Nevertheless, it was difficult going, and Sharon couldn't understand why anyone would attempt to follow them. She even mentioned this to Strikes Fast during a short noon break.
His answer was enlightening, and he signed, "They will not follow us as one. Because there are seven of them, they will take turns breaking the trail. In this way, they will make good progress without much trouble. But, at present they are climbing the mountain, looking for us in the north, while we are headed in the opposite direction, proceeding south and west, and toward the open prairie. As long as they look for us in the mountain's northern forests, we are safe for a time. But, because of their greater number, they are naturally stronger than us. And so, we must forge ahead and leave this mountain as soon as we can and travel in the forests that surround the Bears Paw Mountain range. We will be harder to find there. And, if we are able to reach the plains, we will have even more of a chance to avoid them because the deep coulees and high cliffs give us an advantage. Also, once we reach the plains, we will be once again in Pikuni territory. Because of this, the Cree war party might give up the chase."
"Good. This is very good," replied Sharon. "How many days do you think it will take us to get to the plains?"
"Seven, maybe eight, if Windmaker does not come upon us with more blizzards," he answered. Thus saying, Strikes Fast broke their noonday camp and commenced to erase their footsteps and their impressions in the snow, both Rising Bear and Sharon aiding him by sweeping pine boughs over the place.
It was midafternoon when they trudged down a steep incline and found themselves trekking beside a fast-running stream that opened up into a valley which was longer than it was wide. Looking back and up, Sharon could see they had made their way to the foot of the mountain where they had once sought refuge. Glancing forward, she was treated to the sight of a snowy valley that opened up from the water, whose shoreline snuggled in toward the deep woods at a farther point. On both sides of the river were vast growths of timber: the evergreen, the pine, the oak, the cottonwood and the ash were some of the trees she could identify.
Sharon sighed as she stared toward the dense woods lining the shoreline. If she were to be honest, she would admit to being more than a little fearful of journeying through and amongst those ominous-looking forests.
But, as Strikes Fast led them into the timber, where the trail was a little more hidden, she kept her peace even though the deep gloom, given off by the surrounding trees, worried her. At least she was thankful for a small advantage: the accumulated snowfall within these valley woods was only inches deep instead of several feet high. The windfalls over the ground, however, were numerous, causing the path through them to be treacherous and slow.
However, onward they plodded through the woods without another break. Even when the sun set, they continued their trek, slogging onward over the rotting and dead trees, the brush and the snow; worse, they were leaving a trail that would be easy to follow if their enemies were to catch up to them.
It must have been close to midnight when they at last stopped to let the horses, as well as their own weary bodies, rest.
Nevertheless, they were up again at the first rays of the sun, and, after a brief breakfast of dried meat, they were saddled up and back on the trail. Sharon felt as if she were still asleep and was surprised when she was awakened several times by Rising Bear tapping her on the shoulder.
It was after their noonday break when, while Strikes Fast was in the act of erasing their camp, Sharon took Rising Bear aside and said to him in sign, "I think it might be a good idea if we were to both pray to your God, the Creator, and to my God for help. Perhaps also, as my husband has told me, we might ask for an animal helper. I once saw these Cree warriors in a battle whilst I was traveling on the Big River, and I think my husband is right. It may well be that he will not survive a fight of seven against one."
"Two against seven," corrected Rising Bear in sign. "Since we first began our journey, I have been asking for a helper, and I prayed this morning to Sun before we took again to the trail."
"I, too, have done this," answered Sharon in sign, then, coming down onto her knees in front of Rising Bear, she took him in her arms and hugged him. "And, I will continue to ask for help." As she let go of the boy, she yet kept hold of one of Rising Bear's hands, and she squeezed it before she spoke again in sign and said, "Thank you for your prayers as well as your pleas for a helper."
The boy simply nodded and smiled at her, surprising her when he signed, "I have made a helper for you." Then, pulling a small bag from over his shoulder, he pulled out a figurine of a…was it a white bear?
"Because you are white," he signed, "and do not know our ways, I made this for you so you would always have a helper at your side."
"Thank you," Sharon signed as she took hold of the sculpture, overwhelmed for a moment by the youth's gesture. She murmured, as well as signed, "Your gift touches my heart as none other. I will treasure it and its giver always."
Rising Bear smiled, then signed, "Your husband, my almost father, helped me to whittle it, but I painted it…for you."
Sharon hugged the boy for many minutes, afraid to let him go. And, she cried. Indeed, as she looked up into Rising Bear's eyes, she saw that he, too, was crying.
It was Strikes Fast who, though seeming reluctant to do so, at last broke them apart, reminding them of their need to move along. It was hard for her to let go of the boy, and yet, she had to do it.
Attaining her seat on her pony, she watched Strikes Fast take the lead again, he being the one to break the trail as well as being the first to confront any danger, if they were to encounter any.
As they slowly made their way over the trail, Sharon couldn't help but consider her observations: these people were not the bogeymen the press painted them to be. How could she have ever been so wrong about an entire group of people?
Silently, she decided she would never make the same mistake again.
****
"What smell is this?" asked Snake, the leader of the Cree war party. He sat up quickly, throwing off his sleeping robes only to behold an adult skunk pat the ground with its front legs, raise its tail and point it at him.
Screaming, "Sikâk,skunk!" in Cree, Snake jumped up and took to his feet in flight. But, it was too late. The stream of putrid and impossible-to-clean spray hit his leggings, his feet, his shirt and even his hands. He screamed again, only this time his voice rang out in the cold night air with "Nîpîy,water! Water! I need water now!"
To his amazement, all of his companions were also screaming and shouting and were in the act of jumping up and down on one foot, or sometimes two feet, and some of them were running in circles.
The skunk sprayed all of us? How is this even possible?
As Snake shot a quick perusal of their overnight camp, he saw a skunk and fourskiâkos,smaller skunks—perhaps a mother and her children—launch another attack. Again they raised their tails as if in unison and let go more of the smelly, awful spray. One—the biggest—was even standing on her front paws in order to spray the face of Snapping Turtle.
"I am blind! I am blind!" Snapping Turtle shouted as soon as the gush of foul odor hit him. "Help! Help! I am blind! I cannot see!"
"My skin is burning!" shouted Gives Plenty. "I need water!"
