Grail Quest (24 page)

I sprang on the wicked witch’s back…I dug my fingers into his throat!….Screaming like a banshee…I tore him off of Leahna…I wrapped my legs around him….I thrust my fingers
even deeper
into his neck…I twisted…I cut off circulation to his brain…He shape-shifted to bear…a weak attempt…I hung on…He shifted to dog…I had the upper hand…He weakened…Then he
shifted to raven
…flew out from under my hands! Furious, I batted him against a tree! He fluttered out of my reach…and into the tree tops.

I turned back to my beloved woman. Still on her back she wept with her arms wrapped around her face. Vile seed seeped from her…
Oh God! What an evil sight!
Her crucifix was missing. Outraged, stunned, I couldn’t, didn’t dare say anything. After an eon of torment, I
 
regained my breath. I calmed down…to kneel beside her…I reached for her hand. She resisted my touch. “Squire…oh Squire… kill me, kill me now!”

Her plea set me back. “Squire…Squire, kill me now! I not want to live!”

Well…for giving into…for enjoying…that monster…she didn’t deserve to live!
 
I jerked her arm away from her head…thrust my knife to her throat. Trembling…I hesitated… My hand shook so…I couldn’t jab it into her neck. An arm around my shoulder threw me back off balance.

Pushing me down, Moyock shouted, “Squire, Squire! Don’t do that! She is your wife! You love her!”

I shoved Moyock away from me. I leaped to my feet. He stood between me and Leahna. I brushed him aside and turned back to Leahna. Looking at her I couldn’t master my own shaking.
 
I began to weep.

My hardened heart softened. Here was my own beloved in terrible distress. How could I deliver that punishment? The knife fell out of my hand. I reached under her shoulders and raised her in my arms to sitting up. I put both arms around her and held her close. “Leahna…Leahna, you are my beloved. I don’t want to kill you. I want you to live. I love you.”

In a while her constant sobbing wore her out and she relaxed into my arms. Between gulps of air she said, “You love me? Coyote bad to me. How can you love me now?”

I tried to put my own emotions under control. She enjoyed being rogered by Coyote. Of course, my manly pride was hurt that she’d enjoyed her forced seduction. Because of his evil power over her, she couldn’t help it. How could I hold that against her? I had rogered many women, including other men’s wives. Was it really so bad that another man had rogered my woman? I didn’t like it, but I’d just have to forget it. I lifted her to standing. “You have been sore wounded. I would care for you any way you have been hurt. We’re both dirty. Lets go to the river and get cleaned up. We’ll both feel better then.”

Back in our lodge we did relax for awhile until I had to ask, “What happened to your charm? Why weren’t you wearing it?”

Bad question. Leahna cried. “I walk by edge of terrace. Just looking around. I see Ber-da-che. He come to me, talking nice. I don’t care. Then he say my charm is pretty thing. He want to look at it. He say he not see good. Ask to hold it. I think hold not hurt. I give to him. He shove me off the edge of the terrace! I fall down…not hurt.

When I look up at him he say, “This pretty charm. I like it…too pretty for woman to have. I will keep it.”

I say, “You not give back, you get big trouble!”
 

He say, “You can have…when Moyock come back to me.”

He run off. I look for good place to climb. I hear Coyote music from corn field. I try not to listen. Then music feel like cloud…pull me to woods. I not want to go. Can’t help.” She cried.

“It’s over now. You couldn’t help what happened. Stop worrying.”

“Maybe not over.”

“Sure it is. I think I hurt Coyote bad. He not come back.”

Her anguish fueled her tears. “What you think I have Coyote’s baby?”

“How can you, if you‘ve been using medicine from Missouri squaws?”

“Not use. Long time gone. I not care. Want to have baby with Squire.”

Oh no. If she has a child now, how will we know who the father is? My own mood plummeted like a ground bound arrow. For her sake I had to remain calm. “I
 
don’t think you can have Coyote’s baby. I pulled him off hard. I see his bad seed come from you.”

