No Greater Burden
Chapter Twenty-Five
Michaela and Sully lay with their limbs entwined, cocooned in an embrace, as sunlight stretched into the mouth of the cave lapping at their naked feet and ankles. They were awake, but quiet in each other's arms, the only movement between them was his fingers on her temple, gently stroking. Under her hands his chest was as hard as oak. Neither of them knew the last time they felt so unhurried and uninhibited.
Michaela was the first to move. Her arm had fallen asleep, and to ease the uncomfortable numbness, she repositioned it, shaking it to bring the limb back to life. She felt a rush of happiness as she gazed down at her husband, remembering how fully they had loved each other through the night.
Still groggy, Sully shifted his position in response to Michaela's stirring. He feared her movement signaled a desire to hurry their return to the campsite, something he knew was inevitable, but for which he wasn't nearly ready. It would be difficult to leave this place. Their time together had been far more incredible than he had ever anticipated when he first planned it. They had a rare opportunity to spend an entire day together, then, as night fell, surrender to each other in complete privacy, knowing they wouldn't be disturbed by one of the children or an emergency at the clinic.
Before Michaela, Sully never imagined that someone could love him so knowingly, with such tenderness and passion. It was out of their rich past and deep trust that it was possible for them to express themselves with a freedom he had never known before. More than novelty, it was their familiarity and profound connection that most aroused him. A small sigh of relief escaped from his lips when she lay back down beside him.
Sully propped up on one elbow, and smiled down at his wife. "Mornin'."
Michaela returned his smile, relishing in how always, upon awakening, he smiled at her. His smile could warm her as much as his touch. "Good morning," she replied.
Sully stretched his arms out to the side and moaned contentedly. "Ya sleep all right?"
"Yes," she replied, unable to contain the broad grin on her face. "Wonderfully."
Sully touched her hair, moving it back from her face, and kissed her fully on the mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer, deepening the kiss. When they broke apart, Michaela spoke. "Thank you for bringing me here."
"You're welcome," he replied, leaning in again for a soft feather light kiss.
Michaela brought herself to a sitting position, curious about how the morning light on the canyon wall changed its colors. Sully sat up with her. For long, silent moments they gazed at the lighter shades of the golden hues. The cool early morning air chilled their unclothed bodies. Sully reached for the coverlet, draping it over them, and huddled closer together. To get a better view, Michaela shifted her body to the side, resting her feet across Sully's thighs. Unconsciously, he began massaging the soles with his thumbs.
"Your feet are cold," he whispered.
"They're warming up," she replied with a playful smile. She paused to consider possibly spoiling this morning by bringing up the subject they had so far avoided. "Sully, how do you feel about going home?"
"Back ta the campsite?"
"No. Home. We planned to leave the day after tomorrow."
Sully was quiet for a long time. "It's hard leavin'."
Michaela reached over to touch his leg. "I know it is. But, did the trip give you what you wanted?"
Sully leaned his head against hers and breathed deeply as he formulated a response. His fingers continued to stroke her feet, the movements idle, almost sensual. "It's been real good spendin' time with Cloud Dancin' again. I missed him even more than I remembered." He felt his wife gently caressing his temple, encouraging him to continue. "It was good for the kids. Katie and Josef made friends an' appreciate the Cheyenne."
"It was good for all of us," Michaela concurred.
"I'll miss Runnin' Wolf, too. In a short time, he's become a good friend."
"Sometimes you meet people and form an immediate bond. I felt that way about Charlotte. And, after we overcame some initial distrust, I believe it was like that for us with Running Wolf and Night Crane. Apart from Robert E. and Grace, there aren't any couples back home who share our values and what we want for our children."
"No, there aren't." His thumbs massaged her feet with long, slow strokes. "I wish it was easier ta visit with 'em."
"I do, too."
"You saved a lotta lives, Michaela. I wish…" he stopped.
"What is it?"
He remained quiet, staring out at the canyon wall. His fingers ceased their movements and he just held her feet in his hands. "I wish I could've found a way ta help 'em. Wish there was somethin' more I could do."
