Time For A "Tom Named By Horse" Update and another excerpt Pt 5

Howdy Folks, 

 

As promised I've been working on polishing and editing my novel, "Tom Named By Horse," a love story at its core. A story of young man's heart frozen by years of brutal abuse thawed by the tender touch of a young woman's spirit. An historical fiction set in 1865 Indian Territory, it also reflects the torment and confusion of its time. ~ I'm nearing the end of my final polish, and hope to have it published in 2 months. Working yesterday I decided to share this scene ... Tom has been injured and is recovering in Still Water's lodge. Still Water, Soft Cloud and Tom's friend Buck Hawkins are caring for him. Buck, an Army Scout has been dispatched to persuade Red Cloud to hold the peace. Still Water is a white woman, Tall Dog's wife and mother to Soft Cloud, by whom Tom is smitten ... Enjoy this scene from Chapter 35, it holds important true history.

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Kessy helping me edit

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        ''Red Cloud has said when the new grass comes he will move the village. He has become very troubled about the railroad. At council braves speak in favor of joining Tall Dog, this angers Red Cloud. He is also very worried, and knows he cannot stop the whites. His visions tell of great wars between the white man and his people. But Red Cloud also has visions of leaving peacefully with them. If the white man does not kill all the buffalo and does not build this railroad … Red Cloud can perhaps hold the peace.'' Still Water's eyes held the sadness and worry heavy in her heart.

  

''Red Cloud must convince his people not to fight, Still Water. The Indian nations can't win. The United States has just ended a great war with itself. I was part of that war. I know of the powerful weapons the Army can turn against the Indian nations. It will be the end of his people if they fight.''  Buck looked Still Water in her worried blue eyes and tried to convince her.

 ''The Sioux are very proud people and can be peaceful, but they can also be fierce warriors. I know them, and I know Red Cloud. I will tell you a story. The buffalo are sacred to all Sioux. Each time a white man kills for just the hide, or tongue, or just to kill, that buffalo cannot go to the next life. That weakens the Great Spirit. It also weakens the Sioux for the buffalo are the brothers and the sisters of the Sioux.

''To many times Red Cloud has seen the rotting bodies of dead buffalo which cannot go into the cloud that would welcome them into the next life. On the once happy prairie now lay the bones of too many lost buffalo. He knows the railroad will bring more whites who will kill more buffalo.

''Tall Dog knows this as well but unlike his father, Tall Dog cannot remember a time when the white man was not here. He and other younger braves grew up listening to grand stories about the times when the proud Sioux ruled over all this land and more. About time when Grandfather Mystery made the entire universe and Grandmother Earth taught the Sioux to use her for their needs. They heard the story of when Buffalo Calf Woman smiled on the Sioux and gave them their brother the buffalo, who give themselves so the Sioux may have food and hides for warmth and shelter. Now all things are threatened. Each time the braves who follow Red Cloud hear the stories of Tall Dog doing battle with the whites or killing white settlers they urge Red Cloud to join him.''

When Still Water finished Buck found he was overwhelmed. He knew the Sioux considered the buffalo their sacred brethren. But what he had not known was that Still Water might still admire Tall Dog. Watching her pretty face as she spoke of him told Buck that even though he had become a most vicious killer, and he had killed both their sons, she could still love him. Making matters worse, Buck was beginning to have feelings for Still Water. Not the silly playful urges that he would often have for women. No, what he felt for Still Water was much deeper.

''We're in quite a fix aren't we?'' Buck lamented as he handed Still Water the finished crutch for her inspection.

''This will be a great help to Tom as his leg mends.'' She spoke softly, not allowing her eyes to meet his.

In silence they walked to Still Water's lodge, each engrossed in their own thoughts about the future, the present and the past. Each worried about what they feared came next to the people of the prairie.

