Blind Fury (4 page)

“Now what?” Tia's voice still trembled.

Kara looked around. They were in a large clearing surrounded by trees on two sides, with the creek in front of them and the trail behind. “No way we're crossing that creek today. And I don't know about you, but I'm not excited about going the long way around.” Going off-trail would take them deep into the woods before they hit ranch property. Kara had walked that way often when she and Mom went foraging for berries. But navigating it on horseback was another matter. Not to mention the fact that whatever had spooked the horses might still be around.

“I say we sit tight and wait for your dad to send the cavalry,” Tia said.

“Oh, sure. That could be next week. When he and Greg are working on a project, they haven't got a clue about time.”

“Well, I'm not going back there!” Tia pointed down the trail. “If Patches bolts again, I'm too tired to hang on.” Tia was right. So what were they going to do?

A clear head unmuddies many waters
.

Another one of Anne's sayings. Kara walked a few feet down the trail and stood still.

Listen to the birds. They tell when danger is near
.

That one had puzzled her at first until she understood what Anne meant. When the birds are quiet or suddenly fly away, beware!

It was silent now. The skin on Kara's arms prickled. She scanned the treetops. Not a bird in sight.

The wind that had ruffled her hair as they rode now rustled through the pine boughs, moaning like a ghost.

Stop it
! She scolded herself. Now was definitely not the time to let her imagination play tricks on her.

She turned around and forced herself to walk calmly back to where Tia waited in the clearing. The horses were pulling at their tethers, looking longingly at the water rolling over the banks of the creek.

Kara began untying Lily's reins. “Come on. They've rested long enough. We can water them now.”

Tia rubbed her hand down Patches' sweat-slick neck. “He's still a little warm, but his breathing is fine. I guess they do need a drink.”

They led the horses to the creek and let them drink their fill. Then Kara dug into her saddlebag and pulled out two packs of juice. “Here.” She handed one to Tia. “We need a drink too. It's going to be a long walk back.”

“Walk!” Tia nearly swallowed her straw.

“Sure. We lead the horses and stay alert. I'll go first, and you keep an eye on Lily's ears. If she starts twitching them like radar, we let go and follow them out of there.”

She found two sturdy sticks and handed one to Tia. “We can use these if we need a weapon. Smack the bushes and make lots of noise. Patches and Lily won't shy as long as we stay in control.”

Tia looked reluctant, but Kara didn't plan on giving her time to think about it. She turned Lily's head and began leading her down the trail, beating her stick against the trees and singing at the top of her lungs, “George, George, king of the jungle. Watch out for that tree.” She heard Tia laugh, then join in, half yelling, half singing the silly song.

A hundred yards down the trail Kara's throat was already sore from shouting. She'd about decided to change the tone and the song when Lily came to an abrupt halt.

“Wakara?” Tia's voice squeaked like a mouse caught in a trap.

“Shh. Listen.” Kara studied the woods and the trail in front of them, but heard and saw nothing.

Suddenly, Lily bolted. Kara dropped the reins and jumped out of the way as her horse galloped off down the trail, Patches right behind her. Tia had stumbled into the bushes and was just picking herself up when the zing of a rifle shot sent her back to the ground. Kara dove after her, her heart pounding so hard she couldn't breathe. Tia's screams scared her more than the single shot or the loss of their horses.

“Tia! Are you hit?” Wakara tried to turn her over. Tia's eyes were squeezed shut and she wouldn't budge, but she kept screaming. Kara fought to keep her voice steady. “Tia, you're scaring me. Please calm down and let me see.”

Tia's screams subsided to frantic sobs, and Kara succeeded in getting her to roll over on her back. “Where does it hurt?

Show me.” She ran her hands down her friend's arms and legs, then unzipped Tia's jacket. No blood.

The crack of branches and boots pounding on the trail sent Kara's pulse into overdrive. Male voices echoed through the trees. “This way. The screams came from behind those trees.”

Kara froze, her mind racing along with her heart. Were escaped criminals attacking them? Maybe poachers? No, not poachers, hunting season started yesterday. But this was private land. She crawled closer to the trail to get a better look.

The men were only a few yards away and walking fast. It took her two seconds to recognize Dennis Carlson and his brother, Davie, sixteen-year-old twins whose father owned a neighboring ranch.

“Wakara?” Dennis ran over and leaned his rifle against a tree. Then he spotted Tia. His eyes widened with fear. “Is she okay? I mean, we didn't hit her, did we?” He shook his head. “We couldn't have.”

Davie ran up behind his brother, panting almost as hard as the black lab that followed at his heels. The dog headed straight for Tia and gave her face a thorough washing. Davie finally got hold of his collar and pulled him off. “No, Duke, that's enough, boy.”

The dog came willingly, and Tia sat up. “Yuck. Oh, gross. David Carlson, you keep that dog away from me!”

“See, she's not shot.” Dennis howled in relief. “Holy Malony! Scared the spit out of me.”

Davie whacked his brother on the arm. “Watch your mouth, there's ladies present.”

Dennis ignored him and turned to Wakara. “I only fired one shot, but it missed. I know, because Davie and me saw that old cougar take off, and it weren't anywhere near in this direction.”

W
AKARA
TOOK
A
DEEP
BREATH
of crisp fall air and settled on the top porch step, letting her gaze scan the rich, green pastureland. Beyond her field of vision, the desert spread out dust brown and barren. But here the land had been cultivated for ranches that backed up against majestic mountains, some of which were snowcapped all year long. The forty acres of pasture where they grazed horses and wintered the cattle were dotted with wild apple trees. Right now the trees were surrounded by makeshift fences to keep the horses from gorging on the fruit. Lily and Dakota would eat apples until they made themselves sick.

