The exploration of the valley down in the earth had begun.

We hadn't gone far or for very long. We saw nothing that didn't exist in Paradise Valley. The valley below was immense, according to views we got from the window in the Window cave. Nothing told us different once we were on the ground. Where we were or how it got where it was, I can't say. I can't say it's even real, or some illusion that spirits from another time and place might have put here to tempt us for their own purposes.

I saw no big game, or anything that might be dangerous. I really didn't mind if there were no fierce deadly creatures in the land below the ground. I did recognize the bird songs and the night sounds. The animals we saw weren't much different from the animals on the surface. There was nothing to indicate animals the size of what was drawn in the wall art.

We were satisfied to eat the dried meat heated over our firepit that evening. We had no sleeping gear, but there was lush grass all around us, and while we slept close, we did not hear or see anything close to where we slept. The night was quiet with nothing we could hear or see that was disturbing.

We were up early in this new place and on our way without the benefit of coffee.

When we reached the creek, we knew we were getting close to the cliff. It wouldn't be long before the journey into this strange new place was nearly over. It wasn't like it was other worldly. It was strange in the sense of someone you run across during your travels who is a stranger. He has every right to be where he is, and you have every right to be where you are, but you don't know anything about each other.

We knew little more about the Underworld we found than we knew when we first left the cliff.

We nibbled on meat and drank from the creek. The temperature hadn't changed much, and I was comfortable, if a bit sticky from all the walking. It warmed some the second day, but we were back without much to report.

There was something else on my mind as we walked into the unknown, after being lowered into Underworld. How out of character was this for my chief. Running Horse didn't rush anywhere. He was not anxious to rush into anything. His people came first, and when it was his people to be considered, he took it slow and easy. He didn't want to make a mistake. Here we were, and we did not know where we were.

Okay, nothing threatened us. Nothing was threatening. It was like when I surveyed and went to a far-off field where the land to be surveyed started. I took note of anything unusual or that I might mention in my report. Some land in and around the mountains was different than anything I had seen before, and I never saw anything like it again. I took more time doing the survey and at the end, when John was doing the surveying with me, we could talk over what we saw. We might go out without the survey equipment just to look around.

By the time we were gone from the cliff a few hours, the Underworld reminded me of the day I left the cabin in the valley where the river runs. There were green pastures, plenty of water, even when there wasn't the typical wildlife that we saw every day on the surface. We weren't here every day, and two days was like the wall art in the caves. It was a scene that revealed all it was ever going to say to someone who found it. Make of it what you would.

"What do you think, Tall Willow?"

We were at the lake, and the upper part of the cliff was visible through the small forest we went into shortly after walking away from the Window cave. I took off my moccasins and dropped my feet into the water. My feet didn't hurt, but they were tired and the water was the perfect pick me up.

Running Horse drank and listened. We stopped to listen while we walked. Our ears were as good as our eyes, but neither told us we were anywhere much different than places we had been before. It was new to us.

I felt something in the water that seemed to be nibbling at my feet. Looking straight down, I saw tiny fish nibbling at my toes. This got a giggle out of me, and Running Horse looked down to be amused by it too.

"We've seen enough to want to return here to explore and hunt with a larger group. We won't say a lot about where we were or what we were doing. The men who go into the caves will be giving their view of what is going on. Until we come with hunters and see if there is food enough to feed our people, we won't say much."

Except for there being land where the Window cave went, there wasn't much I could say. "It was a nice walk."

"I've seen small game. If people are to live down here, there needs to be more substantial game. Can't see much in less than a day, and game might not be that interested in varmints our size. There's a lot to find out about this place. We'll take a longer look when we come back down here."

It wasn't wise to go off in a place we did not know and not have enough men to keep safe while we explored. More bows and arrows were smart to have, along with men who know how to use them. I had no impression this land was dangerous. We needed to go slow. We didn't want to walk our people into trouble.

There was no time limit set on how long we would be gone. We went out to the biggest landmark in our way. Once we faced the river, we came back. It would take time to find a place where we could cross.

Running Horse spoke of crossing it when we next visited. I knew all along that we weren't doing anything but taking a quick look around. A more serious visit would be needed to really find out the nature of the valley below Paradise Valley.

What was I thinking? How could there be a valley below the valley where we lived? That was crazy. Had we all died, and we were in a space somewhere between heaven and whatever else there was? How can anyone dig hundreds of feet into the ground and find a valley? That was as crazy as anything I had ever heard.

"Deer," I said, pointing at the tree line we came out of a few minutes before.

"Good sign," Running Horse said.

We hadn't seen much game. We were probably as strange as other creatures down here. There were probably animals looking us over while staying hidden.

