle, the bravest warriors searched for the enemy warriors who wore large warbonnets or many coup feathers. Bright Arrow ached to steal either or both prized possessions before he escaped.

  He reminisced on his days as a warrior. Following his accomplishment of a brave and daring deed, a warrior was questioned by the council. If he spoke the truth and had in fact performed a valiant deed, he was given a coup feather or permission to wear one of those he had collected. No matter how many feathers a brave collected, he could never wear them without first obtaining approval of the council following a special act of courage or daring. The same was true of eagle’s talons or bear claws; a warrior had to verbally prove his right to wear them, for they were signs of immense prowess.

  The most prized coup feather was from the golden eagle, a bird honored for its cunning, speed, and courage. Coup feathers were placed in a warrior’s scalp lock or in a leather headband, and could be worn together or separately. The markings and colors on a coup feather revealed the nature of the deed the warrior had done to win it; a coup feather could relate the en
tire story of a daring exploit. When a warrior possessed enough coup feathers, he could make a warbonnet. This custom was confusing to many whites, for they erroneously believed that a warbonnet was worn only by a chief. Whites were also ignorant about the role of chief. A tribe had many chiefs: a head chief, a ceremonial chief, a war chief, a medicine chief, and sometimes more than one of each, with the exception of the position of head chief. Gray Eagle was a head chief.

  When a brave first entered the Warrior Society and earned a coup feather, it was a happy occasion and was eagerly celebrated by all. At special ceremonies, the warrior or his best friend would chant his past deeds of glory. Even greater honor came in capturing an enemy’s possessions while counting coup on him. An enemy’s horse, his weapons, his prayer pipe, his medicine bundle, his ceremonial garments and sacred items, his necklace and armbands, or any other belongings clearly marked by his symbols and colors of ownership were highly prized. To capture Arapoosh’s warbonnet of coup feathers or to steal those of other high-ranking Crow warriors would be a tremendous feat of cunning and daring. To also carry home shields, lances, and horses would bring Bright Arrow great honor and glory. To obtain a Crow medicine bundle from a Crow tepee would be a dream come true, a deed beyond imagination, a deed no Oglala could match, for to take a warrior’s pezuta wopahte also meant to take his life and scalp lock.

  The thrill of victory and the suspense and stimulation of danger throbbed within Bright Arrow’s powerful and agile body. He was anxious to begin his daring game. As he had anticipated, Sly Hunter had refused to sell or make trade for Sun Cloud. Bright Arrow had chuckled and told him that the boy was probably too delicate and arrogant to make a good and strong helper. He hinted at his concern that some Oglala warrior might follow him and slay him to free the boy. He hadn’t mentioned the boy again, though he had furtively observed his brother, his movements and his treatment. So far, the only harm had been to Sun Cloud’s pride. Bright Arrow continued his vigilance, waiting for the perfect moment to begin his bold flight.