“I hope you right… but your seed leak from me too. Maybe not take many inside to make baby.” She was not to be consoled. Before I could say anything she said, “Coyote say I will have his witch baby. Then I will be his witch-mate.”

Oh lord! I mouthed a silent prayer beseeching the Almighty to spare her from Coyote’s cruel pronouncement. What could I say now? “Listen. You are my mate. You can never be Coyote’s witch-mate. You can only be my woman, only my beloved wife. No one else’s!”

Leahna calmed down some, and exhausted, lay down to rest. In the meantime I had a score to settle with Ber-da-che.

Moyock came in with some of our supplies. He said he followed me into the forest. He saw what happened. “I see you about to strike. Want to stop you. Think you be sorry if you kill Leahna. When I see you change, I go back to canoe.”

“I am so glad you acted. I was crazy.”
 
I explained how Leahna lost her charm. “That Ber-da-che has made an enemy. Take me to his lodge.”

“What you do to him?”

“I’ll figure that out when I get a hold of him.”

“I think he very strange person. He maybe even like you to get a hold of him”

“I’ll sure make him think differently.”

I was so mad I ignored any cultural niceties and burst through the door to his lodge unannounced. “Where are you, you slimy skunk!”

His women folk screamed and ran to their cubicles. “Where is he?” I shouted.

One of the women pointed to a closed cubicle. I jerked the curtain back exposing Ber-da-che and Chief Wolf laying there side by side. Wolf turned and hid his face. Ber-da-che screamed in outrage. I jerked him out of the cubicle…slammed him on the floor. “Now you creepy worm. Where did you get the idea you could take anything from a Chief’s wife?”

I had to give him credit. He stood up and faced me. Throwing his head back he said, “By us you are not a Chief…and she is only a woman.” He fingered the crucifix. “This too good for her. If Moyock comes back to stay with me, I’ll give it back… Or I will keep it.”

He’d crossed the line! I smashed my fist into his face. He dropped to the floor. The deviate screamed through his broken mouth. He tried to cower back into his cubicle. I grabbed him by the hair…jerked him upright. I tore the crucifix from around his neck. “You are very lucky today that my fist is my only weapon. You stay out of my way! Don’t come near my wife again.”

Moyock said, “Don’t bother me anymore. I want nothing to do with you.”

Outside
 
Moyock said, “Very bad thing, Squire. I sorry we see Chief Wolf with him.”

“Yes, I may have made a bad enemy.”

I found Bear in front of his dome. I told him about my conflict with Ber-da-che. “Ha, that sound funny,” he said.

“In my tribe, a man like him is treated badly. Not here?”

“No. He no use as warrior. He much like a woman. Men can use him if they like. Wakan Tanka make all men. How can we say Ber-da-che bad?
 
Wakan Tanka make him too.”

Back with Moyock, I said, “If Ber-da-che could deny me being a Chief, I wonder how wide that opinion is felt.”

“Maybe only his thought.”

“Could be, but I think it’s time I improved my stature by distributing the goods we brought back.”

The next day I called on Chief Wolf and, ignoring our last meeting, explained that I had returned with some fine goods. “To show my appreciation for Mandan hospitality, I wish to distribute goods to the council”

“That good thought. I will call meeting tomorrow night. Good time for you to give gifts”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I had two Sioux pipes left. I kept one for any unforeseen future need and presented the last one to Bear. I figured he came the closest to Chief Wolf’s stature. The furs I passed out to the other council members, and gave out some bright cloth for their wives. Essentially I gave everything away.

Standing in the middle of the group afterwards I hadn’t noticed a man approach until he shouted, “Who is this Hu-Hanska-Ska the Mandan entertain?”

He was a big man. The feathers in his hair and the markings on his arm said warrior. The shield and lance he thrust about said angry.

Bear answered him. “Squire is a White Chief from far away. He is our guest and friend.”

