A Man Called Hawkes

Disclaimer: I don't own High Mountain Rangers, not making any money, just cheap thrills.

Warnings: OOC(Out of Character)

Rating: FRT

Bold or // is thoughts.

A Man Called Hawkes
Chapter 4

Matt glared over the top of his brother's head at White Eagle . He didn't understand why Cody wanted to spend so much time with a dirty injun, or why his parents were allowing it. Pa had tried to convince him that injuns weren't all bad, that just like any other race of man there were good and bad. In all of his almost eleven years he had never disagreed with his father. It gave him a sick feeling in his gut to do so now. Yet, his father had taught him that a man had to follow his own path in life and to stand up for what he believed to be true. It was ironic that it was this teaching which had led him to disagree with his own father. The sick feeling grew as he watched Cody sitting with White Eagle, the two of them drawing in the dirt and talking in a combination of English and Shoshone.

"I'm sorry White Eagle," Cody tried once more to apologize for his brother.

"Did you tell him to stay away?" White Eagle asked. His english had improved a great deal in the past two moons and the daily visits with his young friend.

Cody quickly shook his head.

"Then you do not say sorry," White Eagle firmly told him. “He is qai denangande, you can do not ba'i until he does.”

“Haa,” Cody sadly agreed. He might only be almost four but he knew White Eagle was right. As long as Matt refused to listen there wasn't anything he could do.

“In this he is deaipedi,” White Eagle said, bringing a giggle from the younger boy.

Jesse frowned as he watched the three boys. “Matt, come over here.”

Matt looked up in surprise. Hesitantly he moved away from his brother and the injun, shooting glances over his shoulder as he walked to where his father sat with his traps. “Yes Pa?” He hoped whatever it was wouldn't take long. He needed to keep an eye on that filthy injun to make sure he didn't hurt Cody.

Jesse ignored the way his oldest kept trying to watch his brother while still remaining respectful to him. “Some of these traps are going to need repaired before winter.”

“Yes sir,” Matt agreed. “Do you want me to do that?” he asked. He didn't mind the idea a bit as it would allow him to remain near enough to watch over his brother.

“No son,” Jesse shook his head. He hid a smile. He knew exactly what Matt was thinking. “You're not strong enough to be wrestling some of these traps, but I do need you to go down to the pasture and check the fence, it's been a few days since I checked it.” Since he didn't run a large number of cattle, only having room for twenty-five head or less, he need only check the fence every few days.

“Aw Pa, do I have to?” Matt asked. His face colored in shame as he heard the whine in his voice. He was ten, eleven in a few days, and he was acting like he was Cody's age. He sighed. “I'm sorry Pa, I'll take care of it now.”

“Come get me if there are any big repairs to make,” Jesse told him.

“Yes sir,” Matt nodded. Walking off to the barn, he saddled his pony and tossed his saddle-bags, holding a hammer and some nails, across the broad back. Swinging himself into the saddle, he reluctantly left the small yard, riding in the direction of the meadow they used for pasturing the cattle. He would have rather stayed and watched over Cody, but he didn't dare disobey his father. He would just have to be content with the knowledge that his father was still at the house to watch over his brother.

Protecting the cattle was a very important job and part of that was keeping the fence in good repair. He wished he wasn't worried about Cody so he could enjoy the rare freedom of being off by himself, entrusted with such an important job. Though they didn't raise a lot of cattle, being so close to a mining town and the lumber operations his father could get a better price for his steers than he could have elsewhere, making it worthwhile. He knew, from listening to his father explain things to his mother, that it was the money he would get from selling cattle, along with the few pelts he gathered each winter, that would provide them with the cash they needed each year for seed and other things.


“Will you be here for my birthday White Eagle?”

White Eagle gave him a confused look. “What is birthday?”

Cody grew wide-eyed. “You don't know what a birthday is?” He giggled, he thought everybody knew what birthdays were.

White Eagle patiently waited for the little one to stop laughing. “Explain,” he tersely ordered when the laughter died.

