CHAPTER 60
"Rrruuunnn!" Blossom snorts and runs off with a grunt. Clover is quick to follow.
One by one the wolves make their appearance. They leap out of the grass and bite at Long Horns's legs. Kida and Paw successfully seize both of Long Horns's hind legs and work as anchors to keep him from charging Kiowa.
Kida swiftly maneuvers around the big bull's side and latches on to a thick chunk of matted fur. Dropping down to her haunches, she brutally tugs and tugs, until Long Horns loses his balance and falls over.
Anoki leaps on top of the bison and uses her weight to help pin him. She nips at him and makes every effort to contribute. But being an inexperienced hunter, she annoys him more than hurts him. She looks up at her brother and shouts, "Do something!"
"Walpi, Anoki, charge the herd!" Kida orders the two ineffective wolves.
Walpi and Anoki look at each other with mutual baffled expressions.
"Charge them where?"
Makes Trouble shows them inadvertently by running after the beasts, two-legged. He stretches out his arms and screams, "MEAT! I NEED MEAT!" His efforts cue Walpi and Anoki. They are quick to take advantage of the gap between the monster and the herd.
Paw's and Kiowa's primal snarls terrify Long Horns. He tries to fight with powerful bucking motions, but it's pointless. His blood is already soaking the grass. Paw has begun pulling his entrails out of his abdomen.
Kiowa releases his bite and resets his powerful jaws around the groaning bull's neck. Sifting through Long Horn's thick mane for a pounding pulse, he maneuvers until he feels a beat rattle against his fangs. With one severe chomp, he punctures, twists, then pulls till he snaps the carotid artery.
The old bull releases his last breath. His tongue dangles out the side of his mouth and his big brown eyes roll up into the top of his head.
Blood stains the warriors' snouts. It mixes with their saliva and oozes down their chins.
"The honor is yours, Kiowa!" Paw commends his nephew. "You killed the biggest bull in their tribe!"
"Hurry. We must take as many as we can get," Kida shouts, already sprinting after the stampeding herd.
Kiowa leaps over the carcass and speeds past her. His paws thud as they hit the earth nearly as hard as the buffalos'. Dirt and grass kick up behind him. The powerful wolf moves with a flash. His silvery coat streaks across the green grass and is quickly ahead of his pack. Now he leads a lone attack on the frightened herd.
Blossom and Clover reunite with the herd's leader, Raging Bull.
"Raging Bull, help! Wolves attacked Long Horns."
"Impossible! Wolves wouldn't dare attack our herd in broad daylight."
"It's true! Come see for yourself."
Raging Bull follows the cows, where he comes face-to-face with Kiowa. True to his name, he lowers his head and aggressively charges the wolf leader in a heated rage. Kiowa easily darts to the side, dodging the lethal horns.
As his pack draws near, he orders them to continue the chase. The wolves obey in a flash of red, white, gold, and russet. They streak past him and continue their pursuit.
"Ha! Ha! You have not brought a large enough pack!" Raging Bull shouts, spinning his towering body abruptly.
"I'm going to stay with the herd, Clover," Blossom shouts, trotting after the buffalos' dust trail.
"What do wolves want with our herd? Shouldn't you be chasing elk and deer?"
Kiowa calmly sits down a few feet in front of his prey. "We are not wolves. We are Indians."
"You don't look like Indians. You look like wolves."
"We are skinwalkers."
"What is your name, skinwalker?"
"Kiowa, son of Lone Wolf."
"You cannot live off our herd as you once did, Kiowa. For we were once a proud many, but we are now becoming few."
"Buffalo have always been many. You are just a small herd. We will not make you much smaller."
"When have you ever seen a herd so small? I am telling you, skinwalker, we are being hunted daily by men with horses and powerful thunder sticks. I know not what we have done to offend the Sun God, but he must be angry with us to curse us this way."
Kiowa yawns, showing his pink-stained teeth.
Raging Bull glances at the sun. "I am afraid that one day there will be no more herds."
"What do your problems have to do with my tribe? As a man or a wolf, I must put meat in their mouths. It is my duty as a man. I care only that I have enough to eat. Do you plead to the grass when you eat it?"
"You are a fool. You will hunt us until we are no more, and then what will you eat?" Raging Bull shouts as he lowers his horns and presses an attack.
Kiowa leads Raging Bull, teasing him with his tail. He stays close enough to entice but far enough not to be caught. With great cunning, Kiowa leads Raging Bull to the stream bed.
When the bull tires, he hobbles down the incline into the stream and rolls around to cool off. Meanwhile the wolf remains atop of the embankment, darting to and fro energetically, to exhibit he is still fresh for a fight.
"I am not the foolish one. Without the head buffalo, the herd will run in circles and die!"
Raging Bull scampers to his hooves. He thrusts and hustles his way up the bank. Across the stream he can see his family huddled together and moving in large circles. The proud bull knows that the Indian-wolf is right. Without a leader, they will not know which direction to run, and the weak will wander to their death.
"I believe that you are Indian. You hunt as Indians, dividing us this way and that."
Kiowa turns the tables. Instead of playfully pouncing, he suddenly crouches low and bares his teeth. He releases low menacing growls, readied for a fight.
"One day the Sun God will release the Great White Buffalo. He has come before. He will come again."
Kiowa lunges and snaps at Raging Bull to get him moving. "Our magic is from the same god. He has granted us power to skinwalk. I have seen your Great White Buffalo, but he will never take our powers! Who do you think has brought me here?"
Raging Bull turns about and tries with every effort to connect his horns with Kiowa, but the wolf is too clever and too fast.
"Did you see him leading the buffalo to the great cave?" Raging Bull asks with a thrust.
"I did not see where he led the herd. But it does not matter. I will find this cave, and my pack will feast for an eternity!" Kiowa answers, snapping his savage jaws at the bull leader.
The two go back and forth, up and down the stream. Kiowa shows how he's mastered the terrain. He uses words to fan the flames of fury, then engages Raging Bull, to keep him angry and exhausted.
The pursuit takes some time, but the game comes to a regretful end for the buffalo herd.
Across the plains the herd is at the complete mercy of the wolves.