Chapter 65

Dawn came and Chris awoke to find his wife gone. He looked around the tipi to find that also Ezra and Josiah were both gone and that surprised him. Vin was sleeping, as well as the rest of the others.

Chris sat up and noticed that his original assessment was incorrect. There was one person who was not asleep. He found himself looking into a pair of concerned brown eyes. “Nathan? I thought you was asleep?”

“Not hardly,” answered Nathan, sitting up fully in his pallet. “Not two ill patients.”

“I’m fine now, Nathan. You should get some sleep,” admonished Chris.

“Look who’s talkin’. You should listen to ya own words,” retorted Nathan.

Chris smiled gently at the healer. He knew he was worried about them. It felt strange to Chris to have someone care that much about him since the death of his wife and son. But he should know better when it concerned these men. They were his friends. No, they were more than that. They were his brothers and blood did not matter.

“Yeah. I guess ya right,” said Chris, his hand pushing back a long blond strand that fell into his face. “Do you know where Mapiya, Ezra and Josiah have gone?”

“Josiah’s takin’ his turn at guard duty outside. Mapiya and Ezra, well, Ezra went to show Mapiya the man he saw creepin’ around here last night.”

Chris nodded, his thoughts still in turmoil about his decision concerning his wife. Although he had voiced his agreement with her, he still had his doubts about her safety. He knew his men would do their best to keep her safe, but he also knew the treachery of his brother-in-law and he did not think it would be beneath him to try to hurt his own sister.

Nathan knew by the look on Chris’ face that he was thinking of his wife and the position she was now in. He knew it grated against everything Chris believed in to agree to let her do this, but Nathan knew that if he had not, he might have lost her to his own arrogance. Nathan also believed it was dangerous but he knew that Mapiya was the kind of woman that would not take no for an answer.

“Chris, I’m sure she’s safe with Ezra. Ya know he wouldn’t let any harm come to her.”

Chris eyes looked at Nathan in response. “Yeah, I know, Nate. It’s just that…”

“Ya love her and ya want to protect her. That’s natural, Chris. But ya can’t hide her from everythin’ and ya can’t always protect her. We’re just human.”

“I know, Nate, I know,” he said thinking on his words.

As Nathan was about to lie back down, Chris said, “Nathan?”

“Yeah, Chris?”

“Thanks.”

“Ya welcomed. Anytime.”

*************

Mapiya and Ezra had walked through the early camp trying to see if Ezra could point out the man he saw at the tipi last night.

As they were about to turn in another direction, Ezra saw the man he was looking for come out of a tipi, followed by a young Cheyenne girl.

Ezra quickly and quietly pulled Mapiya behind one of the tipis. Mapiya although confused by his actions, followed willingly. Once there, Ezra explained to her that the man they sought was the one standing in front of the tipi across from him with a young woman.

“That is Po'êxao'o and his sister, Me'eohtseva'e,” whispered Mapiya, afraid that they might hear them.

“And they are?” questioned Ezra.

“He is my brother’s friend. They are like brothers since they were children. His sister has eyes for my brother. She tries to make my brother leave his wife for her.”

“So we can assume he is very close to your brother and would seek to do your spouse harm?

“I do not know what you say, Eezra,” answered Mapiya perplexed.

“Do you think he would do harm to your husband?”

“I do not know. He may.”

“Then we need to find out or at least you do. Do you think it would be in your ability to observe him discreetly?

Mapiya only looked at him with utter confusion in her eyes.

Ezra sighed heavily and said, “Can you watch him without being seen?”

“Eezra, what you think! I am Cheyenne,” answered Mapiya defiantly at his statement.

“That you are, madam. That you are,” he said leading her back towards her home and her husband.

*************

Chris could not go back to sleep, not for wanting. He mind kept him awake thinking of what Mapiya might be doing out in the encampment. He sighed and stood on shaky legs, feeling a slight twinge of pain from his stitched wound. He stretched his arms and back, trying to get the kinks out that he had for the past two days laying on the pallet. He looked around and saw that everyone was still asleep and he decided it was the best time to clean up. The stench of sweat and smoke permeated his skin. He thought a good wash in the creek would make him more acceptable for the upcoming tribal meeting.

He was about to leave when Vin said, “Goin’ somewhere, Cowboy?”

Chris turned back to face him, startled by awareness.

“Ah…I was…Wait a minute. I thought you were asleep!”

Vin smiled wickedly at him. “And why would ya think that?”

Chris thought about it and sighed. His memory still had blank spaces in it, but he did recall that the man had the tendency to sneak up on a person.

“Yeah, I shoulda known. Well, if ya must know I was goin’ down to the creek to clean up a bit. Can’t stand in front of the elders smelling like this.”

“Well, I wasn’t goin’ to say anythin’, but ya do stink, Larabee,” said Vin teasingly.

“Go to hell, Tanner,” said the blond Cheyenne trying to look annoyed. But of course, he could not. It was good to have the banter back between him and the young lanky Texan. It had been too long.

“I think ya should let one of the others go there with ya,” stated Vin.

Chris was about to object when Vin held his hand up to stay his objection. “Now hold ya horses, Pard. I know ya can take of yourself, but I think ya need to be smart about this, Chris,” argued Vin. “ó'kôhóme ain’t doin’ this alone. Ya know that, don’t cha?”

Chris had to agree with Vin’s reasoning. The man who attacked him, he did not know who he was, but he knew it was not ó'kôhóme. The man was too short and based on what Mapiya’s friend had told them, they knew the man who planted the evidence against Vin was another one. Yes, he was not alone in this.

“Vin, I ain’t a coward!”

“No one said ya were, Chris. But ya got to be sensible about this. Remember what happened with Eli Joe?”

“Yeah. I guess ya right, Vin. But I just feel so damn helpless,” complained Chris.

“But ya not, Pard. Ya got me and the others to watch ya back. And if that ain’t enough ya got Mapiya and her father. I call that a pretty strong contingent.”

“Ya been hangin’ around Ezra too much,” said Chris smiling. “Okay, I’ll get JD to walk me down there, how’s that?”

Vin nodded that it was acceptable. He knew although JD was young, he was still trusted by the others to protect their backs. He was one of the seven and Vin knew he could not ask for anyone better.

“Just watch ya back, Pard.”

“I will, Vin,” replied Chris as he walked out of the tipi.

***************

Mapiya followed Po'êxao'o as he made his rounds through the camp. It was easy enough for Mapiya to do so since most of her daily chores took her near the same vicinity. Ezra had left immediately after their conversation to let the others know what they had discovered so far. At this moment, all they had was a name, but no proof as to Po'êxao'o’s intentions.

She watched as Po'êxao'o and his sister, Me'eohtseva'e were walking together and seemed to be arguing. About what, Mapiya could not hear. She then watched as Me'eohtseva'e stomped away in the other direction. Mapiya knew whatever she and her brother spoke about Me'eohtseva'e did not like it.

She decided to follow Po'êxao'o instead. He was the one that Ezra had said was lurking outside her home and she considered him the one that would be trouble.

Po'êxao'o walked towards her brother’s home and Mapiya knew that he was going to see his friend. She ducked behind another tipi right next to her brother’s home before Po'êxao'o arrived and watched carefully as Po'êxao'o stop in front of her brother’s home and then called out to him.

Her brother emerged from the tipi. He seemed angry that Po'êxao'o had come to his home. She saw her brother pull Po'êxao'o forcefully to him. He was saying something to him that Mapiya could not hear, so she crept closer.

When she got close enough, she heard her brother say, “You are a fool! I told you to leave the white Cheyenne to me! Why can you not understand this?”

“But I did it all for you, ó'kôhóme. Do you not understand?”

ó'kôhóme sighed tiredly at this statement. He loved Po'êxao'o like a brother, but he had interfered too many times in his business.

“You must stop Me'eohtseva'e! Do you hear me?”

“It is too late. She will kill the white Cheyenne for us,” smiled Po'êxao'o. “It will be just as you wanted it.”

ó'kôhóme saw the hatred and the insanity in the man’s eyes and realized that this was his making. He had turned his best friend into this crazed killer. It scared him. Was this how people saw him? As evil and insane? He only wanted things the way they were before the arrival of the white Cheyenne.

“Do not do this, brother. Do not do this evil thing. It will only bring shame and harm to you and your family.”

“Why?” exclaimed Po'êxao'o angrily. “I did this all for you and this is how you betray me?”

“No, no, Po'êxao'o. I would never betray my best friend,” answered ó'kôhóme trying to calm the young man down.

“Then why? The white Cheyenne will never be the brother that I am to you. He does not care for you. Your sister and even your father have turned their backs to you. Is this what you want?”

“No, it is not. But the way you have chosen is dark and there will be no life after it.”

“And the way you choose is?” questioned Po'êxao'o haughtly.

ó'kôhóme thought on what he had said, but he still believed that his way was the best way.

“Please, brother. I ask you not to do this,” pleaded ó'kôhóme.

Po'êxao'o stood there studying him, trying to decide if he was lying to him. Then reluctantly he nodded. “I will stop my sister from her task.”

“Thank you, brother. I will not forget this.”

Po'êxao'o felt better at hearing this statement. He watched as ó'kôhóme ducked back into his tipi. He was about to leave to go intercept his sister, when he heard a sound coming from behind the tipi next to ó'kôhóme’s.

Someone was spying! But who? He decided to pretend that he was leaving, but when he got to the end of ó'kôhóme’s tipi, he slipped quietly around the back.

As he inched closer to the back of the other tipi, he noticed a young female Cheyenne kneeling behind it, her head turned towards the front from which he had come. He crept silently and cautiously until he was behind the woman. As soon as he was close enough, he grabbed her hard and pulled her against him, his hand quickly finding it’s way over her mouth.

Mapiya tried to fight her attacker, to scream, but with his hand over her mouth, all that came out was muffled choke. She used her hands to batter the assailant, but soon they were captured and pulled closed to her sides. The man, from what she could see, had wrapped his arm around her tightly, preventing her moving. With a sudden motion she was turned to face her attacker and her eyes grew wide in fear.

It was Po'êxao'o! But where did he come from? Mapiya’s heart started beating fast within her breasts as she stared into his cold brown eyes.

“Ah, Mapiya! It is you who spy upon us. You think to warn your husband, but you have failed.” He smiled at the terror shown in her face as he mentioned her husband.

“Yes, little one. I have plans for your husband. Your brother does not know what is good for him. He is becoming weak. I am strong and the spirits have shown me the way. But what shall I do with you? I cannot let you go back. That would be foolish.” Suddenly a wicked smile plastered his face.

“Don’t worry. I have a plan,” he said, as he dragged her away towards the outside of the encampment.

**************

Chris and Josiah returned from the creek and found Ezra had also returned. He was talking to the others in hush tones. Vin was making faces that worried Chris as Ezra spoke to them.

“What’s goin’ on?” asked Chris, his eyes focusing hard on his friends.

Josiah also wanted to know what was going on since he had been with Chris at the creek.

“Mr. Larabee, you’re back,” exclaimed Ezra looking up from his place next to Vin.

“Yeah. I’m back. But ya didn’t answer my question,” stated Chris becoming irritated at Ezra’s try at changing the subject.

“I was…I was just expounding to Mr. Tanner and the others here that my mission with your wife was successful.”

“Successful in what way, Ezra?”

“We found the man that I spoke of. It seems that the gentleman in question is a good friend of your brother-in-law. I discussed it with Mrs. Larabee and she agrees with me that this man is someone we should keep a careful watch on.”

At the mention of his wife, Chris eyes looked at Ezra with anticipation. “Where is she now, Ezra?”

“She’s doing her assigned task, as we agreed,” answered Ezra easily.

“Where is she, Ezra?” asked Chris, stepping closer to the man.

Vin noticed that Ezra did not see the look in Chris’ eyes and Vin knew it for what it is. The man was scared to death.

“Ah, Ez, I think ya need to tell ‘im where she is,” said Vin hesitantly.

Ezra glanced up at the shadow that now stood in the way of his light and saw Chris Larabee standing over him, looking angry.

“Where…is…she?” asked Chris punctuated each word.

“I left her to follow the man. She said it would best if she did it alone since he might become suspicious at a white man following him. I had to leave her, Chris.”

Chris calmed his mind and his fears. He knew Ezra was right. But he had felt that something was wrong when he was outside by the creek. It was as if he heard Mapiya call for him, but when he turned to look, she was not there. Since then, it was gnawing at him, making his hair rise in anxiety.

Vin knew something was wrong. He saw the pained look Chris had on his face and the worry that etched his green eyes. Vin did not like and he did not like to see his friend in so much anguish.

“Chris, I’m sure she’s…”

“Don’t, Vin,” said Chris cutting him off. “Don’t say she’ll be alright. I don’t want to hear those words. I heard them before. I heard them…I heard them before…”

Buck knew what he was trying to say. He had heard them before his wife Sarah and son Adam had died. It was the day that they were heading back from Mexico. He and Chris had been riding at full speed to return home. He had told Chris that they would be fine, but when they arrived and found the house blackened and the bodies of his wife and child burnt beyond recognition. It turned Buck’s stomach at memory of the day, remembering that the only way Chris could identify his family is through the jewelry that they wore. He knew Chris could not go through this again.

“Chris, listen, we’ll find her for you, won’t we Ezra?” said Buck looking annoyingly at the young gambler.

“Why yes, Mr. Wilmington. Of course,” answered Ezra seeing the way Chris was moving within the small confines of the tipi. He looked like a caged tiger that Ezra had seen in a small carnival back in New Orleans. The animal paced back and forth, ready to run, preparing to escape and attack. This was the way Chris Larabee was currently acting. He was acting like that tiger, feeling his mate in danger, being threatened.

“Chris, why don’t cha calm down,” interjected Nathan. He knew the man was not well enough to be getting excited as he was. He noticed the way Chris held a hand to his side. He did not want him to do something that would ruin all his hard work he had put into keeping the man alive.

“I need to find Mapiya and now,” said Chris starting for the tipi flap.

“Chris, wait, I thought we agreed that Mapiya be the best person to do this,” said Josiah, grabbing the blond by his arm and halting his exit.

“I know I did. But that was before.”

“Before what, Chris?” asked Vin.

“Before I felt my hair standin’ on end. I just got this gut feelin’, Vin that she’s met up with somethin’ she can’t handle.”

“Then I think ya should let Josiah, Buck and Ezra go with ya. There’s safety in numbers,” replied Vin.

“Okay. Josiah, Buck, Ezra, you with me. Nathan and JD stay here with Vin. If Chief Aenohe comes before I get back, stall him.”

“Stall him?” questioned JD.

“Yeah. Just what I said,” and then he exited the tipi, with Josiah, Buck and Ezra not far behind.

When they were gone, JD turned to Vin and Nathan and said, “Did ya think she’s okay?”

“I hope so, JD. I hope so,” replied Vin, still staring at the tipi flap.

