Chapter Twenty
As the evening wore on, Buck could no longer hide the fact that his back was bothering him. Ike noticed first and asked, *Do you want me to help you back to the teepee?*

Buck shook his head. “I don’t want to ruin this for everyone else; I can stay awhile longer.”

*How would you going home ruin it for everyone else? I mean, it’s not like everyone else needs to stop just because you need to leave?*

Buck smiled at Ike. “You and I are the guests of honor; if we leave, everyone else must also.”

*Oh. I didn’t realize. Is there something we could do to help stop your pain and still stay?*

Buck shrugged.

Ike stood. *I’ll go ask Sky Chaser.*

Buck nodded. “Tell her I don’t want willow bark tea; it makes me too groggy. I need to be clear headed in the morning.”

It was Ike’s turn to nod. He made his way to where Sky Chaser was talking to some of the other women. He waited quietly until there was a break in the conversation and then explained the situation.

She glanced over at Buck just in time to see Little Fox, Stands Tall, and Laughing Crow sit down next to him. “Go get Father,” she said, as she made her way to her uncle.

Buck managed to hide the fear that the appearance of this threesome caused him. He was about to excuse himself when he saw Sky Chaser approaching. He decided to wait because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stand without making a spectacle of himself.

“You really think you can make Little Fawn happy?” Laughing Crow asked as he sat next to Buck.

Buck simply nodded.

Little Fox sat on the other side of Buck. “You’d better not be playing around with her,” he warned. “If you hurt her, I’ll track you down and do what we should have the last time we saw you.”

Buck glanced at him, but didn’t move or speak; he’d learned long ago that it wouldn’t matter – whatever he said would be wrong.

Laughing Crow moved closer and placed his hand on Buck’s shoulder. “Your back still give you trouble?” he asked as he moved his hand slowly to the small of Buck’s back.

Buck tensed despite himself. His mind flashed back to the first scene from his recent visions – the time when these three boys had first hurt him. He still wasn’t sure what they had done, but it had caused him to occasionally have debilitating back spasms. The really bad thing about them was that he couldn’t tell what would cause them to occur.

Laughing Crow applied a little more pressure to the spot where the spasms always started. As he did this, Stands Tall moved behind Buck. Laughing Crow started to smile when Buck sucked in his breath due to the pain it caused, but quickly moved his hand when Sky Chaser joined the group.

“Uncle,” she said, “I wanted to congratulate you on the good news.” She knelt down in front of him.

Knowing they had to be polite, the three other men looked at her. When they did, they noticed that Red Bear was approaching from the other side of the celebration area. They quickly voiced their best wishes and excused themselves.

As they left, Sky Chaser sat next to Buck. “Are you alright?”

Buck shook his head. He could feel the spasm starting, and knew that it would spread quickly. “I need to go lie down,” he managed to whisper, “but I’m not going to be able to move on my own.”

He glanced past her to where Ike and Red Bear were still making their way over. “I don’t want to cause a big scene, or ruin the celebration.” He sucked in a breath as the first wave of pain made its way across his back.

Ike noticed the change in Buck’s face and made his way to Buck’s side quickly. *Your back?*

Buck simply nodded. He gripped Ike’s arm as the wave finished. “I need to go now,” he said. “Can you get me inside Red Bear’s home?”

Ike nodded and got behind Buck. He put his hands under Buck’s arms and pulled him to a standing position. Buck bit off the moan of pain that tried to escape as the second wave of pain shot across his back.

By this time Red Bear had joined them and Sky Chaser had explained the situation. Red Bear helped Ike turn Buck around; he then pulled open the door to his home so Ike could maneuver Buck inside.

Once there, Ike settled Buck onto the sleeping area skins. As soon as this was done, Sky Chaser pulled up Buck’s shirt so she could examine his back. She could see the tightness of the muscles. “I need to go get some medicine,” she said. “Keep him as still as possible.”

Ike nodded.

Red Bear sat next to Buck. “Did one of them hurt you?” he asked.

Buck shook his head. “They just wanted to talk,” he said. “They wanted to let me know that they will be very disappointed if I upset Little Fawn.” He stopped as a new wave of pain overtook him. This time he wasn’t able to complete stifle the moan.

Red Bear waited until the pain let up a little before asking, “Is this like what used to happen when you were younger?”

Buck simply nodded and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to…”the spasm in his back caused him to stop speaking and arch his back in an attempt to make it stop.

Ike pushed Buck back down into the skins and began to massage the area of his lower back where the muscles were contracting causing the difficulty. Buck screamed in pain at his first touch, but soon was breathing easier as the effects of Ike’s ministrations took root.

Just as Sky Chaser returned, the pain left Buck’s back. He slowly rolled over and had Ike help him sit. Red Bear looked at him, the concern evident in his face as he asked, “What did they do to you?”

“Nothing,” Buck said. “They just wanted to talk.”

Red Bear shook his head. “I don’t mean now; I mean before.”

Buck shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said.

“You showed us the other day,” Red Bear said. “You just left out some details.”

Buck shook his head. “I showed you what I know,” he said. “I don’t remember what happened before I was on the ground and they were there, but I don’t think it was them. I really think that at first they were trying to help.”

Red Bear nodded. “Are you better now?”

Buck shrugged. “I am at the moment, but I’m not sure it won’t happen again. Sometimes if I move to quickly, it comes back.”

Red Bear looked at his daughter. “Should you examine him; see if you can find out why this happens?”

She nodded. “I think it would be a good idea for the rest of you to return to the celebration. I know that Running Buck does not want it to end early because or him, and I will be able to work more quickly if I have space in which to move about.”

Ike glanced at Buck, concern etched on his face.

Buck smiled weakly. “She’s right,” he said. “Please, go back out and enjoy the celebration. Hopefully, I’ll be joining you again soon.”