Blood Feather (4 page)

The bear let up on the face, not liking getting bitten at all; nor did it like the taste of human flesh, which was quite typical of bears. Now the bear grabbed the broken arm in its jaws and shook Strongheart violently like a ragdoll. The half-breed reached down into his right boot and grabbed the handle of the sharp, short knife sheathed and strapped to his leg. He brought it out and fought to stay awake and alert. He waited, and the enraged monster now tried to close its jaws on Joshua's throat, but Strongheart plunged the knife deep into the bear's right eye, and it stood straight up, popping its teeth, and roaring in pain. The knife handle protruded from the eye, and the bear rolled and growled trying to grab the blade with its paws. It pulled the knife out and bit down on Joshua's right leg, its fangs going deep into the calf and shin. Blood streamed from the bear's eye, and it seemed even more enraged than before.

It paused and stood on its hind legs, bent forward at the waist and growling, ready to fling all twelve hundred pounds back down on top of Strongheart, who was going in and out of consciousness, but he came wide alert now. He knew the bear was probably about to go for his throat or head again, and he pulled up his left leg, ready to kick-stomp up with his heel.

Suddenly, the bear screamed in pain and wheeled around. Tears literally flooded Strongheart's eyes, and he weakly smiled ear to ear, as he saw his magnificent red-and-white overo gelding pinto horse, Gabriel, biting the back of the bear's neck. Gabriel's legs were oozing blood out of cuts from scrambling full-gallop up the mountain over the many rocks and boulders.

With a faint voice Strongheart tried to yell, “Gabe!”

The horse wheeled and kicked the bear full-power in the chest with both rear hooves, then as the bear meekly lunged again, the horse kicked again, then spun and bit the bear on the front shoulder. The grizzly raked Gabe with a swipe of its mighty paw, and blood appeared in four crimson streaks across the horse's muscular chest. Gabe bit the bear again, spun, and kicked five times in rapid succession, and the bear backed away.

Joshua saw his chance and pushed his body forward hard with his left foot, grabbed his pistol, just as the bear charged in on Gabe. Strongheart shot quickly and put five Colt .45 rounds into the bear, one low behind the left shoulder and four under the bear's left ear. It fell on the ground, kicking its legs rapidly, gave out a mighty death roar, and then lay still unmoving. Gabe bit the bear's rib cage, and the bear did not move. It was dead.

Joshua passed out.

His eyes opened, and he saw millions of stars over his head, smelled the putrid smell of a rotting human body, and fainted again. He heard Gabe whinny softly nearby and smiled in his unconsciousness. He knew the horse was alive, so far.

Strongheart opened his eyes and blinked at the bright sunlight, then realized he could barely see. He reached and felt dried blood all over his face and neck. Something pushed his back and startled him, and he grinned realizing that Gabe had nuzzled him with his nose. He smiled and reached up to pet the wonderful horse's jaw and neck. Strongheart looked at the horse's chest and saw dried blood where the bear had raked his chest. It would be too late to do anything, and there would surely be proud flesh later. There was also dried blood that had been obviously running down Gabe's left foreleg.

The monstrous bruin lay nearby, and only then did Joshua realize the true size, the enormity, of his foe. He also was starting to realize the enormity of his predicament, and then it grew even worse because he saw that Gabe could barely walk. Joshua crawled slowly and grabbed a stirrup with his good hand, and pushing on his good leg, he slowly stood. This took several minutes. Before checking himself out, he checked Gabe's leg, and saw that the grizzly had smacked the leg and maybe bit it, too. There was dried blood all the way down the leg. Strongheart felt and massaged the muscles and checked the joints. He then collapsed in a faint.

When he opened his eyes, he could tell only a few minutes had passed. He raised himself up again holding the stirrup, and knew he would have to doctor himself first or he could do Gabriel no good. He reached his canteen and swished water around in his mouth, recalling biting the bear's tongue. His mouth had a putrid taste. He then swallowed water, and it had never tasted so good, and he poured some also on the back and top of his head.