The deer was there and then he was gone. Deer was large game, and if we hadn't been moving so fast, we might have seen more game. That meant we would be back, and I didn't know what that meant.

"Very good," I said. "Whatever is down here, they haven't eaten all the deer," I proposed.

When I turned back to look ahead, I saw the cliff looming over the trees just past the small grove of trees we passed before stopping at the lake on our way out. It seemed so easy. We went out alone, and we came right back. It was almost too easy.

"Running Horse, we didn't see much," I said. "Why go out and come right back? I mean why not take the time to have a good look around, organize hunters to go and see what's here."

"You haven't figured out there is no time? We need to have a plan if we don't want Paradise Valley to become our grave. We need to have a plan to get out of Paradise Valley when the cavalry comes back for us."

A chill ran through me.

I couldn't say anything. He hit me with something he didn't tell me before. How long had he known our time was running out? Of course it was. The cavalry wasn't going anywhere. The cavalry had a job. Killing us was the order of the day when they caught up with us. We could go to Underworld. I knew it was a possibility, but what would stop the cavalry from coming after us?

No matter where we went, they would come after us. There orders were to get us, end us. Their orders were to clear the plains of savages by any means necessary. Of course, our time was running out. There were more soldiers each day, and with fewer Indians, their job was becoming easier.

How could I have anything to say? My mind swirled around Running Horse's words. There is no more time. Did we have enough time to explore Underworld?

As quick as we were in the opening of the Window cave, Running Horse told Joe to take us to the surface.

As we moved up in the cave, Joe only lit a torch a couple of minutes after the last torch burned out. It didn't bother me that I couldn't see in the dark. I knew the way by now. There was nothing in the dark but more cave.

"Hold up a minute, Joe. I want to see the window," Running Horse said.

While being in the dark no longer worried me that much, standing there and looking out at the valley we just came back from visiting, did bother me. What if the ground took to shaking. I couldn't fly. I wouldn't stand in the opening to nowhere. I couldn't see any better two paces forward of where I was standing.

"What's that Joe?" Running Horse asked.

Joe looked to where Running Horse pointed. The dirt, the dust rising up, out there beyond the river.

Joe's eyes searched the horizon, as did mine.

"Find the river. Beyond the river," Running Horse said.

My eyes focused on something that looked like a cloud that seemed to be rising into the air. I could see the motion, but I wouldn't have seen it if Running Horse hadn't pointed it out.

What could it be? We saw nothing that would kick up that much dust.

Joe's eyes were on the spot by then.

"Seen it twice. Maybe 68 and again in 72. We were a good distance away both times."

"What is it?"

"Buffalo. A buffalo herd running."

I had seen enough cattle stampeding, I thought it might look similar if seen from above.

Both Running Horse and I said the same thing at the same time.

"Buffalo!"

"First time I saw it, Sgt Tooley said. "Herd of buffalo ahead, Joseph. He always called me Joseph. No need to rush on ahead, they could keep running for hours or a day or more. Once they gets themselves running, nothing ain't crossing their path til they is done running."

"In the Buffalo Soldiers?" I asked.

"Yes. First time we saw it we began feeling the earth shake under us. Upset the horses at first, but we kept moving until we came to where the buffalo were running. We waited there all day that time. In 72 we was out in Kansas Territory, and when I saw the dust rising in the distance, I told the major what it was, and sure enough, an hour later we were watching the buffalo run. Wasn't as many in '72, but they was killing them so fast it was a wonder there were enough left to get to running by then."

"Buffalo," I said.

"Buffalo running. Both times it was buffalo running. Had to wait to cross. There was a lot of buffalo."

I was up beside Running Horse now to see what they were talking about. A cloud of dirt and dust boiled into the air.

"I wonder how far beyond the river that is?" Running Horse asked.

"Miles, I'd say," Joe said. "Five or ten miles from the river. Shouldn't be that many buffalo alive these days."

"We aren't on the surface now, Joe. Maybe no one has gotten around to slaughtering buffalo down here."

Buffalo!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was late when we returned to the surface, and we could get away with going to our lodge, because no one knew what we were up to. There would be talk with warriors working in the cave, and everyone would hear that there was something down there. Until Running Horse spoke, that's as far as talk was likely to go.

I had a lot of questions I did not ask. I had heard enough to get me good and worried. I followed Running Horse toward the firepit. As usual, he was moving right along in front of me. This wasn't a trip we took together. This was a trip he took, and I went with him.

He had a lot on his mind. I wouldn't complicate it. If there was a question he had that I might be able to make more clear to him, he would ask me. I went about making a pot of coffee, and when I handed him a cup, he seemed pleased.

