Chapter 28
While J.D.
stood guard outside the tipi, Buck and Ezra sat with Mapiya while she was busy
tending to Chris. He had not woken
since last night and Mapiya had expressed her concern at his unresponsiveness
to her ministrations.
Buck did not like
the way Chris laid so silently on the pallet.
Mapiya had wrapped an old Buffalo hide around his body. She said that he was shivering violently and
had spoken one word, cold, after losing consciousness again. Buck gently brushed a strand of blonde hair
away from Chris’ forehead.
As he did, he
felt the cold and clamminess of his skin.
“What cha’ trying to do to us, Chris?” he asked softly. “Ya know I got three more gray hairs from
this and that ain’t somethin’ the ladies gonna go for on this stud. Why don’t cha’ wake and open those cold
green eyes for me, huh?” But there was
no acknowledgement from Chris that he had heard him. Buck sighed dejectedly and looked to Ezra who sat not far from
their leader.
Ezra watched
as Chris Larabee lay so silent and looking almost lifeless. Although Chris was never a man for a lot of
words, Ezra still felt that this was definitely out of character. Even though the rest thought of him as
selfish and uncaring, Ezra knew that they were so wrong. He cared, especially about his friends and
people who had not only saved his life more than once, but people who had
redeemed his soul and Chris Larabee was one of them.
Had he not
met Chris and his valiant associates in their quest to save some natives from
being victimized by a very demented and barbarous ghost of the Confederacy, he
would not have ever known this revelation.
He most likely would have been found either dead from some gunman’s
bullet at some card table or in prison for a very long time. Yes.
This man had redeemed his soul and his future. There is nothing that he
would not do for this man.
He felt eyes
upon his back and turned to find Buck Wilmington staring at him with eyes of
pain. Ezra knew just by looking at the
tall lawman that he was also suffering as much as was Chris Larabee, their
ailing leader. He knew that the friendship of one Buck Wilmington and one Chris
Larabee had stood the test of time, anger, love, hate, revenge and a whole lot
of other sorted emotions. But through
it all, Buck stayed loyal to Chris. As
they said once, “To the end.” Ezra was
hoping that this was not “the end”, so to speak. He did not think the tall lawman would survive it as he had
survived many other trials and tribulations with the unfaltering character that
was Chris Larabee.
“Buck,
listen. I am sure that Mr. Larabee will
survive his ordeal, as he as done many times before."
“I hope ya
right, Ezra. Ya know Chris was always
chasing after death, trying to follow it to the end just so that he could be
with his family. But then one day he
found people whom he could call friends.
People who had to protect and trust.
I think that was what turned him away from following that path that
would someday lead to me buryin’ ‘im under six feet of dirt. I just hope he ain’t lost his way again,
Ezra. Cause if he has…”
Ezra knew
Buck did not have to finish his sentence.
He knew what the inevitable would be if Chris had lost his way again.
The man was strong as a pillar when it came to gun battles. But when it came to dealing with emotions
and other pain, he was a pliable piece of clay with the ability to be pulled
into other directions.
Ezra knew if
he had no memory of what he would lose, he would not fight and give up this
life. But then Ezra’s eyes came to rest
on Mapiya, the brown-eyed Native that had captured Larabee’s heart. No.
Chris did have something to live for and it came in a most beautiful
package.
Ezra leaned
in close until he was near Chris’ ear and whispered, “Mr. Larabee, although we
have not been friends for long, I can assure you that you would do irrevocable
damage to your friends’ and Mapiya’s heart.
You have much in your life that any man would live for. You will not
die, is that understood.” He did not
know if Chris heard him, if he could only hope that some part of it
registered.
What Ezra did
not see was the look on Buck Wilmington’s face as he caught what was said. Buck decided he would not acknowledge that
he had heard Ezra’s little discussion.
He did not want to embarrass the gambler about being such a softy or
ruin his reputation for being such a stoic cynic and realist. He turned his
back to hide the smile that had slowly crept across his face. Yeah.
