Ida pointed at herself and then towards the hill. Bearboy nodded, as if he already knew where she lived. He pointed at her and at the place where she sat. It seemed to be a question. Ida nodded and made room for him.
“Please sit down,” she said and watched the bear closely as it sat down as well.
“It is a beautiful bear,” Ida said and she could not stop looking at it. “What is the name of the bear?” She asked, and watched it scrabble around in the dirt with its snout. Bearboy said a name and pretended he was rocking the bear in his arms. Ida nodded and smiled.
“Bearbaby?” She suggested and stood up. She reached out and gently touched the bear. It stopped rummaging in the dirt and raised its arms. It was expecting to be picked up and cuddled! Ida patted it on the head, and it leaned affectionately against her. She got quite scared for a moment. Bearboy could not help laughing. He got up and pointed away from the hill. Carefully, he touched Ida’s arm and pointed with his nose. She understood, he wanted her to follow him. She held her hands up with a short distance between them. He nodded, that he understood her. She could not be away for too long. Bearboy went in front of her and pulled Bearbaby along on his leash. She glanced back to the hill where the peat house was snuggled down just over the crest, but she decided to follow the Indian boy. It was so exciting that she could not help herself. And she would not be gone for long.
Chapter 42
As they walked along together, Ida noticed that the boy wore a quiver of arrows on his back, and a smooth wooden bow slung over his shoulder. He moved over the grass with ease and agility. This could not be said about Bearbaby, however, who was gambolling about next to them. It wanted to lean against Ida all the time. It was soft and dirty. Ida let Bearbaby do whatever it wanted. She did not dare otherwise. She was thrilled to find that she was walking next to a bear, although a soft baby one. It became very hot and even more humid as the day wore on. Ida sighed with the discomfort of her heavy grey dress. Bearboy seemed to be doing fine with his bare torso.
“Phew, it is too hot,” Ida said. The Indian boy stopped and looked at her sweaty face. He took her by the hand and led her to a small lake at the floor of the valley.
“How will I ever find the hill again?” Ida thought momentarily, then pushed the thought away. This was rather exciting. At the lake, the boy bent forward and made his hands wet. He pulled her down next to him and gently wiped the nice cold water onto her face. He cupped his hands and scooped up some water, which he offer to her to drink. She nodded and smiled at him. He pointed at her dress and groaned. Ida nodded again and laughed out aloud. He put more water in her face. Bearbaby was now fooling around in the water, and was very wet when they were ready to leave. It suddenly shook itself, and they were showered with nice cool water. They looked at each other and laughed. Bearboy shook his head at Bearbaby and shrugged his shoulders. Ida looked into his face to ask in sign language, ‘how far is it to your house?’ He did not answer but pulled her along. It was late in the afternoon, when they finally spotted a settlement between the trees. The bear seemed quite reluctant on the last stretch of the way. It did not really want to follow them into the settlement. But Bearboy had a firm grip on the leash, so Bearbaby had to follow them. They first passed a number of horses, who ran freely around in a corral.
“Beautiful horses,” Ida said and admired them. “Wonderful.” Bearboy merely nodded and it seemed he understood her.
As they approached the settlement, there was a busy hum of life. Many people moved around between the tents which were big and made beautiful with a lot of embroidery on the sides. Ida stopped and gazed at this amazing sight. Bearboy walked towards one of the tents and Ida followed him. People stopped what they were doing to watch her. Then they cautiously came a bit closer, in particular to gaze more closely at her bright red hair. A few of them smiled and wanted to touch her plaits and her pale skinned face. Ida stood completely still and let them touch her. They went around her to look at her from all sides. A beautiful Indian woman came out from Bearboy’s tent. She had also plaits, they were as black as Bearboy’s hair. She stood still and looked at Ida with a stern look. Then she approached with her arms held out in front of her. Ida pointed at herself. “Ida. Do you speak English?” She asked and wiped her brow that was wet with sweat. “IDA,” she repeated and pointed at Bearboy. “Bearboy.”