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Gitty Up, Dutch Henry

You can read the first excerpt HERE – and find links to go on -

"Tom Named By Horse-pt 4 - Revision update"

Howdy Friends! – This morning, as I finished polishing the final pages of “Tom Named By Horse,” the sun snuck through my window carrying the song of our resident mockingbird. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I clearly heard him sing, “It’s about time,” to George Harrison’s, “Here Comes The Sun.” … I’ll need one more run through before it’s ready for public eyes, but I’d like to share here an important scene from one of the final pages … We find Tom heading home to Soft Cloud after completing the tasks asked of him by Red Cloud, but what he finds as he nears home is troubling … I hope you enjoy ~ Gitty Up, Dutch

 To read earlier excerpts click HERE 

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He settled down just to enjoy the pleasures of a peaceful ride on a magnificent horse.  Thunder’s even stride soothed Tom completely and for hours, he rode lost in daydreams of what the future might hold for he and Soft Cloud, before he saw the lodges on the prairie ahead of him.

''What's that all about, Thunder?''  They loped in the direction of the village knowing his position to be about twenty miles north of his ranch and just thirty or so miles from Fort Laramie.  As they neared the Indian village, he recognized it to be the village of Red Cloud and Iron Shell.  In the weeks he had been gone they must have abandoned their winter village to relocate on the open prairie, but why here?

Tom was greeted at the camp’s edge by his friend Iron Shell.  Iron Shell had worked on his English and Tom had polished his Sioux.  The two friends no longer needed an interpreter.  Iron Shell informed Tom they had moved the village to be closer to Fort Laramie for his father was demanding to be heard by the leaders of the US Army.

      ''Why does Red Cloud want to speak with the Army?''

''My father is angered that the white man is now building a road to take the white man into our hunting grounds at the Black Hills beneath the Big Horn Mountain where the Powder River Runs into the Big Horn.  Red Cloud told the General that was our land, wrestled from the Crow nation.  He is also angered at the men who make marks on the prairie for another road.  A road he has been told will be made of iron.  Many Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho will be coming to join my father's village here near Fort Laramie.  Their chiefs will speak with us one day soon of making war.  They speak of a great war when thousands of braves will stop the U.S. Army.  My father cannot allow these two roads into our hunting lands.  This land that was our ancestors’ since before time, and we stand today on all that is left of our proud nations.  Perhaps it is time now for us to make war.  Perhaps it is time for us to stop the white man who only wants to take the shiny metal that is in our land.  Perhaps it is time to stop the white man who kills our sacred buffalo only for it rot under the sun of the prairie.''  Iron Shell’s eyes showed his sadness.

''But your father is a leader of peace.  He has not wanted to make war with the US Army.'' 

''My father wants only peace but most white men are greedy, they force my father to listen to the war councils.  It is not for him alone to decide this great and terrible thing.  My father believes that perhaps there is time still, to save our sacred buffalo.  He believes it would be a terrible thing for the once mighty herd of buffalo to disappear from the great lands.  But he has seen a vision that tells him the white man will one day kill all the buffalo.

''The bones of our sacred buffalo already are scattered and white over the plains.  To the greedy white man, these things are not precious.  To the greedy white man the buffalo means money.  To the greedy white man, shiny metal means money.  To the ancient Sioux the buffalo means all of life.  The Sioux have no use for the shiny metals that lay buried in the great mountains.  We have no need to scar the face of those mountains that were here since before the Sioux and Cheyenne, Arapaho and Crow. Grandfather Mystery has given us all these things.  The white man must not be allowed to spoil them.  Already there is a great gathering of Chiefs on this spot, on our grasslands near the Fort Laramie.  Chief Spotted Tail, Standing Elk, and also Chief Dull Knife have come to talk with my father.  Many other Chiefs and their villages will be here soon.''  Iron Shell's dark eyes burned red with sadness.

Tom felt as if Iron Shell had delivered him a tremendous physical blow.

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To read earlier excerpts follow this link -

"Tom Named By Horse-pt 3"

Howdy Friends, 

Many of our Coffee Clutch and Facebook friends know of my novel. For some, this is the first you've heard of it. Tom Named By Horse is the first of a trilogy about Tom Named By Horse. An Historical Fiction spanning the years from 1850 to1910.  Of course it's a love story, and much more than that ... The first book tells of a young Tom, orphaned on the prairie, sold to a sadistic buffalo hunter from whom he escapes – and immediately befriends Chief Red Cloud's granddaughter. Charged with a mission by Red Cloud, Tom selects the chief's granddaughter to travel with him. And that is just the beginning .... This excerpt is the Second Chapter, and we meet Army scout Buck Hawkins, among other key characters. You can read pt1here… I hope you enjoy, and please leave your comments. Thanks!