He and Ezra were going to have a little discussion of their own once
this was over. His smile grew broader
as he thought of how many drinks he was going to get from blackmailing the
young man.
Suddenly a
soft sound was heard in the tipi.
Mapiya, Buck and Ezra all focused their eyes on the still form of Chris
Larabee. They all held their breath, hoping that what they had heard were not
their imaginations or some hopeful wishing.
Chris
consciousness slowly swam its way up from the darkness towards the light. Although he felt safer in the darkness,
there were sounds that kept invading his peace that seemed to have some
important meaning to him. He could not
remember why he hurt so much or why his head felt as if it was too sizes too
big. He also noticed that the heat he
had felt earlier was gone and now he felt as if was placed in a block of
ice. He tried to raise his right hand
to his face and felt hands grabbing his, preventing him from doing so. At the touch he became frightened and
started to panic, not remembering where he was and what was wrong with him. His
hands flew out to prevent the unknown hands from touching, fighting them off.
“Come on,
Stud. You don’t want this pretty filly here
to get mad, now do you?” said a man’s voice that he thought was familiar.
Buck and
Mapiya tried to keep Chris from hurting himself. Although there was not much fight in him, it still took all they
strength to subdue the gunslinger. He
kept trying to loosen their hold.
“Chris,
listen. You need to lie still,
Pard. We need you to get better so we
can go back to that saloon I told you about with those pretty girls. I got one all picked out for you,” Buck said
jokingly, taking a hold of Chris’ hands and pushing them down by Chris’ side.
Chris heard
the words, but he did not understand them.
Buck? Buck was his friend,
wasn’t he? Flashes of a memory blazed
across his mind. A tall man with a
mustache, blue eyes and a smile that would light a darkened sky was shown to
him. The man was laughing and holding a
young boy on his lap. Adam was his
son? More pictures were coming at him. A woman, walking towards the man and the
boy, carrying food on a plate. She
smiled at them. So much happiness could
be seen in her face. Sarah was his
wife? Then the pain came. A pain, that was more mental than physical,
cut into his soul like a knife. He
remembered who Adam and Sarah were. He
remembered that he loved them and he remembered that they were murdered. He also remembered that Buck, that tall
stranger was the man that had once put his life back together after that tragic
day.
Chris moaned
as he remembered. He fought against the hands again. He was frightened.
Frightened that the people that had killed his family were trying to
hurt him and Buck too. He struggled to
get up, but was gently pushed back against the pallet. He was tiring fast and he could not get
loose from the hands that held him down.
He was afraid that he would not be able to save his friend from the
danger he thought existed. He would fail him, like he had failed his
family.
“No! Not again!
Not…again!” came Chris’ frantic screams. “Please. Please let me go. I…ha…have to save him.”
Buck and the
others did not understand what was going on.
All they knew was that Chris was in pain. Buck looked up into Mapiya’s face. He saw that she was trying to keep Chris from hurting himself and
at the same time trying to hold back tears that threatened to form. She almost looked at if she was in pain
herself. But Buck knew it was because
of Chris’ pain and not one of her own.
Buck quickly
turned to Ezra, fear forming a lump in this throat which made him strive to
find his voice. “Ezra,” his managed to squeak out. Ezra, who had moved closer to the trio to see if his assistance
was needed, waited patiently for the tall lawman to finish his sentence.
“I need ya…I
need ya to go get Nathan and Vin. Tell
‘em that I think Chris really needs them.”
“I will do so
expediently, Mr. Wilmington,” said Ezra, standing up and walking out of the
tipi.
Mapiya, who
was quiet during the whole time, began crying openly. She did not care who saw the tears that she was shedding for the
man she loved. He was in pain, and his
pain was her pain. She could not stand
to watch him as he struggled to overcome the pain that now invaded his
body. She glanced at Buck, hoping he
would know what to do. But Buck, like
her, was just as lost.
