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Sasha figured if she could get the drop on this one man, she could escape. Of course on foot, with no horse about, she'd have a hard time getting away. She would pray to the Creator for a way.
Claw Foot stayed with her, he was a big man, and very powerful. She'd need a weapon to knock him out, but with her feet tied, how could she do it.
When Claw Foot grew hungry, she prepared him a meal. "Can you untie me so I can fix your meal?"
"No," he grunted.
"Then I guess you won't eat, because I cannot move about to cook if you don't." she insisted.
Claw Foot shot her a murderous glance.
She waited.
When she did not move to fix him something to eat, he came over and untied her hands, but not her feet.
"I cannot move without my feet loose." She complained.
He grunted and untied them too.
She went to the stove and began making him a meal. He watched her as he sat down across from her.
She was frying some fatback and when it was good and hot, she threw it in his face. While he scrambled to get the hot grease off his face so he could see, she pulled her knife and stabbed him hard in the belly then in the lower back.
At first, she thought he would not die. Blood went everywhere. She stabbed him once more, for good measure. For he reached for her and held her down, but he finally succumbed to the knife and fell dead across her.
It took all her strength to get him off her, but she finally managed after a struggle. She looked at him and shook her head, "I'm sorry I had to do that. But I must get back to my people. I think the Creator will understand."
She stuck her knife back in her boot after cleaning it. She grabbed the fatback and stuck it in a small skin one of the men used to clean their guns with. She would wash it later. She grabbed a skin of water and threw it on her shoulder. Sure she had a bed to make, a meal to eat, she lit out quickly.
No one was about, but she wasn't sure which way to go. She felt the ground slope a certain direction so she went what she thought might be south. There was a man above the cave, but she waited until he went to feed his horse before she took off in the other direction. He wouldn’t be going inside until night, so she'd be safe for a while. She got a small branch that had fallen in her path to wipe away her tracks.
She had to get her bearings, as the woods looked the same in every direction.
She traveled for a long while. She only hoped Big Knife would be gone long enough for her to get away.
If she only had a horse, she might make it.
Since it was late spring, she didn't have to worry about freezing to death, but there were many animals to worry over in the mountains. She doubted she could fight off a cat, or bear.
She had to get down the mountain as quickly as she could. But they were at the highest peak and it would take a long while on foot to get to the bottom.
She made a small fire that first night and washed the fatback off and ate it. She went to sleep quickly and got up just before dawn to travel some more.
By noon the next day she was tired and stopped to rest. She had a little more fatback. She used her food and water sparingly, just enough
to give a bit of energy. She was wearing a deerskin dress and leggings, she was glad she had worn the legging that day to pick berries, as her moccasins were not as padded.
Her feet hurt after two days of traveling though and she knew she would have to do something about her food supply before long.
By the third day her feet began to bleed some, as she had walked on many rocks and some were sharp as knives. Her energy was ebbing quickly now.
She made a search for some berries along the way and found some bird eggs. She ate the eggs raw and picked enough berries to nibble on throughout the day.
So far, she'd been lucky.
She looked around her. She seemed to be going southward and that was a good thing. It was beautiful in the mountains in summer, the trees were so green, and wildflowers decorated the landscape. She couldn't help but admire it.
She saw a camp of Sioux, but she didn't get too close. They would take her prisoner too.
