The Legend of Black Wolf - Sully's Journey Home

Chapter Twenty Five

        After a few days of rowdy celebrating and too much fire water, the group of dog soldiers felt refreshed enough to go out hunting for some fresh game. Many of the women were glad for the quiet to return to their camp, especially Snow Bird. She had been watching her sons closely to keep them from being too entranced with Hook Nose's stories and was exhausted in fighting his romancing of killing white men.  

        Black Kettle did not approve of their outright bloodshed, but he knew that, inevitably, his people would have to fight for the right to live on their land and maintain the old ways. He had heard stories from the dog soldiers of how the great white chief's army was capturing other tribes and forcing them in one place, keeping them like prisoners and calling it a reservation. Without the ability to roam free as the nomads of the land, they could not maintain their relationship with the buffalo, would not be able to feed their families during the cold winters, and would suffer greatly. And so Chief Black Kettle invited Hook Nose to share his fire and eat with him, and Hook Nose gave him items they had stolen from the white man in honor. They talked of what would have to be done, and their love of their people. It gave great pause to the chief to hear that, deep down, their hearts was not so entirely different.

        Cloud Dancing was undisturbed at Sully's lean-to site, and had returned the next morning and began overseeing the many wounds and ailments the soldiers had acquired on their campaign. One had lost an eye and was in grave pain, but would survive. The soldiers had renamed him One Eye and the brave, who used to be known as Rushing Waters, felt so very proud to have gained such honor among his fellow warriors. He asked his medicine man to make sure the scar was deep so that all would know of his strength. Cloud Dancing spent a long night praying over his fire later that his sons would not develop such viewpoints of the white man. He prayed to the spirits to watch over Sully and allow him to return to the people so they could keep learning from each other.

        Word of Bright Spears absence could not be kept silent for long, and the story was that he had gone in search of a great offering to make to Hook Nose. The dog soldiers thought this was fine, but his mother kept vigil constantly, hoping for his safe return at any moment. He was of age, had gone on his vision quest, and was considered to be a man in his own right, but she still wished she knew that he was not in danger. Some bet that he would return with a bear, or even another buffalo. Finally, late that evening, another bottle of fire water was passed around, and one of Bright Spears friends, who desperately wanted to be accepted, offered the information that his friend intended to return with the power of a tamed wolf.

        Cloud Dancing was not far from the fire when he heard the young brave boast of this task to the dog soldiers. He knew in an instant what it meant, for there was only one tame wolf that any of the Cheyenne had ever encountered, and that was Sully's Wolf. A shadow fell over his heart as he thought about his new friend, trying to travel to safety, only to have a brash, young warrior tracking him with thoughts of taking Wolf away to gain the approval of Hook Nose. He said nothing to anyone, but walked through the trees and back to Sully's lean-to.

        

        A few days later, after pushing hard along the road to Manitou, Sully and Wolf had bedded down in a clearing where the moss was soft, and Sully had found enough rocks to make a decent fire on which to cook the rabbit he'd caught. It hadn't been much, but there was enough for both of them to share. Wolf was growing fast and now often caught little animals of his own while they traveled, but Sully hated to not share some of the rabbit with his little friend.

        Unknown to Sully, A fog had settled in during the night. With the help of his new coat, he was bundled up snugly against the cold damp that covered the clearing that morning. Sully did not hear Wolf get up, either. After two nights of hard ground, the clearing was so comfortable that Sully was deeply asleep until the metallic click above his head brought him back to consciousness.