“Ezra’s gone
to get Nathan and Vin. They’ll know
what to do,” said Buck, trying to ease her worries.
Mapiya only
nodded. She needed her love to be
better so that they could start their new journey together into life. She put her love’s hand into hers and held
on tight, hoping it would create a lifeline to him. Buck sat next to her, helping her restrain Chris, deep in his own
thoughts of what Chris’ future might be.
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Once Ezra was
outside, he met up with J.D. J.D. had
heard the commotion inside the tipi, but knew his responsibility was to
guarding the others and warning them of anything that could present a danger to
them. When Ezra emerged from the tipi,
J.D. had a bad feeling about what was going on in the tipi.
“Ezra?” He looked at Ezra face and so that something
had spooked him.
“Listen, I
need to go find Nathan and Vin,” Ezra replied hurriedly, trying to walk pass
him. J.D. quickly grabbed his arm,
preventing him from going any further.
“What
happened?” he asked. His heart was
beating a mile a minute in his chest.
If Ezra was this upset, it could not be good.
“J.D., let
go. I need to find Nathan and Vin
fast!”
“But what’s
going? Is Chris…?”
“No, my dear
boy. He has not departed our fair
company. But unless I go find Nathan
and Vin, he may,” replied Ezra, matter-of-factly. He was getting impatient from answering the young man’s question.
He had an errand to perform and he would perform it without haste.
“Sorry,
Ez. I just…” J.D. lowered his head in
resignation and releasing Ezra’s arm.
Ezra now felt
guilty at being so brusque with the young Easterner. “I know, J.D.” he said squeezing the young man’s shoulder. “We’re all worried about Mr. Larabee. It’s
just it doesn’t look good right now and I need to be on my way to find help.”
“Okay, Ezra.”
“And you my
dear sir, keep a diligent watch over our friends, understand?” Ezra cocked his eyes at J.D. confirming that
he understood.
“You got it!”
answered J.D. standing straighter in front of the tipi.
“Very good,
my young man. Now, have you seen our
enigmatic tracker of late?”
“Yeah. He was walking over towards that brave’s
tipi,…what’s his name Ok…something.”
“ó'kôhóme.”
“Yeah, that’s
it. Who is he?”
“The chief’s
son. And if what Mr. Tanner told us
earlier is true, then he is in danger.”
J.D. glanced
at Ezra in confusion. “Huh? How ya figure that, Ezra?”
“My dear naïve young man. Mr.
Tanner has decided to walk into the verbal Lion’s Den and I think he’s about to
be eaten,” said Ezra, starting to quickly walk over to the tent where Nathan
was. “I’m getting Nathan and as soon as that is done, I will find our Tracker
before he becomes dinner.” J.D. watched
in amazement and shock as Ezra walked towards the tipi that held their own
medicine man.
When he
reached the tipi, he stopped suddenly, not knowing how to proceed. He did not want to create an incident in an
already aggravated situation. But he
also needed to find out if his friend had not suffered any harm from the
suspected felon in question. He had
finally made his decision and was about to pull the flap open, when without
warning the flap of the tipi came open and out stepped the person he had come
to save.
Vin Tanner
was to say the least, a little surprised at Ezra’s appearance at the flap. In
fact, he was surprised to see Ezra at all since he was suppose to be protecting
Chris from any treachery made by ó'kôhóme or one of his men. Unless there was something wrong with Chris.
Ezra watched
as Vin’s face turned to one of shock, then confusion and then to fear. He saw slowly that the young tracker was
coming to some conclusions that were not good.
Although Chris was not much better, he was not much worst and he was not
dead.
Ezra quickly
said, “I don’t mean to alarm you, Mr. Tanner, but I came because I feared that
you might have come to some grievance by the chief’s son.”
“So, Chris is
alright then?”
“Yes and
no. Our valorous leader awoke for a
minute, but unfortunately it was in one of delirium, I’m afraid. How did your meeting with the chief’s son
go? Was it enlightening?”
