Dead Man's Road by Randy Denmon

Author:Randy Denmon [Denmon, Randy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2015-07-31T00:00:00+00:00

26

In the gray light of dusk, Yellow Horse walked off to his tepee. The two Cheyenne camps had come together for the late-summer sun dance. This was the second ceremony of the year, the other held earlier in the summer before the buffalo-hunting season. He loved the sight of all the tepees silhouetted against the setting sun. The grand events paid tribute to the buffalo. Tomorrow, all the villages would commence packing up and then head onto the plains for one last big hunt before the season of cold winds fell over the land.

The summer hunts had been good, but not great, and Yellow Horse thought one more big meat harvest would comfortably get the tribe through the winter. The last big hunt would sustain them in case of a long, hard season of snows. As the shadows grew long, the drums began to beat. A medicine man walked through the camp lighting the huge piles of wood that the women had stacked all day. The sounds of the rhythmic drums and the pulsing light of the fires gave Yellow Horse goose bumps.

As the drums echoed through the camp, the young braves gathered around the fires. Over the next few hours, the ritual would stir them to a fever pitch, whooping, singing, and chanting. The energy trapped inside the hunters from the dance would propel them to extreme acts of bravery and daring in the coming days. Yellow Horse remembered his first sun dance as a young brave. For days afterward he stormed recklessly into the herds, first confirming to himself, and then to his tribe, that he would be a great hunter for many seasons of green grass.

A soft hand grabbed his wrist. Bird Woman stood beside him looking over at the festivities with a big smile. Short and thin, and with long, smooth hair and big cheery eyes, his wife was well thought of by most of the Cheyenne. The daughter of one of the tribe’s medicine men, she was known for her animated sense of humor, aptitude for joking, and her hard work tending the lodges and kids.

“Have you everything ready?” Yellow Horse said. “We will start moving the camp tomorrow.”

“Quit worrying,” Bird Woman said, playfully pulling on Yellow Horse’s arm. “The hunt will be good.”

Laughing came from the ground below. He felt something wrap around his leg. He bent over and picked up his daughter, holding her high and swinging her around in circles. Like her mother, she had a streak of mischief, constantly laughing and playing. Her behavior had garnered her the name Always Smiles.

“Always Smiles,” Bird Woman said. “Go get your blanket, and put on your big moccasins.”

“I am good,” Always Smiles said, laughing, as Yellow Horse lowered her.

“Go on,” Yellow Horse said. “Do as your mother says.”

As their daughter disappeared into the tepee, Bird Woman put her arm around her husband. She looked up at him with a devilish grin. “Maybe when the deer’s horns get big and the nights grow long and cold, the Great Spirit will give us another, maybe a young hunter.

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