Ida looked around for Bearbaby. It sat at the entrance to the tent, licking its paws. Somebody had given it some birch bark with a bit of honey on it. Ida could not help laughing. She pointed at the bear, and everybody started to laugh. Bearboy’s mother pointed at herself and smiled.
“Sings-in-the-wind.”
Ida repeated the name, in the Indian language. His mother corrected Ida a couple of times, before everybody nodded, agreeing that it was pronounced correctly.
“Sings-in-the-wind pointed first at her own belly and then at Ida’s.
“Yes, I am hungry,” Ida said in English and nodded. “Hungry.” She rubbed her belly and rolled her eyes as though famished.
Bearboy pulled the tent flap aside so that she could enter. She stared in amazement when she stood inside the tent. Everything was so beautifully arranged in perfect order. Along the tent sides, beautiful leather clothes were hanging, a feather crown of eagle feathers and some decorated dancing shields. Along the walls stood a selection of drums in different sizes. In the middle of the tent, burned a small fire, and next to it on strong branches tied together with thongs hung a pot from where steam from the hot food emerged. It smelled so good. Along the wall there was a plank with an embroidered bag lying on it. Inside this bag was a small sleeping child. A couple of other children seated on the floor, playing with small stones which they threw into the air, and caught them again. Sings-in-the-wind pointed to a large buffalo-hide cushion for Ida to sit on. She went to the cooking pot and ladled food into a small clay bowl and handed it to Ida, along with a wooden spoon. A shadow fell into the tent, and a man somewhat taller than Bearboy appeared. He looked at Ida for a long time and then sat down opposite her. He made a sign for her to eat and Ida immediately started to eat with great enthusiasm. Sings-in-the-wind gave her another portion and a little cup of warm milk. It was nice to be in the homely comfort of the tent in the shade, and to have something delicious to eat.
Chapter 43
When they both had eaten, they rose, thanked Sings-in-the-wind, and left the tent. It was tremendously hot outside. Ida thought she was going to faint in the wretched woollen dress. She could feel big pearls of sweat gathering on her face. In a large space between the tents, she saw a group of women standing at big wooden frames upon which buffalo hides were being stretched out. Enormous pieces of meat were hanging to dry on wooden racks. Bearboy pointed at the hides, at his trousers and at the beautiful tents. Ida nodded and smiled. She understood. She watched some children playing there on the grass between the tents. All of a sudden she looked again at one of the boys. He had black hair, but it was not long like the other boys. She recognised him immediately. It was Stephen. Her heart started to pound heavily. Was Bearboy’s family holding Stephen captive? She hastily looked away, instinctively knowing she should not say anything to Bearboy. He showed her around all over the place, and everybody greeted her in a friendly manner. In particular they wanted to touch her red plaits. Ida smiled at them.
They wandered back toward the children, who were busy playing a ballgame, where one pushed the ball into a goal by means of a stick. Ida noticed that only the boys were playing the game, it seemed to be a bit rough. Stephen was there too. Ida stood for a while, watching the game and watching Stephen out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to be happy and content. She tried several times to make eye contact with him. But he avoided her. Ida was in no doubt it was Stephen. All of a sudden she ran out between the players and grabbed the ball. She stood in front of Stephen and looked directly at him.
“Stephen,” she whispered. “What are you doing here?”
“Playing ball,” he answered in
English.
“Your parents are in mourning over you,” she said and threw the ball back into the game, then she ran back to Bearboy. He had noticed Stephen and Ida talking in their own tongue. He motioned to her in sign language, that it would not do to try to tempt Stephen away.
“What about me?” Ida asked, both in English and in sign language. Bearboy looked at her seriously.
“I want to go home now,” she said pointing away to the distant hill and homestead. She made her fingers walk in the air. He just looked down at the ground and made a pattern with his moccasins.
“Home!” She insisted.
