Since it was still an early hour in the morning, they—numbering a party of eight now, including the wolf—headed out onto the plains in search of buffalo. Hunts-with-the-wind, George, Red Fox and Poka'aki led the party; Poka'aki's father, her elder brother Frederic, and Maximillian, who was bringing along Woman-the-man-refuses-to-marry, pulled up the rear.
Red Fox and George knew they dared not take down a lone buffalo when there were several hundred more of them lumbering about on the prairie, resting. Even a single shot could cause the buffalo to stampede, and three members of their party had most likely never seen nor experienced being in the middle of a buffalo stampede.
Stories abounded of good, well-seasoned and knowledgeable hunters of the buffalo losing their lives in a buffalo stampede, and Red Fox was in no mood to be required to rescue any one of these people from the city of New York. George, he assumed, was most likely not in any temperament to act the hero today, either.
Looking down into a coulee, Red Fox saw a few fat buffalo cows resting within the hardwood and pine forest alongside the stream that ran through the bottom flat. But, they as hunters mustn't act yet; it was necessary that before they were to shoot any buffalo, they must find the rest of the herd. This was especially so because a single shot from a gun could cause the entire herd to run. And, if the buffalo started to run, they might go all day without stopping, leaving Pikuni country completely.
Glancing to his right side, Red Fox was pleased to notice Poka'aki had attached herself to both him, the wolf and to George, instead of the four others. As it had been when theywere younger, so it was now; he, George and Poka'aki made up a hunting party of three. Of course, his wolf now made their party of four.
Red Fox said, "Though we have seen a few fat cows here in the bottom flatland of this coulee, let us discover where the main herd of buffalo is before we take a shot at one. Poka'aki, you will stay here with the others and keep them safe while your brother and I go up further onto the prairie to see how far away from us is the main herd of buffalo."
She nodded. "I will, if you say so, though I would like to go with you."
Red Fox winked at her. "I know," he said. "But, I think it is better today that you keep the others safe. They do not know this land as well as you."
She nodded and said, "It is true, I fear. Thank you for putting your trust in me."
Red Fox said, "Of course I trust you. I know your heart and your skills in this, our country. After all, for many years we have been hunting partners."
Then, in a whispered voice, he added for her ears alone, "And, now we are more."
Poka'aki was quick to glance toward him. And, when she raised a questioning eyebrow at him, he added in the Blackfoot language, "I am your man. You are my woman. Do you expect me to sit meekly aside and allow another man to take my place? If you have a problem, I have the problem, too. Together, we will resolve this which keeps us apart."
He was delighted to see her eyes brighten, and his heart soared to witness her entire countenance come alive; even a little color came back into her complexion. And, when she said, "I now know why I love you so much," he thought he had never been quite so happy, nor had his spirits ever climbed so high into the blue above them.
He smiled at her and she at him, and it was at this very moment when he knew the true bliss of loving someone, as well as the delight of placing that person's welfare above one's own. Perhaps, it was as the elders had often said: it is the love of a woman that rules the minds and the hearts of men, and without a woman, there is no happiness to be found.
****
As Red Fox and George rode off away from the coulee and into the distance to find the location of the main herd of buffalo, they found the game to be about a mile away, as the white man measures it. Both he and George counted at least a hundred of them trudging about the prairie, most of them enjoying a meal of the lush prairie grass and pea vines.
Talking to George, Red Fox said, "Come, let us not bother the main herd here, but instead find again the fat cows and young bulls down there in the coulee. Being that the buffalo are this far away, I believe they will not hear the retort of our guns, or if they do, they will think the shots are not dangerous to them. Let us hope so."
"Áa," said George. "Then we can all begin our hunt there in the coulee?"
Red Fox grinned before responding. But, at length, he said, "Not this day, my friend. I think today we should let Poka'aki do the hunting for us down there in the coulee…and in view of the others. Let the others see her worth, and for those faint-of-hearts from the city of New York, let them all observe what she is capable of doing. Perhaps, if they fear what she might do to them…"
George laughed, and Red Fox grinned.
"I think it time," said Red Fox, "we give your sister the opportunity to speak for herself. Perhaps, this alone might cause those who are cowards to hurry back to their homes in the East."
Grinning, Red Fox and George turned their horses and made their way back to the coulee.
****
Looking down into the coulee from a cliff above it, Briella leaned over her pony from where she sat in the saddle to observe the long stretch of pines that followed the shoreline of the stream down there. She smiled a little; it looked to her as though the water were late for a pressing appointment, so hurriedly did it run.
She could feel the impatience of those behind her: Maximillian and his ladylove. On the right-hand side of her sat her father on his favorite mount, while Frederic resided on her left.
Because neither her father nor Frederic understood, nor were they able to use sign language, she whispered, "Look," and pointed toward the stream running through the flat-bottom land below them. It was there, sitting beside the stream, where a fat female cow lingered, and she looked to be about three years old.
As they were about to pull away and head down into the pines, Briella stopped them, cautioning them by placing a finger to her lips and by shaking her head back and forth. "Not yet." She mouthed the words. Then, whispering, she said, "We will dismount and lead our horses into the pines, where we will tie them and then go on foot toward the buffalo."
"On foot?" her father asked in a loud voice.
"Sh-h-h-h." Again Briella laid an upright finger to her lips. "Yes," she whispered. "If we were to ride into the pines, our ponies would likely smell the buffalo, and they might do something we do not expect. Therefore, we will walk them into the pines and tie them, and then we will wait for Red Fox and George to join us."
"Why do we wait?" asked Frederic.