Otherwise, he sat silent, and I sat near him, because that's where I belonged.

A few hours later, I heard activity at the firepit outside our lodge. It was time for Samuel and Young Antelope to be back from hunting. They were preparing the firepit for the evening meal.

Knowing Samuel and Young Antelope were most likely to be asking questions about where we were, Running Horse thought we should go out to the firepit. We would talk later about the next trip to Underworld, but Samuel and Young Antelope were going to be part of any hunting trip that was in our future.

Samuel greeted us like we had just been there a minute ago. He tossed a piece of venison at Running Horse, after cutting it off the roast. Running Horse shifted it from hand to hand until he took a bite, and it took a minute for me to have my own chunk. I hadn't had a hot meal in some time, and fresh venison was juicy and delicious. I got lost in the flavor as I savored the meat I was eating. It was good meat to eat.

I saved a piece of fat to toss to Demon. He had been waiting for someone to remember he was there, and I did. If anyone appreciated hot venison as much as I did, it was Demon.

"Hawkeye has done well today," Running Horse said.

He had indeed done well. I thought of the hunting trip we would organize for a few weeks from now. If there was game that could be killed, Samuel would kill it, and we would feast on it in the valley below. That's when I had another thought, what if there were buffalo down below? Would we kill a buffalo? No, we would waste more meat than Running Horse would allow. We might look at the buffalo, but we wouldn't kill one.

"Riggs, we need to keep watch on top," Running Horse said. "I want a man up there in the daylight. You arrange it to your liking. We have plenty of warriors and you have a young lady to be concerned with. Make a fair schedule so you aren't up top any more than anyone else."

"Sure, Chief," Riggs said with a smile.

He blushed that the chief would consider his love life when making necessary plans.

We ate without the entire clan eating with us. As Samuel butchered the venison over the fire, he handed out portions on a plate when he saw who it was. Each family had a different number in it, and Samuel knew how big to make the roast from each group, and if it turned out not to be enough, they came back for more.

There was plenty of venison that night, and a lot of families wanted a second taste of the deer meat. It made Samuel smile to have people asking him to cut just a little bit more.

We ate venison, potatoes, and beans. It was all done in silence. No one had much to say, and after a most delicious meal, I went with Running Horse into our lodge. There had been no questions, and we left it at that.

He took a seat in the corner of the lodge, and I didn't ask him the questions I had. In time he would ask me for my thoughts on the things we saw. He had his own thoughts about it for now. We needed a plan, just in case. We needed to be able to slip away should the cavalry find their way up between the boulders.

We were gone for parts of two days. We were back with nothing to talk about. Only Joe and a couple of warriors even knew we went on the ground in Underworld. They would wait for us to speak about it.

Running Horse did not make it to our buffalo robe that night. By the time the coffee was on, once I got up, Big Joe had come to the entrance to our lodge. He leaned inside a bit more insistently than usual.

"The chief wants me," Joe said.

Joe wouldn't say such a thing if he wasn't sure of his facts I stepped aside to admit him, and I poured him a cup of coffee.

I poured a cup for Running Horse, because Joe didn't simply show up because he decided to. I knew they talked outside of earshot, and that meant I didn't know everything Running Horse had on his mind.

"You in, Chief, or do you want me to come back?"

"I'm in. Coffee smells good," he said, and I handed him his cup.

"Joe, we will go out again in a few days. I want Samuel, Young Antelope, Big Bear, Barking Dog. Plenty of bows and arrows. We'll need a week's supply of meat and water pouches. There is plenty of fresh water below. We can fill the skins as we go, have what I specified set off to one side. I'll pick the day we go soon."

Along with Samuel, Young Antelope, him and me, Big Bear and Barking Dog meant six were going this time.

With all of us carrying our bows and hunting knives, we should be capable of handling whatever we found.

I didn't imagine it would be far different from going to the mountain for venison when we were living in the wilderness village. Except for how we got to the place where we would hunt, it felt similar to those days we hunted with some of the same hunters. Some of my fondest memories included Running Horse and me hunting with Lit'l Fox. We were the best hunters. We brought back the most meat for Lone Wolf's clan.

"What did you find, Chief?"

"Nothing scary. We will go and cross the river we see from the window in the Window cave. I want to see what's beyond there. That's as far as Tall Willow and I went this time. Since we saw nothing unusual, we need to take a longer look around to see what we can see. Hunting will tell me what I really want to know."

"Are you letting me go along this time, Chief? I'm getting better with my bow."

