Chapter 9: Soaring Eagle
"LOGAN!"
The kid's panicked scream cut through all the normal sounds of an early morning, and Logan dropped the two plates he held in his hand and ran.
Outside, he saw her standing by the horse corral, her hands clamped over her mouth and tears flowing down her face. Logan ran over to the fence and stopped dead, staring in shock. Jubilee ran to him, wrapped her arms around his chest, and started to sob into his shirt.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her as he stared mutely at the ground. Pretty Girl lay there, dead and bloody, taken down by a predator and partially eaten. He gritted his teeth. "Go back ta the cabin," he told her, but she shook her head. With streaming eyes she jumped over the fence and went to her knees beside the head of her beloved pony. Her hands stroked the bloody head as Logan jumped the fence too.
It didn't take long for him to find out what had done this. It had rained the day before, and imprinted clearly in the fresh mud was the print of a large wolf. Not the biggest one Logan had ever seen, but it had been large enough to take down a pony. Therefore, it was a danger to all his horses. Having found an easy meal here, it would continue to come until he stopped it.
He sighed. Well, he had been meaning to make a fur blanket for the kid's bed when the weather got colder; a wolf pelt would be the right size for a little thing like her. Time to go hunting. First, though…
He went back to the barn, got Dark Star's saddle, a length of rope, and a shovel, and returned to the corral. Whistling for Dark Star, he saddled the horse up and tied one end of the rope around the saddle horn, then took the other end and tied it around the hooves of the dead pony. Dark Star snuffled a bit, unhappy with being asked to drag the carcass of the pony who had been accompanying him on rides for the last month, but willing to do it if that was what Logan asked him to do. Logan patted the horse's neck.
With Jubilee following, Logan got Pretty Girl dragged out past his property line, out to the middle of the prairie where a single tree grew up out of the grass. There, he took the shovel and started digging. The wet ground was heavy, and hard to move, and the sun was hot. When he put the shovel down to rest, Jubilee took it from him and continued digging. When she rested, he took over.
Taking it in turns, they had a hole large enough to bury the horse's body by the end of the morning. Logan carefully slid the front of the body down into the hole, then the hindquarters. Getting to his knees, he reached in and untied the rope, then started shoveling dirt into the hole. The kid helped. Finally he tamped the last shovel of dirt on the smooth mound, and sighed. "C'mon, kid," he said, wrapping a grimy arm around her shoulders. "Let's go get cleaned up, and eat, and then we have to go hunting."
As she sat at the table and ate, he started packing. Rifle, shells for it, dried meat that could be kept in a saddlebag and gnawed on when they got hungry, a bladder of water for each of them just in case he couldn't find one, and blankets just in case they had to spend the night out there tonight. She was silent; out of grief, he supposed. She finished eating, put her plate in the sink, and waited for his instructions.
"Tack up Dark Star for me," he said, "And cut Molly out of the herd for yourself." She obediently went outside.
When he went outside she was tacking up Molly, having already done Dark Star for him. He checked the black's saddle straps and stirrups, more out of habit than out of necessity; she knew, by now, all of his preferences and made sure she did everything exactly the way he liked it. He loaded his pack onto the saddle, strapped it down, and got on.
Molly sidled sideways, trying to slip out from under the pack Jubilee was strapping down on her back. Logan pressed his lips together. Molly was a lazy palomino; given the chance she'd spend the entire day eating by the bank of the stream, where she had water and food both in easy reach, and never move a step the entire day. She disliked being saddled, and hated the sight of a pack. She was also, in Logan's opinion, stupid. If she didn't consistently drop good intelligent foals sired by Storm, he wouldn't have kept her around. She was more suited to being a pampered lady's mare. However, right now his six other mares were either in foal or suspected to be, and he didn't want them to be ridden. Especially not on a long trip like this. And as good as the kid's riding abilities had gotten over the last month, he still wasn't sure she would be able to handle a stallion, or even a gelding.
Jubilee finally smacked Molly's flank with an open hand. "Hold still!" she exclaimed, exasperated. Molly whuffed in displeasure, but held still while Jubilee strapped the pack onto her back behind the saddle. Finally they were ready. She mounted with one smooth, fluid move, having long ago discarded the stump she'd used as a mounting block in favor of mounting the way he did. He nodded approvingly. She had learned a lot in a month's worth of riding lessons. She still got a sore butt from too much riding, though, and Logan had been reluctant to make her take the full day's trip to Jackson with him. He would have to soon, though. He was running low on some things, and he wanted to get her papers. He never thought of her as a slave, but there were times, when he got upset about something around the ranch, he saw a little of that old fear in her eyes, and she'd get very quiet and make herself scarce until he calmed down.
