Miss Annie And The Chief (11 page)

The marshal's
wagon arrives.
 
The commissioners
and Chief Red Hawk notice the arrival.
 
Mark hurries over to the wagon and helps Annie down.
 
He is relieved to see her.
 
“I was just about to come and find
you.”
 

“Something's
happened with Chato.”
 
Annie tells
Mark.

“We can't deal
with him now.”
 
Mark says as he
escorts Annie over to the table to join the proceedings.
 

Chief Red Hawk
looks comforted to see Annie and shares a smile with her. “I am now ready to
begin the negotiating,”
 
the chief
tells the commissioners.

“There will be
no negotiating, Chief Red Hawk.”
 
Mr. Murphy declares. “The Great White Father in Washington has a new
treaty that needs to be signed.”

Red Hawk looks
at Annie.
 
She looks devastated by
this news.

“Mr. Steele will
read the treaty to you.”
 
Mr.
Murphy informs the chief.

Commissioner
Steele begins to read the treaty.
 
“From this day forward peace between the parties to this treaty should
forever continue. The government of the United States desires peace, and its
honor is hereby pledged to keep it.”

 
At the same time out in the Colorado
wilderness…

One of the
Arapaho teenagers isn't quite dead and manages to get back on his horse and
ride away, carrying his dead brother.
 
The fatally wounded Arapaho meets up with several warriors.
  
He tells the warriors the white
men killed his brother for no reason.
 
Then he dies.
 
This news
sets off the Indian warriors. The Indian warriors go off in search of the white
men.

At Fort Mills…

Mr. Steele
continues to read the treaty. "The Indians desire peace, and they hereby
pledge their honor to maintain it. If bad men among the whites, or among other
people subject to the authority of the United States, shall commit any wrong
upon the person or property of the Indians, the United States will proceed at
once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of
the United States.”

At the same time
out in the Colorado wilderness…

The warriors
ride hard through the countryside.
 
Fueled with anger, they want to avenge the two teenage brothers
wrongfully murdered. The warriors come upon a small contingent of
cavalrymen.
 
The warriors open fire
on the cavalrymen.
  
One of
the cavalrymen that gets killed is Captain Taylor.
 
Two of the cavalrymen manage to escape and head for the fort.

At Fort Mills...

Mr. Steele
continues reading the treaty.
 
“The
Arapaho Indians, parties to this treaty, hereby agree to accept for their
permanent home the land between Rattlesnakes Buttes and the Arkansas River.”

Red Hawk stands
up.
 
He is enraged.
 
“That is less than half of the land we
have now. You cannot forcibly take my father's land. I will not sign this
treaty.”
 

“You are
breaking the peace, Chief Red Hawk.”
 
Mr. Murphy retorts.
 
“Do you
want to be at war with the United States Government?”

“You only want
peace if it is on your terms,” the chief proclaims.

“This is a
generous treaty. You tribe is dwindling.
 
You do not need the amount of land you have now.
 
We do.”
 
Mr. Murphy counters.

“It does not
matter to you that my people have lived on this land for as long as the stories
have been told?”

“Times are
changing, Chief.
 
You need to
change with them.” Mr. Murphy says smugly.

“We have been
changing ever since you came to our land. We used to be as many as the stars at
night.
 
Now we are few.
 
We used to be strong and swift, and
now, you bring us whiskey and disease.
 
We used to have life, liberty and happiness.
 
You continually take those inalienable rights from the
Indian. I would rather die a free man on my land than live a life of dishonor.”
 
Chief Red Hawk defiantly leaves the
proceedings.

One of the
commissioners approaches Annie and Mark.
 
“You better get him to sign that treaty or else we will forcibly remove
his people from the land.”

Annie hurries to
Chief Red Hawk.
 
“Chief Red Hawk.”

He is so angry
he ignores her.
 
Red Hawk hops on
his horse, not once looking at Annie.
 
He rides off.

In the Colorado
wilderness…

Chief Red Hawk
rides away from the fort.
 
He meets
up with the angry, hostile Arapaho warriors. One of the warriors tells the chief
what happened.
 
“The white man
killed Little Raven and Prairie Turtle. For no reason.
 
We're hunting them.”

“I will join
you. There will be no treaty. There will be no peace.”
 
Red Hawk rides off with the warriors.

At Fort Mills…

The two wounded
cavalrymen make it back to the fort.
 
They hurry to find Captain Caldwell who is with Annie. “Captain, the
Arapaho opened fire on us. They killed five men, sir.”

“Did you provoke
them?”
 
Mark asks.

“No sir. They
were riled up about something. I've never seen them so angry.”

“Call the men to
attention, we're riding out after the warriors.”

Annie touches
Mark’s arm.
 
“Captain, may I have a
word?”

Annie motions to
talk to Mark in private.
 
He joins
her.
 
“This, I think, has something
to do with Chato.”

“What happened?”
 
Mark asks.

“He killed one
of the Rush brothers last night. They know it was him.
 
A posse is after him.”

Mark lets out a
sigh.
 
He knows that an act like
that can start a war, and it appears it has.
 
“How do you know this?”

“I guess I'm
more like my aunt than I ever imagined.”
 
Annie replies with a touch of remorse.

