Summary:\u00a0 You may have already read this from Adam\u2019s POV.\u00a0\u00a0 You may have already read this from Joe\u2019s POV.\u00a0 Here, they are combined.\u00a0 You get the whole story\u2026Joe\u2019s kidnapping, Adam\u2019s transformation in the desert, the mine, the Indians, the rescue, the losses, and the eventual return home packed with PAM, JPM and JAM. You also get the true story of the struggle of the First Peoples in Death Valley, the Shoshoni and the Aha macave.<\/p>\n
Feedback:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>All, good or bad.\u00a0 If bad, constructive.<\/p>\n Reader Alert:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Violence.\u00a0 Nudity.\u00a0 Sexual innuendo. \u00a0Rated:\u00a0T \u00a0WC 35,100<\/p>\n Death Valley Series:<\/strong><\/p>\n Death Valley<\/a> <\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Death Valley – Complete Story <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter One<\/strong><\/p>\n Why was he the one who always had to go check the herd on a Saturday?\u00a0 Pa had left Adam in charge while he went to St. Louis, and Adam had chosen to stay at the ranch to fix a wagon wheel. Hoss had talked his way out of going with Joe, saying Adam would need him to lift the wagon and hold it for Adam to slide the wheel on.<\/p>\n It would take those two all day to fix that one wagon wheel, and most of that time they\u2019d be jawing.\u00a0 It would take Joe all day to ride out, count cattle, collect the missing strays, and ride back.\u00a0 He probably wouldn\u2019t be back in time to go to the dance in town, but you could bet a week\u2019s pay that Adam and Hoss would be there.<\/p>\n Taking the shortcut through Warner\u2019s Pass, Joe stopped to quench his already growing thirst.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll just bet Adam asked that new gal,\u201d Joe fumed aloud as he angrily pulled the top from his canteen.\u00a0 He\u2019d barely brought the canteen to his lips when a deep, gravelly voice called out behind him, \u201cDon\u2019t move.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe hadn\u2019t heard anything else, so he figured the man was alone.\u00a0 Turning, he reached for his gun.\u00a0 He stopped cold at the sound of a gunshot.\u00a0 The bullet hit the canteen, causing a stream of water to fall, first soaking into the dry, sandy soil, then splashing when the dirt couldn\u2019t drink any more.<\/p>\n \u201cThrow your gun down and get off your horse,\u201d said the owner of the gruff voice.<\/p>\n Joe did as he was told, hoping he\u2019d be able to eventually get a jump on the man, but when he was standing away from Cochise, three other men came out from around a boulder.\u00a0 He heard the distinct sound of a wagon rattling, and it soon appeared behind them.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat d\u2019you think?\u201d said one of the men to another, eyeing Joe.<\/p>\n \u201cIt don\u2019t make no difference as long as he\u2019s a live one.\u00a0 We have to show up with five, and now that we dumped the other one in the lake, I figure the quicker we replace him, the quicker we can be on our way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat if he\u2019s somebody?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt still won\u2019t make no difference.\u00a0 He\u2019s leaving everything behind, and where he\u2019s going, no one will care.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou,\u201d said the first man.\u00a0 \u201cTake off your gun belt and empty your pockets.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe removed his gun belt and reached into his jacket pockets, pulling out paper, a pencil, a small picture of his mother, and some coins.\u00a0 He walked toward a rock to place the contents, and one of the men hit his hand, scattering everything on the ground.<\/p>\n The man knocked Joe\u2019s hat off his head. \u201cTake off your belt and your jacket.\u201d Once that was done, the man felt Joe\u2019s waist and legs at his boots.\u00a0 \u201cAin\u2019t nothing left,\u201d he said to the first man who seemed to be in charge.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about the horse?\u201d asked another of the men.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s better than some of ours.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe ain\u2019t taking the horse,\u201d said the man in charge.\u00a0 \u201cWe ain\u2019t taking anything that might lead someone to him.\u00a0 He disappears just like the rest of \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about the money?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLeave it.\u00a0 Everything stays.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLook, whatever you want, I can get it,\u201d offered Joe.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t get it, do you boy?\u00a0 We got exactly what we need standing here; an able body.\u201d Talking to one of the men, the man in charge said, \u201cBring the shackles and get \u2018em on him.\u201d<\/p>\n When the man bent to put shackles on Joe\u2019s ankles, Joe suddenly raised his hands, clasping them together, and brought them down hard on the back of the man\u2019s head.\u00a0 He was rewarded with a rifle butt in his side that bent him double.<\/p>\n When he caught his breath, he looked up, flaring his nostrils and said through gritted teeth, \u201cI don\u2019t know what you want with me, but if you think you\u2019re taking me without a fight, you\u2019re wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care what you have to do, get those shackles on him.\u00a0 Just don\u2019t break his legs, feet, hands, arms or back.\u00a0 He\u2019ll be needin\u2019 those.\u201d<\/p>\n Before Joe could mount a defense, another rifle butt caught him in the stomach, and before he could catch his breath, he was wearing wrist and ankle shackles.<\/p>\n \u201cMy family will come looking for me,\u201d he said, gasping for breath.<\/p>\n The man in charge laughed.\u00a0 \u201cLet \u2018em.\u00a0 They\u2019ll never find the deep, dark hole you\u2019re going to, boy.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe felt himself flying through the air as the men threw him face-down into the back of the wagon. He lay still for a moment, grimacing from the pain in his chest, his stomach and his groin from whatever it was he had landed on. When he finally turned over, all he saw was four sets of hopeless eyes staring back at him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Two<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe struggled to sit up and leaned back against the wagon seat, studying the four men who stared at him.\u00a0 He opened his mouth to speak, but the closest man quickly shook his head, his eyes filled with warning\u2026or was that fear?<\/p>\n Looking around him, he saw that all of them wore shackles, but their shackles were chained together.\u00a0 There was nothing he could see in the wagon that he could use to free himself or use as a weapon. He knew he wouldn\u2019t be able to jump out; two men on horseback closely followed the wagon.\u00a0 For the time being, he was stuck with nothing to do but wait\u2026and think.<\/p>\n He winced at the pain in his ribs as much from the pain in his chest and groin from landing on the ankle shackles, locks and chains of the men who were already in the wagon.\u00a0 They must have ridden for hours without a break.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t heard any discussion from the men outside the wagon\u2026only the sound of the horse\u2019s hooves on the ground and the squeak and rattle of the wagon.<\/p>\n Suddenly, without the utterance of a word, the wagon stopped.\u00a0 From the creak of leather, Joe knew the men were dismounting their horses, but still no one said a word.\u00a0 Could it be they didn\u2019t want to be heard by any outsiders?\u00a0 Joe whispered to the man next to him.\u00a0 \u201cWhy aren\u2019t they talking?\u201d<\/p>\n The man nervously shook his head, and pointed to his tongue.\u00a0 When Joe looked back questioningly, the man tapped the arm of another prisoner sitting across from them and motioned for him to open his mouth.\u00a0 What Joe saw made him turn away in revulsion.\u00a0 The man\u2019s tongue had been recently cut out.<\/p>\n The leader appeared at the back of the wagon.\u00a0 \u201cGet out.\u201d<\/p>\n The four other men in the wagon stood so that the chain between them was in line.\u00a0 As one began to step out, the next one on the chain line was right behind him.\u00a0 All of them lined up immediately behind the one in front to avoid them all tangling and crashing down to the ground.\u00a0 When it was Joe\u2019s turn to climb out, he got up slowly, holding his side.\u00a0 Putting his hands on the back lip of the wagon, he slowly stepped out onto a tongue, and when both his feet were together, he jumped down.<\/p>\n One of the men grabbed him and pushed him to the front of the line with the others, then attached a chain from his shackles to the man next to him.\u00a0 \u201cThis way, you won\u2019t be tempted to run.\u00a0 You try and all these others will fall on top of you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are you so worried about me?\u201d asked Joe, scowling.<\/p>\n \u201cThese boys haven\u2019t had anything but mine rations for better than a week.\u00a0 You\u2019re the strongest.\u00a0 This way this chain gang is only as good as the weakest man.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMine\u2026what mine around here would take on slaves?\u201d<\/p>\n The man laughed.\u00a0 \u201cI guess that tells you something, don\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlright then, where are you taking us?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDeath Valley, boy.\u00a0 There\u2019s all kinds of mines in Death Valley.\u00a0 And all kinds of Indian trouble, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe army won\u2019t stand for it when they find what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Laughing again, he turned to his companions.\u00a0 \u201cDid you hear that?\u00a0 When the army finds out, they won\u2019t stand for it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 All of the men started laughing.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a reason we get by all those Injuns out there, boy.\u00a0 We have an army escort,\u201d he said, going from a chuckle to an all out laugh as he walked away toward his men.\u00a0 \u201cWater \u2018em.\u00a0 Give \u2018em their bread and let \u2018em take a leak. Then get \u2018em back in the wagon.\u00a0 We need to put another forty miles behind us before nightfall.\u201d\u00a0 He turned back to his prisoners.\u00a0 \u201cYou boys should get some sleep.\u00a0 Come nightfall, you\u2019ll be walking.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Three<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe was now sitting on a bench inside the wagon.\u00a0 He was lucky. He was at the front where there was something to lean on other than the canvas of the bonnet.\u00a0 He and the man across from him leaned to the side against the back of the seat, leaving the other men to lean on each other.\u00a0 If they leaned back, they might tear the canvas and fall backwards out of the wagon.\u00a0 The men dozed off and on, their sleep interrupted by the rough ride of the wagon on the rutted back roads.\u00a0 Their captors avoided any homesteads and towns. They were staying on the roads less traveled.<\/p>\n Joe tried to keep up with their direction, but it was next to impossible with the little bit of daylight he could see out the back of the wagon.\u00a0 When that daylight faded to dusk, the wagon came to a halt again, and the prisoners were ordered out.\u00a0 \u201cHere\u2019s how this works, boy,\u201d said the boss.\u00a0 \u201cYou keep everyone walking in front of you, and number one\u2019s neck won\u2019t get stretched,\u201d he said, nodding to the prisoner who was first in line as another man tied a rope around his neck and tied the other end to the wagon.\u00a0 \u201cIf he falls, it won\u2019t kill him before we get the wagon stopped, but it\u2019ll sure make him think he\u2019s been hung, \u2018specially if the rest of you fall.\u00a0 You let one of \u2018em fall, you\u2019re in front next.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe had held his tongue all day, but he knew the wagon was moving faster than they could walk.\u00a0 \u201cIf you need us for work in a mine, what\u2019s the point in wearing us out before we get there?\u201d he yelled with his chest heaving.<\/p>\n \u201cThis here\u2019s practice.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be working in the mine on a chain gang just like this.\u00a0 One of you falls, all of you fall\u2026or get buried under a ton of rock.\u00a0 And then the mine\u2019ll be short some men, and I\u2019ll just have to find some more able bodies.\u00a0 I prefer to sit and watch you dig with a gun at your back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, for a man in charge, you aren\u2019t very smart,\u201d hissed Joe.\u00a0 \u201cWe can dig more if we\u2019re not worn out.\u201d<\/p>\n The man looked away and spit, then glowered back at Joe.\u00a0 \u201cI see I need to remind you what happens to someone who talks too much.\u201d\u00a0 He motioned to two of his men to hold Joe.\u00a0 One grabbed his arms from the back, and the other grabbed a handful of hair, tilting his head back.\u00a0 The boss tossed his rifle to another man, and then pulled a knife from a sheath attached to his belt.\u00a0 Walking slowly toward Joe with the knife in one hand, turning it round and round, he leaned in close to Joe\u2019s face\u2026almost nose to nose.\u00a0 \u201cWe already left one of these boy\u2019s tongues behind.\u00a0 We can always leave two behind.\u201d Joe winced at the man\u2019s breath, the foul stench of rotting flesh.\u00a0 \u201cThe tongue is the perfect piece to lose.\u00a0 You can\u2019t do anything more than grunt without it.\u00a0 No one can see that it\u2019s gone unless you show \u2018em.\u00a0 And there\u2019s surprisingly very little blood.\u00a0 Besides that, you swallow it all eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe refused to look away, and continued to glare.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what, boy.\u00a0 I\u2019ll leave you your tongue.\u00a0 But next time you decide to get smart with me, I\u2019ll take another one of their tongues.\u201d\u00a0 The man grabbed hold of Joe\u2019s left sleeve and ripped it away. \u201cAnd just as a reminder, I\u2019ll leave you with something to help you remember to keep your mouth shut.\u201d\u00a0 He nodded to the man holding Joe\u2019s head back.\u00a0 \u201cRaise his arm.\u00a0 Now this, boy, will be with you for quite a while.\u00a0 It just takes a small cut in your armpit, but it\u2019ll hurt like it\u2019s on fire.\u00a0 Unless you hold your arm out, it\u2019ll rub.\u00a0 Then there\u2019s sweat, and just as soon as we get a little further south tomorrow, you will sweat.\u201d<\/p>\n The man drew his knife across Joe\u2019s armpit only an inch, but deep enough for Joe to clench his teeth in pain.\u00a0 He smiled in Joe\u2019s face as Joe flared his nostrils, looking away to keep from saying anything.<\/p>\n \u201cSmart boy,\u201d said the boss as he walked away.\u00a0 \u201cYou two,\u201d he said, pointing to two of his men.\u00a0 \u201cGet in the wagon and get some sleep.\u00a0 We\u2019ll stop in a few hours to trade places.\u00a0 You,\u201d he said, pointing to the other two.\u00a0 \u201cRide behind the wagon.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe picked his shirt sleeve up off the ground, and slung it in the air to remove the dirt, then folded it and stuffed it under his arm.\u00a0 It was still hurting just from the cut, but Joe knew the rubbing and sweat would be worse.\u00a0 He\u2019d have to try to keep his arm still.<\/p>\n Once the men were lined up behind the wagon, it pulled forward at a slow enough pace at first, but when they got to a straight stretch in the road, the driver urged the horses to go faster. The chain linking the men together was attached in the center of the chain between each man\u2019s ankles, so they had to walk with their feet apart.\u00a0 Running was not an easy proposition and even worse trying to run in a rhythm that would prevent the five of them from stepping on each other.<\/p>\n They were already tired, and when the first man tripped and fell, his head was jerked forward, sending his feet into the man behind him.\u00a0 The rest fell backward like dominoes, and while the back four were being dragged by their feet, the front man was being dragged by his neck with the weight of all four men pulling him back, effectively hanging him.<\/p>\n The wagon continued to roll for a short while longer, and when it stopped, all the men slowly got to their feet, except the first one, who hadn\u2019t yet caught his breath.\u00a0 His neck was bloody from the pull of rough rope around it.\u00a0 \u201cGet \u2018em all turned around,\u201d said the man in charge as he walked back to Joe.\u00a0 \u201cIt was your job to keep them up.\u00a0 You failed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not hard to fail an impossible job,\u201d said Joe angrily.<\/p>\n The boss started to turn away, and removing his gun from the holster, he quickly spun around catching Joe on the side of the face with the butt of the gun, sending Joe to the ground.\u00a0 He lay still, keeping his eyes closed against the flashing lights he was seeing.\u00a0 He breathed deeply, trying to settle his dizziness. Hands grabbed his arms, pulling him to his feet, and he staggered forward, bumping into the man chained in front of him.<\/p>\n \u201cGet him in the front.\u201d<\/p>\n The other two men pushed him forward, causing him to fall to his knees.\u00a0 When they grabbed him under his arms, he yelled out and pulled away, then stumbled forward on his own.\u00a0 He had lost the sleeve that was protecting his armpit.\u00a0 He not only felt blood running down his side, but raising his hand to the side of his face, he found a cut above his eye.\u00a0 Blood was running down his face.\u00a0 The man who had been in the front was placed behind Joe. Now, the rope was around Joe\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Four<\/strong><\/p>\n As luck would have it, Joe\u2019s tenure at the front of the rope line began as the wagon was turned up into the hills.\u00a0 The going would be slow as long as they were in those hills.\u00a0 Still, Joe was silently hoping he\u2019d go down.\u00a0 He had planned to wrap his arm around the rope to take the tension off his neck, thereby damaging his arm; something the man in charge didn\u2019t want.\u00a0 If that had happened, perhaps the rope around the neck would become a bad idea.<\/p>\n Still, they had walked for miles behind that wagon chained to each other and walking with a gait that was so awkward every muscle in his legs and hips screamed at him.\u00a0 He was sure the other four men were in the same shape.<\/p>\n His armpit was no better.\u00a0 As much as he had tried to hold that arm still, he couldn\u2019t while walking up and around those hills.\u00a0 He could feel the blood dry into a scab and then rip open over and over again, and what made it worse was the hair getting caught in the drying blood and balling up, rubbing him raw.\u00a0 Once the sweat started, not only was there the throb of the cut, but the sting that felt like whiskey being poured into the wound and the burning of the flesh that had been rubbed raw. He imagined that combination might drive him insane if he didn\u2019t have other things to occupy his mind; things like staying awake to keep walking on ground he could no longer see on legs that only by his fading will were still moving or perhaps like the feeling that his head was going to explode and his face was swollen to twice its size from the blow that had been dealt him earlier.<\/p>\n He was so lost in his pain and thoughts that he didn\u2019t notice when the wagon stopped.\u00a0 He walked right into it.\u00a0 The others must have been following him blindly because they all kept right on walking until each reached the back of the man in front of him, then slowly crumpled to the ground and lay motionless from utter exhaustion.<\/p>\n One of the men on horseback rode to the front of the wagon.\u00a0 \u201cNolan, we ain\u2019t going no further with them behind the wagon.\u00a0 All of \u2018em but that young kid are spent, and he ain\u2019t far behind \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n Nolan.\u00a0 The head man\u2019s name was Nolan.\u00a0 So far, that was the only name Joe had heard.<\/p>\n Nolan scowled and exhaled in disgust.\u00a0 \u201cLine \u2018em up by the wagon and chain \u2018em down the side.\u00a0 We\u2019ll camp for a few hours.\u00a0 You and Dusty get some sleep in the wagon.\u00a0 The other two can stand guard while the rest of us get some sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe only roof I\u2019ve ever known was stars or clouds.\u00a0 I ain\u2019t about to start putting anything else over my head now.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe now had another name that belonged to the other man on horseback. Dusty.\u00a0 He also knew that Nolan preferred wide open spaces. He tucked these pieces of information away in his mind like stolen treasures, not knowing how or when he might use them, but believing them valuable all the same.<\/p>\n One of Nolan\u2019s men passed around a cup of water to each of the captives, then gave them each a piece of dried meat and a piece of stale bread.\u00a0 They were allowed to relieve themselves, and then were moved to the side of the wagon and chained on closed hooks that lined the length of the sideboard.\u00a0 Their chains weren\u2019t long enough to allow them to lie down, so they leaned against the side of the wagon to sleep with their arms hanging above their heads from their chained shackles.\u00a0 This might have been uncomfortable for Joe, but it allowed him to keep his armpit open with no effort.<\/p>\n As tired as he was, the thoughts swirling in his head kept him awake.\u00a0 Adam and Hoss would have gotten home from the dance wondering why he hadn\u2019t made it, but not concerned enough at that point to worry.\u00a0 They had all been delayed coming home from inspecting the herd at one time or another for any number of reasons.\u00a0 No, they wouldn\u2019t start worrying until the following evening, and they wouldn\u2019t find out that he had never made it to the herd until they got there themselves the next day.\u00a0 It would be almost two days before they started looking for him, and God only knew where he was now. His only hope was for good weather.\u00a0 Nolan and his men didn\u2019t seem concerned about covering their tracks.\u00a0 His brothers would eventually find his things and follow the wagon tracks. Hoss would define the oddities of any of the horse\u2019s shoes, and once they did that, they\u2019d be able to follow them\u2026unless the weather changed.\u00a0 If it rained, there would be no tracks to follow.<\/p>\n Despite the pain all over his body, his exhaustion took over and the sleep that had been eluding him finally came.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Five<\/strong><\/p>\n He tensed at the sudden realization that he didn\u2019t know where he was or how he had gotten there.\u00a0 All he knew was that he felt like someone was holding a red-hot poker to his armpit and at the same time they were squeezing his head in a vise.\u00a0 He was standing, but he didn\u2019t understand how.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t feel his legs.\u00a0 But when the shout came to walk, his feet moved like they had a mind of their own with a single imperative to go forward no matter what.<\/p>\n When he stopped moving he found himself in front of a black wall glistening in a light he couldn\u2019t see other than its eerie reflection on the wall.\u00a0 He turned to the left and met another wall, just like the first, and turning all the way around he found himself surrounded by four black walls.\u00a0 Below his feet was the same glistening blackness and above him, the same glistening blackness, and panic quickly took over.\u00a0 He was trapped in a chamber of blackness.\u00a0 A voice from somewhere in the distance yelled, \u201cDig!\u201d, and when he didn\u2019t, the walls moved inward\u2026just a bit, but they moved.\u00a0 The voice yelled again, \u201cDig!\u201d, and when the walls moved again, he dug his fingers into the blackness and kept digging until he looked at his fingers, seeing only bloody points of bone.\u00a0 He screamed, but there was no sound.\u00a0 No one could hear him.\u00a0 No one would ever hear him again inside the blackness.<\/p>\n Joe jerked, sending searing pain through his head.\u00a0 Opening his eyes, he wondered for a moment if he was still in the black box, but then his eyes focused.\u00a0 It was dark, but he could see stars above him.\u00a0 He looked up at his fingers, and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of flesh and fingernails. A nightmare\u2026when was the last time he\u2019d had a nightmare?\u00a0 He didn\u2019t usually remember his nightmares more than a few minutes after he woke, but this one was branded in his consciousness.\u00a0 The word hopeless echoed in his mind, but he shook his head as if to scatter the word.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t ready to have that look in his eyes that he had seen in the other four men.\u00a0\u00a0Adam and Hoss\u2026they\u2019ll send for Pa, and they\u2019ll all come looking.\u00a0 They\u2019ll follow the tracks.<\/em>\u00a0All I have to do is hang on until they get here.<\/em><\/p>\n He adjusted legs that were sleeping more soundly than the rest of him.\u00a0 His head hurt, his face ached and his armpit was on fire.\u00a0 Taking a deep shuddering breath, he closed his eyes, hoping sleep would occupy him until it was time to face his captors again.\u00a0 The sound of a deep, rhythmic snore from somewhere close by found him in drowsiness and took him home to his room next to Hoss where all was well as long as he could hear that snore.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Nolan went down the line of feet at the side of the wagon, kicking them.\u00a0 \u201cStand up you bunch of no count moles.\u201d\u00a0 He walked down the line as each man slowly got to his feet, and standing in front of Joe, he grabbed Joe\u2019s chin and tilted his head to get a better look at his handiwork.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what, boy.\u00a0 I\u2019ll give these other boys a break today.\u00a0 If you open your mouth today, I\u2019ll even your face out for you.\u201d\u00a0 He laughed as he looked back over his shoulder to see if any of his men were watching.\u00a0 \u201cWha\u2019 d\u2019you think?\u00a0 He looks a little lopsided, don\u2019t he?\u201d\u00a0 Shoving Joe\u2019s face away, he turned and laughed with his men, then addressed the man whose tongue he had cut out, and said, \u201cYou got something to say about it?\u201d sending his men into another round of laughter.\u00a0 \u201cScully, water \u2018em and feed \u2018em, then get \u2018em in the back of the wagon.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t want \u2018em to walk today?\u00a0 I\u2019d kinda like to see that young fella\u2019s neck stretch just a little.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, Scully, not today.\u00a0 Maybe tomorrow.\u00a0 Then we can drag him over the scrub in the desert.\u00a0\u00a0 We need to make Aurora today, so I can contact the fort and let \u2018em know to send an escort.\u00a0 Now get \u2018em fed and in the wagon.\u00a0 We need to move.\u201d<\/p>\n Another name\u2026Scully\u2026the short fellow with the long blonde hair.<\/p>\n The stop tonight would be near Aurora, and Aurora would have a telegraph office and most likely a sheriff.<\/p>\n Joe leaned on the jockey box on the side of the wagon.\u00a0 There were only two men on this side of the wagon at the moment, and they were busy saddling their horses.