A faint trace of light tinged the eastern horizon when Nate awoke. He blinked a few times before he recalled where he was and the circumstances that had brought him to the top of the gorge. Rising, he stretched and went to relieve himself, then returned and gently shook the Crow woman.
Evening Star came awake instantly and glanced up. She nodded and went about rousing her daughter.
“Do you want food?” Nate asked.
“We will wait until midday,” Evening Star responded.
“I can shoot something for breakfast.”
“No. We should leave before the Utes come. But thank you for the offer.”
“The Utes are not coming,” Nate assured her, and headed for the horses. He halted when he heard a peculiar soft patter arising in the gorge. It couldn’t be, he told himself, and ran to the rim to listen. Amplified by the rock walls, soft and inaudible at times but nonetheless recognizable, was the dull thud of horse hooves striking the gravel floor. He whirled and motioned for Evening Star to mount.
“The Utes?”
Nate frowned. “You were right.”
“You killed two of the war party. They will chase us until they do the same to you and recapture us, or until all of them are dead.”
So much for the Utes having an exaggerated reputation, Nate reflected, and quickly climbed onto the stallion. Once the mother and daughter were on the mare, he lead the pack animal off to the northwest, entering a verdant forest carpeted with pine needles. He reasoned that the Utes must have been tracking them all night since the band was already in the gorge. Once the war party found the spot where they had slept, the Indians would pick up the pace in the expectation of catching them soon.
Nate rode as fast as he dared, constantly avoiding trees and boulders, and whenever he came to a knoll or hill he would look back to see if there was sign of pursuit. Gradually the sun climbed into the sky, bringing the woodland to life, and with it came a steady rise in temperature.
Two hours after the sun rose Nate was perspiring freely. The day promised to be very warm, which meant they must locate water if they intended to push their animals to the limit. But although he scoured the terrain ceaselessly, none of the precious liquid was to be found.
In four hours the ground slanted downward into a broad valley, and in the center a small lake sparkled invitingly. Nate pointed at it and smiled, and Evening Star nodded happily. They pressed on until they broke from cover and saw the shore ahead, then galloped to the water’s edge.
A flock of ducks was disturbed by their arrival, and across the lake a herd of deer moved warily off into the undergrowth.
Nate let the horses and the Crows slake their thirst first. When it was his turn, he dropped to his hands and knees and drank until he couldn’t hold another drop. He straightened, smacked his lips, and wiped the back of his sleeve across his mouth.
“Do you think it is safe to stop for a while?” Evening Star inquired.
Turning, Nate surveyed the woods and hills they’d traversed. ‘There is no sign of the Utes yet. Yes, we can rest for a spell.”
“I saw raspberry bushes over there,” Evening Star signed, and pointed to the south. “If you will watch Laughing Eyes, I will collect them.”
“Go ahead.”
The Crow spoke a few stern words to her daughter, then ran off. Laughing Eyes gazed up at him, nervousness mirrored in her young eyes.
“You are safe with me,” Nate promised her.
An uncomfortable silence ensued. The girl seemed transformed to stone, her gaze locked on his face.
Self-conscious under the child’s scrutiny, Nate tried to initiate a conversation. “You are very mature for your age. I hope my own children turn out like you.”
Laughing Eyes did not reply.
“Soon we will have you back with your father. Would you like that?”
At last the girl responded, her hands moving tentatively. “Yes.”
“He will be very happy to see you,” Nate predicted.
“I will be very sad.”
“Why?”
“Because both my brothers are dead. I loved them with all my heart, and now I can never play with them again.”
“They were good boys,” Nate acknowledged sorrowfully.
“I hope my mother and father have another son one day so I can have a brother again.”
“Maybe they will.”
Silence descended once more. Nate didn’t know what else to say. No amount of soothing words would alleviate the girl’s suffering, and he’d rather keep quiet than remind her of the calamity. He squatted and splashed water on his throat and the back of his neck, then stood and watched their back trail.
Evening Star returned within minutes, her forearms cupped to her stomach and brimming with luscious red raspberries. She deposited them on the grass and smiled. “I can get more if you want.”
“I am not very hungry,” Nate said. “The two of you eat your fill.” He stood guard while they crammed berries into their mouths, grinning as juice dribbled down Laughing Eye’s pointed chin. Every now and then he bent down and grabbed a few berries for himself, and it was as he straightened for the fifth time that he saw the tendrils of dust rising approximately a quarter of a mile away. Shoving the raspberries in his mouth, he glanced at Evening Star. “The Utes.”
