Eagle People (21 page)

“Aaron, Gideon, and two others, hold him down.” Amon said as he pulled his knife.

“You told me I could live!”

“And, I told you the truth. Rachel, come to me.”

Rachel made her way to Amon and then asked, “What do you want of me?”

“Take this knife and blind him. In the morning, he is then to be taken one mile from his village, turned toward his people, and then released. He will be given the oldest horse we have.”

A wicked smile was on her face when she took the knife in her right hand and squatted beside Asa as the men held him down. Two quick pokes of the knife tip, and the Wolf Chief was screaming and jerking. Blood ran down his cheeks as Amon said, “Shaman, care for our enemy. Tomorrow before we release him, we will pray for his recovery and survival. Let him live, so he may tell others that the Eagle Clan keep their word once given. His
life
has been spared, as promised.”

The next morning, when Amon visited the shaman, he discovered Asa was gone. He'd been tied to a horse and the Dog Soldiers had released him within a mile of his village. They'd even told him, “Keep the sunlight in your face as you move, and you will return safely to your people. Do not bother the Eagle People again or we will kill you the next time.”

“You have kept your word.” the shaman said to Amon.

“Yes, but I never should have given it.”

“Who can argue the right or wrong of doing what you did? You did return him to his people and alive. You did not break your word. You learned many things we did not know before.”

Growing uncomfortable with the talk, Amon made an excuse and left the lodge.

He'd just left the lodge when Gideon neared and asked, “Are we to attack the Wolf People?”

“Yes, we will do so and within a month. The best we can anticipate is to eliminate all of them, and the least to expect is to seriously hurt them. They are fewer now.”

Gideon nodded and then asked, “When do you think Mongoose will return?”

“It will take time for them to go to the Cheyenne Mountain People and return, even without trouble. Let's just hope they can do the trip safely and without the loss life.

“I agree and pray they have a safe trip.  On a different subject, I have seen pictures in books of a different America. Everyone was smiling and sitting at a large table filled with food. It must have been a holy day. I wonder what happened and how the country collapsed.”

“No one has written about it, not that I know, but the next time you visit the books, look up the Roman Empire and see what happened to them. Some nations in the past have grown so large, they think they control the world. They try to be the world's Dog Soldiers, but the world is too big. Then they take the worlds problems as their own. They give and continue to give, until they must borrow things to give. Then, because they cannot return what they have borrowed, eventually no one will loan them anything. It is only a matter of time after that and they will fall. I suspect, but don't really know, that is what happened, because it happened to the Romans. You need to read about them, and you will learn much.”

“I can see where people would get tired of giving and never having anything returned.”

I would tell you about taxes too, but it would only confuse you,
he thought, but said, “Read and learn. We must know our history to avoid repeating it in the future.”

“You are wise for someone so young.”

“No, I am not wise, but learned. My father was one of the Learned Ones and made sure I acquired knowledge of many different things. It's made my life easier, I think.”

“When you go for the Wolf People, I wish to join you.”

Placing his hand on Gideon's shoulder, Amon said, “You will go, my friend. Now, I must check with the leader of the Dog Soldiers and see if we are safe.”

Byron was grinning, because Asa had managed to get himself killed, either on the field of battle or as a captive.
Let's hope the sonofabitch was captured, because then his death will be slow and with much pain,
he thought as he rode toward home. Immediately after they'd regrouped following the disastrous attack on the Eagle People, he'd declared himself the new leader. With him being second in command, no one challenged him.

This morning open sores were on his penis and they ached. He'd been swallowing whiskey since daybreak and with him the new leader, he knew no one would say anything to him about it either.  He pulled the jar, took a long gulp, and thought,
I need a woman, a good meal, and some rest. I'm not mentally tired, but my body is worn out. Now my pecker has sores. There has to be a way to cure this disease.

His thoughts were disrupted by a scout who approached him. The young warrior said, “Byron, our village was attacked and there are no survivors.”

“What? How can that be?”

“I'm simply telling you, I saw what is left of the village and bodies were covering the ground.  Most lodges have collapsed or been burned. I didn't enter the village, but wanted to report it in case you have a plan.”

“Plan? I have no damned plan. How far is the village from here?”

“About two more miles. I saw no one alive or moving, and I watched for over an hour.”

“Return and wait for us. It is possible we'll have some wounded or maybe some of our people ran away.”

“I will return.”

“Wait.”

Turning in his saddle, Byron called out, “Ora, come to me.”

Riding to the front of the line, Ora asked, “What do you need of me?”

“Our village was attacked while we were gone. I'd warned Asa of this, so go and see if you can locate the tracks of any of our people who may have escaped. Go with this young scout.”

“If anyone got away, I will know. Come, we need to ride.”

