'I won.' He swallowed, gulped water, and then examined the piece of meat he was eating and chose the place to bite. Then he looked over at me. 'I won,' he repeated, 'and that dog of a Diego set the others upon me.'
He ate, drank, and then paused again, gesturing with the hand that held the meat. 'They tied me. They would take me back to be tried for mutiny. It would mean my death. My death, d'you hear?
'So I escaped. I shall return and tell my story first, and then we shall see! Moreover'--there was a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes--'I shall have something to offer.'
'A bribe?'
'A gift. A very special gift.' He smiled at me. 'Thank you, my friend, for being here. I was wondering what I could do, how I could appeal to a man of his very special tastes. Now I know.'
He talked no more, but he had aroused my curiosity. He recovered amazingly. With the food, the drink, and a bit of rest he was a new man.
'You might think I was a fool to challenge Diego,' he commented. 'He was the leader and I but a follower, yet had anything happened to him, I would have been captain. I was the only man of rank, and Diego, the fool, insisted on holding to his orders, which were to go so far and no farther and not to risk hostility from strange Indians.
'Trade! That was what was wanted! Trade bedamned, as you English would say. Gold is what I wanted, and I knew where to find it!Gold!
'I could not make him see reason so I risked all.' He glanced up at me. 'A man who will not risk all is a fool! A child!'
'If it is gold you want,' I suggested. 'Diego evidently thought first of duty.'
His contempt was obvious. 'Duty? A word for slaves! For servants! A man's first duty is to himself!' He shot me an impatient glance. 'Of course it is gold I want! Gold can buy whatever it is you wish. It can buy power, position, women ... whatever.' Then he smiled suddenly and said, 'And women can buy all those things as well.'
He threw a sly glance my way.
'You did not see any Indians when coming here?'
He shrugged. 'A camp that I avoided. A dozen lodges on the bank of this river out there.' He looked thoughtful. 'Six or seven miles beyond the opening yonder.'
His eyes were busy, estimating everything. What he had in mind I did not know, but he was making a quick judgment of all we had and what we might be doing here.
'English?' he asked.
'I am. I was born here, in America.'
'You'll be thrown into prison if the Spanish find you here,' he commented, 'although I might intercede for you.'
He sat back and looked around him again. 'Diego, now, he would arrest you at once and return you to Santa Fe. Then you would be sent to Mexico, in chains.'
'We hope to avoid that,' I said. 'We do not expect to meet your Diego.'
'I could speak for you,' he said, 'if you will do something for me.'
'When spring comes and we can travel again, we shall be leaving here.'
Leaving him there with Keokotah I went outside and looked back over the route he had used. His tracks were visible for some distance. He had pointed a finger at us and if he was pursued they would certainly find us all. Moreover, any Indian who discovered his trail would follow it. I looked at the gray, overcast sky.
Itchakomi was seated by the fire when I entered her cave. The women were working, and one of the men was chipping an arrowhead. I never ceased to marvel at their skill in chipping the finest flakes, especially the bird points, small arrowheads used in killing feathered game.
She looked up as I entered, and I went and sat across the fire. We sat for several minutes in silence, and then I spoke.
'You must have a care. He has left a trail the blind could follow.'
She said nothing and irritably I shifted my seat. 'He is a dangerous man.'
She was amused. No doubt she thought me jealous, but what had I to be jealous of? Yet he worried me.
'He has something on his mind. I could see it when he looked at you.'
There was laughter in her eyes. 'Most men do,' she said.
My cheeks were flushing with impatience and irritation. 'I did not mean that. I meant something more. I do not know what. Just be careful.'
'Oh, I shall!'
A bit longer I sat, feeling uncomfortable, and then I got up and walked out. Again I looked across the fields of snow. Nothing in sight but the tracks, a furrow in the snow pointing right at us. And after all our care!
Gathering some wood from under nearby trees I made a pile near the cave mouth. It was something to keep my hands busy while my thoughts took off down another trail. Our only advantage lay in the fact that he was in a hurry to be off. From what I gathered he wished to be in Santa Fe to tell his story first, and he had implied he had something to offer.
That night, when alone in the cave for a few minutes, I donned the coat of mail I had found near the village on the Arkansas. Over it I put my fringed buckskin hunting jacket, drawing the laces tight. Feeling with my fingers I assured myself no part of it was visible. Had I a mirror ...
I had not seen a mirror since leaving the settlement on Shooting Creek, almost a year ago. A year! And what had I done in that year? I had broken a leg and crossed the plains to the Shining Mountains. It was little enough, but when spring came we would be over the passes and into the lands beyond.
My broken leg had mended well. True, I limped somewhat, but I could still walk and run. Of course, I had accomplished the mission given me by the Ni'kwana. I had found Itchakomi and delivered the message entrusted to me.
Again I looked across the snow, but my mind was puzzling over the Spanishman. I could not make him out. Well, he wished to be on his way, and the sooner the better.
When I went back inside he was sleeping. He was a powerfully built man and seemed quick in his movements despite the cold that must have stiffened his muscles. He would be a dangerous antagonist.
Keokotah glanced at me but said nothing. I knew he did not like or trust the Spanishman and would be alert for mischief.
Let the Spanishman rest and eat and be off. He would have caused us trouble enough.
He thought only of his destination and what he would do there and had given no thought to hiding his trail, even had he been capable of it.
Outside I looked toward the mountains, white with snow under the cold gray sky. A low wind stirred the snow, sending faint waves of it dusting across, settling, and then stirring again. It was bitterly cold still. I carried wood into the cave, then more wood.
How lonely those icy ridges! Yet what treasures might lie there? Gold and silver, yes. Beauty intrigued me more, beauty and the glorious wonder of walking where none had walked before me. What else might await discovery? Strange plants and animals, unknown hollows in the hills, green and lovely in the summer. I could not wait to be wandering along their flanks, following nameless streams into nameless valleys. What more could man want than this? A land to discover, food for the hunting, a quiet place to rest when night falls.
When I came back into the cave the Spanishman was sitting up.
'We must talk together, you and I,' he said. 'We are men of the world, and we can settle this small matter between us.'
'What have you in mind?'
He smiled, that quick, assured smile. 'I want to buy the woman,' he said. 'The tall one.'
For a moment I was stunned. 'You want tobuy her?'
'Why not? She is an Indian, is she not? There are many women for you, and she can be useful to me for trading purposes. With her I could buy--'
'I do not traffic in women,' I said, 'nor is she mine to sell. She is her own woman.'
'Bah!' He waved a careless hand. 'No woman is her own, least of all an Indian woman. If you will not sell her or trade, I shall simply take her.'