\u00a0 He turned and laid his head down on his arms on the top of the box.\u00a0 Glancing back once more, he slipped his hand under the cover, feeling for anything that might be useful.\u00a0 He found what felt like a short rod and a longer rod, then looking back over his shoulder one more time, he pulled them out of the box and laid his head back down on his arms.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, what are you doin\u2019?\u201d yelled one of the men.<\/p>\n Just as the man grabbed Joe\u2019s shoulder and spun him around, Joe slipped the rods underneath the canvas letting them fall inside the wagon at the same time he kicked the wagon wheel and knocked the box with his elbow to cover the sound of the rods landing.<\/p>\n His heart raced at the thought of what Nolan would do if he was found out, but he kept his voice even with just a touch of a slur.\u00a0 \u201cMy head is killing me.\u00a0 I was just laying my head down.\u201d<\/p>\n The man unhooked Joe from the side of the wagon and moved him to the back. He handed Joe a cup of water, and when Joe was finished drinking, the man shoved a piece of dried meat and more stale bread into Joe\u2019s hand, then ordered him in the wagon.\u00a0 Before Joe sat in his place on the bench he glanced underneath, and seeing the two rods there, he smiled inwardly, then turned and sat quietly, eating his food.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Six<\/strong><\/p>\n The wagon moved on at a steady pace up the hills, down into the valleys and over the ledges of the road clinging to the side of the mountains.\u00a0 They travelled alternately through short, brushy forests, then through wide expanses of nothing that eventually changed to chaparral.\u00a0 They made one quick stop for necessary reasons, then continued on. As the day dragged on, the heat began to mount until the air inside the canvas of the wagon was sweltering.<\/p>\n Joe was thankful they had ridden most of the day.\u00a0 It gave him a chance to keep his arm still so the cut in his armpit could dry, giving it time to make a deep, well knitted scab that would hopefully stay.\u00a0 The sweat now was only a minor nuisance, and it felt like the swelling in his face had reduced.\u00a0 But with the heat and sweat, came the wearing of the rough metal shackles on his wrists.\u00a0 He knew it wouldn\u2019t be long before his wrists were raw and bloody.<\/p>\n After their last break, while the captives were shifting to get comfortable and rattling their chains, Joe took the opportunity to grab the two rods, sliding one into each of his boots.\u00a0 All he could do now was wait until they reached Aurora where Nolan would be short handed, and hopefully, he could use the cover of darkness to slip away.\u00a0 That would only happen if he managed to pry one of the links of the chain apart.\u00a0 He spent the rest of the ride in the daylight studying the chain between his legs and the chain that attached him to the man sitting beside him.<\/p>\n By the time the wagon stopped again, it was dark, and had been for a full hour.\u00a0 No one came to the back of the wagon, but Joe heard Nolan\u2019s voice outside.\u00a0 \u201cDusty, you and Scully, come with me.\u00a0 We\u2019ll come back and relieve you two in a couple of hours.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe heard the horses trot away.\u00a0 One of the men left behind poked his head into the back of the wagon.\u00a0 \u201cYou boys get some sleep while you can.\u00a0 Tomorrow\u2019s gonna be real hot.\u00a0 You better pray Nolan let\u2019s you walk.\u201d<\/p>\n Listening for the sound of movement outside to give way to the crack and pop of a fire, Joe knew the two men that were left were somewhere to the right of the wagon where they could see the back.\u00a0 He was sitting on the left side, and slowly reaching both hands under the canvas, he felt for the bonnet hooks.\u00a0 One by one, he slipped the loops of the bonnet off the hooks, leaving enough room for him to slide between the bonnet and the side of the wagon.\u00a0 Next, he found a link between him and the next man that hadn\u2019t been welded, leaving a split in the metal.\u00a0 Setting the small rod, a king pin, under his boot heel to anchor the link, he used the longer rod, a box rod to pry at the split.\u00a0 Looking at the link after his first try, Joe saw that the split was no longer flush.\u00a0 He continued to brace the link and pry it, and after some time, he had bent it enough to slip if off of the next link.\u00a0 He had separated himself from the other men in the wagon.<\/p>\n He stopped and listened, and heard faint chuckles from near the fire.\u00a0 Slipping out of his shirt, he slowly ripped off the other sleeve, then tore the sleeve into two strips.\u00a0 He wrapped his shirt around the chain between his ankles and tied it with the strips, then lifted his feet and shook them, proving the shirt muffled the sound of the chains.<\/p>\n Taking a deep breath, he went head-first under the bonnet.\u00a0 He caught himself on the side of the wagon, swung both feet down to the ground, and then slipped away into the night.\u00a0 Having no idea which way to go, he went to high ground hoping to see the flickering lanterns of Aurora.\u00a0 With his eyes adjusted to the dark, he walked up a hill, and reaching the top, realized he was in a cemetery, the white stone monoliths glowing eerily in the dark. As he walked through them, he wondered about the souls buried there, thinking he could soon be joining them.\u00a0 Taking a deep breath to chase such thoughts away, he spotted Aurora spread out before him in a small valley just beyond the cemetery.<\/p>\n From the top of the hill, halfway down, the land changed from scrub forest to chaparral.\u00a0 Walking became difficult, not only because of the dark, but the small desert sage bushes caught and pulled at the chain between his ankles.\u00a0 He had to bend and hold the chain up, paying more attention to where he stepped to avoid the brush.<\/p>\n Finally, he squatted in a shadow at the side of a building, looking up and down the street.\u00a0 He had never been in Aurora and had no idea where the sheriff\u2019s office was.\u00a0 The street he was on appeared to be the main street of the town, so it was just a matter of walking down behind the buildings to find the sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n He looked for a building with bars in the back window, and when he found it, he eased to the side and watched the front door and the street.\u00a0 When he saw a break in the bustle along the street, he quietly shuffled up onto the porch and quickly stepped inside, going straight to the man sitting at the desk.<\/p>\n \u201cSheriff, I\u2019ve been kidnapped and need help,\u201d he said, holding up his shackled arms.<\/p>\n The sheriff dropped his pencil on the desk and sat back in his chair.\u00a0 \u201cSon, you aren\u2019t the first man who come in here wearing irons and claiming he was kidnapped.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll tell you, most of the ones wearing army issue irons are prisoners trying to escape.\u201d<\/p>\n The muscles in Joe\u2019s jaws flexed as he gritted his teeth. \u201cSheriff, I\u2019m not a prisoner.\u00a0 My name is\u2026\u201d\u00a0 The sound was instantly cut off by a blow to the back of his head.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, Nolan, wha\u2019 d\u2019you have to go an\u2019 do a thing like that for?\u00a0 The boy was about to tell me his name.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis name don\u2019t matter.\u00a0 He\u2019s one of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYours?\u00a0 Well, get him out of here.\u00a0 And make sure that darn army scout don\u2019t see you.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want that fort commander comin\u2019 in here \u2018cause his precious mine has been found out.\u201d<\/p>\n Nolan grabbed Joe\u2019s wrist chain and dragged him out the door and into the alley.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Seven<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe spat and sputtered from the seemingly endless stream of water hitting him in the face.\u00a0 When the water finally stopped, and he shook it off his face, he saw Nolan standing over him with a malevolent smile.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not too bright, are you boy?\u201d<\/p>\n Slowly sitting up, Joe propped his arms on his knees and hung his head.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve got the sheriff in your back pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot exactly.\u00a0 He\u2019s afraid the army will come in and make him disappear\u2026just like you did.\u00a0 Now get up.\u201d\u00a0 Joe took a deep, disgusted breath and clambered to his feet.\u00a0 Nolan untied his horse at the entrance to the alley and brought him forward, removing a rope from the saddle and tying one end around Joe\u2019s neck.\u00a0 \u201cYou open your mouth to yell, and I\u2019ll put a bullet in your back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAren\u2019t you afraid that\u2019ll bring a crowd?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a prisoner as far as they\u2019re concerned.\u00a0 Besides, not one of \u2018em\u2019ll care as long as they don\u2019t end up in the back of my wagon.\u00a0 Now, you head straight up that hill back to the cemetery.”<\/p>\n As Joe walked, the chain of his ankle shackles caught on the sage brush, sending him to the ground more than once.\u00a0 Each time Joe fell Nolan pulled back on the rope, cutting off his air and digging it into his flesh.\u00a0 By the time Joe made it to the top of the hill, he was struggling to breathe. \u00a0Once he was in the forest away from the brush, he was able to keep his footing.\u00a0 Staggering into camp, he caught himself on the back of the wagon to keep from falling to the ground again.<\/p>\n Nolan dismounted and untied the rope from Joe\u2019s neck, then left him there, knowing he was too spent to run.\u00a0 He called the two men who had been left behind.\u00a0 \u201cYou two, get over here!\u201d They had heard that venom in Nolan\u2019s voice before and quickly scrambled to their feet.\u00a0 When they saw Nolan\u2019s face, his lip curled into a teeth-baring snarl.\u00a0 They pulled their hats off and stood like two school boys caught pulling the girls pigtails in the schoolyard. \u201cDo either one of you wanna explain how this boy got down to the sheriff\u2019s office?\u201d<\/p>\n The men looked at each other wide-eyed.\u00a0 \u201cHonest, Nolan.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t hear nothin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou two ain\u2019t got nothin\u2019 under your hat but hair.\u201d\u00a0 Nolan looked up into the trees, and when he\u2019d found what he was looking for, he called the two men over.\u00a0 \u201cYou see that branch right there. Get two boxes out of the wagon boot to stand on, and hang that boy by his wrist chain from it.\u201d<\/p>\n Once the boxes were under the tree branch, one of the men brought Joe over.\u00a0 \u201cStep up there,\u201d he said, pointing to the box.\u00a0 Joe did as he was ordered, and the other man released one of the shackles, stepped up on the second box and threw the chain over the branch, relocking the shackle. He stepped down and kicked both boxes away, leaving Joe hanging above the ground no more than two inches.<\/p>\n Joe yelled out when the box was kicked out from under him.\u00a0 He knew his shoulders could handle his weight for a little while, but he hadn\u2019t thought about the edges of shackles digging into the flesh under his thumb and the other side of his hand.\u00a0 He laid his head against an arm, and closed his eyes.\u00a0 Sweat was beginning to drip down his forehead, and he clenched his teeth fighting the need to scream out.<\/p>\n \u201cNolan, how long you reckon it\u2019ll be before them shackles tears the skin right off his hands?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe won\u2019t be hanging long enough for that to happen.\u00a0 He\u2019ll need those hands.\u00a0 But you two take a good long look, \u2018cause this is what\u2019s gonna happen to you if you let one of these prisoners escape again.\u201d\u00a0 Nolan walked over to his horse and pulled a whip off the side of the saddle.\u00a0 \u201cYou know how to use a whip?\u201d he said as he flung it out and cracked it against Joe\u2019s back.\u00a0 Joe flinched, then bit down on his lip to squelch a scream. \u201cGive him twenty lashes.\u201d<\/p>\n Both men hesitated, and Nolan cracked the whip right across the face of one of them, sending the man cowering and whimpering to the ground.\u00a0 \u201cYou boys better get used to it.\u00a0 This is what your job is from now on, and if you can\u2019t handle it, I\u2019ll put you in the back of that wagon to work in the mines.\u00a0 Now give that boy his lashes,\u201d he yelled.<\/p>\n The other man took the whip and cracked it, just to see if he could.\u00a0 When the next crack went across Joe\u2019s back, he tensed, his nostrils flared, and his eyes closed tightly as he bit down hard on his lip.\u00a0 A man gets to a point when the pain is just too much for his mind to handle, and thankfully, it shuts down.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s mind shut down on lash number fourteen.\u00a0 His head fell forward, and Nolan stilled the arm of the man with the whip.\u00a0 \u201cYou boys take a good look at your work.\u201d\u00a0 The man with the whip, stood there, looking, but the other man turned away.\u00a0 Nolan grabbed a handful of his hair and pushed him over to Joe.\u00a0 \u201cLook, boy,\u201d he said through gritted teeth.\u00a0 \u201cGet used to it.\u00a0 This is how punishment is doled out at the mines.\u00a0 You\u2019re liable to have to do this every day, and if you can\u2019t, you\u2019re no good to me or the army. Now get him down and in the back of the wagon.\u00a0 I\u2019m going back for Dusty and Scully.\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell the sheriff to send the telegram in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n Before Nolan had disappeared into the darkness, the two men had Joe down.\u00a0 When they were sure Nolan was gone, the man who had done the whipping unwrapped Joe\u2019s shirt from around the ankle chain.\u00a0 Looking at Joe\u2019s back, he said, \u201cIt ain\u2019t the worst I\u2019ve seen, but it\u2019ll smart for awhile.\u00a0 His shirt\u2019ll help keep it clean.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy do you care if it\u2019s clean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause if he dies from infection, Nolan might just decide to replace him with one of us.\u00a0 We best keep him alive if we can.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Eight<\/strong><\/p>\n When Dusty looked into the wagon, he saw the original four prisoners sitting on both sides with Joe lying in the middle face down.\u00a0 Dusty grabbed Joe\u2019s boot and shook it, but there was no movement.\u00a0 Joe felt it, but lay still, hoping they\u2019d leave him alone.\u00a0 He knew the longer he could rest, the better off he\u2019d be.<\/p>\n \u201cNolan, if you want him to work in the mine, how come you darn near killed him?\u201d chuckled Dusty.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, he ain\u2019t close to dead,\u201d said Nolan, looking in the back of the wagon.\u00a0 And he ain\u2019t fooling anyone into thinking that he ain\u2019t listening,\u201d he said more loudly to make sure Joe could hear him.\u00a0 He tossed a pine cone at Joe\u2019s back, causing Joe to flinch.\u00a0 \u201cSee, he\u2019s awake. He\u2019s never been a prisoner before, so he has to be taught who\u2019s the boss.\u00a0 When a man first comes to prison, you have to break him.\u00a0\u00a0 He won\u2019t give you any more trouble after you do.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe lay silent in the back of the wagon, holding his hands to his chest to try to stop the bleeding.\u00a0 He knew he had some open wounds on his back, but he had no idea just how bad it was.\u00a0 Regardless, it burned.\u00a0 He knew it would burn worse tomorrow from sweating in the desert heat.\u00a0 Still, he needed to try to block out the pain so he could think. Perhaps the best thing he could do as long as he was with Nolan was to keep quiet and do what he was told.\u00a0 Maybe another chance to escape would present itself at the mine.\u00a0 Even so, if the mine was deep in the desert, he\u2019d have no place to go. He wouldn\u2019t survive on his own in the desert without food, water and shelter.\u00a0 Fighting back tears, he admonished himself for starting to feel hopeless, vowing for his eyes never to look like the others.\u00a0\u00a0They\u2019ll come for me.\u00a0 They\u2019ll follow the tracks, and they\u2019ll come for me.\u00a0 I just have to hold on.<\/em><\/p>\n Joe lay still while Nolan\u2019s men broke camp.\u00a0 When the wagon lurched forward, he was surprised that he and the other four men weren\u2019t herded out to walk.\u00a0 Then he thought that Nolan might not do anything more to him for fear the army wouldn\u2019t want him, and Nolan wouldn\u2019t get paid.<\/p>\n The interior of the wagon began to lighten as morning approached, and it didn\u2019t take long to feel the heat of the sun, even underneath the canvas.\u00a0 It would soon feel like an oven in the wagon.\u00a0 Joe hoped Nolan would give them water and let them walk.<\/p>\n When the wagon came to a stop, Nolan did order them out, but the outside air wasn\u2019t as welcoming as Joe had hoped.\u00a0 With no tree cover, no shadows, and the reds and tans of the soil reflecting the heat, the outside was just as sweltering as the inside.\u00a0 He had already begun to sweat before he was out of the wagon, and though he could still hold his hands against his chest to protect them, sweat was rolling down his back and into the wounds caused by the whip, burning and stinging.<\/p>\n The captives were given their water, dried meat and bread.\u00a0 \u201cNolan, ain\u2019t we gonna tie \u2018em to the wagon,\u201d asked Scully, smiling expectantly at Joe.<\/p>\n \u201cLook around you,\u201d said Nolan.\u00a0 \u201cIf they try to run, where they gonna go?\u00a0 Besides, making \u2018em walk across Death Valley is worse than anything I can do to \u2018em.\u00a0 We\u2019ll wait here for the army escort.\u00a0 Can\u2019t do anything else besides make \u2018em walk anyway without the soldiers mouthin\u2019 off to the captain.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe looked around.\u00a0 There was nothing but miles and miles of\u2026nothing, except for the mountains in the distance that were just higher elevations of nothing.\u00a0 He sat down right where he was, hoping that it wouldn\u2019t be long before the army escort arrived.\u00a0 He had come to the conclusion that the sooner they got to the mine, the better.\u00a0 At least he\u2019d be deep in the earth where it was likely to be cooler.<\/p>\n An hour passed, and the sound of horses carried on the hot air from off in the distance.\u00a0 A cloud of dust could be seen slowly getting bigger and bigger until the dust fell down upon them like rain.\u00a0 A total of eight soldiers had appeared when the dust had settled.<\/p>\n One of the men dismounted and walked around the prisoners.\u00a0 He was a sergeant based on his stripes.\u00a0 He stood staring at Joe.\u00a0 \u201cNolan, what\u2019s this?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAn able body, Sir.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLooks like a broken body to me.\u00a0\u00a0 What happened to him?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, Sir, he was a newer prisoner, and the way it was explained to me, he hadn\u2019t learned his place.\u201d<\/p>\n The sergeant scowled at Nolan.\u00a0 \u201cThese wounds are fresh.\u00a0 What did he do to deserve a whipping?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe tried to escape.\u00a0 He got no less than he would\u2019a got back at the prison.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a prisoner.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did you say, son?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s head had been hanging, but he raised it and looked straight ahead of him.\u00a0 \u201cI said I\u2019m not a prisoner.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere\u2019s your paperwork, Nolan,\u201d asked the sergeant, glaring.<\/p>\n \u201cRight here in the wagon.\u201d\u00a0 Nolan took a piece of folded leather out of the jockey box and handed it to the sergeant.<\/p>\n The sergeant looked at the paperwork and turned around and counted.\u00a0 \u201cFive.\u00a0 And five you have.\u201d\u00a0 He called up one of the soldiers.<\/p>\n \u201cYes Sir,\u201d said the young man, saluting.<\/p>\n \u201cDress this man\u2019s wounds.\u00a0 And take those shackles off his wrists.\u00a0 He won\u2019t do the army any good if he dies from infection.\u201d<\/p>\n Nolan stepped forward warily.\u00a0 \u201cUh, Sergeant, this boy\u2019s a bad one.\u00a0 Are you sure you wanna take off his chains?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNolan, you know as well as I that he\u2019s not going anywhere out here.\u00a0 Not unless he has a death wish.\u00a0 Now get these men water.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be moving out as soon as he\u2019s bandaged.\u201d<\/p>\n Spitting on the ground at Joe\u2019s feet, Nolan turned to his men.\u00a0 \u201cYou heard the sergeant.\u00a0 Get \u2018em watered.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen did you get whipped?\u201d asked the soldier tending Joe\u2019s wounds.<\/p>\n Joe turned to see his face.\u00a0 It was a boy\u2019s face, probably still a teenager.\u00a0 \u201cLast night.\u00a0 I tried to get help from the sheriff in Aurora, but apparently, he\u2019s a friend of Nolan\u2019s.\u00a0 I\u2019m not a prisoner.\u00a0 Nolan\u2019s prisoner died, probably at Nolan\u2019s hand.\u00a0 He had to have five, so he took me off my family\u2019s ranch.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMister, I don\u2019t need to hear your story.\u00a0 It don\u2019t make no difference.\u00a0 The army\u2019s not particular about who does the diggin\u2019, and the Captain\u2026he don\u2019t want any trouble.\u00a0 Trouble tends to disappear a might quickly.\u00a0 You wanna stay alive, you\u2019ll keep your mouth shut.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe shook his head and looked away.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019d want to stay alive to be a slave in a mine?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019d be surprised how many men do just that.\u00a0 I guess they figure the real Hell is worse than the one they\u2019re in.\u00a0 I\u2019m done here,\u201d said the soldier as he stood up, nodded to the sergeant and went back to his horse.<\/p>\n \u201cAlright men.\u00a0 On your feet.\u00a0 We\u2019re expected at the mine by tomorrow evening, and we have a lot of desert to cover.\u201d<\/p>\n Three soldiers and the sergeant rode ahead, followed by the wagon and Nolan\u2019s men.\u00a0 Next were the five prisoners, and last were the other four soldiers.\u00a0 The other four captives had been unchained from each other, and their wrist shackles had been removed.\u00a0 They walked haphazardly behind Nolan\u2019s men.\u00a0 Joe walked further off to the side to avoid the dust kicked up by the wagon and the horses.\u00a0 No one seemed to care.\u00a0 There really was nowhere to go.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Nine<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe was glad that the army provided an escort, even if they did turn a blind eye to Nolan\u2019s interpretation of a prisoner.\u00a0 The sergeant made sure the captives got plenty of water, and later in the day gave them the choice of riding in the wagon or walking.\u00a0 As far as Joe was concerned, he\u2019d be in a place much too soon where he wouldn\u2019t be able to see the outside world, so he chose to walk and see wide open spaces rather than the inside of a canvas bonnet.<\/p>\n When darkness fell, the sergeant stopped to give his men a few hours of sleep.\u00a0 Joe drank his water and ate the same rations, then lay down where he had been sitting\u2026on his stomach with his head lying on his arms to protect his back.\u00a0 He was tired and managed to doze, but the pain of his hands and back made sleeping soundly impossible.<\/p>\n Most of the next day was just like the last.\u00a0 The scenery never changed except for the color of nothing.\u00a0 The mountains took on a purple hue in the distance.\u00a0 Joe didn\u2019t know if that was the color of the rock and dirt there or if it was the color of the haze.\u00a0 It seemed to him that this was probably the most useless place on earth with its long vistas of dry dirt and rock and the occasional life that skittered away from him on the ground.\u00a0 But even though it was hot and barren, he began to feel at peace with it.\u00a0 It was unpretentious, quiet and simple in its landscape and life.<\/p>\n The nothingness of the desert changed to movement off in the distance.\u00a0 Squinting to block the blinding brightness of the son, Joe\u2019s mouth dropped open at the sight of what he assumed was the mine.\u00a0 He saw a gaping hole high up on a rock face.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In front of the mine were a few makeshift buildings and a fenced structure with beams across it.\u00a0 The only activity he saw was a handful of men loading ore into a smelter that belched thick black smoke high into the air.\u00a0 Then he caught sight of a bucket slowly dropping from the mouth of the mine.<\/p>\n Nolan turned in his saddle toward the captives. \u201cTake a good look at it boys.\u00a0 Home sweet home,\u201d he said, laughing.<\/p>\n The distance to the mine from where they were was another mile. When they arrived, the sergeant took the paperwork into one of the shacks and brought Nolan\u2019s payment back.\u00a0 \u201cYou need to stick around, Nolan.\u00a0 We don\u2019t need any more prisoners right now, but I\u2019m sure if we lose more than a couple, the captain will send you back for more.\u00a0 You and your men will be fed while you\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n Nolan and his men moved the wagon next to the shacks and made camp in the shadows of the buildings.<\/p>\n The prisoners entered the building one by one while the sergeant recorded their names and the date they arrived in the record books along with the release date from their prison records.\u00a0 When Joe gave the sergeant his name, the sergeant looked at the prison paperwork and sat back in his chair, studying Joe. He sighed and leaned back up.\u00a0 \u201cSays here your name is Talbot.\u00a0 That\u2019s good enough for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe watched the sergeant check off Talbot\u2019s name. Next to the release date, he wrote \u2018life\u2019.\u00a0 Leaving the paperwork on the desk, the sergeant rose and stood by the door.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n Staring at the papers on the desk, Joe clenched his fists, wanting to yell at the man to tell him he knew it wasn\u2019t true.\u00a0 He forced his anger back, knowing he could still end up in a grave marked with the name Talbot.\u00a0 If that happened his family would never find him\u2026dead or alive.<\/p>\n Turning slowly, he followed the other prisoners as they walked to the fenced area where chains hanging from beams were attached to their ankle chains.\u00a0 \u201cYou boys will rest this evening.\u00a0 You\u2019ll start work tomorrow.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be fed with the others when they come out of the mine.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe sat watching the activity around him.\u00a0 Every few minutes a bucket was lowered from the mouth of the mine, and men from the smelter went to collect the rocks in two huge canvas satchels that they carried on their backs to the smelter.