“No, Ezra, it
wasn’t. In fact, he wasn’t there. Only
his wife and of course, she says she knows nothin’ of what I’m talkin’ about.
But I think she’s lyin’.”
“And how do
you come to that conclusion, Mr. Tanner.”
“Let’s just
say I can sense things like that, Ezra.
She was lyin’ and lyin’ badly, as a matter of fact.” He then motioned for Ezra to follow him back
to Chief Aenohe’s tipi.
“So what is
the next step in the plan, Vin?” asked Ezra, concerned that maybe Vin was
making too many assumptions based on his feelings for Chris Larabee and
ó'kôhóme.
“Let’s get
back ta Chris first. I wan’na see how’s
he doin’,” he said, nudging Ezra in the shoulder, urging him forward.
As they
walked, Ezra wanted to talk to him about his impetuous actions towards
ó'kôhóme.
“Mr. Tanner,
if I may be so impertinent as to say that I think you are playing with fire and
my get burned.”
“Huh?”
“With
ó'kôhóme. You’ve already told us that
you may suspect him as someone who has played a diabolical part in Mr.
Larabee’s illness. Do you think that he
would just stop there? What if you push
him just a tad bit too far?”
“Ez,
listen. I’ve got this handled.”
“I don’t
think so, my young friend. I think you
will not only get yourself killed, but us as well.” Ezra stopped walking at that statement. Vin turned towards him to stare at him in bewilderment.
“What are you
sayin, Ezra? Ya think I would endanger
everyone based on suspicions?”
“No, my dear
tracker. I do not. What I do think is that you are going about
this the wrong way.”
Vin eyed Ezra
curiously. “And,…”
“And I have a
plan that I think will spare us from being roasted by your native friends,”
replied Ezra casually.
“Well, let’s
hear it.”
“I suggest we
wait until we among the others of group.
They will all have a part to play in this little adventure,” said Ezra,
giving Vin one of his charming smiles.
Vin returned
the smile, but then his face turned serious. “It better be good, Ezra. We messin’ with Chris’ life, ya know.”
“My dear
companion. We are messing, as you say,
with all our lives.” Ezra then placed
his arm around Vin’s shoulders and led him hurriedly back towards the tipi
where Chris and their friends were waiting.
*************************************************************************************************************
Josiah was
sent a message from Mapiya by a young Cheyenne boy named Se'tovaotse. It amazed Josiah that the boy spoke English
as well as Mapiya and her father. When
he asked the boy who had taught him, he had said that Mapiya teaches all the
children in the tribe. She said it
would better prepare them when they would have to deal with the white men of
this land. Josiah could only agree. Mapiya was a very wise woman, indeed. As they walked, Josiah asked the boy many
questions and found that he was eager to speak the white man’s language to the
white holy man.
“So, what
does your name mean?” asked Se’tovaotse, tentatively.
“Josiah?”
The boy only
nodded.
“Josiah is a
name of the Bible.”
“Bi…bill?”
“Yes,” said
Josiah, smiling gently at the boy. “The
Bible. The Bible is the white man’s book of our laws for how a man should live,
treat his neighbor and honor his God.”
“Ahhh.”
“And Josiah
was the name of a very famous King of Judah.
But in Hebrew, Josiah really is pronounced YahWeh, which is another name
for God.”
“You are a
Ma'heo'o?”
“Ma'heo'o? Oh, I see.
No. I am only a man. It was name of the white man’s book of laws. It’s hard to explain.”
“But it is a
name of Ma'heo'o?” asked the little Cheyenne boy with wide eyes.
“Sort of.
Tell me what does your name mean?”
“In your
tongue, it means Smoke Appears.”
“And you are
called that because…”
“Because I can
not be seen unless I want to be seen.”
“You are one
of kind, Se’tovaotse,” replied Josiah, ruffling the young Cheyenne’s hair and
smiling gently at him.
