Falcon nodded. “I have heard of the great Keytano.”
“What have you heard?”
“I have heard that the great chief Keytano is a brave and wise man,” Falcon said.
Keytano nodded. “This is true.”
Falcon fought the urge to smile at Keytano’s response, but under the circumstances, a smile would not be good at all.
“Why is he here?” Chetopa shouted.
“Yes. This man is the killer of our people!”
“Ask this man why he has come to our village now!” another shouted.
“We should kill him!” Chetopa said.
The shouting was in Apache, so Falcon didn’t understand it, though he could tell by the tone of the voices that it was challenging and unfriendly.
Keytano held up his hand to those who were gathered around him. He glared at Chetopa. “We will not kill this brave man,” he said. Then, he turned to one of the others. “I will ask the questions of this man,” he said authoritatively. Keytano turned his gaze back to Falcon, staring at him intently.
“You are the killer of many of our warriors.”
“Yes,” Falcon said. “I fought fiercely against brave men, and killed many of your warriors.”
“You made many women and children cry because you killed their husbands and fathers,” Keytano challenged.
“This is true,” Falcon answered without equivocating.
“Because of you, many wickiups were made empty.”
Falcon wondered for a moment as to how best to respond to Keytano. He couldn’t deny it, because everything Keytano said was true. He thought about saying he was sorry, but that wouldn’t be true. Everyone he killed needed killing. Besides, saying he was sorry might be misconstrued as a sign of weakness.
“We were at war,” Falcon said. “The Apache are brave and fierce warriors. I would not be showing my respect if I did not fight against my enemies with all my strength.”
Keytano took in Falcon’s response, not only this one, but his earlier responses. Then he nodded. “Yes,” he said. “This is true. A good enemy is a valued and sacred thing.”
“We will not harm this man. He has shown courage by riding into our village to speak with us. And he knows the Apache way of speaking truthfully to a respected enemy,” Keytano said to the others in Apache.
It had the desired effect, for many of the warriors nodded and made positive-sounding grunts.
“Why have you come to our village?” Keytano asked.
This was the moment Falcon had been waiting for. It was also the moment he was dreading. But this was why he was here, and he couldn’t turn around now.
“Keytano, I come with very bad news for you.”
“Bad news?”
“Yes.”
“What is this bad news?”
“It is about Yaakos Gan.”
“Yaakos Gan? My daughter? What news do you have of my daughter?”
Falcon started to speak, but decided instead to just point to the canvas shroud that lay on the travois. “You will find the bad news there,” he said.
Keytano looked questioningly at Falcon. Then he said something to one of the warriors, pointing to the shroud. The warrior cut the shroud and spread it open, then jumped back in alarm.
“Uhnn!” the warrior gasped.
Noting the expression on the warrior’s face, Keytano hurried back to look at what was in the shroud. As soon as he saw it, his confusion gave way to shock ... then to grief.
“Aiyee!” he called, spinning away from Cloud Dancer’s body. He started hitting his fist to his forehead. An Indian woman, seeing his strange reaction, ran from the crowd and looked down at Cloud Dancer. Without having to be told, Falcon knew this must be Cloud Dancer’s mother, and she began weeping out loud. Within moments, everyone was gathering around to look at Cloud Dancer’s body and react to it.
For the next several moments there was a general outbreak of lamentations and weeping. During that time the Indians forgot all about Falcon, and he just stood there, allowing them to vent their grief.
“We will kill him!” two warriors shouted, and they started toward Falcon with their battle axes raised. Falcon drew both his pistols, cocked them, and pointed them at the two warriors.
“Wait!” Keytano shouted.
At Keytano’s shout, the two warriors stopped, and for a long moment they faced Falcon with their axes raised while Falcon faced them back, both his pistols aimed and cocked.
“Dlo Binanta, did you kill my daughter?” Keytano asked.
