Chapter 10
The women rushed to Red Bear's call, took Bea and took her to the medicine man.
He visited her and shook his head: Bea had lost the baby. Red Bear asked him: "Was it worry or fatigue that caused the miscarriage?"
"No, the pregnancy was already compromised, she would have lost him anyway", the man replied.
Red Bear felt like dying at the thought of the pain that Bea and his brother would feel, but at least they wouldn't take the blame on themselves needlessly.
He left the tent after having entrusted Bea to his wife and the women and went to the center of the camp: he summoned the men and gave them a speech: "Brothers, the Arapaho have overstepped the mark this time. They kidnapped my brother because he tried to act as a mediator and now they are holding him prisoner in their camp. His wife Bea came to ask us for help. Unfortunately she lost their child. Not far from here are their white friends. We must ally ourselves with them to go and get my brother back and to definitively defeat the tribe of our enemies"
The men agreed and prepared for the expedition. In a short time they left the camp and reached the couriers.
Jimmy, Cody and Kid had joined the others after fending off the warriors who had ambushed them. When they saw a group of Indians coming towards them, they grabbed their weapons but Ike signed: + It's Red Bear, Buck's brother+.
As they approached, the Kiowa chief advanced toward them and said: "Bea informed us about Buck. I propose that we team up and go get him together. I know he considers you his white family."
Teaspoon spoke up: "We accept your proposal Red Bear, for Buck's sake"
Red Bear nodded. Lou dared to intervene: "How is Bea?"
Red Bear looked down so as not to show that his eyes were shining and said: "Unfortunately she lost the baby. My wife and the other women are taking care of her."
"Hell, we told her it was too dangerous", Kid cursed.
"She would have lost him anyway, our medicine man said the pregnancy wasn't going well. I asked him to avoid Buck and Bea from blaming themselves."
"She'll need a friendly face when she wakes up. I know she knows your wife, but they are not that close", Lou observed.
"We could have Rachel come if you agree", Teaspoon suggested to Red Bear.
He nodded and replied: "I will send one of my men with his wife to this Rachel" and ordered one of his men to go to the city to get the woman, giving them a message from Teaspoon explaining the situation.
The two groups then set out for the Arapaho camp.
When Rachel saw the Indian couple arrive, she had a bad feeling. She went to meet them. The man nodded to her and gave her Teaspoon's message.
Rachel clapped her hands over her mouth when she read it, she was shocked. She knew Bea would never forgive herself and neither would Buck, even though it wasn't either of them's fault. They would have faced a very difficult period that would have put their relationship to the test.
She tried to make the couple understand that she first had to notify one person of her departure, Annie, and she tried to remember some of the signs that Buck and the boys used with Ike and in that moment she cursed herself for never having taken the opportunity to learn them.
The couple seemed to understand and signaled that they would wait for her there. She invited them to enter the house to avoid any kind of problem and they nodded.
When they entered they looked around curiously, they had never been in a real house.
Rachel took a horse and literally flew into town. She went to Annie, explained the situation to her, and returned home as quickly as possible. She wanted to arrive at the camp before evening. As soon as she arrived at the station, she found the Indian couple sitting stiffly on her sofa and almost smiled to herself seeing them so awkward but it was not the time to pay attention to these things. All three set off at a gallop towards the Kiowa camp.
There, when the effect of the medicine they had given to Bea wore off, the woman woke up and felt pain in her lower abdominal area. Her thoughts immediately flew to her child and she was about to get up, but she felt a hand holding her back. She turned her face and saw Red Bear's wife smiling at her: "Don't worry, you have to rest"
"What happened? Where is Bcuk? My baby?"
The woman replied with sad eyes: "Red Bear went with your friends to free Buck, don't worry, everything will be fine"
"And my baby? Is fine?"
"Unfortunately your baby didn't make it. The medicine man says that the pregnancy was compromised and that it would have happened anyway."
"NO!", a heartbreaking scream was heard through the camp. Red Bear's wife felt like she was dying seeing all that pain and hugged her.
"Oh my God what have I done! I killed my baby, Buck will never forgive me!"
"It's not your fault darling, the medicine man said it would have happened anyway, even if I hadn't come this far, your baby wasn't meant to be, I'm so sorry"
Bea burst into tears and chased all the women away. Sweet Feather tried to object but then realized that the girl needed to be alone and signaled to the others to go out.
A few hours later, Rachel reached the campsite. The couple who went to pick her up explained to Sweet Feather who she was and she accompanied her to Bea.
She found her lying looking at the ceiling.
"Darling", Rachel said softly and approached her. Sweet Feather left them alone.
Bea recognized Rachel's voice but didn't turn or respond.
"Come here, let me hug you", Rachel said again, but Bea didn't move. She was plunged into dead silence.
Rachel hugged her anyway and said: "I know it's hard, I've been there too, remember? Now it seems to you that nothing makes sense, but you will see that you will recover and you and Buck will have as many children as you had planned. I had to face it all alone, but you have Buck."
