Theodora looked into the black eyes, still sparkling with intelligence. “Does she know the plants that will bring down a fever?”
At this question Picking Bones Woman gave a wide, tooth less grin and cackled mirthlessly.
“Of course,” Snow Owl answered for her.
Breathless, Theodora jumped up in her excitement. “Will she show me where these herbs grow, so I can make medicine of my own?”
The crone rose beside her. She came only to Theodora’s shoulder for she was so crippled by age she was unable to stand upright.
Snow Owl rose too. “She says the medicine man will not be happy. But she is too old to worry about what Short Eared Rabbit likes. She will show you.”
With baskets under their arms the three women left camp. Snow Owl and Theodora followed the old woman into a woods where tall fir trees provided shade from the morning sun.
“Meemiarun,” Picking Bones said, pointing to a diseased yellow twig growing on a tree.
Theodora’s heart lifted as she recognized the tree. “Me lampsorella elatina. Sweet pine.”
Snow Owl translated the old woman’s words. “This will purify and make stronger the medicine we use.”
Picking Bones Woman moved quickly, despite her crouched gait. She led them to a patch of coarse weeds and pulled some up by their roots. “Maheskoe,” she proclaimed proudly, and waved them in the air.
Theodora took the plants of the buckwheat family and placed them in her basket. “Rumex crispus,” she said with a smile. “Red medicine.”
“This is bloodroot. We will make a poultice from these and place it on Blade Stalker’s wounds,” Snow Owl told her.
Off Picking Bones Woman went, peering about the shaded glade, poking under rocks and into clumps of weeds and flowers. In triumph she yanked a plant from the ground. She grinned and cackled in joy. “Towaniyuhkts!”
“Yes.” Theodora nodded in agreement. “Psoralea argo phylla is related to a species that we know has important medicinal properties. How will we use it?”
“This is called ‘to-make-cold medicine,’ ” Snow Owl explained. “We will use the leaves and stems in a tea to reduce my cousin’s fever. We will also grind it to a powder, mix it with grease, and rub it on his body. This is especially good for curing a high fever.”
Elated, Theodora added the plant to her store. “Picking Bones Woman is a genius!”
When Snow Owl translated Theodora’s praise, the old woman laughed out loud. She laughed so hard she fell down with a plop and rocked back and forth, howling with glee.
“What’s so funny?” Theodora questioned.
Snow Owl smiled, her eyes dancing with mischief. “I told her we will call her Old Blue Nose from now on, for she has studied the trees and plants just like you. Both of you have strong medicine.”
The thought that she and the old crone would share the name Blade had bestowed on her tickled Theodora as much as it did Picking Bones Woman. Despite the overriding need to hurry back to Blade, she laughed as well. She offered her hand to the ancient crone. “Come on, Old Blue Nose. Let’s get these medicines prepared.”
When they reached Snow Owl’s lodge, they found it filled with smoke and fumes. Through the haze Theodora saw a man whose entire body was painted in black and yellow bent over an unconscious Blade. The stranger turned and held his hands over the smoke of the fire, which had pine needles sprinkled on the live coals. He raised his hands toward the roof of the tipi, rubbed them on the ground, then pressed his palms over Blade’s unbandaged wounds. Walking around the lodge, he shook a gourd rattle filled with little stones and sang a long, monotonous, high-pitched incantation .
“What’s happening?” Theodora cried out in alarm. She rushed to Blade’s bed and knelt beside him. Placing a hand on his forehead, she felt his burning skin.
“It is Short Eared Rabbit,” Snow Owl explained. “He is trying to release the evil spirits from my cousin’s body.”
At her words the medicine man threw sweet pine and juniper needles on the fire, causing more smoke to rise in the tipi. He took some dried flowers from a little bundle hanging around his neck and chewed them. Then he spat on his hands and rubbed them over his arms and legs and torso. He laid one hand on Blade’s wounds, all the while shaking the rattle over him.
Theodora turned to Snow Owl in near panic. “But it’s much too warm in here! Blade Stalker is already burning up with fever! Why did Short Eared Rabbit build the fire even higher?”
“He is trying to purify the lodge.”
