CHAPTER 11
"Onendah, I have a gift for you," Paw calls out.
"Leave it at the door. My eyes have seen much sorrow, and I wish to see no more of your face or anyone else's."
"I cannot leave it at the door."
"Why not?"
"Someone will take it!"
There's an excited rustling in the tent before the tepee's flap flips open. A dust cloud explodes in Paw's face.
"Gifts of worth are always welcome!" Onendah squints and deepens his sagging frown. He points down. "But your sorrow must remain at the door, with your filthy moccasins."
"But I like my moccasins. The beads were done by my wife before she died."
Onendah disappears into his tent, while Paw removes his beautifully beaded leather moccasins. Then Paw ducks down and enters the open hatch. His feet touch a soft rug comprised of rabbit, mink, and bear fur. He smacks his lips and detects the strong aroma of sage. A dull fire smolders in the center of the tepee, drying meat. It offers little light. Smoke swirls and spins out of the opening in the roof.
When his eyes adjust, Paw scans the walls of the medicine man's tepee and sees elaborate paintings of animals, people, and people-animals. Other paintings of the medicine man's greatest achievements litter the walls. The largest characters are of his deceased wife. A story forms. Paw can see how they met, where they were married under a bright moon, and the sons they had. He can tell how Onendah felt from the yellow circles in his heart in the earlier drawings, where at present there is no color in his heart. Just empty black circles where sons and a wife once had a place.
Paw turns his attention to the dream catchers hanging on the wall. He traces the woven twigs with his fingertip and admires the web-like features. Some of the dream-catchers have scalps tautly fixed in them. He wonders if the medicine man's power can actually hold the evil spirits in prison or if it draws them to the village in search of what has been taken from them.
Paw pokes at a pearl that's been dipped in silver. It symbolizes an Indian's worst nightmare, eternal internment. The jewel dangles from a string as fine as a spiderweb and hovers oddly in the center.
"Do you bless all of them equally?" Paw asks, wondering if the larger dream-catchers have more power than the smaller ones.
"I give them as much power as they need."
Paw sits down by the fire and crosses his legs. He sits in peace, waiting for a moment to tell Onendah what has transpired. He studies the gray-haired man's cracked face and wonders if his own hair will turn gray and if his face will crack like the mud. Everything about this man is art. His life. His medicine. Even his curses, Paw thinks to himself.
"I have seen things I think no man has seen before," Paw begins.
"As have I. Look upon my eyes. Do you not see the color of the sky instead of the earth?"
Paw focuses on the medicine man's hazy corn-blue eyes.
"It has not always been so. I once had the earth in my eyes as you." Onendah gently presses his thumbs to Paw's closed lids. "Many winters now, the wind has swept the earth from my eyes." He pulls his thumbs back. "Now my spirit is almost free." The old man folds his arms and leans back.
"I saw a Cheyenne chief transform into a bear."
Onendah bursts into mocking laughter. "What herb do you smoke in your pipe?"
Paw holds a straight face.
"I have seen and heard much in my lifetime, but I have never heard anything such as this. Tell me now, where can I find this herb?"
"I thought our minds would be one on this," Paw says. He slowly unwraps the golden lance. Breaks in the cloth release a soft amber glow.
Onendah gasps. "What is this?" His laughter is silenced.
An aura as powerful as the sun's light dismisses every shadow of doubt in the medicine man's mind. Onendah shields his eyes, and light emerges through the chimney hole.
Outside, the villagers circle Onendah's tepee. Braves whoop and women begin to chant prayers of praise for whatever spell allows Onendah to capture and hold the sun in his tepee.
"His power has grown!" Makes Trouble whispers to his sister, Kida. She nods, feeling the warmth of a beautifully woven blanket her mother wraps around her.
Kida's tender mother stands up, and stares in awe at the light blasting out of the tepee. "It must be a sign," Glances Then Glares mumbles.
"Of what?" Kida asks.
Her mother raises her hands in worship. "Only Onendah can know."
Inside the tepee, Onendah shouts at Paw, "Cover it up! The sun's power blinds me!"
Paw quickly wraps the golden lance and conceals its light. He's careful not to touch it. The warmth of the weapon is more powerful than a summer day and constantly tempts him to keep the mysterious power for himself.
"I brought it here because my brother wanted you to have it." Paw holds the wrapped weapon out with both hands, offering it to Onendah.
"What would I do with it?" Onendah places his hands beneath the wrap and accepts the gift.
"Whatever power it has, I know not. But of a few things, I am certain. The Cheyenne chief held this in his hands and repelled our arrows. It gave him power to change from a man into a bear."
Onendah pauses for a moment and thinks on the hard words Paw speaks.
"Before I answer you, I have something I need you to do," Onendah says.
"If I can do it, I will."
"I have seen in a vision that Lone Wolf's son is going to receive a demigod as a gift. I think it odd that you have shown me this power and I have had this vision."
