Man Killer began to lose hope after the second day. Buffalo Head should have returned by now. Where had he gone and why had he left? He had left a great hole in her heart and she wept alone in the new wigwam. There were many tears following the attack by the Sioux.
When a month had passed, time had done much of its healing and the band had finished the last of their pilgrimages to the burial ground. The unburied bodies were now badly decomposed and some of them had been torn apart by hungry animals. Their grieving nearly complete, the band worked together to start gathering what they had come here for. They netted fish and collected berries from the trees. The men left for a week at a time, they returned with fresh game that needed to be salted and smoked. The rice would not wait for them. They must be ready for the harvest, for it was the main course of so many of their meals. This was how they survived the long winters. The rice would have to be carefully wrapped and transported. The bundles could not be exposed to wetness. This made their journey back a slow one, even though the paddling was with the current. There would be many portages along the way.
Man Killer still dreamed of her man. These dreams helped her during the long summer days that were usually filled with song. The attack had destroyed the excitement of reaching their destination. They went about their work in relative silence. Man Killer tended to the many fires as the other women smoked the meats over muted coals.
They were barely half their number from the previous summer. Stump Nose had returned to the camp a week after Man Killer’s husband had disappeared into the night. Wind In Her Face had become ill and as much as she loathed the woman, Man Killer had no choice but to look after her. She was suffering from a very unpleasant stomach problem and Man Killer did what she could for her. For a week it was uncertain if Wind In Her Face would last the night. Stump Nose spent his days doing whatever he could to help around the camp. He seemed like a changed man. He openly wept for his mother and he sat by her side as much as he could. Man Killer was just happy that he left her alone to do her work.
Wind In Her Face made a full recovery and Stump Nose finally began to act the part of the good son. There was a lot of talk about how much the young brave had changed his ways. Stump Nose had changed a great deal, but not in the ways that they thought he had. He needed a place to live and his mother’s sickness provided him with a way in. He wanted nothing more than to kill Man Killer, but he would have to be careful. Killing a Mide Woman was a serious crime.
He told no one of his plans as he passed his days helping his mother and earning high praise from her friends. He let his tears fall, the ones he had for Man Killer’s betrayal, where they were misunderstood as grieving for his ailing mother.
They would harvest the rice in a few days. Gathering the rice would take many days and when the work was finished, it would be time to leave the summer camp and return to the big water. That was when he would find his chance. He knew of places where he could drop a rock on top of her head, and then through the bottom of her canoe. It would look like an accident and he would be rid of her.
In the meantime, Stump Nose enjoyed his new status in the camp and he treated Man Killer no different than if she were any other woman.
Huck