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But now as she stood watching, she saw nothing but fear and despair as the villagers ran here and there, getting ready for their flight into the mountains.
Joylynn would never forget how High Hawk had explained their journey to his people after they’d returned to the village. “Send your conscious minds ahead to the mountain that now beckons us, for that is where we will have a peaceful life without interference ever again from our enemies. I have been there, my people. My spirit mind, my dreams, led me there. I was told that this is the true home of the Wolf band, my beloved people. That is where we will go as quickly as you can load your belongings on travois and packhorses.”
Frantic activity ensued when everyone disbanded after the announcement. The people rushed into their lodges, taking what they could from them.
Joylynn had helped load High Hawk’s mother’s personal belongings, piling everything on a travois, all the while glancing at Sleeping Wolf, whose fear was evident on his face. He had watched, wild-eyed, as everything he knew changed before his very eyes.
She would never forget how Sleeping Wolf had gone to his brother, his body all twisted, one leg dragging behind him, and looked into High Hawk’s eyes for answers.
Tears had filled her eyes when High Hawk had taken his brother into his arms and comforted him as one would a small child. Afterwards, Sleeping Wolf seemed comforted and unafraid as he tried to help his mother with the final preparations.
Clouds had suddenly covered the sun, and there was a hint of rain in the air as thunder boomed far off, coming from the very mountains in which they would seek shelter and make their new home.
A chill wind came to Joylynn, causing a shiver to ride her spine, even though she wore a coat made of warm bearskin.
She hugged herself, still watching the frantic activity around her, wondering if High Hawk regretted having slain the soldiers. But what else could he have done when they were planning to annihilate his people?
He was a wise leader, one who thought over all decisions before acting on them. Since he had already chosen a place to take his people when the time came to leave their home, he had known he could escape the soldiers’ reprisals.
Tired already, even before they had begun the rigorous trek up the mountainside, Joylynn had taken a short rest. She stood just outside High Hawk’s tepee now, listening to the echoes of thunder, a reminder that a storm could threaten their journey.
She hugged herself and gazed heavenward, sighing with relief when the clouds slowly moved onward. The sun came out again, and the sky turned blue. Even the thunder had ceased to rumble in the distance.
Hearing High Hawk’s mother’s voice, Joylynn turned and saw her hurrying to High Hawk, who was instructing a warrior about the people’s horses. Even now the horses were being taken from the personal corrals of the village, while other warriors had gone where the other steeds had been hidden, gathering them together for the long trek to their new home.
“High Hawk, what of the food stored in the caches?” Blanket Woman asked, stopping and gazing up at her son, who now carried more weight on his shoulders than had ever been required of her chieftain husband.
Her husband had struggled to keep his people safe from the white pony soldiers and outlaws. He had always feared that one day they would be forced to find a new home, or die, or worse yet—be penned up like animals on a reservation.
Her husband had kept his Wolf band of Pawnee in their home, where so many generations of their people had been born and died, but he had also sent his second-born son away more than once to seek a new place for his people should danger ever threaten them.
That place had not been found during any scouting trip, but instead, had come to High Hawk in a dream. He had followed that dream and found the place of his people’s future. He had kept the location locked inside his heart until only recently, when he had known it was time to share this knowledge with the warriors of his village.
They were sworn to secrecy.
That had kept the knowledge of their new home safe.
High Hawk knew that once he took his people there, they would not have to concern themselves about such men as had been slain today.
But Joylynn feared there was no place that could not be found by men who were determined to find it. She only hoped that many generations of Pawnee would be born before the people of her own race finally found them.
“Son, there is much food in our people’s caches this year,” Blanket Woman continued. “Must it truly be left behind?”
High Hawk placed a gentle hand on his mother’s bent, frail shoulders. “Ina, you and the other women are to take from your cache pits only what can be carried on the travois and packhorses. Some household items might have to be left behind in order to make room for the food we must take with us.”
He looked at the women who had come and circled round him after hearing Blanket Woman’s question.
He glanced from one to another, hating to see the fear in the eyes that until today had been filled with peace and joy.
He could not fault himself, but instead blamed those white eyes who just could not allow the red man to live how they had lived for generations.
The red man wanted nothing from white people but to be left alone on land that had always been his, but such was not to be. Every day, new interlopers arrived on Pawnee soil.
The treaties that had been signed by the white chief in Washington were like falling leaves, fluttering around on an autumn day, having no true meaning any longer.
They would tumble in the wind, drying up more as each day passed, soon to break up into tiny bits and pieces, to be lost in the dirt upon which people walked and rode their steeds.
“Each of you decide what is best for your family to take to our new home,” he said solemnly. “But I must remind you, food is most important of all those things. Know this: Soon winter snows will fall, so no crops can be planted when we first arrive at our new home. Take food to eat and seed for spring planting. Think and choose wisely, for your family’s future depends upon your decision.”