"Sully, I know you do, but it's enough to be their friend. Cloud Dancing believes they alone have to take charge of their future. How the Cheyenne survive depends on them."
"I know that's how he feels, but they need help."
"They need to help themselves."
"I have this feelin' I'm s'posed ta do somethin', only I don't know what it is."
"Could it simply be your frustration at your inability to change their lives?"
If only there were some motion or some sound to alleviate the ponderous stillness around them as Michaela worried about Sully and Sully worried about his Cheyenne friends. After a long while, he turned to face his wife. "I know we're goin' home Michaela. It's hard, but I know it's time." She kissed his forehead then pressed her forehead against his, where her lips had just been. "S'pose it's time ta head back ta the campsite," he said reluctantly.
Michaela wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "Do you think we could stay a little longer? I'm not ready to leave just yet."
Sully was surprised, but pleased by her request, especially since he wasn't near ready to leave either. In this place, alone together, the world was perfect. There was no hunger, death, cruelty, or injustice, just profound love and peace. "S'pose no one'll miss us for a few more hours."
She linked her fingers with his. He brought their joined hand to his lips for a kiss. Sully tilted her head toward him, leaned forward until his mouth touched hers. Then he lifted his mouth from hers and kissed the soft center of her palms in the same way he had kissed her mouth. Returning to her lips, he kissed her again. Michaela kissed him back, softly at first then deepening it with all the passion and love in her heart. Without breaking their contact, his arm sought out her waist and encircled it. The other hand slid down her spine to the small of her back pressing, urging her closer. In moments they were falling back onto the floor of the cave as he molded the contours of his body into hers.
The morning sky was overcast, threatening rain. A dense blanket of light gray clouds cooled the air, providing a welcome diversion from the monotonous daily staple of sunshine and blue skies. It hadn't rained for six weeks, and though the storm clouds didn't look capable of producing much moisture, they were greeted with hopeful anticipation. Running Wolf and his family sat outside their lodge enjoying the cooler temperatures, each pleasantly engaged in their own activity, but soothed by each other's company.
Running Wolf brought the blade of his knife across the smooth wood of the bowl he was carving. "Are you giving the girls a lesson today?" he asked his wife. "The deer the Dog Soldiers brought back should provide a good opportunity for them to learn how to prepare hides."
"No, I teach tomorrow. Some of the children have never been taught about all the deer gives us and the gratitude we owe the deer for giving his life so we may eat and stay warm." She drew a long piece of sinew through the side of one leg of the buckskin pants she was making. The deer carcasses had been divided among the families for their use in making clothes and tools. Night Crane had carefully softened the hide, using the deer's brains and fat and was now assembling the pieces with strands of sinew taken from alongside the deer's spine. After she finished the buckskins, there would be enough skin left over for a shirt and a garment for the baby.
"With the government providing their clothes, will they think it worth the trouble to make their own?" Running Wolf asked. He rounded the edges of the bowl with his knife.
"The government does not provide the garments our people wear. We must never lose the sense of accomplishment that comes from doing for ourselves." Night Crane tied off the end of the leg with the sinew, satisfied one was finished.
Running Wolf glanced curiously toward the game stationed between his two sons. Eyes Like the Sky had set up a checkers board between him and his brother. He borrowed the game from Josef so he could practice, having grown frustrated at always losing to one of the Sully children. New Promise lay in a basket across from him, oblivious to the game, but nonetheless entertained by his brother's facial expressions and the timbre of his voice.
Running Wolf watched his son alternate between moving black and red markers across the board with a sense of purpose. "Who's winning?"
Eyes Like the Sky gave his father a tolerant look, letting him know he hadn't missed his sarcasm. "I am!"
"He's not much competition," his mother gently chided. "Are you seeing Josef today?"
"I will meet him later. I'm finally going to beat him at checkers," Eyes Like the Sky said. He jumped his red piece over his brother's black one, capturing the round black marker.