\u00a0 The only other motion was the guards posted on all sides of the yard patrolling back and forth, Joe assumed, watching for Indians.<\/p>\n He started counting the days he\u2019d been gone.\u00a0\u00a0Two nights on the trail\u2026or was it three, one night at Aurora, and one night in the desert.\u00a0 Five or six days, maybe.\u00a0 Adam and Hoss would know by now and would\u2019ve sent for Pa.\u00a0 They would have known they might lose the trail if they waited.\u00a0 It would be Adam who started trailing us. He\u2019d be feeling guilty because he was the one who stayed home; because he was the one in charge, and I was his responsibility. \u00a0\u00a0Hoss would wait for Pa.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s already on his way.\u00a0<\/em>All he could do was hope he knew his brothers that well.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t ready to become hopeless.<\/p>\n When the men came out of the mine, they dutifully entered the fenced area and stood by their chains until a soldier came by and shackled them.\u00a0 Their arms hung limp at their sides, their feet shuffled across the ground, and their eyes were\u2026lifeless.\u00a0 The evening meal was the same dried meat, stale bread and water, and when they had finished, the men laid down.\u00a0 No one had spoken a word.<\/p>\n The soldier who had dressed Joe\u2019s wounds came back and changed his bandages, speaking in a low voice after he looked around them.\u00a0 \u201cYour back isn\u2019t bad.\u00a0 If you do your work and keep your mouth shut, it\u2019ll heal.\u201d\u00a0 Looking at Joe\u2019s hands, he said, \u201cThere\u2019s not much I can do here.\u00a0 They don\u2019t put shackles on your wrists unless you try to use your fists, so stay out of trouble, and they\u2019ll heal.\u201d\u00a0 Without another word, he was gone.<\/p>\n Joe laid back and rolled onto his stomach, laying his head on his arms.\u00a0 He closed his eyes and prayed that sleep would take him, at least for little while.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Ten<\/strong><\/p>\n Adam Cartwright rode into the mining town of Aurora and made his way to the saloon. The eighty miles or so from Virginia City had been long, hot, and dusty, and he was looking forward to a cold beer. As he drank, he turned and looked around the saloon, surveying the faces. When he sat his empty mug back down on the bar, the bartender brought him another beer. \u201cI wonder if you could help me,\u201d said Adam, turning to the bartender. \u201cI\u2019m trying to find someone who\u2019s supposed to be here in town.\u201d \u201cDutton. Mike Dutton. A friend in Virginia City told me he might be here.\u201d<\/p>\n The bartender straightened and looked at him suspiciously. \u201cWha\u2019da you want him for?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam took a long drink of the newly arrived beer. \u201cI need a guide, and I was told he was the best one around.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, that\u2019d be right, if\u2019n he\u2019s willin\u2019. You\u2019ll find Dutton at the livery.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam chugged the last of his beer, dropped a dollar coin on the bar, tipped his hat to the bartender and left the saloon. He walked Sport to the livery, stuck his head in the barn door and called out, \u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n No one answered from the barn, but as Adam turned to walk to the corral, a skinny fellow in buckskin pants and a loose jacket came around the corner, and seeing Adam standing there, he stopped dead in his tracks. \u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy name is Cartwright. I\u2019m looking for a guide by the name of Mike Dutton.\u201d<\/p>\n The man had several bridles looped over both arms. He walked past Adam toward the barn and disappeared inside. Adam followed him and stood in the door, waiting for an answer. Once the man had the bridles hanging on the wall, he turned to Adam. Sunlight from the open barn door brightened the dull interior of the barn around the shadow Adam cast, allowing him to see the man\u2019s face. He studied it for a moment, straining to see in the shadow cast over the face by the man\u2019s hat. When his eyes adjusted, he realized the facial features of this person were too soft for this to be a man. He was speaking with a woman.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d appreciate it if you could tell me where I could find Mike Dutton.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWha\u2019da you want him for?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam chuckled. It seemed everyone he asked about Mike Dutton wanted to know the same thing. \u201cI want to hire him as a guide.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat for?\u201d asked the woman guardedly.<\/p>\n Adam took a deep breath, shifting his weight to the other leg. \u201cThat would be between Mr. Dutton and me.\u201d<\/p>\n She went about her business in the barn. \u201cWell, the only way you can get to Mike Dutton is through me, so suppose you tell me exactly what you want, and I will think about telling him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you his wife?\u201d<\/p>\n She laughed as she threw some hay into a stall trough and motioned to Adam to let Sport eat. \u201cDutton is not married and probably never will be. Let us just say I am his conscience.\u201d She carried a bucket of water into the stall and came back out. \u201cWhere d\u2019you wanna go?\u201d she asked, leaning back on a post, fiddling with a stem of hay.<\/p>\n \u201cDeath Valley,\u201d answered Adam as he loosened the cinch around Sport\u2019s stomach.<\/p>\n She narrowed her eyes, looking sideways at him. \u201cWhy in the name of all that is sacred would you wanna go there? Do you not know the Aha macave and Shoshoni are at war against the white man? You would not do well to go there\u2026white man,\u201d she added disdainfully. As she spoke, she moved into a ray of sunlight coming in from the open door and took her hat off, allowing her hair to fall over her shoulders.<\/p>\n Adam looked over Sport\u2019s back and could see that her face was tanned, he assumed, from working in the corral in the sunlight. Her hair was a light brown, but had lighter streaks that told of time in the sun. He moved his attention back to his saddle. \u201cI have no choice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone has choices, Mr. Cartwright. Why is this your only choice?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m tracking someone who took something from me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did he take?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDoes it matter?\u201d he asked, glancing back up at her.<\/p>\n She snorted. \u201cMike Dutton does not take anyone into Death Valley without a good reason, and so far, you have not given one.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam stepped out of the stall and looked at her with stolid iciness. \u201cThey took my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n The woman straightened and tossed the stem of hay to the side. She glanced at his horse, a well cared for animal. His saddle was an expensive one. She looked carefully at Adam. He wore nice clothes, nicer than other cowboys in town wore. His hair was cut and neat, and his fingernails were clean though it was apparent he had not shaved or bathed for several days. Even the way he carried himself, with purpose and confidence, told her this was a well-bred man of means. His quiet self-assurance, and the way he wore his gun comfortably, like it was a part of him, suggested he could take care of himself. \u201cCome with me, Mr. Cartwright. You may speak with Mike.\u201d She led him through a door at the back of the barn, across an alley and into a modest house. \u201cWould you like something to drink? I have coffee, whiskey, and water.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam looked around the sparsely furnished room, noticing that there was only one bed. \u201cMiss, I\u2019m in a hurry to leave. May I speak to Mr. Dutton?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRelax, Mr. Cartwright. Please, sit,\u201d she said, pointing to a chair at the table in the middle of the only room in the house. \u201cAre the men who took your brother white men?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, they are,\u201d he answered, still standing.<\/p>\n \u201cThen they are at a disadvantage if they are going into the valley of the Shoshoni and the desert of the Aha macave. Why do you think they are going into the desert?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam exhaled heavily, pursing his lips in aggravation, but sat down, understanding that he would only see Mike Dutton when she was ready for him to see Mike Dutton. \u201cIf they keep going south, and they have since they left Virginia City, they have to go into Death Valley.\u201d He hesitated. \u201cIsn\u2019t Mike Dutton a white man?\u201d<\/p>\n She smiled. \u201cI will tell you about Mike Dutton.\u201d She sat in the other chair, watching him look at the bowl of apples on the table. \u201cPlease,\u201d she said, slightly pushing the bowl toward him. \u201cThe first Mike Dutton was a white man who married a Shoshoni woman. They had a child and named him Mike, who married an Aha macave woman. They also had a child named Mike. So, you see, there is more Indian blood in Mike Dutton than white blood.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam took a bite of an apple and sat silently studying her. It wasn\u2019t just her face that was tanned. Her hands and what he could see of her arms and neck were smooth, unblemished and bronze. Her eyes were dark, almost black, and her hair was not the coal black of Indian hair. He realized Indian blood ran through her veins, but he also knew it was mixed with white blood. \u201cIs your name really Mike, or is that just what they call you?\u201d<\/p>\n She slightly grinned and sat back in her chair. \u201cAh, Mr. Cartwright, you have solved the riddle. My parents called me Michael, not Mike. But since my father died, I have been Mike to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, Michael,\u201d he began, while raising one eyebrow and looking her square in the eyes. \u201cI can understand your ability to deal with the Shoshoni, but what about the Mojave? I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever heard of a friendly Mojave.\u201d<\/p>\n She smiled. \u201cIt would be better if you learned to use Aha macave, not the name the white man gave them.\u201d She paused and pursed her lips. \u201cThe Aha macave can be a problem, but we will do our best to avoid them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n Her nostrils flared as she looked down at the table.\u00a0Fools\u2026they always want to negotiate.<\/em>\u00a0She answered, looking gravely into his eyes, \u201cThat depends.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOn what?\u201d he asked, meeting the severity of her gaze.<\/p>\n \u201cOn whether we come out of this alive.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam chewed another bite of apple as he thought. She came very highly recommended, or did she? Could it have been her father the old man in Virginia City remembered? Still, the bartender seemed protective of her, and she certainly didn\u2019t let it be known to strangers who she was unless she was given a good reason. She was careful, but that still didn\u2019t mean she was a skilled guide. \u201cMiss Dutton, I don\u2019t mean to slight you, but I have some concerns about hiring a woman as a guide.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen go find someone else if you have the time to waste,\u201d she responded aloofly.<\/p>\n He raised his eyebrows and drew his chin upward, nodding.\u00a0Alright then.<\/em>\u00a0\u201cThank you for the apple,\u201d he said and left.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Eleven<\/strong><\/p>\n Adam walked out into the blistering sunlight, squinting after being inside the dim shack. He made his way back to the saloon.<\/p>\n \u201cYou again. What\u2019ll it be?\u201d asked the bartender.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been tracking some riders, probably five or six, and a wagon. Have you seen anything like that here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMore n\u2019 once.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n The bartender leaned over the bar, looking around them before he spoke quietly. \u201cIt\u2019s the lead mines in the desert. Men go in; they don\u2019t come out. A man\u2019s out riding alone, he could end up in one of those wagons.\u201d<\/p>\n A man wearing buckskin walked into the saloon, stood eyeing the bartender for a moment, then went to a table and sat, watching everything that happened in the room. The bartender leaned back, slightly nodding toward the man. \u201cArmy scout,\u201d he said, handing Adam a beer.<\/p>\n Adam scratched his ear. \u201cAre there any other guides in town?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n The bartender chuckled and continued quietly, keeping his eye on the scout. \u201cShe turned you down. Reason wasn\u2019t good enough, eh? Mister, if she won\u2019t go, no one else will.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy is that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s spent most of her life in the desert with her father. The Indians know her. She knows their ways. And even though the Mojave don\u2019t appreciate her white blood, they allow her in their lands. Because of the war, they\u2019ll kill anyone else on sight, and the white guides here know that.\u201d He stopped to wipe out a glass, glancing back up at Adam, who was looking at him warily. \u201cA word of advice, Mister. If anyone else finds out you went to her first, and she\u2019s not taking you, you won\u2019t find any takers.\u201d He snorted, cutting his eyes back at Adam with an envious smile. \u201cShe\u2019ll keep you alive.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam blew out his cheeks, and pushed himself away from the bar, dropping a coin. \u201cThanks,\u201d he said, tipping his hat.<\/p>\n \u201cMister,\u201d called the bartender. Adam turned around. \u201cBe careful who you talk to,\u201d he said, glancing over Adam\u2019s shoulder at the Army scout. \u201cTrust is a funny thing.\u201d Adam nodded and left, walking over to the telegraph office then back to the livery.<\/p>\n Mike was mucking stalls when Adam came in and walked over to Sport\u2019s stall. At first, he watched her, wondering if she knew anything about the lead mines. If she was part of the Aha macave, surely she would know.<\/p>\n \u201cMike, would you answer a question for me?\u201d She looked up at him then continued her work, saying nothing. \u201cWhat do you know about the lead mines?\u201d<\/p>\n She stopped, propping her hands on the end of the pitchfork handle. \u201cThe white man has many mines in the desert, both gold and silver. It is easy to get men to work in those mines. But the lead mines are not so. The lead mines are cruel places. The men are given barely enough to live, and meet their deaths in cave-ins or by the weight of a falling rock or by starvation. They are replaced quietly and quickly. No one knows where they come from. Is this what you think has happened to your brother?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe could have been taken for money, and we just haven\u2019t received a demand yet.\u201d<\/p>\n She snorted. \u201cYou found his horse, with nothing missing. You found his gun. You found any personal things he carried\u2026a watch, a photograph…everything that could identify him. You found wagon tracks nearby. True?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s mouth opened slightly as he stared at her. \u201cI\u2019ve been tracking a wagon and five or six horses.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued mucking the stall as she spoke. \u201cThere is nowhere in the desert where anyone would want to hide if they wanted money. If your brother was taken into the desert, it would be to work in the lead mines. Chances are someone died along the way, and he was replaced by your brother. The men are tied like animals in covered wagons. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you know the way to the mines?\u201d<\/p>\n She propped the pitchfork against a wall and motioned for him to follow her. When they were in her cabin, she looked out the door before she closed it then went to the window, looking. \u201cYou cannot go into the desert alone by the road or you will be taken for the lead mines.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow do I go in?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou left to find another guide. Did you?\u201d She turned to him, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow\u2026waiting.<\/p>\n Adam held his hands out to his sides as if in surrender. \u201cI apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n She harrumphed. They usually came back begging. But then, he didn\u2019t look like the type to beg. \u201cYou got a first name white man?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGet your tack from the barn and bring it here. We will talk.\u201d Chapter Twelve<\/strong><\/p>\n When Adam came back to the shack, he waited for her to tell him where to put his saddle. She pointed to the floor against the wall opposite her bed. \u201cIf I take you it will not be easy. You must live as the Shoshoni and the Aha macave; off the land. You must learn their ways. You must act like an Indian. This is the only way to pass the Army scouts unnoticed. Can you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can if you teach me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe must go as husband and wife. The Indians accept me. This is the only way that the Shoshoni and Aha macave will accept you.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam creased his brow. \u201cYou are Shoshoni and Aha macave. Why wouldn\u2019t they accept you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have white blood,\u201d she said, shamefully looking down and away. She turned away from him, breathed deeply then walked back to him, looking up into his face, her eyes warning. \u201cYou must do as I say. Our lives will depend on it.\u201d He nodded. She motioned for him to follow her back to the barn, first looking surreptitiously out the door, then hurrying through the back door of the barn.<\/p>\n She began to gather everything they could carry on two horses. They had to travel quickly, light and unseen, so a pack animal was out of the question. \u201cSomeone will be here to take care of your horse, and your tack is safe in my home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWon\u2019t I be riding my horse?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n He waited for an explanation that didn\u2019t come. \u00a0\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYour horse will not survive in the desert. And your saddle will give us away. Have you ever ridden bareback?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, but not for long.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you think you can for the whole trip? It would be better if you can.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll manage.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou do not talk much, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot when I have nothing to say.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPractice talking. The Aha macave are talkers. You are not an emotional man?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can be pushed to anger.\u201d<\/p>\n She laughed. \u201cBecome emotional\u2026with all emotions. The Aha macave are an emotional people. They consider it disrespectful to hold in emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought you said we were going to avoid the Mo\u2026the Aha macave.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI said we would try. I did not say we would be successful, and it is likely we will not. They will know where we are by the time we are ten miles out of town.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou seem more worried about the Aha macave than the Shoshoni.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy grandmother is with the Shoshoni, and they are not as\u2026unwelcoming\u2026as the Aha macave. The Shoshoni will find us first. When the white soldiers came to remove them from their land, they fought. Many of the Aha macave allowed the soldiers to move them, but there are still small numbers fighting to keep their lands.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam watched as she gathered skins, blankets, leather straps, knives, several pokes of water, and strings. He noticed there were no pans, no coffee pot, no scabbard for a rifle, and when she pulled out two bows and two quivers of arrows, he got nervous. Still, he watched in silence. When she had everything packed into what looked like baskets held together with leather straps, she straightened up and without looking at him she said, \u201cCome with me.\u201d<\/p>\n They walked back into the shack, and she immediately went to the stove and started cooking. \u201cYou will sleep there,\u201d she said, pointing to where he had laid his belongings on the floor on the opposite side of the room from the bed. She pulled salt bacon off the shelf, placing it in a pan to fry while she started beans and coffee. While the food was cooking, she opened a trunk at the foot of her bed and pulled out more skins. \u201cStand up straight so I can see you.\u201d He obliged. \u201cTurn around.\u201d He did as he was told. She pulled several items from the trunk along with what looked like boots, and what he swore was a buckskin skirt. \u201cIs your brother bigger or smaller than you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s smaller.\u201d<\/p>\n She pulled out more skins and laid everything on a small table beside the door then went back to the stove. \u201cFrom this time on, I will not call you by your last name. You will be known only as Adam. If the Aha macave give you a name, you will be known by that name. You will call me Mike. Nothing else. Do you understand?\u201d Adam nodded as she prepared two plates of food. She placed them on the table along with the coffee pot and two cups. \u201cCome. Eat.\u201d<\/p>\n He sat down at the table, and started looking for a fork. She watched him and waited for him to look up. \u201cYou must get used to eating with your fingers. The Aha macave and Shoshoni do not use forks. If you are eating meat, you may stab it with your knife. \u00a0Watch.\u201d She dipped two fingers into the beans, holding the plate at her chin and shoveling them into her mouth.<\/p>\n \u201cI get the feeling we\u2019re leaving behind the comforts of home.\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded at his plate. \u201cTry it.\u201d<\/p>\n He wiped his hand on his trousers, picked up his plate, and hesitated, then dipped two fingers into the beans as she had and shoveled them into his mouth. A look of dread took over his face. \u201cMesquite beans,\u201d he said with a full mouth.<\/p>\n She looked disdainfully at him. \u201cWe will live on what we can find. There will be no bacon and no coffee, so enjoy it while you can. We will rest during the day and travel at night. You will not take your clothes\u2026any of them\u2026or your hat. Do not take anything in your pockets. I will allow you to take your gun, but it will be hidden in one of the baskets. It may be useful when we find your brother.\u201d<\/p>\n After they had finished eating, Mike collected the dishes and washed them. She turned back to Adam who was just finishing his last cup of coffee for awhile, drinking it slowly, enjoying it. \u201cWe will sleep until dark.\u00a0 Then we will pack the horses and go.\u201d Adam went to his saddle, laying out his bedroll on the underside. \u201cSleep on the floor, not your saddle. You will be sleeping on the ground. Get used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n He breathed heavily, wondering what he had gotten himself into, raising his eyebrows and nodding to himself, thinking he had no choice. When he stood to remove his gun belt, he looked at her and sucked in a breath of embarrassment, turning around at the same time.<\/p>\n She had removed her pants, stripping down to nothing and had begun to remove her shirt. She turned and stood, looking at his back. \u201cYou must become accustomed to this as well. You will bathe with my family and you will sleep in my lodge. Otherwise, you will be left alone and will be killed and I will be\u2026pursued. I cannot protect you any other way.\u201d Adam stood with his hands in his back pockets unwilling to turn around. \u201cDo you want to find your brother?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course I do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen turn around and remove your clothes.\u201d Adam stood, thinking this through. This was uncomfortable\u2026he would never think about looking at an unclothed woman under any circumstances but marriage\u2026and maybe in a brothel. \u00a0But, if he was going to save Joe, it appeared he had no choice. He decided he\u2019d keep his eyes on her eyes and by doing that, he wouldn\u2019t really be\u2026looking. He slowly turned around, found her, and looked at her eyes.<\/p>\n She watched him and laughed. \u201cA gentleman, I see. You need to forget your upbringing and act like a man. If you don\u2019t, you will be laughed at and exiled, if not killed. You will not cast your eyes upon another woman with desire. You will not sit next to another woman. You will not offer another woman food. You will not speak to another woman unless talk is started by her man. You will not help another woman outside of my family in any way. Do you understand?\u201d He nodded. She walked to the table next to the door and pulled out some of the skins she had placed there earlier. You will wear these.\u201d She threw a handful of skins to him\u2026buckskin pants, a breechcloth, a long white shirt and belt, and a pair of buckskin boots. You will dress in this, and only this tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about\u2026?\u201d he said, moving his eyes away and crooking his jaw.<\/p>\n \u201cMy people do not wear under clothes. I will tell you what else you need to know tonight. We must rest.\u201d With that, she closed the curtain in the only window in the cabin and lay down on the bed, turning away from him.<\/p>\n Adam undressed down to his drawers, hesitated for a moment, looking back to see that she was still turned away, and then dropped them and lay down to sleep.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Thirteen<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe awoke to the sound of metal banging together. When he raised his head, he saw what was making the noise.\u00a0 A soldier was walking outside the fence\u2026all the way around it, banging two pots together.\u00a0 The men around him rose to a sitting position and waited until water and what Joe would come to know as mine rations were handed out.\u00a0 The men were given fifteen minutes to eat.\u00a0 Then, one by one, they were unshackled and taken to a privy where a soldier waited outside.\u00a0 Once his business was finished in the privy, the man was escorted to a ladder that had been propped against the rock face for the prisoners to climb up into the mine.<\/p>\n Joe did what he saw the other men do. When he was inside the mine, he was pulled to the side and taken down a short shaft into a large room filled with crates.\u00a0 \u201cNew man,\u201d said the soldier who brought him in.\u00a0 The soldier there handed him a sledge hammer, a chisel and a smaller hammer.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll leave these where you\u2019re assigned to dig at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n Next, he was taken down a long shaft to a black, glistening wall at the end.\u00a0 \u201cAll you have to do is cut rock out of this wall.