Comanche Woman (23 page)

Long Quiet’s eyes came to rest on She Touches First’s face, which was taut with anguish, then shifted back to the
puhakut. “Hihites,”
he said in greeting. “How fares Many Horses?”

“He lives,” the
puhakut
replied. “The wound is bad, but he is a strong man and my buffalo medicine is also strong. It would be best, though, if Shadow were to leave this village.”

“She will be staying here for a while yet.”

“It is not safe for her here,” the
puhakut
said.

“What do you mean? Has someone threatened her? Where is she?” Long Quiet demanded.

“She has not come here this morning,” the
puhakut
replied. “But it would be wise for you to watch Shadow closely lest some harm befall her.”

“It would be even wiser for you to advise those who would harm Shadow that they will have to deal with me,” Long Quiet retorted.

In an attempt to forestall a confrontation between the two men, Cries at Night said, “Perhaps she has gone to fetch some wood for your fire or water to wash with.”

But she was too late.

“Do you threaten the
puhakut?
” He Decides It said.

“I do not threaten. And I will not offer another warning.” Long Quiet pivoted and ducked outside.

Where was Shadow? He calmed his nerves by thinking that Cries at Night was probably right—Shadow had simply gone to fetch more water or wood. But Long Quiet couldn’t rest until he knew for sure.

Bay opened her eyes to a sky that was a cloudless blue. It took her a moment to remember what had happened. She realized she must have been knocked unconscious by her fall. She could feel the wolf’s panting breath in her hair.

“Shadow, don’t move. Don’t talk.”

Bay heard Long Quiet’s soft command and automatically started to rise.

“Don’t move,” he said quietly but urgently.

The three Comanches stood behind Long Quiet, who tried to take another step closer to her. The wolf bristled and bared its fangs.

Bay shivered and closed her eyes. What was the animal waiting for? Then she felt the wolf’s cold nose against her skin.

“Oh, my.” Bay lifted her head to look more closely at the wolf.

“Be still,” Long Quiet warned tersely. “While I try—”

“The wolf won’t harm me,” Bay said.

While the four men watched in awe, Bay slowly sat up, put her arms around the wolf’s neck, and hugged it. The animal merely whined as its rough tongue licked her face.

“It’s Ruffian,” Bay explained to Long Quiet. “That means Rascal is around here somewhere.” Ruffian barked, and another wolf miraculously appeared.

The looks on the faces of Comes Running and his friends now bespoke terror as Bay was flanked by the two wolves. They quickly backed away from Long Quiet and were gone from the place within moments.

Long Quiet watched as Bay tried to release the heavy metal jaws of the trap holding Ruffian’s paw. “You’ll have to help me,” she said at last.

“Will the wolves let me come near you?”

“I think so. I’ll hold them while you try.” Bay grasped a handful of fur on the neck of each wolf as Long Quiet moved toward her a slow step at a time.

“It’s all right Rascal, Ruffian,” she cooed. “He’s a friend. He only wants to help.”

The wolves growled, but their hackles stayed down, their ears slanted forward, and their fangs remained covered.

Long Quiet knelt beside the trap and released the wolf’s paw, then stood and stepped back a pace or two, until the steady rumbling in the wolves’ chests ceased.

“His paw is pretty torn up,” Bay said, assessing the damage. “But I don’t think he’d leave a bandage on it, and he’ll be able to manage on three legs while it mends.” Bay gave each of the wolves one more hug before she stood. “You’d better get out of here, fellows, before those Comanches come back.” She tried to shoo the wolves away, but they refused to be moved.

“They don’t seem to want to leave,” Bay said.

“We should go back to the village,” Long Quiet urged. “There will be trouble enough when the story of what happened here is told. It wouldn’t be a good idea to let anyone else see you with the wolves right now.”

“All right,” Bay agreed. “Let’s go.”

They had not gotten very far before Long Quiet said, “I woke up and you were gone. What brought you here?”

Bay shrugged. “I heard the wolf howl in pain last night. I had to help it.”

“You realize Comes Running and his friends intended that you should die.”

Bay hesitated before replying, “Yes.”

“And that this incident with the wolves will frighten the villagers even more, and convince them you have dangerous, powerful medicine.”

“Can’t I explain that I’ve known the wolves since they were pups?”

Long Quiet frowned thoughtfully. “I suppose you could try. But if that’s the case, why did the wolf snarl at you first and then become tame?”

“I suppose Ruffian didn’t recognize me at first. I certainly didn’t recognize him.”

A beehive of activity had erupted within the village as word of Bay’s sorcery spread. The villagers scurried to get out of her way, and she walked unimpeded to Many Horses’ tipi. When she and Long Quiet arrived, they slipped inside.

She Touches First looked from Many Horses to Bay and said, “I heard what happened with the wolves.”

“And you aren’t afraid to speak with me?”

“I care not what happens to me. I only ask that you use your medicine to save Many Horses.”

Bay reached out a hand and laid it on the other woman’s arm. She Touches First flinched, but didn’t draw away. “If my wishes alone were enough, he would be well already. But I have no special powers,” she said. “If I did, I would certainly help him.”

“But you must—”

“I am sorry.”

They heard another commotion in the camp. Long Quiet went to the tipi opening to see what was going on. “I think you better see this,” he said to Bay.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Your wolves. They’ve come to keep you company.”

Bay stepped outside and was thunderstruck by the sight of the two wolves sitting patiently outside the tipi.

