Unusual Inheritance by Rhonda Grice Read Free Book Online

and so they had not been
gagged. Stormy gave her a look that cautioned her to remain
quiet.
    More hours went by and finally a squaw came
in. She offered them food and untied their hands. Stormy new there
was a guard outside or the woman wouldn’t have untied them. Katie
Marie ate and drank like she was starving to death. Stormy drank
but didn’t have much of an appetite. The squaw said nothing, just
gestured for them to eat.
    When the woman left, Stormy spoke. “Katie
Marie, you need to continue to keep quiet as much as possible. I
don’t know what they have planned, or why they took us. Maybe if we
act brave they will respect us and tell us why we are here.”
    “Okay, I’ll be good”, Katie Marie sniffed,
wiping away a tear from her eye.
    The tepee was larger than Stormy had imagined
it would be and the many furs on the ground made it warm and soft.
Maybe they won’t kill us, she hoped. At least not Katy Marie! Why?
Why did they take them? Stormy crawled to the front of the tepee
and peeked through the flap. She was right, there was one brave on
each side of the doorway and they were armed with spears. There was
nothing to do but wait. Wait and pray.
    Back at the ranch Carmen’s blood curdling
scream brought half the ranch hands to the house. “English, Carmen,
speak English,” Jed kept repeating to Carmen. She was so upset she
had reverted to her native tongue and it took a while to calm her
down.
    “Injuns…Injuns took my Katie Marie and Miss
Stormy!” she cried out.
    “Indians,” Jed repeated. “Why there hasn’t
been Indian trouble in these parts since 1865.” “Which way did they
go?” He continued to grill her.
    Carmen pointed in the directions the braves
had taken Stormy and Katie Marie and Jed and half the ranch hands
loaded with guns, ammo, and food road away from the ranch in less
than 30 minutes.
    Tracks were not hard to follow after the rain
as most of the ground was still damp. Within hours Jed and the
ranch hands were closing in on the camp. Jed knew that it would be
best for just one of them to go in under the white flag and speak
with the chief. He tied his bandana to a stick and slowly started
toward the camp, knowing the lookouts would either let him through
or kill him on the spot. He was praying for the first option.
    Out of nowhere two braves appeared, taking
the reins from his hand. They were in control now and would be
leading him the rest of the way. He was brought to the chief’s
tepee and pulled down from his horse. They guided him inside the
tepee where the chief and a few of his council were sitting around
the fire. Once given permission by the chief, Jed sat down.
    The chief spoke broken English so Jed
explained he had come for the woman and the child because they
belonged to him. “Why did great chief take woman and child,” he
asked
    “Men from ranch come and take wedding gift
cattle for my daughter, so I take your women. Women…no worth… same,
but…but me must take one for the other.” The chief explains that
it’s a matter of saving face.
    “Why does great Chief Running Bear think we
took wedding cattle?” he asked, then added. “I know nothing of
this, and we have lived in peace for years now. I want to still
have peace.”
    The chief says men from ranch were recognized
when cattle went missing. A frown passed over Jed’s face as he
realized this might be true.
    “Would chief return woman and girl if white
men bring you eight cattle? Only four were taken, but we would
bring you eight. It would be an honor to give you eight and show we
are sorry.”
    The chieftain drew a deep breath on his pipe
and consulted with his council. Soon he said. ”We make trade, but
you must bring cattle here first.”
    “Agreed, but I must speak to the woman before
I go.” At the nod of the chief a guard showed Jed the way to where
Stormy and Katie Marie were being held.
    Jed entered the teepee and Stormy and Katie
Marie both jumped up and threw themselves around him. “Are