*************************************************************************************************************

Chapter 66

Chris, Josiah, Buck and Ezra separated in order to make their search more quickly. Chris and Ezra went in one direction, while Josiah and Buck took the other.

It was almost noon and the two groups had questioned everyone in the camp as to the whereabouts of Mapiya. None had seen her or heard from her since yesterday.

Chris was starting to worry and Ezra could see it in his face and his posture. Ezra himself, felt concerned at Mapiya’s disappearance. He remembered trying to argue with the woman about what she was doing, but of course, considering who the woman was, it was as bad as arguing with Larabee himself.

On their way to another part of the camp, they met up with Kovaahe. He was on his way to take care of his horses when he spied the two. He did not like the look on his friend’s face. It did not bode well.

“Ho, Emo'ôhtavo vo'e!” called Kovaahe.

Chris turned to find his friend, Young Man coming towards him. “Ho, Kovaahe.”

“I see you are well, my friend,” he said in Cheyenne nodding to Chris.

“Yes, I am, my friend.”

“You seem to be searching.”

Chris knew that Young Man was much like Vin. He could always read what was going on with the blond Cheyenne.

“I am looking for Mapiya.”

“I have not seen her. Where have you looked?”

“I have looked all over. I have my other two friends searching too. So far, we have not found her.”

Kovaahe nodded in thought. The encampment was not large. He could not understand how she could have disappeared. Someone had to have seen her. He did not like this at all. “I will help you look, my friend.”

“Thank you, Kovaahe.”

Kovaahe then went in to find his other warriors to help in the search.

After he had left, Ezra turned to see Chris face becoming pale. He knew that Chris was exhausting himself trying to find his wife. He wanted the man to return to his home to rest. It would be time for the council meeting soon and he needed to be able to stand by Vin at the trial. Ezra knew Chris’ appearance was very important.

“Mr. Larabee, may I suggest…”

“Nope,” replied Chris. He knew what Ezra was going to say.

“But Mr. Larabee…”

“Ezra, I said no. Now if ya don’t understand that, then I suggest ya go back.” And with that said, Chris continued in his search.

Ezra rolled his eyes to the sky and mumbled, “Why do you plague me with these unreasonable individuals?” He then ran to catch up with his determined leader.

************

Vin was sitting, talking to JD and Nathan when they heard noises coming from outside the tipi.

As they all turned to the tipi flap, Chief Aenohe came in. He looked at the trio sitting around the fire enjoying their morning meal. His face lit up in question as he saw that Emo'ôhtavo vo'e was missing.

“Where is Emo'ôhtavo vo'e?”

“He’s out lookin’ for Mapiya,” responded Vin.

“Why?”

“She wuz followin’ the man that Ezra saw last night watchin’ here. She never came back.”

Chief Aenohe face scrunched up in fear and anger. He then turned to the flap and lifted it open.

“Ésta'xêstse!”

Just then a warrior came into the tipi. Chief Aenohe spoke to him in Cheyenne quickly. The man nodded and left.

“So what just happened?” asked JD.

“The Chief here told his man to set up a search party to look for Mapiya,” explained Vin.

“They will find my daughter and Emo'ôhtavo vo'e,” said Chief Aenohe assuredly.

“But that’s not why ya came,” stated Vin.

“No. It is not. It is time. Cannot wait for Emo'ôhtavo vo'e. My men will bring them to the council. We must go now,” replied Chief Aenohe.

“Ya can’t do that! Ya got to wait for Chris!” yelled JD, standing up defiantly.

Vin looked at JD and motioned for him to sit back down. At first JD tried to ignore Vin’s request, but then he knew that he would not win the argument with the determined man.

“But Vin, ya got to wait for Chris,” pleaded JD.

“He’s right, Vin,” added Nathan. “Ya can’t do this alone. And what about the girl?”

“What girl?” asked Chief Aenohe, his raised his eyebrows in interest.

“There’s a girl, a young woman of your tribe who knows the real person who took the Sacred Arrow,” explained Vin.

“What is this girl’s name?” asked Chief Aenohe worriedly.

“She’s Mapiya friend. Her name is Otseemeoo'e.”

“Otseemeoo'e?”

“Yeah and she said she would come and tell it to the council.”

“When did she tell you this?”

“”Bout two days ago. She spoke to Josiah, our holy man about it.”

“She did not tell anyone else this?”

“I don’t know. She was ‘fraid. She barely talked to Josiah. She said the man who she saw wuz named Ka'evêsehe.”

“Ma'heónemâhta'sóoma!” exclaimed Chief Aenohe. He then turned back to the warriors outside and said something to them in Cheyenne.

“Vin, what’s goin’ on?” asked Nathan concerned by the Chief’s behaviour.

“I don’t know, Nate. But I don’t think it’s good.”

“I am so sorry, Netse Ôhvo'komaestse. I have judged badly,” said the Chief lowering his head in shame.

“Chief Aenohe, what is wrong?” asked Vin, his worrying sense heightening dramatically.

“She wanted to speak to me yesterday, but I could not. I have been in council with the elders for three days to make them understand that you and Emo'ôhtavo vo'e are innocent of his bad thing. She told me that she admires you and has told to me she had feelings for you and that she needed words with me. I thought she was a silly girl in love. I told her I could not listen to her words that day.”

Vin’s eyes opened in surprise. “Me?”

“Yes. You. She is shy and young. She did not want to be…I think you call it being forward, yes?”

“Yeah.”

‘I sent Ka'evêsehe to talk to her and to bring me her words. I told him that the words were concerning you. He said that he could not find her. This is bad. I am sorry. I trusted too easily.”

“What’s wrong?”

“That was yesterday. Her mother has not seen her since. I thought maybe she was sad and ran away.”

“But you don’t think it’s true?” asked Nathan.

“No. I believe he told me lies. I think he has done something bad to her when he found out that I wanted to talk to her. I have sent my men to seek him out and bring him to the council.”

“Why would he do that?” asked JD.

All of them looked at JD. It was a very good question. The Chief sidled a glance at Vin and Nathan.

“I think Otseemeoo'e was telling the truth. I think my old friend has turned his back and is helping my son. We do not have much time. We must hurry. The council will wait no more.”

“But what about your old friend?” asked JD.

“I have sent some men to look for him and the girl. They will find them if they are near.”

Vin nodded and stood up on shaky legs. His body had still not completely healed and Nathan knew it. “Chief, would it possible for me to join, Vin?” asked Nathan tentatively.

“Me too!” said JD, jumping up from his seated position.

“Now, I don’t think the Chief here can let ya’ll come,” interrupted Vin.

“No. It is good that they do. You will need someone to stand besides you. They cannot stand as Emo'ôhtavo vo'e, but they will give you strength.”

“And keep him from fallin’ on his face,” thought Nathan to himself.

They all left the tipi, Vin following Chief Aenohe, Nathan behind him and JD the last.

When they got outside they found that there were a couple of Dog Men warriors waiting for them.

Chief Aenohe saw the look of fear that JD had in his eyes. “Do not worry, JaiDee. They are my men and are here to protect you, not harm you,” said the Chief calming his fears.

As they started to walk, they saw someone running towards them. It was Chief Aenohe son, ó'kôhóme.

Chief Aenohe looked at him angrily. “Why are you here?” he demanded in Cheyenne.

“I must speak to you…father,” he said breathing hard.

“Why? So you can cause more trouble for your people and your sister?”

“No, father. Please. It is important,” he begged.

Chief Aenohe glared at him from under hooded eyes. After a while he nodded thoughtfully and said, “Then speak.”

“Alone, father,” said ó'kôhóme glancing at Vin and the others. He knew that Netse Ôhvo'komaestse spoke their language.

“No. In front of the man you accuse so openly,” said his father, not swaying from his decision.

“I have lived in the shadow for too long, father. I have shamed my family, my people and my ancestors. Please forgive me,” said ó'kôhóme.

“It is not me you should be saying this to,” said Chief Aenohe looking towards Vin.

ó'kôhóme turned towards Netse Ôhvo'komaestse. He stood straight in front of him. He would say this as a man and not some dog who could not own up to responsibility.

“Netse Ôhvo'komaestse, I have accused you and my brother-in-law of much wrong. My eyes have been opened to bad things that I have done for hatred of the white man. But my eyes did not see that this shadow has touched others that I care for and have turned the sweet water to salt. I wish your forgiveness,” he then unsheathed his knife and held it out to Vin.

Nathan and JD watched on in bewilderment. They could not understand the conversations that were going on and when this man, the person who had brought them all anguish, held out his knife to Vin, they did not know what to make of it.

“Vin, what’s he doin’?” asked JD.

Vin held up his hand for JD to be silent.

Vin knew the symbolism of this. ó'kôhóme was offering his most prized possession to him. It was something that no warrior would give away likely. But Vin was still angry at what this man had done. He had tried to kill his friend and tried destroy his happiness. He could not so easily forgive this man.

But then he thought of how Chris had become a part of these people. If Chris decided to stay, he did not want any bad blood left behind between him and his brother-in-law. He had saw how happy Chris was living here. It was as if the bad things that had happened to him in the past were far away.

Vin reluctantly took the knife and said, “Néá'eše.”

Nathan and JD watched in awe and although, they could not understand the language, they knew Vin had forgiven his and Chris’ enemy.

“Thank you for accepting, Netse Ôhvo'komaestse. But what I have started is not done.”

“What you say?” asked Chief Aenohe confused.

“Po'êxao'o has gone crazy. He was planning to have Emo'ôhtavo vo'e killed,” explained ó'kôhóme hurriedly.

“I do not understand how the people have turned to such darkness. Why would he do this, my son?”

“He believes that…I would want this.”

“And do you?”

“At first…yes, father, I did. When my heart was black with the shadow, I wanted him dead. But no more! Po'êxao'o has shown me the evil I have brought to my people. I have brought destruction to them and their hearts are turning as black as mine was. I saw what was mirrored in my own eyes, father.”

“You have done much wrong, my son. I cannot forget what you have done. No one of the people will. You will have to show us that you have found your way again.”

ó'kôhóme knew he would have to prove to his family and his people that he had changed. They did not understand the vision he had received before coming here. It had awoken him from a deep sleep besides his sleeping wife.

He had seen Emo'ôhtavo vo'e, standing upon the hill that overlooked the encampment. ó'kôhóme was standing at the edge of the creek, looking up at him, the sun almost blinding him.

In that vision, Emo'ôhtavo vo'e raised one of his hands and a white eagle and buffalo came to rise up next to him. He then raised his other hand, a Cloud Warrior appeared and the Thunderbird flew high above his head.

The Cloud Warrior spoke, and his voiced rang as thunder in ó'kôhóme’s head. He said, “Your hatred for the white man will destroy your people. It will destroy your soul and it will kill what you love. If you continue this path in the shadow, your life will be bitter and sour. You have only one chance. Make amends with the ones you have wronged or the Wolf’s spirit will suffer the same fate as the buffalo and be no more.”

Then his long dead brother appeared next to the Cloud Warrior and held his hands out, as if pleading with him to listen.

Those words rang like drums in his head and the image of his dead brother burned in his eyes when he awoke. It was then that he knew what he must do. It was the reason why he ran out of his home to find his father and the ones who were about to suffer from his hatred.

“I will prove it, father. I will. I swear it as a warrior of the Wolf Clan. I had words with Po'êxao'o and I believe I had stopped him from harming Emo'ôhtavo vo'e, but then I saw his sister searching out for Emo'ôhtavo vo'e. I asked her why she was looking for Emo'ôhtavo vo'e, but she would not tell me. In fact, she ran away. I have been searching for her all morning and have yet not found her. ”

“It seems that trouble grows among our people. Your sister is missing and so is her friend the young maiden Otseemeoo'e.”

“They are missing? Why?”

“I believe that Otseemeoo'e knows that it was Ka'evêsehe that placed the Sacred Arrow among the belongings of Netse Ôhvo'komaestse.”

ó'kôhóme eyes lowered to the ground and Chief Aenohe knew that his son was keeping something from him.

Finally, ó'kôhóme said, “Father. It was Ka'evêsehe. But it was I who took the arrow. I told Ka'evêsehe to place it there. He was doing as I ask.”

Chief Aenohe sighed in disappointment, but he was not surprised. He knew his son took the arrow. No one else knew where it was except him and Mapiya.

“I know you took it, my son. Your hatred blinded you to the right of it. I also know that Ka'evêsehe is not as innocent as you think.”

Now it was ó'kôhóme’s turn to be surprised.

“I believe,” continued Chief Aenohe. “…that Ka'evêsehe has his own plans and that he used your hatred to do so. You think you were leader of this, but you were wrong.”

ó'kôhóme looked at his father ashamed.

“I too am ashamed, my son. I thought Ka'evêsehe had changed his ways, but a wolf cannot change his ways in such a short time. Ka'evêsehe had lost his wife and child to a white man’s raid for gold and land. For a while his mind was dark and so was his soul. But then we thought he had changed. He became a part of the council and voiced in the ways of peace, not war. But it seems he has fooled us all.”

“What do you think happened to Mapiya and Otseemeoo'e? What about this girl who might be out to hurt Chris?” asked Vin, now very concerned at the turn of events.

“I have warriors looking for Mapiya, Otseemeoo'e and Ka'evêsehe. I will also send others to look for Po'êxao'o and Me'eohtseva'e,” answered Chief Aenohe as he turned and rapidly fired off instructions to his men.

“I think ya should send some of ya men after Chris,” suggested Vin. “Just in case they don’t find Me'eohtseva'e in time.”

Since this was the only part in English, Nathan and JD turned to Vin. “What’s this about? Chris?” asked Nathan.

“Yeah, and why should they look for ‘im?” queried JD.

Vin explained to them what ó'kôhóme had told him and why they needed to find Chris.

“And ya trust ‘im?” exclaimed JD.

“No, JD, I don’t. But at this point we don’t have a choice. Chris is out there and someone’s tryin’ to kill ‘im. We ain’t got much time.”

Nathan agreed. Chris was not in any condition to fight anyone off, even a woman. They needed the other men to help.

“Why don’t ya go on with Chief Aenohe and his warriors to look for the girls. Me and JD’ll go look for the boys. Wherever they are, Chris is bound to be with them.”

“What about the meeting?” asked JD.

“I have sent a messenger to tell them what has happened. We will have many men soon to help in our search,” replied Chief Aenohe.

“Then let’s move,” said Vin. They then split into the two groups, each taking a different direction.

***************

Chris and Ezra were still walking and had come to the beginning of the creek area. Ezra was about to tell Chris that they were coming to the end of the village when Chris turned to face him, anger and worry in his eyes.

“Listen, Ezra, we done search ‘bout every place in this damn village. I’m gon’na look further outside the camp for her,” said Chris determinedly. He started walking in quick strides over to the creek where his horses were and went specifically over to Thunder, his white horse.

Ezra ran up to him and grabbed him by the arm, trying to prevent him from running off half-cocked. “Chris! Wait! Let’s get the others first. We can look together.”

