Destiny Mine by Janelle Taylor Read Free Book Online Page A

will try to guard his back for you.”
    “That is kind, Brother, for your skills are as large as the mountain.”
    “What of the Cheyenne warrior?” Martay asked. “Did he offer help?”
    “The Cheyenne will be busy with the buffalo hunt and defeating Crow who challenge them. His skills are great, for he has fought many battles.”
    “Would it not be wise, my son, to camp near them on the grasslands?”
    “That is for our chief and council to say. None spoke for it, Mother. Little Weasel and Night Walker spoke for war.”
    “War? We cannot challenge the Crow, my son. They are too many.”
    “Do not fear, Mother; none took their bold words to heart.”
    Martay fretted over her “son” going into fierce battle with such hostile and experienced warriors. She had lost one daughter to sickness in the chest many winters past. Blue Bird hoped to be joined to Runs Fast before the cold season, and Moon Child would follow that path in one or two more summers. It had taken her many seasons to accept Kionee’s change of fate, but her “son” had proven himself before and after Strong Rock’s accident. She was proud of Kionee and at peace with their life. Perhaps becoming close with Blue Bird during Kionee’s long absence from their tipi had mellowed her heart and taken away her anger.
    Strong Rock entered the tipi, struggled to his mat, and lowered himself to sit on it. He put aside the wood supports and took several deep breaths. He was glad no one offended his pride by offering to assist him. He was grateful to Kionee who had found the sturdy and straight staffs with forked branches to fit under his arms. His clever son had wrapped their tops in rabbit fur to prevent chafing and soreness in his armpits, hadrubbed the limbs free of splinters, and had secured leather strips halfway for his hands to grip. Strong Rock tried not to resent his ill fate, but at perilous times like this, unwanted bitterness and a sense of failure crept into his mind and heart.
    Strong Rock knew he and his family were fortunate and blessed to have a son like Kionee to take his place. The worried father did not want to imagine life without him as their Hunter-Guardian. “It is a bad sign the Crow resist their shaman’s words and steal near our camp for evil deeds. I do not want our protectors to ride the reckless trail Night Walker desires, but we must prepare for defense, for more are sure to come before we leave.”
    “Friends of those we slew will seek a path to revenge, Father, for that is their way. It is good the Cheyenne warrior took their bodies far from our land and Atah sent snow to hide our tracks and deeds. When Mother Earth warms her face, the Crow will be busy with tobacco planting for a time.”
    “You must picket your horses near our tipi, Kionee; Crow hunger for good buffalo and war horses. You have trained Recu to ride as one with you in the great hunt. You have trained Tuka for skilled riding and fighting. They would be great losses to you and our family. A strong and smart animal brings many hides and weapons in the trading camp. Few can be found and captured and trained well after they escape and run wild.”
    “Maja guards them for me; he will alert me to an enemy’s approach. He knows all scents of our camp and will smell any strange ones.”
    “It troubles me, my son, that Crow no longer fear tivas and now crave our mask-wearers’ big medicine. Bird warriors become leaders and chiefs by gathering many coups: by touching an enemy while fighting or instealth, by stealing one’s weapons in battle or in secret, by stealing an enemy’s horse after a defeat or when it is picketed at his tipi, and by planning successful raids. Those with the largest number and highest ranking coups win those places. They are a people who love war, who seek it. We must pray for peace and survival.”
    Kionee realized her father was saddened by his helplessness when war might loom on their horizon and that he yearned to defend his family