Eagle People (19 page)

Both warriors were tied to the poles and secured well, with their hands tied behind them and their legs secured, as well. Brush was gather and stacked around the men. When the brush was finally chest high to the old Chief he said, “Light the fire. Let us truly see how brave the warriors of the Wolf People really are.”

Both men were heard praying loudly as the flames started at the base of the brush. Then, seconds later, as hot flames began to lick at the men, it brought screams of pain and fear. Finally, the brush pile was full of flames and the inhumane screams from the two men sent chills down the Chief's spine. The men were now inside the inferno and their flesh was melting. Abruptly, all sounds from within the fire stopped, except for the cracking and popping of the water in the wood.

The sweet smell of burnt flesh filled the air, and the Plains warriors gave loud screams of joy at their victory over the hated Wolf People. The Wolf People were no more.

“Gather the men and prepare the prisoners for moving!” said the Chief.

One woman made a mad dash toward the trees, but the loud twang of a bowstring was heard and she fell screaming.  

“Finish her.” the Chief yelled.

The warrior moved to the woman, squatted beside her and cut her throat. As she died, she thought,
Now I will never see my revenge on the Wolf Clan bear fruit. I have spread the—
, her

 world turned gray and then rapidly turn black, she was dead.

Chapter 13

THE WARRIOR
of the
G
reat
L
akes
P
eople
didn't cry out as Eldon pulled his arms out and tied them to the stakes. The stakes were driven deeply in the soil of the plains and could not be removed easily. When Eldon secured his legs he'd almost gone insane from the pain in his hip. The arrow remained in place. The warrior was now spread out on the grasses naked, his clothes cut off.

The Eagle warrior took his knife and made four long gashes in each of the man's legs and arms, getting only a loud grunt with each cut. “You are a brave man, warrior, but you will die. Have you seen what ants will do to a human body? They will strip you of flesh, but slowly, and over days in a hot sun.  Most die for the need of water, not the ants.”

Eldon then grabbed the man's hair, lifted his head, and sliced both cheeks deeply.

Mongoose, who was standing near, said, “It is the blood that attracts the ants. Within an hour you will feel them feasting on your flesh. If you believe in the One Above, now would be a good time to speak with him. In a few hours, you'll be almost insane from thirst and pain.”

Placing his clean knife in his sheath, he'd wiped the blood on the doomed warriors shirt, Eldon said, “Come, we must ride.” He then picked up the warrior's clothing and moved toward his horse, with the others following.

As they walked to the horses, the warrior screamed, “Don't leave me like this! What kind of people are you? Please, don't let me die like this! I don't want to die. Do you hear me?”

The warriors of the Eagle Clan ignored the man as they mounted their horses. It was a little after sunrise and they had a full day of riding planned. As they rode past the man, Mongoose said, “I, a woman, decided your manner of death, so think on that fact as you die.”

“Don't leave me! Kill me, but don't leave me to die like this!” the ill-fated warrior screamed.

“Let's ride, we're wasting daylight.” Eldon said as he moved his horse forward at a slow walk, while leading a packhorse.

The weather was cool, but not cold, only the cold season was coming. While the sky was clear of clouds, the light wind had a bite, so each pulled out a thin buckskin jacket.

Shortly after their nooning,  they topped a crest; on the plains in the valley below were hundreds, if not thousands of cattle. Wanting fresh meat, Mongoose said, “Let us try to kill a young bull or a cow. No reason to take an adult animal, because the meat will spoil before we can eat all of it, which would be a waste.”

“I see wolves on the outside edges of the group, or maybe wild dogs. It's too far to see clearly.” Eldon said.

“It matters little, because their behavior is the same. Once an animal is down, two of us will watch, while the other quarters the meat. Be sure to take the loin, heart and liver. Leave the skin on and we can skin the meat as we use it.” Mongoose replied.

Thirty minutes later, a young bull lay dead in the grasses. When they approached the animal, Lydia dismounted and said, “I will skin as you two watch.”

The other two gracefully slid from the backs of their horses, pulled their bows and made an arrows ready. Wolves were soon spotted trotting toward the kill.

Lydia expertly and quickly quartered the animal and then removed the loin, heart, and liver.  Dividing the meat into piles, she soon had it loaded on all four horses. The wolves were smart and had experience with men, because they remained just out of arrow distance. Eldon smiled when he noticed they were patiently sitting on their asses.
Once we leave, they will converge on the remains and within an hour, all that will remain are a few bones,
he thought.

“Let's ride, I have the meat loaded.” Lydia said, and then mounted her horse.

Soon, as they moved away from the kill, all three saw the wolves moving for the dead carcass of the animal. Vultures would be circling the kill and would soon strip the body of anything edible overlooked or unwanted by the wolves.

Shortly before dusk, they stopped near a small, but cold stream for the night. There were a few stunted trees growing hear the banks of the stream, but other than that, no trees of any size were in the area.  A canvas shelter was soon made, a fire started, and fresh meat was cooking over the open fire. As they sat in the dirt around the flickering flames, Eldon said, “Tonight, the same shifts. I will watch from midnight until day break.”

The meal was finished with little talk, which was normal for Eagle warriors while traveling.  When they needed to speak, they usually used sign language to keep the noise down. Mongoose smiled and signed, “Looks like rain or snow coming.”

Eldon signed back, “It matters little. We have coats and blankets, so we are prepared.” Then standing he said, “I'm going to my blankets now. My shift is a long one.”

