Chapter 2 - Buck's POV

When I woke the first thing I became aware of was the fact that I was no longer cold. I felt warm and safe. My first thought was I must have dreamed it all and was back home in my village and my mother was there tending me, the hand on my head was gentle like hers. Then I opened my eyes to see one of the women I had seen earlier in the walled in yard. It hadn't been a dream.

I tried to sit up but she pushed me back down. "Easy there son, you've been unconscious for three days. We were very worried for you. My name is Sister Margaret; can you tell me your name?"

I tried to tell this woman my name but I spoke it in Kiowa and she didn't understand. I struggled to remember how Camille had called me in English. "I'm called Running Buck." I finally remembered the English words.

"That's a nice name. Where did you come from?" Sister Margaret asked me.

"My Kiowa village is to the west of here. I left a little over a moon ago after my village was attacked by white trappers. They killed many of our women and children and stole my promised woman." I managed to explain. It had been a few years since I spoke English with Camille but it was all coming back now.

"You poor thing. How old are you? You seem awfully young to be promised to marry already." Sister Margaret said to me.

"I'm twelve summers. I had just proven myself worthy of becoming a man and being promised to Camille. We were to marry when we came of age." I ground out, the pain of my loss getting to me.

"Do you know where she was taken?" Sister Margaret asked.

"I lost their trail. It's too late now. There is nothing for me back in my village, my mother was killed during the attack, and now that Camille is gone. I do not wish to return to be scorn because of my white father." I confessed.

"Well Running Buck if you intend on staying in the white world you need to be educated. You need to learn our ways. You are welcome to stay here. We will teach you to read, write, and do sums. You will learn our ways and of our God. You will have food and shelter and all you must do in return is to do what is asked of you." Sister Margaret said to me.

"What must I do?" I asked.

"Wait here, I shall get Mother Superior. She will discuss things with you." Sister Margaret said before stepping out of the room that I was in.

A few minutes later a much older woman stepped into the room. "I'm Mother Superior. Sister Margaret tells me that you do not wish to return to your people. If you wish to stay here there are a few ground rules you must obey."

"I will do my best." I say sincerely.

Mother Superior quickly goes over all the rules I must now obey. I'm forced to remove my earring that I was awarded for proving my skill with a bow. She takes my knife and bow and arrows away from me. She tells me that they will be return whenever I leave the mission for good. I can only stay here until I turn fifteen. Since I don't know the exact date of my birth, the sisters just give me one. I wouldn't find out until later that they had given me the same birthday as the bald boy who I had seen just before my collapse.

Mother Superior forces me to remove my buckskins and put on white men's clothing. I'm not even allowed to keep my medicine pouch or the silver bracelet my mother had made me. I didn't think things could get any worse until I was forced to have my hair cut off short. I was already starting to regret my decision to stay amongst these people, but if I was to survive in the white man's world I had to learn their ways. I was just thankful that I at least already knew the language.

Well I had been thankful for that until I was sent to live in the boys' dorms. I learned I was not wanted among my father's people either. Everywhere I turned I was taunted and teased, tormented and beaten. I had just been beaten up for the second time in one day, when I saw the bald headed boy again. He was making faces at some of the younger children who ran away from him screaming. He turned and saw me. I ran thinking he would just hurt me next.

I just wanted to belong somewhere. I just wanted someone to want me, to want to be my friend. I had no idea that I had just ran away from the one person in the world who would come to mean more to me than I could ever imagine. The boy who would become my best friend and brother, I didn't know that he had been the one to get me help; I didn't know that he longed to be accepted as much as I did.

Ike's POV

The young Indian had been in the hospital wing for three days when he was finally sent to live in the boys' dorm. I had been watching for him. I'd hoped he might want to be my friend. I had just scared one of the younger children away from me when I turned and saw him there looking at me. He looked like he had made 'friends' with the older boys with the bruises forming on his face. When he caught my eye, I saw a look of panic on his face before he took off running, so much for seeing if he wanted to be my friend.

The sisters placed the Indian in the same classes as me. I found out that he was called Running Buck but the sisters changed it to Buck Cross because he was a half breed. With Buck being there I wasn't beaten up by the older kids quite as often, they had to divide their time between the two of us it seems. I noticed that Buck did not have any friends either. I really wanted to be his friend but was scared to approach him again, I was afraid he would be scared of me too or that he would hurt me the same as the other boys.

Buck had been at the mission for almost three months when he ran off one day. Sister Margaret asked me to see if I could go find him in the woods, since I knew them better than most of the other students. I found Buck standing by a small creek not far from the mission yard. I stepped on a twig causing it to snap. He whirled and faced me; ready to pounce it looked like. I was scared; I could almost see why some of the others called him savage. Even though he was around my age, I could tell he could be deadly if he wanted to be, it was probably a good thing the sisters had taken his weapons from him when he first came here.

"Have you come to mock me too?" Buck asked.

I just looked at him. I reached my hand out to grab his arm trying to get him to understand that I was supposed to bring him back to the mission. Buck pulled away from me. "What are you here to beat me too?"

I shook my head no and reached for him again. Again he pulled away, "Don't touch me! What am I not good enough for you to even waste your breath on!" Buck yelled at me.

I threw up my hands in a helpless gesture. How could he not know that I could not speak? I pointed at him and then in the direction of the mission before I turned around and stormed away. I didn't know if he was following me or not and I didn't care. If he wanted to leave that was his choice, I wasn't going to go out of my way for him anymore.

At least that is what I told myself but when the sisters took us into town a few days later I changed my mind. I had just come out of the store to wait at the wagons for the sisters and other children to finish their shopping when I saw a scene that had me horrified. There was Buck down the street near the livery stables when a group of men from the saloon stumbled out of the door and surrounded him. I was too far away to hear what was being said but I knew he was in trouble so without thinking I ran into the thick of things.

I jumped onto one of the men's backs right after they started beating on Buck. It was enough to distract them for a minute but not long. For a couple of twelve year old boys we put up a good fight, but against four grown men we didn't stand a chance. The last thing I remember was a gun shot and the men running away. I collapsed to the ground next to Buck as the sisters rushed towards us.