\u00a0 When you have as many rocks as you can carry in one load, take \u2018em back up the shaft to the bucket, then come back and cut more rock.\u201d\u00a0 There was one soldier at this end of the shaft, sitting in a chair well away from the three men who cut into the wall.\u00a0 Joe looked around him.\u00a0 He was in a black box with the same black, glistening walls above, below and all around him.\u00a0 He shivered and watched the two other men use the chisel and the small hammer to start a crack, then use the sledge to drive the chisel deeper into the rock, fracturing it until a piece fell to the ground.\u00a0 He began hammering the chisel all the while thinking.\u00a0 It had still been dark outside when he entered the mine.\u00a0 He had no idea of the time, and was sure that in only a few days, he would lose track.\u00a0 There was no way to escape.\u00a0 The ladder was removed once the prisoners were in the mine, and the drop was too far to jump without breaking a leg.\u00a0 This was no way to live, and though some of these men must be afraid to die, he surely wasn\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0I have to hold on.\u00a0 Adam will be here soon.<\/em><\/p>\n The men were given a break after several hours of work.\u00a0 They were huddled into another large room and made to squat down as they ate their rations.\u00a0 Looking around, he realized he was surrounded by just as many Indians as white men.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t seen any Indians in the yard the night before.\u00a0 He guessed they must be kept in the mine out of sight of the Indians in the desert.<\/p>\n On what he thought was the third day, trouble began while they were eating.\u00a0 One of the white prisoners took the dried meat from one of the Indians.\u00a0 The Indian stood, but the two soldiers in that room quickly stepped in front of him.\u00a0 \u201cGet back down, savage, or I\u2019ll scalp you and send you out into the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe stood up.\u00a0 \u201cThat man took his food.\u00a0 If you need to discipline someone it should be him,\u201d said Joe, pointing to the man that had taken the beef.<\/p>\n The soldier stood in front of Joe.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re one of the new prisoners, ain\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0 Joe flared his nostrils and looked away.\u00a0 The soldier quickly shoved the butt of his rifle into Joe\u2019s stomach, doubling Joe over.\u00a0 \u201cIf the Injun isn\u2019t man enough to fight for his own food, he don\u2019t deserve any.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe squatted back down and tore his dried meat in half, handing one half to the Indian.\u00a0 At first the man turned away, but Joe pushed the meat at him, and the Indian reluctantly took it.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n An army scout rode into the yard of the mine, tied his horse and went straight to the sergeant.\u00a0 \u201cWe need to talk,\u201d said the scout.\u00a0 \u201cWe may have some trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n The sergeant took him to the shack and closed the door behind them.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA man rode into Aurora, asking where he could find Dutton.\u00a0 He went to the livery, and came back after a while, asking about a wagon and riders.\u00a0 That dang bartender had a real quiet conversation with him, and then this man went back to the livery.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t come back out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, the bartender wouldn\u2019t say nothin\u2019 about him, so I went over to the sheriff.\u00a0 It turns out that Nolan brought a boy in that got away from him.\u00a0 Got all the way down to the sheriff\u2019s office and told the sheriff he wasn\u2019t a prisoner.\u00a0 The sheriff didn\u2019t think nothin\u2019 of it when Nolan told him he was one of his prisoners.\u00a0 Now this fellow comes into town lookin\u2019 for the wagon. \u00a0I got a sneakin\u2019 suspicion he\u2019s lookin\u2019 for the boy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid you find out the man\u2019s name?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, the bartender wouldn\u2019t say.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe boy\u2019s name is Cartwright.\u00a0 Go back and see what you can find out about this man.\u00a0 If the bartender doesn\u2019t want to talk, encourage him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou gonna tell the captain?\u201d<\/p>\n The sergeant looked down at the dirt floor of the shack, thinking.\u00a0 \u201cNo, not yet.\u00a0 Find what you can about this man in Aurora and come back.\u00a0 Then I\u2019ll talk to the captain.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Fourteen<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe was bone tired when the soldier told them to put their tools down.\u00a0 His back was aching, his wrists were aching\u2026his soul was aching.\u00a0 He stood in line waiting to climb down the ladder that had been moved back to the entrance of the mine.\u00a0 Looking around him, he could see no way to get out without the ladder.\u00a0 Escape from the mine was impossible.<\/p>\n When he got to the mouth of the mine, he had expected to see fading light, but it was already dark.\u00a0 Climbing down, he followed the men who had been there before him, watching them walk like ghosts back to the compound.\u00a0 That\u2019s when he finally understood.\u00a0 These people probably had no one to worry about them and no hope to ever leave this place.\u00a0 Joe knew in his heart that his family would come.\u00a0 But now he had a new fear that he had thought about all day.\u00a0 What would they be able to do when they got here?\u00a0 If the captain was as ruthless as he had been led to believe, would he be released?\u00a0 Pa, Adam and Hoss wouldn\u2019t be able to fight a small regiment.\u00a0 What if they denied he was there at all?\u00a0 He realized it might be quite a while before they were able to get him out.\u00a0 What if the army decided to make him disappear to avoid the discovery of slaves?\u00a0 Some of these men were prisoners, and there was nothing anyone could do for them.\u00a0 But Joe was sure that some of them were like him\u2026grabbed off the road or their farms or ranches to disappear into the desert\u2026maybe someone who had drifted through Aurora.<\/p>\n He stood in line at the privy, then went into the compound and sat by the next chain in line, waiting for it to be attached to his shackles.\u00a0 Dinner was mine rations, and while he was eating the soldier who had tended his wounds before came back.<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks better today,\u201d he said as he cleaned and rebandaged the wounds.\u00a0 \u201cEven your hands look better.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe didn\u2019t say anything.\u00a0 There really wasn\u2019t anything to say.\u00a0 The soldier was following orders, and besides that, Joe knew the only reason his wounds were being treated was to keep an able body working.\u00a0 Looking around him, he finished his rations, and lay down on his stomach.\u00a0 In a few hours, it would start all over again.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Joe had just delivered an armload of rocks to the bucket, when he heard yelling coming from one of the other shafts.\u00a0 All the men were herded quickly into the room where they took their meals.\u00a0 Only one guard was left outside the entrance to the short shaft that led to the room.\u00a0 All of the slaves squatted down, except Joe, who stood looking across the cavern.<\/p>\n He felt a hand on his leg, pulling at him.\u00a0 Looking down, he saw the Indian to whom he had given half of his meal the day before.\u00a0 \u201cSit low or soldiers will beat,\u201d said the Indian.<\/p>\n Joe stooped next to him.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d\u00a0 The man looked at him seeming unable to comprehend.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you called?\u201d asked Joe, and then putting his hand on his chest, he said, \u201cJoe.\u201d<\/p>\n The Indian did the same.\u00a0 \u201cMutheel munagh.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe started to stand again when he heard a blood-curdling scream, and then\u2026nothing, but Mutheel munagh put a hand on his shoulder, keeping him down.\u00a0 In another minute, three soldiers came into the room and looked around.<\/p>\n One laughed and said, \u201cTrained dogs.\u00a0 Since they\u2019re here, let \u2018em eat, then get \u2018em back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n When the rations were passed out, the same man who had taken Mutheel munagh\u2019s meat came back wanting more, but this time Joe stood up in front of him, giving the man a fiercely cold look.\u00a0 \u201cIf you want to take something, you\u2019ll take it from me.\u201d\u00a0 The man stood up against Joe, chest to chest, but when he saw that Joe wasn\u2019t going to back down, he looked over his shoulder at the guards, who were watching in amusement, then went back to his place and squatted.<\/p>\n \u201cYou, come \u2018ere,\u201d said the guard, nodding at Joe.<\/p>\n Joe looked around him, and then walked up to the guard.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re new here, ain\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n Looking the soldier square in the eye, Joe said, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n The soldier backhanded him.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s\u00a0yes sir<\/em>\u00a0to you.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe stood his ground, giving the soldier the same glare.\u00a0 \u201cIn this mine, a man stands up for himself.\u00a0 And we don\u2019t cotton to no Indian lovers.\u201d\u00a0 The guard feigned that he was turning away, but before Joe had moved, a rifle butt slammed into his stomach. When he doubled over, the rifle came up, smashing into his chin, sending him backwards to the floor.\u00a0 He lay still for a minute, trying to catch his breath when the guard kicked him.\u00a0 \u201cGet up and get back to your place.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe crawled back, and then Mutheel munagh took his arm and helped him up to a squatting position.\u00a0 He looked sternly at Joe and shook his head.\u00a0 It was easy for Joe to understand what Mutheel munagh was telling him.\u00a0\u00a0Do not cause trouble.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Fifteen<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh, Great Spirit Adam awoke to the sound of glass tinkling, as if it were being brushed against more glass. He rolled over then remembered his lack of clothing and quickly grabbed his cover. He could see her moving around the cabin in the darkness, but couldn\u2019t tell what she was doing.<\/p>\n She stopped. \u201cGet dressed. We will be leaving soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam did as he was told, thankful for the darkness, though it was difficult to figure out fronts and backs of clothing. She picked up a skin-wrapped package and the fruit from the table and opened the door. \u201cBring your gun and ammunition.\u201d<\/p>\n Once they were in the barn she lit a lantern then took the gun and a box of bullets from him, burying them deeply in one of the slender baskets. She took the package she brought from the shack, burying it in another basket. She spread one of the skins on each of the horses then placed the baskets on them with the straps over their back, allowing the baskets to hang on each side of the horse. She followed this with the rest of the skins then covered both horses with a blanket. In the dim light, he could see that she was wearing a tasseled skirt and a shirt similar to his. Her hair was braided down the back, and she wore a colorful headband. She walked into a dark corner of the barn and came out with something in her hand. \u201cGive me your right hand,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Adam held it out, and she tied a bracelet similar to her headband, but slimmer, on his wrist. She held her left hand out, handing him a matching bracelet. \u201cTie it on my wrist.\u201d She rolled out a skin, revealing a collection of knives, took one and placed it in a sheath on her belt. When she pulled up her skirt, showing her thighs, he looked away. She placed a knife in a sheath tied around her right thigh, glancing up at him when he cleared his throat. \u201cGet used to it. You cannot show embarrassment at the sight of your wife. These are our marriage bands. You will not take it off, even to bathe.\u201d She handed him two knives and another sheath. \u201cTie the sheath to your leg inside your boot. Can you throw a knife?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan you use a bow and arrow?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll learn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan you get on your horse without stirrups?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYep.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen we leave.\u201d<\/p>\n The two rode through the town silently in the dark, the only sound the muffled beat of the unshod hoofs in the dirt. Once they were out of town, she spoke. \u201cIf a brave speaks to me or touches me in any way, you will step between us. If you cower, he will kill you. If a brave sits next to me or offers me food, you must pull him away from me in anger. When my family leaves to bathe, you will not hesitate to remove your clothes by the river. They will ask questions about you; you are hairy and your hair has curls. You will tell them that your mother was Shoshoni from the north and your father was a trapper from the mountains. Your hair is black and your skin is dark; you will pass for a half-breed. Do not use big words. Speak simply. I will teach you to trap and kill the crawlers and the desert dogs for food. If the sun burns your skin, you will cover it with the milk of the healing plant. You must learn all this quickly. Do you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou do not have to worry about the language. Because the Shoshoni and the Aha macave know that I have white blood, they will not question the language. They speak the tongue of the white man. But, if they give you a name, you must answer to it. The Aha macave may play jokes on you. This is the way of the Aha macave and means they like you. You will not be offended, but will laugh with them. If the men cry, you must cry. If the men shout in anger, you must shout with them. Do you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a lot to remember. I\u2019ll do my best.\u201d<\/p>\n She jerked her head toward him, looking him fiercely in the eye. \u201cYour life depends on this. If you cannot remember anything I have told you, tell me now so that I can repeat it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll remember.\u201d<\/p>\n The night clouds had broken, and he could see her now in the light of the moon. Her skirt was hiked all the way up to the tops of her thighs. She rode with the tassels of her skirt hanging between her legs so that she wasn\u2019t exposed. \u201cYou don\u2019t wear shoes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. My feet are used to the ground. It would be a good thing if you do not have tender feet and can go without your boots. But if you must wear them\u2026\u201d She shrugged. \u201cThey will not protect you from sharp rocks or spines. You must learn to move silently.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat were the bottles you packed?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe white man has brought sickness to the Shoshoni and the Aha macave. I bring them medicine. This is why they allow me in their lands.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can understand why you\u2019re the only one that will come out here. I don\u2019t see a white man being able to do the things you do.\u201d<\/p>\n She laughed. \u201cI do not fit in the white man\u2019s world. I do not fit in the Indian\u2019s world. I do not belong anywhere. \u00a0But I can walk through either.\u201d<\/p>\n They rode in silence until a faint light shown just above the horizon. \u201cWe must find a place to make camp. When the morning sun has warmed the rocks, I will teach you to hunt the crawlers. Then we will eat and sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Sixteen<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe wasn\u2019t sure how much time had passed.\u00a0 He had been moved into different shafts, and his place in the compound changed each night.\u00a0 He had begun to mark the days in the beginning, but it became all too clear that he would never be able to keep an accurate count being moved around.\u00a0 He concluded that they were moved so they couldn\u2019t keep track of time\u2026just another way to keep them sedate and hopeless.<\/p>\n There had been several times when the slaves had been mustered into the meal room, and each time, there were screams or cries for help and then nothing.\u00a0 Joe had never seen any bodies outside the mine, but then he figured they must be dumping the bodies in the desert to rot in the sun.<\/p>\n Mutheel munagh had become more than an acquaintance, but Joe wasn\u2019t sure if he could call him a friend.\u00a0 They managed a few words when the guards left the room, but the language differences left Joe wondering if Mutheel munagh understood what he had said.\u00a0 Still, he had tried to give the Indian some hope.\u00a0 \u201cMy family will come for me.\u00a0 And when they do, all the slaves will be freed.\u201d<\/p>\n Mutheel munagh just smiled and nodded, thinking that if the Aha macave had not be able to rescue them, no one else would.\u00a0\u00a0 If the boy needed to believe that to live, he was not going to be the one to take his hope away.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n The army scout sat across the desk from the sheriff.\u00a0 \u201cDid you find anything about the boy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI sent a wire up to Placerville asking about missing persons.\u00a0 There were several, but the one everyone seemed to be all up in arms about was a boy named Cartwright.\u00a0 Seems his Pa owns the biggest spread in the Nevada Territory, and they\u2019re lookin\u2019 out for him over to California.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo the boy comes from money.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt appears so.\u00a0 That young fella that\u2019s been askin\u2019 questions in the saloon; he was lookin\u2019 for a guide into the valley.\u00a0 He had a brand on his saddlebag\u2026a tree.\u00a0 I did a little more checkin\u2019, and that brand belongs to the Ponderosa Ranch up near Virginia City.\u00a0 It\u2019s owned by Cartwrights.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe went to see the squaw at the livery.\u00a0 Maybe you better bring Mike in for questioning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlready sent my deputy.\u201d<\/p>\n In another few minutes, the deputy ran back into the office.\u00a0 \u201cSheriff, she\u2019s gone, and there ain\u2019t no sign of the stranger, but his saddle and those black clothes he was wearing are in her cabin, and there\u2019s a horse in the stable, a chestnut, that don\u2019t belong there.\u201d<\/p>\n The scout stood.\u00a0 \u201cProbably left last night.\u00a0 I guess I\u2019d better be gettin\u2019 back and tell the sergeant he\u2019s got company comin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Joe stood at the back of the tunnel with a hammer and chisel. He had no idea what he was digging for\u2026there was no gold or silver that he could see. He cut rock after rock out of the wall, then had to stop and haul them out to the bucket to be lowered down to the valley floor.<\/p>\n He hadn\u2019t seen the light of day for\u2026how long\u2026had it been one\u2026two weeks? He\u2019d lost count. Each time he left the mine, darkness had already fallen, and he was so exhausted by the time he was lying in the dirt in chains, he fell sound asleep almost immediately. He had no idea how early he started or how late he worked. All he knew was that it was dark either way.<\/p>\n He had joined the other men to eat his meager meal, a stale piece of bread and a piece of dried meat with water having a metallic taste, when one of the soldiers pulled him up by his shirt and pushed him into a dark shaft. The soldier led him into an opening at the back of the shaft that was brightly lit with a desk and chair at the center and stacks of paper, barrels of gun powder, and fuses piled at the back.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the one, Captain,\u201d said the soldier, saluting the man behind the desk.<\/p>\n The officer rose, moving from the desk to walk around Joe, looking him up and down. \u201cKeep him inside from now on. And if anyone shows up asking about him, dump him down the dead shaft. And send that scout back to Aurora. Tell him to find out where this\u2026brother\u2026and the squaw are.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAye, sir,\u201d said the soldier, saluting before shoving Joe back into the dark shaft. \u201cYou know what the dead shaft is, boy?\u201d asked the soldier, taunting. \u201cLet\u2019s just say that if you ain\u2019t dead before you drop, you will be by the time you hit bottom\u2026or soon thereafter. Then again, maybe all those bodies down there\u2019ll soften the landing.\u201d The soldier laughed loudly, his cackle echoing off the walls of the tunnel. They went back to the same shaft where Joe left his tools lying on the floor. \u201cGet back to work,\u201d the soldier growled, shoving Joe into the wall.<\/p>\n Joe gritted his teeth and clenched his fingers around the hammer and chisel.\u00a0It\u2019s gotta be Adam. \u00a0Just hold on for a little while longer.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Seventeen<\/strong><\/p>\n Mike moved efficiently around the area she had chosen as a camp. She pulled the blankets off the horses, and unpacked the baskets and skins before spreading some of the skins over the bushes and some on the ground. The baskets and blankets she put at the back of the makeshift tent. Adam stood out of her way, unwilling to interrupt her quick and methodical movements.<\/p>\n \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be better if the shelter was against the rocks?\u201d asked Adam.<\/p>\n She looked and pointed up. \u201cOnly if you want your head smashed by one of those rocks. A shelter is built away from rocks. It is not built in a low place because of rushing rain water. It is not built where there are desert dog droppings because they will come in your shelter. It is not built near the water.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWait. Why wouldn\u2019t you build a shelter near water?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you want to be trampled in the night by the desert animals that come to drink?\u201d Adam smiled slightly, nodding. \u201cCome with me,\u201d she said. She began cutting brush here and there, never taking more than a few stems from any one plant. She handed them to Adam. \u201cWe will use these to cover the shelter.\u201d She motioned for him to continue gathering brush.<\/p>\n She had chosen a place away from the base of a sheer rock wall leading up into the mountains they had been skirting. When the shelter was blended into the desert landscape, she said, \u201cWait here,\u201d removing her clothes and holding her knife between her teeth, then climbing up what Adam had thought was unclimbable.<\/p>\n He watched her ascend, clinging to the rock, the color of the rock and her skin making it seem as if she melted into it. He watched her quickly choose her handholds and footholds, zigzagging her way up. When she reached the top, she crawled over the edge and disappeared.<\/p>\n He sat down on a rock, waiting\u2026and sweating. The sun was barely up and it was already hot. He jumped when she surprised him, appearing before him naked, glistening with sweat. \u201cWhere did you go?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo see if we are being followed. I saw no one. We will sleep safely here. It would be better for you if you remove your shirt and pants and wear only your dopada\u2019-nee\u2019\u2026your breechcloth. Your pants are biga-gusa. Your shirt is kwasun.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t be as comfortable as you think.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we arrive at the village of the Shoshoni, you will see the men wearing only their dopada\u2019-nee\u2019. The women will wear only their biga-gwasu\u2019N,\u201d holding her hand in front of her to indicate a skirt. This is the way we live in the hot season.\u201d She walked around behind him, sneering at him. \u201cYou white men think you have such modesty. You make the desire worse by covering up. Indian braves do not want after women who are not theirs to want.\u201d<\/p>\n He glanced up toward the sky. \u201cI\u2019m not an Indian brave.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, you are not,\u201d she said scornfully. \u201cCome. We will hunt and eat. Then we will sleep.\u201d Adam followed her as she easily moved across the desert floor, over rocks and through brush, as if she were floating just above the ground, making no sound. She stopped and sat on a rock. \u201cWe will never find food. You sound like a herd of buffalo. Stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam grimaced. He knew he was noisy. He heard himself move, crunching, stumbling, the brush scratching against his pants.<\/p>\n He watched her climbing over the rocks, poking in crevices with a stick. She stopped at a crevice, working the stick in and out, eventually pulling out a rattlesnake. It had not yet come out to warm itself in the morning sun and moved slowly. She slung it to the ground and quickly threw her knife, pinning the snake to the ground just below the head. Then she jumped down and cut the head off with her other knife. Bringing the snake near the shelter, she laid the body and head out on a rock then began to gather twigs from the brush and from a nearby ocotillo cactus. Soon she had a small fire burning. She sat, taking the snake and pushing the stick she had used to pull it out of the crevice into the meat. Then she pulled the skin down and away. The snake was a good-sized snake, measuring the width of three fingers across its back. Once the skin was removed, she wrapped the snake around the stick pushing the other end of the stick into the meat, then laid it over the fire propped up between two rocks. Cutting the rattle off the end, she then split the skin, laying a six finger wide band out flat on a wide rock next to the head to dry. The rattle was strung on a piece of twine that she wore around her neck. Nothing of the snake was wasted. She turned the stick holding the meat over on the fire then walked to a cactus, cutting and spearing two fruits on each knife. She set each fruit on one of the rocks by the fire.<\/p>\n Once the fine spines at the base of the fruit were burned off, she skinned them and cut them in halves, handing two halves to Adam. \u00a0Pulling the rattlesnake meat off the fire, she cut it in half and handed half to him. \u201cEat.\u201d Mike watched him stare at his meal for a moment. When he looked up at her, she held up a piece of the cactus fruit and bit into it. \u201cIt is good. It will quiet your thirst,\u201d she said, then motioned for him to do the same. He took a small bite, chewing slowly, then raised his eyebrows and nodded. Next, she nodded at the rattlesnake as she picked her half up, cutting it into small pieces then putting one in her mouth and chewing.<\/p>\n He did the same, warily chewing the meat, slowly smiling. \u201cTastes like chicken.\u201d He picked the small bones out of his mouth and enjoyed the rest of his meal.<\/p>\n \u201cHow far do you think we\u2019ve come today?\u201d asked Adam.