As soon as the two men left him, he called out, “Double our rate of travel. Our village has been attacked while we were gone.”

As they moved at a fast walk, Byron thought,
I told that dumb-shit it was dangerous to leave so few men behind. Now our people have paid for his stupidity. I wonder how many survived, if any. What if all are dead or taken? What will we do next?

Twenty minutes later, they met the young scout and Ora as they stopped at the edge of the village.  

“Any survivors?” Byron asked.

“Two or three is all, but the attackers were following them. I suspect they found 'em too, unless they were warriors. We have one man that yet lives, but he'll die.”

“What injuries does he have?”

“Gut wound, arrow through his body.”

“He'll die then.”

“As I said. We did find an awkward surprise, too.”

“Oh?”

“Asa has returned.”

“How is that possible?”
Damn, now I'll lose my new status as the Chief,
he thought.

“I have no idea and his mind is about gone. He kept babbling about his eyes and someone named Amon.”

Byron shrugged and then asked, “Is something wrong with his eyes?”

Ora grinned and said, “Uh-huh, you could say that. Both were poked out and he's as blind as a bat in the bright sunlight.” Then, as if reading Byron's mind, the tracker said, “So, you'll remain our leader.”

Turning in his saddle, Byron said, “Dismount and check the village for survivors.”

The dead had only been that way for twenty-four hours, but already the smell of death was strong. The bodies, all mutilated, had swollen bellies and flies were thick. Near the first lodge was a young boy of about ten years old, mutilated, and his unseeing eyes reflecting his fear and pain. Byron watched in morbid fascination as big green blowflies walked in and out of the dead boys mouth. One fly walked across an open eye and then entered the youngsters nose.

Ora neared, leading Asa.

“Why do you have him with you now? You should be checking for our injured.”

“Asa,” Ora said, “has something to say to you. Asa, tell him what you just told me.”

“You, Byron, cannot lead our people. God has punished me, but I can still lead. Now that all have returned, I am the leader.”

Raising his spear to waist level, Byron said, “No, Asa, you are not fit to lead. Blind as you are, you're more of a liability than a leader. You are of no use to The People.”

“I demand that you step—”

Tired, hungry, and not in the mood to listen to Asa's ramblings, Byron gave a thrust of his spear, catching Asa right below his sternum. He pushed until the spearhead exited the blind man's back.

Asa screamed and then both hands instantly came up to hold the spear. Blood was flowing from his wounds as Byron said, “You're no leader and never have been. You led through fear, not intelligence, only your days on earth are finished now.”

The old chief fell to his knees, weakened by the loss of blood, and kept saying, “You promised not to kill me.”

Kicking the blind man onto his side, Byron said, “I made no such promise. I've wanted the satisfaction of killing your worthless ass for years. The wait has been worth it, and it pleases me to see you die.”

Ora stood grinning, because he had no desire to lead, and was in a position of authority, with little responsibility.

“Come, Ora, because Asa is dying. We need to check for those that may have survived the attack.”

As they walked away, Asa was screaming and clawing at the hard-packed dirt.

An hour later, Ora walked to Byron's side and said, “The ones responsible for the attack were the Plains People, according to the markings on the arrows and spears. Only two women were killed, but all are gone, so they were taken as breeding stock or slaves.”

“What did the gut injured man tell you?”

“Before he died, he confirmed it was the Plains People, and a force he estimated to be over two hundred warriors.”

“That many?”

Ora shrugged and then said, “That's what the man said and of all people, he likely knew the numbers well enough. Should we gather the dead?”

“No, have the men gather all that we can use; gear, tools, foods, and prepare to leave.”

“Our horses are gone as well. All we have are what we're riding.”

“I expected that too, but what of our sheep?”

“Killed. The destruction is total, pretty much, unless they overlooked something.”

“Well, have the men look and we'll leave in an hour. In the mean time, send two scouts to follow the Plains People and lets see if we can extract some revenge.”

Ora smiled and then walked to speak with his men.

Chapter 15

MONGOOSE AND HER SMALL GROUP
were in some cottonwoods near a small stream. They'd ridden hard for over an hour and the last time they'd seen the warriors, they were close enough to identify them as Northern Plains People. However, the number had dropped from thirteen to seven.

“Stick some arrows in the ground by your foot. Every second will count when they ride over that hill looking for us. Try to kill with each shot, which means we have to let them get close to us.”  Eldon warned as he started sticking arrowheads into the dirt.

He'd no sooner spoken than the group appeared over the hill, and they were moving fast. When the first rider was right in front of them and slowed down looking for tracks, Eldon sent an arrow flying, which struck the man in the middle of his chest. He gave a loud scream, but two others fell screaming as well. All three Eagle warriors were now fighting.