"Arise! Are you okay?" I heard dad call as I let out a grunt when I hit the ground.
"Yes, yes! I am quite fine! Peachy keen! Just realized there was a draft!" I replied snappily as I glared up at dad who looked down at me and started laughing.
"Ran out without even putting your pants on again kid?" he asked with a snicker.
"Rack off!" I growled back before spying Kicking Bird walking over with a older woman.
The lady smiled at me kindly and held out a hand, helping me to my feet before looking me over and shaking her head, saying something before rapping a large fur blanket around me and gently tugging me along with her.
"I'll be right back, hold Nightmare for me." I called to dad as the woman led me into a teepee. She quietly motioned to my shirt, saying something as she picked up another. I gave her a confused look before she motioning to the new one.
"Oh, you want me to change into that one?" I asked, unbuttoning my shirt and slipping it off as the woman nodded and handed me the soft fur shirt, turning and digging around in a basket for something as I slipped the shirt on. The woman turned after finding something and smiled at me, holding out a pair of pants.
"Thank you." I told her with a smile as I took them and slipped into them, tying the string so they wouldn't fall off before the woman motioned for me to sit down and began to brush my hair with a small bone comb. I sighed in contentment as she brushed my hair, letting my eyes close at the soothing feeling before the woman quickly braided my hair, letting the braided trinket I had in my hair hang loose on my shoulder. I smiled as the woman patted my shoulder gently, handing me a pair of moccasin boot before we both stood and left the teepee, spying my father, Kicking Bird, and Wind in His Hair waiting outside for us, all mounted on their horses.
"Come on Arise. We need to go get our saddles and guns for the hunt." dad told me excitedly. I nodded and quickly tied the boots onto my feet before mounting Nightmare, giving the three men a smile before we all headed toward the fort. As soon as we reached the fort I quickly dismounted Nightmare and saddled her, grabbing my gun, ammo, and my own archery equipment before mounting back up, riding over to wait with Wind in His Hair and Kicking Bird as dad put on his uniform.
I rolled my eyes and tapped my fingers impatiently as we waited, grumbling to myself about how he took longer in the morning than I did as I saw the sky begin to lighten in the east.
"Dad come on! They'll already have caught the buffalo herd if you don't hurry up!" I groaned, leaning over Nightmare's back as the two Braves chuckled at me.
When we finally reached the village I was surprised to see that the woman had already taken down all of the lodges and were already moving away, following a large trail of torn up ground that extended to the horizon. It also shocked me at how many of the people now approached us, giving myself and my father small trinkets. In the span of only a few hours it seemed like we had suddenly become celebrities in the village. I smiled as an elder woman patted my hand as she passed myself and dad, continuing on with the others. I smiled at dad, feeling pride swell inside my chest as we received smiles from all directions.
"Lieutenant." I heard a young voice said happily, looking to my father's other side to see Smiles A Lot, Otter, and Beaver ride past. I smiled after them, waving before Kicking Bird rode over to us.
"Lieutenant." he said with a nod, motioning to the crest of the hill in front of us where some other Braves stood. As the two rode off I sighed and relaxed, leaning back over Nightmare's rump as I popped my back, feeling much better.
I quietly rode for a few minutes before hearing my name being called. I glanced up at the hill and saw my father waving his hat. I quickly urged Nightmare into a lope and rode up to him and the Braves, gasping when I looked at the valley in front of us, the green grass littered with the dead bodies of about 100 buffalo.
I could only stare at the carnage in front of us before following my father and the Braves as they started moving again. As we rode parallel to the dead buffalo I heard a small bleating, like a calf, and looked to see a small buffalo calf wandering close to one of the bodies. I tried to ignore it for a few minutes before growling under my breath and grabbing a rope from my dad's saddle, turning and heading down to the calf.
The small creature bleated at me as I stopped Nightmare and walked closer. I quietly made a loop in the rope and cooed to the calf, the baby looking between myself and the dead buffalo next to it for a moment before teetering over to me, bleating at me. I gave the calf a sad smile, fashioning the rope into a halter before slipping it onto the calf's head. The calf didn't protest and simply bleated at me as I mounted Nightmare and headed back up the hill, the calf following obediently.
"Couldn't stand it could you?" dad asked once I reached the Braves again. I simply ignored him and continued walking. As we moved past the valley, the joyous singing and voices that had come from the people all morning faded away once they saw the carnage in the valley. I couldn't believe that anyone would do this, but when I noticed the wagon tracks heading away from the scene I knew it could be only white hunters.
When we stopped that night and made camp the buffalo calf bleated at me hungrily and I was offered small bags of milk by some of the women from the horses that had lost foals over the past few weeks, some of the small children coming over to watch as I fed the baby after heating the milk up.
After I fed the poor thing I tied the calf to my saddle horn as I put it on the ground, wanting to keep the baby close as I settled down for the night with my father, listening to the tribe as they celebrated into the night for the upcoming hunt, the calf laying down and sleeping next to me peacefully. The calf was silent most of the night, only bleating in the early hours for more milk which I gave happily, glad the small thing was eating healthily.
When we got on the move the next day I hung back a bit from the Braves, choosing to ride with Kicking Bird's wife, stopping only to feed the calf whom I named Blue. As I trotted to catch back up to the village I noticed the women putting up the lodges and saw some of the men painting their horses with small symbols before Smiles a Lot rode over to me.
He grinned and motioned for me to slip onto his horse. I shrugged and let one of the women take Nightmare and Blue before slipping onto Smiles a Lot's horse before he loped over to a hill and dismounted. I quickly followed his example and quickly dismounted as well before following him as he crawled up the hill, motioning over it. I slowly peeked over and gasped, seeing hundreds of buffalo grazing there.
I stared at them for a few minutes, their forms captivating me as they moved about. I jumped slightly when Smiles a Lot tapped my shoulder and motioned backwards. I pouted but followed him back down the hill, letting him give me a boost onto his mounts back before he hopped on behind me and we headed back to the village.
We got some funny looks from some of the women and Braves as we stopped beside my father and the others before dismounting. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I bounded over to my father, seeing Blue and Nightmare beside him. The calf called out when she spotted me and pulled against my father's hold before I patted her on the head, rubbing the rough fur gently.
"Alright, I better follow the Braves, we're going on the hunt." dad told me with an excited grin. I grinned back quietly.
"Be careful, alright?" I told him as he mounted Cisco.
"Always am, sweetheart." he replied, grinning before heading off after the Braves.
I watched them for a moment before Smiles nudged me and motioned to his mount and Nightmare. I grinned and tethered Blue to a nearby lodge with some of the children, handing them some of my brushes to brush Blue before I jumped onto Nightmare's back, following Smiles A Lot as he headed up the hill, hearing the war cries as the hunt began. I smiled as we watched the hunt before Nightmare let out a squeal and started crow hopping toward the stampeding herd.