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will be with the Shoshoni after two more sleeps. When we arrive, they will be uneasy. They are fighting to stay on their land. If they stop us, you will not fight. They must be sure we are not an enemy before they will take us to their hidden village. We will speak the language of the Shoshoni first, and then, when they know who I am, they will speak your tongue so that you may understand. We will stay in my grandmother\u2019s lodge. We will talk to the chief and his braves about the lead mines and deliver medicine in return.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam sat listening, chewing the cactus fruit. He held it in his mouth, enjoying the cool wetness. \u201cWhy are you doing this? You could\u2019ve turned me down. You would have been safe in your cabin back in Aurora instead of\u2026\u201d he waved his hand around him, \u201cin this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am more comfortable in this\u2026\u201d she said, copying his gesture, \u201cthan I am in Aurora.\u201d The white men there look at me with hunger in their eyes. It is not a good feeling.\u201d She paused, looking at her feet. \u201cI have agreed to take you\u2026so that I can buy more medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n To Adam, she seemed almost remorseful. He thought she could well be the only one that could help her people survive. \u201cYou speak English well. If you used contractions, I wouldn\u2019t know you were part Indian. Do you know what that means?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy great-grandmother was a white woman who taught in your schools. I understand the words. I use them, but only around the whites. The Indians would not think well of me if I spoke like the white man.\u201d She watched him eat, then asked. \u201cIs your brother all there is of your family?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, my father was away on business\u2026in St. Louis. My brother, Hoss, stayed to watch our ranch and meet my father when he arrives home. We decided I should start searching before the trail disappeared. What about your family?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy father was killed fighting the soldiers. My mother is with the Aha macave that refused to go to the reservation. My grandfather\u2026\u201d She picked up a handful of sandy soil, wiping her knife in it until the blade shined, then covered the small fire with dirt and moved the rocks on top. By the time she was finished, all signs of the fire had disappeared.<\/p>\n \u201cGo to the shelter. I will follow you.\u201d As Adam moved to the shelter, she cut a piece of brush dragging it over the ground to cover their footprints as she followed him in. Earlier, she had moved the horses into a small canyon in sight of the shelter, fed them mesquite beans mixed with a small amount of oats, watered them from one of the pokes and poured water in the shallow hole of a shaded rock. The higher walls were on the north and south of the canyon, giving the horses shade most of the day.<\/p>\n She entered the shelter next to Adam, and lay down on the skins, rolling the blanket and using it as a pillow. Adam did the same and lay down next to her, already miserable from the heat. He moved around uncomfortably, until she sat up. \u201cIf you would take off your biga-gusa and kwasun, you would be more comfortable, and I will be able to sleep,\u201d she said sternly. \u201cWear only your dopada\u2019-nee\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam sat, pursing his lips, thinking that if Joe and Hoss ever found out about this, he would never hear the end of it. \u00a0He took his clothes off, put his breechcloth back on and lay down. Soon, he was asleep.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Eighteen<\/strong><\/p>\n Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold Mike awoke when the sun was midway between straight up and setting. She lay still, reserving the strength she gained from sleep and trying to stay as cool as possible in the heat of the afternoon. She was not cool by any means, but it was too hot in the day to leave, and there was nothing to do until evening when they would be traveling. She thought that, at least, this man trusted her. If he didn\u2019t, he wouldn\u2019t be sleeping so soundly.<\/p>\n An hour before sunset, Adam woke up, lying with his eyes closed and listening. By the sound of her breaths, he knew she was not asleep, the cadence of her breathing not quite as long. Still, she was relaxed and motionless, not wasting any precious energy in the heat. She had been right; even in the one hundred and twenty degree heat he had been able to sleep well in only the breechcloth. He almost felt as comfortable here as at home, except for the heat, having slept most of his life with no night clothes of any kind. He rolled onto his back.<\/p>\n \u201cYou must lie still until it is time to leave,\u201d she said quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSoon.\u201d<\/p>\n Just as the sun was setting over the mountains, giving them enough light to break camp, they emerged from the shelter. Mike fed the horses more mesquite beans and oats and watered them. She brought them to the shelter and began to dismantle it, handing skins to Adam, who began loading the horses. While he finished loading, she collected the dried snakeskin and the head, peeling the skin off the skull and adding it to the necklace she had made with the rattle. She rolled the snakeskin and placed it in one of the baskets.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat will you use that for?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be a gift for Fulani moco’o, the Aha macave medicine man. The necklace will be a gift to newe pohakanten of the Shoshoni.\u201d She looked at the fully loaded horses. \u201cYou learn quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n She began to stick the pieces of brush that had covered their shelter back into the bushes, motioning for Adam to do as she did. After the area was completely clear, she took the last piece and brushed the area where the shelter had been.<\/p>\n Adam looked back when they were on their way, amazed that there was no trace of their camp.<\/p>\n Mike pulled the fruit she had taken from the table in her cabin out of a basket along with some jerky wrapped in a skin and again in oil cloth. She passed an apple to Adam then offered him the jerky. She smiled when she noticed his feet\u2026they were bare.<\/p>\n They stopped only once this night, to cut fruit from a prickly-pear cactus to quench their thirst. She showed him where to cut it from the cactus and how to peel the skin without touching the fine hair-like spines at the base of the fruit. \u201cThis morning, you will find our meal and prepare it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Adam watched the dark shadows of the steep mountains pass by as they travelled. He listened to the sound of the horse hooves in the rocky, dry soil and the occasional sound of a distant vulture. Other than those sounds, the night desert was silent.<\/p>\n Once again, when the morning light appeared over the horizon, they stopped to make camp. Mike asked Adam to choose the site and when his decision was made, she asked him to tell her why he chose it. Adam was pleased\u2026she made no remark either good or bad and didn\u2019t move the location, meaning to him that the site he picked was a good one.<\/p>\n After they had unloaded the horses, he made the shelter as she watched. He fed and watered the horses as he had seen her do the night before. She guided him through the rocks pointing to likely spots where he might find a snake, and when he did, he pulled it out, throwing his knife, severing the head with the throw. She helped him skin it, and took the rattle for her necklace. He did as she had done to prepare and cook the meat and dry the skin and head. When they finished eating and covered the fire, he removed his clothes without hesitation and donned his breechcloth. He covered their footprints and crawled into the shelter. Both of them fell asleep almost immediately.<\/p>\n When they awoke, the evening routine was done in efficient and methodical silence by both of them. Shortly after they were on their way again, they stopped, Mike having heard more than the sound of the horses or the night birds. She jumped down from her horse, leading him through the darkness into the rocks. Adam followed. He knew not to speak, but listened, straining to hear what had alerted her. Before he heard anything, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. That was the last thing he remembered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Nineteen<\/strong><\/p>\n When Adam awoke, the first thing he noticed was pain. He moved his hand to the back of his head and felt a distinct knot. Looking around him, he realized he was in what looked like a hut made from skins. Even the floor was covered in skins and Indian rugs. The hut was not the same as any teepees he had seen. It was bigger with a slant beginning about shoulder height leading to a hole in the roof under which the remnants of a fire sat on the only space in the floor that wasn\u2019t covered. He wasn\u2019t tied or bound in any way, so he slowly got to his feet and walked to the only opening other than the hole in the roof.<\/p>\n He stopped just inside and listened to the voices he heard. He was unable to understand what was being said, but he knew that one of those voices belonged to Mike. Assuming she had identified herself, and they weren\u2019t captives, he stepped out of the hut. The other two voices belonged to an old woman wearing only a skirt and an old man wearing a breechcloth who Adam guessed was their medicine man based on the way he was adorned. Besides other colorful jewelry, he wore the necklace containing the two rattles and two snake heads Mike had made.<\/p>\n They squatted in a close circle near the door of the hut. He noticed that Mike and the old woman were both positioned so that the tassels of their skirts hung between their legs. He looked around him, and everywhere the women were dressed and sat the same, and all the men wore nothing but breechcloths as Mike had said.<\/p>\n \u201cHutsi\u2019, daiboo\u2019,\u201d said Mike, motioning to Adam, \u201cnappai Shoshoni. SodeN tsa\u2019uhtu-monih demenge-nattahsun, ne demazai-da\u2019oda-sokaN dai\u2019zhi.\u201d<\/p>\n The woman took Mike\u2019s hand then looked at Adam\u2019s. \u201cKuhma?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHaa\u2019,\u201d answered Mike, nodding. They all looked over at him.<\/p>\n \u201cSodeN daiqwa-Shoshoni?\u201d asked the old woman.<\/p>\n \u201cKai,\u201d said Mike, shaking her head.<\/p>\n The old woman stood up and was followed by Mike and the medicine man. \u201cThen we will speak the white man\u2019s tongue. You have the medicine?\u201d\u00a0 Mike nodded and walked past Adam into the hut, taking five of the bottles out of a basket, and returning to the old woman. The medicine man took the bottles and left toward another hut.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will meet with the Shoshoni men when they return from the hunt. The mines are in the lands of the Aha macave. You will be guided to the edge of their lands, but we will go no further. You will sleep in my lodge. Then you will go when the sun rises again.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike bowed her head. \u201cOse, hutsi\u2019.\u201d The old woman laid her hand on Mike\u2019s head, looked up to the sky and said what Adam imagined was a prayer, then left. Mike stood next to Adam, and when the old woman was out of sight, she pulled Adam into the lodge.<\/p>\n \u201cWho is she?\u201d asked Adam.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is hutsi\u2019, my grandmother. \u00a0Her name is Kimama.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI told her the money I will make for helping you save your half-brother pays for the medicine. When the men return, we will talk. They will take us toward the mines up to the land of the Aha macave. I do not think we will go far from there before the Aha macave find us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we wait,\u201d said Adam, tightening his lips and breathing heavily through his nose. He knew Joe could last for a time; he was healthy and strong. But if what Mike said was true about the conditions of the mine, the longer he was there, the more likely he would run into trouble, especially with his temper. \u201cI never told you he was my half-brother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf he is it is just as well. They would not believe we would be getting money for medicine if he was Shoshoni.\u201d Mike emptied one of the baskets, gathering some small skins and oil cloth. \u201cCome. We must prepare for our journey to the Aha macave. We will gather food. After the evening meal we will go to the water and bathe with my family. Then we will sleep here in the lodge of my grandmother. The men will want to leave before dawn.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam followed her to the edge of a large creek. On the sunny banks across the creek stood rack upon rack of salmon meat drying in the sun. They waded to the other side, then Mike laid her basket down and took a spear from the side of one of the racks, handing it to Adam. She found another and beckoned for him to follow her back into the creek. At the bottom of a small fall, she pulled him behind her and stood patiently until one of the swimming salmon jumped out of the water heading up the fall. She speared it in the air, then motioned for Adam to do the same. He was successful with his first fish. They took the fish back to the bank and went back to the fall, each taking one more fish.<\/p>\n When the fish were on the bank, she reached up, touching his face. \u201cWhite men are hairy. Wait here.\u201d He watched her from a distance as she dug her knife deep into the heart of a cactus, pulling out a thick, translucent substance. When she came back, she dropped her skirt to the ground and walked into the water, her knife in one hand and the goo in the other. \u201cCome,\u201d she said motioning for him to follow her.<\/p>\n Adam removed his breechcloth and walked into the water, cocking his head and raising an eyebrow. \u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt will make the blade move easy over your face.\u201d<\/p>\n He chuckled nervously. \u201cUh\u2026I\u2026would\u2026prefer to do that myself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have no mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, accepting that she was right that he would never be able to shave without one. \u201cMay I see the knife?\u201d She gave it to him, and he tested the blade, pulling his finger back quickly after making a small slice without any effort. He handed it back.<\/p>\n \u201cGet down on your knees in the water.\u201d He slowly lowered himself, so tense she thought he might snap in two. She laughed at him as she put the knife in her mouth, reached around his head and began to spread the goo over the shadow of his beard. Once she was done, she wrapped an arm around his head, holding him so tightly against her that he struggled. \u201cDo not move unless you want me to cut your throat,\u201d she said sternly. When he relaxed, she put the edge of the blade against his face and began to shave him. He had slowly relaxed until she got to his neck then he tensed again. \u201cIf I wanted you dead, you would be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not worried that you\u2019ll kill me intentionally. I\u2019m worried that you\u2019ll kill me accidently.\u201d He forced himself to relax, allowing her to continue. As she began shaving his neck, she said angrily, \u201cYour words are too big.\u201d<\/p>\n That was smart. She\u2019s angry at me, and she\u2019s shaving my neck.<\/em><\/p>\n When she was done, she let him go and turned away to clean the knife in the water while he rinsed his face. As he was washing away the remnants of the goo, he drew his fingers over his face and grunted in surprise. He couldn\u2019t remember a time when his face had been this smooth after he had shaved with a razor.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere did you learn to shave a man?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHere. You are the first,\u201d she answered offhandedly. Adam\u2019s bottom jaw dropped, but he quickly recovered it, blowing and puffing his cheeks out. \u201cDo you know how to prepare a fish\u2026to remove the bones?\u201d<\/p>\n Filleting a fish was something that he had done a hundred or more times, and he happily replied, \u201cyes,\u201d glad that there was something out here to do that he already knew.<\/p>\n Mike took four large pieces of already dried salmon meat off of one of the racks, rolled them in oil cloths and wrapped them tightly in a skin. Then she took their first fish to a flat rock and began to prepare it for the rack. Adam did the same, and soon, all four fish were filleted and hanging over the rack in place of the fish she had taken.<\/p>\n They dressed and went back to the lodge where Mike repacked the basket with the dried salmon. Then they waited and rested until they were called for the evening meal.<\/p>\n The Shoshoni men returned with a big horn sheep that they skinned, cut and began cooking over several fires. The big horn would be enough to feed the entire tribe, including the two visitors. The men sat cross-legged in a circle around the fire with the medicine man and Adam. Mike and her grandmother were the only two women seated in the circle. All the other women were either tending to the men or were sitting with a group away from them.<\/p>\n The medicine man addressed the men. \u201cMike nattahsun-keya. SodeN yaa monih nasukkuse nattahsun demazai\u2019-Adam yaa dawi\u2019 gahti kaitsaan-hooda.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the men in the circle spoke, \u201cAdam daiboo\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam nappai daiboo\u2019 nappai Shoshoni gahti kwinahai. Adam kuhma. Mike kwehe.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam leaned over to Mike. \u201cWhat are they saying?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPohakanten,\u201d she said, pointing to the medicine man, \u201ctells them we bring medicine and can get money for more medicine if they help find the mines. He tells them you are half-breed and that we are husband and wife.\u201d<\/p>\n The man in the circle spoke again. \u201cKimama meheN-nehwe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHaa\u2019,\u201d answered Mike\u2019s grandmother.<\/p>\n \u201cThey asked if Grandmother claims us as family. She said \u2018yes\u2019,\u201d whispered Mike.<\/p>\n \u201cSodeN daiqwa-Shoshoni?\u201d asked the man.<\/p>\n \u201cKai,\u201d said Kimama.<\/p>\n The men looked around the circle at one another discussing Adam among themselves. The man who had been speaking asked, \u201cYour brother is Shoshoni?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, my brother is a white man. He is my half-brother.\u201d There was more discussion within the circle.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take you to land of Aha macave near mines. No more.\u201d He clapped his hands and the women brought flat wood covered with chunks of meat, followed by flat bread and what Adam recognized as the fruit from the prickly-pear cactus. Mike and her grandmother left the circle. Adam stayed and ate with the men. He carefully watched what the men did before Mike brought food to him. He laid a smaller piece of wood on the ground in front of him, and stabbed a piece of meat with his knife while Mike placed a piece of the flat bread and chunks of the cactus fruit on the wood. Then she backed away, sitting with the women and eating after all the men had been served. Some of the men left the circle, each calling to a woman to sit with him. When Adam looked around for Mike, he found her sitting with her grandmother, eating a piece of meat with her hands, gnawing it, letting the grease drip down her chin. He didn\u2019t allow his disgust to show on his face, thinking better of it when he observed the other women eating the same way, wiping their chins with the back of the arms.<\/p>\n Mike caught his eye and nodded him over. He got up, walking over to her. She sneered and motioned away. Adam stood for a moment, watching as another man called a woman to him. \u201cMike,\u201d he said loudly, walking to a log near the entrance to her grandmother\u2019s lodge.<\/p>\n The man that had been talking in the circle leaned over to the other men still sitting with him. \u201cHe does not know the way of the Shoshoni.\u201d<\/p>\n Another man answered. \u201cHe is the family of Kimama. He stays this night. He will not be ours to feed when the sun rises, and the Aha macave woman will go back to her people.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Twenty<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAyasha, it is too dangerous for you to come again. If you are with the Shoshoni, you will be taken to the reservation. If you are found without the Shoshoni, the Army men will not be kind to you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHutsi\u2019, if I do not bring the medicine, our people will die.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI will make the Shoshoni men understand that you do this to keep our people alive to fight. They will come to know.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam and the Shoshoni men who were taking them toward the mines waited while Mike and her grandmother said their goodbyes. Mike swung her leg up and over one of the two horses the Shoshoni had given them to replace the two they had arrived on, and they left the village.<\/p>\n \u201cAyasha?\u201d said Adam.<\/p>\n \u201cMy Shoshoni name.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat does it mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLittle One. \u00a0Ssh. We must be quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n They rode with four Shoshoni men through steep-sided canyons and up and over the mountains of dust and rock, never entering the wide valleys. When they arrived atop a high precipice, the men slid off their horses and motioned for Adam and Mike to join them lying on the edge. From where they were looking, the entire east end of the valley between two mountain ranges was visible. Mines could be seen as tiny points of dust where men were constantly moving in and out of them. The mines that were close together were gold or silver mines. Other mines were isolated, hugging looming rock walls; one with the opening positioned high up on the face of the wall.<\/p>\n \u201cThe white man digs the lead mines against the rock and high up so they cannot be attacked from sides or back\u2026only front,\u201d said one of the Shoshoni men, pointing. He crawled back away from the edge and stood. \u201cWe go no further. There lies the land of the Aha macave.\u201d<\/p>\n The Shoshoni man took Mike by the arms. \u201cKimama has told us why you come to our lands again and again.\u201d He looked up to the sky and said, \u201cMay Hania watch over you\u2026and Tsiishchili,\u201d he added, looking back at Adam. \u201cGoodbye my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike and Adam watched as the Shoshoni men disappeared into the canyon below the precipice. \u201cWhat did he say to you?\u201d asked Adam.<\/p>\n \u201cHe asked that the Great Spirit warrior watch over us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUs?\u201d asked Adam with raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n \u201cHe gave you a Shoshoni name\u2026Tsiishchili. You are one of the tribe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat does it mean?\u201d<\/p>\n She looked to the side trying to hide a grin. \u201cIt means \u2018curly haired\u2019\u201d. He frowned. \u201cDo not look displeased. It could have been Pehe-daaN.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHairy one.\u201d He looked down at his bare chest, bouncing his head from side to side with his eyebrows raised.<\/p>\n \u201cCome. We have far to travel.\u201d Even though the mines could be seen from the precipice, they were still more than two days ride away. \u201cWe will find a place to make camp and travel again in darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Shoshoni didn\u2019t feel the need to do that. Why are we?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a better chance of avoiding the Aha macave if we travel at night. And the sun will not burn your skin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve already been traveling in the sun, and sunburn is not going to interfere with getting Joe out of there. What are the chances we\u2019ll avoid the Aha macave?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSmall,\u201d she said as she took the braid out of her hair, now wearing it loosely falling over her shoulders.<\/p>\n \u201cThen we\u2019ll keep moving.\u201d Mike pinched her mouth into an aggravated pucker, but before she could voice her dissent, Adam stopped her. \u201cNot a word,\u201d he growled, flaring his nostrils and furrowing his brows. She pulled her pucker in at his growl and did as she was told while Adam chuckled to himself. She reminded him of Little Joe at eight or nine years old when he was angry.<\/p>\n As they travelled, they stopped periodically to water their horses and themselves. In this part of the desert, plant life was sparse. They had not found a prickly pear cactus or any other edible plant for hours.<\/p>\n Adam had excused himself and walked behind some rocks. When he returned, an Indian, he assumed Aha macave, was dragging a struggling Mike away, holding his hand over her mouth. Adam pulled his knife from the sheath he wore at his waist, intent on freeing Mike, but several more men jumped down from the rocks above him, surrounding them. Adam looked around him and back at Mike, who was staring intently at him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou dare touch my woman!\u201d he shouted, then lunged forward with his knife. The other Aha macave closed in on him, holding him by the arms and neck as he struggled to free himself.<\/p>\n \u201cWho are you?\u201d said the man holding Mike.<\/p>\n \u201cI am Chacha hoda, daughter of Chacha wakavar. I have brought medicine for Fulani moco’o.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFulani moco\u2019o lives with the Great Spirit. \u201cQuaskette howa has taken his place. Who is he?\u201d the man asked, pushing his chin out toward Adam.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is my husband.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe is a white man,\u201d said the man in disgust.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is also Shoshoni.\u201d<\/p>\n The Aha macave man studied both of them then nodded to the other men, pushing Mike hard toward Adam, who caught her in his arms and held her. He pulled her behind him as he approached the Aha macave man.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you touch her again, I will kill you,\u201d threatened Adam through clenched teeth, standing chest to chest with the Aha macave.<\/p>\n The Aha macave man looked impassively at Adam then looked over his shoulder at the other men. They all began to laugh. Adam flared his nostrils, and the man patted both of his shoulders. \u201cCome brother. We will take you to our camp. You will eat and drink with us.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam looked down at Mike who was smiling up at him proudly. They followed the Aha macave through the canyon to their camp, dodging an Army patrol on the way.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Twenty-One<\/strong><\/p>\n Hoss Cartwright stood, churning, waiting for the stagecoach that would bring his father home early from St. Louis. His father\u2019s response to Hoss\u2019 telegram was a short \u2018I\u2019m on my way. Don\u2019t let the trail get cold\u2019. After that answer, Adam and Hoss knew one of them had to start tracking, and it was as plain to Hoss as the nose on his face which one should go and which one should wait. Adam was smaller and could move faster and right now speed was necessary. The only traces left of Joe was just about everything he carried with him. Whoever took him, took him and nothing else. It definitely wasn\u2019t a robbery, and they definitely didn\u2019t want anyone to identify him. It had taken weeks for his father to return and in all that time a demand for ransom never materialized.