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As he walked out of the cabin he noted the chief and motioned in sign language that he came in peace. The Indians didn't move.
He spoke to them for a long time and Katherine wondered what he said. Had Chase bargained for their lives? Had he promised them the horses?
Her answer came when she saw Joshua leading the horses out of the barn and toward the Indians.
She bit her tongue to keep from screaming out to him, for she knew it was no use. They would all die...but to give up the horses.
The chief nodded to another of the Indians who jumped down from his horse and grabbed the reins. He led the horses behind them and after several long minutes, Chase made another sign and walked away from them.
They rode away.
Chase Rivers walked into the room again, followed quickly by her brother. Joshua looked guiltily at her.
"It was the only way." Josh said quietly not daring to look straight at Katherine.
"They were Comanche and they wanted only our horses. They will not return. They mean us no harm."
"How can you be so sure," she asked as a strange weariness overcame her.
"To a Comanche a horse is a prize. They value them. We gave them up without a fight. They will leave us alone. Had we refused, they would have killed us and took them."
"You seem to know them well?"
Katherine eyed Chase waiting for his answer.
"I do. They were from my old tribe. Their chief raised me. That is another reason they will not be back."
"Why didn't you go with them?"
"Because I would not be welcome in their tribe any longer. I became a scout for the bluecoats and they hate them. Now they hate me."
"Then why didn't they kill you?" She couldn't stop the curiosity building inside her.
"Because I was once their blood brother and raised in their camp. They will not kill me, only disown me."
Katherine considered his words. "Where is your real family?"
Chase eyed her strongly. How much could he share with her?
"My mother is a white woman. She lives with my father's tribe. I am half Shawnee, half-white. My mother lives with them because they are her family now."
Katherine gasped. "Was your mother a captive?"
"Yes." He seemed to be tiring of her questions but she couldn't stop. She needed to know more of this strange man. "She was captured long ago, the chief took her as his wife, and I was born before she'd been captive a year. She was rescued once, but refused to leave her Indian husband and family."
"If you are half Shawnee, how did you end up with the Comanches?"
"They captured me during a raid. I was twelve. My mother is with the Shawnee. The Chief of the Comanche chose to raise me as his own. Knowing of their ways, I adapted well, but a woman such as you wouldn't survive it. If a Shawnee captures a white, they are then part of the Shawnee family, they take the place of the dead or lost of the tribes. If a Comanche captures a white, they will either kill them from vengeance, raise them as their own, or simply make slaves of them. A lot depends on their personality. If the captive doesn't respond to their ways, they are put to death or traded. But with Shawnee, you are family, you remain family unless you are disgraced."
"Then you were lucky the chief took you in?" Katherine sighed.
"I worked hard to achieve his admiration. That is only life, Katherine. Wars, some are won, and some are lost. The chief took me in. Treated like a son, with honor and respect because I chose not to die, like my mother at first. She was kind to them and had a good heart. She soon fell in love with my father, the chief. My mother had a child with an Indian chief, she could not return to the white settlement; they wouldn't have accepted her even though she had a white husband. The Shawnee accepted her as family. And so she is Shawnee now. Comanche might trade you for a horse or a gun. There is much difference."
"The Comanche…did they...love you?" Katherine's eyes rounded with wonder.
"They accepted me. It is hard to understand this word…love…in Comanche. They respected me because I worked hard to prove myself worthy."
"And now they don't..."