"Is that what you're playing?" Running Wolf asked. He had watched his son's last few moves beginning to understand how the game was played.
"You want to play? I can teach you." Eyes Like the Sky was ready for some honest competition.
Running Wolf nodded, set his bowl aside, and moved opposite his older son next to New Promise. He repositioned the basket for better access to the board. Eyes Like the Sky explained the rules of the game then let his father make the first move. Their first few moves were tentative as each person tried to prevent their piece from being taken. Eventually they ran out of safe squares. Eyes Like the Sky took the first piece from his father. For the next several turns, they alternated capturing pieces from one another.
"Cloud Dancing asked me to serve on the tribal council," Running Wolf told his wife, pondering his next move.
"He did?" She was intrigued, but not entirely surprised. By now she had finished the second leg of the buckskins and was working on the waistband. "You are not Cheyenne."
Running Wolf jumped his piece over his son's, capturing two of them. "He and Chief Strong Bow thought I might lend a different perspective. They know I have chosen to live as a Cheyenne. A man often attaches greater value to what he chooses."
"Have you given him an answer?" Night Crane was proud of how well her husband had integrated himself into the tribe. He had always been seen as a leader, something that had gotten him into trouble in the past. It seemed as if he had truly left the unpleasantness behind to build a new life.
Eyes Like the Sky lifted up in his seat. "I got a king!" He triumphantly removed two of his father's pieces, landing on the far square. For that, he placed another piece on top of his and gained the ability to move backward as well as forward.
Running Wolf glanced at the board, weighing his options, since it was apparent he was losing. "I said yes."
Night Crane gave him a loving smile and reached for his hand to squeeze it. Life on the reservation was hard. Food was scarce, sickness took many, and it was difficult to live according to their cherished traditions. The hardships were enough to plunge an average man into despair, but Night Crane was happier than she had been in a long time. That happiness came from being reunited with those few from her band who had survived Washita, from the daily tasks of cutting open a rattlesnake and finding a baby squirrel in the undigested contents of its stomach or softening, tanning and sewing deerskin for buckskins or moccasins, and most of all from the contentment she saw in the eyes of her husband and her oldest son. For the first time, they both had finally found a place to fit in.
"What will you do on the council?" Eyes Like the Sky asked. He continued to capture and gather up his father's pieces.
"The chiefs from each band form a council to decide on important matters to the tribe. They decide such matters as when hunters will leave the reservation for food, the ceremonies to be conducted and how to work with the whites. The chiefs seek the council of others in the tribe to inform their decisions. These others include men of all ages and status along with women, each offering a different perspective that should be heard. I will listen and offer my views to the chiefs."
"How will you know what to say?" Eyes Like the Sky asked.
Running Wolf accepted defeat in their game of checkers and began to set up the board for a rematch. "I will listen, talk among my family and friends, and offer my point of view."
"Your father is a wise man," Night Crane added with a proud smile.
"I know, but how will you know what's right?" The boy felt the weight of the responsibility his father had just accepted.
"I won't always be right. I will speak from what I believe to be right. It's all we can do," Running Wolf explained. "You and your mother will help me." He gave his wife a smile filled with appreciation for her unwavering support.
Night Crane glanced out toward the path that led to their lodge as a light misty rain began to fall. Out of the gray haze, she saw Cloud Dancing with three other men from the tribe heading their way. Raindrops settled on their hair and fringed buckskin shirts, making them sparkle. Assuming they were coming to discuss tribal business with her husband, she stood and prepared to make tea for their visitors. Before entering the lodge, Night Crane smiled broadly at the men and waved.
Michaela and Sully walked through the center of the reservation with their hands linked casually together. After leaving the canyon, they arrived back at their campsite by mid-morning only to find it deserted. A note had been left in plain sight under a rock by the wagon, letting them know Katie and Josef had gone berry picking with Live in Hopes and several other children from the reservation, and Brian and Dorothy had gone into the nearest town for more supplies for their trip home tomorrow. Finding their family otherwise occupied, they decided to head to the reservation for a visit with Running Wolf and Night Crane and then later to spend time with Cloud Dancing. It was their last full day here and they both wanted to spend as much time with their friends as they could before the time came to say goodbye.
