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Show TV listings, January 31, 1985 Page 8 Suddenly knew how to defend myself. Bending over, I quickly grabbed both hind legs of the carcass and came up swinging. It wasn't very heavy, the insides eaten out, but there were still plenty of sharp quills. swung the porcupine just like I used to swing pillows at my brother at bedtime. The first blow was aimed directly at his astonished face, and lucky for him, he stopped the blow with his left forearm. There were about a hundred quills in his arm as the amazed Brown Wolf began to back away. This time took full advantage of his surprise and began beating him with a fury, like I was whipping a fire with a wet blanket. I didnt stop until Brown Wolf had turned tail and was running wildly after his pony. When he was out of sight, I returned to Red Leaf who was closing the sewing bag. She had all the quills she needed. The earlier, golden mood of the afternoon had been ruined by the fight. Without speaking, we climbed upon my horse and headed back to camp. This time she sat further back on the horse, barely touching my sides with her hands. I didn't know what was going through Red Leafs mind, but I was worried about Brown Wolf. In defending myself, I had humiliated him. He would be the laughing stock of the entire tribe. If he didn't want to leave the tribe in shame, he would have to kill me to save face. I didnt want to fight him again, not now. I had been lucky with the porcupine. I didnt pretend to believe I would be so lucky the second time. I began to think that it would be better for me to leave than to get into a life and death struggle with Brown Wolf. It would be better to swallow a little pride, and live, than to be killed. On the other hand, the safety of the tribe meant a lot to me. I wasnt sure I could make it alone. I certainly couldnt consider taking Red Leaf with me, and put her life in danger. Maybe Neuwafe would protect me from Brown Wolf, but he couldnt be with me all the time. Brown Wolf would get his revenge if I stayed with the tribe. As we rode through the sagebrush, this time at a walk, I didnt feel like talking with Red Leaf. I didn't want her to think I was afraid of Brown Wolf. I didnt think I was really afraid to fight him, not after all I had been through. It was just that I didn't want to die. What was I going to do?" Sensing my desire for silence, Red Leaf remained silent during the ride. But as we approached the camp, she said two words. "Dont tell." She said it again. "Dont tell." I stopped the horse. I didn't know the language well enough to have a heart to heart discussion on why she said that, but her meaning was unmistakable. She didn't want me to tell anyone about the fight with Brown Wolf. It seemed like a foolish suggestion, contrary to everything I had learned from the Utes. It was not only commonplace, but expected, that men and boys boast of their daring feats. My creativity and daring in defeating Brown Wolf with a dead porcupine would win me untold face and acceptance among the members of the tribe. It was a great victory for me, regardless of what might happen later I I learned quickly, that when working with quills, it is best to watch ones hands rather than the face of a beautiful Indian maiden, if one wishes to avoid bloody fingers. While licking the blood from one of my sore fingers, a rider suddenly appeared beyond the end of the aspen grove. My first reaction was one of anger towards myself for leaving camp without weapons. I wasnt even wearing my knife. If the rider was an armed enemy, Blackfoot or Apache, I was in real trouble. Since the rider was headed directly for us, it was apparent he had seen us, and there would be no chance of hiding. My horse was at the far side of the meadow, too far away for us to get mounted before the rider reached us. My horse held his head high, watching the approaching rider. For the first time, I noticed how clean the meadow was no nearby rocks. I was about clubs or to grab Red Leafs hand and race for the cover of the aspen grove when she noticed the rider and immediately re- One afternoon, just after we had stopped to make camp, I noticed Red Leaf rearranging the quill pattern on her best dress. She seemed that unhappy many of the quills were doe-ski- n broken and had to be discarded, weakening the striking nature of the design. There were no more replacement quills in her little buckskin sew- fist-size- ing bag. I remembered earlier in the day, while riding in the nearby hills, com- ing upon the carcass of a recently-killeunporcupine. Its soft, eaten out some had been by derbelly kind of predator. I remembered stopping my horse and contemplating how the predator might have killed the porcupine without getting quills in its d quill-les- paws and mouth. I cognized him. Brown Wolf. At first I felt relief that he s remembered siastic nod. I bridled my bay stallion, leaped upon his back, and pulled Red Leaf up behind me. As we galloped off through the sagebrush towards the nearby mountains, she reached around my waist with her slender, had . " small meadow between an aspen grove and a rocky hillside. The grass was green and lush. There was a gentle, cooling breeze, a refreshing con-- , trast to the late afternoon sun. After letting the horse out to graze, the long lead rope trailing behind as a partial restraint, Red Leaf and I sat down beside the porcupine to pick quills for her little sewing bag. It was one of the few times up to that point that I had been alone with her without the