Buffalo Wolf by Colin Bainbridge

Author:Colin Bainbridge [Baindridge, Colin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Next day they came upon the Sioux encampment. Cresting a rise, they saw their tepees beside a stream. Creed looked at Polly.

‘Are you sure about this?’ he said. ‘There’s still time to change your mind.’

She turned to him from looking down on the scene.

‘I’m sure,’ she replied. She smiled and, after a moment, he returned it.

Then they touched their spurs to their horses’ flanks and pressed forward. He guessed that Sioux scouts would have picked up their trail anyway. Still, he could not help a flutter of apprehension in his stomach and he could only admire the bravery and resolve with which Polly was facing the situation.

The Indian camp was still some distance away, but a group of riders had come out to meet them. Despite the cold some of them were naked but for their breechcloths and moccasins while others wore leggings and buckskin shirts. One man who appeared to be the leader wore a beaded vest. Their faces were painted and they wore feathers.

Creed looked steadily ahead as they approached, then he stopped and raised his right arm, holding it palm outwards as he had done on the previous occasion. It was meant as a gesture of friendship, but he didn’t know how the Indians might react. Two of them had ridden forward. At first they made no response, then one of them held out his hand in a similar gesture. Creed observed that both Indians wore notched eagle feathers, indicating the number of enemies they had slain.

For what seemed to Creed a long time, but which was really only a matter of moments, the two parties observed each other. Despite the open palm gestures, there was tension in the air and the Sioux were regarding Polly with puzzled expressions. Creed did not want to be the first to break the silence and it was clear that the Indians were testing him out. At last Creed spoke.

‘We come in peace,’ he said.

The Indians continued to stare at them, then one of them replied:

‘Hand over your guns.’

Creed was surprised that the man seemed to understand English. He unbuckled his gunbelt and, being careful to hold it out in front of him, handed it to the Indian.

‘Come!’ the man commanded: to back up his words the two of them closed up on Creed’s pony.

They began to move towards the village, the other Indians falling in behind them. As they got nearer groups of women and children came out to observe their passing. The women wore long deerskin dresses and some carried babies in cradleboards on their backs. Most wore their hair in long braids, but Creed observed that some had cut it short to indicate mourning. One or two of them appeared to hurl invectives at him. He thought of the burial platform and the warning he had been given by the Indian chief. It seemed that the gang of outlaws had Sioux blood on their hands.

Dogs barked and snarled as the horses went past. The village itself consisted of about sixty buffalo-hide tepees arranged in two concentric circles.

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