They passed the school, the Indian Agent's office, and several lodges before reaching the road that led toward Running Wolf's home. The sunlight that woke them early this morning had been replaced by a whitish gray sky. A light rain had just begun to fall. It was little more than a mist and the delicate damp spray felt refreshing against their skin when compared to the endless days of ferocious heat. The wind had picked up, and as it hit the trees, the leaves drifted from their branches like a flock of birds.
In the distance, they saw the lodge with its distinctive robe hanging from the door. Though they couldn't see the detail from this far away, they remembered the design was exquisite. The vibrant colors of a river, sun, eagle, and a buffalo spoke of courage, and new beginnings. They noticed a group of people outside the dwelling, but they couldn't yet identify who they were. The gathering was a welcome sign, for it meant Running Wolf and Night Crane were home. They were pleased for their friends. In the time since they arrived, both of them had become valuable members of the tribe and well regarded by its leadership. As their steps advanced closer toward the lodge, Sully recognized Cloud Dancing. Eager to be with his friends again, he picked up their pace.
As they grew closer, the friendly gathering that they both had presumed awaited them, revealed itself with foreboding. Sully released Michaela's hand and slowed his steps to more closely observe the tense, rigid bodies up ahead. Angry hand gestures were coming from one of the Indians. Before Sully had time to fully evaluate the situation, he heard his wife gasp in a terrified way that sent a cold chill coursing through his body. She was ghostly white and as Sully followed the direction of her eyes, he saw Running Wolf being held with his hands behind his back by one Indian as another punched him in the face and chest.
Sully arrived at the front of Running Wolf's lodge panting hard from his sprint to help him. The surrealistic scene he stepped into rattled and disoriented him. Running Wolf was on the ground, his nose bloody and one eye beginning to swell shut from the beatings he had endured. An Indian held his hands behind his back while tying them with a rope. Another had his hands under Running Wolf's armpits pulling him to his feet. Night Crane and Eyes Like the Sky huddled by their front door in terror, their faces streaked by tears, while the baby wailed at the top of his lungs. The beautiful deerskin robe that adorned their lodge had been ripped from the door and now lay in a heap on the ground. Cloud Dancing stood stone still impassively observing the situation; he never even acknowledged Sully's presence. A casual onlooker to their interaction would have guessed the two men were strangers, not as close as brothers.
"Stop 'em Cloud Dancin'," Sully yelled. His voice sounded desperate. Cloud Dancing stared straight ahead. He didn't even look at his friend. Sully tried again, but again, there was no response. As anger crept up his neck, he took matters into his own hands. Reaching Running Wolf's side, he attempted to pull the two Indians off him. He grabbed one by the back of his buckskin shirt, punched his face, and let him fall hard to the ground. When he reached for the other assailant, Sully felt an arm snake around his neck, nearly choking him. Another hand pinned his arm awkwardly behind his back. Sully was immobilized by the vice grip of yet a third Indian.
"Why aren't ya doin' somethin'?" Sully yelled to Cloud Dancing. He tried in vain to wrestle free from the tight hold the Indian had on him. "Let 'im go. He ain't done nothin'."
Cloud Dancing reluctantly faced his friend, wishing he had found a way to prepare him for this news, or somehow convinced the Dog Soldiers to wait until Sully had left for home before confronting Running Wolf. This is not how Cloud Dancing had intended for Sully to find out. With the Dog Soldiers set on taking action and Sully away with Michaela, Cloud Dancing had no opportunity to speak with his friend before now. In this awkward moment, it fell on him to urge that his brother depart before the Dog Soldiers directed their anger toward him. "Sully, this is none of your concern," he said. His voice was so remote, Sully hardly recognized it.
"None 'o my concern?" Sully could hardly believe this was Cloud Dancing before him. "Runnin' Wolf's my friend. That makes it my business."