“Tell him to leave. The tipi is purified by now. I and Picking Bones Woman will attend to Blade Stalker.”
When Snow Owl translated this, the medicine man became irate. He spoke to Painted Robe in loud, angry words. He pointed to the old woman in derision. But the chief shook his head and folded his arms. At his calm words, the medicine man threw down his rattle in apparent disgust and, with a bitter retort aimed at Theodora, left the tipi .
Snow Owl knelt beside her cousin. She spoke to Theodora. “My grandfather told Short Eared Rabbit that Blade Stalker believed in your medicine. We are to do exactly what you wish us to do.”
* * *
With Snow Owl’s and Picking Bones Woman’s help Theodora worked at a maddened pace. They crushed the leaves and stems of the plants they’d found, then made a strong tea and, with a small spoon carved from bone, coaxed it down the unconscious man’s lips, drop by drop. After that they mixed a poultice of the dried, pulverized bloodroot and spread it carefully over the four mended gashes. Last they rubbed the ground leaves mixed with grease all over his body. The smell of the thick mixture was rancid and foul, and Theodora was thankful for the fragrance of the sweet pine needles Short Eared Rabbit had placed in the fire earlier.
The feel of Blade’s hot skin frightened her. Though Tom had nearly died of lung congestion as a child, his frequent illnesses had never included such a raging fever.
During the afternoon Painted Robe left his lodge. He went to pray to the Great Wise One Above, Snow Owl told her. Outside the tipi the shaman continued to shake his rattle and sing. He moved all around the lodge, his voice droning the prayer songs he was convinced would help Blade Stalker. What harm could it do? Theodora asked herself.
Deer Walking Fast came, bringing a thin broth in a tall clay pot. Blade’s cousin, Bald Face Buffalo, and his uncle, Broken Jaw, also came. Gray Fawn avoided the lodge, for fear the evil spirits in Blade Stalker’s body might harm her unborn child, as did Two Moons Rising, who didn’t want to bring little Potbelly into the tipi either. But Weasel Tail came, wrapped in a gleaming white doeskin robe entirely without ornamentation. He grinned at Theodora as though they shared some marvelous secret. She smiled back, grateful for his kindness and sympathy. As all of them waited quietly, a hoarse whisper called out in Cheyenne.
It was Blade. He was conscious, though weak. Theodora bent over him. His eyes were open and alert. His brow was cool to the touch .
At his words everyone started to smile and nod. They turned and looked at Theodora, grinning as though she’d played some clever trick on them all.
Tears sprang to her eyes. “What did he say?” she asked in relief.
Snow Owl placed a hand on Theodora’s arm. Amusement lit her lovely features. “Nis’ is said that he hopes you are satisfied, now that you have repaid him for his trick of spreading the stinking mud all over you.”
Theodora turned in a fitful sleep and bumped her arm against the man beside her. She’d slid her mattress next to his so that she would be close if he needed her. She was awake instantly, fearful that she might have banged against his inflamed wound. Blade lay still, his breathing steady and even, but his lips were dry and cracked. She looked around for a water skin.
The last faint rays of sunlight filtered through the open door way of the lodge, and Theodora saw Snow Owl dozing on her mattress. Until late that afternoon neither of them had really slept in over twenty-four hours, and it was no wonder they’d both fallen sound asleep. They were
alone in the tipi now.
She found the water paunch tied to a lodge pole. Tipping it up, she discovered it was nearly empty.
There was just enough light to make her way to the river. If she waited for Snow Owl to wake up, it’d be too dark for either of them to see.
The minute she left the tipi, she was grabbed from behind by strong arms and covered from head to toe with a white doeskin blanket. The robe was wound around her so tightly that Theodora couldn’t move. Her attempted cry for help was only a muffled sound against the doeskin. Whoever held her, slung her like a fallen deer over his shoulder and raced in silence across the village.
Chapter 19
Suddenly her captor slowed, stumbled, and stopped. Through the blanket Theodora could hear the sound of a branch being whacked against his back again and again. His muted grunts gave testimony to the rage of his own attacker and to his reluctance to drop his prize and defend himself.
