I watched what Angel did with the goat meat to give it such a robust flavor, but I wasn't the only one keeping an eye on Angel. For the first time, Riggs began to hang around the firepit, and any time Angel needed something, Riggs jumped up to get what it was she asked him to get for her.

It was kind of cute the way he fussed over Angel. Riggs had never looked so happy.

I did spend time in the Eagle's nest to allow Riggs to spend more time with Angel. I did not spend any time in the caves, and from time to time I saw Riggs going in or coming out of the Window cave. He and Joe were close. They shared a common past. They liked working together and they trusted each other.

After they went out with Herb Woman to get medicines she needed, Riggs had become quite attentive toward Angel. It was easy to see they were fond of each other, and when it was getting close to the time for the evening meal, when Angel took charge, Riggs stayed close to the firepit.

Riggs and I were close because of an incident that took place a long time ago. When he decided to help us escape the cavalry, the Pawnee knew he was helping us as best he could. Riggs was for the most part alone, if he wasn't with Joe. They shared a past that made them good friends, even when they didn't have anything in common with the Pawnee. They both rode with the cavalry, and they both developed a dislike for killing.

Joe left the cavalry the old fashion way, he let his enlistment run out. Riggs deserted, and like me, he was a wanted man. Riggs saved my life the day my brother died, and he saved all our lives when the cavalry planned to come and get us. They might have asked us to go in peaceable like, but Running Horse's clan was the clan who spawned the Indian who killed Major Meeks.

They shared a determination to keep Running Horse's clan from destruction. That wasn't as crazy as it sounds. Neither Joe nor Riggs had any place to go. An Irish that looked Irish, wasn't exactly welcome everywhere. A former slave wasn't welcome anywhere, unless he seemed to be with a white man who might or might not own him. I knew nothing about Buffalo Soldiers, but Joe's description told me that they were likely to be seriously considered right after the horses were cared for.

Colorado territory never took up the right to own a slave, but many of the men who came to Colorado to look for gold, came from the old south, and they still believed black men should be owned, and anything in the ground should be free for them to take, especially gold. White men loved all that glittered.

One day they would find a way to take the stars out of the sky.

Once Angel attracted Riggs attention, he was a changed man. He was often smiling, and he looked happy to be where he was. It did my heart good to see Riggs smile. Running Horse and I often walked behind Riggs and Angel, when we walked in the evening after the meal was finished. Many lovers walked hand in hand after the evening meal.

They were lazy days with people doing things they liked to do. A good day was often followed by a good meal, and there was those of us who walked to the pond for a soak once the good day was coming to a close.

Riggs joined us with no idea he might find happiness. He didn't know what he was looking for. Irishmen didn't come with high expectations, once they found they were considered undesirables. Now that he had found Angel, he wasn't looking for anything. Angel was his reason for living, and the Riggs who lived within a society that didn't consider him to have much value beyond a soldier far off the beaten path, came to us without expectation, and he didn't simply find a home among the Pawnee, he found love and acceptance of who and how he was. Tired of the killing, he came to try to help save a clan he didn't know.

No one objected to anyone else in Running Horse's band, but the two most apparent Irishmen bristled a bit when they crossed paths. I saw Barnaby bristle before. He got over it once he got acquainted with Samuel. I didn't see Riggs near Barnaby most days, unless they passed coming or going from the Eagle's nest.

Barnaby was usually with Samuel, and if Riggs and him met at all, it was up top with one of them coming or going from the Eagle's nest. On days Riggs was with Angel, he didn't notice anyone but her ,

I took a turn in the Eagle's nest a few times a week. Some mornings Running Horse got up to go with me. Many days he had other things to do, but on the days he went with me, keeping watch was more pleasant.