“It...Pa!” Cody yelled.

Jesse dropped the trap he was working on, hurrying over to his son. “What is it Cody?” he anxiously asked as he scooped the boy up. “Are you hurt?”

“I'm not hurt Pa,” Cody quickly replied, struggling to be set back on the ground. He wasn't a baby anymore.

Jesse ruefully put the boy down. Apparently Jacklyn wasn't the only one who was over-protective of their youngest. He dropped to one knee, “What's wrong then son?”

“He don't know what a birthday is,” he said, pointing a grubby finger at White Eagle.

Jesse grabbed Cody's finger, pushing it down. “Don't point son,” he gently admonished. “A birthday is the day a person is born,” he explained to White Eagle. “We celebrate the anniversary of a person's birth each year on the day they were born.” He saw that the boy was still puzzled. “Your people don't celebrate birthdays?”

“Celebrate?”

Jesse sighed, this would be more difficult than he had thought. “When your people have a good hunt, you dance and sing and feast?”

“Haa,” White Eagle nodded.

“That is a celebration.”

“You do this celebration on the boy's birthday?” White Eagle asked, stumbling a bit over the new words.

“Well not as much as you might for a successful hunt, but we do sing and have cake and gifts for the birthday boy,” Jesse explained with a smile.

“Ah,” White Eagle nodded, he understood now. “Cody has birthday soon?”

“Yes he does, in a little less than two weeks he will be four years old. You're welcome to join us for some cake if you like.”

“I will,” White Eagle agreed. He smiled as the young boy yelled his delight at this news. “I must go now.” He stood up and turned without another word, walking away into the woods. He had spent enough time here. He needed to return to his responsibilities. He would return again the next day.

Cody yelled good-bye, not bothered when the older boy only lifted his hand and kept walking. He was used to the way his friend would stand and announce that he had to leave. Matt said it was rude, but Pa said it was just the way White Eagle was, it wasn't a bad thing for him. Cody loved spending time with his older friend. He was learning how to talk like an indian and he was learning lots of things about living in the mountains. “Pa, did you know that we should thank Mother Earth for our food?”

Jesse smiled down at the boy. “Is that right?”

“Yes sir, that's what White Eagle says,” Cody solemnly replied.

“Well son I think that's a fine idea, but it might be best if you don't tell your Ma or brother about that,” Jesse cautioned. He was a Christian himself, but unlike most he respected the ways of others. It didn't seem right to him to suppose that Christians had all the answers. The good lord knew he'd seen plenty of behavior from so-called Christians that contradicted the words of the Bible. He'd also seen supposed savages offering the sort of behavior many white people thought them incapable of. No, he didn't think that Christians knew best, nor that the ways of the indians were wrong. Cody would grow up in these mountains, it would do him good to learn how to live in them from those who had always traveled within them.

Matt had just begun riding the perimeter of the fence line, searching for any breaks in the fence. He hadn't gone far when he saw a spot where a couple of boards had been knocked loose. Ground tying his pony, he grabbed his saddle bags and got to work.

White Eagle immediately began searching for useful plants as he walked away from the cabin. As he searched, he thought of possible gifts for his young friend. He would like to make the boy his chosen brother, but it was too soon for such a connection to be forged. Perhaps a medicine bag, no some members of his friend's family might not like that. Moccasins would be useful, but would require measuring the boy's feet so that he would know what gift he was to receive. A pouch? Yes, that would be perfect for a young boy. He would make him a deerskin pouch to carry the things he might find each day. Decision made, he turned his focus back to the task at hand.

