War Cloud's Passion Read online

  Dedication

  For some outstanding people at the Blackfeet Nation HELP Learning Center.

  In particular:

  Toni Running Fisher

  Patricia Running Crane Deveraux

  Harold Dusty Bull

  Kinder Hunt

  Maria Ferrara

  Jeff Butler

  Dave Bolger

  and last but not least, my husband, Paul Bailey.

  You are making a difference.

  NEEDED

  HOMES for ORPHANS

  A PARTY OF ORPHANS WILL BE ARRIVING AT: HAYS, KS., ON SATURDAY, MAY 16TH, 1869

  The children, ranging in age from 5-15, are coming to us in care of the Society of Orphans in New York City. It is hoped that these children will be able to find a new life in our community. Good Christian homes are needed. Applications can be made to the church committee. Prospective parents will be asked to treat these children well, as though members of the family. Parents must promise to attend to the child’s schooling. as well as his spiritual nature and must agree to send the child to Sabbath school every week. Additionally, parents must agree to properly clothe each child until he or she reaches the age of 17. The following good citizens of our town have agreed to act in the capacity of agents for the children.

  A.K. SIMMON; E.M. NORFOLK; H.G. WILLIAMS; P.C. WILSON

  Come and view the children.

  Dispersion of the children will begin at:

  THE OLD CHURCH,

  SATURDAY, MAY 16TH AT 2:00 P.M.

  A.T. BILSWORTH; C.B. PAGNEY AND A. WILEY.

  AGENTS FOR THE SOCIETY OF ORPHANS. NEW YORK CITY, NY.

  REV. W.P. MATTHEWS

  Prologue

  The Legend of Sky Falcon

  It has been said that Sky Falcon was a good, if misguided merchant. His was a strong, passionate nature; his face, as well as his body, pleasing to the eye. Some even say he was beautiful.

  The tale always begins with a flute. Some say the instrument was enchanted; some maintain otherwise. All that is known with certainty is that whenever Sky Falcon played his melodies, women threw themselves at him. And Sky Falcon, not being the sort of man to deny himself, soon lay claim to quite a reputation.

  Now, being a merchant, Sky Falcon spent most of his time roaming the West from village to village, exercising his trade and indulging his sensual nature.

  But such could not last forever. As it does to most young men, there came a time when Sky Falcon’s aimless ways had to bow to the winds of change.

  It so happened that on this particular day, such a transformation took place during Sky Falcon’s first meeting with the beautiful and vibrant Spirit Woman—she who was from the Cocopa tribe in the Southwest. It is said that Sky Falcon lost his heart to this maiden.

  However, there were problems.

  “How do you intend to win her when there is not a man in the village who does not desire her?” asked He Who Limps, his name signifying a family name rather than a characteristic of the kinship.

  The two friends were slowly approaching the village where Spirit Woman lived. They led a convoy of several dogs, each one pulling a travois stacked high with merchant’s goods: wampum, shells, cloth and string, among other items.

  Villagers, alerted to their approach, had come out to watch them, some to greet the two merchants. But Sky Falcon barely noticed the townspeople.

  He smiled at his friend instead and held up his wooden flute, the object boasting a multitude of feathers as well as charms, all attached to the instrument and hanging from it like a cascade of silk. Said Sky Falcon, “Ah, it is good that you ask me about this, my friend, for I will tell you gladly how I intend to do so. I visited a medicine man in that last village who gave me a new song, one that is sure to win her, I am certain.”

  He Who Limps scowled. “I fear you will need more than a song, my friend. While your flute may charm the young maiden and the discontent wife, to try to win a wife in this way…” He Who Limps tittered. “I do not need to tell you that when a young lady wishes to marry, she follows not her heart, but the dictates of her father. And I do not believe that this maiden’s father will approve of you.”

  “Why not?” Sky Falcon asked, still smiling.

  “You forget your reputation, my friend. Her father will not want a son-in-law who has charmed every young maiden in the country.”

  “I think you exaggerate my talents,” observed Sky Falcon.

