Song Of The Warrior (26 page)

She led her horse with the old woman and the two children on it. The old woman protested that she should be left behind, that she would slow them and because she was old, her life was not worth much. However, Willow wouldn't hear of it. These three were a family for her and she would not leave them. Where they were going or what would happen to the Nez Perce now, there was no way to know. One thing she did know was that it had been foolish to hope the army would let them go in peace. The soldiers were going to track the Nez Perce relentlessly and either kill them or return them all to the reservation.

Yet she was a Nez Perce woman and she could deal with adversity, just as her people were doing. Proudly, Willow squared her shoulders and led her horse to follow the weeping survivors. Behind her, Raven might be dying at this very moment. She realized then that she did not want him to die; he was special to her. Oh, not the feelings she had had for Bear, but the younger brother, too, was brave and good and loved her enough to give his life for her.

Behind her, shots echoed in the morning heat. She wanted to return and help him, but she had the responsibility of the old grandmother and the two children. Torn between two emotions, she kept her horse in the line as they rode toward the south. Willow wondered as the Indians fled, just how long the warriors could hold the soldiers at bay back there at the Big Hole and whether Raven was even now dead on the battlefield?

For the rest of the day as the Nez Perce fled south, Willow could only wonder and worry about Raven. In the distance, the gunfire and the cannon still echoed through the mountains and could be heard over the soft moaning of the wounded on their travoises. She did everything she could to help, but moving the injured was torture for them and some died along the way. The exhausted and a few of the old ones gave up and sat down by the trail, determined not to slow the people.

When Willow's weary horse faltered, the old grandmother dismounted and sat down in the grass. “I am old and no loss to the tribe,” she said. “Save the children and yourself.”

The children cried and Willow begged, but the old woman was adamant. There was nothing to do but press forward, leading her horse and leaving the old woman behind. The leaders were afraid to pause, not certain how long the warriors could keep the soldiers pinned down, nor knowing whether more soldiers were on their way.

The sun beat on her as Willow walked and led the horse with the two children on its back. She was tired and thirsty, but the wounded were the ones suffering. Yet, they moaned softly and died silently, knowing there was no help for them. Ollokot's wife, the beautiful
Aikits Palojami,
Fair Land, had been badly wounded at the Big Hole and her sister-in-law, Joseph's wife, had taken on the task of nursing Fair Land's young baby along with her own.

Willow was past thinking. She put one foot ahead of the other automatically, doing what she must and sharing her canteen with the children. She had lost Bear and now she had lost Raven, too; he had stayed behind with the other brave warriors to keep the soldiers from pursuing them.

Finally, it was sundown. With a grateful sigh, Willow sat down in the dirt as the people finally camped. She was grateful for the cool darkness. Later that night, some of the warriors rode in from the Big Hole and brought word that Ollokot, Raven, and a handful of others were still keeping the soldiers pinned down. However, during that time, they had lost two well-known men, Five Wounds and
Sarpsis Il-pihlp.
Yet the Nez Perce had managed to capture the howitzer and dismantle it, plus some guns and ammunition.

Here in the darkness, Willow looked after her two little charges the best she could and worried about Raven and the old grandmother. Despite everything she could do to help, more of the wounded died. The chiefs had called a council to assess their losses and no family had been spared. Some sixty or maybe as many as ninety of their people had been killed, including women and children, as well as twelve of the bravest warriors. The people's hearts were bitter against Looking Glass for having brought them to Montana. They selected a new guide, a half-breed Nez Perce named Lean Elk who said he knew the trail to their friends of the Crow tribe, in whose camp the Nez Perce might find refuge. After much discussion, it was decided that with daylight, the people would try to reach their Crow allies.

There was little rest for Willow that night. What food she had, she gave to the children. When a few of the warriors rode in later, she asked them about the old grandmother and they said, yes, she was still by the trail, but prepared to die when the army and its Bannock scouts caught up with her. Ollokot, Raven, and a couple of others were determined to hold back the soldiers a while longer.

