Thunder Rolling in the Mountains Read Online Free PDF

pretended to be grazing while they waited for his attack.
    But Red Owl did not burst out of the bushes to frighten the others. Time passed. I moved quietly to the bushes and looked over them. There was no one to be seen. Red Owl was gone.
    I put one of the older girls in charge of the little ones and began to look for him. I knew he had left to watch the battle. Red Owl had seen only seven snows, but he itched to be with the warriors.
    I climbed the butte. Lying on my stomach, I looked across the battlefield. Horses were running in every direction. I saw one horse—its saddle stained with blood—dragging a Blue Coat whose foot was caught in the stirrup. Crossing a low ridge in the distance was Red Owl. Five horse lengths in front of him lay a dead Blue Coat. Beside his outstretched hand was a shining bugle.
    I called Red Owl, but he did not stop. He wanted
the bugle for his own. As he reached it, our warriors mounted a charge. They rode past the bugler, and Red Owl was lost from view.
    Heedless of gunfire, I flew down the butte. When I reached Red Owl, I dropped to the ground beside him. He had taken cover behind the bugler's body. He was afraid to move. So many bullets struck around us that my eyes smarted from the dust.
    As our warriors' bullets and arrows found their mark, the battle moved away. The shouts and gunfire grew faint. Red Owl raised his head and grinned at me. The bugle was clutched tightly in his fist.
    I got to my feet and grabbed his arm. My heart still beat fast. "Foolish child!" I said, as my fear turned to anger. "You will be the death of us."
    His face grew solemn and he was quiet as we walked back to the camp. He would not be so boastful in front of the others. It was bad enough that the children would admire Red Owl's daring. I did not want them to copy his pranks.
    At last the battle ended. We were badly outnumbered, but Ollokot drove our warriors. He made them believe that they were truly fighting for their lands and lives and gods. None of our people was killed, and only two warriors were wounded. By nightfall we had forced every Blue Coat to flee, and thirty-four white soldiers lay dead upon the ground.
    There would be more battles with the Blue Coats,
Chief Joseph promised. "They will follow us. We cannot hide. They will find us wherever we go."
    Looking Glass said that we must cross the mountains and travel to the land of the Crows. Howard could not bring his big guns over the mountains. We could live in peace with the Crows and hunt buffalo. The other chiefs agreed.
    My father was not happy. "This is your fight, not mine," he said. "I will look after the women and children and old men. You must keep the soldiers away."
    We left White Bird Canyon and the beaten soldiers. I felt like singing. My pony stepped lively through the grass. Flowers were blooming under the oaks and huckleberries. I rode in the gray dust with the children, behind all the old people.
    I made a doll for my baby sister with a piece of a soldier's shirt. The youngest Joseph, nephew of Old Joseph, had found a soldier's knife and was chasing Red Owl. My small cousin had a pair of soldier's heavy boots and asked me to cut off their tops and make a purse out of them.
    Beside me rode White Feather, who had watched me shoot the copper pan from the white woman's hands. She was a year older than I. "Are you pleased?" she asked. "The warriors have won and your father has lost."
    "I am pleased," I said. "We have beaten the Blue Coats. If they follow us, we will beat them again."
    There was a whoop from the children. Young Joseph had caught Red Owl and was sticking him in the chest. I took the knife away from him and when I came back Swan Necklace was riding with White Feather. My pony fell in beside them.
    "Were you frightened?" I asked Swan Necklace.
    "Just at first," he said. "Then I knew that my guardian spirit would keep me safe. Wah-lit-its and Red Moccasin Tops rode beside me. We charged the soldiers. Two Moons and the