chaperoning of Neuwafe or Blackbird. We carefully selected only the long- est and fattest quills, exchanging pleasant small talk as we worked. I swung down from his pony, I could see he was angry too. It was as if he had caught me sneaking time with his girl. He was jealous of me, too. Brown Wolf stood six feet tall in his moccasins and must have weighed about 175 pounds. He was well muscled, in excellent condition, and one of two years older than I was. I had watched him wrestle with the other young braves and knew I was no commatch for him in bat. It appeared, however, that I would have to fight, no matter how poor my chances of winning. Red Leaf and I stood up to meet him as he swung down from his horse. Before I could figure out how to talk my way out of this explosive situation, he gave me a shove. I surprised myself, and him, too, by answering his shove with a bony fist to the jaw. Half stunned, and obviously prised, he staggered back, almost falling, shaking his whirling head. I just stood there in amazement, hardly believing what I had done. I made a mistake in giving him time to regain his senses. Now he was angrier than ever and drew his knife. I was in big trouble. As Brown Wolf stalked towards me, the glistening blade clenched tightly in his fist, I hurriedly looked around for something to use in defending myself. There was nothing As I dodged his first lunge, I felt a sharp prickling of pain on the side of my left ankle. Glancing down, I nohand-to-han- to believe that she was holding on tighter than necessary. She liked me too, she really did. I was on top of the world. The powerful stallion beneath me, the beautiful woman holding tightly to my waist. I felt free, strong, happy, in control. My only regret was that the porcupine wasn't further away so the ride could last longer. It didn't occur to me that we were being followed. The porcupine carcass was in a At Leaf! When Brown Wolf galloped up and I asked her if she wanted more quills. She responded with an enthu- I wasnt an least he wasnt going to try to kill me and carry off Red Leaf. Then I felt anger, the jealous sort. How dare he follow us! How dare he spoil this time to be alone with Red enemy. Beaver George telling me how sometimes a mountain cat could quickly slip a paw under an unsuspecting porcupine and tear open the soft underside without getting quilled. brown arms and held on tightly. d . , d ticed that the ankle was pushing against the porcupine carcass. Brown Wolf was circling to lunge. make another I with Brown Wolf. I that if I didnt tell, Brown Wolf would not lose face in the tribe, and therefore would not have to seek revenge. The second idea was that in not telling I would be putting Brown Wolf in a situation where he would have to be nice to me, in the fear that if he wasnt, I might tell about the porcupine fight and shame him. It was blackmail. I liked it. turned around and looked at Red Leaf, wondering how someone so young and beautiful could be so wise. We promised each other not to tell anyone about the fight with Brown Wolf. As I turned back to the front, urging the stallion into a full gallop, Red Leaf scooted closer and wrapped her arms tightly around my waist. I Chapter 30 Red Leaf and I had been right about Brown Wolf. At first he seemed sur- prised, then confused, when I kept quiet about the whipping I had given him with the dead porcupine. He watched me very suspiciously for several days, obviously wondering what I had up my sleeve, thinking I might be waiting for some special moment to disgrace him in front of the tribe. After a week or so, I could tell by the look on his face that he was beginning to believe that I had no intention of disgracing him. The hateful fire in his eye was disappearing. He looked at me with some respect. Not much, however, and never with a friendly smile, but it was obvious to me that in the opinion of Brown Wolf, the strange white boy suddenly held a position of respect. His attitude towards Red Leaf, how, ever, didnt change at all. He still had that hungry-doexpression whenever he looked in her direction. He was in love with her, as I was, and still a rival for her hand. A dangerous one, too. About ten days after the incident with the porcupine, the tribe arrived at "the home camp near the shore of Utah Lake. Not long after that. Brown Wolf and some of his friends outfitted themselves with food and horses and disappeared into the western desert beyond the lake. The lengthy farewell g indicated that they planned to be gone for some time. From the early summer buffalo hunting, we had plenty of food to get the tribe through the winter, so I didn't think they were going hunting. When I asked Neuwafe where they were going, he said something about getting horses. I erroneously assumed Brown Wolf and his friends were go- ing into the desert to catch wild horses. I didnt learn until later the elaborate trading system the Utes had adopted for the acquiring of horses. The Utes had three methods of obtaining horses. The most difficult was a dangerous, catching wild horses tiring and ofttimes fruitless undertaking. Not only were wild horses difficult to find and catch, but once caught they were hard to tame. An easier method of obtaining horses was to steal them from other tribes, a very dangerous, but often "Dont tell." She certainly was persistent. to think through the consequences of following her counsel, and suddenly realized that she was right. Dead right. Two ideas popped simultaneously into my mind. The first was I tried fruitful, endeavor. |