  He Who Limps merely shrugged and continued, “Her father will not care if you can play a song. I think he would more want you to be a steadfast and an honest man. He will look to you to be a good provider and a good hunter, for there will come a time when he will depend on you for his own sustenance.

  “But most of all,” continued He Who Limps, “I think he would want you to be constant, so that you do not make his daughter weep with jealousy.”

  Sky Falcon acknowledged his friend with a self-satisfied smile. He said, “That may be, my friend; that may be. Yet, I think I will win her nonetheless.”

  He Who Limps shrugged, saying only, “We will see.”

  However, He Who Limps’ warning proved to be true. For, as he had pointed out, while the vibrant Spirit Woman might have loved Sky Falcon on sight and might have married him posthaste, such was not to be. Her father, a formidable medicine man, heartily disapproved.

  Yet, as a man might learn to his own detriment, Spirit Woman’s father could not forever control the heart of his daughter.

  Spirit Woman sat beside her friend as they worked over a skin. Because the Cocopa women wore only short skirts with wide sashes, their feminine charms from the waist up were amply laid out to view. And close to hand, admiring that view, sat Sky Falcon, playing his flute.

  “His eyes never leave you,” observed First Antelope.

  Spirit Woman did not lift an eyelash to take notice of the man, even though she was well aware of every move that Sky Falcon made. She responded, “Think you that he courts me?”

  “Think I? Who else is he playing to? Certainly not to me.”

  Spirit Woman shrugged.

  “Have a care, my friend,” First Antelope continued, “for your young suitor has a reputation that precedes him, and I fear he may stir your father’s resentment. It is well known that since your mother died, your father guards you too well, protecting you as a man might a favorite wife, rather than a daughter.”

  Spirit Woman nodded. Even though she loved her father, she was not unaware of his shortcomings. It was one of the reasons so few suitors came to call on her: most young men were afraid of her father. All knew that if her father’s disposition were mixed with one of his magical incantations…

  But Spirit Woman held no such fear. She had long ago learned that a sweet smile calmed her father’s savage instinct. And so Spirit Woman grinned at her friend, when perhaps it might have been wiser to covet discretion.

  Spirit Woman said, “It could not hurt me to talk to the one they call Sky Falcon.”

  First Antelope sucked in her breath. “It could do much harm. Do not do it.”

  But the heart knows little fear and Spirit Woman was already enchanted with her young suitor. And in little time the couple had fallen in love.

  Now, as has been said by generations of wise men, there are many different kinds of love. There is the love between a parent and a child; the love of a man for his comrades; the love of one’s people for their culture. There is even the love one feels for all things living. But sometimes there is a devotion between a man and a woman so potent that it is remembered within the hearts of the people for all time.

  Such was the adoration between Spirit Woman and Sky Falcon. And though her father disapproved, Spirit Woman had already determined that she would marry her sweetheart. />
  And so it came to pass that they eloped, fleeing the Cocopa village and hurrying on toward the North, toward Sky Falcon’s people and safety. For Spirit Woman feared for her husband.

  Happily they reached the camp of her husband’s people, and it was here that they began their lives together. And oh, how well they loved.

  For many years they lived in contentment. But never did they dare to return to the Cocopa people, for Spirit Woman’s father had threatened to kill Sky Falcon if ever the two men were to meet.

  Now, it happened in the spring.

  Dark Star, a lovely young woman who had been captured from a warring tribe, had come to live with the people. With her she had brought a curious pet, a mountain lion.

  In little time, Dark Star outgrew her slavery and went on to win the attention of the tribe’s young men. In truth, she could have picked a husband from several of her acquaintances. But Dark Star had eyes for only one man: Sky Falcon.

  However, her desires were met with firm resistance, for Sky Falcon’s heart belonged to another.

  Now, while it is true that Sky Falcon could have married Dark Star, since the old ways permitted a man more than one wife, Sky Falcon refused to do this. His was no fickle heart. Once pledged, Sky Falcon’s devotion remained faithful.