The two warriors by the fire nodded, but didn't reply.

A few minutes later, Lydia moved over by the horses to stand guard and Mongoose went to her blankets. Within minutes, not a sound was heard and the fire was slowly dying. When her shift finished, Lydia woke Mongoose and then climbed under the shelter. Moving to where she could still see the horses, as well as camp, Mongoose sat on the cold damp ground. It was then she noticed snowflakes falling around them.

It's the first snow of the year, so it won't last long,
she thought and then buttoned her coat.
But, if it grows too deep, we'll not ride tomorrow or a horse could slip and fall, breaking a leg.

She let her mind run wild, with random thoughts shooting from all directions. She thought of the baby to come, her love for Amon, and even her dead parents. She wondered what it must have been like to live as the Ancient Ones. They'd had light at night, heat and cool air in their lodges, a box to keep meats and foods cool, and even an endless amount of entertainment, or so she'd once read. But, the Learned Ones said the Ancient Ones were hard to please and were never happy. They'd had medicines that cured most diseases, were able to save the lives of many seriously injured, but they'd lost the grace of God and soon fell as a nation. Now a person lived just slightly better than animals and most died before they were forty. She'd read of some Ancient Ones living to be well over a hundred years old, and she did not believe it was possible.  

In the same book, she'd read old people were placed in lodges with other old people where they waited to die.
Why would they do that? Did they not honor their old ones? Did they not tap the wisdom of those who'd walked the path of life for many long years?
It made no sense to her.
What was that noise?
she thought, and then scanned the area for movement. She saw nothing.

Picking up a small pebble, she threw it toward Eldon, striking him on the leg. She couldn't see his face, but when she glanced at the shelter a minute later, both warriors were gone.
There,
she thought,
I see movement again.

She slowly moved toward the horses. It was then she noticed the wind was blowing toward the movement, which meant the horses could smell nothing yet. Looking toward the fire, she saw it was out and not even red glowing coals were seen.

A series of low grunts were heard and the sound confused Mongoose. Minutes passed with no sound or noise, when suddenly a huge dark form stood and gave a loud roar!

“Grizzly!”  Eldon screamed as he ran for the horses.

The bear charged, but suddenly stopped about twenty feet from the horses. Grunting and sniffing the air, the big beast stood on it's back legs. Mongoose let an arrow fly, as did Eldon, who was now by her side. Roaring, either in anger or pain, the grizzly bear walked toward their mounts. Eldon moved forward, spear in hand and Mongoose admired his bravery. She shot two more arrows into the animal, but it had no effect on the bear.

When Eldon stabbed with the spear, the beast knocked the weapon out of his hands with one swing of his right paw, and then moved toward the man.  

Mongoose yelled and fired an arrow, hoping to draw the big animal from Eldon, only it didn't work. She heard a loud scream from the warrior and then saw the bear was on top of him. Eldon was curled up in a fetal position with his arms crossed in front of his neck, obviously to protect his belly and throat.

Dropping her bow, Mongoose picked up her spear and ran at the animal.
Where is Lydia?
she thought, as she stuck the point of her spear a good six inches into the beast's side. The bear dropped Eldon, she'd had the warriors head in her mouth, and stood on her rear legs again. Two arrows struck the animal within a second or so of each other. Lydia was heard screaming and a bright light suddenly filled the camp.

Mongoose moved forward once again with her spear, but the bear knocked the point away, swung a paw hard, and knocked her out of the way. Laying on her back in the grasses, she felt no pain, but her world quickly faded into darkness until she knew no more.

Mongoose heard a slight noise when opened her eyes. She was on her back under the gray canvas of a shelter. It was daylight, only she had no idea of the time of day. Turning her head slightly, which brought pain, she saw Eldon sleeping beside her.
The bear attack,
she thought as she remembered the battle. Raising her head, which cause her eyes to blink back tears, she saw Lydia sitting beside a small fire, her chin on her chest. Snow, as far as she could see, covered the ground.

“W . . . whiskey.” Mongoose said; speaking even a single word brought pain.

Lydia moved to her side, opened a bottle of the strong drink and said, “You've been unconscious for days, and I thought you'd both die. Eldon awoke about an hour ago and I fed him enough whiskey to put him asleep.” She then raised Mongoose's head and allowed some of the strong drink to flow into her mouth.

After drinking two cups of the whiskey, Mongoose asked, “The . . . bear?”

“Dead, but not before it killed my horse. The other three horses broke from the picket line, but I found them the next morning in a valley nearby. We are lucky I found any horses, because the bear scared them all badly. Hell, it scared me.”

“Bear . . . dead?”

“Look around you and you'll see meat drying in the sunlight. I placed six more arrows into the big brute before she finally dropped. So, we'll have beef, horse, and bear jerky, once it dries.  Don't worry about moving yet, because we have a good foot of snow on the ground, which is too much to be moving in. The meat may not cure properly, because it's pretty close to freezing right now.”

“More . . . drink.”

Lydia raised her head and fed the injured woman two more cups of whiskey, lowered her head, and then said, “Eldon had about half of his scalp torn off, two busted ribs and a single deep claw mark down his back. I fixed him up as best I could, and even sewed his scalp back on. Now, you, you've a twisted ankle, two claw marks on your chest and boobs, and a dark bruise on the side of your face. I ain't sure about your ribs, but don't think any are broken.”