Joe had been captivated by the Window cave, once he found the window. He still spent time on the cliffs, and somedays Joe and Riggs were in the Eagle's nest together, comparing notes. The mystery around the Window cave only deepened as Joe was determined to find out where it went. The pitch he brought back from town was holding out as they cleared one cave in after another,

Running Horse's clan became a good place to live for the people who came to stay. I learned long ago that white people, no matter where they started out, were as different as Indians were, and if you made them welcome, and if they got plenty to eat and a place to lay their head, they were little different than we were.

The Pawnee didn't build big structures anchored to the ground that couldn't move, and Indians didn't collect anything worth keeping, if it couldn't be easily moved to the next hunting ground or to where the waters flowed fresh and clean. Moving with the seasons and with the buffalo was a way of life we loved.

On some days, Riggs still took the watch in the Eagle's nest, but now Angel sat beside him, unless Herb Woman needed her, and once in a while, when Herb Woman needed her, Riggs might go down in the Window cave where there was always digging and carrying on.

I once found the heights of the front cliffs annoying, but I didn't feel it any longer. I think it was the wall in the sky that annoyed me, and the wall in the sky was now a dam in the canyon. Even if the cavalry came, getting to us would take some time, and if they managed to get to us, they wouldn't like the reception we gave them.

Running Horse went with me to the Eagle's nest some mornings, and we did do some watching, when we weren't busy watching each other. No matter where we were, our love went with us. At these times, I didn't have a worry in the world. The original idea was to give Riggs more time with Angel, but I had other ideas on the days Running Horse went to the Eagle's nest with me. Running Horse always had big ideas, and luckily, they were similar to my own.

I could have worried about when the cavalry would return, but I didn't. We spent time together because we could. It was some of the best of times. We had all we needed and all we wanted, and we had each other. It was good when compared to the lives of other indigenous people. We found a safe haven, and we would go about living our lives for as long as we had. That's all there was to it.

We had no control outside of Paradise Valley, so we enjoyed being inside our valley, where life was good.

A chief knows much, and Running Horse showed me a thing or two over the years, but things did change once his clan reached Paradise Valley. We were confined in some ways and free spirits in others. Running Horse's spirits had finally come to talk, and he thought they were talking about a new place, a new valley.

I wasn't so sure, but I wasn't the chief. Running Horse would do all he could do to keep his people safe. I would go along with him, because I was his man.

"There is another valley," Running Horse said one morning early.

"How do you know?" I asked.

He sounded positive. That's when I noticed he wasn't in the buffalo robe with me. He sat cross legged in the darkness a few feet away. The spirits were talking to him again.

"How do you know the spirits you're talking to aren't guiding us to a fate worse than the cavalry coming?"

"There is another valley," Running Horse repeated.

He would tell me more when he knew more.

That morning was one of the mornings Joe came to sit and talk and drink coffee.

"Chief, I want to show you what I found in the Cathedral cave."

Joe told us that the pond below the cathedral broke open during the shake, and while the warriors were digging out another cave in down in the Window cave, Joe started exploring the Cathedral cave.

I have dug into the space created below where the pond was fifty feet or so below the floor of the cathedral part of the cave.

"How far down in the Cathedral cave can you go?" Running Horse asked.

"That's what I want to show you. The size is what interests me. You need to see it to appreciate it, Chief."

"Describe it to me?"

"It's taller than me. I can reach and not touch the ceiling. I've got to bend over while I'm in the Window cave."

"Go on," Running Horse said.

"Putting my arms out, I can't touch both sides of the cave. It's the widest cave I have been in. It's more like a tunnel someone dug in the earth."

"Why is this important to you. A cave is a cave, Joe. Isn't it?"

I didn't comment. What would I say? A cave was a cave. I had seen enough caves for one lifetime.

"Horses," Joe said. "What if I could get horses into this cave. I mean we would need to find a way to get them up to the Cathedral cave, and we would need to make the crack bigger, but the tunnel is big enough for a horse to go into."

Better a horse than me. What self-respecting horse would go into a cave?

What the devil did we need to take horses in a cave for?

I wondered if maybe Joe spent too much time in the dark.

Why take a horse into a cave?