  And perhaps it was this that held appeal to Dark Star. But whatever her reasons, she had determined to have what was not hers to take.

  It is said that Dark Star flirted openly with Sky Falcon. And although the custom of Indian life forbade an unmarried woman to speak to a man alone, Dark Star ignored these rules, and invited Sky Falcon to her lodge.

  “Come and feel this deerskin that I have made for your wife. You will like it and it will make a good dress.”

  Instinct clamored within Sky Falcon, the desire to run away intense. But alas, he could see little harm in answering Dark Star’s appeal. He said, “My wife has many pretty skins with which to make beautiful clothes. I thank you for your consideration, but we do not require them.” He turned to go.

  “But this is a special skin,” Dark Star insisted and she caught his arm.

  Sky Falcon shrugged off the woman’s touch and spun away from her, every impulse within him crying out in alarm.

  Dark Star, however, remained determined and she pushed the skin farther toward him, coaxing, “Here, feel the texture of this pelt. It is special.”

  “I think not.”

  Dark Star’s smile, however, cajoled. “Come,” she said, “do you think it will hurt you? Surely not. And it is so pretty.”

  Perhaps Sky Falcon only wished to put a quick end to the conversation. Mayhap he might have thought the skin winsome. But too late, he chose to do the wrong thing. He touched the skin, a very unwise thing to do.

  For this was no ordinary deerskin. This hide had been worked over with herbs, with wizardry and witchcraft until the pelt itself had taken on power. Such was its potency that he who touched it—save only the one who had worked over it—would fall at once under a spell.

  And so, with no more than a simple touch, it came to pass that Sky Falcon fell under Dark Star’s command.

  Seeing this, Dark Star purred, “You want the skin.”

  Sky Falcon, being not now himself, nodded.

  “And you will take it home to your wife, will you not?”

  Again Sky Falcon found he could only agree.

  Dark Star grinned, though the gesture played at odds with the evil illuminated within her eyes. “And you will instruct your wife to make a dress from the skin,” she commanded, “a dress for me, my wedding dress.”

  With the magic of the fleece touching his skin, Sky Falcon agreed. For such was the power and evil of this charm that it forced Sky Falcon to step back from his own consciousness, to fall asleep as his own self and to come under the whim of Dark Star.

  “Follow me,” said Dark Star, and taking hold of Sky Falcon’s hand, she propelled him to her lodge. The large mountain cat, her pet, sat outside the lodge’s entryway, as though to guard it. But Sky Falcon little saw it, not even to fear it.

  Dark Star commanded, “Put the skin on the ground and lay yourself down upon it.”

  Having no choice, Sky Falcon did as she instructed.

  “Now disrobe,” commanded Dark Star.

  This he did and when done, Dark Star said, “We shall make love and afterwards, as is tradition, we will be married.”

  However, this one night of passion was never to be. For no sooner had Dark Star disrobed when Spirit Woman stumbled into the dwelling. Perhaps, some say, it was Dark Star’s intention that Spirit Woman discover them. Others, more kind, maintain that it was the huge cat that brought Spirit Woman to that lodge.

  And as any woman might upon seeing her husband with another, Spirit Woman screamed.

  It is said by the wise ones that only love, true and pure, can cast off an evil spell. Such was Sky Falcon’s adoration for his wife that when he heard that scream, the hex lost its power and Sky Falcon returned to consciousness, as his own self.

  Miserably, however, as he stared around him, it took no genius to surmise what had happened.

  But it was too late.

  No sooner had the scream split through the air than Dark Star’s pet, the mountain lion, charged into the dwelling and attacked Sky Falcon. Though Sky Falcon struggled as best he could beneath the huge beast, with no weapon, the fight could only go one way.

  “Stop it!” screamed Spirit Woman.

  In desperation Spirit Woman turned to Dark Star. She implored, “Make your pet stop.”

  Dark Star wickedly grinned before saying, “I can only do that one way.”

  “Then do it. And do it quickly,” sobbed Spirit Woman.

