Eagle People (9 page)

ADA SMILED
, knowing just one warrior had scared the Wolf warriors enough they'd gone on the defensive. She allowed the men to move, and then released two arrows as quickly as she could toward them. Once the arrows were in flight she turned and ran for Theodosia, who was with the horses.

She'd doubled back, once on the trail, because she didn't like to run and she'd been taught as a warrior to take the fight to her enemies. She'd done so, and now three of the Wolf People were dead and a third was injured. Bryon had been correct, she'd only injured the man so they'd be forced to take care of him and that meant they'd slow down.

“Mount and get ready to ride hard and long.” she said as she neared the horses.

Theodosia grabbed a handful of mane and then swung onto the back of her animal. “I am ready to ride,” she signed with her hands.

After Ada was mounted, she asked in sign, “Have you any warrior training at all?”

“Some, but after less than a year it was decided I did not have the mind of a warrior and I was trained as a shaman's assistant. I do not like killing or violence.”

Neither do I,
Ada thought, but said, “Not all can be a warrior, as not everyone can work with sick or wounded people. God has made each person different for a reason, so it serves a purpose.”

“I can fight now; I feel we must do all possible to escape and return to our people.”

Riding close to the woman, Ada handed her a spear and replied, “This is the only weapon I have to share with you, and now we need to ride quickly. We can talk later.”

“I understand.”

The day was uneventful but tiring, with breaks taken every few hours for the horses, and even the usual noon stop didn't happen. A couple of hours before dusk, Ada dropped a doe with a well placed arrow, so they would have fresh meat for supper. She quartered the small animal, removing the heart and liver, as well as the loin. Then, loading the meat, she moved forward again, looking for a good place to spend the night.

Spotting a grove of mixed hard wood trees, mostly oak and hickory, she moved for them, looking for a source of water. A few hundred feet in the trees, she spotted a small babbling brook, and then made camp fifty feet away from the stream.

Camp was simple; they secured the horses to a picket line, started a small fire, and they were done. As Theodosia cut and then skewered large chunks of meat on sticks, Ada took the horses, one-at-a-time, to the stream to drink. When she returned with the last horse, she saw sticks holding the meat stuck into the ground near the flickering flames.  

Saddles were not removed from the horses, because they fully intended to ride a few miles up trail after eating, and then sleep in a cold camp. Both knew fire and food smells lingered in the air for hours, and they were determined to escape.

After eating all the meat they could hold, they extinguished the fire, mounted and then moved on. An hour later, they moved behind some large boulders and relaxed. While sharing supper, it had been decided that guard shifts would be used all night, with Ada pulling the last duty period. Each shift was six hours in length. Not only did they have to worry about the Wolf People, but also wild animals and other groups of warriors that might be in the area.

Getting into a fetal position, Ada was soon asleep.

Theodosia let her mind jump from subject to subject as she watched camp. She gave thought to her childhood, school, her warrior training, and then to Markus, a man she loved. When their camp was attacked, the chief had ordered Markus to take a group of elderly, women and children and flee. She'd not seen him since. She'd remained behind to help the shaman with the injured, dying, and dead. She was captured a short time later.

I'm not a strong person, like Ada and others, and I freeze when around violence,
she thought as she scanned the area slowly.
When she killed the old shaman it happened so fast, and was savage. It was a premeditated cold-blooded act of violence and it overwhelmed me. Why can't people talk things over, reach an agreement, and avoid shedding blood?  I can never understand how people kill and then forget about it, like it never happened. What was that?

She heard the clinking of metal tapping metal and it sounded like it was on the trail, which was close, maybe fifty feet away. She moved to Ada and touched her ankle.

A voice from the darkness said, “Stop that damned noise and do it now!”

“Ain't nobody out here, Byron. Hell, your super woman is long gone by now.”

“You heard me, Eldon. Open your mouth against me one more time and I'll see your ass whipped when we return. Do you understand me?”

“I hear you, and I won't say another word.”

The noised stopped and so did the talking. The clip-clop of the horses slowly faded and then Ada whispered, “They've discovered it was me that caused all the damage to them, Theodosia. And, I'm sure they're pissed a single warrior did the job, not to add I'm a woman.”

“It doesn't matter, because if they get their hands on us, they'll use us and then cut our throats. I think their being mad will work to our advantage, because anger will rule their thinking. In the morning, let's ride parallel to the trail but remain in the woods. They'll have to backtrack to this spot and then pick our tracks up again. It will give us a little added time. And call me Theo, because no one calls me Theodosia, except my mother.”

Glancing at the clear sky overhead, Ada checked the time, and then said, “Your idea is a good one, and since it is near the time for me to take over as guard, you go to sleep now. I will wake you an hour before dawn. We will then eat more meat and travel.”

About half way through her shift, the wind picked up and dark gray clouds began to move toward them from the west. The thought of rain made Ada smile as she thought,
if it rains, it'll remove our tracks, and they might never find us if it rains hard enough. Please God, let the rains come.

An hour before dawn, she awoke Theo and it was still dry. However, rain they would have and it would arrive soon, most likely within an hour or so.

As soon as Theo returned from making water, Ada said, “Cook enough meat on the small fire I have burning now for lunch and supper. If the rains last long enough, we may have to do without a fire all this day. It's good we have the storm coming because it might wash all our tracks away.”

“Oh, I've already thought of rain, but not food. Usually I hate getting wet, but this is one time I hope we get a real toad floater.”

Once the meat was cooked, the two women mounted, and began moving west through the trees.  While the route was harder and slower because they were often forced to ride around logs, limbs, or other debris, it'd make things harder for the men tracking them. If the rains washed away their tracks, they'd never be found.

