THE NATIVE WAR SERIES BOOK THREE - GEORGE'S STORY

GEORGE'S STORY - CHAPTER 2

When my consciousness was just stirring in the early morning I felt like I heard a rustling in the grasses and a gasp, but I couldn't be sure because my mind was so fuzzy with dreams that before I knew it I drifted off again into the vast wonderland of dreams.

"Daaaad, dad?" said my daughter concerned, "Did you space out again? You've been like this since we left Littletown."

"What?", I asked confused. I looked away from the plains that seemed to go on forever and looked my daughter in the face. "What did you say"

My daughter had freckles speckling her face and dotting her nose. She had a fair complexion and was almost as tall as me. Her hair was a bright red and came down to her shoulders. She was quite tall and the middle child, at the age of 16 years old.

"Ugggg", she sighed, obviously exasperated that I hadn't been paying attention to her. "I was saying what kind of house should we build when we get to our plot of land?"

"Honey don't antagonize your dad," spoke my wife softly,"He has a lot to think about leaving behind his entire life to go out into the unknown. Although this journey will be tough it will be good for all of us, having our own house and so much land."

My wife was tall but thin with light brown eyes that looked like molten chocolate. Her hair was auburn brown and it flowed down her shoulders like a river down to almost her waist. Like our daughter her face was covered with freckles and her skin was pale. In Littletown she used to always have a dinner cooked and ready when I got home.

"Hey dad, dad!" said youngest my son, Cole,"Look at Depe! He's going crazy and running all around!"

Depe had seen a group of prairie dogs that had run into their homes and now he was now going crazy trying to get them. It almost looked like the prairie dogs were teasing Depe by coming out of their holes until Depe noticed them and then diving back down into their holes where Depe could not catch them. This went on for a little while until one of the prairie dogs was too slow and Depe caught it. The dogs stopped coming up when the noticed Depe eating one of them.

"Hahahaha," laughed Cole,"Serves them right for messing with Depe. Come here Depe, here boy."

Cole had dirty blonde curly hair that was short. He also had an impish face and round cheeks. He was only about 6 years old but he was already causing trouble for his older sister and brother and playing pranks on me. He loved to laugh but he loved Depe even more. He was the one that convinced me to bring Depe with us instead of give him to a neighbor or selling him.

"Hey Brian, come look at Depe," called Cole,"He's playing with the prairie dogs. Come on and look its super funny."

Brian was my eldest son but he didn't like to talk or play very much. He had dark brown hair that was always messy and would never stay out of his face. He was about 18 and my oldest child. He was taller than me and a great force for work on the farm. His favorite thing to do was to play with his cat, Keeny.

Suddenly Depe start barking like crazy and I was ripped from my pleasant dream back into the present. As I woke and started to sit up I was immediately trampled by Depe running around the wagon.

"What is it Depe, whats wrong," I exclaimed as Depe ran up and around the wagon and finally outside. I could hear Depe barking crazily at whatever was causing the commotion outside. As I sat up again Keeny climbed under the covers with me but despite the commotion outside, curled up in a ball and started purring preferring the warmth of the bed to the morning air. Then outside in the clearing the oxen had started mooing at something or someone. As I left the bed to go see what the commotion was I stepped out of the wagon to see two Indians standing a little ways outside the clearing the my camp is in. I quickly jumped back into the wagon hopefully without the Indians seeing me and grabbed my flintlock pistol out of its pouch where I kept it next to my bed. I stepped out of this time with my hunting rifle pointed at the head of the Indian with the headdress made of feathers. The Indian with the headdress had long black hair and a very sharp featured face. With him was an older male warrior. The warrior had an ax made of stone in his belt and a bow on his back and quiver on his back. Both of the Indians were wearing clothes made out of animals hides and animal bones. When seeing the pistol pointed at the man in the headdress the one with the weapons quickly stepped in between me and him. Depe was standing in the clearing barking over and over again at the indians. There was an awkward silence while we looked at each other until I decided to fire a warning shot. The Indian with the bow reacted quickly by whipping out his bow and notching an arrow. Then the Indian with the arrows said something to the one with the weapons and the later lowered his bow but he didn't unnotch the arrow.

