“Yes,” Zach admitted. “They are.”
“I am just like them.”
Zach stared down the counter at Petrie. “That remains to be seen.”
Geist stood outside the trading post and watched the younger King and the two Shoshones ascend the trail up the hill to the west.
Petrie came out and stood watching, too. “What do you think?”
“I think Toad was pretty convincing. They acted like they almost believed him.”
“The half-breed didn’t.”
“Now that I’ve met him, I’m not so concerned.”
“You’re not?”
Geist shook his head. “He didn’t seem nearly as dangerous as everyone makes him out to be. He was curious, mostly. And testy. But that comes from being a half blood.” He thoughtfully rubbed his chin. “No, sir. I think we can get on with our plans and won’t have to worry about Zach King one bit.”
“About damn time,” Petrie said.
“But we still have to be careful. That Touch The Clouds could bring his entire tribe down on us, so you make sure the others understand. No Shoshone women. Not one. You hear me?”
“We didn’t aim to use any anyway.”
“We’ll start with the Crows,” Geist said. “They’re practically used to it. Anyone who stops in a Crow village for the night is allowed to help himself.”
“Filthy heathens.”
“Now, now. I sort of admire their honesty. But they’re awful dumb, giving it away for free.”
“What about the other tribes?” Petrie asked.
“One at a time, remember? Once we have a thriving trade with Crow females, we’ll see about adding others. From what I hear, some tribes will sell their women outright if the price is right. A couple of horses and a few blankets could get us one who brings in three to four hundred a year.”
“But will the whores be enough?”
Geist looked at him. “It never has been, has it? We’ll run the liquor on the side. And if all goes well, we’ll sell some guns to tribes we’re not supposed to.”
“Like the Blackfeet and maybe the Sioux?”
“For a start.” Geist smiled. “These wilds are everything I’d hoped they’d be. There are opportunities galore for men with no scruples.”
“That would be us,” Petrie said.
“Yes, it would,” Geist said, and they both laughed.
Chapter Nine
Life was glorious.
Chases Rabbits came down out of Crow country to pay another visit to his new white friends. He was winding along a serrated ridge with patches of thick woods broken by small meadows. He sat straight and tall on his new sorrel, thinking of how magnificent his reflection had looked in the stream. The next patch of woods ended and he emerged into another sunny meadow.
Chases Rabbits drew rein in alarm. There was a grizzly in the center of the meadow. It had been so long since he saw one of the silver-tip bears that he had forgotten how enormous they were: as huge as a buffalo. Even worse, each of their giant paws was rimmed with long claws that could flay flesh like sharp knives, and their maws were rimmed with sharp pointed teeth powerful enough to crunch through bone.
The bear was rooting at what appeared to be a badger burrow, and had not seen him yet.
Chases Rabbits debated what to do. He could rein around and ride like the wind, but the grizzly might hear him and give chase. Or he could sit quietly and hope the beast went on its way without noticing him.
Grunting and snorting, the grizzly dislodged large clumps of dirt. Evidently it was intent on digging the badger out.
Chases Rabbits sat quietly. The sorrel raised its head and pricked its ears, quivering. To keep it from bolting, Chases Rabbits bent and patted its neck, whispering, “Be brave, horse. I am here.” He looked up.
The grizzly was staring right at him.
Chases Rabbits’s mouth went dry. He had his new rifle, but it only had one shot. Grizzly Killer had once told him that it could take seven or eight to bring a silver-tip down. Their skulls were so thick, they were impervious to bullets. As for a heart or a lung shot, their massive bodies were so padded with muscle and fat that the lead couldn’t penetrate.
Chases Rabbits also remembered Grizzly Killer saying that sometimes a loud voice would scare a bear off. So he shouted, “I am Chases Rabbits of the Apsaalooke! I am a mighty warrior and a fierce fighter! Go away, bear, and do not arouse my wrath or you will be sorry!”
The grizzly roared and charged.
Chases Rabbits didn’t have to rein the sorrel around. It wheeled on its own and raced into the trees with a recklessness he found as frightening as the bear. Branches whipped at his face and tore at his buckskins, threatening to dump him to the ground.
A glance back showed the bear in swift pursuit.
“Faster, horse!” Chases Rabbits cried, and slapped his legs.
A thicket loomed and instead of going around, the panicked sorrel plunged in. Chases Rabbits was aghast. It slowed them and they needed all the speed the horse possessed.
The grizzly hurtled in after them.
Chases Rabbits twisted, intending to shoot it. He raised his rifle and tried to aim, but he couldn’t hold the gun steady no matter how hard he tried.
The bear was gaining.
Facing front, Chases Rabbits stiffened. They had burst out of the thicket and a low tree branch flashed at his face. He ducked just in time and felt it brush his hair.
A loud wheezing filled his ears. The bear was breathing so hard, it sounded like a stampeding bull buffalo.
Chases Rabbits reined right and then left. Thankfully, the sorrel responded. But the bear was still gaining. Its ears were back and its teeth gleamed, and as Chases Rabbits swept around a pine the bear swung a front paw and nearly caught the sorrel’s leg.
Chases Rabbits had never been so scared. He recalled the time another warrior was killed and eaten, and how the man’s stomach had been torn open and the intestines left hanging out like so much pale rope, and the terrible stench.
The sorrel squealed. The bear’s claws had torn its flank.
Chases Rabbits sensed his doom. It wasn’t right for him to die now, of all times. A lovely woman was interested in him. His people looked up to him as their important link to the whites. And best of all, he got to sit in council with Long Hair and the other leaders.
Suddenly he realized that he didn’t hear the wheezing anymore. He glanced over his shoulder and whooped in joy. The bear had stopped. Grizzlies could run fast, but only for short distances. They tired much sooner than a horse.
When he was an arrow’s flight away, Chases Rabbits brought the sorrel to a stop, and turned.
The bear was lumbering off in search of easier prey.
“I told you I am a mighty warrior!” Chases Rabbits yelled, and shook his rifle and yipped. He would have a great story to tell when he got back to the village, and the claw marks on the sorrel to prove it was true.
He waited a good long while to be sure the bear was gone, then smacked his heels and resumed his journey. He rode warily in case the grizzly circled to come at him again. It was not unheard of.
The sun was high in the sky when Chases Rabbits reached Mud Hollow. A silly name, but then the whites
