Puma Son of Mountain Lion Read online

  “Yes, I saw him demonstrate his abilities. The things he did seemed impossible, yet I saw him do them.”

  “Then it is true, he was a great warrior?”

  “Yes, he was strong and fast, and he fought with the fury of a mountain lion. They say he had no fear, and he killed his enemies without hesitation. He told me that he had no teachers, so he had to learn from animals. He learned to catch animals by watching predators catch animals. He learned to elude predators by watching the animals they preyed upon elude them. Your father said, ‘Men are like animals. Some are predators and others are prey.’ He also said, ‘When it comes to surviving, animals are smarter than people. All a person has to do is to watch the animals, and they will show the person the things he or she need to know.’”

  “Could I learn to use these weapons as well as my father?”

  “Yes, but to be as proficient as your father was, you will have to work very hard and spend a lot of time practicing.” And then she added, “You can’t take these weapons back to the village with you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you are still a boy and you do not have warrior status. The chief will take these weapons from you, and there is nothing you can do about it. After you have gone through the test of manhood and have attained warrior status, the chief would need the tribe’s approval to take your weapons, and they would never give it.”

  “Then I will keep them hidden until I become a warrior. I will practice with them in secret. When I have learned to use them as well as my father, no one will be able to take them from me. Mother, will you show me how he used them?”

  “I will show you, but you will still have to do the work of learning. If anyone sees you with these weapons, they will ask where you got them, and you will have to tell them. That would allow them to know the location of this cave, and we would be violating your father’s trust. That must never happen.”

  Puma pondered and then said, “I have heard that the Kickapoo, the Ponca, and the Osage trade with the white men. I will tell our people that I got the weapons off the body of a dead Kickapoo warrior, whom I found while on my mission to become a man. After I have undergone the rite of manhood, I will keep the weapons, and no man had better try to take them from me.”

  “That might work, but you must never let anyone know that you have the gold coins either; especially white men. They will take them from you.”

  “What good are they, if I cannot show them to anyone?”

  “I don’t know, but your father said that these coins have enough power, that you could trade one coin for a horse and a white man’s weapon, called a gun, and still have enough left over to buy all the food you would need for a month.”

  Puma marveled. “Then I will keep them hidden. Someday, if I go among the white men, I will watch to see how the white men use the coins, and then I will know how to use them.” As he placed the coins back in the bag he said pensively, “I would sure like to have a horse of my own.”

  “We’ll stay here tonight and return to our village tomorrow. We have to get back so you’ll be there for your test of courage.”

  “I am ready. I’ll hide the weapons my father has given me outside the village, then I’ll practice in secret until I am ready to let everyone know I have them.”

  “Come,” Evening Star said. “Let’s go outside and sit on the ledge like your father and I did. We can watch the animals playing in the meadow and make believe he is here with us.”

  They sat where Puma’s father had sat many evenings alone, and where he and Evening Star had sat together while they watched the sun slowly setting until it disappeared below the horizon.

  Evening Star and Puma watched as the shadows lengthened and darkness silently occupied the meadow. A glow in the high clouds lingered for a time, and they listened as the day seemed to heave a sigh and settle down to sleep. After sitting for a time in the darkness, they re-entered the cave and lay down on beds of buffalo skins that Michael had left in the cave.

  Puma was so excited by all he had learned, and all the strange and wonderful things his father had left him, that he couldn’t sleep. Now that he had seen the pictures, he knew how his father looked.

  Evening Star also lay awake, remembering the times she spent with the only man she had ever loved. She knew Michael would be proud of their son.

  * * *

  The next morning, they ate early and began the journey back to the village. Puma carried the things Michael had left him with the coins secured in a leather bag.

  Evening Star was concerned about what the chief might do if he found that Puma had the weapons, but she thought Puma’s plan would work. No one would take the weapons from him after he had become a warrior. She could see that her son was going to be a man equal to his father. She had to put it all behind her now and get on with raising the two children she had borne to Black Crow.

  She and Puma hid the gifts a short distance from the village and returned to their lodge just as the women were preparing for the evening meal. Black Crow, the chief, and their warriors were not expected to return for another few days.

  Chapter 3

  The Rites of Passage

  Puma had been anticipating the time when he would be given the chance to prove himself worthy of becoming a warrior. His testing would begin with the men of the tribe taking him to a place far from the village. He would have to live for three days with no contact with anyone to prove that he could survive alone as a man against nature, depending only upon himself. If he endured, he would be allowed to eat and hunt with the men. They would teach him to be a warrior and a hunter. He would then take his place as a man and be expected to defend his village in battle.

  With the coming of the full moon, he would undergo the rites of manhood, and tonight, the moon was only a sliver, and he knew that he would be tested in a few days. A feast was held in his honor celebrating his time of becoming a man. Puma knew he had a lot to live up to, and he was ready to prove that he was worthy.

