Escape

Once Ehawee is sure that Elek is clear of the camp, she rushes back to where the men are chained and begins unlocking them from their shackles. As she moves from man to man, she notices that there are many faces missing along with her father's. Her grandfather is not there, nor is the chief or any of the shamans. Most of the men have wounds of some kind or another, and they won't be able to depart this place with anything that resembles speed.

It is hard for Ehawee to keep her composure as she sees all the injured men, and it truly hits home how many are missing. She frees them all as quickly as she can, then returns to Kohana, tears forming in her eyes. As she kneels by his side, she sees that his head is bloody. He stirs at her touch, and his eyes flutter open.

"Ehawee? Am I dead, then?" he says quietly.

"No, my husband," she replies, a half smile on her face despite the tears trickling down her cheeks. "You still live. As do I."

He sits up painfully. "Then how?" he asks, looking around.

"The white men didn't kill all of us," Ehawee explains, trying to get a better look at where the blood on Kohana's head is coming from. She finds a long cut above his right ear that is bruised and swollen. She thinks he must have been struck with a rifle butt, and touches the back of her own head, remembering what that felt like. Only she feels no trace of the injury beneath her fingers now, the cut already healed over. She wonders if her other wounds have similarly disappeared. Certainly, they no longer pain her. Perhaps later, when there is more light, she will check.

"They brought us to their camp so they could kill all the men here, instead," she continues, her voice hardening. "They were building structures so they could hang all of you from them in the morning. And then they were going to send the rest of us to a ray-zer-vay-shun. Land someplace else that the whites don't want."

Kohana frowns. "We must wipe the white sickness from our lands."

He tries to stand and staggers forward, losing his balance. Ehawee grabs his arm and steadies him, trying not to look obvious about it. "Yes, but first we must gather what we can and leave this place, before more of them come," she insists. "As we are now, we cannot fight them."

Given the unsteadiness of his own legs, Kohana is willing to concede her point. The more he moves, the better he is at it, and soon he and some of the other men are helping those that need it. Satisfied that he's steadier on his feet, Ehawee moves to take a better look at her brother, hoping that his injuries aren't too severe. He has a gunshot wound to the arm that doesn't look good, but he looks like he'll be able to walk. Or ride. There are a whole lot of horses not that far away, after all.

Since the men seem to have things well in hand, Ehawee scouts around the camp, looking for supplies, weapons, anything that might help in their exodus. She finds all of these things in ample supply, and lets the rest of the tribe know where to find them. Those that are able plunder the camp well before they leave.

Ehawee helps as much as she can with gathering up what they need, getting the horses, and getting everyone moving. During this time, most of the tribe is strangely quiet around her. Only her immediate family treats her the same. To everyone else, she is no longer human. While they are grateful, and she can tell this, there is also fear of her behind their eyes. No one asks her what happened to all of the soldiers.

After a couple of hours, the tribe is supplied, outfitted, and moving slowly away into the dark of the night. Still wearing the army coat and hat that she took from the first sentry she killed, Ehawee looks back at the place that now contains nothing but bad memories for her. "Should we leave the camp as it is, or burn it?" she asks Kohana, hoping for the latter.

"Leave it. Fire will only let them know something is wrong and bring them faster. It is the wrong season for fires."

Given that she can see pretty well in the dark, and is in better shape than most of the men, Ehawee insists on being one of the advance scouts keeping an eye out for trouble. No one offers her argument, yet another change. She is hurt by the fear she sees in their eyes and is grateful that the darkness helps to hide her expression. With everything else that's happened this night, she's starting to reach her limit of what she can handle. She rides alone, tears starting again as it truly sinks in how much her life has changed now. She finds the future frightening in a way it never has been before, and she wishes desperately that this was all just some horrible dream.

The bedraggled band continues on through the night. Ehawee looks for ways to hide their passing from the white scouts that will follow, but there is only the river...the first place the whites would look. Her only hope, really, is to go north and get the tribe into Canada before the whites can catch them.

Come morning, it is clear that some will need a rest before continuing. Ehawee scouts around for a safe place to stop, and the band settles down to recover. Those women who have menfolk left feed and tend to them...or at least try to. Kohana is fast asleep before Ehawee has his breakfast ready. Checking his head wound as best she can without disturbing him, she finds that it appears to be healing well, although a poultice wouldn't hurt. She makes sure he is comfortable, and leaves his breakfast nearby in case he wakes up, then looks for the rest of her family. Takoda is with Napayshni and Magaskawee, and seems relatively unscathed. But of her grandmother, there is no sign.

Overcome with a renewed feeling of loss, Ehawee joins what's left of her family. Like Kohana, Napayshni is asleep. Magaskawee, now that she has her husband to focus on, looks to be coping as well as any. As for Takoda, the only expression on his face is a stunned lifelessness. Ehawee understands that feeling well, and wonders if her own face bears a similar expression. She sits next to him and hesitates for a moment, wanting desperately to hug him, to feel some human contact, but afraid that he might recoil away from her if she does so. "Takoda?" she asks, looking for some sign that he fears her the way the others do.

He turns to look at her, his eyes still far away.

"Takoda, I...." Her voice chokes up and tears well up in her eyes. Not able to voice what she's feeling, or even certain how, she hugs her brother despite her fears. Even if he pushes her away, that has to be better than the distance in his eyes right now. Instead, he clings to her fiercely, and she does the same, shaking now as she finally lets herself respond to the stress of it all, tears flowing freely down her face. They hold onto each other for a very long time.

Eventually, she hears Takoda say, "It will be all right. Once we're north of the Great White Chief's reach, we will be all right."

Ehawee nods numbly, not sure it will ever be all right again, but needing to believe it in order to keep going. After a few more minutes, she lets go of her brother and wipes her eyes, feeling a little better. Her grandmother was right, she thinks. It does help to let the tears out. Although that thought makes her tear up again, as she remembers that her grandmother is gone now. She tries to muster a brave smile for Takoda, grateful for the comfort. "You are right," she tells him. "Things will be better once we go north."

Feeling a bit better now, she turns to Magaskawee. "Is there anything you need here? I was going to gather the ingredients for a poultice for Kohana. I can gather some for Napayshni too."

"Please," her sister-in-law answers.

Ehawee nods and hurries off to find the necessary ingredients, gathering as much as she can. Once she has what she needs, she returns to the camp and checks on Kohana, who is still sleeping comfortably. She makes a poultice for him and her brother, but decides to wait for Kohana to wake up before applying it. After delivering Napayshni's poultice to Magaskawee, she decides she should try to get some sleep too. It may be a while before she gets another chance. Mentally and physically exhausted, she lies down beside Kohana and attempts to get the first rest she's had since her nap in the cabin...less than a day and more than 100 deaths ago. She goes out like a light, her body too tired to let her mind's dreams disturb her.

"Deadwood"
Ehawee's Page | Ehawee's Story

All text on this page is © 2001 by Kris Fazzari.

Last modified on June 16, 2001 by Kris Fazzari.