Michaela finally caught up to her husband. She was out of breath and horrified by the scene before her. While Sully was being held, one of the Indians had lifted Running Wolf high into the air and dropped him, letting him fall. He had been so dazed and weak from the beatings that he fell hard. Immediately upon seeing her friend's condition, her physician's instincts took over. With no thought of the danger, she ran toward Running Wolf as his bruised and bloody body was once again being yanked to its feet. Set on not letting her near him, one of the Indians pushed her hard with his free arm causing her to lose her footing and tumble to the ground.
The blow to his wife acted as a shot of adrenaline to Sully. He gathered the full force of his strength and broke free from the hold the Indian had on him. In a flash, he was by Michaela's side. He helped her to her feet, and when he confirmed she was all right, he again tried grabbing Running Wolf out of the clutches of the Dog Soldiers. The Indian that held Running Wolf kicked Sully in the stomach, momentarily knocking the wind out of him. He landed doubled over on the ground, gasping for breath. Cloud Dancing walked toward Sully and offered him a hand up, but Sully shoved it off and rose up on his own, determined to deal with Cloud Dancing later. The Dog Soldiers proceeded to roughly lead Running Wolf away from the lodge. Throughout the ordeal, Running Wolf remained silent, not making eye contact with Sully, Michaela or even his family.
"You must leave now," Cloud Dancing hollered. It sounded like a warning and it startled both Sully and Michaela. "It is no longer safe for you to be here."
"Cloud Dancin', he ain't done nothin'. You're makin' a mistake. He's our friend," Sully pleaded again.
"That man is no friend of the Cheyenne," he said, unable to make eye contact with Sully.
Night Crane felt a hand on her back before she realized Michaela was by her side. She heard faint sounds of comfort, but couldn't hear the words over the loud voices of torment in her mind. In the time since the Dog Soldiers had come for her husband, she felt like she was shrinking, slowly disappearing. The sobs of Eyes Like the Sky had grown fainter as she became smaller and smaller. She was numb. She could no longer feel and she could barely see or hear the action in front of her. Through eyes clouded by tears, she saw her husband being dragged away by two men as heated words filtered into her mind.
"Why ya lettin' 'em take 'im?" Sully asked again, his arm waving toward Running Wolf in agitated motions. "We'll get ya outta this," he called to his friend. I'll figure somethin' out."
"He is a murderer," Cloud Dancing finally said. He was confident that once Sully learned the truth, he would understand why he condoned the Dog Soldier's actions.
The remaining Indian with Cloud Dancing spoke next. "He will pay for the Cheyenne lives he has taken."
"Cloud Dancing, please," Sully begged, grasping his arm to force him to listen. "There's gotta be some mistake. You know Runnin' Wolf. He ain't a murderer. He saved my life." Sully's face was twisted in anger and his voice strangled.
Cloud Dancing wrenched his arm from Sully's fingers. "I do not know Running Wolf, and I am sorry, Sully, but neither do you." He said Running Wolf's name like he was spitting out a pebble he'd found in a piece of meat.
"He scouted for Custer. He killed our people," the other Indian blurted out at last.
For a moment Sully just stood there as the words hit him with almost physical force. Then his face returned to some calm place. "Ya got the wrong man!" Sully turned to Night Crane. "Tell 'im they got the wrong man."
Night Crane was caught in a prison of her emotions and hadn't heard Sully address her. Beside her she heard Michaela urging her to say something, but she didn't know what. Her heart was breaking and her mind refused to focus.
"This is some kind of terrible mistake," Michaela said. "Night Crane, please tell them they're wrong, that Running Wolf couldn't be the man they're looking for."
The jumbled words filtered through Night Crane's mind and rearranged themselves in some logical sequence of comprehension. She stepped forward, and with haunted and horrified eyes, she looked from Michaela to Sully and back again several times. Her look was strange. Even stranger was her silence. Then slowly she shook her head, drew in a breath, hesitated for another second and then spoke. "They have the right man."
To Be Continued...