She looked and stood. “We must leave immediately.”
In a minute they were mounted and riding along the western shore of the lake. Nate cut into the trees when they came to a rocky stretch of ground that would make their tracks harder to read, then resumed their original northwesterly bearing, driving the horses even harder than before, sweating more than previously as the temperature climbed higher.
When they arrived at the north end of the valley they ascended a hill and paused to gaze at the lake. Visible on the west shore were seven riders.
The sight spurred Nate onward with a vengeance. Despite his best efforts, the war party would catch them by nightfall unless he came up with a ruse to throw the Utes off the scent. But what? How could he lose men who had demonstrated the ability to track at night? Doubling back was out of the question; it would put them behind the band and increase the jeopardy. A mile or two of solid stone underfoot would do the trick, but the woodland soil was essentially soft except for small tracks here and there. He toyed with the notion of an ambush to even the odds, and pondered whether he could prevail on the Crow to ride ahead without him.
Evening Star rode up alongside the stallion. Her daughter now sat behind her, arms looped about her waist. She caught Nate’s attention and motioned while holding the reins. “There is a trick the Crows use to fool the Utes that might help us.”
“What trick?”
“If we drag a limb behind us, our tracks will be erased. An excellent tracker would still be able to follow, but it would slow him down.”
“It is a great idea,” Nate signed, and reined up. He swiftly jumped down and used his knife to chop a thin, long branch sporting an abundance of leaves from a cottonwood. Next came the matter of a rope, which they didn’t have.
Evening Star slid to the ground. “Give me your knife,” she said, and extended her right hand.
Puzzled, Nate complied, and stared after her as she walked into the brush until she was out of sight. He smiled up at Laughing Eyes, who sat stiffly on the mare, and waited anxiously for the woman to return.
When Evening Star did step out, her dress was several inches shorter. She’d cut a continuous strip off the bottom hem of her dress, producing a tough buckskin strand ten feet in length. She beamed as he gave it to him.
Nate tied one end of the makeshift rope to the base of the branch, wrapped the other end around his left hand, and climbed into the saddle. “You will have to take the pack animal,” he advised Evening Star.
She mounted the mare, took the lead, and rode forward.
Following on the pack animal’s heels, Nate sat sideways so he could guide the path of the branch and ensure their prints were completely obliterated. He found that by moving his hand from side to side, the branch moved in a corresponding manner and effectively wiped the earth clean. Their deeper tracks were still imbedded in the soil, but even those were covered with a layer of needles, bits of vegetation, and dirt.
For half an hour they continued in such a manner, until the leaves on the branch were worn off by the friction and Nate had to halt to prepare a second limb. In no time they were on the move.
The blistering afternoon sun arced across the sky, and the shadows in the forest lengthened. Many small animals darted from their path and larger ones regarded them in curiosity. All went well until they came to a severely steep bald mountain.
Nate saw it first and realized the drawbacks it posed. Not only was the slope at an angle that would drastically slow the horses down, but the absence of trees and brush meant they would be visible for miles, exposed to the Utes. They might as well paint a sign announcing where they were. Rather than be foolish, they had to go around.
Evening Star bore to the left.
For no logical reason Nate felt inclined to bear to the right, but since she had already turned he acquiesced to her decision. The going became difficult, with numerous large boulders blocking the route, although the trees thinned out, which compensated somewhat. When the leaves on the second branch rubbed off, Nate reeled in the buckskin and placed it in his ammo pouch to use later. They’d traveled about two miles while covering their trail, and he figured that was enough to slow up the war party.
As they swung around the mountain a new vista unraveled before their eyes, a series of a dozen or so hills, each higher than the one before, most densely forested.
Nate was elated. There would be plenty of game and undoubtedly water, and with night approaching they needed both. If he constructed a lean-to, he could justify the risk of building a fire. A troubling notion occurred to him, giving him second thoughts. What if the Utes tracked them into the night? If so, the band would overtake them in the early hours of the morning before the sun rose. He had to weigh the benefits of stopping with the possible consequences.
Shortly they completed skirting the bald mountain and rode onto the nearest hill, where again a cushion of pine needles and leaves deadened the footfalls of their animals.
Nate decided to take the lead, and had started to swing around the other horses when the wilderness demonstrated once again why a person couldn’t let down his guard for an instant. He heard loud barks off to the left and glanced in that direction.
Speeding toward them was a pack of wolves.