Another storm slammed into them in a small valley a couple of miles from the top of the pass. They struggled on, heading east, they thought, but out in the open with no real trail to follow, they had lost their bearings in the blowing snow and icy wind. After a couple of hours, they were not sure just where they were. The wind and freezing temperatures sapped their strength and left them lost in the maelstrom.
Once again, they could do nothing but move on. A few times, Cooper considered backtracking, but he didn’t know if he could find the trail down the west side of the pass again, if they were even still in the pass, and there was nowhere for them to really shelter back that way. He just hoped that this valley was not too large. The horses began to falter, and Cooper was beginning to think the end was near for him and Black Moon. Again, he began having flashbacks of the previous winter, when he was alone, with no weapons and no idea of where he was. At least this time, he thought, I have weapons, a horse, and a wonderful companion.
About the time that Cooper really began to second-guess his decision to go forward instead of turning back, they staggered into the trees. Cooper’s hopes rose, as did the land a little. Then they were in a forest of pines and aspens. The woods lessened the wind and snow enough that Cooper and Black Moon almost thought for a few moments that the storm had slowed.
They started working their way deeper into the trees and they felt that the effects of the storm faded a little more. But they were stopped when the travois began to catch on trees. “Damn,” Cooper muttered. He unhooked the travois and led his horse farther into the forest, while Black Moon did the same with her mare.
A short way in, Cooper said, “This is good enough. Get a fire goin’ while I tend to the horses.”
He first hobbled the animals. By the time he finished caring for the horses and peeled off some bark for the ponies to feed on, Black Moon had a fire going and meat that had been frozen cooking over the fire. He plopped down next to the fire and nodded thanks to his wife.
“How much coffee we got left?” he asked.
“Enough for one or two times. Maybe good to have some now.”
Cooper looked up through the trees to the snow coming down. “After the day we had, that idea shines with this chil’.”
The Shoshoni rose and got the small sack of coffee beans and the coffeepot from her saddlebags and returned to the fire. She mashed up a handful of beans, put them in the pot with some snow and set the pot on the fire.
After he ate and drank a small cup of coffee, Cooper rose and, despite his exhaustion, managed to build a small lean-to. Before long, they turned in, snuggling together under a thick, heavy buffalo robe.
The storm had weakened by morning, though snow continued to fall in thick, large flakes. Despite that, Cooper decided to hunt, as they were almost out of meat. He was back before long, walking his horse on which was draped a half-butchered elk.
Cooper skinned it and handed the hide to Black Moon, who began cutting it into pieces. While she was occupied with that, Cooper finished butchering the animal, cutting the meat up in manageable chunks. Those were wrapped in the sections of hide Black Moon had cut except for one hunk, which they began roasting on a makeshift spit of green twigs, though it was still somewhat early in the day.
They spent the next two days eating heartily and making sure the horses had feed. Then Cooper decided it was time to resume their journey. He hooked up the travois and they moved out onto what passed for a trail. The land rose steadily, and with the accumulated snow, the going was hard and slow. All the way, they hoped that there would be an end to the pass and maybe get their bearings so they could make their way toward the next pass.
They were happy that no new snow fell for five slow-moving days, but then it started again with a vengeance. Big, wet flakes came down and accumulated quickly and deeply. They began to struggle even more as the snow piled up. The horses strained trying to make their way through the whiteness that grew steadily. It wasn’t quite deep enough that Cooper had to make a trail for the gelding, but he did dismount and started leading his horse. Black Moon did the same with her mare.
With the trees packed so tightly, there was no place to settle down for the night, so they pressed on until just before dark and quickly made a fire to cook some meat. Cooper unsaddled the animals and cut down some shoots to feed them.
After eating and resting for an hour sitting with their backs against trunks it was time to leave again. About noon the next day, they came to a small flat where the trees had thinned out. They found a spot there where they could be among the pines and have the horses with them. As Black Moon made a fire, Cooper took care of the animals and hobbled them so they could feed on whatever forage they could find. Despite the snow that was still falling, they did not bother with a lean-to. After eating the next to last hunk of elk, they spread one buffalo robe on the ground, stretched out on it and pulled another over them.
As they were eating the last of the elk in the morning, Cooper said, “I best go make meat.”
Black Moon nodded. It was necessary, and she would not complain even if she had thought to do so.
He arrived back in their camp carrying a very small deer. “Best I could find, Moon,” he said in disgust with himself.
“We make do.”
“Reckon so.” He set to work butchering the deer.
