Comanche Dawn Page 20

  Speaks Twice kicked at a dog that was veering out of single file. “The runner was only sent to prepare our people for your arrival. We will have a feast in your honor and cook many things you have not had before. Have you ever eaten a squash?”

  “No,” Horseback answered. “What manner of animal is that?”

  Speaks Twice translated Horseback’s remark to his fellow hunters, and they all burst out in laughter.

  26

  Arriving at the north bank of the River of Arrowheads, the Noomah warriors stopped to shoot their arrows, one at a time, across to the south bank. The river was wide, but each warrior’s arrow made a group so tight that he might collect them with no more than a few steps taken among them.

  “Why do you send your arrows before you?” Speaks Twice asked.

  “That river looks deep in the middle. We do not wish to get the feathers on the shaft wet, for water makes them no good.”

  Once they had crossed and gathered their arrows, the Noomah searchers turned their horses loose to graze. The animals were tired and hungry, and would not wander far from the grass in the valley. Horseback let his mare drag a rope to make her easier to catch.

  Speaks Twice showed the visitors through a narrow strip of ground winding between the two largest pueblos, like a pass through a small canyon. The sun was low in the western sky, and the passage was all in shadow. Horseback had unstrung his bow. The friendly reception and the good smells of cooking food had convinced him that the Tiwa runner had been sent ahead only to have the feast prepared. He ran his hand lightly over the mud-plastered wall as he walked.

  Leading the way up one of the ladders, Speaks Twice ascended to the first level of the pueblo, stopping to smile down at the cautious way the Noomahs climbed up behind him. Reaching the roof, Horseback rushed to the corner and looked over the place where he had left the horses. Seeing them grazing, he turned back to Speaks Twice, and the tour continued.

  The Tiwa host ushered the visitors down another ladder, through one of the small holes at their feet, and into one of the rooms. The strangers felt the walls, looked suspiciously into dark corners. Horseback seemed concerned about the heavy timbers over his head. They went back out into daylight and ascended to the second, then the third level of the pueblo.

  “Your people have made your lodges like a hill,” Horseback said. “Does this not anger the spirits? It is only for the Great Spirit to make hills.”

  Speaks Twice only laughed. “Our spirits are not angry, my friend. We make our lodges to honor the Spirit World.”

  “The lodges of the Noomah make a circle. It is like the circle of the seasons. Like the sun, the moon. Like the place where the ground touches the sky all the way around Mother Earth. It is a good way to live.”

  Speaks Twice placed his hand on an adobe wall. “My lodge is warm and quiet when the winter winds sound like a wolf,” he replied. “It is cool and dark when the heat of summer makes the grass die and curl. Its walls stand strong against the war points and muskets of the Wolf People. Our straight lodges fit together better than round lodges. That is why they are straight. The spirits make many straight things, like the pine trees in the mountains, and the stars that fly across the sky. I know that straight is good.” The Tiwa translator punctuated his spoken words with severe gestures of the hand talk.

  Horseback was looking far out over the plains, turning slowly to take in everything from this high vantage atop the pueblo. “My lodge drags behind my pony.” Before Speaks Twice could respond, he scrambled down the ladder.

  * * *

  After the feast of buffalo meat, corn gruel, roasted squash, and beans, Speaks Twice was roused from his room in the pueblo by the voice of the village caller. The news he heard reaching faintly through the entrance hole in the ceiling made him spring suddenly from his soft robe, where he had lain down for some sleep. A band of Inday warriors was coming to camp and trade at Tachichichi.

  By the time he rushed up the ladder, the Inday were almost upon the south walls of the village. He counted. There were six mounted warriors. Fifteen more warriors on foot walked behind the mounted men. The women numbered twenty-four. Old people and children came along behind. A long line of dogs dragged the short poles and hides of the red-and-white Inday lodges. For some reason Speaks Twice did not understand, the Inday used horses only for riding. They did not let their horses drag their lodges as did the Yutas and the Noomah.

  He looked up to the third level of the pueblo, above his own lodge on the second level, and saw Whirlpool, the war chief of Tachichichi, standing with two of the elders on the roof.