Joshua pulled his shaving mirror and his razor out of his saddlebag. He looked at his face and was shocked. It was completely covered in dried blood, his own. He knew that facial wounds bleed a lot, so he did not get too concerned. Joshua pulled materials out of his saddlebags and grabbed several nearby sticks for splinting his broken forearm. He tried cleaning his leg as best he could and then bandaged it and did the same with his head. After getting his face cleaned off a little, he saw giant bite marks; his nose was broken, and both eyes were swollen almost shut. He had bites and claw rips all over his torso and arms, as well as much biting on the leg.

Fortunately, this ridge ran off Lookout Mountain, which he was intimately familiar with. Strongheart knew that if he could make it along this ridge and down one draw, there was an active spring with plenty of green grass around it for Gabe, as well as some rock overhangs. There, he could try to nurse Gabe and would have plenty of fresh springwater to clean both him and his horse, and he'd also be able to make a sufficient shelter.

Several of the fangs had gone in deep, and the pain in his leg was excruciating, but he was not sure if it was broken or not. He did not find by feel or probing any place where the bone was broken all the way through, so instead of splinting, he tried wrapping it tight with bandages made from the big towel he carried in his bedroll. He then tried putting his weight on it and promptly fell down in excruciating pain. To be safe, he gathered a few more stout sticks and crafted a splint for the leg, too. Although his left arm was broken, he was able to use his hand and fingers since he had set the bone and placed the splint on it. Joshua found a stout green branch, which he chopped up with his razor-sharp knife and made a crutch with.

Leaving his antelope-skin shirt on what was left of Blackjack's face, he got his spare elk-skin shirt from his bedroll and put it on, then took it off, opting for the sunlight and fresh air to help heal his wounds. He packed his belongings and started leading Gabe slowly, very slowly, along the ridge. He was only able to walk five minutes at a time, then sit down and rest, before several more minutes later, he and Gabe would limp along again.

It took the rest of the day and several naps to travel the one mile to the spring. Joshua, exhausted, fell asleep by the spring while Gabriel grazed on the tall, lush green grass.

When Strongheart awakened, the morning sun was in his eyes, and he looked at the red hue on the snowcapped peaks of the Sangre de Cristos across the valley from him. He understood fully why they had gotten their name from that crimson reflection complemented by the clear blue sky above. He had a pounding headache and realized his whole body felt like a giant toothache. A good sign, though, was that he was starving. The Pinkerton grabbed some beef jerky from his saddlebag and chewed on that, while he pulled out his small coffeepot and made some coffee.

After seeing how badly he needed nutrition, he grilled some biscuits and cut a slab of bacon into the pan from his saddlebags.

Afterward, he spent most of the day cleaning and treating his wounds and Gabe's. The Lakota would use witch hazel, derived from the witch hazel bush, which Joshua carried in his saddlebags, mixed with smashed acorns to treat poison ivy and poison oak. They also used just straight witch hazel to treat a variety of ills, such as sore muscles, aches, and pains.

Joshua found some acorns, mashed them up, and made poultices by mixing them with the witch hazel, figuring that adding the acorn mash would help the mixture serve as an antiseptic and astringent. He then applied the poultices to Gabe's wounds and his own. Gabe's were then covered with more poultices, these ones made of moss, which Joshua easily found on the north side of trees. He bandaged his own wounds with bandaging cloth he also carried for emergencies.

He cleaned his pistol and sharpened his knife, then, grabbing his crutch, he made the relatively long trek back to Blackjack. He was perplexed to find a bloody eagle feather placed atop Blackjack's face. Next, he went through his friend's pockets to retrieve what he could. This would all be turned over to his boss, including his fellow agent's Pinkerton badge. Knowing now that the body was too far gone to return to Lucky, Strongheart then gathered a great deal of firewood and built a giant woodpile around Blackjack's body, then cleared the perimeter for a good distance and began the cremation process.