“No!” shouted Chris, pulling his arm out of Ezra’s grip and mounting in one swift motion on to the blanket-covered back of Thunder. “I can’t wait, Ezra. Mapiya might be in trouble. You go back and tell the others where I’ve gone and follow me.” He then spurred his mount off towards the hillsides.

“Damn! Damn! Why do you persistently have to do things your way, Mr. Larabee?” cursed Ezra. He had a feeling today was going to be a bad day. He turned and ran back towards the encampment to find the others.

***************

Buck and Josiah had just left another area of the camp when they saw Nathan and JD coming towards them at a fast run.

“JD! What’s wrong?” asked Buck.

“Buck…we got trouble,” said JD trying to catch his breath.

“What’s the trouble, son?” questioned Josiah.

“Otseemeoo'e is missing too, now,” elucidated Nathan.

Both Buck and Josiah showed shock on their faces.

“And on top that, someone’s tryin’ to kill, Chris,” added JD.

“That no good, lowdown son of a bitch!” exclaimed Buck.

“Buck! Buck! Calm down! It ain’t Mapiya’s brother. It’s someone else. In fact their out there now,” said Nathan knowing that Buck assumed it was ó'kôhóme.

“How do you know?” questioned Buck doubtfully.

“’Cause her brother told the Chief and Vin. He also told him that Vin was innocent.”

“Well, thank God for something,” said Josiah.

“Yeah, but we got other problems now. The Chief, Vin, Mapiya’s brother and some of the Chief’s warriors are out looking for the girls. We came to get you so that we could search for Chris before…” said Nathan.

They knew what the before meant.

“So why are we just standin’ here jawin’. Let’s go,” said Buck starting to walk away.

“Wait,” interrupted Nathan. “Where’s Ezra?”

“He’s with Chris,” replied Josiah. “We decided to split up to look for Mapiya.”

“Then Chris is with Ezra,” stated JD.

“Which way did they go, Buck?” asked Nathan.

“That way,” said Buck pointing to way he was going.

“Alright, let’s go,” said Nathan leading the way with the others close behind.

***************

The Chief, Vin and ó'kôhóme with two other warriors were questioning everyone they came across to see if they had seen the women. But so far, no one had. Vin was getting the feeling that they would not be found in the village. His tracker instincts were kicking in and he turned to his companions and said, “They ain’t in the village, Chief. I have a feeling that they were taken out of here.”

“If they are still alive,” said Chief Aenohe. He was worried, but he also was realistic. Although he knew Mapiya would have put up a fight, he did not doubt that she would not be removed from her husband’s side unless her abductor was stronger or she was dead.

Just then, they heard the running of feet and turned to find JD, Nathan, Josiah and Buck coming their way.

“Well, I see ya made it, boys,” said Vin smirking.

“Wouldn’t miss the party,” replied Buck. “Did ya find them?”

“Nope. I don’t think they’re here, Buck,” said Vin thoughtfully. “Did ya find Chris?”

“Nope,” answered Nathan. “As far as we know he’s with Ezra, but we can’t seem to find ‘em.”

Buck eyed Vin nervously. “I don’t like this, Vin. Not one bit.”

“I know what ya mean, Buck. I keep thinkin’ we’re missin’ somethin’ here,” said Nathan.

All of sudden, they saw Ezra running towards them as if his life depended on it. He did not stop until he was standing in front of his friends.

“Mr. Larabee…he…he…”

“Take a breath, Ezra. Where’s Chris?” asked Nathan.

Ezra stopped and took a long breath. “Mr. Larabee has left the camp.”

“What? Why?” asked Vin, his sensing tingling in anticipation of his next words.

“He thinks Mapiya was taken out of the village. He head off towards the hills.”

“Damn! That stubborn, hardheaded, jackass! He ain’t well enough to go ridin’ around!” yelled Nathan.

“We need to get mounted up and go after ‘im,” said Vin starting to walk away towards the horses.

“Netse Ôhvo'komaestse!” Chief Aenohe called after him in Cheyenne. “Wait!”

Vin stood in his steps, waiting for the Chief and his son to approach him.

“Take my son and five of my men with you. We will continue to look for the others.”

“Thank you, Chief Aenohe.” He turned back to his friends and said, “The Chief has offered us some men to help us.” Vin then started back toward the horses, with the five warriors and ó'kôhóme following closely behind.

Buck stopped in his tracks. His eyes looked on angrily as ó'kôhóme walked past him. “And he’s comin’ too?”

“I guess he is, son,” said Josiah walking past Buck to catch up with Vin and the others.

“Come on, Buck. Time’s a wastin’,” commented Nathan also walking past him.

“I believe Mr. Larabee’s welfare is more of a priority at the moment, Mr. Wilmington,” stated Ezra as he too walked past Buck.

JD did not say anything. He only grabbed the tall lawman’s arm and pulled him towards the others.

Ma'heónemâhta'sóoma! – Holy Spirit!

Néá'eše – Thank you.

*********************************************************************************************************

Chapter 67

Chris had ridden Thunder to the outskirts of the village. He had been following a trail that someone had tried to cover up, but they were not very good at it. They were using a bush tied to the back of a horse to brush the dirt as they walked in front of the horse. It was a trick that every Cheyenne who learned anything about tracking knew about.

He could also tell from the almost brushed away tracks that there were more than one horse and one of the horses was carrying heavy as proved by the indentation of the horse’s hooves. His only problem was, he did not know where this Cheyenne was going. But his instincts told him that it was definitely Mapiya.

Chris grabbed the water skin bag that was on Thunder and took a long drink from it, some of the water dripping down his chest. He swiped away the excess on his mouth with the back of his hand and closed the bag. He was lucky that he had the water skin on Thunder. It had been left since the last time he had came to check the horses when he was attacked. Although hot and not fresh, it still quenched his thirst from the sun that burned down on him and the hot plains.

He was also lucky that his rifle and bow and arrows were also still attached to Thunder. Without them he was dead meat for any predator or enemy that he might run into while on his chase and he did not know what he would come up against once he had caught up with the ones he tracked.

Leaning over Thunder, as he followed the tracks, he figured the Cheyenne had about a half a day’s head start. Using an old Cheyenne skill, he had been riding and running by the horse off and on so as not use up Thunder’s full strength. It would also help the horse to go on longer without rest and he was able to move faster than the ones he pursued.

He had been running now for an hour and had just recently decided to ride on Thunder at a cant. The running had taken a toll on his body. He knew he had torn a few stitches from his side and he could feel the blood dripping down into his buckskins. The twinge of pain that first started when he was back at the village had now become excruciating. He had doubled over, almost fallen off Thunder twice. Realizing that he could not afford to fall off, he had started to tie the reins around his left hand to keep himself leveled. As he noticed that the tracks were turning towards the North, Chris knew where they were heading. He slapped Thunder’s rear hard and drove him towards the place this had all started for him. The Box Canyon.

************

Vin and the others, accompanied by ó'kôhóme and the Chief’s men had been trying to catch up with the blond Cheyenne for the past couple of hours.

He thought they would have caught up to him by now but it seemed that Chris was riding and running each hour or so, using a trick that only a Cheyenne could know. It was going to be hard to catch up to him at this rate. Especially since his friends would not be able to do the same thing.

He was contemplating whether or not to leave the others with the Chief’s men. He knew he could catch up with Chris using the same technique he was using, but he had to make sure that the others were safe.

Vin scanned the trail, concentrating on which direction it was taking, but also kept one eye on ó'kôhóme, still not trusting the Chief’s son fully. The Chief’s son was the one reason why he was hesitant about his plan. He could not leave his friends in the hands of the Chief’s son. It was too dangerous and too unpredictable. Although he knew the Chief’s men were loyal to the Chief, he had no doubts that if ó'kôhóme gave them order, they would not follow it. After all, they were just white men. ó'kôhóme was Cheyenne and their chief’s son.

Just then he heard someone coming up behind him. He turned to find Buck riding his way.

Buck moved his horse nearer to Vin and said, “How far ya think he is, Vin?”

“From the looks of this trail I say about three hours ahead of us. He’s followin’ another trail.”

“What trail?” asked Buck baffled. He did not see any trail except Chris’ since they had left the camp.

“The person who made it is tryin’ to hide it. I guess Chris picked up a few things livin’ around the Cheyenne. He saw it and so do I. He also ain’t ridin’ all the time. He using an old trick of running besides his horse at times.”

“Why he doin’ that?”

“Keeps the horse fresh iffen he don’t have to carry around so much weight all the time. It’s why he’s so far ahead. He keeps this up and we’re never gonna catch up to ‘im in time.”

Buck nodded that understood. “Ya think it might be the girls he’s chasin’?”

“Could be. I just hope so, otherwise we just lost more time chasin’ a false trail,” answered Vin fearful. “There’s also somethin’ else.”

Buck did not like the sound of that. “What?”

“Someone else is followin’ ‘im.”

“Someone else? Who?”

“Don’t rightly know, but they movin’ fast as if they tryin’ to catch up with ‘im. One rider it seems since the hoof prints ain’t that deep. Carryin’ lite,” said Vin ominously

“Ya think it’s another Cheyenne from the camp?”

“Could be, definitely not a white man’s horse. Ain’t got no shoes,” replied Vin thoughtfully.

Just then Ezra came moving up towards them at break neck speed.

“Ezra?” asked Buck as Ezra reined up besides them.

“We are wondering if Mr. Tanner has found any evidence as to where Mr. Larabee might be heading?”

“Yeah, I did, Ez,” replied Vin. “He seems to be followin’ someone else’s trail.”

“And someone else seems to be followin’ ‘im,” added Buck.

“The young lady, I presume?”

Vin paused a minute and stared at the young gambler. Why had he not thought of that? Ezra had given some insight into who was following Chris. “Ya might be right, Ezra. I forgot about Po'êxao'o’s sister.” Vin felt guilty at not remembering this information.

“Yeah, me too,” admitted Buck feeling guilty also at the lapse.

Ezra could see the look on their faces and he knew what they were feeling. “Gentlemen, if I may intrude, with all that has happened, I am sure that anyone of us would have forgotten. I am sure that Mr. Larabee would not want us to wallow in guilt, considering we do not have the time if we are to help him.”

Both Vin and Buck looked at Ezra annoyingly. But then again, they both knew he was right. Guilt would have to wait. Chris and the girls were their first priority right now.

“Listen, Ezra, can you tell the others to get up here fast. We got another problem,” said Vin.

“And that is?” inquired Ezra, his eyes looking at him in anticipation.

“Chris is movin’ fast, Ezra. We ain’t gonna catch up to ‘im at this pace. I think I need to head out alone and find ‘im.”

“And why is that Mr. Tanner?”

“He’s using an old Cheyenne trick to catch up to who he’s trailin’. I’m the only one that can do the same thing and I would be able to get to ‘im in time before he meets up with whoever’s out there. We don’t know what he might come up against.”

“But Vin, we can’t split up like this,” interrupted Buck. “We should stay together. Ya don’t know how many there are.” Buck also wanted to be there to help his friend.

“Buck, Chris ain’t got much time. Don’t forget there’s someone else on his trail. I gotta try and catch up with that person and Chris. Right now, Chris ain’t Chris. He’s a Cheyenne on the warpath and he’s on the hunt, runnin’ on instinct only. There ain’t no reasonin’ with ‘im right now and anyone that gets in his way is a dead man. But I’m still ‘fraid with ‘im not thinkin’ straight that he might do somethin’ stupid.”

Buck knew Vin was right. Chris was formidable foe even as a white man and he remembered back in the days after the death of his wife and child how much his anger took over. As a Cheyenne, he was probably even more so and he would not stop until he had Mapiya back, no matter the cost.

“I will do so for with,” came Ezra’s answer. He then rode back to where the others were waiting.

“Vin, why don’t you at least take some of the Chief’s men with ya,” suggested Buck. He figured if this a Cheyenne hunt, then why not use the Cheyenne to track them down.

Vin eyed him irritated, but then he reluctantly nodded. It was not a bad idea. But he still had his previous qualms about leaving his friends with the Chief’s son.

Just then he heard JD yell, “Rider comin’ in fast!”

Vin looked back at where the others were staring and saw a lone Cheyenne rider coming at them at a fast speed.

When the horse finally slowed down, he saw that it was Chris’ Cheyenne friend, Kovaahe of the Dog Men clan.

Kovaahe rode through the small contingent and went straight to Vin. The others followed him to where Vin and Buck sat on their horses on the crest of the hill to hear why the Cheyenne was here.

Kovaahe raised his hand in salutation and said in Cheyenne, “Ho, Netse Ôhvo'komaestse!”

“Ho, Kovaahe!” replied Vin.

“I was sent here by my Chief to help you. We have not found Ka'evêsehe or Otseemeoo'e. They are not within the village,” explained Kovaahe in Cheyenne.

“I believed that you would not,” replied Vin in Cheyenne.

“Wait. There is more. A woman of the village says she saw Mapiya and Po'êxao'o ride out earlier. She says she also saw Otseemeoo'e and Ka'evêsehe ride out the day before in the same direction.”

Vin did not like the sound of that. It seems that Chris was riding out thinking he had only one person to confront and now it looked like there were at least two of them. This was bad. Real bad and it did not sit right with him one bit.

“Vin, what’s goin’ on?” asked Nathan hearing the hurried conversation between Vin and the Cheyenne, but not understanding what was said.

“Looks like Chris might be runnin’ into some trouble, Nate. Kovaahe here is tellin’ me that someone saw Mapiya and Po'êxao'o ridin’ out of the village earlier. He also says that the same person saw Otseemeoo'e and Ka'evêsehe ride out yesterday in the same direction.”

“Damn!” exclaimed Buck. “So why are we just sittin’ around here jawin’ about it? Let’s go!”

“Wait, Buck. It ain’t that simple,” started Vin, as he grabbed the man’s reins to hold him in place. “We gotta think this through. We can’t just go off half-cocked. We might get Chris and Mapiya hurt or worse.”

Buck blew out a breath to calm his anger. He knew Vin was right, but it did not mean he had to like it. “Okay, Vin, okay. So what do we do?”

Vin turned to Kovaahe and said something to him Cheyenne. Kovaahe looked at him askance, but slowly nodded that he understood. Vin then turned back to the others and said, “This is what we gonna do. I need to go after Chris and whoever is followin’ I’m, but I need to move fast. You guys are only gonna slow me down.” Vin hated saying that to the others, but it was true and he hoped that they would understand.

But JD did not understand, but he trusted Vin’s knowledge enough to know what he was talking about.

The five men agreed, but had sworn that they would not be that far behind.

“Thanks for understandin’, guys. It’s the only way to save Chris and Mapiya. Kovaahe is goin’ to stay with you and the other brave. I’m takin’ a couple of the braves with me.” He then turned to face ó'kôhóme. “ó'kôhóme, I want you to come with me.”

