The Legend of Black Wolf - Sully's Journey Home

Chapter Seven

        At the dawn of a new day, Byron Sully awoke to find himself still face down in a grassy area. It took him a minute to remember that he had fallen late yesterday, but, upon trying to move his foot, the pain that surged through him brought back the memory of his fall. Slowly stretching, his body aching from lying unprotected on the cold ground all night, Sully pulled himself a few feet over to a tree where he could sit up a bit. It took every ounce of energy to wiggle himself out of the straps of the army pack and turn so that he could lean up against the tree. When he succeeded, he came face to face with an Indian.  

        The Indian was sitting across from him on a large rock, watching him very passively. He wore animal skins, beads, and there was a feather dangling from a lock of his hair. His face was calm, yet very inquisitive. Sully wondered if the Indian had been waiting for him to wake up before killing him. Maybe this was God sending mercy his way, finally.

        "Who are you?" Sully asked, his hoarse voice sounding very raspy. He expected to see confusion, but instead, a glint of recognition crossed the man's face.

        "Cloud Dancing." The Indian said in English. It shocked Sully. He'd never encountered any Indians who knew how to speak English before. Sully had never even been this close to an Indian, other than a war party that had attacked a stagecoach he'd been on years ago, and seeing one in a travelling side show. The man's dark skin and brown eyes seemed to hold an intelligence Sully couldn't quite explain. There was no anger in this man. Still, he was nervous. But the name Cloud Dancing didn't sound like the name one gave to a bloodthirsty savage.

        "Gonna kill me?" Sully asked with parched lips. The Indian, Cloud Dancing, cocked his head at this question. He had expected the white man to speak eventually, but he hadn't anticipated the question. In his mind, he named the white man Black Wolf after his dreams. To this end, he needed to hear no white man's name. He shook his head slowly at Black Wolf.

        "Medicine man heals. Only warriors kill." He replied.

        "Medicine?" Sully asked. "Why are you here?" Sully began to think he was hallucinating from the lack of food or from the pain in his foot. Or maybe both. Surely he couldn't believe he was sitting there having a conversation with this Indian! But the medicine man, Cloud Dancing, continued to sit there, not moving.

        "I wait for you." Cloud Dancing said. Through bleary eyes, Sully stared at him.

        "Followed me?" He caught more details of the Indian's clothes as the morning light gained in the sky. There was a pattern dyed into his animal skins, and he had scars on his chest in a round pattern. He thought the Indian was lying to him.

        "Spirits show me your journey. They tell me you are wounded." Cloud Dancing paused, slightly hesitating to say the next thought in his mind. Committing the words to the air committed the oath to the white man and he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do or not. But he could not hold back what he knew the Great Spirit wanted him to say. "I wait to help you."

        Sully was shocked, hardly believing that the medicine man could pretend to have known of his injuries beforehand. Sully knew he'd come limping through the clearing like a stampede; anyone could have guessed that he had been injured somehow from the noise he'd made. He closed his eyes a minute, wishing for a drink, wishing this was all a hallucination, wishing it could all be over.

        "What injury…" Sully said through dry lips, his eyes still closed. "…did these spirits show you?" He intended to hear silence. But Cloud Dancing, who was no hallucination, clearly answered.

        Cloud Dancing held up his hands to gesture where he had seen the shafts of the arrows in the wolf's side. But as he imagined the wolf, he realized that he would have to translate their position into where the shafts would be on a man who stood upright. Thinking about their point of contact in the fur versus where it would be on the man, Cloud Dancing made a stunning statement.

        "Two arrows have pierced your heart. They are still there, causing you great pain." Cloud Dancing said. Sully's eyes flew open and he swallowed hard. Two arrows piercing his heart. How could the Indian know about Abigail and Hannah? His heart started pounding and his eyes were big as wagon wheels. The two men stared at each other, both realizing that there was something amazing going on between them.

        Suddenly, four braves came out from nowhere on each side of where Cloud Dancing sat. They had their bows in their hands and stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of Sully leaning up against the tree. In their native tongue, they began talking excitedly at their medicine man, and all Sully could do was watch the exchange among the men. Two of the braves were as tall as Cloud Dancing, but two were much taller and bigger than him. They all looked deadly, and he assumed they were warriors. One held a pack made from animal skins.

        As Cloud Dancing jumped up, one brave threateningly drew his bow on Sully, aiming his arrow towards Sully's chest. Sully tried to struggle to stand, but didn't have the strength. He tried to tell them he was not there to hurt anybody, but they were all too busy arguing among themselves to pay him much attention. Cloud Dancing waived his arms, loudly threatening the brave. The other three started shouting back at him. Sully's heart was hammering, expecting the arrow to find its mark any second and end everything. But, slowly, the brave lowered his arrow as Cloud Dancing kept talking to them. Their shouting stopped and they all started looking at Sully in a strange way. Their stares that had been full of hatred a few minutes ago were now touched with fear. Their voices lowered

        Trying again to stand, Sully couldn't reach the stick he'd used the day before to help his balance and tried leaning against the tree. But before he could steady himself, his leg buckled and he fell in a heap before them. The braves and the medicine man stopped their talk to stare at him. Too weak to push himself back up, he sat there awkwardly, rubbing his twisted foot. One of the braves took out a large knife and gestured towards Sully with it. Sully looked up through his wild hair, wondering if the medicine man would save him or let the braves have their way with him. They clearly despised white men, and Sully could feel their hatred.

        With another stern warning in his native language, Cloud Dancing spoke to the braves, who backed away from him. One sat down the pack he had brought with him, leaving it beside the medicine man. They all stared at Sully another moment, then turned and walked back into the trees, disappearing as quietly as they had come. Cloud Dancing watched them leave before turning back to Black Wolf.

        "They came to find me. Snow Bird worries." Cloud Dancing said, crouching down to be at Sully's eye level. He refrained from telling Black Wolf all that the braves had to say.

        "Snow…Bird?" Sully asked as he rubbed his twisted foot.

        "My wife." The medicine man explained. At this, Sully's lips tightened and he hung his head. Trying to maintain his composure, he held his breath a moment, willing himself not to cry in front of the Indian, no matter what. Even here in this strange situation, his heart could cry out for Abigail. Cloud Dancing stood and began walking towards the creek.

        "Wait. What's happening? Where are you going?" Sully called out, thinking he was about to be deserted. The medicine man stood still a moment before turning. Was he changing his mind about helping him as his spirits had told him to?

        "They go to bring the elders. They fear a white man can only bring bad luck to the tribe. I must build a circle to protect you." And with that, the Indian walked off, leaving Sully alone. Sully laid down on his side, exhausted from the excitement. If the braves didn't believe their medicine man's vision, would the rest of the tribe side with them as well? He tried to wrap his mind around a stranger who was so different from himself who was willing to go against his culture to help him. Or maybe it was all just a lie, and the Indians were secretly planning to have him for supper.

        'Two arrows have pierced your heart.'

        The medicine man had said. There was no earthly way for him to know of Sully's sorrows lodged inside his soul. It wasn't something that an Indian would say to a stranger if the stranger was going to be his supper. There had been plenty of time to carve Sully up while he had lain prone on the ground all night. Could Sully really be able to trust this man to help him go home to Abigail?