  “Go speak to them,” Whirlwind said to Speaks Twice. “Choose your words well.”

  Rushing to the north wall, the translator saw the Noomah warriors languishing near their single lodge. The size of this lodge had surprised Speaks Twice when he saw it raised yesterday. It was much larger than the red-and-white Inday lodges pulled by dogs, and larger even than the Yuta lodges he had seen, yet Horseback claimed it was a rather small one. It was good that the Noomah were staying close to their lodge, still unaware of the approach of their ancient enemy from the opposite side of the pueblo. Hoping he could keep the two parties from violence, Speaks Twice climbed quickly down the ladder to have a talk with the Inday.

  By the time he reached the top of the ladder that led to the ground, the Noomah horses had caught scent of the new lnday arrivals and stampeded up the river, as if they knew the ancient enemy of their masters had arrived. Horseback and his riders went to catch them. Horseback’s mare dragged a rope, making her easy to catch. She was well trained and had not run away with the others. Horseback caught her and rode hard to get around the other ponies, while Speaks Twice went to remind the Inday that Tachichichi was a place of truce among all nations.

  He did not know much of the language of the Inday yet, but the leader of the band was a chief called Battle Scar who communicated well with the hand talk.

  Speaks Twice signed: “Welcome, my friends. I invite you to raise your lodges here, on the south side of my village, where the sun warms the village walls like the warmth of my heart for my good friends.”

  Battle Scar raised a hand in greeting. He smiled, changing the shape of the scar on his cheek which had given him his name. He pointed up the river. “Who are those people who catch the horses?”

  Speaks Twice thought better of naming the visitors Snake People, for the Inday might remember them by that name. “Horse People,” he signed. “They come in peace from the north.”

  “As we come in peace, my friend.” Battle Scar made his scar bend with a treacherous smile. “We bring captive children of the Wolf People to trade.”

  Speaks Twice had expected this, for Battle Scar’s band made many slave raids. There had always existed some trade in captive women and children across the plains. The Inday raided the Wolf People to take captives to sell to the Tiwa—and to the Metal Men. The Wolf People, in turn, raided Inday camps, and sometimes the villages of the Tiwa and other straight-lodge dwellers, taking their women and children far east to sell to other white soldiers who were always at war with the Metal Men. These other whites were called Flower Men, for the sign they carried on their banner. Even the Yutas traded in a few slaves from other nations.

  It was useful to have some Wolf People captives in Tachichichi. Some would be adopted into the Tiwa nation and grow old in the pueblo. When Metal Men came to demand that some of the Tiwas return to the old pueblos of the south to work in the shops and fields, Wolf People slaves could often be passed off as Tiwa, satisfying the Metal Men for a while, for few of the Metal Men could distinguish among all the many peoples of the plains.

  Speaks Twice signed his approval. “We have much corn and iron things from the Metal Men. The elders will trade with you when the new sun rises.”

  The Inday chief seemed pleased. “We will take our horses to water.”

  Speaks Twice turned toward the pueblo, then stopped, turned back to Battle Scar, as if an afterthought had ju
st occurred to him. “The Horse People camping on the north side of our village have many enemies. They may be seeking revenge on the Wolf People. A wise owner of slaves will keep his Wolf People captives away from the Horse People, for the Horse People may want to kill them. Their hearts are full of hate for their enemies. They will leave soon, and your people will not have to worry about them bothering your slaves.”

  Speaks Twice turned quickly away. He hoped he had not overstated the warning, which would only make the Inday curious. As far as he knew, everything he had said to Battle Scar was true. None of Horseback’s searchers had spoken of the Wolf People, but Speaks Twice thought it possible they could be bitter enemies, since the Snake People—whom he had now named the Horse People—claimed no allies. He had not lied. He only wished to keep the two peoples apart until he could get rid of the Noomah.

  That night, Speaks Twice was summoned to the underground kiva by Whirlpool. Because he was skilled at speaking many languages and making the signs of the hand talk, Speaks Twice had often appeared before the elders in the kiva. This time, however, he was more nervous than usual. Though he had not been in charge of the hunting party that had found the Horse People, it was Speaks Twice who had talked to them and invited them to Tachichichi. Should anything go wrong, his reputation would suffer.

