CHAPTER FOURTEEN #2
Red Fox grinned before responding. But, at length, he said, "Not this day, my friend.
I think today we should let Poka'aki do the hunting for us down there in the coulee…
and in view of the others. Let the others see her worth, and for those faint-of-hearts from the city of New York, let them all observe what she is capable of doing.
Perhaps, if they fear what she might do to them… "
George laughed, and Red Fox grinned.
"I think it time," said Red Fox, "we give your sister the opportunity to speak for herself. Perhaps, this alone might cause those who are cowards to hurry back to their homes in the East."
Grinning, Red Fox and George turned their horses and made their way back to the coulee.
****
Looking down into the coulee from a cliff above it, Briella leaned over her pony from where she sat in the saddle to observe the long stretch of pines that followed the shoreline of the stream down there.
She smiled a little; it looked to her as though the water were late for a pressing appointment, so hurriedly did it run.
She could feel the impatience of those behind her: Maximillian and his ladylove. On the right-hand side of her sat her father on his favorite mount, while Frederic resided on her left.
Because neither her father nor Frederic understood, nor were they able to use sign language, she whispered, "Look," and pointed toward the stream running through the flat-bottom land below them.
It was there, sitting beside the stream, where a fat female cow lingered, and she looked to be about three years old.
As they were about to pull away and head down into the pines, Briella stopped them, cautioning them by placing a finger to her lips and by shaking her head back and forth.
"Not yet." She mouthed the words. Then, whispering, she said, "We will dismount and lead our horses into the pines, where we will tie them and then go on foot toward the buffalo. "
"On foot?" her father asked in a loud voice.
"Sh-h-h-h." Again Briella laid an upright finger to her lips.
"Yes," she whispered. "If we were to ride into the pines, our ponies would likely smell the buffalo, and they might do something we do not expect.
Therefore, we will walk them into the pines and tie them, and then we will wait for Red Fox and George to join us. "
"Why do we wait?" asked Frederic.
"Because," she said, "we do not know where Red Fox and George are in reference to the buffalo, nor do we know what they are doing.
We are aware, however, there could be hundreds or thousands of buffalo on the plains where they are.
When we fire our guns, the buffalo on the flat plain above us will hear it and will run and stampede, and a man standing beside them, or even as we are in a coulee, could be killed.
That is why we will await them before we attempt to bring down the buffalo here in the coulee. "
"Oh," answered Frederic, though his tone mirrored a tiny degree of humility.
"Ah, I see them coming toward us." She pointed off to the south.
"Now, when they come here, only then will we dismount and lead our horses into the pines.
Meanwhile, we will wait and watch the buffalo carefully to see if any other hunter or hunters are after them today.
If so, and if they do not know we are here, they, too, could cause a stampede. "
József Fehér nodded.
Within moments, Red Fox and George rode their mounts right up to Briella.
Said Red Fox to her, "There are hundreds of buffalo up there on the plain above us.
If we go there to get many, the buffalo will stampede, and because I see a few of us are astride horses who are timid, it will not go well for those who ride them.
And so, we will take what we can here in the coulee and be happy with it. Do you agree?"
"áa," said George, signing, "Yes."
"Yes," answered Briella's father.
Red Fox nodded and said, "Let us go, then, down into the stretch of pines between us and the stream, where we will tie our horses. We will then approach the buffalo on foot. Come, I will lead the way."
Then, in single file, they headed their ponies down into the pines.
****
The delicious scent of the pines reached out to Briella even before their party had all entered into the thick, yet narrow stretch of woods that hugged the shoreline, but was situated a little away from the boundary of the stream.
The crunch of the trees' fallen needles beneath her footfalls seemed to soothe her troubled mind. At least, it did a little.
Because the plains were mostly dry this time of year, it was a pleasure to feel the moisture from the stream seep into these woods; it felt, indeed, a little comforting.
It wasn't dark here in this stretch of pines.
The trees were situated far enough apart that even grass grew abundantly… enough for the ponies to enjoy.
But, what heartened her most was Red Fox's declaration to her that he intended to fight for her. This, as well as his presence here beside her, cheered her as nothing else could have. She felt…cared for…important to him. And, under such a circumstance, how could she not love him as she did?
In truth, his simple words gave her courage to continue looking for and envisioning a resolution to their dilemma, equipped now with the belief in her heart that the mess they were both in could be made right.
Somehow, in some way, they would resolve this, and hopefully with the blessings of both their families.
They hobbled their ponies within a thicker growth of the pines, and she hoped their horses would not be disturbed by some unforeseen war party.
This particular stretch of the woods where they tied their horses was darker than the rest, but it still allowed enough light to hit the ground so that lush grasses grew beneath the trees' towering heights.
Then, leaving their animals where they stood, she and their entire party descended on foot down toward the stream, which even now was continuing to flow madly through the coulee.
There, clearly within view and standing within the stream's shallow depths, stood the buffalo cow, a fat female that would be perfect for roasting its fat, juicy ribs.
Her mouth watered at the sight. Signing to Red Fox, she said, "This one is mine, so step aside. I will take down this cow."
A little too gladly, it seemed to her, Red Fox smiled at her and took a step back. George did the same, and perhaps because Red Fox and George were giving her full lead, both her father and Frederic did the same.
Ah, this was going to be easy and so much fun.
Without having to squat to take good aim, she stood up, her shoulders back.
And then, raising her rifle, she took quick aim and pulled the trigger, the bullet piercing directly into the ribs of the buffalo, which she knew was the animal's most vulnerable spot.
Long acquaintance with the hunt had allowed her to become aware that a bullet so aimed would go to the heart of the animal so that, in little time, it would cause the end of the buffalo.
But, this time the fat cow jumped up and turned in the direction of the shot.
Worse, the buffalo began to run toward them all.
And, while screams from behind her (both masculine and feminine) and the sound of running feet clearly illustrated the cowardliness of those two New Yorkers, Briella kept cool and took another aim, this one to the head and into an eye.
The buffalo didn't stop; it was running toward them, but Briella knew the cow would soon fall and she kept hold of her position, as did both Red Fox and George. However, she took note that both her father and Frederic, though they didn't run away, were backing up one slow step at a time.
The cow fell, as Briella had known it would, but it fell not less than a few feet away from her. And, though she, too, had been frightened, she felt exhilarated at the same time.
After it landed at her feet, Briella let out a loud whoop, and, running toward the buffalo, took out her knife and began to take the hide from it, knowing exactly what to do and how to do it.
Red Fox and George followed her to the buffalo and helped to skin it, and laying the meat out on the hide of the animal, both she, Red Fox and George began to cut up the meat into different portions, taking the tongue first, which was, of course, the most delicious part of the buffalo.
"I will go and get the horse we brought here to carry the meat back to the house," said George, and coming up to his feet, he left posthaste.
Neither Frederic nor her father, and certainly not Maximillian nor his mistress, came in close to her. Glancing up at Frederic, Briella saw that even he looked pale. Indeed, his countenance appeared to be as white as the clouds above them.
Briella had forgotten: Frederic was not really a part of this country. Yes, he had lived here for a short while, but within only a few months after arriving here, he had left to set down his roots in the East.
However, Briella had no more than thought of this when she felt the ground shake, heard the noise and the crackling of sticks and twigs, and she knew one or more buffalo were running toward them, but worse, whatever was on the loose was coming straight toward the people who were not aware of what was going on behind them. Instead, they were watching her.
Briella turned in full toward the sound, and as she did so, Red Fox came into position beside her.
They were now facing into the features of the other four who were still, somehow, unaware of the danger. But, there was no time to warn them, although Red Fox waved them away,
All four ignored him.