CHAPTER 26

"One set of tracks will lead them to the Hopi princess…"

"She's a princess? How do you know that?" Kiowa asks.

"Focus on escape, Kiowa!" Two Moons scolds his brother.

"If I were the Navajo, I would not chase one set of tracks. I would follow the greater number and get my ponies back," Makes Trouble says.

"Which would be our trail," Paw calmly adds as he paints his face black.

"If we go on foot, our numbers will look bigger," Makes Trouble proposes.

"True. If we dismount and send all these horses off in another direction, the Navajo may chase the men on foot or they may run after the horses," Paw contemplates.

"If I had horses, I would track down the warriors on foot." Kiowa confidently nods, seeing the pieces of his friends' plan slowly come together.

"Maybe if there are only two of us, they will feel more confident hunting us." Makes Trouble rubs his thumb on his chin and works out the final pieces to a master plan. "If we can run to the river's edge and jump in so that the currents carry us away, the Navajo will have no tracks to follow," Makes Trouble says with an "aha" expression.

Kiowa thinks it through, then nods and says, "So long as we have the night. If we don't make it by daylight, they will surely have no problem hunting us down in this vast desert and taking our scalps."

"You will need this," Two Moons says, passing his knife and flint stone to Kiowa.

"If I don't make it back, Paw, give all of these horses and treasures to my mother and sisters. Tell them I am sorry for letting the wind carry my spirit away," Makes Trouble says with a quirky smile.

Kiowa and Makes Trouble lift their bows and take only a few arrows. Two Moons and Paw sprint off with the horses and the bounty.

"I'm leaving this raid rich with many scalps and armloads of bounty. What are you leaving with, Kiowa?"

Kiowa perks up and boldly declares, "A vision that is worth a thousand raids. I have seen my future, and I am rich in love."

Makes Trouble's face puckers up with the sourest expression. "We are young and have many raids and female conquests. Why would you let one Hopi girl get in the way of all that life has to offer?"

Kiowa smiles and shakes his head. "Paw says if you chase two rabbits at the same time, you will catch neither. All you will catch is what you had to begin with, an empty hand."

Makes Trouble grumbles in contemplation.

Suddenly, Makes Trouble stomps. He looks down at his foot and says, "Kiowa! An idea has just leapt into my mind. Walk around in a small circle, like this." He motions with his finger. "Step over my tracks until we have a whole heap of tracks overlapping in a big circle."

"Makes Trouble, you have the wisdom of owls. Now the Navajo will see the horses' tracks and all these tracks and struggle over which fight will be easier to win."

Makes Trouble beams from the compliment. He stares at Kiowa with a warm smile that brightens his face in their dark hour. "You really think I am as wise as the owl?"

Kiowa nods. "I know you are! Why else would I do this?" He hoops and howls as he stomps around in a widening circle.

Shocked by his comrade's erratic behavior, Makes Trouble's smile melts away to disgust.

"If I am as wise as an owl, then you are as stupid as a squirrel. Why are you yelling? Don't you know they will find us with all that noise you are making?"

"That is my hope, my would-be brother. These deserts are vast, and they may not see our trickery."

Makes Trouble thinks on this for a moment as he watches Kiowa shout, "Beaver dung! We are here to take your scalps and all your ponies! You are falling into our trap!"

In the distance, Makes Trouble sees the Navajos' torches consolidate into one flaming circle. He quickly counts twenty or so.

Unable to resist the invitation for trouble, Makes Trouble shouts, "Your bodies look like gopher dung and your mothers have made you like themselves."

Kiowa looks at his friend in disbelief. "Where has all this wisdom come from?"

Makes Trouble smiles and shrugs. He points to the stars. "The stars send me messages that my ears can now hear."

"Your magic is working, and I can see it in your face." Kiowa nods at the Navajo. "No Indian would stand an insult to his mother. They will most definitely find us now and probably skin us alive."

Makes Trouble rubs his arms, not wanting to part with his skin. "What do we do?"

"You are the wise one. I will follow your lead."

"Then we had better get to the river!"

The two run off as fast as their long legs will carry their muscular frames.

Within moments, the Navajo ride up on Makes Trouble and Kiowa's handiwork. They lower their torches and circle around the tracks, trying to get an idea of how many Kiowa warriors they face.