  * * *

  As Puma had hoped, the men of his tribe took him beyond their usual hunting grounds to an area where the Arapaho shared hunting rights with the Kickapoo, Osage, and the Ponca. The Arapaho had little reason to associate with these tribes, but they had always been on friendly terms because they shared common enemies—the Kiowa and the Comanche.

  On the morning his test was to begin, four men accompanied him to where he was to be left alone. They held a brief ceremony to evoke the gods to protect him and then turned and walked away. No one looked back. Puma would have to survive for three days and three nights. He was forbidden to see anyone, and he could talk to no one, until he returned to the village on the morning of the fourth day. If he violated any of these rules, he would not be accepted as a man for another year.

  The rite of manhood was a primitive ritual that Indian boys had been going through for as long as anyone could remember. It was one of their oldest customs: a time when a boy was given a chance to prove that he was a man. Puma had looked forward to this day for a long time, and now he was anticipating it even more because it would give him a chance to carry the weapons his father had given to him. A chill of excitement ran through him as he was left in a small meadow under the spreading branches of a large oak tree.

  Puma stood tall, proud, and alone with a bow, a quiver of arrows; a stone knife, a tomahawk, and a robe made from buffalo hide with fringes hanging down the back of each arm and leg. At his waist, he carried a stone knife and a tomahawk in a sheath made of buffalo hide. He had a bow in his hand, and a quiver of arrows hung on his back. The arrows were held in place by a thin strip of rawhide. He wore moccasins on his feet, and a robe slung over his shoulders. He wore was a headband that had been adorned with blue and brown beads that his mother had made for him.

  The men were barely out of sight when Puma began a distance-devouring stride to where he had hid the weapons his father had made for him. When he got to where he had buried them, he concealed the stone weapons in the hole and
took up the far superior metal ones, and then returned to where the men had left him.

  He lost no time in preparing a shelter. He found a rock ledge with an overhang to keep out of the rain. The ledge was so high up the side of a cliff that it would be difficult for a predator to climb. He gathered dry wood for a fire to cook his food and to protect himself from marauding wolves and lions. Then he gathered green branches and laid them on the ledge for a bed. Then he covered the branches with grass and placed his buffalo robe over it. His bed and shelter were prepared.

  Now he must have food. He found a tree of ripe plums, gathered handfuls, and stored them on the rock ledge. He found a patch of blackberries growing beside the creek and gathered some of those, also.

  He heard a snort and looked behind him. The biggest sow he had ever seen was staring at him. She had a litter of pigs and was in no mood for intruders. Puma knew a wild hog could be as dangerous as a bear, and a sow with a litter of pigs was the most dangerous of all. The sow was sure to charge. The only place he could escape to was in a tree a short sprint away. He dropped the berries, grabbed his weapons, and ran for the tree. The sow was only a few strides behind him, and she was coming fast. Her mouth was open, and she was slashing with her long tusks. By the time Puma reached the tree, the sow was dangerously close. He dropped his ax and lance, grabbed a branch, and swung up into the tree just as the sow, in her headlong charge, ran under him. He was safe, but he had dropped both his ax and his lance. He was treed by an angry sow—how was he going to get down?

  The sow was snorting and slashing at the trunk of the tree. Puma still had his bow and arrows slung over his shoulder, and he had his knife strapped to his waist. He sat, considering his predicament. If he shot the sow with an arrow, the whole litter of pigs would die. Then it occurred to him that one of those pigs would make a delicious meal. If he were to shoot one with an arrow, and the sow saw that her litter was in danger, perhaps she would leave. Then he could climb down and claim his trophy. He selected a pig, and made an easy kill.

  As he had hoped, the sow realized that her litter was in jeopardy and quickly led them away. Puma climbed down, picked up the pig, and prepared his meal. After he ate, he stored the leftovers on a limb, wrapped in leaves. Now he could do what he had come to do—practice with his new weapons. He already knew how to use the bow and arrow, and his skill with that weapon was above average. He had practiced with a lance like the one the men had given him, but the stone head made it too heavy and unstable for accurate throwing. Because of the possibility of damaging the stone head, he had to be careful where he threw it.

  With the new spear that his father had made, breaking the head was not a problem because the head was made of metal. The balance was superior and after practicing only a short time, he was able to throw the spear much better than he could throw the old one. He was able to thrust the metal spearhead into the trunk of a tree with every throw. Puma was pleased with his new weapons.

  He laid the spear aside and picked up the ax. The ax felt good in his hand, but he had never seen anyone throw an ax. His mother had shown him how his father had held the ax by the handle when he threw it. He tried, but the ax just bounced off the tree. He knew he had to make the ax strike the tree with the blade in position to cut into the wood. Soon he learned that when he threw the ax, it would flip as it traveled through the air, and he had to control how much the ax would turn. He worked all afternoon. Before dark, he was able to throw the ax in a way that it would make one complete revolution and hit blade first. In most instances, the blade cut into and remained stuck in the tree.