With darkness approaching, and while the fire raged, he removed the bear's claws and cut some meat from the hindquarters to cook later. Joshua did not particularly like bear meat, and the cleaning process was very messy as the meat was very, very greasy to the touch.

Satisfied that the fire would not send showers of sparks or spread any farther, he departed for his own campsite. By the time Joshua made the mile hike back to his camp, his eyesight was blurry and the whole scene spun around. He collapsed to the ground and splashed water on his face. After looking over at Gabe, who was standing in the tall grass, napping, he fell asleep and slept until morning.

Strongheart awakened the following morning very sore and headachy, plus his eyesight was bad, as both eyes were still swollen almost shut and very black and blue. His right leg and left arm both ached horribly. He made it to Gabe, and the big horse was now limping around the small glade. He walked up to Strongheart when he saw him coming. He wanted to have his head rubbed and held. Joshua gave his lifesaver plenty of loving.

Still standing next to Gabe, he turned his head and was amazed to see three mule-deer does standing in the grass, one of them drinking from the spring. He glanced at his fire, and the wind was blowing his smoke away from them to the west. The two lookouts stared at him, and the larger doe lifted her head up in alert. The first two started to bound off, and he drew his Colt and fired from the hip, hitting the water drinker right behind her left shoulder in mid-bound. She hit the ground in a heap, dead from the quick heart shot. As was the habit of the Lakota, Joshua meditated and communicated with the soul of the animal, thanking her for her sacrifice, and then he prayed and thanked the Lord for the bountiful supply of venison.

Three days later, Joshua was much stronger and had a solid camp built for himself and Gabe. Gabe was moving around now without as much difficulty, and Joshua had made himself another crutch identical to the first. Miles to the east, at Fort Lyons, Lucky was very concerned and knew something was wrong. So Annabelle was not shocked when the Western Union man came in to hand her the inquiring telegram from Joshua's boss.

She sent a reply explaining that she had no idea what the problem might be. Annabelle wanted to cry, so instead she went back to work and kept herself as busy as could be. In 1874, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad had just completed a new line into Cañon City from Pueblo to the east, and Lucky was on that train, having come in from Fort Lyons, farther out east.

Joshua was so glad that Annabelle had packed him a lot of good substantial food. With the deer he'd shot and her food, he had one major thing in his favor. However, he was far from safe, and so was Gabriel. Joshua could tell he had fever now, and some of his fang bites and claw marks from the grizzly were an angry red and obviously infected. Gabriel had blood oozing from several spots in his wounds, and Strongheart tried his best to keep a fresh poultice on those spots. He was getting weaker by the hour and knew he was in for the fight of his life just to survive, let alone have his horse survive. Neither he nor the horse could begin to think about making it down the mountain over the rocks.

Over the fire that night, he took paper and pencil from his saddlebags and wrote two letters. One to Lucky and one to Annabelle:

Lucky,

Blackjack was murdered with a knife by a very large Lakota, 7 feet tall, very powerful. He was carried up the mountain and his heart was cut out. Bloody eagle feather left on his face. I cremated him. If I am dead, give any money owed and belongings to Annabelle.

All respect, Joshua

Annabelle,

If you are reading this, I am probably dead. I have loved you and wanted to marry you from the moment we met. I held off because your husband was not gone that long. I wanted to be sure you felt the same in your heart. Since meeting you, I have grown more deeply in love and worship everything about you. Please smile when you remember me, but you be a survivor and live on with a grin on your face and song in your heart.

Your devoted servant forever,

Joshua

Joshua finished and titled both letters and placed them in his saddlebag. He felt everything whirling around and wondered where he was as he collapsed at Gabe's feet in a faint.

3

Cañon City

Joshua opened his eyes and blinked against the sunlight. He looked around in a daze. He was in a room with sunlight streaking in the windows, and outside the window in the distance were snowcapped peaks. A nurse walked into the room carrying a basin of water.

“So, I see, Mr. Strongheart,” she said, nonplussed, “I see you have decided to come back to the land of the living and refrain from such shenanigans as ancestral walks.”

