The Legend of Tyoga Weathersby Read Online Free PDF

surrounding pool of blood. The other jaw had snapped through the small bone in Tes Qua’s lower leg. The jagged fragment of bone had pierced through the skin on the other side of his mangled limb.
    The enormous trap was tethered to the base of an oak tree by a heavy, rusty chain. Thankfully, it wasn’t secured to the tree by a lock, but by a long iron pin that served as a clasp laced through several links in the chain.
    Tyoga released the clasp and the chain was free of its mooring. Slowly, Tyoga lifted Tes Qua’s limp body and began the arduous trek up a steep embankment to a bluff about fifty yards away from the stream. He laid him gently on a flat table of rock that stood alter-like at the far end of the ridge. Stripping off his loin cloth, Tyoga balled it up and placed it under Tes Qua’s head.
    He raced back down the embankment to the stream, moistened a clutch of maple leaves and brought it to his friend’s face. The cool water jolted Tes Qua from the mercy of semi-consciousness, and the agony returned in waves of wretchedness. He instinctively reached for the trap, but Tyoga intercepted the reflex with a gentle grasp. “Ne’ya, ditlihi. Don’t touch it.”
    Calling Tes Qua “detilihi”(warrior) was the Indian way of strengthening a companion’s resolve as they marched into battle, or began a dangerous hunt. With a clearer eye and a more controlled demeanor, Tes Qua hiked himself up onto his elbows.
    “What are we going to do, Ty?”
    “Let me have a look-see. Stopped bleedin’ some.” Tyoga bent down close to the trap to inspect the wound more closely. The bleeding hadstopped, and the gelatinous ooze was congealing on the surface of the gash.
    “First thing, I gotta try ta op’n the trap,” he said calmly and quietly. Turning to look Tes Qua in the eye, he added with apologetic resolve, “May hurt some.”
    Tes Qua closed his eyes and nodded.
    Tyoga removed the leather thong securing his Do’tse pouch to his belt. “Here.” He handed it to his friend.
    Tes Qua put the leather strap in his mouth and bit down hard.
    Hopping up onto the alter rock, Tyoga stood facing Tes Qua so that the trap and Tes Qua’s broken leg and mangled foot were at his feet. Squatting down, he touched the jaws of the trap. He glanced up at his friend to see if the touch caused additonal pain. Tes Qua didn’t flinch.
    Unfamiliar with the workings of the bear trap’s pan and spring mechanism, he was unsure how to release his friend from the enormous jaws that clung so cruelly to his lower leg. He interlaced the fingers of his left hand between the razor sharp teeth that had snapped the small bone in Tes Qua’s leg. He could get a pretty good grip above where the jagged end of the bone protruded through the skin. He cocked his head to the right to survey the other jaw of the trap. That’s when he saw the iron long springs on either side of the trap’s hinge.
    Tes Qua lay back down. His head rolled to one side. His mouth went slack and the leather strap fell to his chest.
    “Do’hitsu, Tes’a?” His friend didn’t answer.
    Better this way. Sleep my brother. Sleep.
    Tes Qua’s unconsciousness gave Tyoga the opportunity to try whatever he could to release his friend. Placing a foot on each of the long springs, he hoped that his weight would pinch the springs enough to loosen the jaws sufficiently to pull Tes’A’s leg free of its grip. The weight of a twelve year old proved to be no match for the trap’s long springs.
    He placed both his feet on a single spring to concentrate all of his weight on one side of the trap. The long spring surrendered a bit to the new approach. If he could apply equal weight to the long spring on the other side of the trap, he might have a chance to free his friend.
    Surveying the area around them, Tyoga saw a granite boulder that appeared to be heavy enough to compress the long spring into submission. It was the perfect size and shape. Rolling it over to the alter rock, he lifted it up