"Very strange things are happening all at once," Paw agrees. "What is it you need?"
"I need you to go and catch a silver fox. Make sure you don't touch it. No one can touch it. Bring it back to me, and I will bless it with the lance and bind it to Lone Wolf's son. I have seen that the gods have some strange use for it."
"I have never seen a silver fox. Where would I even begin to look?" Paw questions.
"I would start in the forest or some stream. Everything must have water to live. Now, on this topic of shapeshifting. I have heard of Rugaroo, but I have never seen the shape-shifters with my own eyes." Onendah caresses the magic lance. He's mesmerized by its power. "It seems remarkably light for being crafted of gold."
"It was durable enough to fight off the man-bear," Paw informs him. He thinks for a moment. "Rugaroo are stories we tell our children to keep them frightened so they will not wander in the night. This is no fable. I speak true words."
Onendah's eyes shift from the lance to Paw. "When my medicine is not so weak from the vision I have just had, I will hold a counsel with our ancestors and see if this magic is a blessing or a curse. Thank you for bringing it to me. Is there anything else?"
"All that I ask is that you grant me its power of protection so that I may track down the man-bear and avenge my brother."
Onendah remains quiet. He studies the infinite depths of Paw's eyes. The dull fire illuminates the medicine man's leathery face. Paw holds his peace for some time, letting Onendah see what he cannot. Onendah eventually looks up to the sky, then back down at Paw. He carefully places the lance down, then lifts a stick with a hand fastened to the tip. Black feathers hang off each finger.
"Do you know what this is?" Onendah asks.
"It is a hand, attached to a stick, wrapped in deer skin. It has black feathers hanging off the fingers."
"Do you know whose hand?"
Paw shakes his head.
"It is my enemy's. The one who killed and scalped my wife and boys. He tried to reach with his magic into my soul and steal my life. But I would not let him. I used my knife to cut off his hand. Do you understand what I am saying to you?"
"I need more magic to defeat Chief Black Bear?"
Onendah sighs. "I see two paths." The medicine man swirls the wand above his head. "One is a slow, painful death. The other is a magnificent journey of life."
Paw buries his face in his hands. He sobs as he listens to the truth of Onendah's words.
"I have felt the darkness of death swirl like these black feathers. They turn into a storm as my thoughts have lingered on revenge," Paw confesses.
"What is in your heart?"
"Hatred as great as the everywhere water!"
"This is the dark path that will tease you with relief, but none will be found. Your enemies have set a trap for you and wait for you to return. The man-bear knows the death of Lone Wolf will stir such emotions. He will use your feelings to bait you. They will dangle the bait of hate in front of you. Not to kill you but to capture you, so that they may torture you for many days. They will drag your agony out until your body expires in hopes that you will confess the location of the golden lance."
"My heart screams for justice!"
"Justice?" Onendah says with a trailing chuckle. "Our conflict with the Cheyenne will never yield justice. Only death."
Tears well up in Paw's dark brown eyes. "The Cheyenne have taken my wife and daughter. Now they have taken my brother. What am I to do?"
"Listen."
Paw wipes the tears from his eyes.
"Like you, I have lost Indians I love. My wife's and sons' scalps fell to the Cheyenne. Replace hate with love if you can. Lone Wolf's wife is with child. That child will be walking soon. He will join the rabbit circle. I have seen in a dream that this child will walk on feet of hope and he will have all the strength of his father but none of the wisdom. You must teach him wisdom, and when this child is ready, I will grant the lance's power to him if I can understand it. For now, teach him the ways of the Kiowa. Show him how to think and not to follow the dangerous passions of his heart. Teach him our ways. Be his guardian. Bind to him as the roots bind to the earth and you will choose a path of life that is rich with love, joy, happiness, and one day, peace."
Paw laughs painfully at the thought of peace.
Onendah presses his cold hand to Paw's heart. "I know the stones of hatred cover your ears and make it hard to hear these things. I know your wounds are fresh and deep. You must know, brother of Lone Wolf, these wounds will heal." He looks down for a moment. His hand drops to his side. He shrugs and finishes with, "The Cheyennes' won't."
Onendah's vision proves true. With death in summer comes life in spring. Grass Woman, Lone Wolf's widow, gives birth to his third and final son.
The entire tribe turns out for the baby's ceremony. The medicine man uses ash to trace the image of a sprinting wolf across his chest. The people cheer and chant, "Though Lone Wolf is gone, his spirit lives on!"
A thought cracks in the medicine man's mind. Onendah etches a thunderbolt on the calm baby's forehead. The tribe gladly welcomes Lone Wolf's gift.
"What is his name?"
To the reader: You may be tempted to skip around, but I wove this story so tight, you won't want to miss a detail. I hope you're enjoying this escape. If you can't wait for the next chapters on the pleasure read, bounce over to Amazon. "Harvest Moon," by Zachary Lovelady. If you would like to see this story come to life, check me out on instagram. Harvestmoonofficial