“Hm,” he murmured and finally nodded, pulling her along by her sleeve. They walked out of the tent village and he made signs for her to follow him closely. It was very late in the afternoon, now. Ida did not dare to think what her parents would say. They walked briskly through tall prairie grass with a few big oak trees standing here and there. It was a beautiful valley where the Indians had settled. Ida was walking along closely behind Bearboy and thinking earnestly of Stephen. What should she do? Why couldn’t Bearboy understand her that Stephen had to get home to his parents too? She reached for him and grabbed him by his quiver of arrows. He turned towards her, surprised.
“Stephen. He is one of ours,” she said and made sign language gestures, pointing back to the tents, pretending to be a boy playing ball, patting her face.
“He has to go home to his parents. They miss him.”
Bearboy did not understand, or pretended he did not. He shook his head and kept on walking. She pulled on his quiver again. All of a sudden he became angry. He frowned and made snarling noises at her, making stop-this signs with his arms.
“Stephen!” She shouted and stamped her foot on the ground and pointed to the tents then pointed to the hill where the house stood. “He has to go home to his parents.” She pointed earnestly in the direction of the hill. She made sleeping on hand motions. He must come back and sleep at home.
“No,” Bearboy shouted in his own language, while shaking his head. Ida ran passed him. She kept on running and did not look back at all. She was so angry. Why did the Indians steal Stephen away? Why did they do such things? Was it because the immigrants were stealing their country? Then she heard a whistling sound at her ear. She was just next to an oak tree when an arrow, adorned in feathers, twanged into the bark of the oak. She turned around to see, who had shot at her. There was no one in sight behind her. It was probably Bearboy. She went to the tree and carefully pulled the arrow from the bark and looked at it. It was a beautiful arrow with a bird feather at the end. She threw it away and walked in a sad mood the rest of the way home. It was dark, when she finally reached the peat house.
Chapter 44
When Ida reached the peat house, there wasn’t a soul to be seen. The stove was not alight and no lanterns burned. Darkness prevailed. She was frightened. Where was everyone? Had they abandoned her? She started to shake all over, and for the first time all day she felt cold in her woollen dress. A new, solid wooden door had been placed in the doorway gap. It was stuck closed and she was not strong enough to push it open, so she crawled in through the window, that still did not have any glass or covering. It was dark and stuffy in the house. She felt around for a box to sit on and found a blanket, which she pulled around her shoulders to keep warm.
“Where are they?” She asked aloud and started to cry. “I am all alone here in America!”
She sat for a long time wrapped in the blanket feeling sorry for herself, when she suddenly heard a sound at the door. The door was pushed open and her heart skipped a beat.
“Who’s there?” She quavered.
“It is me, Stephen,” whispered a voice. Ida jumped from the box and ran to the dim silhouette in the door way. She pulled him inside and wrapped her blanket around him. They stood together under the blanket and hugged each other.
“Stephen, how wonderful! You came back!” Ida whispered loudly. “Did you run away from them?”
“Yes, I was close on your heels,” he said. “I ran so fast.”
“Did they chase you?”
“No.”
Ida hugged him several times. He just stood quietly and accepted it. Then he pulled away the blanket and took her hand.
“Stephen? You are talking!” She said in amazement.
“Yes. And now I am hungry,” he said. “Is there anything to eat?”
Ida felt around in the dark.
“I wish we could at least find a candle,” Ida said. “A good thing you managed to find the new house.”
“I think there is a bit of fire still in the stove,” he said and walked carefully in the dark towards the big stove and opened the stove door. The embers glowed ever so lightly. Ida reached the upturned box that acted as a table. She let her hand slide over the surface and found a small candle in a candle holder.
“Here is a candle.” She gave it to him and he poked it onto an ember and blew on it. The wick caught.
“Hurray, now we have light. Let me see you,” Ida said and looked curiously at him. He looked like an Indian boy. Clad from top to toe in a beautiful light-brown doeskin with fine embroidery and long fringes. His face and neck was tanned brown from the sun.
“My word, you do look like an Indian. It suits you very well.” He turned his back towards her.
“Yes, I look like an Indian, but I am really Stephen Kennedy from Ireland,” he mumbled.
