The Legend of Black Wolf - Sully's Journey Home

Chapter Nine

        As Snow Bird and the tribe walked away, she could not help but think about the white man laying in her husband's healing circle. He looked like he could go on to the spirit world at any moment. His face was thin, his hair was wild and dirty, and his eyes! His eyes held a piercing pain she had only seen one other time. When she had been a girl, one of the older women of the tribe had lost all of her sons and her husband in a great battle. When the chief had told the woman of her losses, she had said not a word. But her eyes took on that pained, defeated look. She had stopped eating and wasted away in her tent months later. Snow Bird had never forgotten that look. It was the look the white man's eyes held.  

        She prayed to the spirits that her husband was not taking on a man who was determined to die. She knew how long the visions had been coming to Cloud Dancing. She also knew how stubborn he could be when he had a problem before him that he could not solve. But, even though the word among them was that the white man could have a sickness that might sweep through the tribe, she felt differently after seeing him. Snow Bird secretly believed that the only harm the man could cause was towards his own spirit.  

        When she got back to her teepee, she worked on the evening meal in silence. After a while, one of the other women, Little Flower, came bursting in. She had not gone to the clearing to see what was going on with Cloud Dancing and the white man, as she had felt weak. Now, she was flushed and agitated.

        "I have listened to the elders! Cloud Dancing must stay away from the tribe until he can prove Black Wolf carries no sickness." She told Snow Bird. Little Flower sat down heavily, looking concerned. Cloud Dancing had recently helped her over a sickness of her own, and lately, she was always coming to him with every little pain she had.

        "Black Wolf?" Snow Bird asked.

        "It is the name that Black Kettle says Cloud Dancing gives the white man." Little Flower wrung her hands in worry. "They talk of Black Wolf putting bad medicine on Cloud Dancing to make him help our enemy." Snow Bird pondered the name while preparing her bread. If the elders had respected the name her husband had given, they were also giving the white man respect. She had also seen the white man bring death and destruction to her people in many ways, and this made her distrustful. But, in spite of the past, Black Kettle always talked about wanting peace above all. Perhaps he felt this white man could be a sign of further peace among the peoples coming into their land. But how much help could a white man be, when Snow Bird knew the sadness in his eyes?

        She handed Little Flower a bowl so she could help make the evening's bread.

        "Talk of bad medicine is foolish. My husband follows the Great Spirit." Snow Bird said, continuing in her work.

        "Maybe he is already sick?" Little Flower whispered. Snow Bird sighed in exasperation.

        "There is extra work tonight so that I may have bread to take them in the morning. If you cannot help, tell Dark Skies to come and help me." Snow Bird said, putting the conversation to rest. Little Flower kept her head down and worked the dough in silence.

        Sully awoke to find the day at an end. After the tribe had left and they had eaten of the food that Snow Bird had left for them, Sully could do nothing more than curl into a ball on the ground, his stomach hurting after so many days without nourishment. Somehow he must've slept, and now the pain was abated.

        Cloud Dancing was tending the fire at the center of the healing circle and seemed lost in thought. Sully waited to speak until Cloud Dancing moved, for he sat with his legs crossed, his head bowed and looked as if he might be in prayer. However he had made the fire, a strange scent filled the air unlike any wood he'd ever smelled. It made his head hurt.