“I take that
as good, Jo…Josiah. But now, I must
take you to your friends or I will have not have done what I am asked by
Mapiya,” said Se’tovaotse, smiling back at Josiah.
They then
walked quickly towards the home of Chief Aenohe.
Josiah gazed
at the young Cheyenne boy, wonderment showing on his face at this little boy’s
statement.
When Josiah
entered the tipi of Chief Aenohe, after his goodbye and thanks to Se’tovaotse,
he found Nathan and Mapiya working feverishly on the ill Chris Larabee. Buck,
J.D. and Ezra were sitting around the fire, talking in hush tones as Vin sat
stoically and still next to Chris, looking calmly on as Nathan and Mapiya tried
to get the liquid into his friend’s mouth.
Nathan looked
up from his ministrations and nodded to Josiah. Josiah walked over and knelt down by his side, as he watched
Nathan holding up Chris’ head, while Mapiya was spooning water into Chris’
mouth.
“How’s he
doing, Nate?”
“Well, the
good news is that he ain’t no worst.
The bad news is that he ain’t no better either. Did ya find out anything from the medicine
man?”
“I think I
did.”
At this
statement, Vin finally moved and his cold blue eyes turned up to Josiah.
“What did ya
find out?” asked Vin in a soft drawl.
“From what I
gathered, which was not easy without an interpreter, Ma'emestahke says that he has
heard of this type of sickness once before.
From what I understood, he thinks Chris has been poisoned, but he does
not know by whom.”
“Damn! I knew Chris was in trouble here!” shouted
Buck.
“But why?”
asked J.D., his voice raising in fear.
“Chris ain’t done nothin’ ta hurt these people!”
“Mr.
Wilmington, Mr. Dunne, please lower your voices. Remember there is an ill person here,” said Ezra trying to calm
their growing anger, although Ezra had his own angry demon to deal with. “And
let’s not forget our hostess.” He
nodded towards Mapiya.
“You do not
have to…fear me, Eh..zara. I would do
no bad to Emo'ôhtavo vo'e. I care…for
him.”
“We know
that, my dear,” replied Ezra eyeing the others. “You have already demonstrated how much you love him. But we must find out who has done this and
why.” It was part of Ezra’s plan to
enlist the aid of Mapiya in the investigation.
He saw it as their best option considering who she was and how familiar
she was her people. These people would
not talk to a white man. But they would
probably open up to one of their own, especially one so respected by their
people. He had scratched Chief Aenohe
off the list because he would have to be the judge of the evidence they would
find and did not want to put him in a position that could make him loose face
among his people.
He had told
Vin of his plan to use Mapiya. Of
course, at first, Vin had expressed his objections to the plan. In fact, he had in no uncertain terms told
Ezra to go straight to hell. Although
if this plan did not work, that was probably where he would end up. He did not really want to use the young
maiden’s love for Larabee to betray one of her own people. But he knew if they did not Mr. Larabee’s
life expectancy would become shorter.
Once he had brought this fact out to Vin, Vin agreed to the plan reluctantly.
Mapiya broke
his reverie. “I…understand. I will
help. But I am…how you
say,…Náóétsétáno?” She turned to Vin for help, her brown eyes pleading with
him.
“She says
she’s worried.”
“Worried
about what, Vin?” asked Nathan, now concerned also.
Vin spoke in
Cheyenne to Mapiya, relaying Nathan’s question. Mapiya replied hesitantly to him in Cheyenne. She did not want them to get the wrong
impression of her loyalty.
“She says
she’s worried about her people. She
fears if it is one of her people that has done this, then it might cause
trouble among the tribe.”
Josiah spoke
up first, “Tell her Vin that we don’t want to cause problems for her
people. We’re only looking for justice
and to get Chris well.”
“She says she
knows Chris is…”
“I heard her,
Vin,” interrupted Josiah quickly. “She says she knows that Chris is
afraid. Afraid of what, though?”
