Hearing the news that Jim Davis was scheduled to hang at noon, Danny stood up slowly, ignoring the pain of his wounded leg. “I will not let that happen,” he said.
“I’m not sure you can do anything about it, Danny,” said Rick.
“I have to try. Fire Eye can carry us both. Grandfather,” he said, “please tell my mother and father I will see them this evening. We will be together.”
His grandfather stood and held Danny close to his chest. “Stay strong and be blessed,” he whispered in his ear.
“What do you plan to do?” Rick asked Danny before they rode away.
“I will ride through the gates and give myself up. If they want to shoot me again, they will. But I will ask them to listen to me first. I will confess to stealing the horse. I will tell them Jim Davis did not steal the horse. I am the one that should hang if anyone does.”
“I have another plan,” Rick said.
“Please, let me do this,” said Danny. “No more running. I want to face up to everything I have done since the soldiers burned our homes and killed our sheep.”
“I will not stop you, Danny,” Rick said. “But please, I beg of you, do nothing that will give them a reason to kill you both. Say what is the truth and maybe someone will listen.”
He climbed to the saddle and helped Danny to the rear of his horse. “You ready to ride?” he asked.
“I am,” said Danny, and Rick patted Fire Eye on the hindquarters. The faithful horse climbed the hillside with the speed of one who understood. As they came to the road leading to the fort, Fire Eye hesitated.
“It’s okay, boy,” said Rick, leaning over and patting his neck. “We’re going through the front door today.”
The soldiers spotted Rick and Danny Blackgoat long before they came to the gate. “Halt!” a guard shouted. “Halt or we will fire!”
“It’s me, Rick,” he said, lifting his arms high and guiding Fire Eye to the gates of the fort.
“We see you,” shouted the guard, lifting his rifle barrel over the wall of the guard post. “But who is with you?”
“The escaped Navajo boy, Danny Blackgoat,” Rick said. “He has come to turn himself in. Please, let us pass.”
The guard lowered his rifle, and two horsemen rode to meet Rick. “We will escort you to the officers’ headquarters,” one said, staring hard at Danny. “Where did you find him?” he asked.
“Wandering around the mountains,” Rick said. “I had heard he was shot and thought I might be able to find him.”
“Looks like we might have two hangings today,” the guard said. “That rebel traitor, the one who helped him escape, is hanging today at noon.”
Rick said nothing in reply as the men rode past Jim Davis’s carpentry shop, past the stables, and neared the officers’ headquarters. “We can handle him from here,” said the guard, stepping from his horse and pulling Danny from Fire Eye.
Danny winced in pain as the guard threw him roughly to the ground. He tried to stand but stumbled and fell. The shotgun wound ripped open, and blood flowed in red streaks down his leg.
“Stand up!” shouted the soldier, unmoved by the puddle of blood.
“I can help,” Rick said. “I speak some of the boy’s language.”
“Tell him he better walk on both legs,” said the guard. “We ain’t got time to carry a savage, wounded or not.”
Danny glanced at Rick, letting him know he understood. He was not to respond to anything the soldiers said. He would pretend to speak only Navajo. That would keep Rick close by.
“Danny,” Rick said in Navajo, leaning close to the young man. “Say nothing. I have a plan, and do not let them know you understand a word of English.”
Danny nodded and did his best to stand tall, as if that was what Rick told him.
“Good,” said the soldier. “Now, bring him inside. He can wait with the rebel till we decide his fate.” The soldiers entered the room.
“We found the Indian boy,” said the guard. “He’s wounded but still alive, well enough to stand trial.”
Danny spotted Jim Davis sitting in a corner, his head lowered in sadness. A soldier sat nearby with a gun in his lap. He rose quickly and saluted the guard.
“At ease,” said the guard. “Can you locate Major Henson? Let him know we captured the Indian boy. He is ready for trial.”
The soldier hesitated. “I was ordered by the major to stand guard over Jim Davis,” he said.
The guard walked quietly to the soldier—a private who now stood at attention, as still as a desert cactus. He leaned so close, his hot breath blew on the private as he spoke. He waited a long moment, adding to the tension in the room.
“Are you refusing a direct order from a superior?” he asked. “Do you want to join the rebel traitor?”
“No, sir,” said the private. “I will do as you command.”
“That’s better,” said the guard. “You will report to me at sunrise tomorrow morning, and we will settle this affair. Now go!”
The private dashed through the door without another word. “Now bring in the boy,” the guard said, turning to Rick.
“Remember,” Rick said, glancing at Jim Davis, “he can’t talk English, so it’s no good ordering him to do anything. I’ll be glad to translate.” Jim Davis looked up in surprise. He looked first to Rick, to let him know he understood the game they were playing.
As Jim Davis looked to his friend, Danny Blackgoat, his eyes grew wide. He wrapped his arms around his bulky chest, letting Danny know the hug was meant for him. Danny pounded his chest in response.
The minds of these two men traveled to the same place—the front porch of the carpentry shop at Fort Davis, Texas. In the dark of night, while soldiers and the other prisoners had slept, Jim Davis had taught Danny the new language. He taught him to speak—and read—in the English language.
The voice of Major Henson ended their trip to the past.
“We have two prisoners today, two horse thieves,” he said as he entered the officers’ headquarters. Turning to Rick, he asked, “Does this boy know enough English to answer my questions?”
“He speaks mostly Navajo,” said Rick, “but I can translate.”
“Fine,” said Major Henson. He gripped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth in front of the two prisoners. “You were a prisoner at Fort Davis, is that correct?” he asked Danny.
Danny looked to Rick, who spoke to him in the Navajo language. “Just nod and look at me, not Major Henson,” Rick said. Danny kept his eyes on Rick and nodded.
“Good,” said the major. “How did you escape?”
Once again Danny looked to Rick. “Talk to me in Navajo,” Rick said. “Say anything you want, Danny. I know what to tell him.”
“I want Jim Davis to live,” said Danny. “Whatever you say, Jim Davis is innocent. Tell him.”
Rick turned to the major. “He says he was afraid for his life,” he said. “A prisoner tried to kill him, over and over. He even put a rattlesnake in his bed, and it bit him.”
“Tell the boy he must answer the question!” Major Henson shouted. “How did you escape?” He grabbed the arms of Danny’s chair and slid it hard against the wall. “I am losing my patience!”
“Just hang them both and be done with it,” said Corporal Doyle.
“I will explain to him, Major Henson,” said Rick. “I know you want the truth.”
“That I do,” said the major.
Rick turned once more to Danny. “Should I tell him of the graveyard?” he asked in Navajo.
“No,” said Danny. “Jim Davis builds the coffins. That makes him more guilty.”
“He says a good man gave him a horse and saved his life,” Rick said to the major.
“Is this the good man who saved your life?” the major asked, pointing to Jim Davis but with his eyes still glued to Danny. “Does he know this good man stole the horse that saved his life? Does he know that we hang horse thieves?”
Danny looked back and forth, from Rick to Jim Davis to the major. He took a deep breath, stood up, and spoke in clear English.
“Major Henson,” he said, “I want to confess. I stole the horse. I rode the horse from Fort Davis, as fast as I could. I came here to Fort Sumner because my family is here. This man is innocent,” he said, looking at Davis. “He did not steal the horse. I did.”