Star
Author: Jesfrealo
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them but I don't, sadly. Thankfully, I still get to play with them. Don't sue, I'm not worth a thing.
Author's note: The references to the culture of the Kiowa Indian tribe is something I made up (so therefore is completely false and should be seen as nothing but fiction coming from the mind of yours truly). However it is true that in 1874 they escaped the reservations and fought a year before being recaptured.
The morning light shone brightly against the dusty, backwater town of Four Corners. Vin Tanner and Chris Larabee sat comfortably just outside the jail. Both men unconsciously keeping eye on the five other peacekeepers. Who were no doubt getting into more trouble. At the same time they were also watching out for more dangerous kinds of trouble (the same kind that tended to find them on a daily basis). They had been sitting in companionable silence for a few hours while they took stock of the goings on in town.
Chris stole a glance down the main road of Four Corners. He saw a small girl riding a horse. It was obvious the little girl was Indian. This was apparent for two reasons besides her complexion which Chris found himself absently wondering, wasn't nearly as dark as most Indian's complexions were. First, no white child that age would be able to ride a horse with so much ease. Also the horse had no saddle and a few feathers tied to the front of the horse's mane. The feathers hung next to the animal's head and gently swung back and forth with the trotting of the horse. It was certainly a procarious sight and Chris wanted to find out what was going on. No Indian would send such a tiny little girl into town by herself, especially a frontier town, where Indians were hated regardless. "Vin, look," Chris found himself saying as he pointed to the small child atop the huge horse.
Without saying anything Vin got up and began walking towards the little girl. For the briefest of moments Chris wondered why. Then he saw it. Some of the town's women were crying out about 'injuns' coming. Chris couldn't help but laugh a little at the seen. It really was ridiculous. Here there were three very grown women screaming bloody murder about seeing one tiny Indian child. However Chris' laughter stopped immediately as he saw one of the town's men head toward the little girl with his gun pulled. The sense fear he saw in the child's eyes was heart breaking, even for someone as hardened as Chris Larabee. The chocolate brown eyes oozed with terror and pleaded for help. She was far too young and innocent to realize or understand the hatred that was being directed toward her. Chris quickened his pace, as he feared for the little girl and the man he knew to be Preston Montgomery neared her with his gun drawn.
"Preston, put yer damn gun away!" Vin commanded interrupting Chris' thoughts with the loudest voice the gunslinger had ever heard the tracker use. Vin arrived at the little girl before Preston could get there or give a response to the young tracker.
"Looky here, boy," Preston began. Preston Montgomery was more then twice Vin's age and was from Kentucky. He had been raised to be prejudice against anyone who wasn't a white male, whether they be man, woman, OR child. And as far as Preston was concerned, the little Indian bastard wasn't taking another step in the town he kept residence in.
"Shut-up, Preston, and put the gun down before I make you," Chris spoke quietly, and menacingly to the man. Neither part of his statement was a request and with his gun drawn Preston Montgomery knew he was beaten. Besides that, he had no intention of going up against the likes of Chris Larabee.
Vin had stopped paying attention to Preston once he heard Chris' voice. He knew that Chris would handle Preston and no harm would come to the little girl. He focused his eyes on the little girl. He wasn't sure how to approach her she looked so scared. Also he had no idea whether or not she even spoke English, and he wasn't that good with kids, plus the fact that he, since he lived with Kiowa's and Comanche's he knew to speak those languages all Indian languages were different and she didn't seem to be either of the two he actually knew-
"Hello," A tiny voice interrupted Vin's thoughts. He immediately turned to look at the small child astride the huge horse. "My mama sends me here."
"Hi there, why does your mama send you here?" Vin questioned in a soft kind voice.
"I do not know, she just tells me to come to this place and she would come here and get me soon as she could."
"Well, then, darlin' lets git you down from there, and figure out where yer gonna stay until your mama comes and gets you." Vin then reached up to help her down however she ignored him and dismounted herself, with remarkable grace for such a small child and such a big horse.
"Where we go?" She asked in her tiny, slightly accented completely angelic voice.
"Well, um-"
"Why don't you bring her to my place, Vin?" Mary Travis conveniently stepped in.
"You sure about that, Mary? I mean-"
"Yes, Vin, I'm positive," She answered assuredly. Then she turned to the little girl. "Well, darling, what's your name?"
"Wild Star but mama just calls me star, you can too," She answered quietly, "I go with you?"
Mary looked towards Vin and then Chris for a moment. When both men immediately nodded she answered. "Yes, dear. Come on with me. Are you hungry?" She asked the little girl as they got out of Chris and Vin's earshot.
"Why do you think her mother sent her here, Vin?"
"I ain't got no idea but I know that something must have been wrong for her mother to send her to a white frontier town. That's an awful big risk and every Indian knows it. Wherever that little girl is from they must be real scared, or at least her ma must be."
"Question is, what is it that's got her ma scared so much."