A breeze came up and whispered through the trees above her like a ghostly warrior's singing. This was the way Raven would have wanted it, she thought, finally being respected like his brother, courageously covering the retreat. Now she had lost them both.

Before the sun came up, the people were preparing to move on, burying those badly wounded who had died during the night. The beautiful Fair Land was among the dead.

Willow begged that someone should ride back to the Big Hole to see if any of the warriors still lived, but Joseph reminded her that he had left a younger brother there, too, and even for Ollokot, he dare not stop the march or take the chance of ambush in sending men back along the trail. She knew he was right, but it was difficult to gather the children, load her travois, knowing brave men had bought this precious time with their lives.

However, just before the tribe shoved out, there was a shout and Ollokot and his warriors rode in, having slipped away from the Big Hole in the darkness. Raven! Willow had eyes only for him as he galloped in and dismounted. On the back of his horse rode the old grandmother.

Without even realizing she did so, Willow ran into his arms. “I thought I had lost you, too.”

“Me? Never!” He grinned as he swung her up in his strong arms. “I have too much to live for! And look who I found along the way!”

“Nakaz! Nakaz!”
The children ran to the old grandmother with glad cries.

“Oh, Raven, thank you for bringing her.” Willow hugged him.

“She didn't want to come. I had to put her on my horse by force, but she's rested; I think she can keep up now. I won't lie to you, Willow,” he said somberly, “we have trouble ahead of us. The soldiers were hard hit, but army reinforcements were coming when we rode away. Some of our men were captured, among them, my Palouse friend, Five Stars.”

“Oh, Raven, I'm so sorry. We've had deaths here, too.” Quickly, she told him the details. She was too happy to see him and the old woman again to worry about anything else. “Maybe we can still elude them; the chiefs are talking of riding to their friends, the Crows.”

He nodded, looking weary but confident. “I must report in. With all these wounded and the very old and babies, it will be hard for us to move fast.”

She smiled and watched him stride away, feeling secure now that he had returned, thinking how proud her dear Bear would have been that his confidence in his younger brother had finally proved right. Yes, whatever lay ahead of them, the Nez Perce were strong enough to deal with.

 

 

Bear reined in his horse in Rocky Canyon and looked around. A saddled horse grazed peacefully near the raging river. He frowned as he saw the spur marks on the bay gelding. What brute would treat a horse like that? Deek; of course that was Deek's horse. Now where was the scout? There was no sign of him. As he looked around, sunlight reflected under a bush. Heart pounding, Bear knelt. Yes, it was part of the treasure. Evidently, Deek had been bringing it out, piling it here. What had happened? Bear swam his big stallion across the river and went to check the cave. Yes, some of the gold was still there, but there was no sign of Deek Tanner.

Bear rode back to the river and dismounted. In the shallows, something glittered. Curiously, Bear waded out, picked it up; a gold nugget. He looked again at the marks on the bay gelding, noted the saddlebags were missing. A picture began to emerge. Bear imagined the greedy white man attempting to get the gold across the river, the weight of it pulling him under. A white man would die for treasure and it looked like Deek had. Bear breathed a sigh of relief as he began to gather up the gold. Just in case Deek had told anyone about the hoard, Bear had to move it. It took him most of the day to take it to a new location and hide it. Now it was safe again until the Nez Perce people needed it.

At last, Bear grabbed the bridle of the bay horse and led it behind him as he rode away from the canyon. He could use an extra horse on this long ride.

He looked off toward the Bitterroot Mountains. How many days' ride were his people ahead of him? There was no way to know; Bear only knew that he must track them, rejoin them, no matter how many soldiers and scouts he had to avoid on the long journey.
Tamtaiza uatiskzpg,
tomorrow will tell, Bear thought. It was going to be worth it to be reunited with his brother; to feel his beloved Willow in his arms again!