  After purifying themselves with smoke and praying, the elders asked Speaks Twice to stand and tell all he had learned of the Horse People. The young translator spoke well. He spoke honestly, expressing his worries about violence between Noomah and Inday. After he spoke, Whirlpool thought for a long time. The kiva remained silent. Finally, the chief of Tachichichi spoke:

  “Young warrior, you have spoken with a good heart. You have done as you should have done. These Horse People would have come to Tachichichi even if you had not invited them. Now, you have brought them in friendship. They will remember.

  “I have had dreams of these people coming. You have only done as the spirits would have you do. Now, here is what I want you to do next, as the spirits have shown me in my dreams and visions:

  “When the sun rises, you will take the Horse People from this village. Take them to the Metal Men, as they wish. Take them by the trail that leads south of the Breasts of Mother Earth. Take them straight, so they do not become suspicious, but do not hurry along. While you are leading the Horse People, a fast rider will take another trail to the Metal Men, to warn them of these new Horse People from the north. I do not wish the Metal Men to think these Horse People are our allies.

  “The dreams I have had are fearful dreams. They show a nation of people coming down the plains, killing buffalo, killing any enemy who stands before them. In my dreams, these people ride horses. All of them ride. Even the old women, even the young mothers with cradle boards. In one dream I saw nothing but horses. Horses, and horses, and horses. And the horses shot arrows from their eyes, and the arrows pierced the walls of our lodge.

  “This dream was a warning. We must not let these Horse People become our enemies, yet we must make the Metal Men understand that the Horse People are not our allies. We will be like the tree that grows upon the banks of the river. We must grow far enough away from the river that the rising waters do not tear us away downstream. Yet we must not take root too far out on the plains, where the droughts and the prairie fires will consume us.

  “Speaks Twice, as you guide the Horse People to the villages of the Metal Men, Coyote Man will ride on another trail to summon the Metal Men warriors and Black Robes. I will tell Coyote Man what to say. I will pray tonight, so the spirits will tell me what Coyote Man should say to the Metal Men. I will tell Coyote Man to speak to the Raccoon-Eyed Flower Man who lives among the Metal Men. He will help us deal with these new Horse People. The Raccoon-Eyed Rower Man knows much about all the nations of the world.

  “This is what shall be done. You will guide the Horse People. Coyote Man will ride to warn the Metal Men.”

  Speaks Twice looked briefly into the eyes of his chief to show that he had understood. As he rose to leave, he thought of how wise his chief was to have chosen Coyote Man for the ride to the Metal Men. Coyote Man was Inday by blood, but had married a Tiwa woman and was now a Tiwa warrior. With the Inday, he had learned much about riding horses, and he would go quickly to the Metal Men while Speaks Twice led the Noomah at a slower pace.

  He breathed a sigh of relief as he left the kiva, feeling as though his chief and the Tiwa spirits had taken much worry from his heart. Now he knew what part he must accomplish, and he no longer felt as if all the worry over the Horse People was his own. They numbered only five, after all. It was true that they rode like no people Speaks Twice had ever seen, that each seemed to take on the strength and pride and fearlessness of the horse he straddled. But they numbered only five searchers from a poor country surrounded by enemies. How fearsome could a nation of such people be?

  It was dark when he left the kiva. He reached the roof of the first level of the pueblo and stopped to watch the stars glisten like sparks of sunlight on rippling waters. He had much work to do and a long journey ahead of him, but the strength of the kiva had followed him out into the open air, and he knew he could do his duty.

  Speaks Twice decided to look down on the camp of the Horse People before he went to his own lodge to sleep. Walking to the north wall, he focused on the flames of the Noomah campfire. His heart leapt suddenly like a live animal in his chest, for several Inday braves were standing on one side of the fire, while Horseback and his warriors stood on the other. Horseback was trying to calm his men, especially the eldest one, his father, Shaggy Hump. Speaks Twice could just make out Horseback’s words:

  “My father, I gave my word to the Tiwas. We will not fight at this place. Wait until tomorrow, and we will meet our enemy out on the plains, in the light of day, with our horses under us.”