  But Dark Star did not act at once, her stare at the other woman heinous. Said she, “I fear it will involve you.”

  “Me?” queried Spirit Woman. “How is this so?”

  “A life for a life,” clucked Dark Star. “If I save your husband, you will lose your own life.”

  Spirit Woman straightened her spine. “What sort of magic is this?” she asked the other woman.

  “Does it matter?” cackled Dark Star. “Your life for his. I can save your husband in no other way.”

  Spirit Woman barely hesitated. With head held high, for the love she felt for her husband was true, she commanded, “Then do it.”

  And so it was that, to the accompaniment of howling winds and ghostly wailings, Dark Star’s dwelling fluttered, the wind, the gales and satanic sorcery bringing about so much turbulence, that amidst the flying dust and dirt, no eye could easily discern what had come to pass.

  The cat disappeared, taking on its human form; Spirit Woman, too, vanished, leaving no trace that she had once lived. And Sky Falcon, no longer battling the cat, jumped up and hurried toward the place where his wife had stood. But he found nothing there, not even a lock of her hair or an article of her clothing.

  “You killed her,” came a deep, male voice, a voice Sky Falcon recognized. It was Lost In Timber, Spirit Woman’s father, for it was his spirit that had inhabited the cat.

  “I did not kill her,” Sky Falcon denied. “That one did it with magic.” He pointed a finger at Dark Star.

  “Not completely,” said the old man. “You were inconstant. Had yours been a strong heart, you would not now be in this lodge, causing my daughter pain. Yours is a frivolous heart.”

  Sky Falcon uttered nothing, not even in his own defense.

  “And you.” The old man turned to Dark Star. “You were told not to kill her. You were only to entice him.”

  Dark Star barely flinched. “Your daughter wished me to save him,” came the venomous response. “I did as she asked.”

  “You did not kill her because of him,” screamed the old man, the sound of his voice causing even the heavens to quake in response. “You and I both know it. You did it because you were jealous; jealous of her beauty, jealous because she had him.”

  Dark Star tried to say something, perhaps a lie,
but Lost In Timber would hear nothing more. He vowed, “I will curse you both.”

  Dark Star tried to run away, but the old man held her back, saying, “You will go from here, never to be seen again. And to seal your fate, your body will turn into that which mirrors your soul.”

  No sooner had the words been spoken than Dark Star screamed, her form turning into an ugly, old hag, for Dark Star’s beauty had been no more than skin-deep.

  “And you.” Lost In Timber turned to Sky Falcon. “You took from me the one thing that I loved. You stole my daughter’s heart away from me and made her hate me.”

  “No, old man,” said Sky Falcon, who stood, oddly calm, before his father-in-law. “If her love for you died, and if she did hate you, it was something you did yourself, for you treated your daughter, not as a daughter, but as one might think to guard a cherished wife.”

  “I did not so guard,” denied Lost In Timber.

  But Sky Falcon remained silent, for the truth that Sky Falcon spoke could not be turned aside.

  Now, Sky Falcon might have been many things, but he was not without bravery and he little flinched beneath the old man’s regard.

  Seeing this, Lost In Timber became enraged. “From this day forward, all things yours—your family and all your kin—will be unlucky in love. In this way will your seed upon this earth be wiped away. And it will not matter the handsomeness of your face, nor the bravery of your war record, because from this day forward until forever, none of yours will find contentment in love.”

  Perhaps Sky Falcon could not fathom the repercussions of such a spell; mayhap he little cared, for he had lost that thing most precious to him, his wife. And so it was that Sky Falcon showed his father-in-law little fear.

  But the old man, seeing that calm, became venomous and further incanted, “Think you that you will be united with my daughter in spirit? If so, think anew, for not even in death will you be joined with her. Always will you search for her, never will you find her.” And then, in finality, the old man uttered, “So be it.”

  With these words, Lost In Timber disappeared from the face of the earth, never to return, for, as the wise men have often counseled, an evil deed always recoils upon the one who dares to use it.