“Ée'tóhtahe
évaveto.”
“Afraid of
the past?” Vin asked. He was confused.
“Why was Chris afraid of the past?” he thought to himself. Then it came to him. Chris was afraid of what was in his
memories. Vin knew Chris was afraid
that the person he was before was not something that he could live with. Vin knew that feeling very well when he
thought about the memories of his bounty hunting days and when he had to leave
his feelings behind and not become judge or jury when taking in a wanted
man. But he had dealt with it. And Chris needed to deal with it also or
otherwise the life he planned for him and Mapiya would always be haunted by his
past.
Vin then
turned to Mapiya and grabbed both her hands.
He said in Cheyenne, as gently as he could, “Mapiya, he needs to
remember. He has to remember. He can’t
have a life with you if he tries to run from it. We’ve all had nightmares that we wish we could forget. But you and I both know, that there is good
and bad in living and one must go on.”
“What did you
tell her, Vin?”
“I told her,
J.D., that Chris has to deal with the past in order to live.”
“And you are
right, brother. Chris must be strong
here,” said Josiah pointing to his chest. “And, if he is strong here, then he
can fight anything.”
The others
nodded in agreement.
“I will help
you. I know he is strong…here,” she
answered, putting her hand over Chris’ heart.
“I will look for the one who has done this bad thing.”
“And will you
do justice?” asked Buck, scrutinizing her face for the truth. Vin turned
glaring eyes on him. Vin knew he wanted
justice for what was done to Chris and right now it seemed to be clouding what
was important to Vin. That was getting
Chris well again. Justice was second to
Vin’s goals at this moment.
Mapiya saw
the look in Buck’s eyes. She knew that
look all too well. It haunted her brother’s
eyes for too long and put hatred in his heart towards all white men. She did
not want that to happen to these men.
Too many men were filled with so much bad feelings and nothing good ever
came from it. “I will. But it will be Cheyenne Justice. Not the white man’s,” she replied looking
into each of the men’s eyes to gage their reactions.
No one
objected or said a word. Mapiya took this as a sign of agreement. “Then it will be done.” Mapiya then stood up and started to walk
towards the exit. Before she did, she
turned to Vin and said, “Come. We have
much to do, Vin Tanner.”
The others
turned to look at her in surprised when she said “we”. But Vin was not. He got steadily to his feet and walked to where Mapiya stood
waiting patiently.
“Take care of
‘im, Nate. We’ll be back later. And
with some answers.”
At that, they both exited the tipi, leaving the others to watch and care
for Chris Larabee.
Chris slowly
awoke from his seemingly long sleep.
What he did not remember is that he was not asleep, but unconscious and
ill. To Chris, it seemed he had just
taken a long nap from being on a drinking binge. As he approached closer to consciousness, he realized that the
pain felt like he had been on a drinking binge. His head felt as if it was two sizes too big and his stomach was
doing somersaults. His ears felt as if
they were stuffed with cotton. He could hear voices but they sounded far in the
distance. He cautiously tried to open his eyes, although it seemed a hard task
at first, they did pry themselves open.
He looked out of his half-opened lids and saw fuzzy images, wavering in
and out of darkness. He tried to say something but realized that his throat was
parched and it only came out a hoarse whisper.
Nathan had
heard a slight sound coming from where Chris Larabee lay. He crawled closer to the gunslinger, afraid
that there was something happening to his patient that was not good. When he
got close, he saw that Chris green eyes were staring upward, unfocused and
glazed, but they were open.
“Hey,
ya’ll. Chris is awake.”
At that
statement, the others came closer to their leader, hope rising in their hearts
that this was a sign that things were changing for the better.
“Hey,
Chris. How ya doin’ there, Pard?” asked
Buck, wiping the plastered blonde hair away from the man’s face.
Chris said
nothing. He could not make the words
and what he wanted to say only came out as a croak.