He was in a total fog.

Joshua said, “Where am I? What happened?”

The nurse said, “I am not sure except that you were almost killed by an enormous brute of a grizzly bear, which you killed. You were brought here on a train, closer to St. Peter than the gates outside the Union Pacific Hospital.”

Strongheart shook his head and tried to make sense of what was happening.

“Union Pacific Hospital? Where?”

She replied, “Denver, Colorado, sir. Near the corner of York and Fortieth Avenue.”

Smiling, she stepped from the room, and Annabelle Ebert, eyes red-rimmed from lack of sleep, stepped in and rushed to Joshua's bedside. She kissed him deeply and stepped back, her eyes glistening.

“Joshua,” she said happily, “they all said you would surely die, but I knew you would not leave me. I knew you would live!”

“Annabelle! What has happened?”

She sat down, and the nurse who had left unnoticed returned and handed her a cup of hot tea.

Annabelle smiled and nodded.

“Joshua, Lucky came to Cañon City and organized a posse, and the Fremont County sheriff even rode with him. They went up Copper Gulch Road, then Road Gulch Road, then found where you climbed toward Lookout Mountain. They found you, the bear, Gabe, and where you burned your friend. You had a horrible infection, a broken arm, broken leg, had lost a lot of blood, and were very near death.”

“What about Gabe?”

Annabelle smiled. “Two men who used to serve in the cavalry volunteered to stay with him and led him down the mountain two days later. He is doing fine. He has some scars to be certain, and you have some more yourself.”

“Anna, he saved my life. He attacked the bear while it mauled me,” Strongheart said. “He scrambled where a mule would fear to go to come up there and save me.”

A tear rolled down her cheek as she smiled softly.

“The doctor said that he thought Gabe would be dead if not for your poultices and care of him.”

“How did I get to Denver?”

Annabelle said, “Lucky had you brought here by train because they felt you would surely die down south. This is a new hospital.”

“How long have I been here?” he asked.

“Three weeks.”

“Three weeks!” he said trying to sit upright but was too weak.

“Yes, Joshua,” she said and smiled sweetly. “I told you that you almost died.”

Suddenly it hit him and he blurted out, “I am starved!”

She said aloud, “Nurse?”

The nurse came in, and Annabelle said, “He is very hungry. I told you.”

Smiling, the nurse disappeared, then reappeared minutes later with a steaming bowl of stew, biscuits, and butter. Joshua ate several helpings and a large slice of fresh apple pie. He washed it all down with several large cups of steaming hot coffee.

Smiling and recalling things now, he said, “Are we going to spend the rest of our lives with you nursing me back to health?”

“If we have to, I will,” she said and smiled. Then she paused, and continued, “I read your letter . . . and I am happy to report you are not dead.”

Getting serious, he said, “I meant every word. Hey, what about your restaurant?” he asked, his mind now flooding with thoughts.

Annabelle responded, “I left it in good hands. Sarah Rudd and Elizabeth Macon are running it for me.”

“Where is Gabe?”

She said, “He is in my stable. I have the Canterbury boy, you know the one who is so good with horses, working on him and taking care of him.”

Joshua said, “Come here.”

He reached up with his good arm and pulled her to him, and their lips met with a long-lingering kiss. He pulled her onto the bed next to him and held her in his arms, and she started sobbing on his chest, as he stroked her hair. The nurse came in the door again, saw them, and turned around, exiting. He just held Annabelle like that for a good ten minutes, while she shed tears of relief.

Joshua brushed her hair back and said, “I have to get out of here now. Do you understand?”

She hopped off the bed and called for the nurse, who came in the room immediately.

Annabelle said, “Mr. Strongheart needs his clothes and belongings.”

The nurse replied, “Ma'am, the doctor said that he needs rest and attention addressed to his nutritional deficiencies right now. On top of that, his tibia, the shin bone, and his radius and ulna, both forearm bones, need to properly heal. If Mr. Strongheart is taken now—”

Annabelle interrupted, “We thank you for all you have done, Mrs. Hair, but he needs his clothes and belongings now.”