ó'kôhóme stared at him in shock. He could not believe that the white man had asked him to go with him. “As you wish,” said ó'kôhóme grudgingly. He still did not trust white men fully, but he would help. His sister was in danger and that was all that mattered now.

Vin then turned back to Kovaahe and said, “ Pick three men. Tell them we ride.”

Kovaahe nodded and moved towards the Chief’s men who stood a little behind them.

“I hope this works, Vin,” said Nathan.

“Ya not the only one, Nate,” replied Vin. He then dismounted off of Peso and walked over to one of the other Cheyenne warriors and spoke to him. The Cheyenne nodded and he also dismounted his horse. The others watched as Vin took up the rope on the Cheyenne horse and gave his reins to Peso to the Cheyenne warrior.

“Vin, what cha doin’?” asked JD curious.

Vin mounted the Cheyenne warrior’s horse by grabbing onto the mane and hoisted himself in one quick leap. “My horse will be too slow carryin’ a saddle. His horse will be much quicker and lighter. But I ‘spect ya’ll to not loose my horse.” He then smiled at them.

The others smiled back, knowing that Vin was deadly serious. Peso was Vin’s most prize possession besides his mare leg gun.

“How we gonna to find ya?” asked Buck worriedly.

“Kovaahe can follow our trail. He’ll lead ya to us,” answered Vin as he moved to the forefront of the others. ó'kôhóme and the three other warriors moved up behind him.

“A most fortuitous search, Mr. Tanner,” said Ezra.

“Thanks, Ezra, I think,” replied Vin a little confused by the gambler’s words.

“I think he said, good luck,” explained Josiah. “And may God lead you to right path.”

“I hope he does, Josiah,” said Vin turning to face the Cheyenne waiting for his command. He then waved his hand forward and rode down the other side of the hill towards the plains.

The others watched their friend ride away with the Cheyenne men close behind. They all hoped that he reached Chris in time. They knew like Vin, that if anything happened to the blond Cheyenne before he got there, there would be hell to pay.

************

Me'eohtseva'e rode onward on her bay horse, hoping her horse could catch up with the white Cheyenne. She brought only her knife and a white man’s rifle. It was one that her brother had captured during a raid on the white man years ago.

When she had first run into ó'kôhóme with his pleas, she was tempted to give up her mission as he requested, hoping that things had changed between them. But when she heard ó'kôhóme still professed his love for his wife and said that he did not love her, her anger grew great and revenge clouded her mind.

She would make ó'kôhóme suffer by ripping from him the one thing he cherished the most. His family. With the white Cheyenne dead and Mapiya in mourning, the Chief would surely blame his son, Mapiya would come to hate her brother and the people would spurn him forever. She would lay blame on him and tell everyone how he had seduced a young maiden into doing his bidding of destruction.

Yes! It would so perfect. Then when his wife left him because of his disgrace, she would go back to him, the only person who would associate with him and slowly she would integrate herself into his life again. They would be outcastes together and she would always have him as no other decent Cheyenne woman would have him.

Earlier, she had watched Emo'ôhtavo vo'e and the strange white man roam through the camp, questioning everyone about the whereabouts of Mapiya, looking for an opportunity for Emo'ôhtavo vo'e to be alone. It did not come until Emo'ôhtavo vo'e rode out of the camp, to search for his wife. But Me'eohtseva'e knew where Mapiya had gone.

Her brother, Po'êxao'o, had taken Mapiya when he found her spying on him. They did not know how much she heard since Mapiya would not say, but they needed her out of the way or she would ruin their plans. Ka'evêsehe had convinced them that by killing the white Cheyenne, they would receive the power granted by the Holy Spirit to him. The power that Ka'evêsehe had saw in Emo'ôhtavo vo'e to lead the Cheyenne people to the path of greatness. Ka'evêsehe had told them that it was not fair that a white man should show them the way considering the wrong the whites had done to the Cheyenne over the years. The power belonged to a Cheyenne, not a white man and he convinced them that Po'êxao'o was that man.

Ka'evêsehe had said planned for that power to be ó'kôhóme’s, but ó'kôhóme’s heart was turned from him. Ka'evêsehe told them that he would make Po'êxao'o a great Cheyenne warrior and then ó'kôhóme would then come crawling back to him, begging to be his friend again and then things would become as they once were.

He also told Me'eohtseva'e how she would again regain the love of ó'kôhóme once their plan was completed and she believed him. Her torturous heart and mind wanted it so badly that anything Ka'evêsehe said, she would believe.

The plan was to kill Emo'ôhtavo vo'e with a white man’s weapon. It was quick and she would not have to be very close to complete her task. She knew that Emo'ôhtavo vo'e was strong, injured or no and she could not take him on. Once she was sure that he was dead, she would meet with her brother, Ka'evêsehe. Mapiya and Otseemeoo'e at the cave in the Box Canyon.

Ka'evêsehe had said that they would release the women, since once Emo'ôhtavo vo'e was dead, they would have the power and no one would be able to touch them. They would invincible with the power of the Great Spirit at their side.

Me'eohtseva'e eyes gleamed in delight. This would teach the women of the village. They would call her family crazy no more.

She spurred her horse to go faster, hoping the catch up with Emo'ôhtavo vo'e. She did not have to be close. Just close enough for the bullet to fly straight and true to his heart.

************

Mapiya and Po'êxao'o climbed up the steep side of the canyon through a passage. She knew where he was taking her. There was a cave almost at the top of the canyon, hidden by the brush that covered the mountain of rock. It was a cave sometimes used by the Cheyenne when hiding in the canyon, alert for intruders into their land.

Mapiya had tried to escape once by pushing Po'êxao'o to the side and running for the horses, but he had caught up with her quickly and overpowered her.

Afterwards, he had bound her hands and threatened to carry her like a sack of flour over his shoulder if she did not behave. He then told her to think of her child and that she do nothing foolish to endanger it.

At that comment, Mapiya eyes widened with fear and her hand had protectively gone to the small bulge in her stomach. No. She would not endanger the life of the child that was hers and Emo'ôhtavo vo'e. In fact, she would defend it until death. She went with him without protest after that, but swore to find out a way out once it presented itself to her.

When they had got to the area where the cave was, Po'êxao'o turned to glance around the landscape. From this advantage, he could see for miles around and would notice anyone who was approaching the area. He was about to push Mapiya into the cave when he noticed a speck of dust coming from the South. It was a rider and they were riding hard. He could not make out whom it was, they were at least two miles away, but his instinct told him it was Emo'ôhtavo vo'e. He assumed his sister had failed in her task and now the man was heading straight for them. “Well,” he thought. “I will have a special surprise for him when he gets here.” He then turned to Mapiya and pushed her into the cave.

Once inside, Mapiya saw that they were not alone. In the cave were Otseemeoo'e and Ka'evêsehe. A small fire was lit that gave them light. Her friend was to the side in the back, her hands also tied like Mapiya in front of her. She caught Otseemeoo'e’s eyes that were wide in fear and red. She knew she must have been crying. She also had a bruised on the side of her face that was slowly turning dark purplish color. She knew the girl had been stricken, probably as a way to silence her.

Ka'evêsehe noticed the entrance of Mapiya and Po'êxao'o. His rifle was held in his hand, should the intruder be anyone he did not want. His eyes came to rest on the face of Mapiya and she watched as his face turned from one of surprise to one of anger.

“What is she doing here?” demanded Ka'evêsehe.

“I caught her spying upon me. I brought her here to insure her silence,” replied Po'êxao'o.

“You fool!” spat Ka'evêsehe. “You will bring the others here!”

Po'êxao'o looked at him in shock. He had never heard this man talk to him this way. “But it does not matter. We will have Emo'ôhtavo vo'e’s power and we will be invincible.”

“You stupid man! Do you not know what you have done?” exclaimed Ka'evêsehe.

Po'êxao'o was getting angry now. He had done all that this man requested and now he stood there calling him names. “What have I done, Ka'evêsehe? Only what you have asked me to do! Now you call me names and embarrass me in front of women!”

Ka'evêsehe realized that he had pushed the man too far. He could not afford to loose his only ally. “I am…sorry, Po'êxao'o,” he replied approaching the man slowly. “Forgive me. It is…it is just that all our plans…you understand?”

Po'êxao'o eyed him suspiciously, but decided to trust the man. He had, after all, helped him to find a way to bring ó'kôhóme back as his friend. “Yes, I do, old man. I have just as much as stake in this as you.”

“Yes, you do. We are friends, brother. Cheyenne blood to Cheyenne blood. Not like the white Cheyenne.”

“Yes. We are,” replied Po'êxao'o thoughtfully. He then pushed Mapiya over to where Otseemeoo'e sat and motioned her to take a place next to woman on the floor of the cave. Mapiya did as she was told, still waiting for an opportune moment to free herself and her friend.

“We must have a new plan, brother,” started Ka'evêsehe. “The Chief will send warriors out to look for her.”

“There is something else,” said Po'êxao'o interrupting Ka'evêsehe thoughts. “There is a rider approaching the canyon. I believe it to be her husband.” He pointed at Mapiya.

“That is not good.”

“But I have a plan,” said Po'êxao'o staring hard at Mapiya. He then smiled and Ka'evêsehe started to smile with him.

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Chapter 68

Chris had found the tracks that led to the canyon area. He saw that the lead person was getting more and more careless about the trial he was leaving. Chris kept his eyes on the tracks, following wherever they led and checking to see how much further his quarry was ahead. He figured they were only an hour ahead of him. He then mounted Thunder and rode at break neck speed towards the base of the box canyon.

As Chris rode as fast as he could in his attempt to find his love, he did not noticed the rider fast approaching behind him.

***************

Five miles away, Me'eohtseva'e rode her pony hard trying to catch up with the white Cheyenne. Her long black hair flew wildly behind her back as she pushed the pony faster and faster. She knew she had to reach him before he got to the canyon and before her mount dropped dead from her abuse. She hated to push the pony as hard as she was doing, but she knew what the alternative would be if she did not.

Focused only on her prey ahead of her, Me'eohtseva'e did not see in the distance the cloud of dust that was slowly approaching behind her.

***************

Vin, ó'kôhóme and three of the Cheyenne Dog Men rode hard against the wind in an effort to catch up with Chris’ would be assassin.

They had ran on foot the first two miles and then rode the next three miles. They then alternated every two to three miles, getting them closer and closer to their prey.

Vin saw the trail the girl was leaving behind and knew she was being reckless in her attempt to gain the distance to her quarry. He knew any Cheyenne would not leave such blatant telltale signs on purpose. She was getting careless in her haste and it was all the better for Vin and the Cheyenne that followed her.

Even though she was not successfully hiding her trial, Vin still admired her as a formidable opponent. From what ó'kôhóme told him as they rode the grass plains in search of her and Chris, she was one of the best women with the bow and arrow in the tribe. She also could outshoot and outrun almost all of the Cheyenne warriors within the tribe with the exception of Chris and Kovaahe. She was called the “warrior woman of the Cheyenne” by the ones that admired her. Vin admired her, yes, but he knew she was very dangerous.

One of the warriors stopped and the others followed suit, curious as to why. He then signaled to Vin and pointed in the direction of the box canyon. He was telling Vin that the trail was leading to the box canyon.

Vin rode up next to him and took his spyglass out of its carrying case, pulling out to its furthest lens and held it to his eye towards the direction the warrior pointed. Vin saw a dust trail in the distance, heading straight for the mouth of the canyon and not further in front of that was another dust trial, slowly disappearing towards the base of the canyon. He knew the first rider must be Me'eohtseva'e and the other not far in front of her was Chris, riding unawares of what followed him.

Vin knew had one chance to save his friend. The woman was too far ahead of them and Chris much farther. They needed to get close, close enough for him to put his plan into play. He motioned to ó'kôhóme to take a look into the spyglass to see what he had seen. ó'kôhóme placed the strange item into his hands, unsure of how to use it. Vin quickly explained to him what its purpose was and then again motioned for ó'kôhóme to take a look.

ó'kôhóme held the spyglass gingerly in his hands and slowly eased his right eye towards the hole. He was amazed at what he could see and then more so when he noticed that he could see Me'eohtseva'e riding hard and gaining ground behind his brother-in-law. He now understood what the white man was trying to tell him. His brother-in-law’s would be killer was getting closer to accomplishing her mission and they were still too far away.

Vin, once sure that ó'kôhóme had comprehended what he was trying to convey, took his mare leg out of its holster and pointed to it. Then in Cheyenne he said, “If we could get close, I can use this to stop her.”

ó'kôhóme looked on him in doubt. He did not think the man’s gun could reach as far as a bow and arrow. He then told Vin of his doubts.

“Trust me, ó'kôhóme. My aim with this will hold true,” said Vin confidently.

ó'kôhóme saw the determination in the blue eyes of the one known as Netse Ôhvo'komaestse. He knew that he was sure that his aim would be true.

“Epeva'e!” said ó'kôhóme. He then rode over to the other three waiting Cheyenne and gave them some instructions.

Vin could not hear them, but he watched as ó'kôhóme rode back over to him and said, “I will get you close.” ó'kôhóme then jumped from his own horse, and motioned for Vin to dismount his own. Vin did as he was asked. ó'kôhóme then pointed to his horse and said, “His name is Wildfire. I named him so because he rides like fire on the wind, wild.” He then handed rope that the Cheyenne had used as a rein over to him. He then said, “He will get you there quickly. Be your aim true.”

Vin nodded to acknowledge the Cheyenne’s offering. He was giving Vin the means to save his friend. Vin then swiftly mounted the horse and lowered himself to take ó'kôhóme’s arm in the sign of friendship. He said as he was leaning on the horse, “You have proven yourself to be the son of a chief, ó'kôhóme.”

ó'kôhóme looked at the young white man with surprised eyes. “Aim true and bring my sister back home,” was all that ó'kôhóme replied.

Vin nodded that he would or die trying. With that, he nudged Wildfire in the flanks and sped off towards canyon to save his friends.

***************

Mapiya and Otseemeoo'e both sat huddled in the corner of the cave. Ka'evêsehe stood outside of it, guarding their hostages, while Po'êxao'o was away, putting the finishing touches to his trap for Emo'ôhtavo vo'e. Mapiya was worried and expressed what she felt to Otseemeoo'e. She would do all that was in her power to prevent them from succeeding.

She looked over to the still frightened Otseemeoo'e. Mapiya’s brown eyes drifted down towards her moccasin legging. Otseemeoo'e followed her gaze and saw what Mapiya was trying to convey. Otseemeoo'e saw a glint of metal peeking from under the legging and realized that Mapiya had a knife with her and she meant to use it.

Mapiya leaned closer to Otseemeoo'e and whispered, “Do what I tell you without question when the time comes.” Otseemeoo'e nodded that she understood. She knew that Mapiya had a plan to get them out of the cave and away from their captors. She just hope it would be in time to save

Emo'ôhtavo vo'e.

