Lakota Winds (Zebra Historical Romance) Read Online Free Page B

when
he was ten winters old. That was only one of the wasicun's evils, along
with his false tongue, firewater, and thundersticks. Many reasons
abounded to reinforce his feeling that his people should avoid them.
Yet, others wanted to trade with them, as with those who had taken pelts and hides to the post at Pierre which was built along the mighty
river a few suns' travel away.

    After Rising Bear and Nahemana joined them, the chief asked what
was wrong, and his eldest son explained the grim situation. When others
began to talk, the chief requested silence and told Badger to continue
his report and to take his time. "Inila. Wociciyaka wacin. Hanheya. "
    "It feels as if the grizzly's claws rip at my belly. My skin is cold and
strange like a dead featherless bird. The blood walks as a turtle within
me. I shake as the leaves in a strong wind. I can keep no food or water
within me."
    By that time, most of the Red Shield Band had seen or heard the
commotion and had gathered near the group of hunters and their leader.
They listened in horror to their friend's story, one told with great
difficulty.
    Following another spell of shivers, the weakening man continued.
"The sickness the white man calls cholera came on the boat which spits
smoke into the air. All who went near those who were sick were struck
down by this evil. I could not save the others in our party; the medicine
in our bundles did not help us. I rode like the wind to warn our people
not to go near the trading post on the big river to look for us. It is too
late for me; I will die soon, as the others did."
    Badger sat bent over on the ground and clutched his horse's foreleg
for support. "All I am is leaving me. Even the white men have no
medicine to save them; many die there and their bodies are burned to
slay the sickness on them and their garments. You must throw limbs
on me and shoot a fire arrow at mine to do the same. It is bad to touch
even a dead body whose spirit has left it, for the evil remains on it. Do
not wash me, put on my finest garments, and place me on a scaffold.
Do not keep my belongings or horse; all must be eaten by flames. If
you do not obey, the peril which comes from the direction of the rising
sun will destroy you."
    Wind Dancer exchanged glances with Nahemana as those last words
were spoken. "That is the same warning given to Grandfather in a
recent dream which he revealed to me. Grandfather said we would be attacked by two perils, one from where the winter winds are born and
one from where the sun rises. The dream told him they have the power
to destroy us. One has come to be." As night closed in around them,
and although he knew the answer to his question, he asked, "What
must we do, Father?"

    A troubled Rising Bear looked at the elderly shaman upon whose
heavily furrowed face light flickered from a freshly lit torch and asked,
"What did Wakantanka say we must do to battle such evils, Wise One?"
    "Follow Badger's warning," Nahemana replied in a solemn tone.
"Our friend and brother has seen the power of this evil and knows he
cannot be saved from it. He is brave and ready for his spirit to travel
the Ghost Trail. Wakantanka will seize it from the flames and guide it
along its journey."
    Nahemana looked skyward. "See, the moon's face is dark so she will
not have to witness this sad deed. No one must go near Badger. He
must walk his final steps upon Mother Earth alone. After his spirit
leaves his body, his horse must be slain so Badger can ride him along
the Ghost Trail. Wood must be gathered; it must be light enough to
be thrown over our friend and brother from where we stand. Wind
Dancer is skilled with the arrow, so he must shoot one with a flaming
tip into the wood. After all is eaten by the fire, dirt and rocks must be
piled atop the ashes."
    "It will be as you say, Wise One," Rising Bear said before he assigned
a group of men to guard Badger's safety until his spirit departed.
    Mothers with