"What do you want indian!", I yelled,"Why have you come to my camp. I have done nothing that would cause you to attack me unless you are the savages that the rumors say you are."

"How dare you speak to us like that" the one with weapons shouted " you come into our territory which we are willing to peacefully share with you and you call us savages. Why if your people had any respect for nature you wouldn't be here right now"

"Why you dumb Indian" I started, but I was interrupted by the deep voice of the Indian without the weapons.

"Stop" he commanded stepping out from behind the Indian with weapons." We have not a dispute with you nor do we wish one. We would be willing to share this land. Now if you will let us we shall just be on our way."

"Uhuuu, ok "I said I don't want no trouble either. Leave me alone and I will not bother you."

As the Indians walked into the woods and left my camp I finally calmed down. I went around the camp and made sure all the oxen are calmed too down especially Bully who had been extremely aggravated and I didn't want to repeat last times accident. As I remade the fire so I could cook some food for lunch and so that I could have something to do to take my mind off of my meeting with the Indians I thought about what my family would have thought about this encounter if they were here. Cole probably would have asked the Indians if they had children in their village and if he could play with them. My wife would go and find the Indians village and try to trade them goods and food. Even if they were rude to her she would always be kind and say it was her fault for annoying them and aggravating them. Depe was still riled up from the indians appearing in camp and all the following commotion so he is running around the camp like crazy jumping up and down and even launching himself off the oxen. The oxen didn't care, they were glad to have the commotion gone and to still have grass to chew and to not have to pull the wagon today. Still needing something to take my mind off the dark thoughts I sat up from the fire and decided to go hunting. I climbed back up into the wagon, remade my bed, grabbed my hunting rifle and walked off towards the forest. As I crept towards the forest, not wanting to have another meeting with the indians, I listened to the sounds of nature. Then I heard the sound I was listening for a grunting low sound that sounded almost like a pig. It was the call of a bison which I was going to kill and then eat. As I reached the edge of the forest I stopped and listened again and there was the call again but closer this time, almost right ahead. As I snuck towards the sound I came to a clearing and it the middle of it was a single bison. As I sat watching it, it made the call again confirming to me that this was the bison that I was tracking and that there wasn't another nearby. I lined up the shot straight at the bisons head on ironsights of my hunting rifle, steady myself, and pulled the trigger. The knockback pounded against my arm but I stood steady and watched the bison fall to the ground, dead, with a shell in its head. As I stepped out into the clearing to examine the dead bison a thought suddenly appeared in my head. How was I supposed to bring the bison back to my camp. It was too heavy and too far to pull and I had no one to help me bring the bison back to my camp. Eventually I came up with the solution to build a shed of sticks and slide the bison back all the way to camp.

By the time I had dragged the bison all the way back to camp the sun was already setting. I set to work skinning and gutting the dead bison with Depe going mad waiting for some of the scrapes. The skin would make a good new blanket, the organs could be made into waterskins and the meat would all be used as food for Depe, Keeny, and me. I had to get my hands dirty plunging my hands deep inside the bloody cut in the flesh of the bison so that I could cut the organs out. As I pulled the slimy organs out of the large cut I dropped them into a large waterskin bag so that I could dry them later. I sliced large slabs of meat of out the bison corpse and then salted them, to prevent them from spoiling and rotting. By the time I was done gutting and cutting the bison the moon was already up and my arms were drenched in blood. For being so patient I gave Depe and Keeny a small slab of meat each. Then I settled down by the fire a started my own slice. There is no better tasting food on the prairie than fresh killed game especially if that game was killed by yourself. After finishing his piece of bison meat, Depe came over to me and sat next to me by the fire. We sat there 'till the moon was straight overhead and the fire burned out. Then I clambered by up in the wagon to sleep until I realised that I had no reason to sleep in the wagon tonight for I was not afraid of the Indians anymore. But then the sight of Keeny curled up contentedly changed my mind and I curled into my bed next to Keeny. As I fell into sleep I thought about everything that had happened today and these crazy things fueled my dreams.