Mark tenderly
touches her cheek. “That's one of the things I love about you.” He emphasizes
the word love.
 
Their eyes lock for
a moment.

Mark breaks the
moment and heads for his horse.
 
Annie calls to him.
 
“Please
be careful...Mark.”
 

She says his
name with such tenderness and love it consumes his soul.
 
He returns to her.
 
“That's the first time you've said my
name.”

“I’ll say it
everyday if you want.”
 
Annie’s
misting eyes pleading for him to be careful, to return to her alive.

“I want that
more than anything.”
 
Mark declares
as he kisses Annie, a deep, loving kiss, not caring who sees them.
 

As his men have
assembled, ready to ride, Mark gives Annie a warm smile, trying to add a bit of
positivity to the serious moment.
 
“I look forward to taking you up on that offer.”

Annie watches
him ride away from the fort with his company.

In the Colorado
wilderness…

The warriors,
along with Chief Red Hawk, ride hard through the country, hunting the Rush
posse, while the cavalry, led by Captain Caldwell and some of the scouts from
Annie's class, ride hard through the country tracking the warriors and the
posse.

The warriors
find the posse.
 
They engage in
battle.
 
The cavalrymen arrive at
the battle.
 
The warriors start
shooting at the cavalrymen.
 
They
shoot back.

Mark is helpless
to stop the battle.
 
There is too
much confusion and tempers are hot.
 
The battle rages, fiercely.

Carl Rush is
aims at Chief Red Hawk.
 
Mark sees
this and tries to stop it, but he is too late.
 
Carl, the coward he is, shoots Chief Red Hawk in the
back.
 
A sardonic smile crosses his
face.

Mark locks eyes
with Chief Red Hawk.
 
Mark looks at
Carl.
 
Carl is about to shoot
another Indian in the back.
 
Mark
aims, fires and shoots Carl dead as Chief Red Hawk watches.

Mark hollers to
one of his men.
 
“Get the chief
back to the fort, quick.
 
Have the
surgeon tend to him.”

Dick Rush has
seen Mark kill his brother and attacks him.
 
They fight.
 
A
brutal fist battle.
 
Which takes them
over a ridge.
 
They fall out of
sight.
 
The cavalryman Mark issued
the orders to has witnessed the fight and the fall.

At Fort Mills…

A few of Mark’s
men return to the fort with the fatally wounded Chief Red Hawk as well as other
wounded.
 
Annie hurries to the
chief’s side.
 
She takes his hand
in hers.

“Do you remember
the place I took you?”
 
Chief Red
Hawk asks Annie.

“Yes, I do.”

“When I die, I
ask that you make sure I am buried there. That is where my father is
buried.
 
And his father.
 
Promise me, Miss Annie.”

“I
promise.”
 
She asserts as she
squeezes his hand.

“My time to die
is now. I am not afraid, death is just a change of worlds. Captain Caldwell
fought bravely. He has brought honor to my death.”

‘Please hold on,
Chief Red Hawk.”

Red Hawk sees in
Annie's eyes how much he means to her.
 
“I will think of you when I see flowers in the other world.”

Tears roll down
Annie's cheeks.
 
He touches one of
her tears, wiping it from her cheek. Annie shares one last smile with the chief
as he dies.

She turns to the
cavalryman who saw Mark go over the ledge with the Rush brother.
 
“Where is Captain Caldwell?”

The man shakes
his head, silently saying that Mark didn’t make it.

*****

Inside the
saloon, it’s quiet. Only a couple of old salts sit at the bar.
 
The bartender wipes glasses.

Roy plays the
piano.
 
He’s playing “Silent
Night.”
 
He’s mastered the song and
the version he’s playing is sentimental and poignant.

Annie sits near
him, listening.
 
She's completely
heartbroken.

A man enters the
saloon. With the sun to his back, no one can tell who he is.
 
Until he steps closer to Annie.
 
It's Mark.
 
He's badly beaten up, but okay.

She sees him and
can’t run to him fast enough, tears streaming down her cheeks.
 
“Mark!”
 
She cries just as they embrace.
 

“I’m here to hold
you to your promise.” Mark whispers to her, as he holds her tight.
 
So tight it’s as if he’s never planning
on letting her go.
 
Which he isn’t.
 
He looks deep into her eyes and gives
her a loving smile.
 
“Let's go
home, Annie.”

THE END

Thank you for reading “Miss Annie And The Chief.”
 
I hope you enjoyed the story.
  
For more information about me and
my projects, please check out my website:
http://www.joanykane.com

I am a screenwriter by trade.
 
My first movie, the Emmy nominated “The Christmas Card,” was voted the
most beloved holiday movie of all time by the Hallmark audience.
 
My movie “The Christmas Kiss,” when it
aired on ION, was the highest rated movie of all time for the channel.
 
My most recent movie, “Matchmaker
Santa,” aired in 2012.
 
It was the
highest rated movie of the year for the Hallmark Channel.

Soon to be released on ebook, before becoming a movie, is my festive
and fun Christmas romance…

OPERATION NAUGHTY:
 
Santa
recruits a naughty young lady to help him take down a naughtier man in order to
save Christmas.  It's magical, epically romantic - and fun.  A mix of
"Pretty Woman" and "A Christmas Carol."