  The Inday warriors, still confused and unaware of why Shaggy Hump wanted to fight, made questioning gestures.

  Shaggy Hump placed his hand on his chest, and drew himself up with pride, making himself look taller, broader. “Noomah!” He said, with all the anger and hatred of his ancestors burning within him.

  Instantly, when the word was spoken, Speaks Twice saw the six Inday warriors reach for their knives. He saw Horseback reach into the fire for a flaming cottonwood branch.

  “Stop!” Speaks Twice yelled in his own Tiwa tongue, quickly realizing that neither Inday nor Noomah would understand him. The Horse People camp had gone suddenly wild, made fantastic by Horseback swinging the burning tree limb between the Inday and Noomah warriors, trying desperately to keep them apart.

  Speaks Twice ran for the nearest ladder leading to the ground. “My brothers!” he shouted, hoping some Tiwa warriors would hear. “Bring weapons!” He landed on the fifth step of the ladder, then crouched, grabbed one pole, and swung to the ground, as he had done in play since he was a small boy.

  He found himself hurtling toward the fight at the Horse People camp. Coming around the corner of the pueblo, he saw that one of the Inday warriors had flanked Horseback’s frantic offensive with the flaming branch, and was locked in hand-to-hand battle with the Horse People warrior called Bear Heart. As Speaks Twice rushed crazily in between the two parties, joining Horseback in keeping them separated, he heard other Tiwa warriors shouting as they scrambled down the ladders.

  Just as he thought he might avoid serious trouble, he heard a gasp of pain behind him and turned to see Bear Heart holding his hand over a bloody spot on his stomach. But even as he held his wound, Bear Heart swung a war club across the face of the Inday, dashing his enemy’s head aside like a shinny ball in the game the women played with sticks.

  Both warriors stumbled back and fell away from each other. The kinsmen of each fallen man came quickly to protect him, and this only, Speaks Twice later would realize, prevented the fight from becoming bloodier still.

  More Tiwa braves had joined Speaks Twice now, and the Inday were forced to drag their fallen man back to the south side of t
he pueblo. A guard of Tiwa protectors was stationed around the Noomah, preventing the Inday from attacking the smaller Noomah force before dawn.

  The elders in the kiva were informed, and it was decided that Battle Scar and his band would be forever banished from Tachichichi for violating the truce. Horseback, because he attempted to forestall the fighting, would retain his rights to camp and trade at Tachichichi, but would be warned about controlling the hatreds of his men.

  Alienating Battle Scar, a strong Inday war chief, was a dangerous move, yet could not be avoided. The truce was all that protected Tachichichi from more powerful and warlike nations. A sufficient number of warriors resided in Tachichichi to resist a possible attack by Battle Scar’s band. The elders could only hope that Battle Scar would not recruit more warriors from other Inday bands and return to seek revenge.

  When Speaks Twice went to the Noomah camp to tell what the elders had decided, Horseback listened patiently, then thought for some time before he responded:

  “If we leave for the villages of the Metal Men tomorrow, will the people of your village take care of Bear Heart?” Here Horseback raised his voice loud enough for Bear Heart to hear inside the large hide lodge. “He is lying on his robe like someone’s elder sister, too weak from his little wound to ride with us.”

  Whip laughed.

  “Yes,” Speaks Twice answered. “The healers will care for him.”

  “Then we will leave this place when Father Sun looks upon us with a new face.”

  Speaks Twice rose from his place near the fire.

  “But, first,” Horseback continued. “There will be battle with the Inday.”

  “We should attack now,” Echo growled.

  “No,” Horseback snapped in reply. “The spirits forbid it. One or more of us may die when we attack the Inday, for they number greater than we do. Our elders have taught us that warriors killed in the darkness of night do not reach the Shadow Land. You may not know this, Speaks Twice, for you are not a True Human, but it is the truth. I will not attack in darkness and leave the spirits of my slain brothers lost forever.