While pandemonium was in full swing within the camp and even he was running for cover, Snake was still having a difficult time understanding what had brought on this attack. Had someone mistakenly killed one of the mother skunk's children?
"Go away from us,sikâk!" ordered Snake. "You have done your worst to us! Go away now and let us alone!"
But, it was not to be.
Coyote, Snake's brother, seemed to be the only one of the seven warriors who was unaffected. This was easily observed because Coyote, like his namesake, was laughing in the midst of the utter chaos within their camp.
Still smiling, he stood to his feet and shouted out, "Askôkewin,follow behind me! I will take you all to water!"
But, he had laughed too soon. The words were no more than uttered when a stream of the putrid skunk sludge landed in his mouth. Now it was he who was screaming and jumping about, and, as Coyote ran to the water, the other warriors followed him. Once they had plunged into the water, they each one began the painful and terrible necessity of stripping off their clothing and washing their things, although it seemed a wasteful task. Everything, including their bodies, smelled of skunk.
Coyote, on the other hand, had it worse than the others. And, Snake watched as his brother washed his mouth out over and over as he tried to rid his tongue of the scent and taste of the excrement-like stuff.
Standing naked in the water, with his clothing still in his hands, Snake looked back at the shore and watched the smaller skunks make a line directly behind their mother, and, without the least bit of hurry in their walk, they all sauntered off into the deep, dark woods.
In the aftermath of the skunk attack, not one of the Cree warriors slept this night. All were busily trying to rid their clothing of the awful stench.
Worse, both the brothers Slays-the-bear and Snapping Turtle left at dawn the next day.
"This war party is cursed," accused Snapping Turtle, the elder of the two brothers. "First," he continued, "a blinding blizzard came upon us unexpectedly. It struck us quickly when it should not even have been close to us. And, it was all accomplished upon a day when there had been nothing but warmth and sunshine before it. Worse, so quickly did this blizzard hit, it almost took all our lives.
"And, now these skunks—five, not one—have attacked us, and for what reason?"
No one answered.
"Namoya,no," stated Snapping Turtle succinctly, "this war party is cursed, and my brother and I will no longer have any part in it."
"I hear you," said Snake. "But, I ask you, are you going to go home smelling like a skunk?"
Neither Snapping Turtle nor Slays-the-bear said a word, though both were frowning.
"Stay with us awhile so we can clean the clothing we have and, if the extra clothing we brought with us is also soiled, we can hunt together and get enough skins to make new clothes. Then, if you still feel you must go, I will consent to your leaving. I will not stop you."
But, neither Snapping Turtle nor Slays-the-bear stayed. They left as soon as they could saddle and ride their horses away, even though the hour was still late in the night.
Snake watched them leave. He shook his head.
Cursed? This is not true. But, something has set the skunks against us. What is it?
There were only five of them now, but Snake intended to watch the remaining men well, including his brother, Coyote. Something or someone had set the family of skunks against them, and Snake was determined to discover who or what this was.
