Comanche Dawn by Mike Blakely Read Free Book Online Page B

Shadow, straddled the horse his grandfather had been shot from the day before. “Look long at this place, my son. This is the place of your birth.” Shaggy Hump pointed down to the canyon floor. “The birthing lodge was there when First Horse made a sacred circle around it, and then you were born. Remember this place well, because we will never return here. This place has gone bad for us, like many places we have left before. We must give this place to the ghosts, or they will follow and haunt us in terrible dreams when the moon rises.”
    The Burnt Meat People were out of the canyon now and moving back across the high ground. It was the same ground they had crossed yesterday, but now they were weary and deep in sorrow. River Woman carried the cradle board on her back this morning, and the baby girl, Mouse, was crying. She could not reach far enough over her shoulder to put her hand over her daughter’s mouth and quiet her crying. Though Shaggy Hump had taken River Woman as his wife largely because of her beauty, she appeared ugly this morning with all her hair cut off and her eyes swollen from mourning her dead parents.
    Behind her walked Looks Away, who had come to Shaggy Hump last night as Black Horn lay dying. He would never have taken a second wife as long as River Woman’s parents were alive, for it would only have meant another stomach to fill. Now everything had changed in the time it took the moon to cross the sky. In time, it would be well. Looks Away was quiet, and not as strong or as fiery as River Woman, but it was good to feel a different woman under him, and she would take some of the burdens of a wife’s duties from River Woman. In time, River Woman would see that this way was good.
    Looks Away had mourned quietly, but Shaggy Hump knew her sorrow was real. When Black Horn died, at dawn, she had cut her hair over his resting place and stared into the crevice with vacant eyes, tears streaming.
    â€œHe was your husband,” River Woman said, turning suddenly to face Looks Away. “You did not even cry out. You are no wife for a warrior! You did not even cut yourself! Coward! You should have gone with him!”
    Shaggy Hump saw the angry eyes of River Woman glance his way, to make sure he had heard.
    â€œDo not walk so close behind me!” River Woman struck Looks Away with a stick she used to guide the dogs. “You are so ugly that you make my baby cry!”
    This was a bad day for both women, Shaggy Hump thought. It was well that he would not have to listen to River Woman torment Looks Away all day on the trail. He was going instead to avenge his brother and bring home his brother’s horse.
    â€œFather,” Shadow said. “Do the True Humans have many enemies?”
    â€œYes,” Shaggy Hump said. “Like the snowflakes of a long winter. They are bitter and cold against us. Where the sun rises live the Wolf People. Where it sets are the Crow and Flathead. To the north lie the camps of the White Knives and Northern Raiders, and in the south, the Yutas. The Noomah have no friends. We trade with the Raccoon-Eyed People and the Mandan, it is true, but these people will not fight our wars with us. Every way we turn, we must fight. If we do not fight, we shall die, and our families shall die before our eyes, as you have now seen, my son.”
    â€œThe Northern Raiders must be our fiercest enemies,” Shadow said.
    Shaggy Hump thought some time before he answered, and he watched many people, dogs, and lodge poles pass. “No,” he said, finally. “There is one much worse, called Na-vohnuh. ”
    â€œWhere do these enemies live, my father?”
    â€œI do not know. I have never seen one.”
    â€œAre they like the Nenupee? ”
    â€œNo. The Nenupee are little people, standing only as tall as my knee. They come out only at night, and they shoot arrows that always kill. They are very evil, so beware of them in the night, and stay