Read Online Comanche by J. T. Edson - Free Book Online

wealthy warrior. A marriage had been arranged and, following the pattern established in the Pehnane village, she took over the position of pairaivo . Shortly after the warrior made public announcement that Fire Dancer must receive the bulk of his property when he died, he met a sudden, mysterious end. A second husband followed and the pattern repeated itself. By all accounts the wealthy triple-widow had found yet a fourth man willing to succumb to her charms and fast rose to the position of pairaivo .
    What none of the news-carriers told was how the woman raised her son in his father’s light—she bore no more children—and taught him to hate those she blamed for Bitter Root’s death.
    Only Fire Dancer knew of her hate, but that made it none the less deadly.
    One day soon after Loncey received his Give-Away Dance, a party of Texas Rangers rode into the camp accompanied by other men who wore strange blue clothing which looked all alike. It seemed that Texas, including all of Comancheria, had at last been persuaded to turn from its status as a Republic and become a member of the United States of America. A condition laid down in the agreement was that the United States supplied troops for keeping the peace and policing the land and Texas disbanded the Rangers. At that time the Rangers consisted of unpaid volunteers, so they raised few objections to being able to return to their homes and interrupted lives. Before disbanding, one company of Rangers escorted a company of U.S. Dragoons on a tour to meet the various friendly Indian chiefs. Knowing the quality of the Pehnane fighting men, the Rangers wanted to make sure that the Dragoons knew enough to avoid ruining the friendly relationship existing between the two people.
    Actually it would be some time before the change from Republic to State of the Union affected the Pehnane . They paid no taxes, made no trouble and asked only that they be left in peace. So far not sufficient settlers had reached Texas for there to be any need to encroach upon the Indian lands and, without pressure from potential voters, the government at State and national level saw no reason to go to the expense of antagonising a people who wanted only to remain friendly.
    Life went on as before for Loncey. By the time he reached his eleventh birthday, he started the final training which would end when he rode upon his first war trail as a brave-heart warrior. When Sam Ysabel returned from his last trip, he brought back a Green River fighting knife and Long Walker set to work to make a sheath for it. Without being told Loncey guessed the knife would be his when the men felt he deserved it. That day would mean that they also considered him old enough to progress to his warrior training.
    While waiting for the day, Loncey continued his normal existence. More and more his age-group tended to mingle with the older boys and ignore the younger, mixed group of children. They played rougher games, relegating ‘Grizzly Bear’ and ‘Do You?’ to their past. Wrestling lessons and instruction in the art of knife-fighting became their prime interest; with Loncey showing an affinity for the latter which made his teachers nod in grim approval. Of course the French Creole shared with the Comanche a love of cold steel for a fighting weapon. How Loncey, wielding a wooden knife, longed for the day when he wore the real thing at his side and could master throwing it; a most important part of handling a knife as a fighting weapon.
    Increasing age brought advantages. When younger Loncey and the other children often found themselves commanded by older boys to assist in a game of Nanip’ka, ‘Guess Over The Hill’. In one version the youngsters had to hide under buffalo hide or blanket covers on one side of a hill and the boy who was ‘It’ came around to try to guess the identity of the children under the hiding places.
    In the second version, which Loncey preferred, the boys selected a hiding place among the natural