Finished with the fence, Matt returned his tools to the saddlebag and climbed back on his pony. Halfway down the fence line something startled his pony. Matt just barely registered a flash of movement and then his horse was rearing up on hind legs and he was tumbling to the ground. There was an audible crack and Matt screamed as his wrist gave way. He whimpered as he helplessly watched his pony run off in fright, leaving him to make his own way back to the cabin. It didn't take a doctor to know that his wrist was broken, already it was swelling and turning colors. At least it wasn't his leg. He never would have made it home in that case. Pushing himself to his feet and holding his injured arm close to his chest, he began the trek back home. Halfway there he saw White Eagle and an idea came to him. It was wicked, he knew that, but he had to do something to keep that dirty injun away from his little brother. This was his best chance to do that. Ducking behind a tree, he hid until the older boy had passed him by.

Leaving his cover, he hurried towards home. Each step jostled his wrist, in spite of the way he cradled it, leaving him in tears by the time he had reached the cabin.

Jesse had still been working on his traps when Matt's pony had raced into the yard. Fearing the worst, he had looked the animal over for any clue to his son's fate. He hoped, when he saw no blood, that the horse had simply ran off due to fright. He couldn't assume, however, that his son wasn't hurt. Sending Cody inside to tell Jacklyn where he was going, he turned to Matt's pony an led it into the barn where he saddled his own horse. Leading the large animal from the structure, he swung himself into the saddle. He hadn't gone far when he saw Matt stumbling up the trail towards him. He was kneeling in front of his son within seconds of throwing himself from the saddle. “Matthew, what happened son? How badly are you hurt?”

Matt sniffled, “My arm's broke.” Moving slowly, he held his arm out for his father to examine.

Jesse carefully cradled the small wrist in his strong hands. “I think you're right son,” he tersely agreed. “Are you hurt anywhere else? What happened?”

“Just some bruises,” Matt replied with a shrug. He looked at his wrist, studying it closely, unable to look his father in the eye. “I seen White Eagle and he attacked me.”

Jesse frowned, that didn't sound like White Eagle. “Why would he do that?”

Matt's eyes shot up, glaring at his father. It hadn't occurred to him that his father might doubt his word. //Why shouldn't he doubt it? It is a lie.// Matt winced and told his conscience to shut up. “Cause he's a dirty injun, that's why,” he nearly growled.

“Injured or not you better watch your tone boy.”

“Yes sir,” Matt mumbled. “I'm sorry. I don't know why he attacked me, guess cause he knows I don't like him.”

Jesse's frown deepened. He knew that indians lived by a different set of rules, governed by different values, but he'd never heard of one attacking somebody due to simple dislike. Aside from that, in White Eagle's eyes Matt was a child and he knew the Shoshone valued children. No adult of the Shoshone would attack a child like this. Even when they had attacked white settlers, they always spared the children, often taking them along and adopting them into the tribe. He knew that Jacklyn and Matt saw White Eagle as another child, but Jesse was aware that according to his people that he was considered a man. No, something didn't add up. “I'll talk to him the next time he comes over. In the meantime let's get you home, fix your wrist and get you cleaned up.”

“Talk to him?” Matt was shocked and not a little hurt. “You ain't gonna let him come back are you? What if he decides to hurt Cody?” If his father didn't care about him, maybe he would worry about the younger boy.

Jesse picked the boy up and climbed into the saddle, settling his son in front of him. Picking up the reins he turned the horse around and headed back up the trail. “You know I won't let him around if he hurt you for no reason son, but it's only fair to hear his side of the story. It's what I would do if you and Jim Cutler got into a fight.” If Matt hadn't left anything out of his story then of course he would keep the Shoshone boy away from his family. However, he knew children didn't always tell the whole story when a fight took place and there were things about his son's tale that didn't make sense. No matter how others viewed the indians, he would do his best to treat them the same as he would had they been white and would try to teach his boys to do the same.

Matt didn't say anything. What could he say without sounding like he had something to hide? He would just have to hope that he was more convincing than White Eagle.

TBC

Hope y'all liked it. Please feed the muse with reviews.

A/N: I'm not Shoshone and mean no offense to those who are. I did my best to research the Shoshone language and beliefs, if I get anything wrong I humbly apologize.


qai denangande= not listening/not hearing

ba'i= anything

Haa= yes

deaipedi= child