Two days later, Cooper decided they would leave. The snow, which had sputtered intermittently, had finally stopped, and the animals were rested. Cooper saddled the horses and hooked the travois onto his gelding while Black Moon packed what few supplies they had. They left an hour or so after daylight. Cooper was grateful that the sun was out and the temperature, he estimated, had edged just above freezing.
They moved slowly, not wanting to tax the animals, or themselves. They made only four or five miles, Cooper figured, with the snow still a foot or more deep and they were finally beginning to work their way down the mountain. Their relatively benevolent weather did not last long. They had camped on a hillside, not the most comfortable camp but was the best they could do under the circumstances. When they awoke in the morning, snow was falling again, and the temperature had dropped.
It only grew worse as they traveled that day, with the snow piling up to two feet, making the horses struggle once more trying to make their way through the growing depth.
They found a relatively flat place with plenty of trees, though not so closely packed. They made camp quickly, took care of the animals, then sat to eat some deer meat. They had only enough to last another day or two, so they ate sparingly.
They left in the morning, hoping that nicer weather would return, but it was not to be. Before noon, the horses were barely able to make it through the two and a half feet of snow on what the travelers were trying to use as a trail.
Cooper’s horse, trailing the travois, began to stagger. “Damn,” Cooper muttered. He stopped and unhooked the travois and then walked, towing the gelding behind him. It soon became apparent, though, that the animal was in bad shape. He stopped and walked back to where Black Moon was sitting on her horse. “This here’s poor bull, Moon,” he said. “But I reckon we best backtrack to yesterday’s camp. I don’t know what’s ahead, and neither horse looks to be able to go much farther. At least a trail is tamped that way.”
Black Moon looked uncertain. It would take a few hours to get back to that campsite, but it was true they didn’t know what lie ahead. “Maybe you go ahead on foot, see if better place not far. I wait here.”
Cooper thought that over for a minute, then nodded. He turned and shuffled off, laboring through the snow. He went about a mile, he guessed, and saw no other likely spot. And he was exhausted from his efforts. He headed back to where Black Moon waited. As he neared, he shook his head.
She nodded. “I hook up travois again.”
“No. We’ll leave it here. If the horses recruit enough, we’ll get it when we’re on the move again.”
“Is damn good.”
They turned, the woman still riding, the man still towing his horse. It took several hours but they finally arrived. Cooper managed to gather a little forage for the animals, then collapsed near the fire Black Moon had started. She sliced off a small chunk of meat and handed it to him on a tin plate.
“Thankee, Moon.” He bit off a hunk.
With a smile, Black Moon handed him a cup of coffee.
“You been hidin’ this?”
“Not really. Just savin’ it. For right time. It’s the last.”
Cooper nodded in pleasure, then grew serious. “There enough for you?”
“Maybe a little, but I save for you in mornin’.”
“No, you have it.”
“You need more.” Before he could say anything, she added, “Don’t argue with me. No, dammit.”
He nodded gratefully and drank the coffee with pleasure. When he finished, he said, “We best stay here for a few days. The horses need rest, and maybe this damn snow will stop and melt some so our travelin’ won’t be so troublesome.”
“Is damn good.”
Chapter 5
It was almost a week before they left. The horses had recovered sufficiently, and Cooper had been lucky enough to bring down an elk twice, so they had plenty of meat. They slung an elk hide wrapped around the large amount of meat they had left and tied it over Cooper’s saddle. Walking his horse, they pushed on. The depth of snow had lessened considerably, much having been blown away by strong winds the past two days.
A few hours later, they came upon the travois. Cooper took the hide-wrapped meat from his saddle and put it on the travois, then hooked the contraption to his horse. He mounted up, feeling better now that he was not walking, despite the discomfort of riding with the travois poles, and they moved ahead.
Things went fine for two days, there was an abundance of meat for them, though no coffee, and plenty of pine needles and bark for the horses when they stopped for the night.
Then another screaming, howling storm swept over them, the wind raging at them as if all the souls in hell were screeching their eternal despair at the travelers. It caught them on the narrow, rocky trail. They fought on through the rapidly accumulating snow, and the steady battering of the wind. Cooper was beginning to despair of ever finding a spot offering even a bit of succor from the storm, when he found a place. They burrowed in among the trees, once again having to leave the travois behind because they could not work it through the heavy stands of dark pines.
As usual, Cooper tended to the horses while Black Moon started a fire and got meat cooking. They finally sat to eat. “You think these damned storms’ll ever stop plaguin’ us, Moon?”