***************

Po'êxao'o hid behind the outcrop of canyon rock that faced the entrance and watched as the approaching rider was swiftly closing the distance between himself and the canyon entrance. He had hoped that Me'eohtseva'e would have accomplished her mission by now, but from the looks of it, it seemed she had failed. Now it was up to him to finish off the white Cheyenne or all their plans would be destroyed.

Po'êxao'o started loading the twin rifle to the one his sister had. He was glad that he had brought it along when it captured the Chief’s daughter. He believed it was fate and the Great Spirit that helped him to make the decision to bring it. They knew what was to come and to Po'êxao'o it proved that it was a righteous cause and that he would win.

As he sighted the rifle towards the approaching rider, he said, “Yes, Emo'ôhtavo vo'e. Come closer and meet your death at the hands of a true warrior.” A wicked smiled grew on his face as he waited for his target to enter his trap.

***************

Kovaahe led the small party of white men and two Cheyenne, following the tracks that Netse Ôhvo'komaestse and his war party left in their wake towards the box canyon. If he had his way, he would have left the strange white men behind and would have tried to catch up to Netse Ôhvo'komaestse and the others, to join in their quest to save their brother and his family. But he also knew that Emo'ôhtavo vo'e would not be happy knowing that he had left his white family to fend for themselves. It was his responsibility to see to that safety and Netse Ôhvo'komaestse had entrusted them to him. He would not fail him, but it still did not calm his anxiousness at wanting to help his friend, Emo'ôhtavo vo'e.

Buck, Ezra, JD, Josiah and Nathan followed the Cheyenne Kovaahe closely. From what Josiah had translated, Kovaahe asked them to stay close to him and that they may have to move quickly at any moment’s notice. Or at least that was Josiah had told them. Nathan had a feeling that it was only a rough translation, but right now Josiah was the only one in the group who could understand them since both Vin and Chris were gone.

Josiah nudged his mount into a canter to catch up with Kovaahe. He, like the others were curious as to when they would meet up with Vin and Chris. They were also very worried and so far they had no one who had an answer to their concerns. Kovaahe was their only link to the Cheyenne and their only link right now to Vin and Chris.

“Kovaahe!” called Josiah as he rode up beside him.

The Cheyenne turned to glance briefly at the white Holy Man and then returned to study the ground before him. “What is it you want from me, Medicine Man?” asked Kovaahe curtly, not taking his eyes from the trail he was following.

“My friends and I were wondering when we would meet up with the others?” asked Josiah tentatively.

Kovaahe looked at the man annoyed. He had other concerns right now on his mind than answering the white men’s questions. His responsibility was to get them to the others in one piece. He had no time or the patience to teach them what a Cheyenne child would know concerning being part of a war party. He then remembered that these people were not Cheyenne and did not understand the way.

“It will not be until the setting sun that we will reach them. They are far ahead and with you and your men, if I could, I would travel faster, but you do not know the Cheyenne way and we must take slower route,” explained Kovaahe patiently as if speaking to a child.

Josiah knew the Cheyenne meant no offense by his tone. He was correct in his statement. They were slowing the Cheyenne down.

“I am sorry about…” started Josiah.

Kovaahe held up his hand for silence. “No. I am sorry. I should not speak as if you are a child, as you are not. I am worried about Emo'ôhtavo vo'e and the others. I do not like this feeling…this feeling of…”

“Helplessness?” put in Josiah.

“Yes. He is my friend and I should be with Netse Ôhvo'komaestse.”

“This is not a new feeling to us, Kovaahe.”

The Cheyenne turned to look at him surprised. “It is not?”

“No. It is a part of being friends to people like Emo'ôhtavo vo'e and Netse Ôhvo'komaestse. Friends to these men are like brothers, blood or no. You feel, what they feel and they feel, what you feel.”

Kovaahe nodded at this and then turned back to tracking the trail. “How do you stop it?”

Josiah smiled gently at the young Cheyenne warrior. “You cannot, brother. Not if you call yourself a human being.”

Kovaahe grunted his agreement at this statement. A true human being could not. “Tell your…brothers to ride closer to us. We need to move more quickly.”

Josiah grinned and nodded. Kovaahe had just found a way out of his helplessness. It was by taking control of the situation and not letting it take control of him. Josiah turned his horse back towards the others to inform them of Kovaahe’s plan. He just hoped they were in time to help their friends. Josiah had a feeling that all of this was not as simple as it seemed.

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Chapter 69

Vin rode hard on the white Palomino that was Wildfire. He leaned down close to the horse’s ear, shouting Cheyenne words of encouragement to urge the horse to go faster. Vin’s hat had fallen back from his head and his curly brown hair flew wildly into the wind. It gave Vin the appearance that he shared the Wildfire’s namesake. In one hand he held the rope rein of Wildfire and in the other he held his mare leg. His face contorted in pain as the bouncing up and down on the horse did nothing good for his bruised ribs. He had not told Nathan and the others that the pain had returned full force since they had been riding hard these past hours. He knew he had probably re-injuried them, but he could not let it deter him. He had one purpose only and that was to reach Chris in time.

Wildfire’s hooves tore up the ground and grass as it pace quickened. Vin hung on, feeling the rhythm of the horse’s tempo, his body moving to the same beat. He saw the dust cloud that was once far in front of him had now become closer in his sight. He was gaining on her. He pushed Wildfire even faster, feeling the Palomino’s muscles under him pump with increase speed. Just a little bit closer and he would have a true aim.

****************

Me'eohtseva'e pushed her horse as much as she could. She was almost near enough to execute her task. She just needed to be a few more feet closer.

As she rode, one hand held on to the mane of her horse, while the other held the rifle to her side. She had gained another three feet when she noticed that they were almost upon the base of the canyon. She also noticed that Emo'ôhtavo vo'e’s horse had slowed down now that he had reached his destination. This was the perfect opportunity for her. She reined her horse down to a slow trot, hoping that she would not be noticed as she drew closer and closer to her prey.

Once she decided she was close enough, she dismounted her horse, pushing him away to the side, while she scrambled over to some boulders that would hide her presence from him. She climbed the boulder quietly and peered over it. She saw that Emo'ôhtavo vo'e had also dismounted his horse and stood up and around the canyon area. She knew he was looking for the shelter that all Cheyenne knew existed here and knew that it was probably where he would find what he was looking for. It was her job to prevent that.

****************

Chris stood at the base of the canyon looking at the rocky terrain. He knew there was a shelter, a cave which was frequently used by the Cheyenne watchers housed within the canyon rock. He had heard Kovaahe speak of it often in their talks of strategies of war and protecting the people. He had to find it. His gut was telling him that when he found the cave, he would also find the treasure he sought. He walked over to the right side of the huge rock canyon wall and noticed something that looked like a trail that led up towards the top. He patted Thunder on the rump, sending the horse to the side and started to scale the high trail.

****************

Po'êxao'o had watched as Emo'ôhtavo vo'e stopped at the base of the canyon. He knew he had found the hidden trail and would now be on his way up to where he and his captives were. He raised the rifle to balance on the edge of the boulder that overlooked the trail, sighting the end of the barrel at the point he knew Emo'ôhtavo vo'e would arrive to. Unlike his sister, he was not as well versed in its usage, so he decided the closer he was the less chance he had of missing the man. He knelt waiting behind his cover for his opportune moment.

****************

Mapiya and Otseemeoo'e crawled closer to the entrance of the cave. Mapiya had explained her plan to Otseemeoo'e. She would distract Ka'evêsehe while Mapiya would attack. All Cheyenne women knew how to use a knife and well. They learned at an early age to defend themselves and their loved ones against raiders. Mapiya was well known among the Cheyenne women for her skills with the blade.

Mapiya’s plan was simplistic yet there were some flaws. They would have to make sure that Ka'evêsehe’s attention was on Otseemeoo'e and that Po'êxao'o was busy somewhere else, which at that moment was the case. Mapiya hoped that she would not have to kill in order to achieve her freedom, but if she had to, so be it. There was just more than her freedom at stake. There was still the possibility of Po'êxao'o having the opportunity to kill her husband. Also, Otseemeoo'e was a victim just as much as her. If the two Cheyenne renegades succeeded in their plan, then not only would Emo'ôhtavo vo'e would be dead, but so would they. She knew there was no way that these men would let her and her friend go unharmed. They would loose too much.

Otseemeoo'e nodded that she was ready and Mapiya nodded back that she knew the time had come. As Otseemeoo'e sauntered over to the older Cheyenne, Mapiya knelt down to the side of the opening, making sure that she would not be seen, or at least until it was too late. She looked at Otseemeoo'e with anxious eyes, her knife pulled from his hiding place into her hand, poised ready to act. This was it. If they failed, then all would be lost and for Mapiya, she was not about to let that happen.

****************

Chris started cautiously climbing up the narrow trail that led to the top of canyon and to the cave that he knew held his wife. He kept his eyes on the surrounding area, alert for any deception or trap that the abductors may have set up for anyone who happened to trail them.

His eyes glanced up at the side of the canyon, shading them with his hand as the brilliance of the setting sun dipping behind it, almost blinded him. As soon as he could see again, he saw that the ended part way of the up the canyon face and that he was almost to his goal.

As he was about to search for the next handhold in the rock face that would pull him up towards his goal, he thought he saw something further up glint briefly, but within seconds it was gone and Chris did not see it again. He shook his head, trying to shake off the feeling that was nibbling at his nerves and continued his climb.

****************

Vin watched as Me'eohtseva'e hid behind the boulder, her rifle taking aim at Chris as he climbed the canyon trail. His heart was beating fiercely within his chest, afraid that if he made one mistake, it would cost Chris his life.

He aimed his mare leg determined not to kill her as he crept closer to her position. He needed only to keep her from completing her shot. He hoped that seeing him and his mare leg would convince her of the uselessness of her mission. He hoped.

Wiping the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand, he pursued his lips in concentration. His blue eyes scanned the area and knew he had to take the woman out as silently as possible. Any shot would warn whoever held the women hostage and put Chris in more danger than he already was.

Me'eohtseva'e was busy taking aim at her target when she thought she heard a noise behind her. She turned quickly to find herself looking into deep blue eyes and the twin barrels of a big gun. Me'eohtseva'e sighed despondently, knowing that she would never be able to complete her task and live.

Vin motioned with his mare leg for Me'eohtseva'e to put her rifle on the ground. The young Cheyenne woman returned a look of such hatred towards him that if she had the power, her eyes would surely rip the skin from his body. “Easy,” said Vin in Cheyenne.

Me'eohtseva'e did not answer, but did slowly lower her rifle to the ground. Vin kept a cautious eye on the woman, knowing how dangerous she was. He did not doubt if given the chance that this woman would probably be able to slit his throat so quick, he would hit the ground before the blood leaking from his neck did.

Vin swiftly moved to the woman and kicked the rifle further away out of her reach. “Turn around,” he commanded in Cheyenne.

Me'eohtseva'e turned to face the canyon, away from the view of Vin.

“Now, back up to me, slowly,” he directed her.

Me'eohtseva'e walked gradually towards Vin, her back turned towards him. As soon as she was close enough, Vin holstered his mare leg and grabbed both the woman’s hands, pulling them behind her back and then neatly tying them together.

Once that was done, he then dragged her over towards the boulders and gently nudged her to the ground, her back against the boulder. He then tied her feet in the same way and then took out a handkerchief from his person that he used to gag her. Me'eohtseva'e stared at him with eyes of bewilderment at his actions. Vin saw this and said in Cheyenne, “I cannot let you warn your friends up there.”

Me'eohtseva'e quirked an eyebrow at him since she had no way to voice her comment, but Vin understand the essence of her facial expression and said, “Yes. I know about them.” He then tested her bonds and then proceeded to the trail that Chris was now following. He hoped that he would reach the blond in time to be of assistance.

Me'eohtseva'e could only squirm in desperation, knowing that brother was going to be very angry with her when he found out. But then again, she did not know if her brother was going to win this encounter. At this moment, the white Cheyenne and his friend had the upper hand and she was useless to stop them. She just hoped he was smarter or otherwise they would probably become wood for the Chief’s fire.

****************

Otseemeoo'e started crying where she stood by the cave entrance. At first it was just a low whine that soon turned into all out bawling.

Ka'evêsehe had heard the woman’s voice from his position outside of the cave. To him it was annoying and he wished she would stop. But, of course, she did not and as he tried to ignore it, it just got louder and louder as time went on. He wished he had gagged her on his first inclination, but he thought if the women had each other to talk to and console, they would be quiet. He was wrong.

He turned to go back into the cave to put an end to the woman’s insistent noise and as he had just breached the opening, he felt something sharp bite deep in his back just under his ribs.

He whirled around quickly to find Mapiya standing defiantly behind him, her fists balled at her sides. He struggled to reach behind his back and felt the beginning of a bone handle embedded into his back. He knew the blade of the knife was deep and he felt the blood as it flowed freely down his back onto his hand. He then tried to walk towards where Mapiya stood, looking like the deliver of death, but his legs were slowly sinking to the ground. On bended knees, he looked up into Mapiya brown eyes and saw such anger that it shocked him.

“You will never hurt anyone again!” spat Mapiya.

It was the last thing that he heard as his eyes closed and he fell to the earthen floor.

Mapiya knelt down next to him and put a hand on his neck and then in front of his mouth and nose.

“Is he…?” questioned Otseemeoo'e tentatively.

“Yes. He is dead. Come. We must help my husband,” said Mapiya grabbing Otseemeoo'e’s hand as they stepped over the warm dead body of Ka'evêsehe and left the cave.

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Chapter 70

Po'êxao'o already knew his sister had failed. If she had not, then the white Cheyenne would not be climbing up the trail. He also noticed that there was another problem. The white buffalo hunter friend of Emo'ôhtavo vo'e was also coming up the trail. Instead of one adversary to deal with, he now had two and knew it would not be so easy to dispatch them.

As he tried to determine how he should handle it, he heard noises behind him. One of them sounded like the voice of Otseemeoo'e, but he ignored it thinking that Ka'evêsehe would handle it. But now he was thinking that he should tell Ka'evêsehe about this new development.

He crept back towards the cave opening and the cave to check on his comrade and their hostages. When he got to the cave he peered inside the dim interior, streaked with rays from the setting sun and found Ka'evêsehe lying on the floor of the cave, a knife protruding from his back. The hostages were nowhere to be seen and Po'êxao'o cursed silently as he realized that his plan was falling apart.

He pulled the knife out of the back of its victim and ran from the cave to the outside. Still crouched low so as not for Emo'ôhtavo vo'e to notice his presence, he scanned the area for his escaped hostages.

He looked to the left of him and saw footprints in the soft dirt that was on the plateau to the cave leading down the other side of the canyon. He had determined that the women had fled down the other side of the canyon on another trail. He looked at the original trail that they had come up and saw that the white Cheyenne was getting closer. He had to make a choice. Kill his intended victim or go after the hostages. He knew without the women he had nothing to bargain should he come against Chief Aenohe’s men. His decision was made instantly and he ran down the other trail after the women.