Kessy, Saturday and me writing -

Chapter Two 

 “Yo, Buck Hawkins … General wants to see you!” Sergeant Worly scratched his white beard, as he swung up on “Old Bedlam's,” porch, the officers' quarters in Fort Laramie.

“Yea?  Have a seat Sergeant. I haven’t finished my morning coffee. Just got in two days ago from four weeks of scouting and tracking renegades and the only thing I want to ride is this lopsided old chair. Have a cup with me.” Buck pushed his feet up against a porch post, rocked his chair back and forth on its rear legs, and was quite content.

“Can’t Buck. I gotta get to the corrals and look at the new saddle stock that came in while you were out on your pleasure trip.”

“What do you know about saddle stock? The last time you sat a horse we were still a British colony.” Buck smiled wide at the Sergeant.

“I didn’t mean I was gonna ride 'em, I just gotta count 'em. General wants to know how many made it through the renegades his favorite scout told him wasn’t there.

“Well they weren’t there when I was. Because if they were, I’d of seen 'em and run them off.

“You must have just missed ’em. Because they sure gave the Lieutenant and his boys a run for their lives!”

“That's not good. Guess I'd better go see the General.” Buck bounced down the heavy plank steps of Old Bedlam. "Thanks for the warning, Sergeant."

As Buck approached the General’s office, he was a little surprised to find him on the porch.  “Morning Buck,” the General didn't bother to stand.

“Morning, General Sturgis, and a fine morning this is!” Buck tried to set the mood with his wide grin.
“Not if you have to answer to Washington for raided settlements, and missing horses. Buck what can you tell me?”

“Well, we have Arapaho to our East. Sioux and Cheyenne to our South, and renegades and outlaws to our North and West. Go more than twenty miles in any direction, and you'd better have a fast horse.”  Buck took a seat on the rail facing the General.

Buck was a good looking young man and liked to dress in deerskin pants with fringes down the outer seam, and leather moccasin boots. He always wore army issue blue blouses and a dark leather vest. When he walked across the parade, any officer’s wives that happened to be about would surely watch. His sparkling green eyes could pierce a man through when angered, and melt any woman he turned his soft gaze upon. It had been gossiped that Lieutenant Harris’ wife had openly expressed desire for the man, causing a rift to exist between the two men. Although for Buck’s part, it was simply a way to torment a man he considered a good friend

“I need to know where Hooker’s camp town is. There has been a report they raided another settlement near Little Bear Creek and killed three men and stole the livestock. I have dispatched four men to guard the settlement, but we need to do away with the whole bunch. They cause more trouble then the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux combined. I want you to leave now and find where they hide like snakes in the grass. I want to know their numbers. Buck I want this over.”

“Numbers I can give you now. They have close to fifty, mostly lazy outlaws, and drifters, but they have begun to attract renegade Indians. They say that a renegade Sioux called, Tall Dog, is sending word to all Arapaho, Cheyenne and Sioux villages to join him with Hooker.”

“Well the Sioux and Cheyenne are fighting each other.”

“Not when they can fight you,” Buck pointed his finger at the General.

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The old buffalo hunter guided his wagon horses carefully through the narrow pass that led up the last steep grade. His wagon was loaded with the results of a successful hunt. Not just for hides, but whiskey, and guns too, that he could sell to the band of outlaws and renegade Indians. He stopped the wagon in the center of the camp.

The camp had grown into a small town since the old man had last visited. Shacks of board and canvas numbered over twenty, and now there were even women in the camp. “Where’s Hooker?”  Bellowed the hider.

A crowd of mildly interested ruffians gathered around the wagon

“What have you got for me this time, old timer?”  Hooker walked around the wagon pushing the curious aside and trying hard not to get mud on his fancy boots.

“Whiskey for everybody, hides for the Injuns, and ten of these new Henry repeaters. For anybody with gold coins.” The boastful old hider flipped back some skins to reveal a wooden crate.

Hooker ripped the top from the crate and stared at the neatly packed rifles.

“Yeah,” the hider said. “I followed the sutler coming from Fort Laramie after he met with the Army buyer there. I knew he had these rifles along. I got’im talking after a little whiskey. One of them fancy gents thinking he would get rich quick sellin’ rifles to the Army. Fool was too new from the East. Come here representin’ a big Army contract for these new repeaters. So I moved ahead about twenty miles, and when he came over the rise I, well you can just say I put him outa the repeater business and put me right in it. I took these here Henrys and six hundred dollars in gold coins he had on him … There’s gonna be a big shipment moving from Fort Kearney to Fort Laramie, in a few weeks.”