She smiled a little. “Yes. When spring comes. Damn right.”
“You’re no help, dammit, Moon.” Then he, too, grinned a little. “But you’re right. I just wish it’d be a lot sooner.” He sighed. “Well, nothin’ can be done about it now.”
Cooper was too exhausted to make a lean-to, so as they had done the past few days, he and Black Moon just crawled into the robes.
The thick, heavy pines kept out some of the snow, but they were still covered with a few- inches-deep blanket of the whiteness. And the wind, while cut some by the trees, still shrieked between them, continuously seeking their flesh.
After breaking their fast in the morning, Cooper set about building a small but rather substantial lean-to. Then he went and gathered whatever forage he could for the animals. When he finished that, he paced around the camp. The storm was showing no sign of abating, and he wondered how long they were stuck here.
“Sit, husband,” Black Moon said.
“I can’t. These doin’s don’t shine with this chil’ at all, and there’s no sayin’ no to it.”
“True. But prowlin’ around won’t change things.”
“I know, dammit, but sittin’ here not bein’ able to do anything don’t shine either.”
Black Moon didn’t argue. She knew her man and what he was feeling, and nothing she could say would ease his mind, at least for now.
The snow eventually stopped, but the temperature plunged to well below zero. Cooper began stripping bark from trees and gathering what needles he could find under the snow and spreading it out for the horses to feed on. Here and there close to the tree trunks, a few tufts of grass had lingered, but they would barely last a quarter-hour, if that.
“We’re getting low on meat,” Black Moon said as they huddled before the fire, trying to eat.
“What’n hell do you want me to do about it, woman?” Cooper growled.
Black Moon looked as if she had been slapped. She said nothing but turned her face back to the fire.
As she did so, Cooper thought he caught the glint of tears on her cheek. “Ah, hell, Moon, you know I’m just bein’ a horse’s ass.” He reached over and pulled her to him. She resisted a little. “I’ll try to make meat tomorrow.”
“Good,” Black Moon said stiffly, not melting the tiniest bit.
“I’m sorry, Moon. You know I ain’t afraid of no man, red or white, nor any beast, but winter spooks me. I can fight Bug’s Boys or a man like Josiah Weeks, or a griz, but I can’t fight winter. You know what I went through last year. Damn winter near put me under. Waugh! Wasn’t for Cheyenne Killer and some of the others of your people, I would’ve filled some critter’s meatbag.”
“Is all right.”
“No it ain’t. It ain’t just me no more. And if you was to go under because I couldn’t fight these storms that’ve been plaguin’ us. ….”
Black Moon snuggled a little closer to Cooper. “We’ll be fine. I’ll not go under. You will make sure. Damn right.”
“You got a lot of faith in me, woman.”
“Yes.” She paused, then said, “We go to robes?” she asked with a touch of lust in her eyes.
“That’d plumb shine with this ol’ hoss most times, but I’ll have to be sayin’ no to you.”
Black Moon stared at him, a hurt look on her face. “I make you angry?”
“Hell no.” He offered a rueful grin. “But with it a far sight under zero, I reckon, we try doin’ that and my pizzle and stones’d squeeze up into my belly, or else freeze and fall off.”
Black Moon giggled a little.
“It ain’t funny, woman.”
“You are big man, and no freezin’ could hurt you.”
“You think so?”
“Damn yes.”
“Hmmm. Reckon if we was to bring them robes over here near the fire, things might shine as long’s we take care.”
“Is damn good.”
She was right.
***
Cooper went hunting the next morning and returned in the afternoon empty-handed and angry.
Black Moon let him stew a little, before she said, “Sit, husband.” It was an order.
When he reluctantly did so, Black Moon handed him some elk. “You’ll make meat tomorrow. Or next day. Damn right. We have enough for two, three days.”
Cooper nodded, a bit relieved.
“Maybe more days if you didn’t eat so much.”
He looked at her in outrage, then saw her grin. “You’re a damned irritatin’ woman, Moon.” But he grinned too.
***
The next morning, he headed out again, and was lucky enough to bring down a deer. It wasn’t a big one, but it would keep them in meat for a few more days. He hoped they could be back on the trail by then.
As he was nearing the camp, he sensed an odd movement to his left, fairly high on a branch. The mountain lion looked to be ready to pounce on Black Moon Woman’s mare. The cat turned its face toward the noise made by Cooper and his horse.