************

When ó'kôhóme and the other Cheyenne warriors arrived at the canyon base, they found his horse and Me'eohtseva'e tied and gagged. ó'kôhóme motioned for his men to make a fire so that Kovaahe and the others would be able to find them. He then walked over to the surprised Me'eohtseva'e and released the gag from her mouth. Me'eohtseva'e coughed and spat trying to clear her mouth of the offending taste of the rag.

“Where are they?” demanded ó'kôhóme.

Me'eohtseva'e only looked at him with regret and anger. She knew now that he would never love her or leave his wife for one as she. Her life was over and now it seemed that she would be baring ó'kôhóme’s hatred to her death.

“I said, where are they, woman?”

“I do not know and I do not care!” spat Me'eohtseva'e. “Do what you will!”

ó'kôhóme shook his head in disgust. He could not believe that this was a woman who he had once contemplated leaving his wife for. He turned away from her and walked over to the three other warriors who were preparing a camp.

“There is only one place they could have gone,” he said to the men. “When Kovaahe and the others arrive, tell them where I have gone.”

The men nodded understanding his orders. ó'kôhóme then walked over to the horse he was riding and took his rifle from its holder. He then ran towards the trail, guided only by the rising moon’s light to find his sister and her husband.

************

Chris had reached the top of the plateau, breathing hard and trying to keep his balance. For the last two hours, he felt his body was fighting a losing war. He was sweating profusively and had figured that it was the result of the chase. But now, with the sun gone, he found he was still hot and knew that his body was failing him.

When he finally reached the cave he discovered only a dead Cheyenne. Chris knelt down slowly to examine the body, pushing the nausea in his stomach and the pain in his head to the back of his thoughts. He turned the body over and found himself looking into the dead eyes of his adopted father’s best friend, Ka'evêsehe. He noticed the knife puncture in the man’s back and observed that the blood that had flowed over the dead man’s back and down to the ground had now congealed. Chris determined that the man had probably been dead for at least over an hour. He shook his head at the body of the poor bastard. Whoever had done this was very skilled in use of the knife. They knew exactly where to place it to cause the most damage to its victim and quickly.

He searched around the cave, looking for evidence of where the others might be or if the others were here. He found the tracks on the soft earthen floor of two smaller moccasins and two larger ones. He knew the smaller ones had to belong to Mapiya and Otseemeoo'e. The other two must have been of the dead Ka'evêsehe and the missing Po'êxao'o. But where were they now? They were nowhere to be found in the cave and Chris feared that maybe his presence was discovered and they kidnappers fled the area. He moved outside of the cave to see if he could find some evidence of their movement or where they might have headed.

As he approached the left end of the plateau, he spied tracks that led down the other side of the canyon, leading down another trail. Two smaller moccasins, and one larger one seemed to run over them. The only thing he did not know was whether they were still being held hostage or if the women were running from their captors.

At that moment, the dizziness hit him again in full force. Chris clutched desperately at the canyon wall, trying to keep himself from falling off the plateau. He cautiously dropped to his knees, his breath coming in rapid gasps. He closed his eyes for second to try and get his body under control.

As he did, an image flashed into his mind’s eye, then another and another. They were coming fast and furious and had Chris in a tight grip of awe and confusion. The images were the same as the dream that had haunted him for so long. But this time, it was clearer, as if it were finally revealing itself in full to him. He took it all in with trepidation.

The images were of him kneeling down over a body and tears were flowing freely from his eyes. He heard Mapiya’s soft voice of consolation and Vin’s harsh voice of alarm. Dread took a hold of his soul and he felt as if his heart was being torn out of his chest. He still could not see the body. Was this a premonition of something to come or was it just the imagines of a man who was ill? He did not know and the anxiety ate at his sanity. He had to find Mapiya and quickly. He had a bad feeling that everything that led up to this point was part of what the images were trying to tell him.

Rising from his kneeling position, he wiped the sweat from his head with the back of his hand and started climbing down the canyon wall, keeping a precarious hold as he did, afraid that his body would give out on him. The one thought that haunted him as he descended the rocky face was that he would be too late.

************

Vin climbed the canyon trail at a hurried pace. He knew Chris had a good lead on him and he saw the man reach a plateau at the top, but then he dropped from sight. Vin figured that the plateau was probably sunken into the canyon wall and probably that was where either a cave or crevice existed for someone to hide in.

When he finally got to the top, he found a cave and the dead body of a male Cheyenne. He looked at the face and remembered he had seen this man at the council when he stood in for Chris a few days ago. He did not know whether the man was a victim or one of the kidnappers, but he would have to figure it out later. Right now, his main concern was of Chris and the women.

He found tracks outside of the cave showing that four people had went down the other side of the canyon. He immediately started after them, hoping to find his friends at the end of the journey alive and well. If not, someone was going to pay and Vin had no doubt that if they expected mercy, they would get none.

************

Kovaahe and the others arrived at the base of the canyon to find a camp that held the other Cheyenne warriors and the woman, Me'eohtseva'e. Kovaahe noticed the angry glare she gave them as they dismounted their horses and walked over to the three Cheyenne men.

“Ho, Tahpe'ee'êse!”

“Ho, Kovaahe,” answered the tall Cheyenne that was tending the fire.

“Where are the others?”

“Netse Ôhvo'komaestse and ó'kôhóme follow Emo'ôhtavo vo'e…up there,” answered Tahpe'ee'êse, pointing towards the top of the canyon.

“How long?”

“Sometime now.”

“Thank you, brother,” replied Kovaahe. He then turned to the white men who were standing around looking concerned. “Your brothers… ó'kôhóme…they go up…sometime.”

“Then that’s where we’re headed,” stated Buck and he started towards the canyon trail.

Kovaahe grabbed the tall lawman by the arm, halting is forward progress. “No. You must stay here. Wait. We will go.”

“What do ya mean wait? Our friends are up there and there ain’t nothin’ that gonna keep us from goin.”

“Buck,” said Josiah. “Listen to the man. He has not led us astray so far. I say we do what he asks of us.”

“But what about Chris and Vin?” JD asked. He knew that wherever Chris and Vin were that they were in trouble and they needed to be there.

“I know it’s hard to wait, JD,” responded Josiah. “But I trust Kovaahe to keep Chris and Vin safe and bring them home.”

Buck grimaced in doubt. He considered himself and his friends as Chris’ and Vin’s best chance. They had always watched each other backs and he saw this time as no different.

Ezra knew what the man was thinking and what he was feeling. He too wanted be in pursuit of their two missing friends. But he also knew they were in unfamiliar territory when it came to the Cheyennes. They could ill afford acquiring new adversaries in this point and time.

“Mr. Wilmington, may I suggest that we follow our good companion’s advice and adjourn here until our native friends return? I don’t think it wise to incite any hostilities towards us at this time and place,” said Ezra.

Buck looked at him and knew Ezra was saying it was better to let it go and that it would do neither them nor his friends any good. Buck had to concede for the moment, but only for now.

Josiah saw that Ezra’s words had got through to the lady’s man. He just hoped that he and Ezra were right. They were gambling with Chris and Vin’s lives.

Nathan recognized the look on Josiah’s face and knew the big preacher was having second thoughts about his decision. He placed his hand on the man’s shoulder, hoping to convey strength in support of his choice.

Josiah acknowledged Nathan’s proclamation with a nod of his head. He then turned to Kovaahe and said in Cheyenne, “Go. Go quickly. Save our friends.”

Kovaahe nodded and motioned for two of the Cheyenne warriors to start up the trail with him.

As the lawmen watched the Cheyenne climb up the canyon trail, they hoped that speed was on their side.

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Chapter 71

Mapiya and Otseemeoo'e ran full out once they reached the bottom of the canyon. Mapiya knew that the creek flowed into a river where they were currently located and decided that they should make their escape following the river. She knew it would lead them back towards the creek and home.

Running full speed, Otseemeoo'e tripped and fell at least a dozen times, but Mapiya was always there to pick her back up. Her legs, which were tied up until Mapiya had arrived, were still slightly numbed from their constriction by Po'êxao'o and Ka'evêsehe. It still haunted her, the sight of Ka'evêsehe lying on the cave floor with the knife protruding from his back. She knew Mapiya had to do it in order to save them and Emo'ôhtavo vo'e, but it did not mean that she liked it.

They were close to the river now. Mapiya could hear the water as flowed fiercely towards where the creek bed was. She was tired, thirsty and her stomach was cramping ever so often. In the back of her mind, she knew what it might mean, but she refused to think on it until they were save. She also knew that Po'êxao'o would follow. He would have to. He could not let two witnesses get away and trying to kill Emo'ôhtavo vo'e would have came second to the risk. She hoped that she had bought her husband more time. The longer he stayed alive, the more likely that she and Otseemeoo'e would survive.

“Come, Otseemeoo'e!” shouted Mapiya as she ran following the river. “We must hurry!” Otseemeoo'e nodded since she was too exhausted to reply and followed Mapiya trying to stay on her feet.

************

Chris had run down the canyon trail, hoping to catch up with the others. It was a long time since he saw anything signs of their passing and was about to take another path, when he saw Po'êxao'o running three feet in front of him.

He sped up his pace, ignoring the pain in his head that had increased and the nausea was constantly bombarding his stomach. He had to catch up to Po'êxao'o. He knew in his soul that the man only meant harm to his family. He could not, no, he would not allow this man to succeed in his plans. His heart beat hard within his chest as he drew closer to his prey.

Chris did not run as a white man. He ran as a Cheyenne on the hunt, his feet lightly touching the ground, barely leaving footprints.

With each long stride, he was getting closer and closer to Po'êxao'o. As he did, he could see what the man in front of him was chasing. He spied Mapiya and Otseemeoo'e not far up the bank, running parallel with the bank of the river. He watched as Otseemeoo'e stumbled and Mapiya grabbed the girl’s arm and continued running. Po'êxao'o was only a few feet behind them. The sight of a rifle in his hand gave Chris a burst of energy to eat of the distance between them.

Mapiya and Otseemeoo'e were running hard trying to get away from the figure behind them. Mapiya saw that Po'êxao'o had gained ground and would be upon them soon. She kept urging

Otseemeoo'e to run faster, hoping to increase the distance between them, but it was not working.

As they neared a bend where the river was more stormy and the current running , she turned to see Po'êxao'o only now a foot behind her. She spurred herself onward, trying to run faster than she ever thought she possibly could. They were almost around the bend, Otseemeoo'e only a few inches in front of her, when she felt a hand grab the back of her hair and pull her back hard. Mapiya lost her balance and fell to the ground on her back and found she was looking into the angry brown eyes of Po'êxao'o.

Otseemeoo'e had run only a little more ahead when she noticed that Mapiya was not with her. She turned in time to Po'êxao'o standing over her. “Mapiya!” shouted Otseemeoo'e, as she ran back to where her friend had fallen.

Po'êxao'o looked up to find Otseemeoo'e running straight towards them, her hands balled into fists. Before he could do anything, the young Cheyenne woman tackled him, bringing him down to the ground hard. The rifle was knocked out of his hand and he fell to the ground, carrying the young Cheyenne woman with him. They wrestled for a few minutes, but Po'êxao'o was stronger and in the end he had the woman down on the ground.

“Foolish woman!” he spat, as he held her around her waist.

At that moment, Mapiya noticed a form run across her sight and grab Po'êxao'o by the scruff of his hair, pulling him off of Otseemeoo'e and throwing him to the ground.

Mapiya sat up and ran over to Otseemeoo'e. The two women then moved to the side as the two shadows wrestled on the ground in the darkness, moving ever so closer to the edge of the rapidly raging dark river.

Mapiya caught of glimpse of blond hair and knew that the shadow was her husband, Emo'ôhtavo vo'e. He had found her and was now fighting for their lives. She hoped he would win.

Chris was just a couple of feet when he saw Mapiya and Otseemeoo'e try to fight Po'êxao'o off. He had watched as the Cheyenne warrior pulled Otseemeoo'e to the ground, looking like he was ready to strike her. He acted without thinking and ran as fast as possible, coming towards the Cheyenne low. He quickly grabbed him by the hair, pulling him off the woman and pushing him away. Po'êxao'o grabbed him by the waist, flinging him with him towards the riverbank, both of them entwined in each other’s arms in a fatal dance of death.

Chris pulled his knife from the sheath at his side, just as Po'êxao'o pulled Mapiya’s knife from his waistband. Each held the other knife hand away and a struggle soon ensued to determine just who was better with the weapon.

Mapiya watched in fear and shock as she saw the two men pull their knives out. She knew that each could do a great damage to the other and the fear of losing her child’s father ate at her breast. She could not let this happen. So without any thought to her safety or her child’s, Mapiya ran towards the two men. She thought she could help Emo'ôhtavo vo'e but what she did was get in the way.

As Chris and Po'êxao'o rolled back and forth on the grassy beach, they kept getting closer and closer to the edge. At one point, they were in the water and Mapiya jumped in after them. Chris and this opponent did not see her. They were more concerned on trying to get the upper hand of the other. It happened so quickly that it was too late before they could stop themselves.

As they tussled one more time, each trying to place their knife into the other’s most vulnerable area, they turned over in a barrel roll and rammed directly into Mapiya’s leg. Mapiya unprepared for it was knocked off her feet and fell into the dark river. She did not cry out thinking that it would startle Chris and then his attention would turned away from keeping himself alive.

Chris had thought he lost the battle with Po'êxao'o, as the Cheyenne finally got Chris on the ground, a knee in Chris’ stomach, as he raised the knife to bring it down into Chris’ chest. Then Chris heard what sounded like Vin, shouting in Cheyenne for Po'êxao'o to stop. But of course, Po'êxao'o did not. As his knife started it’s descend into Chris, a shot rang out and the next minute Chris realized that something wet was pouring from Po'êxao'o’s chest onto Chris’ face.

Po'êxao'o eyes were wide in the moonlight and then without a sound, he just listed over and fell to the ground. Chris realized that the man was dead and he pushed the body away from him quickly. He then looked over to the canyon trail and saw a shadow creep down a rock at the base. He knew it was Vin Tanner and that the scrawny Texan had once again saved his life.

As he stood up, waiting for his friend to walk over to where he was, oblivious to Mapiya’s fate, he saw Otseemeoo'e running into the river, screaming. She was shouting Mapiya’s name over and over again. Mapiya? Worried and fear ran through Chris’ mind in a panic. Not waitng for Vin, he ran over to where Otseemeoo'e stood wading further and further into the dark river. He heard Mapiya’s voice over the din of the rushing water, but it was faint. Chris’ heart stared to beat frantically. “Not again! Please, God, no!” his mind voice screamed.

************

Out loud he screamed. “Mapiya! Mapiya, where are you?” Without thought to his safety Chris and jumped into the river, trying to swim against the current, searching for some sign of his wife.