  He picked up the knife and, after throwing it a few times, realized that throwing the knife required the same technique as throwing the ax. The knife had to revolve in flight, landing point first. His arm and upper torso grew tired from throwing the ax and the knife. That was when he discovered that he would have to develop his upper torso muscles to build greater strength, if he were going to become an expert in the use of these weapons. He also learned that he was going to need a lot of training to develop the skills he had heard that his father possessed. He still had two days and three nights to practice before he had to return to the village.

  In the evenings, he sat alone on his ledge just as his father had sat alone on the ledge at the cave. He listened to the animals and watched the day come to a close as the light faded and darkness closed around him. The night held no fear for him. He had a secure shelter under the overhanging ledge and a good bed to sleep on. He had food to eat and a stream nearby for bathing and drinking. His first day had been a success.

  The remaining days he continued practicing. By the end of the third day, his proficiency with the knife and ax were remarkable. He could throw either weapon, a distance of twenty paces, with deadly accuracy. His body was tired from all the practice, but he was growing stronger each day. He was determined to retain his weapons. Should anyone attempt to take them from him, and he felt there was a better-than-average chance the chief or one of his cohorts might try, he would leave his weapons hidden until he had been officially accepted into the tribe as a warrior. Then he would bring them out and use them to defend the village and provide food for himself and his family.

  Puma spent the last afternoon preparing to re-enter the village. The following morning, as he walked through the forest, he practiced with his weapons by pretending a tree was an assailant. He would sink his spear into a tree just at the height of an enemy’s heart, and then throw either his knife or ax and achieve the same results. He was still a boy, but he was quick, strong, and unafraid. His mother and the people of his village would be proud of him.

  He hoped his father would be proud, also. Before Puma returned to the village, he again hid the metal weapons and picked up the ones he had been given when he left the village.

  Chapter 4

  The Raid

  Evening Star awoke to the high, shrill sound of the Comanche war cry, women screaming, and children crying. Comanche warriors were howling as they rode through the village killing and plundering. It sounded as though the village was being attacked by a pack of hungry wolves.

  She pushed aside the flap of buffalo skin that covered the opening to her teepee, just enough to see what was happening. People were running, lodges were burning, and dust was rising in the still, morning air. Men, women, and children were being slaughtered by Comanche warriors riding horses. The raiders wore grotesque war paint and used clubs made of bone and hardwood, shaped with knobs on the ends to crush the skulls of their running victims as they overtook them on their horses.

  Evening Star saw a woman running frantically, trying to escape from the warrior chasing her. The warrior, riding his horse at a run, brandished his club and yelled his war cry. The woman didn’t have a chance. The warrior overtook her and in one smashing blow crushed her skull. She dropped to the ground without making a sound. Her savage killer rode over her as she fell.

  Evening Star’s heart filled with terror. She had two children to protect and no way to protect them. The Arapaho warriors who should be defending the village were away on a hunting trip. The only chance she and her children had was to escape into the woods, across the stream that ran by the village. She slashed an opening in the back of her tepee, grabbed the hands of her two frightened children. Her nine-year old son picked up a stick to use as a weapon to defend them. All around them, they heard screaming, yelling, crying, and dying. They ran as fast as they could for the stream.

  The stream was just ahead, and she dared to hope she and the children might escape, but two Comanche warriors riding horses, came bearing down on them.

  Evening Star, knowing she was being overtaken, picked up her little girl and tried to shelter her from the smashing blows of the assailants. She watched in horror as her son’s head was smashed. He had tried to defend her and his little sister. Evening Star heard her daughter scream and then felt a stunning blow to her head. She was losing consciousness, but as she fell forward she was thinking, Thanks to the fathe
r in the great beyond, Puma is away undergoing the rites of manhood.

  ***

  Puma timed his return so that he would arrive just as the village was awakening. He was expecting praise from his family and friends: a hero’s welcome. He had left the village a boy, and was returning as a man. It was a proud moment in his life. Today, he would be accepted into his tribe as a warrior. As he neared the village, he sensed that something was wrong. He had walked this area all his life and knew every log, every boulder, and every tree. He should be hearing the sounds of people stirring in the village. But he heard no dogs barking, no voices, nothing—only silence. He crouched beside the trail and listened.

  Something was wrong! Very wrong! What could it be? He rose and slowly continued. After passing a turn in the trail, he saw the village. It was burning. Dust and smoke was everywhere and the feeling of death hung in the air.

  Bodies lay where the people had been overtaken in flight. At first, they were just bodies. Then he began to recognize them as members of his tribe. The lodges had been stripped and plundered; some had been burned. Raiders had caught the village sleeping, and they had slain everyone. The enemy had attacked while Chief Long Knife and his warriors were away on a hunting trip. Only the Comanche could have done this. They had carried off everything of value, leaving only death and an empty village.

  Puma was in shock. What he saw seemed unreal. Slowly, he began to realize what had happened. He started running, looking for his family. Caution slowed his pace. He entered the village, watching for enemies who might still be plundering. The few old men and boys who had been in the village at the time of the attack lay where they had fallen. They had died courageously trying to defend their village.