"A pack of warriors on horseback have broken off and run toward the mountains. Two men of foot run off toward the river. What would you have us do?" Jumping Bear, the father of Crazy Eyes, asks the chief.

The Navajo chief, Old Red Eagle, examines the tracks and wonders where such a large number would be. He uses his eagle-like vision for lumps in the earth, to see if the Kiowa have buried their bodies in the earth. "Be ready for anything!" When he's satisfied that no ambush awaits him, he circles around several times and wonders where such a large force would be. It doesn't take him long to realize that so many warriors could not simply disappear into thin air. No, we would hear their whooping war cry for certain.

"Look here. If they had all these men, they would engage in battle, and why would two sets of tracks run off?" he asks.

The Navajo search one another's blank faces.

From a distance, Old Red Eagle hears the faint shouts of Kiowa and Makes Trouble. "You are uglier than goats, and your fathers have bred with gopher mothers to make the ugliest Indians of all the Indian nations!"

"They taunt us," Jumping Bear growls at his grunting band of Navajo warriors.

"Yes, but why?" Old Red Eagle asks.

"They want a fight. There are fewer of them than those on horseback," Jumping Bear determines.

Old Red Eagle agrees. "True, and the horses are most likely leading us into an ambush. I think we catch these two fools and make them pay for the injustice they have done to our people."

"Let us pursue the men whose tongues insult our mothers." Jumping Bear shouts, swinging his large stone club.

Old Red Eagle unsheathes his knife and shouts, "By the light of the moon we will give chase. We will cut their tongues out of their mouths, slice open their bellies, and let the sun burn their entrails while they are still alive!"

"Yet ya!" the Navajo warriors chant.

"No, our mothers will keep them alive while ants tear their flesh down to their bones one tiny piece at a time."

"Yet ya!"

The Navajo mount their horses and chase their enemies.

"All Navajo are made from all the dung of every animal and bug in all the worlds!" Makes Trouble shouts, living up to his name.

"What are these other worlds you speak of?" Kiowa asks, astonished at the thought of worlds other than this one.

"I don't know. It just makes sense that the great creator made more than one. Do you have only one arrow? Do you have only one brother? Does my father only have one wife? No! Of course there are other worlds."

Kiowa stares at his transformed friend in awe. "I never knew that trouble could turn to wisdom." His awe is interrupted by the shouts of the Navajo.

"YOUR DEATH WILL BE DREADFUL, KIOWA!" Old Red Eagle hollers.

"COWARDS! STAND AND FIGHT US!" Jumping Bear whoops.

As the morning light begins to illuminate their activities, the wise Kiowa warriors split up.

"How are we to pursue both at the same time?" Old Red Eagle asks.

"We cannot."

"What do we do?"

"Can it be determined which is the slowest to catch? If it can, let us pursue him."

"And let the other go free? After he has killed our warriors, insulted our mothers, and led us on a wild chase?"

"Then let us break into two and run them to the ends of the earth. Be wary, though, brothers. One of these warriors might lead us back to their tribe."

The Navajo think on these words for a brief moment.

"The holy people won't stand for this. The Kiowa have disrupted our way of life. Now, because we have less, we will not be able to trade for the things we need from the Spaniards."

"And we will be out of harmony. I see. So you believe we must destroy these two warriors to bring back harmony?" Old Red Eagle asks.

Jumping Bear nods. "Two men are easier to kill than an entire tribe. One of them has killed and scalped my son. Let us ride after each of them, but if you think an ambush is possible, run for your lives. There is no honor in death. And since we are the only holy people on earth, let us live."

With that they exchange brief glances, sign to one another the directions they are going, and off they ride, chasing Kiowa and Makes Trouble, who have now had enough time to slip into the river and escape downstream.

Me thinks a foul a foot: OMG, this is so miuch fun isn't it? Tricking the Navajo. Saving a Hopi Princess. Stealing horses and scalps. Life doesn't get much better if you're Makes Trouble. But for Kiowa, something has stirred his soul. Has that ever happened to you? I will never forget the first time it happened to me. For the ladies out there reading this book, pay close attention to what happens to Kiowa. If you want to know what its like for a man falling in love, his symptoms are algebraic. No need for you to waste your time reading this blurb, read on tribe!