Vin had seen the fight ensue between Chris and the Cheyenne Po'êxao'o from on top of rock at the base of the canyon trail. He saw in the moonlight that Chris was losing his fight and knew the knife that was held in the hand of the Cheyenne would finally reach it’s target. Vin, without hesitation, brought his gun up and fired, one quick and well aimed shot. It caught Po'êxao'o in the back and although Vin had a problem with what he had done, shooting someone in the back, he knew he had no choice.

As he approached Chris, he saw Otseemeoo'e run towards the raging river and then Chris quickly followed. He did not know what had happened, but he could tell that Chris was running into the river in terror. He threw down his gun onto the bank and ran up to Otseemeoo'e. He could not see Chris anywhere in the dark river. “What happened?” asked Vin hurriedly.

“Mapiya, she fell in. Chris went after her,” was all Otseemeoo'e said. Vin then quickly started wading into the river, calling Mapiya and Chris’ names. He peered at the dark waters, but still did not see anything of the two lovers. His heart was beating fiercely in his chest, signaling to him of his fears. He could not loose Chris or Mapiya now. Neither loss would surfice in the end. If Chris survived and Mapiya did not, then Vin knew that Chris might as well be dead, for he knew that would be how the gunslinger would look at it. And if Mapiya survived and Chris did not know, not only Mapiya would die inside, be he would also. No. Neither choice was something Vin wanted to deal with.

He turned to Otseemeoo'e and said, “Stay here. I’m sure the others are followin’. I got to go after ‘em.” And then without further delay, he also dove into the watery darkness.

Chris, on the other hand, was swimming further and further out. The water was cold and he felt the frigid liquid starting freeze his extreminities. “Mapiya!” he shouted as water filled his mouth as he swam further out. “Mapiya, please answer me!” No sound came and Chris continued his search for her as he tried to fight the current.

Mapiya found that the river was taking her downstream and fast. She could not outswim the current and she barely was able to keep her head above water to keep from drowning. She had heard Chris’ voice, but it seemed far away and was getting further each moment. She knew the river led back to the creek where her people were, but she would drown way before reaching the thinner place of water. She fervently kept her feet kicking, praying to Ma'heo'o that he would spare her and her child that was not born yet. But Ma'heo'o did not answer and Mapiya swirled faster in the dark water. She found that was being brought closer and closer to the other shore, but as she was about to thanked Ma'heo'o for his divine graciousness, her head hit something hard in the water and the next thing she knew was excruciating pain and then darkness

Chris found himself being taken away with the current, but he did not care. The only thing that mattered in his mind was finding Mapiya.

The turbulent river swirled him around and around until he felt dizzier than he was feeling before he jumped in. Chris tried to ignore it and tried to get his arms and legs to move, but the water was so freezing and that it was starting to stiffen his limbs. It felt like he had been in the water for hours, when it was actually only a few minutes and he felt hisself tiring fast. His weakened body had fought to bring him to the bottom of the canyon as it was, but it could not win trying to fight the river too. Chris continued to call Mapiya’s name, his voice becoming hoarse with use.

At the same time as his body started to give up and he felt himself sinking below the surface of the water, Chris felt a burst of energy come from deep down inside and managed to start his limbs moving again, pushing his way up to the surface and air. He would not give up. He would die trying before he would loose another wife and child. But the energy was only a fleeting moment and he felt himself sinking under the water again.

As he sank for what he thought was the last time, he thought, “My love. We shall be together always. Even unto death.” And with that thought slowly sifting away in his mind, he gave up totally as despair and regret entered his heart and released the breath he was holding.

Ma'heo'o - God

**************************************************************************************************************

Chapter 72

Vin had found Chris, but barely. He had saw when the blond head had disappeared under the dark waters and for a minute his heart almost jumped into his throat. He dove under the frigid water at the spot that Chris had sunk and hoped that he was not too late.

His hand accidentally brushed something under the water and he grabbed at it quickly. He pulled at it and brought it to the surface and was happy to see a blond head of hair. “Thank Ma'heo'o!” exclaimed. But worried him was that Mapiya was nowhere to be seen. He looked carefully at the paled face and closed eyes of his friend and found that the man was not breathing. He knew he had only one choice. He had to take Chris ashore and that meant not looking for Mapiya. His heart was filled with grief and sorrow as he thought of Chris losing another wife and child. It ate at him and tears fell into the dark waters as he dragged his friend to shore.

When he finally heaved Chris body up onto the bank, he heard many footsteps coming towards him. When he looked up, he saw that his friends, Otseemeoo'e, ó'kôhóme, Kovaahe and three Cheyenne warriors were running towards him and his fallen friend. He did not know how they got there, but he was silently thanking Ma'heo'o for his intervention.

Nathan was the first one to kneel down next to Vin and he took over the care for the blond. Nathan noticed that he was not breathing and knew he had to get the water out and start his lungs working again. He had read about a technique that the Dutch had original developed called the “roll method”. It had worked in most cases, as long as they were no obstructions.

He first tilted Chris’ head back and made sure there was nothing in his mouth or that his tongue was not the way. Once he was sure that Chris’ mouth and throat were clear of any obstructions, he took Chris by the shoulders and rolled his body back and forth on the grassy riverbank. He had to do this 16 times. As he did, water poured from Chris’ mouth. Now came the tricky part. He had to apply pressure to Chris’ back while lying on his stomach. His hands were placed on each side of Chris as he slowly and carefully pushed. More water came pouring out Chris’ mouth. The problem was time. He had hoped they had enough. If did get Chris breathing soon, then he would never again.

Vin stood up and walked a few feet to the back away from the healer and unconscious blond Cheyenne. When he stopped and stood gazing at his friend’s limp body lying on the ground, he felt someone place a blanket over his shoulders. He was shivering, but had not noticed it.

It was at this time that he finally saw Otseemeoo'e, her eyes red from crying. He could see a question had formed in those tearing eyes and he felt a lump rise in his throat at what he had to say. “We…We lost her,” said Vin and broke down crying, landing on his knees on the ground.

Otseemeoo'e knelt down and wrapped her arms around the young Texan, her tears also flowing freely, sharing his grief.

This event did not go unnoticed by the others. Buck, Josiah, Ezra, JD, Kovaahe and ó'kôhóme had approached the group and went directly over to two entwined in each other arms. They knew something was wrong when Vin broke down crying in Otseemeoo'e’s arms. But before they could question him as to what happened, they heard Nathan shout as Chris finally took a breath and was choking from the left over water.

“Buck, Josiah, get over here quick and help me!” yelled Nathan.

All thoughts of Vin and Otseemeoo'e was left unasked as Buck and Josiah walked quickly over to where Nathan was working on the blond Cheyenne and they both knelt down next to him.

Nathan looked at them and said, “Help me turn ‘im over. He’s choking.” Buck and Josiah complied and helped the dark skinned healer turn Chris over on his side so that he would not choke on the water that was coming up.

Chris finally coughed and then another and then another and finally air filled his starved lungs.

Chris awoke to the feeling of warm hands on his body and soft voices. He knew he was alive and with it came sudden pain. The pain of his freezing limbs and body and the pain of his realization that he had lost Mapiya.

“Chris! Chris, can ya hear me?” asked Nathan.

Chris opened his eyes and realized a new hole forming in his soul. The lost and the grief came out in one long scream of anguish.

The ones who were not near Nathan and Chris came moving over to them swiftly at the sound of agony that came from the man.

“Nathan? What he hell’s goin’ on and where’s Mapiya?” exclaimed Buck as fear slowly crept into his heart.

“I don’t know, Buck,” said Nathan confused and worried. The man on the ground continued to scream again and again. Then he started to fight them, trying to rise and go back into the water. The others stared in shock at the man violently struggling in the arms of his friends.

“Chris! Chris, calm down!” yelled Nathan.

But Chris’ mind was in his own hell and torment and did not answer his friends. He continued to scream.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Ezra concerned and alarmed at Chris’ display.

“Yeah, and what’s wrong with Vin?” came JD’s question.

The others turned to JD as if he had just grown two heads.

“Vin?” came Josiah’s query, as he looked up into the young man’s face. They had forgotten about him.

“Yeah,” he said pointing back to where Vin and Otseemeoo'e were kneeling. “He’s over there with that other Cheyenne woman and he’s actin’ change,” replied JD.

ó'kôhóme heard this and started walking over to the two huddle forms on the bank. Buck and Ezra followed closely behind, their thoughts in turbulence at the current events.

When they reached the two people, Buck knelt down close to Vin and said, “Vin, what happened? What’s wrong?”

Vin did not lift his head from Otseemeoo'e’s shoulder. Buck watched as the young man shivered with the cold and Otseemeoo'e rub his arms that were in the blanket to try and warm him up.

“Vin! Answer me, damnit!” demanded Buck, shaking the man hard. His anger more directed at the circumstances than at Vin, but he needed to know what happened. It frightened him to see Vin I such a state and in his heart he knew what ever had happened was bad.

Vin finally lifted his head from Otseemeoo'e’s chest. Buck saw the torment in the blue eyes and tears were flowing free.

“Vin?” asked Buck more softly now. “What happened? Where’s…Where’s Mapiya?”

“Buck…” came Vin’s soft whisper. “Oh, God, Buck…” and he broke down crying again.

Buck did not need to know the details. Vin’s current state of mind had told him everything he needed to know.

“No!” said Buck soft denial.

ó'kôhóme heard the low conversation between the two men and he garnered what the tragic outcome was. “It cannot be true,” he said in Cheyenne. “NO! Not Mapiya!” He then started to wail and fell to the grassy bank, beating his fists against the ground.

Otseemeoo'e turned teary eyes up at Buck, hoping to convey what was tearing her heart asunder. “It’s true,” she said in English so that the others could hear. “Emo'ôhtavo vo'e…and Po'êxao'o, they fought. Mapiya, she…she in the way. She fell…in river. Emo'ôhtavo vo'e tried…tried…Netse Ôhvo'komaestse…he tried. They could not find her.” She then started to weep hysterically.

Buck was stunned by her narration. Mapiya dead? It could not be. “Oh, my God!” thought Buck. It was happening again to Chris. Why? Had not the man suffered enough in this world to loose happiness a second time? No wonder Vin was so devastated. He, like Buck, knew what it meant for Chris. Hell and damnation all over again after they had just begun to bring him out of it and he did not think Chris would survive this time.

At this point, Vin threw the blanket around his shoulders to the side and stood up. On wobbly legs, he quickly stepped to where Chris laid. “Chris!” he exclaimed, trying to reach his friend. He fell down on his knees next to his friend. The screaming had ceased and Chris was very still. His eyes were closed in unconsciousness and his breathing came in harsh gasps as if he could not get enough air.

Vin looked at Nathan with pleading red eyes. He wanted the healer’s verdict on his friend’s well being.

Nathan knew that look and shook his head solemnly. “I rightly don’t know, Vin. He took in a lot of water. I’m worried about his lungs.”

This was not what Vin wanted to hear. He wanted to know about his friend’s state of mind as he knew that was in more danger than his body. “Nathan?” he asked, hoping the healer would understand what he wanted.

Nathan did understand what the young Texan wanted and again shook his head sadly. He said, “I don’t know, Vin. I just don’t know.”

Vin sighed despondently and would have fell over in misery it was not for his hands hitting the ground, keeping him from doing so. They shook violently as they held his tired lean body aloft.

Nathan noticed this and grabbed Vin around the shoulders. “Let’s get you and Chris back to the camp. Once it’s daylight we’ll start back to the Cheyenne village,” said Nathan.

Vin could only nod. His throat constricting with the anguish he felt at the lost of Mapiya and the suffering that Chris was about to go through. He was beginning to feel nauseous at what he knew would come later when Chris awoke again and he felt the bile trying to find its way free of his body. He quickly turned away and heaved, as Nathan held onto him, rubbing his back while Vin retched on to the cold ground.

As soon as Nathan figured it was over, he nodded for Buck to go to the river and wet a cloth. Buck completed the task and brought the cloth back to Nathan’s waiting hands. Nathan then wiped the tracker face with the cloth and then said, “Buck, get that blanket on the ground laid over there and then you and Josiah get ‘im on it. I still have some work to do on Chris before we move ‘im.”

Buck moved away to pick up the blanket and then laid it down on the ground not far from Chris. He and Josiah then helped Vin to stand and walk him over to the makeshift bed and laid the tired and distraught young man down on it. Once that done, Kovaahe came over with another blanket and placed it upon Vin’s lying form. “Keep…warm,” was all he said and then moved over to where ó'kôhóme was still kneeling in grief on the ground.

“Where’s he goin’?” asked Buck of Josiah.

“Don’t know. But I’ll be right back,” answered Josiah, following the same path as Kovaahe’s.

Buck then turned to JD and said, “Come over here and help me get Vin warmed, JD.”

JD quickly complied and he and Buck knelt by the tracker, rubbing his limps beneath the blanket to bring back the circulation into the man’s body.

Nathan heard footsteps approach and turned to see Ezra standing near him. “How is Mr. Larabee faring, Mr. Jackson?” questioned Ezra. He was as worried as the others about the tragedy that had befell his companion.

Nathan raised tired brown eyes and said, “Like I told, Vin, I don’t know. I’m worried about the leftover water in his lungs might be makin’ trouble for his breathin’. He’s unconscious right now and that is probably due to shock, but I need to make sure ain’t nothin’ else is wrong before we move ‘im back to camp.”

Ezra only nodded in silence. He knew there was nothing any could say that would make things right at this moment. This was a terrible day for them all, but he knew tomorrow would be worst for Chris when the morning came and he woke up.

***********

The next morning the little camp at the base of the canyon was quiet and somber. The five men, watching over their sleeping friends, had lost someone close to their own hearts and felt the pain that their friends were feeling right now.

After a long night discussion with the Cheyenne and translation at times from Josiah, it was decided that they would make travois to carry the two men and with their prisoner in tow, Otseemeoo'e safe riding one of the other’s horse, they would head back towards the Cheyenne village.

Chris had not reawaken as of yet and the stillness around him concerned the others deeply. Vin, on the other hand had been awake briefly a couple of times, but as soon as he realized where he was and what had happened, quickly fell back into a troubled sleep.

As they started to break camp and get ready for the long march back to the Cheyenne encampment, JD and Ezra watched as Buck paced the ground nervously, making them wanting to physical stop the tall man.

“Mr. Wilmington, would you please decease your inadvertent annihilation of the unfortunate grassland that happens to be in the path of your destruction?” requested Ezra annoyed.

“What?” replied Buck, stopping in his tracks and eyeing the gambler bewildered.

“He means Buck, stop ya damn pacing!” retorted JD irritated. “It’s drivin’ us nuts!”

Buck looked at them contrite. “I’m sorry, boys. It’s just that all this…”

Ezra and JD gazed at the man in sympathy. They knew what was bothering him and it was of a great worried to them all.

“We completely understand, Mr. Wilmington. We are as abhorred at the current events as you are, but this constant pacing will not change things.”

“Yeah, but it might get this excess energy I got that’s kickin’ me in the ribs like a polecat mule.”