“Take it
easy, Chris,” said Nathan, taking a wet cloth and wiping the man’s
forehead. After that was done, he
turned to J.D. and said, “Get me some water, J.D., quickly.”
J.D. crawled
over the water skin and went to complete the task that Nathan had
requested. He came back, carrying a
wooden cup of water, his hands shaking so much that he was spilling most of
what he poured.
“J.D., be
careful!” exclaimed Buck. “We don’t
want ta get the man soak and wet, now do we?”
Buck was trying to calm the young man down. He knew he was excited about Chris waking up.
“Sorry,
Nathan.” J.D. handed the cup smoothly over to Nathan and turned to see Buck
with a smile on his face. He could see
that Buck was happy about the turn of events as so were they all.
“Here,
Chris.” Nathan helped Chris sit up and
take a sip of the life giving liquid.
Chris felt the
cool water ease the dryness in his throat and the emptiness in his belly. It felt so good and when he tried to drink
even more, he was displeased when Nathan took the cup away.
“Not too much
just yet, Chris. We have ta see how
your stomach handles it first. Ya
haven’t had anythin’ ta drink or eat in awhile.”
“Thank
you…,” They saw the confusion on Chris’
face as he tried to remember something.
“Nathan. My name is Nathan.”
“Nathan. Thank you.”
Chris then scanned the area as if looking for something or someone.
“Whatcha
lookin’ for, Chris?” asked J.D. innocently.
“Mapiya? Where is she?” He was starting to panic.
If these men had done something to his beloved, he would not know what
he would do. He tried to rise from his
sick pallet, but Nathan and Josiah quickly pushed him back.
“She’ll be
back, Chris,” said the tall gray-haired white man. “She and Vin went on an errand.”
“She and
Vin? Is she alright?” These men were beginning to frighten
him. He did not know what had become of
Mapiya but he knew she would never leave his side unless something terrible had
happened. And Vin Tanner, well, he had
come to trust the man, with his life and Mapiya’s. Maybe there was another reason for their absence.
“They’re
fine, Pard. We were all worried about you.”
“Worried
about me?” asked Chris confused. The
past few days were only jagged images and feelings of pain. “Why?
What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothin’ ta
worry yourself about, Chris. We’re here
ta take care of ya,” said Nathan, bringing the cup to his mouth again. He
figured that since Chris had held down the water, he could have some more.
Chris sat up
slowly reaching for the cup this time and held it, as Nathan helped him keep it
steady as he drank a long draught of the water. Once Chris had enough, he gently moved the cup away from and
Nathan took it and put it on the floor of the tipi next to the bed.
“Thank you
again, Nathan for your kindness.”
Nathan felt
unaccustomed to hearing Chris speaking to him as if he was a stranger. “You’re welcome,
Chris.”
“Huh?” asked
Buck, now confused.
“Oh,
yeah. Emo…oh…tavo?”
“No,
Buck. He said Emo'ôhtavo vo'e,”
interjected Ezra. He smiled at Buck,
feeling smug in his translation.
“Thanks,
Ezra. Next time I’ll let ya know when I
want you to translate for me, okay?” said Buck, his voice low with anger. He was peeved at Ezra’s attempt at showing
off. But he also knew it was not the
time to loose his control on his anger.
Chris was looking at them and he could see suspicion crossing the
chiseled features. He knew that Chris
was trying to figure out if they were really friends as they claim to be or if
this was some ploy into tricking him into believing him. He just could not comprehend Chris Larabee
not trusting his own men. But this was
not the Chris Larabee that he knew.
This was someone else with Chris’ face and body. But the mind and heart belonged to a
Cheyenne.
Chris watched
as the tall man with the mustache and the young man in the red jacket threw
words at each other that he knew was not as companionable as it seemed to
be. They claimed that they were his
friends, like Vin Tanner, but he still had no memory of them. When he slept, he had dreamed, but the
dreams were flitting and intangible.