Bea turned towards her and the look she saw on Rachel froze her: where were those eyes full of the will to live that characterized her friend's face? She saw two spent bottle shards and her heart almost stopped.
"You and Buck will get through this tragedy together and come out stronger than before", Rachel continued.
Bea broke her silence and said in a cold voice: "Assuming Buck is saved, he will never forgive me, I killed our baby. I'm not worthy of him, I have to let him go"
Rachel jumped when she heard these words but had the strength to reply: "Bea, don't talk nonsense. First of all Buck will save himself! Teaspoon, the boys, Red Bear and his warriors went to free him. Secondly, it's not your fault what happened. Sweet Feather told me that the baby was destined not to survive, regardless of everything that happened. You absolutely shouldn't blame yourself and Buck certainly won't. You will face this pain together, you will get married and you will be happy again."
Bea looked at her again but said nothing. Rachel understood that the relationship between her friend and Buck would be put to the test. She also feared that Buck would blame himself and if that were the case, those two would risk losing each other. Now she couldn't think about it, she just had to focus on Bea's health.
She convinced her to drink the concoction that the medicine man had left and when Bea fell asleep, Rachel went out to talk to Sweet Feather.
"I fear for her mental health and for her relationship with Buck", Rachel said and Red Bear's wife replied: "I watched her fade away little by little. You will have to stay very close to both her and Buck, I fear for him too.". Rachel nodded.
Red Bear and Teaspoon's expedition encountered several difficulties in reaching the Arapaho camp. They suffered attacks several times which they managed to repel thanks to Red Bear's war tactics and the perfect harmony that had also been created with the boys. As they approached the camp, the Kiowa leader ordered them to camp on high ground that allowed them to see what was happening without being seen themselves.
He leaned out with Teaspoon to see if they could see Buck. It took them a while to locate him, but then they saw that they had tied him to a post and the men were having fun walking around him, threatening him with a spear: some wounded him, others avoided him.
The two men felt their blood boil and understood that they needed to intervene as soon as possible. They returned to the others to hold a council.
"I think it's best to keep them under observation until the evening and when we figure out where they're taking Buck for the night, we'll split up: one group will act as bait and one group will go to free my brother", said Red Bear.
"I think it's a great plan. How do we split up?" asked Teaspoon.
"Perhaps it's better if they don't realize that you're looking for him too: we'll act as bait by attacking them and while everyone is busy repelling our attack, you will free Buck. We will meet directly at our camp", explained Red Bear.
"Okay but one thing is fundamental: Buck must not know about Bea and the baby: if he knew about the tragedy he would let himself be killed. We'll tell him once we're safe", Teaspoon demanded.
"I agree with you marshal, I know my brother and his reactions all too well", replied Red Bear.
They took turns staying out until the evening to keep an eye on the situation, and when they saw where they had taken Buck for the night, they perfected the plan and got ready.
Late at night, the two groups split up. Red Bear and his men descended towards the camp from the front, launching into a real attack that alerted all the Arapaho warriors: all the men and the tribal chief were busy repelling the Kiowas. Meanwhile, Teaspoon and the boys went around the camp and hid waiting for Red Bear's signal: he would repeat the eagle's call three times. At that point the way would be clear. The boys and Teaspoon waited with impatience and concern to hear the signal and when they were sure of the moment, they in turn divided into two groups: Jimmy, Teaspoon and Ike went to get Buck, while the others remained to act as a lookout.
It was Ike who entered the tent where Buck was kept: he struck the warrior left on guard from behind who was immediately immobilized and tied up by Jimmy and then entered the tent. Buck lay unconscious on the ground. Ike shook him and Buck managed to open his eyes. He smiled when he saw it and whispered: "Thank you brother." He got up with difficulty and leaned on Ike who accompanied him out of the tent where, with the help of Jimmy and Teaspoon, he managed to stand and escape. They joined the others who had prepared the horses, helped Buck up behind Noah and set off for the Kiowa camp. First Jimmy played the wolf's howl three times: it was the signal to Red Bear that everything had gone well.
The Kiowa leader, however, did not stop: he knew that no one was to blame for the loss of Bea and Buck's baby but he still wanted to take revenge for all the pain that the Arapaho had caused. He fought with a violence he had never shown before and exterminated all the warriors in the camp, leaving only women and children alive.
When the camp was reduced to a cemetery of warriors, he gave the signal to retreat and headed towards his camp, aware that an even tougher battle awaited him there: to convince his brother to survive and take back his life.
Teaspoon and the boys stopped when they were almost at the Kiowa camp: they had to tell Buck what had happened to Bea, they couldn't let them meet without him knowing.
It fell to Teaspoon the bitter task of informing his godson of the tragedy.
"How are you Buck? Do you want to tell us what happened?", he began.
Buck struggled to speak, needing to be looked after, but managed to say: "They threw me off my horse and dragged me to their camp. They interrogated me and when they were certain that I was Red Bear's brother and that it was I who had gone to the camp to try to resolve the conflict, they tied me up and tortured me. They held me hostage to blackmail my brother. But how did you manage to find me?"