“Granted, Mr. Wilmington. But if you could just decrease it some…”

“Yeah. Alright, Ez,” answered Buck, knowing that the others were feeling the same way as he did.

At that moment, Nathan came over to them and said, “We’re about ready to move ‘em. Ezra, you and JD move Vin on to that travois,” he said pointing to the travois that was hooked up behind Peso. “And Buck, you and Josiah help me with Chris to the travois set up behind his horse.”

“Right, Nathan, I’ll get Josiah. He went to talk to Kovaahe again,” replied Buck and walked away to the other side of the camp.

“You got it, Nathan,” answered JD.

“Expediently, Mr. Jackson,” said Ezra, following JD over to where Vin lay.

Nathan looked over to where the two men laid on the ground and shook his head in thought. As far as he was concerned, things did not look to good for their two friends. He just hoped they would get better once they made it back to the Cheyenne camp.

***********

It was another day when they finally reached the Cheyenne camp. Chief Aenohe and his men were waiting for their arrival.

They knew the Chief had heard about the bad news that they brought with them. Kovaahe had sent a rider back to camp ahead of the party to inform the Chief of the news. The rider was ó'kôhóme and although the man was terribly distressed by what happened, he insisted on being the one to carry the news back to his father. Of course, as they approached the village, they saw he was not one part of the welcoming party.

As the small band of Cheyenne, five friends, two women and two travois came walking into the encampment, many of the other people of Cheyenne came out to help.

Several Cheyenne warriors helped remove the travois from the horses and helped the returning warriors gently carry the sick men to the home of Emo'ôhtavo vo'e, with Nathan following behind. The Chief then sent the young boy Se'tovaotse, Smoke Appears to inform the medicine man that he was needed there. Two women and Otseemeoo'e’s parents quickly walked over to the still griefing woman. Me'eohtseva'e was taken away by two warriors to stand in judgement by the council.

As the rest of the four men and Kovaahe, they stood before the old Chief and could see how much he had aged within the past couple of days.

“Chief, we are very sorry for your lost,” said Josiah.

“My…my sun is gone. I cannot believe it, but when my son returned with the horrible news and when I look at my adopted son, I know it to be the truth,” said the Chief sadly. They could see the tears being held back, but knew it would not be long before the Chief himself would be off alone to grief in private.

“Vin tried to…tried to save her,” put in JD.

“I know, young one. I know his heart and how he felt about my daughter and her husband. There is no more to be said.”

“But we still haven’t found…found a body yet,” interjected Buck. He held hopes for a miracle and that Mapiya might be found alive and well.

“I have sent men to search the rest of the river. They will be back tomorrow. We will see,” the chief answered. He then sighed deeply and said, “From the way my adopted son looked, I have fears that he will be joining my daughter and grandchild very soon.”

“Chris is strong, Chief Aenohe,” said Josiah. “God willing, he will survive.”

Chief Aenohe stared at Josiah in doubt. He knew how much Emo'ôhtavo vo'e loved Mapiya and how happy he was at their prospect of a child. He had no false hopes and knew if he did survive, he would not be the same man.

“We will see in this also, Holy Man,” replied Chief Aenohe. He then turned around and went back towards where his own home was located.

Josiah turned to face the other three men and saw the doubt and fear in their eyes. He said, “We cannot give up hope, brothers if we expect Chris to beat this.”

“Yeah,” said Buck reluctantly. “If somethin’ happens to Chris, that boy in there ain’t gonna be the same.”

They all looked at Buck and knew he was stating only what they were all thinking.

“Well, let us go and see what assistance, Mr. Jackson has need of,” said Ezra walking away towards Chris Cheyenne home. The others followed, hoping that things would look better tomorrow. It was all they could do.

***********

It was two days later when Chris finally awoke. He opened his eyes and knew it was night outside, he could hear almost silence except for the ever so barking of the village dogs. He lay there, still, not moving, afraid that if he did, he would find out that what he remembered was not a dream.

His chest hurt when he breathed and he could not fathom what he had done to make it so. Causing himself some pain, he sat up on an elbow and saw that he was in his home among the Cheyenne. The fire was almost out and his friends were asleep, all scattered around the tipi area.

His eyes went searching among the sleeping forms, trying to find the one person that he needed to see the most. She was not among them. The memories of what happened earlier became more real and Chris felt the anguish and loss mount in his chest. She was gone! So was their child! It was happening all over again. He wanted to scream, to shout to the world and God of their injustice at it, but instead he held his tongue, anger flaring and taking over the grief and pushing it to the darkness of his inner soul. He swore he would never love again. He would keep away from those who would love him. He could not afford to lose anyone else to his luck of destruction and death.

As Chris sat there seething in rage, not knowing where to vent it, he did not see the quiet blue eyes that watched him.

Vin knew when Chris had awoken. It was feeling and that feeling made it imperative that he also awake. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into the back of the blond Cheyenne, his friend, quietly not saying a word, but feeling the turmoil the man was sending.

Vin did not want to disturb Chris and kept silent in his own thoughts, hoping the man would notice his presence without his own intervention. But he did not. Chris just kept his eyes forward, staring at what, Vin did not know. He decided he needed to see how Chris was, he needed to see his eyes.

“Chris?”

Chris did not answer. In fact, Vin watched as his shoulders stiffened in response to his call.

“Chris? Please answer me,” Vin pleaded softly.

Chris could not ignore that plea. He turned to face Vin as he leaned up on the pallet when he saw Chris move to face him.

“Chris…I’m…I’m so sorry, Pard,” said Vin sadly.

Chris nodded that he understood. It was all they needed to say, but he knew the young tracker was worried about him and he knew what he would say next.

“How ya doin’, Cowboy?”

Chris shrugged his shoulders as a response. There was nothing he could say to the young Texan at this moment. His heart ached too much and his anger was still on the surface.

“Chris, it wasn’t your fault,” said Vin hoping to try and ease his friend pain. But he knew right now the only thing that would ease Chris’ pain is if they found Mapiya and after his conversation yesterday with Chief Aenohe, he knew that was impossible.

The Chief had sent men to search the river. They had found no sign of Mapiya or her body. Vin had clung to a small hope that they would. But when they returned and he saw Chief Aenohe’s face, he knew differently. But Vin refused to give up hope. As long as he held hope for Mapiya, he held hope for Chris. Without it, his friend was truly lost.

“Chris, listen, Pard, why don’t ya try and get some sleep. Nate says ya took a lot of water into ya lungs and ya might be feelin’ a little poorly right now.”

Chris eyes glared at him hard. Vin knew what he was thinking. “I’m sorry, Chris. I didn’t mean…”

Chris lowered his eyes and shook his head, trying to negate Vin’s feeling of guilt, but it did little to sooth the worry away from the tracker. That worry extended from the fact that he did not think Chris was going to stay sane after losing another wife and child. No man could. It was just too much to ask for and this where Vin’s fear came from.

“Chris, I know that things don’t look so good right now, Pard. But I promise ya. If Mapiya is alive, we will find her.”

At this statement, Chris eyes opened wide in surprise. “You…you would do that?” came Chris’ raspy soft reply. “You believe she is alive?”

“They haven’t found a body yet, Chris. There is still hope.”

Chris nodded, but Vin could see the slight doubt in his eyes.

“If ya can’t believe in that, Chris, then believe in us. We will find her, if not alive, then we will find her and bring her home to rest.”

At that comment, Chris resolve broke and turned from the man as the tears flowed freely down his face.

Vin watched as he saw the man’s body shake with grief and move over to pull the blond into his arms. Once those arms held Chris, the dam that he was holding back burst and the man sobbed into his friend’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Chris,” Vin whispered into his ear. “We gonna find her. I swear it.”

***********

Mapiya opened her tired eyes and awoke to find she was lying in something soft and warm. She looked around and saw that she was on a buffalo skin pallet and old worn blanket was thrown lightly over her. She realized she was in a tipi but not of Cheyenne make. It looked more like the ones she saw when they visited the Comanches long ago.

She remembered Emo'ôhtavo vo'e fighting with Po'êxao'o and she remembered falling into the river. She heard Emo'ôhtavo vo'e calling for her, but his voice had got further and further away as the river current pulled her downstream. She remembered hitting something and feeling the pain in her head as she did, but she did not remember how she got here.

She felt weak and tired. Her body burned with heat and Mapiya knew she had a fever. She was about to rise from her pallet, when a small red-skinned hand held her down. “Don’t move. You…hurt,” said the voice of a woman. Mapiya turned to find a young Comanche woman kneeling by her side. She looked to be around Mapiya’s age and seemed to know some words in Cheyenne.

“You speak Cheyenne?” she asked.

“Not…well. Little. Husband, he speak more,” replied the woman.

At that moment, a young Comanche brave, about the same as Mapiya walked into the tipi. He looked at Mapiya and smiled and then went quickly over to the woman and nodded. “It is good. She awake,” he said.

“Yes, my husband,” said the Comanche woman. She then spoke very quickly in Comanche and Mapiya only caught a few words like, “sick” and “needs rest”. The Comanche woman then fell silent and the man that she called husband turned smiling again to Mapiya.

He said in Cheyenne, “We found you by the river, my wife and I. You hit your head on a tree branch in the river. What you do in river?”

“I fell into the river. It was an accident. My name is Mapiya. It means Sun in Cheyenne.”

“In Comanche, I am called Red Moon and this is my wife, Far Woman.”

“Where am I? How long have I been here?”

“We found you four days ago. You were sick with river water sickness. You are still sick. My wife, she has been caring for you. This is the camp of Chief White Cloud. “

“I must get back to my people, my husband. They will be worried about me,” said Mapiya trying to get up again.

The Comanche gently pushed her back onto the pallet. “You are not well. You will not live if you go out into the wilderness. Your baby will die, “ he said touching her belly lightly.

This statement floored Mapiya. She had not considered the consequences to her unborn child.

Red Moon saw that Mapiya understood and said, “You will get better. Then we will find your people. For now, we move to the winter camps and you must take care of yourself and the life that you carry.”

Mapiya knew the Red Moon spoke wise words. For her not to heed them, would put not only herself in jeopardy, but her child also. She lay back on the pallet, feeling the fever increasing again and sighed. She thought, “We will find you, my husband.” And then she drifted into a restless sleep.

*************************************************************************************************************

Chapter 73 Epilogue

It was seven days later when Nathan had determined that Chris and Vin were well enough for the ride back home.

It came as a shock and a relief to Vin, although he regretted thinking the latter, as he friend still was mourning the lost of his wife and child. Even though Chris had put back on his old face, the tough gunslinger façade, it did nothing to calm Vin’s worries. He knew deep down in the side the man was being eaten by despair, grief and anger from the inside.

He was waiting for Chris to come back from his visit with Mapiya’s father and brother. They, unlike Chris and Vin, did not have any hope that Mapiya was alive. Her father, still grieving for the lost of his what he called “beautiful sun”, had determined that even if Mapiya had survived the river, there was too many other things that could have happen, making her chances less likely that she was alive. Being that, the Chief had held a Cheyenne funeral for his daughter three days earlier.

The funeral was very solemn without a body. The Cheyenne funeral ceremony was much like the Lakota (Sioux) of the plains. There was a four-day mourning period, in which the village mourned the lost of their wise woman. For Vin, it was four days of hell, watching his friend turning deeper and deeper into himself, not acknowledging any of them.

In fact, at one point, Nathan became hysterical with concern at the lack of appetite the blond Cheyenne had and knowing that he needed nourishment to heal properly. He argued with Chris on a constant basis and Vin watched with ever-growing sad eyes the pain he saw there. The healer’s pleas fell on deaf ears and it was Vin that he turned to for help.

Vin did his best and got Chris to eat, but it was still not as much as he and the others would have liked. Especially since of late the man could not keep the food down long enough for his body to use the nutrition it had.

It was during the building of the scaffold, which had no body to hold and the placing of personal belongings of Mapiya that it had first happened. The family, including Chris was laying items upon the scaffold, saying goodbye in the Cheyenne way, when Chris saw Otseemeoo'e walk up beside him and place a pâhoešestôtse on to the scaffold. Chris green eyes went wide with shock and the man quickly turned from the scaffolding, the ceremony, and his friends and ran back towards the creek.

The others watched in bewilderment and worry and turned their eyes to Vin.

“I’ll go after ‘im,” he said and ran after the troubled blond.

Buck and the others turned to Otseemeoo'e who was looking at the ground guilty.

“What just happened?” exclaimed Buck. “What is that?”

“It is a pâhoešestôtse,” volunteered Josiah. “It’s a Cheyenne cradleboard. It’s used to carry around a child on the woman’s back.”

“Oh, my God!” said Buck and he lifted his hat and swiped his hair with his hand.

“I am...sorry,” said Otseemeoo'e. “I…make…for Mapiya. For…child.”

“It’s not your fault, child,” said Josiah. “It’s just going to take some time.”

“But how much time?” questioned Buck doubtfully. “I don’t we got any, Josiah. Chris ain’t gon’na live through this again.”

“We gotta do somethin’, Buck,” inputted JD.

“But what? The only thing that will help that man is to find Mapiya,” stated Buck.

“But how?” asked JD.

“I don’t know, JD. But we better find a way and fast or we gon’na loose ‘im.”

“Well, maybe we can figure somethin’ out once we get back into town,” came Nathan’s statement.

They all turned to look at him.

“Did anyone of ya here that Chris was coming home?” asked Buck.

“I thought he was home,” said Josiah, stating what he thought was obvious to everyone.

“So in other words, we don’t have an answer to Mr. Larabee’s decision,” replied Ezra.

“Nope,” was all Josiah said.

“Well, I thought after all that has happened…” started Nathan.

“Yeah, Nate. We know,” said Buck. “But I don’t think Chris has made up his mind just yet and right now I don’t know if he will.”

“Well, there is someone who probably does know,” said Josiah and they all turned to look back the way the two men had run.

*************

When Vin had got to Chris, he found him on his knees, vomiting his guts out on to the grassy ground by the creek.

Vin quickly knelt beside him, holding up his shoulders as he let the man release what little food he had in his stomach on to the ground.

Once Chris was finished, he sat back on his heels, breathing heavily as tears ran freely down his cheeks. Vin still kneeling behind him, knew what was going on in the man’s head and wanted to try and bring him some comfort but knew the man would not accept it right now.

“Chris?” called Vin softly.

“I can’t take this anymore, Vin. I just can’t.”

“Chris, I told ya, ya can’t give up hope.”

“I know, Vin, but it’s just to hard. When I think…When I think about all that I’ve lost, I just want to…to die,” said Chris breaking down sobbing heavily.

Vin pulled the man into his arms and wrapped them around him, while the man cried his heart out into his shoulder. “We’ll find her, Chris. I swear,” he said softly.

That was three days ago and now they were getting to head back to Four Corners. Chris still did not look well and Vin was afraid of what the man was doing to himself. If and when they found Mapiya, she did not want her to find her husband a corpse. He had to think of a way to get the man back to