Little Deer raced out of the tipi, her face a wreath of smiles as she shouted, “
Hu! Pia!
Is this my pet wolf?”

The wolves’ hackles were high and they had crouched to spring.

“No, Little Deer. Stay back!” Bay shouted. As the whole village watched in amazement, she stepped between the child and the two ferocious animals. Long Quiet caught the child by the shoulders and held her back as Bay turned to face the beasts. Bay reached out a hand to the closest one, Ruffian, and he immediately rose and moved his head up under her hand to be patted. Rascal quickly did the same, both wolves wagging their tails in delight, clearly no more dangerous now than two tame puppies.

When Bay turned with a triumphant smile, Long Quiet’s face was a thunderous cloud of agitation. He jerked his head to tell her to look behind her and she turned slowly to see what had upset him. What had merely been amazement on the faces of the gathered villagers had now become frightened awe. Whatever hope she’d had of convincing these Comanches that she possessed no special powers was gone now forever.

Over the next few days, Shadow took the blame for sprung snares, sick babies, and tame ponies that bucked off their riders. It didn’t seem to matter that such events were all normal occurrences in the day-to-day life of the village. Suddenly every such event had special significance.

To make things even worse, the two wolves had disappeared that evening, only to show up the next day. No one went unarmed to fetch water from the stream. Young boys no longer took old pieces of hide and hid under them to play
nanip’ka
—“Guess over the hill”—because it took them too far from their grandmothers’ watchful eyes. For the first time in memory, Bay was glad for the superstitious nature of the Comanches, because although there was talk of killing the wolves, no one dared.

Bay heard Long Quiet suggest to the men with whom he gambled away the early evening hours that the wolves had been sent to protect her from those who might wish to harm her. She was appalled at the tale but did not chide him, because although she could never catch anyone at it, Bay often felt as though she were being followed. She thought about confiding her suspicions to Long Quiet but decided against it. They would be leaving soon. At least, she thought they would.

There was another person equally concerned about when Shadow and Long Quiet would leave the village. The
puhakut
had been besieged by complaints from the villagers, demanding that he do something to rid the camp of the evil aura that surrounded it. And so, three days after the appearance of the wolves, the
puhakut
approached Long Quiet and asked, “Do you plan to stay among us long?”

“Is there some reason I am not welcome here?” Long Quiet challenged.

“None of which I am aware,” the
puhakut
replied in a voice that, to his chagrin, trembled slightly. The
puhakut
shivered at the cold menace that had come to Long Quiet’s eyes, the hardness in his voice, the tensing of steely muscles. Only the knowledge that the rest of the tribe watched their confrontation made him speak again. “But Shadow . . .”

Seeing the jerk of Long Quiet’s muscles, the
puhakut
almost didn’t finish his sentence. It was unnerving to think that this intruder could make him feel so uneasy. He chided himself for his fear. His medicine was very powerful. It had been enough to put Many Horses in his place. He would do the same with this pretentious warrior.

“But . . .” Long Quiet asked, his tone chilling.

“You must know there has been talk of Shadow.”

“What talk?”

The
puhakut
took a deep breath. “That Shadow’s medicine causes misfortune in the village.”

“Who says such things?”

He Decides It hadn’t expected to be confronted directly. He countered by asking, “Can you deny there have been a number of strange happenings in the village lately?”

Long Quiet snorted. “A burned finger? A lame horse? A sick child? How are these strange?”

The
puhakut
frowned. “Each by itself is not so unusual,” he agreed, “but there have been too many such incidents to be easily explained.”

“And you think Shadow’s presence here is the reason for these . . . happenings?”

He Decides It had not gotten where he was without learning diplomacy. “I cannot say for sure,” he hedged. “I do know the people fear what they do not understand. It would be better if Shadow left this place.”

Long Quiet was frustrated and disappointed. He’d hoped to be able to leave Shadow in the village while he attended to his business for Creed, but it was beginning to look like that would be impossible. He tried once more to make his point with the
puhakut
. “Shadow is no sorceress.”

The
puhakut
shrugged dismissively. “Perhaps not. But look what happened to Many Horses. He has never been a careless man. How do you explain what happened to him? I cannot, except to say that he was warned to send Shadow from this place and did not heed that warning. Can you blame the villagers for their alarm when other unexplained accidents occur? Fear is a powerful enemy to reason. If Many Horses dies, I cannot say what will happen. There is great danger for Shadow so long as she stays among us.”

Long Quiet was even more blunt than the
puhakut
had been. “I will kill any who threaten her.”

In that moment, He Decides It knew real fear for the first time in his life. He had no doubt Long Quiet meant what he said. But that didn’t change what would assuredly happen if the rumors continued and Shadow stayed in the village. His voice was soft as he explained what Long Quiet refused to acknowledge. “You must know she will not be threatened directly. One possessing such awesome power could do great harm if confronted face to face.”

“What are you saying?”

“That none will think it wrong to end Shadow’s life through stealth.”

Long Quiet tasted copper in his mouth and tried to swallow it back down again. If he left Shadow in the village, sooner or later someone would come after her in the dark and she would be killed. He had no choice. He would have to take her away from here.

But where would be the safest place for his wife? Should he leave her in his
Penateka
Comanche village while he went to Mexico? What if rumors of Bay’s sorcery made their way from the
Quohadis
to his
Penateka
village? Would his grandfather be able to protect her?