“That, you old cuss, is worth a drink!” Hooker slapped the hider on the back and led the way to the makeshift canvas saloon. Hooker and the old hider settled at a small table in the corner.

“I can tell you this,” the hider held his voice low. “You need more men than you have now. The wagons with the rifles leave Fort Kearney with a cavalry escort of fifty troopers. They’re expected in Fort Laramie by the end of October.”

“Tall Dog will find us more. They’re scattered all over the prairie just waitin’ to kill U.S. soldiers. He can gather fifty in a week. Those renegade Sioux and Cheyenne will follow him anywhere. Almost every day another handful leaves Red Cloud, and wander into the village Tall Dog started just north of here.  What day do the wagons leave Fort Kearney?”

“To get to Fort Laramie on time, they need to get started in a week or two. That many men, horses and wagons, it’ll take those soldier boys a good two weeks to make the trip.”

“What other supplies are coming along?” Hooker’s eyes held an evil glow.   

“You’ll be able to outfit all your men with brand new U.S. Troopers clothes!” The hider wiped his mouth on his sleeve and smiled at Hooker.
“Troopers clothes? New Henry repeaters and new clothes!" Hooker scratched his cheek. "Ha, we’ll have our own army. You get back to the fort and find out when they’re leaving Fort Kearney, and get back here.”

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 I'll be going publishing in a few motnths and am editing now. I hope you enjoyed this look into "Tom Named By Horse" – Please share your comments. I'll continue to share excerpts from time to time as I edit and polish ….  

To Read Pt 4 CLICK HERE  

Gitty Up ~ Dutch Henry

"Tom Named By Horse- Pt2"

Howdy Friends, 

Many of our Coffee Clutch and Facebook friends know  I'm polishing and fixin' up my novel, Tom Named By Horse. For some, this is the first you've heard of it. Tom Named By Horse is the first novel I wrote, (long before "We'll Have The Summer,") and the first of a trilogy about Tom Named By Horse.  An Historical Fiction spanning the years from 1850 to1910.  Of course it's a love story, and much more than that ... The first book tells of a young Tom, orphaned on the prairie, sold to a sadistic buffalo hunter from whom he escapes – and immediately befriends Chief Red Cloud's granddaughter. Charged with a mission by Red Cloud, Tom selects the chief's granddaughter to travel with him. And that is just the beginning .... This excerpt is from the first chapter, only days after escaping the miserable hider, Tom finds himself in Red Cloud's village, and today meets with the chief. It picks up where pt1 ended last Monday. You can find pt1 here… I hope you enjoy, and please leave your comments. Thanks!

Kessy & me writing - She's my editor

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Tom Named By Horse pt2

When the pause came, Still Water turned to Tom and translated. “Today you have proven yourself to be a brave Sioux warrior. You can take your place among the proud Sioux, and you will forever be welcome in our villages. You have saved the life of our great Chief’s son, Iron Shell. Who will one day be chief of all Lakota Sioux.

“You have killed two of our enemy. But there is still one of those buffalo killers that also kill Sioux with guns that can shoot very far. Red Cloud believes you know this buffalo killer. For us you must kill him also. You may have from our ponies any two you choose to keep for your own. Take one day to eat and rest. Then take your ponies, and your gun that shoots today and kills tomorrow, and one brave of your choosing. And go and kill this man. You must leave him naked on the earth as you have the other two. You may keep all that was his, but Red Cloud will have his hair.”

When Still Water finished she searched Tom’s eyes. “You may ask any question,” she told him as if she knew he was confused.

“I do know the hider he speaks of. He would often travel with us. He's a very mean and cruel man.  But why does he ask me to do this? Red Cloud has hundreds of braves in this village.”