Touching his heels to Dark Star's flanks, he moved his horse out of the yard and onto the trail. The wolf's prints led away from the ranch up into the foothills in the distance; he was going that way, then. Behind him, Jubilee tried the same thing with her mount, then tried to cluck the horse into motion. When that failed, she smacked Molly's rump firmly with one hand. The horse ambled slowly out of the yard.
It took them the better part of an hour to make their way up into the foothills. Molly wanted to stop and graze at every clump of grass they passed, and she laid her ears back and snapped irritably at Jubilee when the girl pulled her head up out of the clump. They were making very little progress, and Jubilee finally dismounted when they reached the trees in the foothills and snapped a branch off a tree. Quickly stripping it of bark and leaves with the spare belt knife Logan had given her, she got back on grimly. After that they made better progress. Molly quickly learned when Jubilee raised that switch she'd better move unless she wanted to get hit with it, and soon all Jubilee had to do was wave the thing at the horse.
Logan grinned and focused back on the trail. The ground here was strewn with rocks, and he had to watch carefully for signs that the wolf he was trailing had come the way they were going. Several times they'd had to backtrack until Logan picked up the trail again.
They reached a plateau in the foothills, and Logan stopped to let the horses take a breather while he got down and looked at the tracks. The wolf had been traveling in a more-or-less straight line from the ranch to here; wherever it was going, it had a purpose. He wondered what that purpose was. They were very far from the ranch by now; far enough that the ranch should have been well out of the wolf's territory. And the wolf had to have been desperate to leave its territory to attack a human habitation.
He got back on and was about to go on when a group of Indians broke out of the tree line across the meadow from where they stood. They weren't from a tribe that Logan recognized, but the medallion Running Wolf had given him back when they had first become friends should ensure his, and the kid's, safety. The medallion proclaimed him a member of Running Wolf's tribe, and therefore a brother to the Indians. He took off his hat and tipped his head to them, but they still didn't move. It took him a moment before he realized that it wasn't him they were looking at; it was Jubilee. One of the young men in the front, a tall brave with long flowing hair braided with eagle feathers, seemed especially interested in Jubilee.
She was studying him with equal interest, though with a little trepidation. Logan watched her carefully. She'd told him about the Indians who had killed everyone in the indentured servants' camp; he knew that seeing his easy friendship with Red Doe and Running Wolf had lessened her fear of Indians, but he still didn't know how she was going to react to seeing a lot of them all at once.
The Indian brave in the lead spurred his horse across the clearing and spoke to Logan. "You are far from any white man's dwelling." It was a statement, not a question, but Logan answered it anyway.
"Yes. We're huntin' a wolf that attacked my daughter's pony last night an' killed it." Logan figured it would be simpler to introduce Jubilee that way than have to try and explain the white man's concept of slaves to this brave. After living with her for almost a month now, she felt like his daughter; he never treated her as a slave, and he never let her treat him as though he were her master. As far as Logan was concerned, when he'd taken her into his home he'd adopted her, and any man who wanted to say she was not his daughter would have to try and say so through six inches of Logan's steel knife buried in his throat. He hadn't realized just how lonely he'd really been until she came to live with him. Before she came, he'd make an occasional visit into town to visit Miss Becky's place, more for company than for the women, although he'd done that too. He realized he hadn't had a woman in more than a month; nor had he had a drink in that time either. And he didn't miss either one.
The brave nodded, reached out, and touched Dark Star's glossy black neck. It was lightly sweated. He stopped when he felt the small charm braided into one side of the black mane, and flipped aside the mane to see it. "You are the one they call Speaks-To-Horses?"
Logan nodded.
"I am Soaring Eagle. I have been trying to find you for many moons," the brave said. "Come. Let us talk a while."
It would have been rankest discourtesy to refuse, so Logan slid down off Dark Star and motioned Jubilee to do the same. She swung off Molly, and immediately the horse stepped sideways to nibble at a clump of grass. The brave watched approvingly as Jubilee took the bridle off and let the horse eat.
He sat down on the ground, and the rest of the braves spread out. Jubilee sat down beside and a little behind him; it was natural to her, but it could be misunderstood by their present company, so Logan quietly tugged on the edge of the doeskin skirt she wore and indicated she should sit next to him. She did so.
Shortly afterward, the braves returned with a deer between them. Jubilee watched interestedly as they skinned and prepared the meat for cooking, then she got up and found a couple of sturdy forked twigs to place the spitted deer onto. One of the braves produced a packet of herbs from his belt, and Jubilee tasted it, said something that made them laugh, and they trooped off into the underbrush, ostensibly to look for fresh seasonings.
Soaring Eagle turned to Logan. "She is beautiful, your daughter. How many years has she?"
Logan frowned. "Fourteen." He held up both hands, fingers open, closed one, and held up four fingers on his right. Jubilee wasn't even sure how old she was; she'd never had a birthday she could remember, so they'd guessed. The brave looked pleased. Logan frowned harder.
