CHAPTER 24
With the crook of his arm, Makes Trouble forces the man's chin high and exposes the Navajo's neck. In one swift motion he proves his name true.
Two Moons stomps the back of his opponent's knee. He feels the man's body slide into his. His steel blade slices across the man's neck. Blood spurts out of the wounds and spills down the quivering man's chest. His flailing body falls to the earth, where Make's Trouble is quick to scalp him.
Anoki gags and turns away. Her head swirls even faster, and she feels like she's going to vomit. Why? Why are these men doing this? she thinks.
The Kiowa warriors look at each other with great satisfaction.
"Why are we here?" Two Moons asks with a broad smile.
"Because Moon Beam led us here," Kiowa answers.
"What do we do with them?" Makes Trouble demands, pointing his bloody blade at Anoki.
"What? Why?" Anoki asks Kiowa as he kneels down and reaches for her. She jerks back and resists. "I see you want to steal us from the Navajo!" She searches for her tomahawk and regrets losing it. Looking down at her stomach for the first time, she sees that she is not stabbed at all. It was just her way of anticipating the pain. Oh, I have no appetite for this, her face tells Kiowa as she groans.
Kiowa gently puts his hands on her arms and looks deep into her eyes. "No," is all he says.
I thought the Navajo were savage, she thinks, trying to keep her eyes open. I see now that the Kiowa are truly savage and perfectly wild.
Paw looks out the window. "I see plenty of Navajo moving from house to house. But I don't see Moon Beam. What is your plan now, Nephew?"
"We will have to come back for him. No doubt the Navajo will want revenge when they see what we've done here," Two Moons warns them.
Kiowa lingers longer than he should. Where Anoki saw anarchy, Kiowa felt calm and a strange peace as he gleaned her beauty. He shakes her to keep her awake.
"Are you strong enough to walk?"
Anoki understands his foreign tongue. She doesn't answer. Instead, she focuses on his soft, gentle eyes.
Two Moons and Makes Trouble help lift Anoki's wounded father.
"Come, Daughter, you must walk because I cannot run." He motions for Anoki to follow him.
She struggles to stand. Kiowa slides his arm around her small waist and helps her to her trembling feet.
The Kiowa war party is on the move. They stealthily slip in and out of the shadows as though they themselves were shadows.
Two Moons, Paw, and Makes Trouble manipulate the unsuspecting corners into death traps for the lingering drunk Navajo raiders. Their skill and oneness are things the Navajo, who feel themselves victorious, lack.
"We are swift," Makes Trouble whispers to Paw as he moves to a shadow.
"We are silent," Paw whispers back, pressing himself against the adobe wall.
"We are deadly," Two Moons says loud enough for them to hear as he unleashes an arrow that drops, but doesn't kill, a Navajo carrying an armful of Hopi skins. The wounded warrior reaches down. He wraps his fingers around Two Moons's arrow and pulls with all his might. The arrow's shaft comes out easily enough, but the arrowhead stays in. He holds it up to his face and examines the colors and markings to see if he can identify his unseen enemy.
"Kiowa? We have no quarrel with you!"
Makes Trouble sprints from the shadows and buries his tomahawk in the Navajo's skull.
Two Moons extracts his tomahawk, then swipes as he says, "Knock, knock. Is the master of the house home? If so, send him out. There is a war party here to greet him."
WHACK.
He quickly unsheathes his scalping knife and separates the man's hair from his head. He moves so fast, Paw can't help but be proud.
"See there, Makes Trouble. A little courage in your heart goes a long way, does it not?" Paw asks.
Makes Trouble smiles, forgetting it was he who wanted nothing to do with this fight.
"At the scalp dance, we will dance to your bravery instead of your fear," Two Moons says with a proud nod.
Kiowa leads Anoki and her father to his black mustang. He helps her father up and then turns to help her.
"I can get up by myself," Anoki protests. She takes several deep breaths to calm herself down.
Kiowa nods as she puts her shaking hands on the horse. He gently rests his hands on her hips and feels a pile of leaves swirl inside his stomach. What is wrong with me?
He lifts her up with ease. Her fear melts away like ice during the summer. A surprising giddiness replaces it. She kicks her legs several times, fluttering her moccasins up the sides of the black mustang. After she swings her leg over the horse's back, she takes a long moment to face Kiowa. She does this to calm her nerves and put on her bravest, sternest face.
Kiowa retracts his hands. Now, that is a fine, proud, brave woman. I have never seen beauty like hers, he thinks to himself. When he takes his hands off, she regains her senses and feels her fear return.
Caught between mixed emotions, Anoki grumbles. She's frustrated that her independence is invaded by both friend and foe. And she isn't entirely sure which one Kiowa is.
Kiowa hands her the reins and her tomahawk, a good sign, but the Navajo gave plenty of good signs, too.
Anoki grips her tomahawk with such a firmness that her fingers feel numb and begin to tingle. She isn't sure whether she should follow Kiowa or not.
She lifts the tomahawk and feels her arms tremble. Bury this blade in his skull and then run, Anoki! Her thoughts scream in the sanctuary of her mind. Run like the Hopi girl you are and protect yourself, and don't forget your father.
Kiowa looks up at her and can't help but notice how she holds the tomahawk. He smiles.
His smile keeps her in place with eyes firmly fixed on his handsome face. You have caught me at a bad time, my would-be hero. If you are my hero? I am not very beautiful with this swollen cheek and bloody face. Certainly, you are a hero. You wouldn't help my father if you were stealing us away. Would you? No, you would kill him and rape me if you were evil, she thinks, looking over her shoulder.
She smiles back as she sees Kiowa's band killing the Navajo with such ease that she wonders why she was ever afraid at all.
Anoki presses her hand to her throbbing cheek and looks over the blazing village. The extensive flickering flames tower and illuminate the village roads, telling a story of heartbreak. We can rebuild. We can regrow. But what am I to do about my mother and sister? Bodies litter the dirt roads, and the dogs waste no time in lapping up the pools of blood from masters who loved them and the enemies who would have eaten them. Both are alike to the dogs in their own deliciousness.
Anoki feels the crushing weight of the successful raid and detects the disgusting scent of her people's bodies burning in their homes. Some are still screaming. She turns away, trying to wash the images out of her mind with tears that trickle, then stream to form an ocean of deep sorrow. She trembles with fright and feels as though she's going to black out. What can I do?
The authors thoughts: Poor Anoki. So brave. So pretty. So hurt. Lucky for her Kiowa was there to save her. I wonder how he feels about her? I wonder how the tribe will feel about her? Read on to find out what happens next.
Get the whole book on Amazon "Harvest Moon," by Zachary H. Lovelady. Also see my characters come to life on instagram: harvestmoonofficial