~*~
"So, Star, what would you like to eat?" Mary Travis asked the shy little girl.
"Anything will do nicely," Star commented a little absently while looking in absolute wonder at Mary's kitchen.
Seeing that the little girl had utterly no interest in eating Mary tried another tactic to open Star up. "Where are you from?"
"Far away," She answered quietly, now giving Mary her full and attention and looking just a little like a frightened puppy with her big brown eyes and sad expression.
"Did your Mama tell you when she was coming back here to get you?"
"No, mama just said no worries, she would be back, no matter what," Star said sounding very sad. Mary could see the moisture gathering in her eyes.
Mary didn't like upsetting the little girl, but the situation was so peculiar she needed some answers and Star was the only one who could give her answers. "Did she tell you to come specifically to Four Corners?"
"What is spe-?"
"Specifically," Mary began feeling extremely foolish for using such a big word with such a small child, especially one who, apparently, didn't speak English as her first language. "It means like did she tell you to come to this spot or did she just tell you to head in this direction."
"Oh, she tells me to come to this town. She says someone special is here and he protect me."
"Does this 'he' have a name?"
"My tribe call him white coyote," Star explained.
"Oh, does that name mean something besides a white coyote?" Mary asked, always having been fascinated with Native American tribes.
"Yes, coyote means crafty hunter and in this name white means he is a white man," Star explained sounding nothing like the tiny child she was.
"You mean this man your mama said would protect is a white man in this town?"
"Yes." She answered in the affirmative also with a nod of her tiny head.
"Do you have any ideas on what White Coyote looks like?"
"No, 'cept mama said he is white man that looks like us. She say I must find him so I can be safe."
"What tribe are you from?"
"Mama leave tribe before I can remember it. She says I in danger there. She teaches me our ways on her own. Mama tells me everything she knows about white man and us. I am very scared, I want my mama!" She spoke as tears began to fall from her eyes. Mary took her in her arms and hugged her; the little girl clung to her for a moment. Then as if remembering where she was, Star released Mary and walked toward the window.
"Honey, are you okay?" Mary asked tenderly.
"Yes, but I do not want to talk about it anymore," she stated as if on the verge of throwing a serious temper tantrum.
Mary suddenly was feeling inordinately insensitive for prodding such a small child about such an obviously difficult subject. "Okay, are you hungry?"
"Yes," she smiled.
"Good," Mary smiled as well happy that her maternal instincts had kicked in, in time.
~*~
The little girl was obviously tired from her trip. Immediately after she ate the food Mary had provided for her she began to get very drowsy and Mary put her to bed. Star now slept quite fitfully. For that Mary was very happy. However she was also very curious as to Star's words earlier. She wondered who this mystery man could be. And why would her mother leave the tribe? Why would her mother suddenly send her here? Why did Star's mother think she was in danger if she was with the tribe?
The knocking of the door sliced through Mary's thoughts. She got up quickly to answer it. When she did it was of no surprise when seven men walked into her home.
"How's Star?" Vin asked obviously very concerned for her wellbeing. He felt a connection to the little girl. Even though he couldn't begin to explain it he inwardly cringed at the thought of her being in any kind of distress. The truth of the matter was, it frightened him to have such feelings, that could only be described as paternal, toward the small child.
"She's very well. She ate like a horse then became very sleepy. Now she's sleeping like a little angel in Billy's room," Mary answered automatically.
"Well that's good," Chris answered for Vin who had been acting just a little bit strange since they'd rescued Star that morning. "We haven't learned a thing about her-"
"Well," Mary interrupted, "I have."
"You have," Chris repeated with no trace of emotion.
"Yes, and what I found was quite intriguing but only left me with more questions." Mary answered and stopped to figure out exactly how to explain what Star had told her.
"Mrs. Travis, go on, you have captured our attention most fervently. Pray tell what has our young friend Miss Star divulged to you?" Ezra Standish asked very curious along with his compatriots as to what the young child had told the beautiful news paper editor.
"Well, let's see. She told me that she and her mother didn't live with a tribe. Apparently her mother left the tribe before Star could remember thinking that Star would be in danger if she remained. Her mother also told her to come to Four Corners, specifically. Her mother told her that there was a man here who would protect her."
"Well, did she say who this man was exactly, Mis' Travis?" Nathan Jackson asked very caught up in the midst of this story as were the rest of the men.
"Only two details, one he is, in Star's exact words is 'a white man that look like us' us I assume meaning the Indians. And two his name was or is White Coyote."
"Don't know nobody 'round here named White Coyote-" Buck began but he was cut off by Vin.
"You sure she said to come to White Coyote, that he would protect her?" Vin questioned sounding somewhat incredulous.
"Why, Vin, you know who this White Coyote is?" Chris question hoping that he did. So that they could take him to this man and figure out what in hell was going on.
"Yeah, White Coyote is me," Vin answered sounding very distant.
Well, that's it for now. Let me know what you think so far. PLEASE REVIEW!!!