“And I am Ida Jensen from Denmark. What happened? How did they treat you?” Ida asked, about to burst with curiosity. He turned slowly towards her.
“They were kind to me. I had a really good time.”
“That’s good,” Ida said.
“Look, there is a pot here on the stove. Let’s see what’s in it.” Stephen said, lifting the lid. He sniffed at the pot. “I think it is porridge. Where do we get spoons?”
Ida found a wooden box with utensils and fetched out a couple of spoons.
“I think it is still lukewarm.”
“Come and sit, bring the pot and we can eat from it,” Ida said and handed him a spoon over the table. They sat opposite each other and shared the porridge which tasted quite nice.
Chapter 45
They had been asleep for some time on the same box with blankets covering them, when there was a sound at the door. Then it was pushed open with a groan and a bang. A hurricane lantern swung high and lit up the room. Ida and Stephen sat up in bed and squinted in the light.
Frederik and Katrina had come home, with Lisa on Katrina’s arm. She immediately saw the two in the bed and pointed, shouting. “Look, Ida is back. Hurrah. And what is this? Stephen is here!”
Frederik and Katrina stood and stared at the two prodigals returned. Katrina put Lisa down and ran to them and hugged them both together.
“Ida and Stephen! You are back. Both of you! We have been so worried.”
Katrina stared at Stephen and patted him on the head. “Where on earth have you been?”
“With the Indians,” Ida said flatly, as if this was a perfectly normal thing.
“What? What are you saying! Where are these Indians?” Frederik shouted in agitation.
“They live some distance from here in a valley where they have settled for the summer,” Stephen said, standing up.
“Oh look, he is a little Indian,” Katrina said, pointing at the boy clothing. Frederik held the lamp closer to the boy and they inspected him from top to toe.
“Certainly very fine clothes the lad is wearing.” Katrina felt his sleeve. “Such soft hide and look at the beautiful embroidery. Just look at all these lovely fringes!”
“Yes, they help keep you cool, when it is very hot,” Stephen said proudly.
“Have you become a real Indian now?” Frederik asked. “You haven’t forgotten us, have you?”
“But…. how did you end up with the Indians?” Lisa asked what they all wanted to know. She stared wide-eyed at Stephen, who had vanished and yet here he was again.
At first, he did not answer but sat down silently next to Ida.
“Well, I was lying inside the wagon, hiding, you know. It was under the trees further down the hill. I heard everything when those men came, and they were very rude. I was so scared I couldn’t stay to hear what would happen next and I jumped out of the wagon and ran away. I ran down into the valley and followed it along the hillside. Then I heard shots, and then their horses galloping my way and I got even more terrified. I thought you must all be dead. I turned off the trail and just ran and ran. I ended up running straight into a couple of Indians.”
“A couple of Indians?” Katrina gasped, thinking of the axe buried in the tree. “Did they catch you?”
“Yes they did. They wore wolf skins, because they were out chasing buffalo.”
“What did they do to you?” Lisa asked, eyes wide.
“They brought me to their summer camp. They took my clothes and washed me and gave me Indian clothes to wear. I was given nice food and a soft bed made of buffalo skin to sleep in.”
“They were kind to you then?” Frederik asked, amazed. Stephen nodded and sighed.
“It was quite an interesting experience. They live in a manner completely different from ours.” Stephen looked down at his Indian clothing.
“Have you learned something of their language?”
“Yes, a little bit. They also communicate amongst themselves with sign language. You saw that today yourself.” Ida nodded and smiled.
Katrina and Frederik suddenly turned towards Ida and looked at her sternly.
“And how come you ended up with the Indians?” Katrina asked, her head on one side.
“Well, I had went over the back of the hill today and picked flowers. I was lying by a little creek under a tree. It was so hot I snoozed a bit and when I opened my eyes, I looked straight up into the eyes of Bearboy. His bear cub was also staring at me.”
“Weren’t you frightened?” Katrina gasped. “A Bear Cub?”
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