however, would give in easily in games and wanted to give up and do something else if he started losing.
âOne day, the two boys decided to hunt coyotes far away from the safety of the tribal circle of teepees, their neighborhood. Dancing Hare, while they moved through a wooded draw, heard a strange noise and held up his hand. Then they saw them, a band of Pawnees wearing war paint and carrying many weapons. The boys were afraid and knew they must hide in a safe place, but where?
âBoy Who Climbs Trees said, âWe will be killed or captured!â
âDancing Hare said, âNo, we will not. Do not give up so easily,â but while he ran, he prayed harder than ever before.
âFinally, he spotted a cave ahead and ran into it, followed by his whimpering friend. Dancing Hare discovered another cave entrance. It was actually shaped like a horseshoe, with two holes opening in the side of a draw. They hid inside and saw the Pawnee war party far off, studying their tracks, which they had tried to hide.
âThen they saw a mighty bear startled by all the commotion run out of the trees and straight toward them. It headed right at the cave, and Boy Who Climbs Trees yelled, âRun! He will eat us!â
âDancing Hare said, âNo, stay put and do not move. If you run, the Pawnees will surely catch you.â
âThe bear ran into the cave and turned to face in the direction of the danger behind him. He lay down. At the same time, crying, Boy Who Climbs Trees ran as fast as he could out the other cave entrance. Dancing Hare saw him get captured almost immediately by the band of Pawnees. They looked at the cave entrance, but the leader said they should not bother the mighty bear they saw run into it, or they might be killed. They rode off with their captive tied and bound.
âAll good Lakotas bathed often and would keep their hair and skin shiny with bear grease made from bear fat. This smell kept the mighty grizzly calm in the cave, and he did not smell Dancing Hare and did not look around and see Dancing Hare. A few minutes after the Pawnees rode away, the grizzly emerged and ambled away toward the trees.
âHours later, scared but safe, Dancing Hare trotted toward his village, but looked up at the sky and smiled. He knew then that what many like his cousin Boy Who Climbs Trees would see as nothing but a bad thing turned out to actually be an answer to a prayer, but dressed as something scary. The rest of his life, he would always look for the good news hiding inside the bad news. Nowhe would summon the Dog Soldiers to go and rescue his cousin.
âIn other words, Scottie, always find something good in any problem you are faced with, and always decide to survive any obstacle.â
Scottie poured himself another cup of coffee and said, âThat sure was a neat story. You have any more of them?â
Strongheart grinned and said, âIn time.â
7
GUNFIGHTERS
By dark the next day, they were back in Cañon City, and Scottie was very relieved to see he was in good shape, although he had a few nicks and bruises showing. More obvious than injuries, though, was the Russian .44 six-shooter he was wearing. His aunt offered Joshua a nice hot dinner, but he refused and went on to the Hot Springs Hotel to relax and take a nice soothing mineral bath that night and the next morning. The next day, he would ride to his modest home south of town in the area called Lincoln Park, but he loved to go to the Hot Springs Hotel at the mouth of the Royal Gorge and had been going there ever since his first days in Cañon City.
The Hot Springs Hotel was at the very west end of River Drive and had a footbridge that crossed theArkansas River to the north side of the river where the railroad tracks ran. Passengers could depart and cross the footbridge to the hotel. Directly to the west of the hotel was the mouth of Grape Creek, which ran for well over twenty miles to the Silver Cliff area and the new
Helena Newbury
John H. Carroll
Ekaterina Gordeeva, E. M. Swift
Zoey Derrick
With All My Heart
Jerrica Knight-Catania
Allison Burnett
Hazel Hunter
AnnaLisa Grant
Ben Greenman