Suddenly there was a bright flash of lightning, followed by a sharp
crack
of thunder, and Ada's horse danced in fear. Speaking in a soothing tone, she had the animal calmed down a few minutes later.  There was a slight gust of wind and a light rain began to fall.

Theo asked, “How long will we keep riding?”

“We ride until the mud gets too deep for the animals to move safely. This is a good chance to cover some ground and have our tracks washed away.”

All day rain continued to fall, and lunch was a cold chunk of deer meat eaten while in the saddle. Nothing was moving around them, which pleased Ada.
It's very likely the warriors after us are under a shelter right now, waiting for this storm to pass. I see no indication it'll stop anytime soon, but we may have to stop because the mud is getting too deep. Actually, stopping may be a good idea. We lose a horse and we're screwed.

“Theo, pull up and move into the trees on our right. We need to make a shelter from brush and logs, but it'll lead to better sleeping overnight. I'm afraid we'll lose a horse in this mud.” Ada almost had to yell to be heard over the rain, which had grown stronger the last few minutes..

  In an hour a crude, but effective, shelter was up, the horses were cared for, and the two women moved out of the rain.

“Do we need a guard tonight will all this rain?” Theo asked.

“Yep, we'll have a guard every night until we reach safety. Now I'm glad I cooked all three meals this morning, because there is no way a fire would burn tonight.”

“Speaking of food, I'm going to eat.”

Pulling a large chunk of meat from her shirt pocket, Ada joined Theo as they ate the simple meal.

“Will the deer meat keep long, as wet as it was today?” Theo asked.

“I'm not sure, but I doubt it. I know we'll get a couple of more days of meat before we have to get rid of it. Hopefully we'll be with our people by then.”

“Do you have any idea where they are, except west?”

“No, not really, b—”  Ada quit speaking and then whispered, “I just spotted movement right in front of me and about fifty feet out.”

Using sign, Theo said, “I don't think it is those who trail us. It could be Dog Soldiers of our people.”

“Just so you know, I will not be taken back alive.”

“I'll join you in death here, because we'll be killed anyway.”

“Let them contact us first, then we'll know who they are.” Ada said, and her heart was pounding as she signed.

An arrow flew toward them; Theo ducked out of instinct, but Ada sat looking in the direction the arrow had come from. The arrow stuck in a big oak near the women, and Ada knew no one had tried to kill either of them. It was a warning, and the arrow was made by the Eagle People.

“We are people of the Eagle!” Ada said.

“We know who you are, but you can't enter the village. What are your names?”

“I'm Ada and the other is Theo, but you are our people, so how can you turn us away? Come to our shelter and we will talk. What is your name?”
“I'm called Eldon, but listen to my words closely. We cannot come to your shelter because we carry an illness, and it is the reason you cannot come with us now. We want to help you, but it would only bring your death.”

“What disease do the people of Mongoose have?”
“Smallpox.”

“I was exposed to the illness years ago, got a high fever, but no red spots or scars. I've been told I cannot get the sickness now.” Ada said, and then looking at Theo, she asked, “Do you know of the illness?”

“A little but not much. I haven't had it, but if we stay out here alone, we'll eventually die. I'm willing to risk death to help our clan.”

“What of the other woman?” Eldon asked.

“She hasn't had it, but is a shaman's helper and is willing to risk the disease to help our people.”

Eldon stood and said, “I'll come and speak with you, but only me. My men will stay here.”

“Come.”

Eldon was a big man, very close to six feet and five inches, and two hundred and forty pounds, all of it muscle. His head and face were clean of all hair, he was wearing a loin cloth and moccasins, and carried a metal sword in his hand. On his back he packed a bow, quiver, shield, and a small buckskin pack.

About five feet from the women he stopped in the rain and squatted in the mud.

Two minutes passed before he said, “Think seriously about what you are both volunteering to do. The illness may kill both of you, but I'm no shaman, only a warrior. If you come with us, you'll be forced to remain in the village until the illness has run its course. I'm Eldon, Chief of the Dog Soldiers, of the Eagle People, and I will see you remain.”

“I'll come. We are from the destroyed village and we have no other place to go. Men of the Wolf People were tracking us, but since I'm a true warrior, they lost me.” Ada said and thought,
He is a very handsome man.

“I'll go as well, even if it means my death, because to remain alone will surely bring my ending.  I must help our people.”

“Gather your things and we'll leave.” Eldon said, and then turning toward his men he said, “Bring some blankets; these women have little to wear in this rain.”

Five men soon walked to the shelter, and one handed Ada two wool blankets.

“Thank you,” she said and then asked, “Do you have horses?”

“Yes and they are near. We know you are both mounted, because we have watched you during your travels most of this afternoon. Come, this is poor weather for people.”

“What of those following us?” Ada asked.

“We will prepare a warm welcome for those who follow.”

Byron was furious and said, “If the women get away from us, Ora, I'll personally remove your head. I cannot believe two women have thrown us off their trails so easily!”

“My tracks show only one of them caused all this damage, and she's been trained as a warrior.  This is not some woman who stays in a lodge and cooks all day, or craws into your bed at night to satisfy your lust. She is an ingenious warrior and a cold-blooded calculating killer.”

“As are we. Now, get your ass to moving, and let's collect these two or Asa will have all our heads on a pole. We, none of us, can return without these women. I know Asa wanted them alive, but if they're dead he may still let us live.”
Why can't these dumb-shits understand, we seriously cannot return without something to show the chief?
he thought.