Tag: scouts

Moon at Midnight – Part XXXVIII (day 2012)

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(part XXXVII)

We returned to the waterfall
Where I had told the scouts to go
And to bring Willow and Lily
I was happy to see them there
And the scouts had also found
Most of the other women and children
I took three of the older scouts with me
Tall Pine included
And we made our way back to the village
To assess everything.

When we arrived there
Our hearts sank
As they had the first time I saw the damage
Teepees tipped over and half burnt
Same fate for the smokehouses
We found two women killed
And one young scout killed
With a tomahawk in his hand
There were three other women mulling around
In a complete state of shock
But only minor injuries, bruises and cuts,
From trying to fight
Upon finding the state of things
I sent one of the scouts to the Waterfall
To bring everybody back.

We were relieved to see
Not much other damage had been done
I had come upon much worse before
But it’s never easy to see
Our hearts were sullen as we
Built platforms on the edge of the village
To place our dead people.

When that was done
We all began to try and piece together
The teepees and smokehouses
There was still lots of meat to be smoked
And we knew that the hunting party would return soon
Hoping we would need to smoke lots of meat.

That night I told Willow as we sat side by side
Around the fire that was burning
In the center of our village
What had happened when Tall Pine and I
Had tracked the men down
She sat silently as I told her
And put her arm around me when I was done
I could see a few of the other women
Were listening to the story
All of the scouts, too
Were straining their ears to listen
I made sure to embellish
The fearlessness that Tall Pine had shown.

part XXXIX

Moon at Midnight – Part XXXVI (day 2010)

ned 2 Comments

(part XXXV)

One of our favorite places to go
To the South, about two hours
We had found the lookout after wandering
For medicinal herbs one summer day
We didn’t hear anything as we walked up
And we didn’t hear anything from where we sat
But looking out, we watched an abnormal amount
Of smoking coming from our village.

I trotted ahead cautiously
Keeping my eyes on alert
And my hatchet in my hand
As I got closer
I flanked our village on the West
And came across a few of the children
To afraid to move, watching
Most of the teepees had been knocked over
As well as the smoke houses
The men had left two days ago
On a hunting party West
Into the deeper forest and mountains
And weren’t expected for a few more days
So it was mostly women and children left.

It was hard to know who had done this
There were clear signs of horses
Often with missing shoes
Which could mean a band of renegades
Most Army men kept their horses happy
And any Tribe I ever came across
Didn’t shoe their horses
They had come from the North
I could see that clear enough.

There was very little movement or sound
Coming from our small village
Except the smouldering smoke
So I walked into the encampment
On high alert
Listening and watching
I found one woman who had been badly hurt
I asked her where did they go,
She pointed West
I came across two killed
No doubt in my mind a few had been taken
A few of the elders had holes through their chests
My guess was five god damn renegades
Chicken shit bastards
With loaded guns and fire on their breath.

I went back to the young scouts I had come across
And told them Willow and Lily were coming
Where I had just come from
I made it known they should go that way now
And intercept them before they got here
And direct them into the Woods
To the East side of the Waterfall
Where the big fir had fallen over
I took the eldest with me
He had his bow and arrows
As we scanned the village.

I heard from one of the teepees some noise
And looked inside
One of the bastards was on a woman
And I buried my hatchet into his head
I told her to keep quiet
And where we were meeting at, to go to
She grabbed a few tools and snuck away.

There were no others
I could only guess the one I had killed
Was reaping the benefits
Of the renegades he was following
For he didn’t look like much of anything
Nor worth keeping any kind of company
I followed the ones who had left
Horse tracks to the West
For fifteen minutes
And didn’t come upon them
When I reached the creek
I saw they had crossed and kept going
Deeper West, moving fast
I hoped that the men would come upon them
And see any women or children that had been taken
They would know what had happened at once
And do what had to be done.

part XXXVII