<\/p>\n Now, after receiving Adam\u2019s telegram from Aurora, Hoss felt that maybe it would have been better if there had been a ransom note. If what Adam suspected was true, Joe could be in serious trouble, if not already dead, and there would be no one on the way Adam could trust to help him.<\/p>\n Hoss heard the unmistakable sound of the team of horses pulling the stagecoach. He craned his neck to see it coming around the corner, watching it until it stopped in front of him. Ben Cartwright barely waited for it to stop before he bolted from the coach.<\/p>\n \u201cAny news?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, this telegram came from Adam about a week ago, Pa. It don\u2019t sound good,\u201d he said, handing the telegram to his father.<\/p>\n Ben read. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t look like Adam\u2019s going to get much help either except for this guide, Mike Dutton. He says the Army post down there is probably in on it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDeath Valley,\u201d said Hoss, shaking his head. \u201cThere\u2019s an Indian war goin\u2019 on down there, and Adam\u2019s walkin\u2019 right in the middle of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t seem to have much choice, Hoss. Let\u2019s go. I want to get started as soon as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam said we should bring some of the men unless we wanted to end up on one of those wagons.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben and Hoss rode quickly home to the Ponderosa where they handpicked two men to ride with them, packed their gear on fresh horses, barely saying hello and goodbye to Hop Sing. Hop Sing understood. He was just as anxious for them to bring Joe and Adam home as they were. When Hoss told him his father would be on the stagecoach, Hop Sing packed enough food to carry them through the ride to Aurora.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Hop Sing,\u201d said Ben.<\/p>\n Hop Sing could see the worry on his face. \u201cHop Sing be okay here. You bring Missa Joe and Missa Adam home.\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n When Adam and Mike arrived at the Aha macave camp, most of the inhabitants were men. There were very few women and no children.<\/p>\n \u201cAsk them where my mother is\u2026Chacha wakavar,\u201d said Mike, leaning into Adam.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere is Chacha wakavar?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe was sick and was taken to the reservation.\u201d<\/p>\n When Mike heard this, she stepped in front of Adam, but he pulled her back, looking sternly at her. \u201cWho took her there?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was found and taken by the soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike slumped, stepping away, and Adam followed her, standing behind her. \u201cShe would rather die than go to the reservation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n He turned back to the Aha macave. \u201cCan we get her back?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, we cannot. The soldiers are too many to fight at the reservation.\u201d He motioned toward a small hut. \u201cCome. Rest. We will talk at the night meal.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike went to the pallet of skins at the back of the hut, dropping, bringing her knees up to her chest and covering her head. Adam sat near the opening of the hut, observing the Aha macave as they went about their daily chores. He heard Mike moving around behind him, going through the baskets. Soon, she sat next to him. He noticed she sat with one leg underneath her while the other was bent with her knee up, the tassels of her skirt covering her and recognized that she was sitting like the few Aha macave women in the camp. She had changed her whole demeanor in the presence of the Aha macave.<\/p>\n She sat down close to him with her head bowed, leaning into his side, grasping something in her hand and fidgeting. \u201cMy great-grandmother taught me to speak your language, but\u2026\u201d She held out her hand closed in a fist, and Adam held out his open hand. Her hand hovered over his for a moment, as if she was unsure if she wanted to give him whatever was there. \u201cThis came for me before you came to Aurora. I was told it is from California.\u201d She dropped a rolled envelope into Adam\u2019s hand, never looking at him, then drew her hand back and played with the tassels on her skirt. \u201cMy grandfather was taken by the soldiers. My grandmother said he was in the prison of the white man, and that we would not see him again. That was many years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYour great-grandmother never taught you to read, did she?\u201d asked Adam gently. She looked away shamefully, shaking her head. \u201cDo you know why your grandfather was taken?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause he took supplies and medicine to the Shoshoni during the big war.\u201d<\/p>\n She unrolled the envelope in his hand, taking the letter out and placing it back in his hand. She glanced up at him quickly, pushing the edge of the letter with her fingertips, silently imploring him to read it.<\/p>\n Adam unrolled and unfolded the letter and read it to himself, sucking in a long, deep breath when he was done and looking out the opening. He looked back at her when he felt her eyes on him, pleading. He cleared his throat and read. \u201cMiss Dutton, it is with my sincere apologies that I must inform you of the death of Michael Lewis Dutton on the evening of July 4, 1860 while incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. Mr. Dutton died of consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n Her eyes clouded, and she backed away from him, crawling back to the pallet of skins, curling into a tight ball. He\u2019d never seen her cry. After watching her unemotional, methodical ways, he never imagined he would ever see her cry.<\/p>\n He backed away from the door and lay next to her on the skins. She turned her back to him, but allowed him to hold her as she sobbed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Twenty-Two<\/strong><\/p>\n Adam went back to the opening of the hut, leaving Mike lying on the pallet after crying herself to sleep. When he saw that several men had brought in a mule deer, he stepped outside, hoping they would ask him to help. He had slaughtered enough cattle and deer in his life to know his way around a mule deer. When he approached the men with his knife out, none took it as an act of aggression, but rather that he was coming to help like every other man in the small band. He knelt next to the man that had spoken to him before and began pulling and cutting the skin from the underlying meat.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you called?\u201d asked the man.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you have a Shoshoni name?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTsiishchili.\u201d<\/p>\n The men surrounding the mule deer looked at him, his chest, his arms and legs then laughed heartily. \u201cThen you shall be called Homar huwhen,\u201d said the man, laughing.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you called?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am Empote quatacheech.\u201d Adam slowly pronounced the name, and Empote quatacheech gave him a satisfied grunt and nod.<\/p>\n When the men had finished removing the skin and gutting the mule deer, they passed the skin and waste back to the women who were waiting to clean and hang the skin to dry. The waste was taken away from the camp and sparsely spread over the ground. By morning, there would be no trace of it.<\/p>\n Once the meat was cut and cooking over the fires, the men went to wash the blood of the mule deer off their bodies as the women brought corn and squash. Each Aha macave man patted Adam on the back, inviting him to go with them, appreciating his skill with the knife. The men washed silently, ever vigil of their surroundings.<\/p>\n When they returned, Adam was happy to see Mike tending the fires with the other women. He followed the men, sitting in a circle, discussing the kill of the mule deer and the location of the Army patrols. When the food was ready, the women laid large wooden trays of food in front of the men in the circle then positioned themselves behind the men. He noticed that a woman who was the wife of one of the men sat close to him, just behind and to the right. The wives were treated with greater respect than the single women who brought their food with them and sat farther back from the circle. The wives were given food from the trays by their husbands. Anything the husband didn\u2019t finish was passed back to the wife who could then pass back to the other women. The wives were allowed to speak when spoken to.<\/p>\n Empote quatacheech spoke to the small band of Aha macave, raising his hands to the sky, thanking Mutavilya, their creator, who gave them their names and their commandments and his son, Mastamho, who gave them the river and taught them how to plant and hunt. When the prayer was done and everyone started eating, he spoke again. \u201cAdam, you use the knife well. You are Homar huwhen.\u201d Everyone, including the women repeated his name, then laughed.<\/p>\n Adam turned to Mike. \u201cWhy are they laughing?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYour name means \u2018hairy man with short hair,\u2019\u201d she answered, laughing.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat does your name mean?\u201d She frowned and looked away, muttering. \u201cWhat? I didn\u2019t hear you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeautiful ear of corn.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam laughed loudly, but didn\u2019t cause anyone to take notice. His laughter blended in with theirs. He found it refreshing, especially after hearing how vicious the Aha macave could be, that they were so friendly. He knew he wouldn\u2019t have been so fortunate if he had not been traveling with Mike. It was clear\u2026to friends they were a very gracious people.<\/p>\n When the meal was over, the women on the outside of the circle behind the wives took the trays and gathered near the cooking fire.<\/p>\n \u201cChacha hoda, do you bring medicine?\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded and passed a skin-wrapped bundle forward. It made its way around the circle to Empote quatacheech. Another package was passed to Quaskette howa. When Empote quatacheech opened the package he held up the bottles for all to see. A mumble arose through the small band with everyone nodding approval, and again, when the medicine man unrolled the two snake skins.<\/p>\n \u201cHomar huwhen and Chacha hoda, you have brought much needed medicine and have pleased the Great Spirit,\u201d he said, nodding toward Quaskette howa. \u201cSpeak your gift.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy half brother has been taken as a slave in the lead mines. We ask for your help in freeing him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHomar huwhen, many of our brothers have been taken to work in the mines. They are never seen again. We have been to the camps of the white men who guard the mines. The white slaves sleep in chains outside. The Aha macave slaves sleep inside the mine so that we cannot free them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy brother is not Shoshoni. He is white.\u201d A murmur passed around the circle. \u201cOur father is a white man. We have different mothers.\u201d<\/p>\n Empote quatacheech sat with his eyes closed while the medicine man sitting beside him whispered to him. \u201cChacha hoda has the blood of the white man. She is mutaquesa manyieh, a good spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n Empote quatacheech opened his eyes. \u201cWe will help you free your brother. But be warned. It will not go easy. We may all meet the Great Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBefore we go, I would speak with the Captain of the soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. It is the soldiers who take my brothers to the mines. It is the soldiers that guard the wagons that come from the north full of white slaves. If you speak to this Captain, you will not return. You will be a slave in the mines.\u201d Adam nodded. \u201cWe will go to watch when the sun is high. Then we will go after the next sunset to find your brother and free him. Tonight we drink the water of the seer.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike tugged on Adam\u2019s arm, and when he looked, her eyes were full of fear. She whispered, \u201cYou cannot drink the water of the seer. It will\u2026change you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n She looked sadly at him, knowing that he would drink with the men. \u201cYou will become\u2026Aha macave\u2026not Adam Cartwright. It will make you act like an Aha macave man the night before he goes to fight\u2026so that his spirit lives on.\u201d<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t have a chance to explain further. The single women in the group took her, struggling to the hut, forcing her inside. \u201cYou will wait here,\u201d said one of the women.<\/p>\n She had no choice. Adam would soon come into the hut, and she had to be prepared. She began to pull the leather straps from the baskets, pulling long pieces of string through the ends.<\/p>\n The men sat around the fire while Quaskette howa prepared the drink that would be shared by all the men. He cut a dried cactus into small pieces, dropping them into a half gourd filled with water that he slowly warmed over the fire. He said a prayer then passed the gourd around with each man taking a drink. When Adam drank the effect was slow, but soon the men in the circle began to move from side to side in a wave; their heads would move first then their bodies would move while their heads moved back. The gourd came around again, and he took another drink. As time went by, the sparks from the fire became small figures dancing around the fire as if they were alive. The medicine man danced with them. The drink had other effects, too, and soon, the men were leaving the circle, going into their huts with their wives amid the hoots and howls of those men left at the fire, watching the strange fire dance taking place in the middle.<\/p>\n When the gourd came back around, Adam pushed it away, swaying as if he was going to fall\u2026but wait\u2026he was sitting on the ground already. Finally, he was pulled to his feet by someone saying something about his Shoshoni blood was too thin to take anymore. The bodiless arms guided him to his hut and shoved him through the opening. He fell to his knees, swaying. Then he saw her, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, her tanned body flowing to the floor like a river, her hair growing longer and longer. He reached for her and pulled her to him, running his fingers through her long hair.<\/p>\n Mike pushed him backwards, straddling him, and he pulled her face down to his, taking her mouth with his. She whispered words to him that he could not comprehend; the melodic sound of her voice, soothing. She moved his arms over his head then climbed down his body to his feet, gently touching him, whispering promises.<\/p>\n She suddenly backed away. He tried to sit up, but he couldn\u2019t bring his legs underneath him. He reached for her with his hands, but he couldn\u2019t separate them. As much as he tried to get to her, she was always just out of reach until he fell from his knees onto his side, mumbling. His mumbles slowly faded, and he lay motionless. Mike stayed in the far corner of the hut the rest of the night.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Twenty-Three<\/strong><\/p>\n When Adam awoke, he opened his eyes, but the hut was spinning, so he closed them again. He brought his hands up to his head and realized he was tied. When he tried to sit up, he found his feet were tied together. \u201cMike?\u201d He slowly opened his eyes, wincing at the light coming through the opening. Bringing his hands up in front of him, he pulled the string with his teeth until he was able to pull them loose enough to get his hands out of the leather straps. After slowly sitting up, he untied his feet while looking around the hut. Mike wasn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n He felt worse than he did after his worst drunk in Virginia City. He thought he must have looked worse, too, because when he slowly made his way out of the hut, everyone stopped to look and laugh. Mike rushed over from\u2026somewhere\u2026and helped him sit on the log next to the hut, answering his questions through her laughter at his curls sticking out at all angles and his eyes, barely open.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou drank the water of the seer. Peyote.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me it was Peyote?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou must eat or you will be sick all day.\u201d She squatted in front of him and pulled a small piece of meat from the chunk she was holding. \u201cHere. Eat this.\u201d After he swallowed, she handed him a gourd. \u201cDrink this. It will make the pain in your head go away.\u201d<\/p>\n After a few minutes, memories of the last night slowly came back. He opened his eyes wide, looking intently at her. \u201cMike?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo not worry. I tied you. You did nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam blew out a long breath in relief. She puckered her mouth and cocked her head. \u201cMike, I didn\u2019t mean that you\u2019re not\u2026it\u2019s just that I would never\u2026intentionally\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n She patted his knee. \u201cYou are using big words again,\u201d she said as she went into the hut. She stuck her head back out. \u201cCome.\u201d<\/p>\n When Adam entered the hut he was still eating the meat she had given him. He was surprised it was staying down, but he wasn\u2019t going to complain. After drinking whatever she had given him, he was beginning to feel better quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cRemove your dopada\u2019-nee\u2019 and put these on. The buckskin will blend with the rocks so that you will not be seen.\u201d While he was changing, she also changed into buckskin pants and top.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. I can move more quickly through the rocks than the men. I fit into small places. We will travel far on foot. Can you run far?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll manage.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou will wear your buckskin boots. We will be running over rock that will wear on your feet.\u201d<\/p>\n When they emerged from their hut, the Aha macave men who would be going with them were all dressed as Adam, except that they were barefoot. They handed a small poke of water with a strap to Adam and to Mike. Each one carried two knives. Three of the men carried a bow and a quiver of arrows. When everyone has ready Empote quatacheech said, \u201cWe go.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam and Mike fell in line in the middle of the six Aha macave, and they trotted away from camp toward the mines. When they reached the precipice just to the west of the mines, Empote quatacheech signaled for each man to take a specific position among the rocks, two moving to the south above the mine entrance, and three moving to the east side. He motioned for Mike to work her way to a hidden ledge just above the mine entrance. From their height, they could all see the entire encampment below and anyone that went in or came out of the mine. During their watch, Army guards kept constant vigil on the surrounding mountains, looking for any movement, seeing nothing. When the sun had moved halfway between straight up and the horizon Empote quatacheech made the vulture\u2019s call and the Aha macave, including Mike, slowly appeared behind Adam. They left as silently as they had come, and did not speak until they were back at the camp.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Twenty-Four<\/strong><\/p>\n Ben, Hoss and two ranch hands had ridden hard to arrive in Aurora the evening of their fourth day on the trail. Adam had mentioned in his telegram to speak to the bartender; that the bartender could give them more information than anyone else in town. The four men walked into the saloon and up to the bar.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019ll it be for you fellas?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFour beers,\u201d said Ben. When the beers arrived, Ben leaned forward toward the bartender. \u201cI\u2019m looking for my son. He was here a little while ago looking for a guide by the name of Mike Dutton.\u201d<\/p>\n The bartender looked around the saloon, and seeing that it was almost empty, leaned forward. \u201cMister, people come in here all the time lookin\u2019 for Mike. After awhile, they all start lookin\u2019 alike.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben pulled a stack of coins from his pocket and began shuffling them, letting them bounce in his hand. \u201cMy son told me he was going into Death Valley with this guide. Does that sound familiar?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid your son dress in black?\u201d Ben nodded. \u201cHe left over a week ago, Mister, but there\u2019s no one here that will track him for you. He went lookin\u2019 for the Shoshoni and the Aha macave. The Army knows he\u2019s there, and they\u2019re lookin\u2019 for him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh? What happens when they find him?\u201d<\/p>\n The bartender leaned close, looking around again before he answered. \u201cIf he\u2019s alone, he\u2019ll end up in the lead mines like his brother. If he\u2019s with Mike, he\u2019ll still end up in the mines, and Mike, well, they\u2019ll do some pretty awful things to Mike before they take her to the reservation. If they\u2019re with the Indians, there will be a small war. The Army outnumbers the Indians ten to one. It won\u2019t last very long.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHer?\u201d asked Ben, alarmed. \u201cHe hired a guide named Mike Dutton.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019d be a she, Mister. She\u2019s part white, part Shoshoni and part Mojave. And she\u2019s real important to the Army. She\u2019s been taking medicine in to the Indians. They\u2019re just waitin\u2019 for her and her Indians to attack the mines to get your missing son back.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben turned to Hoss, \u201cAdam doesn\u2019t know they\u2019re walking into a trap. Is there a guide that knows that area that can maybe draw a map?\u201d Ben asked the bartender.<\/p>\n The bartender thought. \u201cMaybe. You gentlemen take a seat. I\u2019ll send someone after him.\u201d<\/p>\n While they waited, Ben pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. \u201cWhat\u2019s that, Pa,\u201d asked Hoss.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll ask the bartender to send this telegram tomorrow to Colonel Adamson in San Francisco. They won\u2019t be here in time to help us, but they will eventually get here and hopefully close those lead mines down. If the Army here is involved, we can\u2019t trust any of \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Twenty-Five<\/strong><\/p>\n I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, The Aha macave men gathered around the cold fire pit, drinking and eating a light meal, discussing their observations at the mine.<\/p>\n \u201cHomar huwhen, did you see your brother?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. Though there were many white men coming and going through the mouth of the mine, I did not see him. I do not know why he would not be with the other men. How do you know he is in this mine?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe wagons come only to this mine. The mouth is high on the mountain; no one can escape. They move Aha macave to other mines when wagon brings more white men.\u201d<\/p>\n Another man spoke, \u201cEmpote quatacheech, the Army guards watched the mountains. They did not do this before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey know. I do not know how. They wait for us to come.\u201d<\/p>\n Everyone turned toward a commotion on the outskirts of the camp. An Aha macave man came into camp holding a knife at the neck of a soldier whose jacket was opened showing a white shirt streaked with blood. \u201cWe have been found. We must move.\u201d A murmur grew in the camp. Empote quatacheech breathed deeply. \u201cHomar huwhen, we must wait to free your brother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe could die if we wait,\u201d answered Adam.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will die if we do not. We will move and watch for a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat will you do with him?\u201d Adam asked, pointing to the soldier.<\/p>\n Empote quatacheech turned to the Aha macave holding the soldier. \u201cDid he speak?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, he would not speak.\u201d Empote quatacheech made a cutting motion with his hand and the Aha macave slowly cut the man\u2019s throat.<\/p>\n Adam could see the terror in the man\u2019s eyes as the blade slowly sliced his neck, thick red blood flowing down his chest. Adam jerked his head away and down, his anger turning to fury at the cruelness of it.<\/p>\n \u201cHomar huwhen, you look away in shame. He would not spare your life. The soldiers take pleasure in killing the Indian.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow do you know he was not following orders? When you give orders, do you not expect them to be followed?\u201d asked Adam, angrily looking Empote quatacheech squarely in the eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cAll men choose good or bad. He chose to follow bad orders.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll soldiers are not bad. If you go in to kill, you will be killed.\u201d<\/p>\n Empote quatacheech rose from the circle. \u201cWe are at war with the soldiers. We did not bring the war. We did not take their lands. We did not force them away. We will fight the white man\u2019s Army to keep what is ours. We move.\u201d \u00a0Everyone began to dismantle the camp.<\/p>\n Adam sat staring at the ground in front of him. Mike slowly moved to his side. \u201cThis is the way of my people. They would not kill if the soldiers did not kill them or take them from their lands.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is why the white man believes the Aha macave are savages. Did you see that man\u2019s shirt? That man was tortured,\u201d Adam said furiously.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is no less than what they do to us. Because of this, they fear us yet they do these things. The soldiers are cowards.\u201d She moved in front of him, squatting as close to him as she could get. \u201cAdam, you must understand. When the Aha macave go to free your brother, there will be killing. The Aha macave will kill as many of the soldiers as they can. We may go in like a mouse, but we will leave like the big cat once we have your brother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t kill a soldier unless I have no other choice,\u201d he said. She turned away. \u201cWait. We? You\u2019re not going.