Read Online Navajo Long Walk by Nancy M. Armstrong - Free Book Online Page B

coming of the third spring, Navajos who had not died of hunger, sickness, or discouragement were unwilling to plant any more crops in the alkaline soil. Yet they were forced to plant again.
    In spite of all the hardships Hasba always managed to stay cheerful. “She was so young when we came here that this is becoming a normal way of life for her,” Kee told his mother. “If we stay here she will forget our canyons and our mesa. She will grow up not ever knowing how Navajos ought to live.”
    One morning after Hasba stepped outside to greet the rising sun, she hurried back in, overjoyed. Dawn Flower had given birth to a lamb. Now she had a herd of three sheep. She cared for them throughout the summer as carefully as if there were a hundred.
    Kee was now speaking English quite fluently. He still couldn’t see much sense in clocks when they had the sun, but he learned that white men’s years had numbers. This was what they called the summer of 1867.
    Even though he sometimes went hungry, Kee was growing rapidly, and the soldiers who worked around the stables were now treating him as a young friend. In spite of himself, he was beginning to enjoy being with them. He hated to admit that white soldiers, the enemy, were his friends, but he began to realize that they, as individuals, were not the enemy. Some of them hated being here almost as much as he did. They, too, were captives far from home.
    One of them confided to him that the government was getting tired of trying to care for so many Indians in aplace where food could not be raised. The cost of feeding them was enormous, yet there was never enough to satisfy their hunger. “If we are lucky we may all be going home some day,” he said.
    Yet fall came and there was still no sign of change. Winter came, the Navajos went hungry, and the Comanche continued to raid. With the Navajo men cold, sick, hungry, and discouraged the Comanches were able to steal many of the sheep, goats, and horses. Because there was not enough grass nearby for the animals and it was not safe to take them too far away to graze, much of their livestock died that winter. Meals often came from the tough stringy meat of an animal that had starved to death.

Chapter Seventeen
A New Friend
    When the spring of 1868 arrived the resilience and optimism of the Navajos was strong. They were beginning to smile again.
    One morning when Kee was feeding Smoke, Captain Harris called him into his office. The happiness in his voice was obvious as he told Kee, “My son is coming to visit me while my wife goes to Boston to see her mother, who is ill. He will come with soldiers bringing the next wagon train of supplies to the fort. I am glad you can speak English. You will be good company for Jeff.”
    Kee felt almost as excited as the captain. He had never seen a white boy his own age. He wondered if Jeff would like to do the same things as Navajo boys. One unpleasant thought crossed his mind. He hoped Jeff would not expect to take over the care of Smoke.
    One day, a few weeks later, as he stood at the hitching rail outside officers’ quarters, Kee shaded his eyes as he watched for the long-overdue wagon train to come into view. Captain Harris was worried. He wanted to know the second the wagons appeared so he could go to meet Jeff.
    Dust rose in the distance. Waiting until he was sure it was wagons and not Navajos herding sheep back to the fort, Kee dashed to the captain’s office. “Wagons come!” he shouted.
    Captain Harris walked with long strides toward his horse. Kee ran ahead to untie the reins. He watched horse and rider disappear across the parade grounds into the dust. He could leave now and go back to the dugout but instead he decided to wait and have a look at the white boy.
    Smoke returned to the parade grounds with Jeff bouncing up and down behind his father. Kee chuckled inside. “White boy is not much of a rider, I think.”
    After dismounting, Captain