Red Cloud understood white man’s English, and gave Still Water his answer. She listened and then said to Tom, “He has many braves who want to kill any white man. That is true. Some of his braves have already gone with the Sioux brave, Tall Dog, to kill whites. Perhaps there will come a day when a great war must be fought with the white man. But today, Tall Dog is wrong, and will only anger the white horse soldiers, who will kill many of our people. In this village, Red Cloud tells his people it may still be possible to share what Grandfather Mystery has given the Sioux. For now it will be better for Red Cloud if you kill this buffalo killer, who hunts Sioux women and old men ... He will hear your answer in the morning.”

Iron Shell and Red Cloud stepped into the lodge, leaving Tom to gaze at the fire and contemplate. Finally he turned to Still Water and said simply, “I am tired.”

Still Water led him to an empty lodge, “In here we have made a place for you. In the morning I will send my daughter to you with something to eat." She smiled. "You have a lot to think about. I'll leave you now so you can sleep and think.”  She raised the flap and walked away, leaving Tom very tired, and much confused. Stepping inside he closed the flap and made a soft bed with blankets and skins. He removed the buffalo hunter’s boots and lay down. He lay awake a long while, watching the fire light dance on the lodge wall, and thinking. He didn’t even know what he was thinking about, he was too tired.

Noise from the village woke Tom from a deep sleep. It was already daylight. He threw back the blankets and hurried outside where he was greeted by a very different sight than the night before.  Everywhere people were busy, building fires, cooking meat, gathering wood. Children dashed after each other and chased their dogs. As far as he could see there were lodges and activity. More noise than he had ever heard hung in the air and trees. All this made his skin tingle. His breath short. He looked toward the horses. He'd rather go there.

Then he saw her. “Hello, I am Soft Cloud. My mother told me to look after you. Are you ready for something to eat?”

Tom studied her, “I don’t know.” He remembered seeing her in the lodge the night before, but in the morning sunlight she was even more beautiful than her mother. Unlike her mother she had long black hair, and her skin was dark. Not as dark as the others, but a lovely light brown color. Her large, friendly eyes were dark brown.

“Well I’ll just sit here then, while you get ready.”  Soft Cloud said.

“Why do you talk English?”

“Would you rather I spoke Sioux?”

“No … no that’s not it. I mean why would a Sioux woman speak English at all … I mean first your mother, now you. Were they your brothers last night? Do they speak English too?”

Soft Cloud giggled a little. “Yes, but not as well as I.”

Still unsettled Tom went on, “How I mean … Why. I just can’t figure it.”

“My mother wanted it. Actually I learned English before I learned Sioux. Although I speak both equally well. I can even read English.”

“You can read?”

“Yes, of course, can’t you?”

Tom dropped his eyes “No, I never got taught. I only ever saw one book.” He looked back at those warm brown eyes, “Why would your mother want you to know English?”

“She understands it is important. Have you found an appetite yet?”

Already Tom was beginning to find it easy to speak with Soft Cloud. It calmed him. The peaceful surroundings of the Sioux village and the gentle company of Soft Cloud were having a strange affect on him. He felt as if he was growing wiser by the moment, and he seemed to understand things more clearly, in a way he had never experienced before. His thinking seemed easier, too.  Never before did he need to organize thoughts, or plan things for a day. While frightening, it was also exciting.

“I think I can eat now,” Tom's gaze fixed on her wonderful eyes.

Soft Cloud left for a moment and came back with a bowl of mush made of wild grass seed and stems of wild tea, and a fat bodied prairie dog. Using his fingers he began, timidly, to eat his meal while Soft Cloud sat patiently nearby, watching him.

“Will you do as Red Cloud asks?” She asked Tom in a soft voice, as lovely as her eyes.

“Yes.”

“And how will you do this?”

“Just go shoot him,” he answered wondering why she needed to know so much.

“How can you be sure he won’t shoot you first?”

“Because that’s not how I see it in my head. This buffalo hunter will be sitting by his wagon, and I will lie down on the ground, and shoot him, and he will die. I can see this clearly, so I am sure it will happen that way.”

“And you can see this?”

Tom finished his meal and took a long drink from the water skin.

Tom left her to find a sunny spot on a rise to watch the horses, and think. The hider must die, not just because Red Cloud asked, but for his own reasons, too. But he'd rather just sit with the horses than kill another man. Why can't he just stay here where it was safe and peaceful? Why can't he just forget the hider? He'd heard an old man say, "If a man looks hard enough for trouble, he's bound to find it."  He never understood what that meant, but today, he wondered if that was what he was meant to do. Look for trouble. He turned from the horses to look back over the camp. The sounds of running, playing children floated out to him. For them? For their safety? Must he look for trouble?