The brave decided to stop beating around the bush. "My horse was killed in a buffalo stampede one moon ago. I need another horse, a good one. You are known as the white man who understands horses, who talks to horses and tells them what they must do. I wish to trade for a horse from you. He must be fast, able to run long distances while lightly burdened and not tire. He must also be able to drag a carcass on a travois."
Logan thought fast. He had a paint gelding just about ready to go with Arabian blood, good clean lines, and a fast gait. This Indian would be able to use him. "I have one," he said finally. "What would ya give me in trade?"
The brave's eyes wandered back to Molly, who had taken advantage of Jubilee's absence and chosen to try and roll with the saddle on. Dark Star nipped at her disapprovingly; he knew that when a saddle was on he was working, and he took too much pride in his work to put on such a display of slothfulness. Molly ignored him.
"Any horse in my herd for your daughter," he said, laughing at the antics of the lazy palomino. "That horse is not a good match for your daughter. She needs something with a spirit as wild as hers, with wind in its hooves to match the sky in her eyes."
Logan had to fight to suppress a growl. Coming from this brave, it was a subtle offer for Jubilee's hand, couched as a trade. However, he couldn't exactly refuse. Jubilee needed a good horse; she had outgrown the pony long ago but he hadn't had the heart to tell her that, and Molly was too lazy for Jubilee. The brave was right. He just didn't like the idea of his little girl leaving him so soon.
He hadn't counted on Jubilee.
"Really?" she'd come out of the tree line on the tail end of the brave's words, and her eyes lit up as she ran over to him with her arms full of fragrant herbs. "Really, Logan? You'll trade one of your good horses for an Indian pony for me?" Her eyes were sparkling.
He bit back a growl. He didn't have a choice now. "Yeah, ya little pain in my ass, I'll trade for a horse for ya. Molly don't seem ta like ya much."
"My own horse!" Jubilee grinned in delight and kissed him on the cheek, something she did very rarely and only when she was really happy about something. She bounced off back to the roasting deer and the waiting braves, who were anxious to see how she was going to cook it. She started adding some of the leaves and bits of grass from her arms to the deer, having one of the braves turn the meat around as she did.
"It is settled," the Indian said in satisfaction. "Let us eat."
Jubilee was still bubbling over with excitement when they got back on the trail of the wolf an hour later. "My own horse," she giggled. "My very own horse!"
Logan turned in his saddle and grinned at her. "Yeah, yer own horse, but take my advice an' pick a mare. Yer not ready ta handle a stud yet." He looked at her as she hurried Molly up beside him. "And hey, I need ta talk ta ya 'bout somethin'."
"What?" she looked at him curiously.
He fidgeted with Dark Star's reins. 'Well…that brave back there, I think he's gonna try an' make me an offer fer ya. I dunno if ya fancy yerself with one like him, or maybe ya prefer a white man."
"An offer?" she frowned. "Like a trade?"
Logan sighed. "Naw, not a trade, I think…he wants ta make ya his woman, like Red Doe an' Running Wolf is. Get married, I mean."
Jubilee swallowed. "M-m-married? He wants to give me a horse 'cause he wants to marry me?"
"He's giving me a choice of his horses because he wants one of mine, that's all," Logan said sharply. "But it'll give him an excuse ta come 'round the ranch ta see ya later, an' then he might eventually wanna marry ya."
Jubilee thought for a long while. "I don't know," she said shyly. "I never thought of myself as married. Slaves aren't allowed to--"
"Ya ain't a slave," Logan snapped. "Don't even say the word. If he's what ya want, I'll let ya go. Yer a bit young yet, but Indians start gettin' hitched soon's the girls turn sixteen or so. Ya ain't gettin' hitched till yer eighteen, but I figure ya wanna look around some."
"I don't know," she said. "I don't know, I haven't met any white boys my age yet who didn't look at me like I was a piece of trash. Maybe an Indian man is all I can settle for--"
Logan put a hand on Molly's bridle as he reined Dark Star in sharply. "Listen ta me, Jubilee," he said seriously. "I don't want ya ta 'settle fer' no one. If ya don't meet a boy ya love, ya can live with me as long as ya like. I ain't turnin' ya out. Marry fer love, girl, not cause ya wanna 'settle fer' someone."
"Really? I can live with you as long as I want?" She bounced in the saddle, causing Molly to whuff in displeasure. "Like forever?"
"Forever's kinda a long time, but yeah, if ya wanna, ya can live with me forever," he said.
She leaned out of her saddle to give him a kiss just as Molly decided she'd had enough of Jubilee bouncing on her back. She sidestepped quickly and Jubilee fell out of the saddle. Logan looked concerned, but Jubilee was laughing as she got up and mounted again.