The nurse looked at Joshua while he struggled to sit up, and he grinned at her, saying, “Ma'am, I tried to argue with her once.”

An hour later, they were on a train headed to Pueblo, and from there would head to Cañon City.

Now, on the trip, Joshua had time to think as Annabelle napped with her head on his shoulder. He watched out the window and thought about her taking care of him more than a year earlier as she nursed him back to health from numerous gunshot wounds. Vastly outnumbered in a gunfight, Strongheart was shot to doll rags, while single-handedly cleaning out a gang of outlaws and would-be shootists in Florence, not far from Cañon City. He really loved Annabelle, but his life was just too dangerous. He did not want a marriage wherein she was constantly nursing him back to health from near-death experiences.

Now he had to turn his attention to the killer of Blackjack Colvin, and what was the meaning of the bloody feather on Jack's face? Had he pulled the feather out of the hair of a Lakota warrior? If so, why was it bloody, and why did the sign show that he was stabbed and had bled to death quickly? Could the feather be another sign of some sort?

It was nightfall when they arrived in Cañon City and headed to Annabelle's café, where they entered through the back door. The beauty fired up the oven and made them a great dinner.

Joshua walked her to her house just a few blocks away from the Main Street café, and they immediately went to the stable. Gabe was happy to see Joshua, and the half-breed shook his head looking at the raking grizzly claw marks across his horse's chest. He wondered how his own new scars would look and wondered about his father, whose name was Claw Marks, from a giant plains grizzly that attacked him. Joshua was conceived in a covered wagon when his mother was nursing his father back to health from the wounds.

They went into the house, and he thought about this and about growing up without ever meeting his pa. He got up to leave, and Annabelle stood, walked over, and melted into his arms.

“Stay tonight,” she said.

“No,” he replied. “This is a small town and you have a sparkling reputation. It will stay that way.”

“I love you, Joshua Strongheart.”

He kissed her again and said, “I love you, too, Miss Ebert, and as much as I hate to say this, I am heading down to the Hot Springs Hotel.”

After a few more futile protestations, Joshua saddled Gabe and headed toward the popular hotel with the hot springs bath, near the egress of Grape Creek into the Arkansas River at the west edge of town.

The waters felt good again, as he had soaked there often when he was shot to doll rags before and was healing. He had wrapped his arm and leg casts with oilskin, simply because it made sense to him. Joshua decided he would soak again the next day before leaving. The feather bed felt good, and he slept deeply.

The smell of coffee awakened him before the slight sound in the hallway, and when his eyes opened, he realized he already had his Colt in his right hand. There was a knock on the door.

“Yes?”

“It is Lucky,” came the reply.

“Come in,” Joshua said, rubbing his eyes and setting his pistol back into its bedside holster.

Lucky entered the room with a grim look on his face. He carried two cups of coffee. He handed one to a nodding Joshua.

“
Bonjour
—I mean, good morning. I got in yesterday afternoon and knew you would be here. I have been down south at Fort Union,” Joshua's boss said.

Joshua's head was swimming, and he splashed water from the basin on his face.

“Blackjack's death was very bad, Lucky,” he said. “The killer was from my people, the Sioux nation,” he added, using the term more familiar to the white man.

He went on while he dressed, “The killer is a monster, Lucky. He is seven feet tall and carried Blackjack quite a ways up the ridge without resting or setting his body down that I could see. The way he killed him, too . . .”

Joshua shook his head, and Lucky said, “Allan Pinkerton has gotten involved with thees case. He told me zat you are to use any resources and money you must to bring thees killer to justice. You know, een March, a deputy sheriff and one of our detectives were killed in a gunfight with thee Younger Brothers and keeled one of them. Mr. Pinkerton wants to geev killers of any Pinkertons a very powerful message.”

Strongheart said, “I heard about it. Sad.”