He would take Tom Gray as his saddle horse and use the pair of mules to pull the wagon. Better to take the wagon, he thought, to carry enough supplies in case they are gone a long time. Sitting in the grass, with the sun warming his back while taking in the sounds of the village, and gazing at the horses, and the prairie beyond them, his mind continued to clear. 

There were about five or six hundred horses grazing and engaging in small battles and short chases, each defending their own territory and supremacy. Tom quickly spotted the three mules and recognized his old friend, who was the most comfortable looking of them all, simply eating grass and having nothing to do with chases or battles. It made Tom proud, that even in a herd this size, his big gray horse stood out. He sat and watched them for a long while, absolutely content. So content he fell asleep. Before he fell asleep, he told himself he would have a horse ranch one day. A horse ranch like the one he had seen near Ogallala when he visited there with the old hider.

Tom woke with a start at the braying of a mule. It was late morning so he hurried to Still Water's lodge, hoping to find Soft Cloud.  She was there. “I'm ready to tell Red Cloud my plans, and I'd like you to come with me.”

Nervously Tom waited for her response, expecting her to reject him. Instead she rose. Together they made their way through the Sioux village weaving between low campfires and lodges. They walked in silence past meat racks loaded with buffalo strips, rabbits and prairie dog. Women busily scrapped hides, and young boys cut arrows. This Sioux village had more lodges than Tom could count, but he guessed near two hundred. Today all the activity soothed him, unlike the worry it had given him the night before. Did he belong here? He glanced at Soft cloud.

They stood by the fire waiting at Red Cloud’s camp. Soon Iron Shell and Red Cloud stepped from the lodge, and signaled they should sit. Tom and Soft Cloud sat together across the fire from Red Cloud. His big black eyes stared straight into Tom’s, demanding information.

Tom turned to Soft Cloud and began, “I will ride my horse. I have known him a long time, and I’ll take the two mules and the hider’s wagon. I will take as my brave Soft Cloud ….”

Soft Cloud bolted to her feet. “I cannot be your brave! I am a Sioux woman not a brave!”

“I have heard that the Sioux tell the Crow, even their women can defeat them in battle …Tell him.” Tom meant to offer a compliment but saw instantly he'd failed.

Soft Cloud moved to Red Cloud, they both saw Iron Shell smile. She stood over Red Cloud, her voice wavered. She flung her hands as she spoke. Red Cloud looked at Tom, not able hide his amusement. Tom returned the look, but Soft Cloud caught him.

For a long moment Red Cloud said nothing, just looked at Tom over the low fire. Soft Cloud stood by Red Cloud. She glared at Tom, her brown eyes narrowed to dark slits on her tan face. Since Red Cloud did not respond, Tom continued, “Soft Cloud should choose from the ponies the one best for her. I ask for Sioux leggings and moccasins.”

Soft Cloud stared at Tom, defiance and disbelief radiated from her.

“Tell him." Tom offered a faint smile and remembered from the night before that Red Cloud understood some English, but he wanted Soft Cloud to tell him in his own tongue.

Soft Cloud spoke again. With emotions high, and hands waving, she told Red Cloud the things Tom asked.

Red Cloud sat quietly, and Iron Shell continued to smile at Tom. Soft Cloud stood between them at the edge of the fire. When finally Red Cloud spoke, he looked directly at Tom, with a faint smile on his lips.  As he spoke Soft Cloud became more agitated. She turned to Tom, “Red Cloud is worried because your horse is older than you, and he may not make the trip. But he is not worried that I must go with you!”

Tom didn’t try to hide his smile, “Tell him my horse can smell old buffalo hunters, and Crow.” She turned to Red Cloud and told him, and Red Cloud nodded. Then Iron Shell removed his moccasins, and leggings, and handing them to Tom, he spoke to Soft Cloud.

She turned to Tom, “They will bring you back safe and victorious.” 

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I hope you enjoyed this part of Tom Named By Horse's journey – Please share your comments. Perhaps from time to time I'll post a few more excerpts as I edit & polish for publication ~  

To Read Pt 3 CLICK HERE - 

Gitty Up ~ Dutch Henry