I didn't want to spend any more time in caves. We were digging our way to nowhere. There was nothing in the ground but more ground. We found an opening in the Window cave. That seemed enough to keep half a dozen warriors busy moving rocks. Now he wanted to move rocks in the Cathedral cave. He wanted to take a horse into the Cathedral cave?

Why?

I looked at Running Horse. He was looking at me. He knew my skepticism about those caves.

"Horse's," I said the same time Running Horse said it.

"Joe, why not use our energy to see where one cave goes before starting on another cave. If we looked hard enough, we might find a dozen caves, two dozen caves among these cliffs. We need to pick one and see where it takes us before going off into another cave," Running Horse told him.

"I couldn't do much until they cleared the rocks out of the way. I came over to take a look at this cave. When I saw the cave looked more like a manmade tunnel. I thought you should see it, Chief. Once you saw it, I went further down. It's an easy cave to get around in, but if it is a tunnel, who built it there? What was it used for?"

"Yes, and I've seen it. Let's see what we can see in the Window cave. We'll save this one for after we do that."

"I have enough torches to take you down to where I've gotten. I don't have enough pitch to light the Cathedral cave and keep the warriors working in the Window cave. I'll need a trip into town to be able to follow both caves to where they seem to be taking us."

I didn't understand why we needed to be in two caves at the same time. It seemed like wasted effort until we got to the bottom of the Window cave. That cave showed promise, because of the window. Once we saw what was down there, we could dig in the Cathedral cave. We could dig to China if they wanted to keep digging."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I figured Joe set his mind to something, and he kept us advised of what he was doing, but he did what he decided to do. He told us about it, and we voiced our concerns. Joe was the one down in the ground, and he was going to do what he did, whether or not we approved.

The warriors were working in the cave, but if they weren't helping Joe, there wasn't anything for them to do, and keeping them busy was good for them. We would see what we were going to see.

After another month, and Joe came to sit and drink coffee twice a week most weeks. He told us what was being done, and what progress was being made. He was definitely closing in on where the ground would be, if there was any ground hundreds of feet in the earth.

He didn't mention the Cathedral cave, but I'm sure he was in that cave part of the time. It was no big deal. He felt no reason to hurry, because Running Horse hadn't told him, "We are running out of time."

"Chief," he said over coffee one morning. "I need more pitch. I want to put the wagon together and go into town for whatever goods you want me to bring back," Joe said.

"You talked to John about going into town, Joe?"

"Yes, we talked yesterday evening after dinner. He wants to go back to his horse ranch soon. He wants to make sure you have all the supplies you need before he goes home. He's in no hurry, and we'll go into town after first light tomorrow," Joe said.

"And you need pitch," Running Horse said.

"Always," Joe said.

"You've gone deeper in the Cathedral cave?"

"Yes, and I can hear the waterfall deep in the Cathedral cave. I think it is only a few feet from where we are digging in the Window cave. The sound of the waterfall is present in both caves. If there is ground down there, we're close to it now. Maybe breakthrough in the Window cave by next week. We're close."

"Go to get horses today. Go into town at first light tomorrow. Get the supplies you think you need. Let John ask around to see what he can see. You do what you usually do while you're in town. Be very careful going in and out, Joe. The cavalry is out there, and they haven't forgotten us. We wouldn't want anyone following you back here. Go and get back as soon as you can. With fresh horses, well you know horses as well as anyone."

By the time John had gone to the horse ranch and come back with horses, Joe had assembled the wagon, and as Running Horse and I sat in the Eagle's nest. Joe walked to the trail, looked both ways, and he waved John forward. In a few minutes they were going out of sight. If they ran the horses, they'd be in Denver in time to do the business they needed to do, and they were likely to be back the next afternoon if they didn't run into any trouble in town.

Big Bear took his crew into the Window cave the next morning. They had enough pitch to keep going the rest of the day, and if John and Joe were back that afternoon, they would be ready to go to work tomorrow.

On to Chapter Twelve
"As We Are"
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"Grounded"
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