Lucky said, “We have another assignment for you, too. You can figure out how to work both cases, but finding and keeling this coward ees top priority. Let me buy you breakfast and I weel tell you about the other case.”

Instead of eating there, they chose to ride to Annabelle's café, and her heart leapt a beat as it always did when Joshua walked in the door. She gave Lucky a hug, and remembering Joshua's cautions about her reputation, she grinned and gave him a hearty kiss. Several chuckles could be heard in the crowded eatery. She knew Lucky being there meant he wanted to discuss business, so she took their orders and left them alone to talk.

Lucky said, “Have you heard about zee Red River Wars going on?”

Strongheart took a sip of coffee, saying, “A little bit.”

Lucky said, “Because of your stature weeth both zee Sioux and zee white world, Mr. Pinkerton wants you to get involved. Our client ees zee government.”

“Tell me about it, Boss,” Joshua said.

Lucky then spent the next half hour explaining about the Red River Wars, which had started earlier in the year, in July 1874, and it was now late autumn. So many people were traveling west and settling all over, plus then came buffalo hunters to supply them. Some felt that there was a secret “Indian Ring” in Washington who wanted all the buffalo killed to defeat the Plains Indians who relied on them. The army was assigned to protect all of these new settlers. To that end, they built a number of forts all over the frontier, as the West was called. However, many troops had left the West when the Civil War broke out, which emboldened the tribes to try to attack and get their lands back. The Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho (the brother tribes to Joshua's), and some Apaches, such as the Jicarilla, attacked and laid siege to the southern plains. But years had passed since the war ended, and after many complaints from all over, the government knew this situation was no longer acceptable at all.

Two reservations had been set up in Indian Territory in the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867. One was for the Cheyenne and Arapaho and the other for the Comanche and Kiowa. Joshua was to use his influence with Cheyenne and Arapaho to try to make inroads with the Comanche, who essentially were running or strongly influencing the battle plans of all these tribes. As usual, the ten chiefs who signed the treaty were promised housing, clothing, supplies, food, even weapons for hunting, and as usual the treaty was repeatedly broken. This was especially due to the giant influx of buffalo hunters

The great southern herd of buffalo, or bison, had started being hunted and killed by the tens of thousands earlier in the year. At the time, Lucky and Joshua did not know it, but these commercial buffalo slaughterers would kill them almost into extinction within just three more years. These jackals slaughtered the animals by the tens upon tens of thousands, and there was no retribution from Washington. Hides were sent back east daily, and the market demand was driving the need for more. This phenomenon would eventually force all the bison-dependent Plains tribes onto reservations, but for now it was forcing many to flee reservations to join a growing group of discontented warriors who wanted simply to rid their lands of this white menace. It made matters worse that the government promises made during the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867 and other treaties, as was becoming the norm, were not honored as they should have been. To slap the faces of the tribes even more, the restrictions and rules were suffocating the normally free people.

Lucky explained that many engagements had been occurring since earlier in the year, such as the second battle at Adobe Walls. At daybreak, on June 27, some months earlier, Lucky explained, three hundred Comanches, led by a charismatic tribal leader, Isa-tai, and the already-famed Comanche chief Quanah Parker, attacked the Adobe Walls post. The warriors thought they would surprise the twenty-eight buffalo hunters at the post and would simply overwhelm them. However, what they forgot about was that these were men with high-powered, long-range rifles used for buffalo hunting, plus they carried a lot of ammunition. Needless to say, the white men at the post won decisively, and many Comanches and dispirited members of other tribes returned to reservations such as Fort Sill. Some, though, fought on, determined to rid the plains of the invaders.

There were a number of incidents and skirmishes in the Red River War Joshua's boss kept detailing as Joshua made mental notes. Lucky told about one incident where the John German family took years moving from Georgia, first to Kansas but destined for Colorado, and before arriving they were attacked by Comanches of Grey Beard's band. John German, his wife, teenaged son, and two daughters were killed. Four more daughters were captured. The older ones were turned over to Stone Calf's tribe and kept hostage and hidden on the reservation at Fort Sill.