Kara's stomach rumbled. She'd been too exhausted to eat much supper last night, and the sick feeling she'd had since their adventure yesterday had lasted all through breakfast and church this morning.

It had been a close call. Dad hadn't been pleased with her decision to walk and lead the horses. “You would have been safer in the saddle, even if they bolted,” he had reasoned. “It's doubtful a cougar would chase down a galloping horse
and rider, even if it were really hungry. But it might have gone after one of you girls.”

The screen door slammed, and Ryan came up behind her. “When's Dad coming home?”

“Probably not until tomorrow.”

“No fair! Dad promised we could have ice cream after church.”

“They had to go up the mountain and round up the herd; you know that, Ry.” Dad didn't want to take chances on that cat getting to the cattle, so he and Greg had taken off at dawn.

Ryan ran to the driveway and started kicking rocks. When he picked up a large rock and threw it into the pasture, she knew she had to intervene.

“Ryan Sheridan, stop that! What if you'd hit Star?”

Ryan stomped toward the porch. “I wasn't going to hit ole Star! Anyway, I never get to ride him 'cause I can't ride alone, and no one ever wants to go with me.”

Kara flinched. He had a point. Anne couldn't ride with her leg still in a cast, and the men had their days filled with chores. That left her to take care of Ryan, and she'd been so busy with school and her own chores, she had forgotten that he needed a companion to ride Star. It was a good rule, especially for an accident magnet like her brother, but it was a real pain.

Ryan stormed into the house, ran up to his bedroom, and shut the door. She was about to follow him when the phone rang.

“Wakara!” Tia sounded breathless. “You won't believe this. I found them! Your ancestors. Right here on page eight. This is so cool! And, get this—Wakara isn't a real name, it's a nickname, and Anne was only partly right; it means
Full Moon
, not
Little Moon
.”

“Tia, slow down. You sound like Ryan.”

“Sorry, but you've got to see this. Pops said I can come over, if it's okay with your dad.”

Kara hesitated only a second. She really needed to have a talk with Ry, but what if Tia had really found a record of the first Wakara? That would be so awesome!

“Dad's not here,” she said. “Neither is Greg. Can your dad bring you over?”

“Mom already said she would. See you in a few.”

Kara hung up and went into the kitchen. She washed her hands, then helped herself to a bowl of homemade vegetable soup. Anne's cooking was hard to resist.
Like Mom's
. No one could ever take Mom's place, and Kara knew Anne would never try, but the Nez Perce woman sure ran a close second.

Ten minutes later, Anne set a dish of pie á la mode in front of Kara and another beside her. As if on cue, Tia dashed through the door.

“Cool, I missed dessert at home. Thanks, Anne.” She grinned and joined Kara at the table.

Kara stared at Anne, but she was already at the sink rinsing dishes.
How did she know? I never told her Tia was coming
.

Tia interrupted her thoughts. “Eat fast, I want you to see this. You too, Anne. It's all right here in this book. I'm so excited I could have a coronary or something.”

“Ah. You found Mrs. Kroeber's book,” Anne said without turning around.

Tia swallowed a mouthful of pie. “Yeah. Theodora Kroeber. How'd you know?” She handed the book to Wakara.

“
ISHI—Last of His Tribe
.” Kara read the title out loud.

Anne dried her hands and joined them at the table. “Mrs. Kroeber tells well the story of Ishi and his family. But he was not really the last of the Yahi-Yana tribe.”

Tia nodded. “That's what the stuff I got off the Internet says.”

“All right, you guys. Let me in on this, okay?” Kara frowned. “I think I've read something about this Ishi. Isn't he the guy they found starving to death in California, way back in the early 1900s?”

“Right!” Tia pushed her pie plate away and grabbed some papers out of her book bag. “They didn't know what to do with him, so they fed him and put him in jail. Then some professor or something came and said he was a Yahi Indian, so they took him to San Francisco and put him in a museum.

“Not on display, though. He lived and worked there. He helped them understand some of the Yahi language and culture.”

Kara looked at Anne. “He's pretty famous, isn't he? Your father recorded his story in his book.” She frowned. “But I still don't understand what that has to do with me.”

“She moves in quietness as does the moon,” Anne said softly.

Kara shivered. “What does that mean?”

Tia grabbed the book, opened it, and shoved it back in front of her. “It's your name. Wakara. Right there on page eight.”

Kara couldn't believe her eyes. “It says this Ishi's father called his wife Wakara, Full Moon, because ‘she moves in quietness as does the moon.' Does that mean this Ishi's mother is my great-grandmother?” She thought a minute, then shook her head. “That doesn't make any sense. According to Irish's journal, he found his Wakara as a newborn baby. Her mother had been shot, and died before she could tell him anything but the baby's name.”

She picked up the book and flipped through the pages. “Besides, the timing isn't right.”

“So?” Tia gave her a disgusted look. “Ishi's mother could have passed the name down, don't you see?” She pointed to the book. “What about his cousin, Tushi? Maybe she didn't die. Maybe she really ran away and joined another tribe. She could have had a baby and named her Wakara after the woman who raised her. It could have happened that way, couldn't it, Anne?”

Anne shook her head. “The lost ones were never found.” Kara looked from Anne to Tia. “Wait a minute. Who are the lost ones?”

“Ishi's uncle and cousin. They ran off to hide when some white men found their cave. When they didn't come back, Ishi went to look for them. He found Tushi's necklace near the place where they would cross the river to get to the hidden shelter, but he never found her or his uncle.”

Tia's head drooped and she turned back to Anne. “So you think they fell off the log and drowned?”

“This is what Ishi believed.”