"No. Do as I asked. This is strictly a hunting trip. You'll serve me better keeping an eye on things for me. If we decide we need to go again, to explore more extensively, you'll go on that trip. It's not clear to me how much time we have, Joe, and I want to be sure before I make a final plan. I don't want the cavalry coming while I'm wandering around down there."

Everyone would know there was a down there, down there. You couldn't take that many men from the families in Paradise Valley without some explanation. They are going hunting in the valley below this one. That's what the hunters were told, and the rest would be left up to the imagination. Since Running Horse and I went down there and returned, there wasn't a lot to worry about as the hunting trip was considered.

I had been there and it didn't worry me to be going back. Being with the best hunters meant we would be well protected should we run into trouble, but I didn't feel like we would. I wasn't sure what I felt, because I didn't know who Running Horse was talking to, but so far, so good.

"They aren't our spirits."

"Who are you talking to?" I had to know.

I had been quiet about my worries for long enough.

"I talked to Joe. I am talking to you."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it."

He knew and I knew. He didn't know who he was talking to, and I sure didn't know.

We had been chased, we escape. The chasing went on. I wanted to stop running. I didn't want to run from one mess to another. I was on the run for half my life. I wanted to find somewhere we could stop running.

Running Horse's clan came first. No one had to tell me that. I understood it as a boy, and to be with Running Horse, I accepted his clan came before any other consideration. I wanted us all to be able to stop running.

I had no idea how much Joe knew, but I was sure he knew more than I knew. Running Horse depended on Joe to watch over the caves that connected Paradise Valley to Underworld. If we didn't come back, Joe would know what to do. Big Bear would be chief if anything happened to Running Horse, but nothing did, and with Big Bear going down there with us, that was a good thing.

We would leave the cliff heading toward the river we could see from the window in the Window cave. We had something in particular we were looking for. We had something in particular we would hunt. I knew it because I knew how Running Horse thought. He didn't tell me what we were hunting, but he didn't need to.

I went with Running Horse because my place was at his side. If we didn't return, that would mean we died together. If we were going to die, that's the way I wanted it to be. I would rather live. I would rather stop running, but like the silence in our lodge when Running Horse spoke to spirits, I got no say.

What we would find in the Underworld, I couldn't say. We would go to the river we went to before. This time we would cross the river and go as far as Running Horse decided to take us.

As time went on, and more and more stories passed around in the village, Running Horse decided he needed to speak to his people about the valley below and the prospects of moving out of Paradise Valley. The cavalry was going up and down beside the trail on 1st National's section a few times a month. One day, they were going to stop to take up a new search for Running Horse's clan. There was no way to know which day.

"We have been in this valley for some time. This is a fine place to live. If I had my way, we would stay here forever, never needing to run again. It would be good not to be hunted. It would be good if no one wanted us dead. We don't always get what we want. We will go to another valley in a few days. Tall Willow and I have been there, but we haven't seen much of it. Once we go and take a good look this time, we might want to consider one last move. We will be back in a week. When we come back, I will report our findings to you. Enjoy this wonderful valley while we go exploring later this week."

Of course, no one had anything to say. We all knew that our days were numbered, and it depended on what day the cavalry caught up with us. No one thought we had a lot of time, and being told there may be another move in our future didn't surprise anyone. We kept moving, hoping to one day find safety.

Technically, we weren't on the plains, even if we were plains Indians. Our journey was close to being over. It was just a matter of time before the search for us would lead the cavalry to Paradise Valley. Once in the hidden valley, they would find the caves.

How long would it take for the cavalry to realize there was only one place we could have gotten off to. Once they found the valley, how long before they found a way to get inside. As Joe figured out a way to get out of a valley with no entrance or exit, the cavalry would figure out a way to get in. Once they saw we had gone, the scouts would look for our trail. The scouts would find the caves.

How long would it take for them to go into the caves to find out where they led to? Since the canyon was closed, the only escape from the valley was by way of the caves, and they would come after us.

We would be forced to run again. Maybe we should stay in Paradise Valley and fight it out. We would lose in the end, but we could stop running once the fight ended.

No matter where we went, they would follow us, until we reached the happy hunting ground.

I saw the ending many times. The cavalry would be chasing us, and our fleet horses would outrun the cavalry stock the soldiers rode. After running for as long as we could, I saw Running Horse stopping Horse. He would swing him around to see the cavalry coming fast. I would have turned Dobbin by that time, and Running Horse would push his knees into Horse's sides, and he would be off and running with me at his side. The warriors would have turned by then, and they too would be charging directly at hundreds of soldiers, and a minute later we would all be dead, after dying a warrior's death.

I had seen our death many times. We would die as warriors should die.

On to Chapter Fourteen
"Buffalo!"
Back to Chapter Twelve
"As We Are"
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