“Ha. He has no people. I see no tribe. He is a coward who beats a Squaw-Boots.”

“I come to the Mandan in peace and friendship. I mean them no harm. Now I see a loud-mouth who hides behind a shield and lance. Put them aside. I’ll teach you some manners too.”

While the interloper extolled his own virtues, Moyock, who always kept his ears open to background noise, said, “He is Ber-da-che’s older brother, Puma. He always protects the younger.”

I stepped out of the circle of men toward Puma. “With or without weapons I’ll teach you some respect. What kind of warrior are you?” I wasn’t carrying my saber so thought I had a better chance if he was weaponless too. “Do you need that lance to prove you are a hero?”

Enraged, Puma threw his lance and shield down. He leaped toward me. Surprised by his speed and the bone knife he’d drawn from his belt, I
 
dodged to his left. I kicked at his knee. Coming around he shifted the knife to an undercut stance. He was an experienced knife fighter. Puma blocked with his left arm. He tried slashing upward at me. I kept circling to his left. I threw kicks to keep him off balance. He swung the knife at my throat. He missed.
 
I crashed to the ground, struck from behind by Ber-da-che’s club.

Puma jumped on me. Outraged by this treachery Bear threw Puma off.
 
Moyock chased Ber-da-che out of the plaza. Puma stalked off muttering, glaring at Bear. I got to my feet with a sore back.

Moyock said, “Good thing Bear quick on his feet. Stop Puma from stabbing you. He say Puma is coward. Some others say Puma just clever tricky fighter.”

“So…I’ve got at least two enemies…maybe more.”

The next day, after a smoke with Chief Wolf and Bear, Wolf said, “Soon, very cold weather. We will need more buffalo robes and meat. No buffalo nearby. Tomorrow is dance rite to bring buffalo to us. You may join hunt, but you have no weapons.”

“Moyock and I have bows and arrows. I have another weapon in my White Chief’s staff. You will see it is very powerful weapon to strike buffalo.”

Some puzzled looks greeted that remark. Finally Bear said, “We do not see any weapon in your fancy stick.”

I’d lost a lot of gun powder when the canoe over turned. I estimated there was only enough for ten more shots. I couldn’t spare any for a demonstration. I replied, “When we find buffalo you will see the medicine power in my staff.”

Someone in back murmured, “Maybe White Chief is full of prairie dog breath.”

I ignored that whisper. After the beating it had taken from the elements, I hoped my flintlock still worked. I’ll find out soon.

Bear explained that each of the warriors kept a mask, or headdress made from a buffalo head, hanging in his lodge. The buffalo moved around and frequently were far away. The Mandan encouraged the herds to approach through the magic of their dance. Tomorrow the dance will begin around the sacred Big Canoe in the center of the plaza. I wondered why it was so named, but I didn’t want to show any more interest in it.

The dance started with fifteen men in their regalia. Most wore a complete buffalo face skin. Others wore only a fur cap down over their fore heads. All were adorned with horns. Fur fell down over their backs, some braided into a long tail. Each carried the weapon of his choice, lance, or bow and arrows.
 
I saw one man with a wicked looking club. He must have been proud of it because I wondered how effective it was against the animal. Starting out slow in a clockwise direction the men bent and bobbed in their imitation of a buffalo. They sang raucous songs and emitted wild shouts. I saw one man beating on a tambourine-like skin drum. Most of the rest of the tribesmen, also in buffalo garb, watched. Some shook rattles or pounded larger drums.

The dance continued at an exhausting pace. Then I saw a man bending lower and slower as he continued around the circle. When he nearly collapsed, another dancer shot him with a blunt arrow. The ‘dead buffalo’ was carried away to be ritually skinned and cut up for meat. One of the watchers took his place.

Chief Wolf invited me to hunt with them but the invitation didn’t include joining the dancers. Never having killed a buffalo myself, I didn’t have the right costume.

Bear said, “We have were plenty of buffalo headdress’s. I can lend you one of mine.”