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2.

Leaving two women to care for the patients, Amelia and the rest of the women started to walk back along the wagon train towards the front. The Evans wagon was one of the leaders this day, so it took Amelia a while to catch up to it. When she did, she was surprised and somewhat angry to see the team being driven not by William as she has supposed, but by her elder daughter Jane, with her sister Virginia seated next to her. The girls were white faced, and as their mother approached the wagon Jane began to cry. "Mother, Mother, they say there be Indians around, we be a-feared they'll get us" "Don't worry child" said Amelia, "There's no danger as long as you stay with the wagon. Where are William and Daniel?" Now it became apparent what the girls were really scared of, not so much the Indians but their parent's wrath at discovering her instructions hadn't been followed. "We told William not to go off Ma" said Virginia, "But he would go to talk to Mr. Turner. We think he must've taken Daniel with him." Just then the errant William appeared, blustering about having been getting information about their destination from Mr. Turner. "But then, where is Daniel?" cried the agitated mother. "If not with you, where can he be? Off with you Will, find him in whichever wagon he's in, and bring him back here." William set off, but returned a quarter-hour later to report there was no sign of Daniel. "But don't worry Mother, I've told Mr. Fisher and Mr. Turner, and they'll send some of the men to search for him."

Mr. Fisher appeared by the Evans wagon at that moment, justly angry at this inconvenience. "I'm sending six men back down the trail to look for your boy, but we can't hold up the wagons, we need to cross the river before night. The Pawnee winter camp is on this side, when we cross we'll be out of their hunting area. But the ford is still a good five miles ahead." "But my boy is so small" said Amelia sadly, "Please find him and bring him back safe" "Don't despair Ma'am" the wagon boss replied, "My men'll find him. He can't have gone far. But when they bring him back, keep a better eye on him. We have enough to worry about without nurse-maiding a passel of kids, that's women's work".

The search party, headed by none other than Nate Turner, rode alongside the wagon just then. As they wheeled their horses to ride off on the search, one of the men reined in his mount with a jerk, and hollered out "Lookee there! Up on the rocks!" The men of the search party all halted, and they all looked where the man was pointing. Amelia and the girls looked too, and what they saw made them gasp with shock. High up on the rocks to the north, less than half a mile away, was a party of Indians, mounted on small sturdy horses. The man who had first espied them shouted out "Get 'em Boys!" and, unsheathing his rifle, started to gallop towards the rocks. "Hold there!" bellowed Sam Fisher, "They're no threat to us as yet. Let's see what they want. Come with me Nate, and you other men stay with the wagons. But be ready for trouble!" The men of the search party then returned to the wagons, which had stopped when the Indians first appeared. The teamsters were all reaching for weapons, and Amelia could not stop herself from whispering "But what about my boy?"

Nate Turner and Sam Fisher rode slowly out from the wagon train towards the Indians, who were now descending from the rocks. As they drew closer it was seen they were indeed Pawnee, eight in number, all young men, bare-chested and with heads shaved except for a crest of hair on top. Only one carried a long gun, an old-fashioned flintlock muzzle-loader, but the others carried fearsome-looking lances. They made no sound as they rode out from the rocks, and when they came up to Sam and Nate they stopped and sat quietly on their small horses, looking at the white men curiously. "What now?" whispered Sam, "What do they want, Nate?" "Well, we're on land they think of as their hunting grounds," answered Nate. "They'll be looking fer buffalo I reckon. I've heard of them taking horses and cattle from wagons passing along this trail, but usually at night, stealthy-like." The three Pawnee in front of the group parted, and a small pinto came to the fore. To the white men's astonishment, it was ridden by a fair-haired, white-skinned child. "Howdy Mr. Turner! Howdy Mr. Fisher! I'm Daniel Evans, I got stuck in the rocks, these men pulled me out! Where's my Mom?"

The Pawnee all broke into smiles, and with much waving and pointing, the one with the gun managed to convey that they had come across Daniel while hunting, and seeing the wagons, decided to return him. Sam and Nate waved the Pawnee back to the wagon train, where they presented them with a pound of tobacco and several calico shirts, to their great delight. Amelia put Daniel to bed, none the worse for his adventure. But as he dropped off to sleep he was heard to say drowsily "But I still wanted to catch the antelope………."

COPYRIGHT "Hot Kettle Alice". 2003