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI will be the one to enter the cave to free your brother and the Aha macave there. I will be taking knives for them. If I am found, I will die before I let them take me. They will\u2026do things\u2026before they take me to the reservation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t the kind of help I wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the only help you will get.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Twenty-Six<\/strong><\/p>\n Expecting his nightly routine to be different, Joe waited for a soldier to come get him rather than walking to the line to leave the mine.\u00a0 At first, he was sent where the Aha macave slept; in a tunnel that opened into a wide space where the walls were a dull brown rather than glistening black. When the soldiers came to chain the Aha macave, Joe was taken down another tunnel to a smaller opening where his leg irons were chained to an iron stake in the middle of the floor.<\/p>\n He stood defiantly in the center of the room until the soldier pointed his rifle at him.\u00a0 \u201cBoy, I could care less if you try something.\u00a0 The captain\u2019ll be just a might upset for losing another worker, but it\u2019s just a matter of time before that happens.\u00a0 As soon as your kin show up, you\u2019ll be down the dead shaft.\u00a0 Now, if you want another day, you\u2019ll get down on that floor.\u201d\u00a0 Joe squatted down and waited for his rations.<\/p>\n While he was eating, another soldier brought in a bucket.\u00a0 \u201cYou got your own private privy now.\u00a0 Sweet dreams, Sunshine.\u00a0 \u2018Cause you\u2019ll never see any again.\u201d\u00a0 Joe could hear the soldier\u2019s cackle echoing through the mine.<\/p>\n Looking around him, Joe found nothing but rock.\u00a0 There were no patches of softer dirt anywhere in this cavern.\u00a0 He lay on his stomach again with his head on his arms, but soon found that whatever position he tried, the rock surface he was laying on was eventually going to hurt.\u00a0 He slept fitfully his first night alone.<\/p>\n The more exhausted he became from lack of sleep and the nature of the work, the easier it became to sleep, at least for awhile.\u00a0 Joe had begun to count the days again by lining up loose rocks in the cavern.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t make a regular pattern for fear that one of the soldiers would discovered them so he put rocks in a pile until he had seven, then put one rock next to the bucket to signify a week and started the pile over again.\u00a0 The more rocks he collected, the harder it was for him to believe that Adam was still coming.\u00a0 Looking at the piles during his first meal, he began to think that maybe his family had arrived and were turned away or perhaps the army had found Adam.\u00a0 What if Adam was already here somewhere being forced to dig, just like Joe?\u00a0 What if they had given up?\u00a0 How much longer should he wait before\u2026.<\/p>\n He had started on his third pile of rocks, and just before he fell asleep, he said aloud, \u201cOne more day.\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n A scout was sent to find a suitable place for camp higher up in the mountains. They would have to go further for water and food, but they would be even more difficult to find. Everything required to make camp was carried up the steep rocks on their backs, the women carrying the weight they could right along with the men.<\/p>\n It was long after dark when the camp was settled, and everyone gathered for the evening meal of dried salmon and mesquite beans. Empote quatacheech spoke to the tribe as they ate. \u201cWe go tonight to watch, but we will take the knives. If the soldiers do not watch, we will go in to find the brother of Homar huwhen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd when you find him, what then?\u201d asked Adam loudly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will bring him to you and you will leave us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Chacha hoda?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cChacha hoda must go into the mine to free our people and your brother if he is there. When she has done her work, she may leave with you.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam knew there was no point arguing about what would be done after he left. He knew this was the best he could do. Still, he felt\u2026ashamed\u2026dirty\u2026at the prospect of leaving the soldiers to a violent death.\u00a0 Or perhaps the Aha macave.\u00a0 But he saw no way to prevent it.<\/p>\n \u201cHow will I know your brother?\u201d asked Mike.<\/p>\n Adam thought for a moment. \u201cAsk him who the cook is. He\u2019ll understand. The answer is Hop Sing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHop Sing,\u201d she said, nodding.<\/p>\n They traveled to the rocks around the mines as they had before, silently on foot. Empote quatacheech positioned them as before. They watched and waited. The white slaves from the mine were kept in a flat area where they slept on the ground chained together. The soldiers patrolled the area around them as well as the entrance to the mine.<\/p>\n As they watched, one of the Aha macave to the south came back to Empote quatacheech and Adam. He pointed to the north where Adam could just barely make out four dark figures riding toward the mine in the moonlight. It wasn\u2019t long before the guards heard them approach, and they all formed a line to the north of their encampment. The only soldiers that didn\u2019t go forward were the two stationed in the mouth of the mine. When the riders stopped in front of the soldiers, Empote quatacheech signaled for Mike to enter the mine.<\/p>\n They watched as she deftly climbed down the rock from the top, finding handholds and footholds that could not be seen from below. She stopped just above the mine entrance, hanging on to the rock with one hand and throwing her knife with the other. When the first soldier slumped, the second one bent to see what was wrong, unsuspecting of the knife that had been thrown from above. Before he had a chance to stand back up, she threw a second knife. The soldier slumped on top of the first. She climbed down, disappearing into the dark void of the mine.<\/p>\n Mike searched both soldiers for keys to the chains, found them, then made her way down the main tunnel. She began to worry that she wouldn\u2019t be able to find the Aha macave slaves and Adam\u2019s brother because there were so many tunnels off the main. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found a large chamber at the end of the main tunnel where the men were sleeping. She covered the mouth of the first man, waking him, then handed him the keys and a knife. He, in turn, woke the next man, passing the key along. As the Aha macave men awoke, she handed out knives. She looked across the entire group, but didn\u2019t see a white man, so she pulled the first Aha macave aside, whispering, \u201cWhite man?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne is here in another tunnel. But why?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe must free him. We will talk after.\u201d<\/p>\n The Aha macave man took her to the tunnel where Joe was sleeping. She put her hand over his mouth and her knife at his neck, waking him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>When he opened his eyes, he felt the knife at his throat and saw that it was being held by an Indian girl.<\/p>\n \u201cWho is cook?\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n Joe creased his eyebrows for moment until the fog cleared.<\/p>\n She dug the knife into the flesh of his neck.\u00a0 \u201cWho is cook?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHop Sing.\u201d<\/p>\n Relaxing the knife, she said, \u201cI have come with your brother, Adam, to free you. You must be silent.\u201d Joe nodded, and the Aha macave woman unlocked his chains. \u201cDo you know how to use this?\u201d she asked, holding out the knife. Joe nodded. \u201cThen we go.\u201d<\/p>\n Once all the men were unchained, they waited for Mike at the mine entrance, crouching in the shadows. When they arrived, Mutheel munagh whispered to Joe, \u201cYou are not dead.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I\u2019m not dead,\u201d answered Joe, chuckling.<\/p>\n \u201cYour brother has come for you as you said,\u201d said the Indian, smiling.<\/p>\n Joe crawled up next to the Indian girl, and seeing riders at the far side of the encampment, he nodded toward them and said quietly, \u201cThat\u2019s my father and brother.\u201d<\/p>\n She squatted low so the men on the ground below couldn\u2019t see her and signaled to Empote quatacheech. \u201cYou are not to kill the men on horseback,\u201d she said to the Aha macave waiting behind her. She turned to Joe. \u201cYou will go to the rocks there\u201d, she said, pointing toward Adam\u2019s position. \u201cYou and your brother go back to our camp and prepare to leave. Tell your brother to pack the horses. Tell him to wear his gun.\u201d<\/p>\n When Empote quatacheech gave the signal, the Aha macave poured out of the surrounding mountains, some moving the ladder to the mouth of the mine.\u00a0 More Aha macave came out of the mine, their combined numbers taking the soldiers on the ground by surprise. \u00a0Empote quatacheech had moved from their hiding place and went down the mountain with his men.Joe did as he was told, running to the rocks at the west and climbing until he was grabbed and pulled into the shadows.<\/p>\n Adam wrapped his hand around Joe\u2019s neck, looking into his eyes with a seriousness that made Joe inwardly smile at the knowledge that this family would never have given up. \u201cJoe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m alright, Adam,\u201d he said, and for the first time in weeks, he\u00a0was<\/em>\u00a0alright.\u00a0 He grasped his brother\u2019s arms. \u201cShe said to go back to the horses and get them packed.\u201dThe girl waited until the fighting began, skirting along the sides of the mountains until she was even with Ben and Hoss who were confused at what was taking place, their horses barely in control. \u00a0Running to Ben\u2019s horse, she grabbed the reins.<\/p>\n \u201cI am Mike Dutton. Follow me,\u201d she yelled above the calls of the Indians and the cries of dying men. She ran ahead of them, turning and motioning them to follow. Ben turned his horse, yelling for Hoss and the two hands. They galloped toward her as she ran to the cover of the rocks. \u201cWe must go quickly,\u201d she said, swinging up on Ben\u2019s horse behind him, pointing the way. Mike jumped down from Ben\u2019s horse, and Adam grabbed her arm. \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI must help my people,\u201d she said, trying to pull away.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not going back. We need your help to get out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou do not need my help,\u201d she shouted, struggling against his grip. \u201cYou know the way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHelp me get them back to the camp. Then we\u2019ll both come back.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe climbed up behind Ben who glanced back with a grateful smile and a watery shine in his eyes. The ranch hands doubled up on one horse, and Adam hauled Mike, kicking and struggling, up on the last horse and followed her up, sitting behind her and holding her in the saddle.<\/p>\n When they arrived at camp, Mike spoke in her language to the women, apparently explaining the white men in their camp. \u201cYou must stay at my hut,\u201d she then said to the Cartwrights. \u00a0\u201cIf you move away from here, they will kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam turned to leave with her. \u201cWait, where are you going?\u201d asked Ben anxiously.<\/p>\n \u201cPa, stay here. \u00a0I have to help if I can.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben grabbed Adam\u2019s arm. \u201cThe only thing you have to do is leave with us. You\u2019re not going back there.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam shrugged his father\u2019s hand away. \u201cI can\u2019t leave them, Pa,\u201d he said, looking intently into his father\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n Ben grudgingly nodded, recognizing that look on Adam\u2019s face that said he was doing this no matter what his father had to say. Adam went into the hut, pulling his gun out of the basket, and then he and Mike climbed back down from the camp to the trail through the canyons.<\/p>\n \u201c<\/strong>Pa, where is Adam going?\u201d Joe asked.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s going back to help the Indians.\u201d<\/p>\n A determined look came over Joe\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201cThen I\u2019m going with him,\u201d he said as he turned to follow Adam.<\/p>\n Ben grabbed his arm.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re going to stay right here with the rest of us.\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to risk two sons in an Indian war.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPa, it was the Indians who came for me.\u00a0 I owe it to them to help,\u201d he argued, his nostrils flaring and his jaw set.<\/p>\n Ben took a deep breath and spoke calmly.\u00a0 \u201cThere already gone, son.\u00a0 You might not even find them.\u00a0 Besides that, you need to rest.\u00a0 You\u2019ve been through an ordeal yourself.\u201d\u00a0 Ben looked at his wrists.\u00a0 \u201cHow did this happen?\u201d<\/p>\n Sighing heavily, Joe looked at his hands.\u00a0 \u201cI was shackled until I got to the mine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSave your strength. We still have to get out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe glanced at his father\u2019s face, seeing tiredness there along with deep lines of worry.\u00a0 Somehow it was as though Pa\u2019s fatigue wove itself right into Joe.\u00a0 He was tired, he realized.\u00a0 More than tired.\u00a0 He was also having a hard time taking a deep breath, and his back\u2026it was burning, reminding him of those first nights\u2026reminding him of the whip.\u00a0 Clenching his teeth, he nodded brusquely, angry and frustrated at feeling so weak.\u00a0 He turned to go into the hut, but stopped himself.<\/p>\n \u201cPa, what about Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t look like…\u201d\u00a0 Joe opened his mouth and shook his head as if he was trying to find the right words.\u00a0 \u201cHe didn\u2019t look like Adam.\u00a0 He looked like\u2026like one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben nodded and attempted a smile, then put his hand on Joe\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cGet some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n When Adam and Mike arrived at the mine, they climbed back up on the precipice where Empote quatacheech and Adam had been hiding, looking down into the encampment. Mike gasped at the bloody scene, bodies of both Indian and soldier littering the encampment floor. There were still screams of the soldiers as they felt the Aha macave knife mixed in with the grunts of the Aha macave falling from the bullets of the soldier\u2019s guns. In the end, there were more soldiers standing than Aha macave. Adam and Mike watched as the few Aha macave that remained began to climb the rocks to escape.<\/p>\n \u201cStay here,\u201d Adam said as he climbed down the rock face. He motioned for the remaining Aha macave to come to him. As he pointed them up the rock, he drew his gun ready to defend them if the soldiers gave chase. When he climbed up behind them, he turned around and looked down at the encampment. He saw no more Aha macave who were alive. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing more to do here,\u201d said Adam. \u201cLet\u2019s get back to the camp.\u201d Adam stood to leave and Mike reluctantly followed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Twenty-Seven<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>When Adam and Mike arrived back at the camp, they were joined by the few Aha macave who had retreated to the rocks after the battle.\u00a0 Ben, Joe and Hoss came out of the hut to listen. Ben stepped forward. \u201cAdam, the army knows she\u2019s been helping her people. They\u2019re looking for her. She can\u2019t go back to Aurora.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike looked out across the top of the small mesa. \u201cI do not belong\u2026anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about the Shoshoni?\u201d asked Adam. \u201cCan\u2019t you go back there?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI will bring the soldiers to them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot if you stay there and hide. Don\u2019t go back to Aurora.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut who will bring the medicine?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam took her by the arms. \u201cI don\u2019t know, but it can\u2019t be you. It won\u2019t do them any good if you get caught.\u201d<\/p>\n She bowed her head. \u201cI will go to the Shoshoni. I will find a way to bring the medicine. I can walk with the white man without being seen.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe saw the expression on Adam\u2019s face and knew he was frustrated.\u00a0 He also knew that Adam cared for the girl or he wouldn\u2019t have been so insistent that she not go back to Aurora.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll travel with us. We\u2019ll go back the way we came in,\u201d said Adam, turning to his father. \u201cThe Army will be looking for us. We have to get back to Aurora before they find us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, I sent a telegram to Colonel Adamson in San Francisco. I don\u2019t know how long it will take them to get here, but I expect they\u2019ll close down these mines,\u201d said Ben.<\/p>\n \u201cThat will be good for the Aha macave, but it\u2019s too late for us. We should leave soon. How\u2019s Joe?\u201d he asked, looking over his father\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019ll survive. He\u2019s pretty worn out, but with a little food and water, he\u2019ll be alright,\u201d answered Ben.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope so, Pa. He\u2019s got a ways to travel.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam and Mike packed their belongings, taking some of the corn and dried meat. As they packed the horses they watched while the Aha macave climbed down from the small mesa carrying their belongings on their backs, silently disappearing into the canyons and rocks of the desert.<\/p>\n Standing beside Adam, Joe said, \u201cOne minute they\u2019re right here, and the next it\u2019s like they were never here at all.\u201d\u00a0 Adam squeezed his shoulder, looking worriedly into his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m alright, Adam…now.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam and Mike led them out the same way they had come, avoiding the open desert, making hidden camps, removing all evidence that they had been there. Ben, Joe and Hoss watched as Adam became an Indian, wearing his breechcloth, climbing the rocks and cliffs as silently as Mike, preparing their camp and meals, and breaking camp, leaving no trace. They made four two-man shelters at night, Ben sleeping in a shelter with Joe, the two ranch hands sharing a shelter, Adam, sleeping in his breechcloth with Mike, and Hoss sleeping alone. Mike was proud that Adam continued to wear his breechcloth and travel in bare feet. She had come to think of Adam as one of her people.<\/p>\n One day out, the soldiers caught up to them. As they turned their horses to run, the men fired at the soldiers who were firing on them. No one heard or noticed when Mike was hit. She kept riding on until they had reached cover, and even then, hid her pain from them. It was night before they tried to leave under cover of darkness. They quietly left the soldiers behind, traveling on foot for a distance before mounting their horses. It was only then that Adam noticed her wound when she couldn\u2019t mount her horse. He pulled her away, holding her as she slowly sank to the ground. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe did not have the time to stop,\u201d she said weakly.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, how is she?\u201d asked Ben.<\/p>\n Adam shook his head. \u201cIf we could have stopped the bleeding earlier\u2026she\u2019s lost a lot of blood. We have to get her to the Shoshoni,\u201d said Adam, covering her wound as best he could. Ben handed her up to Adam after he mounted his horse. He held her for the rest of the trip until the Shoshoni found them and took them to the Shoshoni village.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat has happened?\u201d asked an Indian woman, looking at the wound. \u201cAyasha has been shot by a white man\u2019s gun?\u201d she said, glaring at Adam and motioning for others to come take her. The Shoshoni went into a hut while the Cartwrights waited.<\/p>\n When Adam tried to enter the hut, he was stopped by one of the men. \u201cYou carry a white man\u2019s gun. You are not Shoshoni.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben drew Adam back away from the hut, frowning, watching him as he silently paced while Joe stood by, equally silent.\u00a0 This girl, Mike or Ayasha, had risked her life to save his.\u00a0 Now, she lay dying, and Adam\u2026he understood there was a closeness there and wondered just what Adam had gone through to get to him.<\/p>\n Soon, all the Shoshoni left the hut except for the woman, having done everything they could do. After a few minutes the woman came out and spoke to Adam.\u00a0 \u201cShe wishes to speak to you.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Twenty-Eight<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cPa, do you know anything about his girl?\u201d asked Joe while they waited for Adam outside the hut.<\/p>\n Ben leaned back against the tree they were sitting under.\u00a0 \u201cWhen Adam and Hoss found that you were missing\u2026found all your things, Cochise\u2026they also found wagon tracks and followed them south.\u00a0 They had gone far enough south that they knew the wagon wasn\u2019t going to California, and the only place south was desert, so Adam spoke to old Luther in Virginia City, asking if he knew any guides who could take him through.\u00a0 Luther told him to look for this Mike Dutton in Aurora.\u00a0 Evidently, she was his guide, and in order to get to the mine, he had to go through the Indians. How and why he changed, I don\u2019t know, but we have to assume it was the only way to get to you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, there\u2019s an Indian war goin\u2019 on down here,\u201d said Hoss.\u00a0 \u201cAnd since we found out in Aurora that the army might be involved in the mine, I reckon Adam, did too.\u00a0 That only left the Indians for help.\u00a0 This girl is part white. And it looks like she\u2019s part Shoshoni and part of them others\u2026I heard \u2018em call themselves Aha macave.\u00a0 She brings medicine to both tribes.\u201d<\/p>\n When Joe moved to sit down, Hoss saw a stain on his back, and moved to look at it.\u00a0 \u201cBoy, what\u2019ve they done to you?\u201d he asked, pulling Joe\u2019s shirt up.<\/p>\n Standing up quickly and turning, Joe said, \u201cIt\u2019s nothing.\u00a0 At least, nothing you can do anything about.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, Ben was on his feet.\u00a0 \u201cTurn around, Son.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe recognized that voice and the stern, but concerned look in his father\u2019s eyes and knew there was no point in arguing.\u00a0 When Ben pulled Joe\u2019s shirt up, he sucked in a breath while Hoss winced at the reopened wounds.\u00a0 \u201cHoss, get something to bandage this.\u00a0 Joe, why didn\u2019t you tell me you were whipped?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t have made any difference, Pa.\u00a0 We had to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam came out of the hut, looked at his family, and then turned to walk away. \u201cAdam, wait,\u201d called Joe.\u00a0 \u201cHow is she?\u201d<\/p>\n Looking up at Joe, Adam shook his head, then left.\u00a0 In that brief moment, Joe saw Adam\u2019s eyes; wet, red, and full of hurt.<\/p>\n Standing behind Joe and taking his shoulders, Ben said, \u201cHe\u2019ll be alright, Son.\u00a0 He just needs time.\u00a0 And you, you need food and rest.\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019re making camp for the night.\u00a0 Come on over here and let Hoss take care of your back.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe watched as Adam disappeared through the towers of rock in the desert.\u00a0 Walking over to their camp, he sat down while Hoss bandaged his back.\u00a0 When Hoss had their dinner prepared, he offered a plate to Joe. \u201cThanks, Hoss, but I\u2019m not hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, you look like you\u2019re about to dry up and blow away. What\u2019d they feed you anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMine rations they called it.\u00a0 Dried meat, stale bread and water\u2026twice a day, before we went into the mine and when we came out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou need to put some good food in you.\u00a0 Eat this.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe took the plate and sat it on his lap, staring at it.<\/p>\n \u201cSon, there\u2019s nothing else you can do.\u00a0 It\u2019s over.\u00a0 Now eat your dinner,\u201d said Ben quietly, studying his youngest.\u00a0 One would think Joe would be happy that he was back with his family away from the horrors in the mine, but he looked like he\u2019d lost something\u2026something important.\u00a0 Ben put his plate down. \u201cWhat is it, Son?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere was an Indian in the mine.\u00a0 His name was Mutheel munagh.\u00a0 We sort of became friends.\u00a0 We couldn\u2019t really speak to each other.\u00a0 We weren\u2019t allowed to say anything, but when the soldiers weren\u2019t around, we talked.\u00a0 He told me what I had to do to stay alive, and I promised him that you would come for me.\u201d\u00a0 Joe snorted.\u00a0 \u201cHe didn\u2019t think much of that\u2026his own people couldn\u2019t get them out.\u00a0 The Indian slaves never left the mine.\u00a0 Except for dumping rocks in a bucket at the entrance, they never saw the light of day.\u201d\u00a0 Joe paused, trying to control his emotions.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t see Mutheel managh when Adam came back to the camp.\u00a0 There were so many more in the mine, but only a few came back, Pa, and it was the army that did this to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben watched his son tell his story; watched tears form, and even though he was sharing Joe\u2019s pain over the plight of the Indians, he was proud of his son.\u00a0 Joe wasn\u2019t telling him about what he had endured. He was telling him what those around him had gone through and lost.<\/p>\n \u201cThis girl that helped Adam; she saved my life, Pa.\u00a0 She told me where to go to find Adam, and then she ran down into the compound with her people.\u201d\u00a0 He looked up at the sky, his eyes glistening with tears, his brows drawn in anguish, reflecting a pain that went far deeper than any physical wound.\u00a0 \u201cAnd now she\u2019s dead, and the men who are supposed to protect us are the ones that did this.\u00a0 And Adam, Pa, something has happened to Adam that has changed him.\u00a0 All because I took a shortcut so I could get back in time for a dance.\u201d<\/p>\n By now, Ben was at Joe\u2019s side, holding on to him.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, you can\u2019t take the blame for this.\u00a0 You\u2019ve done nothing wrong.\u00a0 If you hadn\u2019t been taken, those Indians would still be in the mine with no chance of ever leaving.\u00a0 They chose to fight once they were free.\u00a0 Mike chose to keep riding when she was shot.