Billy Warton cursed loud and long when he found the murdered guard and the dead girl. “Damn that Injun wench!” He kicked at Rainbow's bloody body. He had no doubt that somehow, she had to be involved in freeing Bear.

What to do now? No doubt the big Nez Perce was on his way back to his people at this very minute. Billy headed out of the jail. Where Deek Tanner had gone, he had no idea, but one thing he did know; if Billy were ever going to find the secret of that hidden treasure, he had to find Bear.

Billy grinned as he headed for the stable. Bear would be looking for Willow. Billy wanted both the treasure and the beautiful girl, so, he reasoned, all he had to do was track down the warrior and he'd find both. Just as soon as he could saddle up, Billy would rejoin General Howard's forces.

 

 

General Howard and his troops came upon what was left of Gibbon's mauled forces several days after the fight at the Big Hole. It was enough to make a religious man swear, he thought as he rode in, dismounted, looked around. “Well, John, I see the Indians did the impossible, defeated the Old War Horse.”

Gibbon saluted halfheartedly. “It was a draw, Oliver,” he said defensively. “We held our ground.”

Howard laughed but he wasn't smiling as he looked at the exhausted troopers, the number of wounded, the fresh graves. “How many did you lose?”

“Twenty-nine dead, forty wounded,” Gibbon admitted, not looking at him. “Two of the wounded probably aren't going to make it. However, Oliver, we hit the Indians pretty hard, too.”

“But they got away.” It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Gibbon hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, they're on the move again; took their wounded with them.”

The one-armed general rolled his eyes heavenward as if praying. “Lord knows what the newspapers will say this time; they're laughing at the army back East, you know that, John?”

Gibbon limped over to sit down on a log, wiped the sweat from his trim goatee. “If they ever had to fight Nez Perce, they wouldn't laugh anymore. Even the old people fight like lions!”

“Amazing what hope does, isn't it?” Howard said. “Hope and a taste of freedom. Well, I'll take up the chase again, leave my surgeons with you. Looks like your men are in no shape to continue this pursuit.”

Gibbon acknowledged it was true. “I don't know why they keep fighting,” he grumbled, “they can't win.”

Howard looked away, a little ashamed to be on the side of the aggressor. “That's what's so sad about it; they can't win, but they won't quit; makes a man examine his soul and think about what's right and wrong. If I didn't have my orders . . .” His voice trailed off for a minute, then he was all business again. “Well, I've wasted enough time.”

“I'm sorry, Oliver, I should have stopped them, but they fought like demons.”

Howard nodded. “I just wished I could put some of those newspaper people up here to see how Nez Perce fight. A heart's own blood.”

“Beg your pardon?”

Howard cleared his throat. “They believe they are special, that they are created from a heart's blood.”

“I can believe it.” Gibbon nodded. “I've seen them in action!”

General Howard noted that ahead of him as he led his troops, the whole countryside seemed to be ablaze. The young warriors, in a fury because of the Big Hole battle, must be attacking outlying ranches, stealing horses and supplies, killing cowboys and settlers if they tried to stop them. The cost at that Big Hole battle had been costly to the Indians, too, Howard thought, because as they marched, the army found more hastily dug graves where the Nez Perce buried those who succumbed to wounds along the way. Try as he might, it was almost impossible to keep his Shoshoni and Bannock scouts from digging up the graves of the enemy dead to loot and scalp the bodies.

When General Howard figured out that the Nez Perce might be heading into the new national park, Yellowstone, he sent word ahead to General Sherman, and then Howard picked up his pace. It was August 20 and by moving faster, the general hoped to intercept the Nez Perce at Camas Meadows before they reached Yellowstone.

 

 

It was almost dark and Willow had built a small fire, cooked a rabbit Raven had snared this morning. Ammunition was too precious to waste on one small rabbit. Sometimes there was almost nothing to eat; other times they ate the horses that dropped and died from the grueling march.