Swift Horse

latters of tomato sauce on it, proof that she still wasn’t all that comfortable making dishes that until recently had been unknown to her.

That made Marsha smile, for it did seem strange to see someone dressed in doeskin wearing something of the white world, especially from the kitchen.

“What did you find?” Soft Wind asked, drying her hands on the tail end of the apron.

“The trunk that Swift Horse saw in his vision,” Marsha murmured, going and hugging Soft Wind. Then, being chilled through and through, she went and stood before the fireplace, soaking up its warmth.

“Did my brother take the trunk from the cave?” Soft Wind asked, coming to stand beside Marsha.

Marsha turned to her and wearily explained Swift Horse’s plan. Little did she know that at that moment One Eye would be planning yet another murder—that of Sharp Nose.

Chapter 32

Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewest

Now is the time that face should form another. . . .

—William Shakespeare

One Eye smiled to himself as he sat on his horse, a bow slung across his shoulder, a quiver of arrows at his back. He had left the cave only long enough to get a drink from the river when he had heard the sound of horses approaching in the distance.

One Eye had had only enough time to reach the other side of the river and hide.

“Swift Horse,” he had whispered to himself as he watched Swift Horse and the others ride back in the direction of Swift Horse’s village after having all been in the cave.

“And the woman,” he said aloud, bitterly. Even she had been with Swift Horse and his warriors.

Ever since she had arrived at the village, she had been all things bad for One Eye. She had begun taking up valuable time with Swift Horse that had usually been One Eye’s time with his friend. And now that she had agreed to marry Swift Horse, One Eye had known that there would be no time, ever again, for two old friends to get together to talk, laugh, and discuss old times.

And the woman would not rest until she had made Swift Horse believe it was One Eye who was, in truth, the one-eyed renegade.

“Her time on this earth is measured now in heartbeats, for soon she will die,” he said, riding alongside the river in the direction of the cave, yet back far enough from the riverbank so that Sharp Nose could not see him.

He rode onward until he knew that he was out of eye range of Sharp Nose, then crossed over at a shallow place in the river. When he was on the other side, he directed his steed to the back side of the cave, where he knew Sharp Nose still stood, alert and watchful.

Even though One Eye knew this sentry very well, and they had shared many smokes and talks, One Eye had to kill him in order to go inside the cave and get the trunk. One Eye had to do away with it once and for all, for as long as it was where someone could find it, it could be used against him.

First he must do away with the trunk—although he was proud of the valuables that he had placed there—and then he must do away with the woman.

But there was still one problem: the scar on his head! The injury was still plain to see, but he would not carry that scar forever, the way he had been forced to carry the one following the bear attack.

His shaman had been applying his medicinal cure on the wound on his head, and the scar left there was all but gone. What was visible, was hidden behind medicine that was the same color as his skin. The shaman had told him this morning that in only a day or two the scar would no longer be visible at all to the naked eye.

If One Eye could wait just that amount of time before going to Swift Horse’s village, then he could stand before Swift Horse without fearing being detected as the renegade. Before then, though, he had to find a way to finally end the woman’s life.

Now close enough to Sharp Nose that he could see his back, and seeing that Sharp Nose’s horse was tethered far away, One Eye drew a tight rein and dismounted. He did not need to go any farther. He was accurate with his bow and arrow.

One arrow was all that he needed to silence Sharp Nose, and then he could go and take the trunk to the river and drop it into the deepest depths so that no one would ever see it again.

After securing his horse’s reins, One Eye drew an arrow from his quiver, positioned it on the string of his bow, and took aim.

The arrow quickly found its place in the right side of Sharp Nose’s back. Thinking that he had no need to go and verify that Sharp Nose was dead, One Eye slung his bow across his shoulder again, mounted his steed, then rode on to the cave.

He tethered his horse to a low tree limb, then went into the cave and hurried to the rear where the trunk stood, now open.

He could tell that someone had rifled through it and had seen all of the personal belongings of those who had died at One Eye’s hand. He slammed the trunk closed and carried it to the cave’s entrance:

He lifted it high over his head and slung it through the falls, watching it tumble along with the falling waters until it splashed far down below him in deep enough water to keep it hidden from anyone’s view, forever.