Running Buck was vaguely aware of the girl coming into the stable where he was hiding. He crawled to the far corner of the stall and covered himself with the straw to prevent her from finding him. The girl started to feed the animals. She was talking to them, laughing softly as she worked. She just reached the stall he was in when the man entered.
Running Buck could tell the man had been drinking and was scaring the girl. Still, he did his best to become small, invisible, lost in his surroundings. He was almost convinced that this wasn’t real when the man hit the girl, knocking her to the ground. She started to crawl away from the man; that’s when she saw Running Buck. Their eyes met and he knew he had to help her. She was so much like Little Bird; he couldn’t fail her again. He waited until the man turned his back, drew his weapon, and pounced.
The man was big, strong, and so drunk that pain didn’t matter. He threw Running Buck to the ground with a laugh. Running Buck was also used to pain so he quickly regained his feet and prepared to once more attack the man. That’s when the man picked up the nearby shovel. He held the shovel by the handle and swung the head into Running Buck’s right arm. The pain as his arm broke almost caused him to black out, and he dropped his knife as he grabbed his arm and fell to the ground with a thud.
The man threw the shovel across the barn and let out another laugh. He knew he had won this battle, and moved toward Running Buck to finish him off. Running Buck tried to crawl away, but the pain made it difficult to move. The man towered over him, laughing. The girl quietly picked up the shotgun that was kept by the barn door. She took aim and fired. The man straightened in surprise and then fell face first onto the startled boy.
Then another voice arrived, yelling, shouting, demanding to know what was going on. The girl quickly dropped the shotgun and started sobbing. Running Buck lay motionless; he could feel the life leaving the man that lay on top of him. His right arm hurt where the man had hit him. He could hear the voices, but he couldn’t understand the words. The voices moved closer as Running Buck embraced the darkness and its welcome release from pain.
The early morning light woke Running Buck. At first he thought the events had all been an unpleasant dream, but when he tried to sit up, he realized that he’d really been involved in a fight. The pain in his arm, as he pushed himself up, caused him to moan quietly. An older woman was at his side instantly. She spoke to him softly. He could tell she meant him no harm from her tone, but he still couldn’t understand the words. She touched his head with a cool cloth and continued talking. Running Buck concentrated on the words. He should know some of them from his conversations with Little Bird. He smiled at her to let her know he wasn’t afraid, and when she stopped speaking, whispered, “My name Running Buck.”
She smiled back. “My name is Mary Jones. My husband and I want to thank you for saving our daughter, Elizabeth.”
Running Buck nodded. He didn’t know what else to do. He did understand “thank you” because Little Bird had taught him those words. The pain in his arm was lessening as he sat still and the thought of Little Bird caused him to remember the correct response. “You welcome,” he said as he lay back on the bed.
Soon, the woman left and brought back some soup and bread. She helped Running Buck sit up and eat. Then she brought in three other people; her husband, her daughter, and another woman. This third woman approached Running Buck and asked in Lakota, “Running Buck, my name is Sister Catherine. Do you understand me?”
Running Buck nodded.
“ Why were you in the barn?” she asked.
“ I needed a place to stay the night,” Running Buck answered. “I didn’t want to take anything. I just wanted to be warm.”
She nodded and spoke to the others in the room. They all relaxed when they realized that he was really alone and didn’t want to harm them.
The new lady turned her attention back to Running Buck. “Are you trying to get home?”
Running Buck shook his head. “I have no home,” he said sadly. “I am trying to find a place to live and learn about the white man.”
The lady’s face brightened as she smiled. “You can stay with me at the mission school. It will give you a place to live while you learn.”
Running Buck returned the lady’s smile. “Thank you,” he said.
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