Once he had awoken, he could not remember the dreams. He only knew that when he did awake he was
more confused and unsteady.
“Listen,
Emo'ôhtavo vo'e. I need ya ta take it
easy right now. You’ve been real sick and
ya probably don’t feel so good right now.
I got somethin’ I want ya ta drink and then I want ya ta try and
sleep. By the time ya wake up, Mapiya
will be back. Okay?”
Chris face
became hard and he glared at the one named Nathan. He tried to see if there was any deception, but he could see none
at the present time. The man looked as
if he was really concerned and only wanted to help. And Chris had to admit, he did feel weak as a newborn. But he could not show weakness to these
men. It was not in his nature.
“I’m fine,
Nathan,” Chris replied.
They all
started chuckling at the comment, which made Chris glared in confusion even
harder. He did not know what he had
said that was so funny.
They saw the
confusion on his face. He heard the one
Josiah say, “Well, some things never change.”
“Did I say
something funny?”
“No,
Pard. We just glad ta have ya back
among the living is all,” replied the one named Buck, his smile even wider than
before.
Chris did not
know why, but he was starting to like this smiling white man.
“Very well,
Nathan. I will do what you have asked.”
At that, the
others then started laughing again.
“What did I
say?” Chris asked Nathan.
“Don’t worry
about it, Emo'ôhtavo vo'e. It’s nothin’. Just the boys bein’ the boys is all,”
answered Nathan, turning around to scowl at the others. He then grabbed a cup that was not far from
the fire and held it out to Chris.
“Now, here. Drink this. It’s a tea that will help with the pain and
the fever.”
Chris took
the cup into his hands. It was warm to
the touch, but not hot. He sipped at
the liquid, making a face as it slid down his throat. “Ugh! What the hell is this stuff?!” he yelled as
the noxious liquid landed in his stomach.
“It’ll help,
Chris. Believe me,” said Nathan trying
to pacify the ill man, while at the same time trying to stifle the giggles that
he heard behind him.
After two
more sips of the liquid and two more disgusting looks from Nathan at the
audience in back, Chris finally pushed the cup away and he lay back down upon
his bed. He did feel sleepy and the tea
seemed to calm his head and stomach somewhat.
As his eyes started to drift close, he opened them wide one last time
and said, “Wake me as soon as Mapiya comes back. Promise me.” He watched
Nathan nod as sleep finally overtook him to a peaceful darkness.
Once Chris
was breathing regularly and seemed settled, Nathan turned to the others. He motioned them for quiet, although they
were still giggling from hearing Chris’ comments on Nathan’s tea. Nathan
understood their excitement and knew that their hopes looked as if they were
coming true since some of the old Chris personality had shown through a couple
of times. But Chris still needed the
rest and the less excited he got, the less his strength would be taxed by
physical exertion and Nathan had hoped that it would be enough to sustain him
until the cure could be found. He then
went to the pot of stew that Mapiya had been cooking and started serving the
others. They needed to keep their
strength up also. He already had one
patient too many and he did not need anymore.
They all ate
in silence, hoping and praying that Mapiya and Vin would be back with some
answers soon.
The Dog Clan,
her father’s clan, was of course different.
When she had brought Vin to talk to them, they were eager in trying to discover
who would try to harm one who was to become one of their own. Kovaahe, who was
one of the up and coming Dog Men voiced loudly what he would do if he found the
person who had done such a shameful thing.
A Cheyenne warrior, who called himself a human being, would never think
to do something like Mapiya had suggested someone had accomplished. It would shame their ancestors, their
people and their family. It would be an act without honor. It would be better for
that person to die under the arrows of their enemies than to be branded a
coward. For only a coward would strike
their enemy in such a way.
As Mapiya and Vin sat in the ceremonial tipi of the Dog Men, or Dog Soldiers as they were called by the white man and talked to them, he found that he liked them and admired them. They had a courage that Vin had not seen since his time among the Comanche.