"Son, it's a long and painful story but it's right for you to know. Your horse is back at the station. Bea saw it and understood that something had happened to you. We realized that the only way to free you was to ask your brother for help. Bea pointed out to us that without her help we would never have been able to talk to him, so we agreed that she should go ahead of us and we would watch her back. We arrived safely at the camp, she informed Red Bear, we teamed up and came to free you. We arranged to meet at their camp, but before you go you need to know one thing."
"Did you allow Bea to undertake this journey in her condition? Are you crazy? Where is she now? How is she? I have to go to her"
"We'll go there now. Bea is fine. We couldn't have stopped her, you know how she is, if we hadn't agreed to help her she would have gone alone and things would have gone worse than they did."
"Damn, her damn temper. Where is she?"
"She's at your brother's, now we'll join her. Rachel's with her", Teaspoon informed him.
"Rachel? Why? Is she sick? And the child?", asked Buck, feeling again that pain he had felt in the Arapaho camp.
"Son, unfortunately Bea lost the baby", Teaspoon said in a small voice.
"NO!", Buck shouted, piercing the silence of the night.
"I killed my son. I should have known from the start that I had no right to build a family. My condition leads me to always get involved in wars between whites and Indians and in doing so I killed my son!"
"Calm down son, it's not your fault, it's nobody's fault, not even Bea's. Your medicine man said that the pregnancy was compromised anyway, your baby was destined to die regardless of what happened. I'm sorry son, but you have to accept it. You and Bea must strengthen yourselves and overcome this terrible moment together without blaming yourselves for something that you couldn't have controlled anyway."
"Take me to her Teaspoon"
Teaspoon nodded. The boys rallied around Buck and expressed their solidarity to him, especially Lou.
They soon reached the camp and when they arrived at Red Bear's tent, they saw Rachel coming out.
"Rachel, how is she? Can I come in?", Buck attacked her.
"Buck, how are you? How they reduced you", Rachel replied seeing him in those conditions.
"It's not important, I want to see Bea", he reiterated.
"Not now Buck. She's resting, she recently fell asleep and then seeing you like this would make her feel bad. Go and rest, you'll see her tomorrow morning", Rachel objected.
"But…", Buck tried to object.
"Nothing but Buck, Rachel's right", Teaspoon told him.
"At least tell me how she is", Buck pleaded.
"Physically she is recovering, but she is in pieces. She needs all your support", Rachel said.
"What happened Rachel?", he asked, devastated.
"Sweet Feather told me that Bea's pregnancy was compromised a priori, I think something like a placental abruption, we will then check with our doctor. Buck, Bea thinks she's responsible for your loss, convince her she's not, stay close to her", Rachel said.
"Of course she's not responsible, it's me, I who allowed all this, I who deluded myself into thinking I could be happy with someone like her and instead I only caused her pain", he collapsed.
"Don't talk nonsense Buck, what happened is beyond your control, it's no one's fault. It's fate that decided this way."
"It is fate that is making me understand that I cannot be happy and that being with me only involves hard suffering"
"Buck, you have to react, for your own good but above all for Bea's. Now get your wounds treated, get married and tomorrow morning you will meet and go out together. It will take time but you will make it" and hugged him.
Ike accompanied Buck to the medicine man and then they waited for Red Bear and his men to arrive.
When they arrived, they gave an account of the attack and then Red Bear asked for his brother. They told him that he was being treated by the medicine man and Red Bear joined him after offering Teaspoon and the boys accommodation for the night. They thanked them.
Red Bear asked to enter the medicine man's tepee and when he was allowed, he approached his brother.
"How are you Buck?"
Buck didn't answer.
"I know it hurts and I don't mean your wounds. You have to react, you have to be strong to help your wife recover. You have to stick together."
"You're all telling me the same thing, but maybe the solution is to let her go free. Without me she can be happy."
"Don't talk nonsense brother, you love each other like I've never seen anyone do, your love is indelible and you have to get out of this mourning together"
"It doesn't matter if two people love each other, sometimes even if they love each other it's better to separate. I will never stop loving Bea, my heart will always be hers, but being with me only causes her suffering."
"What do you have to do with what happened?"
"I caused her all this pain, if they hadn't caught me, maybe…"
At that point the medicine man who had retreated to a corner of the teepee out of respect for their private conversation intervened: "Running Buck, your wife would have lost the baby anyway, even if she had stayed in bed every day for the whole day." These are things that unfortunately happen. She will recover physically and you will still be able to have a large family. From a physical point of view, no one is stopping you."
"Did you hear that, brother? Don't blame yourself for something the spirits wanted."
"Maybe the spirits sent me a clear signal, Bea and I shouldn't have a family"
"Now stop! What kind of man are you if you are only capable of feeling sorry for yourself? Gather all your strength and support your woman, as a true Kiowa warrior should do"
"You forget that I'm only half so"
"Make this half count then, as I taught you!" and he left.
Buck waited for the medicine man to finish treating him and then went down to the river. He lay under the stars and waited for the day to come so he could go to Bea. His heart was broken and bleeding.