Chapter 19: Common Purpose

Bear needed to ride beside Ben so they could talk which caused a problem when they continued down the trail. They needed to talk both to plan and to learn more about each other. Walking Elk decided he needed to ride beside Ben. Bear ordered him to fall back so he could ride beside Ben. Han assumed her normal trail position on Ben's left and slightly behind him. Walking Elk followed Bear's orders and fell back but, after a moment he crowded forward on Ben's left between Han and Ben.

"I on ou im u elm u uf ack," Han said angrily to Ben.

Ben heard, "I won't shoot him but tell him to move back." He looked at the two in consternation as their horses jockeyed for position. "Bear, would you translate please? Be careful of this woman Walking Elk. Ride on the other side of her."

Ben waited as Bear translated and got an angry reply from Walking Elk. "Why should I ride on the other side of your squaw? She can ride behind. I need to be next to you to protect you. That is my place now."

Ben sighed and looked at the two. He didn't need to read their auras to tell that they were both getting angry. He could tell this could easily end up with one of them hurt. He wouldn't take bets on which was the more dangerous. Finally he said, "She is not my squaw. She is my protector and my nurse when I am injured. In many ways she is more dangerous than I am. She is a woman." Bear chuckled when he translated the last part but Ben continued. "Both of you ride behind for now. You need to get to know each other if you're going to ride with me. Walking Elk, you need to understand Han. Han, you need to learn to understand Walking Elk, even if it means learning Cherokee. Riding together will allow you to learn about each other." Ben's tone didn't allow any argument.

Walking Elk was mumbling something in Cherokee as he dropped back. Han was muttering something too but Ben didn't try to figure out what it was. He was worried it may be something about his parental linage and maybe Walking Elk's too.

Bear and Ben learned a lot about each other as they rode through the rest of the day. Bear's grandfather was a Shaman for the Cherokee and he sent Bear to a friendly rancher to work as a boy. His grandfather said the Great Spirit had directed him to send Bear to this task. His grandfather said that it was important for Bear to learn to speak the white man's language. He would need it later in his life in a very important task for the Great Spirit. If he completed his task successfully then he would become a Shaman for his people.

"Nearly a month ago I was told to gather a war party in a dream by my Grandfather," Bear said continuing his story. "Grandfather has been dead for many years so I knew this was the start of the task he told me of. I am well respected in our camps and I had many volunteers. The ones with me I selected from the volunteers. I explained to the men I didn't select that I was on a spirit mission and I could only take the men the spirit moved me to take."

Ben looked around. He could only see a few Cherokee but could see the auras of more that were out of sight. The Cherokee band had spread across the land like a net to find anyone they could that might provide intelligence about what awaited them.

"How were you able to select the right men?" Ben asked.

Bear Brother looked troubled and didn't answer for a moment. Finally he said, "It felt right when I selected a brave to come with me. If one tried to come that didn't feel right I told him not to come." He shrugged with a very 'white man' gesture and said, "It almost feels like I didn't pick them. It feels like the spirit picked them. I don't understand it but that's OK. There were many things my grandfather told me that I didn't understand and he wasn't as mysterious as the Great Spirit. I didn't understand when I had to spend that time with the rancher but now I do. I think that many things we don't understand in dealing with the Great Sprit, our God as you call him, can't be understood. But, some of what He does becomes clear over time."

"What about that Joseph?" Ben thought. "Do we ever get to understand your plan?"

"Oh, maybe bits and pieces of it," Joseph responded with a chuckle.

"I think not understanding is part of His plan," Ben said aloud to Bear. "Some of what we do is done strictly on faith and sometime that only adds to the mystery. You being directed to work with a white man, what, ten years or more ago ranks up there with some of the stranger coincidences that I've heard of happening. I don't try to understand why he tells me to do certain things." Ben chuckled and continued. "I do have an advantage over most people. He just tells me to go to a certain place and do a certain thing and I do it. I don't have to worry about what I'm supposed to do. I often wonder why. Most people, like you, have to trust a dream or a feeling to figure out what to do, much less why. I think you and the others that have to depend on that kind of ambiguous instruction have a harder time of it and deserve a lot of respect."

The afternoon was spent learning about each other's belief and understanding of their mission. Ben explained that Joseph could lead him towards the Red Agent because, to Joseph, there was an area of darkness that Joseph couldn't see into. Joseph couldn't give them information about conditions around the Red Agent. The Red Agent was sure to have a lot of men following him and all of them would be dangerous. Ben hoped they could capture someone that had been close to the Red Agent before they arrived. They really needed information to improve their chances to win.

They agreed on a two pronged attack strategy since they lacked any good intelligence to plan with. Most of Bear's party would focus on the majority of the men around the Red Agent. A small group of braves would precede Ben to punch a hole through the defenses so Ben could attack the Red Agent directly. Once he eliminated the power, influence, and cunning of the Red Agent, the rest of his men would be easier to kill if it was necessary. Han and Elk would stick with Ben to cover his flanks.

The rest of the afternoon only contained minor incidents. A family was escorted to Ben by three Cherokee braves. The man, his wife and two sons were very afraid. They were sure they would all be killed. Ben determined they were heading toward Wolf Creek and didn't know anything about what was going on there. He advised them to camp at a nearby spring for a couple of days to avoid the trouble ahead.