“Damn,” Cooper muttered. He slowly raised his rifle, checked the priming, and brought the rifle to his shoulder. “Think you can take one of our horses, do you? Well, this might disabuse you of that notion.” He fired.
The cat fell, crashing through the trees, a bullet hole in its forehead.
Black Moon jumped up at the sound, worried for a moment before she saw what had happened. She breathed a sigh of relief as Cooper entered the camp.
“You invite that catamount to sup with us, Moon?” Cooper said with a chuckle. “Looks like he was thinkin’ of nappin’ whilst you readied the food.”
“Nope. He just said he was waitin’ to see if you made meat that he could have some of.” She smiled.
“Bah,” Cooper said with mock annoyance. “You can see I got a deer. It ain’t much though, it’s pretty small.”
“It’s fine. Last a few days.”
“Reckon so. If you stop eatin’ so much. You’re startin’ to plump up a bit, woman,” he said with a laugh. Truth was, though, both had lost some weight, and were beginning to look a little gaunt.
She threw a hastily made snowball at him and giggled when it knocked his hat off.
Then the two of them set to butchering the deer. Once that was done, Cooper gathered up what feed he could for the horses, then collected a bunch of firewood and dumped it on the small pile next to the fire.
As they sat for a meal, Cooper gazed up at the sky that peeked out from the tops of the pine. “Damn, I wish we had some coffee. Or even tea. And damn if I don’t wish this weather to ease up so we could move on. We’re still a heap of miles from your village, but if we could move on, maybe we’d find a better place than this for winterin’.”
“We’ll be all right.”
Cooper looked at Black Moon, wondering if she felt that sure of him and herself or if she was trying to build up his confidence. Either way, he decided, it wouldn’t make any difference to the weather, and they were at the mercy of its whims.
It didn’t snow for several days, but the temperature never got high enough to get even close to zero. It was worse at night, when temperatures were dangerously low. They built another fire closer to the front of the lean-to and placed some large rocks behind it to reflect the heat into the shelter. It was still bitter, but Cooper and Black Moon were almost comfortable under their two buffalo robes. It allowed Cooper to tie their two blankets on the horses, trying to save the animals from freezing.
It did no good. They awoke in the morning to find Cooper’s horse frozen dead, the blanket over it an icy shroud.
“Damn. Damn. Damn!” Cooper shouted into the forest. “Damn it all to hell and back. Twice!” He raged around the camp for a while, cursing the mountains, the weather, dead animals, snow, God, fractious, runaway mules, and anyone or anything he could think of. He stomped up to Black Moon who had been standing out of his way and snapped. “Pack up whatever we got that we can use. Load it on the travois. We’re leavin’.”
”No,” Black Moon said quietly, shocking Cooper.
“Don’t you cross me now, dammit. I said we’re leavin’, so we’re leavin’. Now!”
“No,” she repeated, a bit more firmly.
“You want to stay here by yourself, that shines with this chil’. Pack my things.”
“No.”
“That the only word you know in English now?” Cooper growled.
“No.” She was worried but had to suppress a giggle as he fumed.
“I’ll do it myself, then. Can you at least cook some meat?”
“No.”
Cooper’s anger was rapidly turning to consternation. The Shoshoni could be truculent on occasion, but he had never seen her quite like this. “What’s gotten into you, woman?” he asked, puzzlement written on his face.
“Common sense, as I hear Americans say. Look. Think. One damn horse is dead, and the mare is in poor condition. She can’t pull travois. We can’t ride her. This damn camp not the best, but it’ll do, ‘til things get better.”
“You’re sayin’ we should stay for the winter?”
“Yes, unless weather gets good so we can travel without gettin’ caught again. Maybe with no place to go.”
Cooper pondered that.
As he did so, Black Moon said, “We’re not sure where we are. Through next pass, I think, we come to place with plenty wood, water, buffler. It would be good if we were there. Good place to stay, maybe. But we ain’t sure how to get there and wanderin’ the mountains in this weather is dangerous. Damn right.”
Cooper knew she was right, but it galled him to be in such a dangerous plight and could do nothing about it. “I’m short on powder and ball. Might be hard to fill our meatbags.”
“We find way. We butcher damn horse. That’ll feed us a week, maybe more. Things get worse, we kill mare. Horse meat not good like buffler or elk, but better than nothin’. Damn right.”
“And if we stay, you’ll stop annoyin’ me?”
“No. When I ever stopped annoyin’ you?” She grinned.
“Never, dammit. But that way I know you still care for me.”
“Dammit, yes.”