\u00a0 The Indians\u2026all of them\u2026the Paiute, the Shoshoni, and these Aha macave\u2026are fighting the same war.\u00a0 They\u2019re fighting to keep what is theirs.\u00a0 It\u2019s no less than what we do to keep what\u2019s ours.\u201d\u00a0 Taking Joe\u2019s shoulders, Ben moved Joe back so he could look into his eyes, hoping that what he said had sunk in.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s nothing left that any of us can do except mourn the dead and pray for the living.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think Adam is feeling something like what you\u2019re feeling.\u00a0 He\u2019s lost friends just like you have.\u00a0 But you know your brother\u2026he\u2019s not one to talk about how he feels.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe was more than his friend, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe was.\u00a0 But we\u2019re not going to know anything else until he\u2019s ready to talk about it.\u00a0 And he may never be. Now, I want you to eat some of this food and get some rest.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be going home tomorrow, and it\u2019s a long ride.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe nodded and ate a few bites, then lay back on the bed Hoss made for him. Even though it was stinging from the wounds that had reopened during their escape, he lay on his back, looking up at the night sky and thought that never again would he complain about sleeping under the stars.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Twenty-Nine<\/strong><\/p>\n The next morning, when Ben, Joe and Hoss got ready to leave for home, Adam didn\u2019t prepare with them. \u201cPa, I don\u2019t think the Army will stop you now. You\u2019re too close to Aurora for them to risk it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t like it. They\u2019ll be looking for you. You need to come with us,\u201d said Ben.<\/p>\n Adam resolutely looked his father in the eye. \u201cI\u2019m not leaving until it\u2019s done. I\u2019ll be alright. I know how to blend in.\u201d<\/p>\n Taking a deep breath, Ben nodded. He knew this was something Adam needed to do to live with everything that had happened the last few weeks; to say goodbye. When the Cartwrights and their hands mounted, Ben looked back one last time before he turned to leave while Adam waved as they rode away.<\/p>\n Joe lingered for a moment, looking at Adam sadly, knowing that his brother\u2019s journey had turned out to be just as difficult as his own\u2026different, but hard just the same. When Adam smiled and nodded, Joe forced a smile and nodded back, then turned to catch up to the others.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Adam carried Ayasha\u2019s body to the funeral pyre, handing her up to the Shoshoni medicine man, who offered prayers so that her spirit would be not be bound to the earth. When the medicine man came down from the pyre, he handed a lit torch to Kimama standing on one end of the pyre and to Adam standing at the other end. After the last prayer was sung, Kimama and Adam lit each end of the pyre and stepped back with the other Shoshoni, watching the smoke carry Ayasha\u2019s spirit to the heavens.<\/p>\n Kimama leaned over to Adam. \u201cAyasha said you lived bravely with the Aha macave to save all our peoples. She said you are tsaa\u2019 mukua, a good spirit.\u201d She turned to face him, holding his arms. \u201cTsiishchili, the Shoshoni; Homar huwhen, the Aha macave; Adam Cartwright, the white man, you are welcome in the land of the Shoshoni.\u201d She took his face in her hands, and kissed both cheeks, then turned and walked back to the village.<\/p>\n A Shoshoni brave handed him the bosal reins of a horse. Adam swung his leg up and over, looked back at the pyre, then turned and left, never to return to Furnace Creek.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n When they rode into Aurora, all eyes turned to watch.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph, we\u2019re getting supplies, and then we\u2019re leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut, Pa, the sheriff\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe sheriff will be dealt with in due time along with the men who took you if they survived. Hoss, you make sure he stays here with the horses.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYessir.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe didn\u2019t argue or give Hoss any trouble.\u00a0 He was bone weary and mentally exhausted and just wanted to get home and sleep in his own bed.\u00a0 Still, there was Adam.\u00a0 \u201cHoss, you saw Adam.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss nodded and looked at the ground.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s different.\u00a0 What if he doesn\u2019t come home?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLittle Joe, don\u2019t you be sayin\u2019 nothin\u2019 like that.\u00a0 He may have had to change to blend in with the Indians, but he\u2019s still the Adam we\u2019ve always known.\u00a0 You just wait\u2026he\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe could stay and fight with the Indians.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLittle Joe, didn\u2019t you see? There ain\u2019t hardly any Indians left.\u201d<\/p>\n They arrived home the next day, and the first thing Joe wanted was a bath; something that Hop Sing was all too happy to prepare for him.\u00a0 Next, Hop Sing prepared a feast, and afterwards, Joe went straight to bed.\u00a0 \u201cPa, if Adam comes in, wake me up, alright?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph, when Adam comes in, I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll want to sleep in his own bed as much as you do.\u201d\u00a0 Ben put his hands on Joe\u2019s shoulders.\u00a0 \u201cStop worrying about your brother.\u00a0 He\u2019ll be alright, just like you will.\u00a0 Now, let Hoss check your bandages before you lie down,\u201d he said, nodding toward Hoss to follow Joe upstairs.<\/p>\n Adam arrived home a day later while Hoss and Joe were in Virginia City to see Doc Martin.\u00a0 He paused at home long enough to write a letter to Colonel Adamson before he left again, hoping to fulfill his promise to Mike with it.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, Little Joe is anxious to see you.\u00a0 He\u2019s worried.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam snorted.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not the one who went to Hell and back, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not true.\u00a0 There are all kinds of things we go through that can be likened to going through Hell.\u00a0 Your time in the desert affected you\u2026in different ways than Joe\u2026but just the same, it must\u2019ve been hard for both of you.\u201d<\/p>\n Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Adam lowered his head not wanting his father to see his eyes. \u201cTell him I\u2019m alright.\u00a0 Tell him\u2026tell him I\u2019ll be back; that there\u2019s something I still have to do.\u201d\u00a0 He took his gunbelt and hat from the cabinet in the entryway and left.<\/p>\n When Joe stepped through the door, he had one question for his father, who was sitting in the leather chair next to the fireplace.\u00a0 Had Adam gotten home?<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph, sit down.\u00a0 I want to talk to you.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a certain look on his father\u2019s face that Joe had come to recognize as one of quiet concern; a look that said he wanted to do something, but wasn\u2019t going to\u2026a look that said he knew he had to let his sons be the men they were.<\/p>\n \u201cHe came home, didn\u2019t he?\u201d asked Joe.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, he did.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd he just left?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, he wrote a letter first.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid he say anything?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe asked about you.\u00a0 I told him you had gone into town to see the doctor, and that you were worried about him.\u00a0 He asked me to tell you that he was alright; that he\u2019d be back, but he had to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe stood up, looking into the fire with his hands on his hips, then turned to his father with his nostrils flared.\u00a0 \u201cHe should be here\u2026at home with his family.\u00a0 What could he possibly have to do that\u2019s more important?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben answered very calmly\u2026sadly.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2026we all\u2026have to give him time to grieve.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow could he\u2026\u201d Joe choked on his words.\u00a0 \u201cHow could he love her?\u00a0 She was\u2026young.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s eyes became moist.\u00a0 He stood and squeezed Joe\u2019s shoulders without looking him in the eye.\u00a0 \u201cLike a father loves his sons\u2026or a man loves his brothers.\u201d\u00a0 He walked to the desk and sat down, busying himself with the books.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Thirty<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cPa, it\u2019s been more than a week.\u00a0 Maybe I should go look for him,\u201d said Joe, pacing in front of the fire.<\/p>\n Ben had just sat down to enjoy his pipe before he retired.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph, we have to give him time to do whatever it is he needs to do.\u00a0 When he\u2019s ready, he\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat if he\u2019s hurt and can\u2019t get back?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t even know where to look.\u201d<\/p>\n Glancing down at a thin sliver of wood he had worked off a piece of kindling, he conceded and threw the wood into the fire.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll just feel a lot better when he\u2019s here\u2026with his family\u2026where he should be.\u00a0 Pa, night after night I dreamed of being home with you and Hoss and Adam.\u00a0 I felt so\u2026empty\u2026and alone.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2026I just wanted to feel whole again\u2026safe\u2026the way I\u2019ve always felt here.\u00a0 I knew it would be Adam who came, but it seemed so long\u2026I had just about given up hope.\u201d\u00a0 Joe bowed his head, taking a deep breath.\u00a0 \u201cI remember thinking the soldiers had caught Adam, and he was somewhere in that mine with me.\u00a0 I remember lying there, giving myself one more day, saying one more prayer, and that\u2019s when Mike came and got me.\u201d\u00a0 He looked back up at his father with tears in his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cIt won\u2019t be over until we\u2019re all safe at home.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben didn\u2019t answer, but smiled slightly as he looked into the fire.\u00a0 Joe was feeling what the rest of them were feeling\u2026worry; not for some physical harm, but more because Adam seemed to have a need to come to terms with more than just the girl.\u00a0 He wondered again as he had since Adam arrived home and left just what had happened during his time in the desert.<\/p>\n \u201cPa?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHm?\u00a0 What is it, Son?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was saying goodnight.\u00a0 You looked like you were a hundred miles away.\u201d<\/p>\n The corner of Ben\u2019s mouth turned up.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose I was.\u00a0 Good night, Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n Slowly making his way up the stairs, Joe stopped just as he turned the corner toward his bedroom when he heard the latch of the door and the unmistakable sound of Adam\u2019s boots on the wood floor.<\/p>\n After spending more than a week in the northern reaches of the Ponderosa, living off the land, sitting on the mesa watching the sun rise and set, Adam Cartwright walked through the door of his father\u2019s house. He hung his hat on the rack hanging on the wall. He carefully wrapped his gun belt around the holster, placing it on the cabinet. Then he walked to the massive fireplace, propping one foot up on the hearth, looking into the fire.<\/p>\n His father watched the routine he had not seen since Adam had returned from Death Valley. He stayed quiet in the leather chair next to the fireplace, patiently waiting.<\/p>\n Listening at the top of the stairs, Joe could barely make out some of the words as Adam and his father spoke; not enough to understand the conversation.\u00a0 There was a short period when nothing was said, and Joe assumed Adam was reading the letter that had come for him and laid waiting on the table unopened for the last week.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was only seventeen; a child. I understand now, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it that you understand, Son?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow you feel; why you worry when one of us is late getting home or hurting emotionally or in physical pain. I understand why you sit next to our beds when we\u2019re ill until you know we\u2019re alright.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben smiled. After a quiet moment he said, \u201cA telegram came for you while you were gone. It\u2019s from Colonel Adamson.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam turned, took the letter, and sat on the hearth. He looked at the envelope for a moment, then opened it and read. When he was finished, he smiled, refolded it and put it back in the envelope.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lead mines have been shut down. The Captain at Fort Mojave has been imprisoned. When an accounting was made of all the Shoshoni, they were told that only one Shoshoni, a man called Tsiishchili, was not with them. Medicine will be provided to them and the Aha macave. \u00a0He said the remaining Aha macave went to Fort Mojave on their own. A man named Quaskette howa reported that other than one man and one woman, there were no more Aha macave in the desert. He couldn\u2019t confirm whether a man called Homar huwhen and woman named Chacha hoda were dead or alive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid you know these people?\u201d asked Ben.<\/p>\n \u201cChacha hoda means \u2018beautiful ear of corn\u2019. That was Mike\u2019s Aha macave name.\u201d Adam smiled. \u201cTsiishchili means \u2018curly haired.\u2019 \u00a0Homar huwhen means \u2018hairy man with short hair\u2019.\u201d He rose from the hearth. \u201cGood night, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben smiled knowingly as he watched Adam climb the stairs. \u201cGood night, Son.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe distinctly heard Adam say, \u201cgood night\u201d, followed by his boots on the wooden floor again.\u00a0 When the stairs creaked, he made his way to his bedroom, opened the door, and then waited inside. He heard Adam in the hallway beyond and stuck his head out the door. \u201cAdam?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam stopped and studied Joe, then nodded for Joe to join him in his room.\u00a0 For a moment, they just looked at each other.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re looking better,\u201d said Adam. \u201cWhat\u2019d the doctor say?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe said I\u2019ll have a few scars, but other than that, I\u2019ll be fine with a little more rest.\u00a0 The truth is, Pa\u2019s kept me cooped up in the house all this time.\u00a0 I\u2019m ready to get back to work,\u201d he said with a forced smile.\u00a0 Taking a step forward, he looked Adam in the eye. \u201cWhat about you?\u201d<\/p>\n Sitting on the bed, Adam motioned to a chair and crossed his arms. \u201cJoe, is it possible for you to believe that something good came out of this?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe lowered himself into the chair. \u201cGood?\u00a0 Adam, I was at a point that I began to think the worst; that you had been found and killed or were working somewhere in that same mine;\u00a0 then later, that I was only going to leave that place one way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know better than that.\u00a0 Even if something had happened to me, Hoss and Pa would never have stopped looking until they found you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI do know that, Adam.\u00a0 That\u2019s what made me hold on.\u201d\u00a0 The smile in Joe\u2019s eyes told Adam that he really did know.\u00a0 \u201cBut you\u2026you became one of\u00a0them<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam reached back and scratched his neck. \u201cJoe, the army patrolled the road going into the desert.\u00a0 The Indians were my only choice to get to you.\u00a0 Becoming\u2026like an Indian wasn\u2019t hard once I understood they live that way to survive.\u00a0 You and I know how to survive on our own among the trees and where there\u2019s water.\u00a0 But the desert\u2026we\u2019ve always been wary of the desert.\u00a0 Even afraid.\u00a0 I\u2019m not afraid of the desert anymore.\u00a0 I can survive there thanks to the Shoshoni and the Aha macave.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI met an Indian in the mine.\u00a0 We became friends,\u201d said Joe, sitting with his forearms on his thighs, his hands hanging down between his legs.\u00a0 \u201cHis name was Mutheel managh.\u00a0 I\u2019d always been told that the desert Indians were cruel, vicious savages, but in the mine, we were equal.\u00a0 He told me how to survive.\u201d\u00a0 A deep frown came over his face.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t see him when you brought the others back to the camp.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe things you\u2019ve heard about them are only half true.\u00a0 There was a reason for them to fight.\u00a0 They were losing their land\u2026their heritage.\u00a0 They were being forced onto a reservation, and their children were being taken away from them.\u201d\u00a0 Adam snorted and smiled.\u00a0 \u201cThey were friendly people once they knew I meant them no harm.\u00a0 They shared everything they had with me.\u201d His smile slowly faded. \u201cThere were only a few of them left when Mike and I got back to the mine.\u00a0 All the others\u2026those that came with me and those that came from the mine were already dead.\u201d<\/p>\n Standing, Joe walked to the window and looked out into a night sky full of stars.\u00a0 He could understand Adam risking his life to save him, but the Indians\u2026the price was too high, and he was feeling the weight of it.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, was all that worth one man\u2019s life?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam took a deep breath, then tightened his lips into a line, finally understanding what it was about the whole situation that Joe couldn\u2019t let go.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, you aren\u2019t responsible for those losses.\u00a0 The Aha macave were fighting a war.\u00a0 You gave them an excuse to attack the soldiers at the mine.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t do that for you.\u00a0 They did that for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Dropping his head again, Joe turned, and asked quietly, \u201cWhat will happen to the ones that are left?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe letter from Colonel Adamson said that the few who were left went to the fort.\u00a0 They were the last ones in the desert.\u00a0 The army will supply both tribes with the medicine that Mike had been taking them.\u00a0 And the Shoshoni at the village will be allowed to stay there.\u00a0 He also said the mines have been shut down, and those responsible have been punished.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNolan; the man who took me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 If he was still at the mine, he might be dead, but we may never know.\u201d\u00a0 Joe moved to the bed and sat next to his brother as Adam continued.\u00a0 \u201cI made good friends in the desert, Joe, and even though many of them died, the only thing I regret\u2026\u201d Looking down at the floor, he finished, \u201cShe didn\u2019t have to die.\u00a0 If she had said something when she\u2019d been hit, she would have survived.\u00a0 None of her people were with us.\u00a0 I can only guess why she didn\u2019t say anything.\u201d\u00a0 Breathing deeply, he looked in front of him at nothing in particular.\u00a0 \u201cOne day, I\u2019ll tell you about Mike.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEach one of us knows deep down that the others would sacrifice their lives to keep us safe.\u00a0 Maybe she felt that way about you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe said more than once that she didn\u2019t belong anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe you made her feel like she belonged somewhere.\u201d\u00a0 Adam propped his arm on his knee and raised his hand to his mouth.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m glad your home,\u201d said Joe as he squeezed Adam\u2019s shoulder, then rose and walked to the door.\u00a0 He turned around before he closed the door behind him.\u00a0 \u201cGood night.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam raised his head and smiled.\u00a0 \u201cNight, Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When you were born, you cried The End<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Epilogue<\/strong><\/p>\n The Shoshone living in Death Valley were known as the Panamint Shoshone. In the 1850\u2019s, the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians was essentially a slave act where any white citizen could take any Indian child to any justice of the peace and state that he wanted to adopt the Indian child. The child was immediately placed in the custody of that person. The same process could be followed for an entire family, after which the family became indentured servants. To leave was punishable by death at the hands of the owners.<\/p>\n By the 1860\u2019s, after repeal of the act, there were approximately only 150 Shoshone left in Death Valley. In 1866, the Treaty of Ruby Valley granted the United States rights-of-way across Western Shoshone territories. The federal government officially took the Panamint Shoshone primary ancestral lands with the creation of Death Valley National Monument in 1933. Three years later, the Park Service officially allowed the Panamint Shoshone to remain on forty acres at Furnace Creek. Still, the Panamint Shoshone were not a federally recognized tribe until 1983 when their name became the Timbisha Shoshone.<\/p>\n As a result of continued mistreatment by Park Service employees, most of the Timbisha moved from Death Valley north into Bishop to live as guests of their distant cousins, the Northern Paiute, on the Bishop Reservation.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until 1994 that the Secretary of the Interior was instructed to work with the Timbisha Shoshone to find a suitable reservation. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit tried unsuccessfully to remove them off the last remnant of their traditional homelands.<\/p>\n The Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act was ratified in November, 2000. A total of 7,700 acres were restored to the tribe as a reservation. This includes the Death Valley Indian Community where they are the majority residents at Furnace Creek.<\/p>\n The small tribe of the Timbisha Shoshone was historically among, if not the most, oppressed people in the United States.<\/p>\n =================<\/p>\n The history of the Aha macave has only recently been uncovered because the Aha macave had no written language. Their language was spoken only. The Aha macave or Mojave as they are known today were the largest and most war-like of the Yuman tribes. Their ancestral lands stretched from the area around the Hoover Dam today to the area surrounding the Parker Dam. The Aha macave hunted, however their chief sustenance came from their cultivated crops grown along the Colorado River. To this they added mesquite beans, fish and pinion nuts.<\/p>\n By act of March 3, 1865, the Colorado River Reservation in Arizona was established for members of the Aha macave, Chemehuevi and Kawia tribes.<\/p>\n In April, 1859, Fort Mojave was established to provide a shelter for emigrants to California and a base of operations against the Aha macave (Mojave) Indians. Captured Aha macave were held prisoner at the fort. In 1861, the fort was abandoned and burned out of fear of Confederate forces in the area.<\/p>\n In 1863, the post was re-established and assigned protection duties for travelers along the Mojave and Prescott roads. In 1870, the fort became the center of the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation. The Army gave the Aha macave the choice of submission or extermination, and the majority of them chose submission. Only small numbers remained outside of the reservation and fort.<\/p>\n From 1890 when Fort Mojave came under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior until 1931, an era of \u2018de-indianizing\u2019 the Aha macave took place. Tribal ties were broken, they were forbidden to use their own language as well as most of their traditional ways. They were given five lashes if they spoke in their native tongue. The children were forced to attend a boarding school where they were transformed to white, with haircuts, clothing, eating habits, manners, industry, language\u2026all white customs. They were also given English names and forbidden to use their Aha macave names.<\/p>\n From a population of thousands, in 1963 the population of Aha macave at Fort Mojave was 438 and at the Colorado River Reservation, 550.<\/p>\n Today, their tribal headquarters, library, and museum are in Parker, Arizona.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Disclaimer:\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nDeath Valley – Complete Story<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\u201cI pretty much know everyone here. What\u2019s his name?\u201d asked the bartender as he wiped out a whiskey glass.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nWhose voice I hear in the winds,
\nAnd whose breath gives life to all the world,
\nhear me, I am small and weak,
\nI need your strength and wisdom. \u2013 Native American Prayer<\/em><\/p>\n
\nthe red and purple sunset.
\nMake my hands respect the things you have
\nmade and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
\nMake me wise so that I may understand the things
\nyou have taught my people.
\nLet me learn the lessons you have
\nhidden in every leaf and rock. \u2013 Native American Prayer<\/em><\/p>\n
\nbut to fight my greatest enemy – myself. \u2013 Native American Prayer<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAdam and Joe were running toward the camp when they heard the approaching horses and ducked behind rocks until the horses were closer. Seeing his father, Adam climbed up on top of the rock and waved him down. \u201cPa, I don\u2019t have time to explain. We have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cEmpote quatacheech will not return,\u201d said one of the Indian men sadly. \u201cOur numbers are too small to fight. We must join with another band.\u201d He turned and motioned for the remaining members of the band to begin breaking their camp. They would take what they could carry, leaving the rest behind. He turned back to Adam and Mike. \u201cChacha hoda cannot stay,\u201d he said to Adam. \u201cIf the soldiers find her, they will keep her at the mine for many days before they take her to the reservation. If they find she has white blood, they will take her to the prison of the white man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nand the world rejoiced.
\nLive your life
\nso that when you die,
\nthe world cries and you rejoice.
\nWhite Elk<\/em><\/p>\n