“Niveevhaneseve!” she heard Snow Owl cry furiously as she continued to beat the man across the shoulders. Without a word he spun Theodora out of his blanket and onto the ground. He fled into the dusk, but not before Theodora had recognized him. Weasel Tail!
“How could he do this to me?” she demanded in indignation. She sat up and brushed the weeds and dirt from her arms. “Just this morning he thanked me for saving his son’s life. He even gave me a ring to show his gratitude. And now be tries to abduct me!”
Snow Owl knelt beside Theodora. “You took his ring?” Her voice was filled with condemnation. She lifted Theodora’s hand and slid the circlet of bone off her finger. Holding it in her open palm, she stared at Theodora. “Weasel Tail did not give this to you in gratitude. This is a courtship ring. Once you took it, you accepted his declaration of love. When he came this afternoon dressed in his white blanket, we all assumed he was going to the lodge of another family to ask for their daughter’s hand. No one realized you had accepted his token.”
Theodora looked in astonishment at Snow Owl. “What shall I do?”
“I will return Weasel Tail’s ring to him. I will explain that you did not understand our customs. Both he and Two Moons Rising will be very hurt, for she was there when you accepted her husband’s offer. Because she came with him, she was declaring that she, too, wanted you for Weasel Tail’s second wife. She has no sister and she would have accepted you into their lodge as her own.” Snow Owl stood and offered her hand.
Theodora rose on shaky legs. “Let’s not tell Blade Stalker about this.”
Snow Owl slowly smiled, her brown eyes warm with sympathy. “This is not something that can be kept a secret, Little Blue Nose. Your acceptance and rejection of Blade Stalker’s cousin all on the same day will be known throughout the camp by tomorrow. Such scandalous behavior will not go unnoticed. Whatever you do, don’t accept any more courtship gifts.”
“I won’t take anything from anyone from now on,” Theodora declared.
When they returned to the lodge, both Blade Stalker and his grandfather were sound asleep. Motioning for silence, Snow Owl pulled Theodora to the side of the tipi. “You must wear the nihpihist from now on, Little Blue Nose,” she said softly. “This will protect you, even if you are stolen by Weasel Tail or any other man. Put it on.”
“What is it?” Theodora asked in confusion as she took the thin rope.
“It is the protective string that all our women wear.”
“What does it protect you from?”
Shaking her head at the white woman’s naivete, Snow Owl lifted the fringe of her own dress. Theodora could see a string wound around her leg just above her knee. “From being attacked by a man, Little Blue Nose. If you wear the rope, no brave will force himself on you. It will protect your chastity.”
“This little string?” Theodora whispered in wonder. “If I have this on, I’ll be safe from every man in the village?”
“Of course. No brave would dare to force himself on a woman who is wearing the nihpihist. If he did such a dreadful thing, her male relatives would kill him and there would be no tabu against it.” Snow Owl lifted a blanket of deerskin from her bed and placed it across Theodora’s shoulders, so that if a sleeper stirred, she would be hidden from their sight. “Lift your dress,” she told her, “and let me show you how to put it on.”
Obediently, Theodora raised the hem of her skirt. She flushed, for like the Cheyenne women, she now wore no undergarments. Snow Owl seemed to understand her embarrassment. With quick precision, she wound the small rope around Theodora’s waist, knotted it in front, and passed the long ends down and backward between her legs. Then she took one end and wound it around a thigh almost to the knee, where she tied the rope to itself. She wound the other end around the other thigh, then smoothed down Theodora’s dress. “Now we will not have to worry about you when you leave the tipi.”
“I need fear no brave, then?” Theodora was incredulous.
“No male in our tribe would violate the protective rope. But my husband has told me that this is not so for the white people. He has warned me never to allow a veho to get near me if I am alone. How a white man can be so dishonorable, I cannot imagine. But I believe my husband.”
“Believe him,” Theodora told her in an adamant whisper.
“It must be a frightening world for you, Little Blue Nose, to go among your own people without protection. To know that some man might force himself on you.”
“I never thought it could be any other way, Snow Owl. I guess your people are just more civilized than we are when it comes to that.”
Snow Owl nodded and smiled solemnly. “My people are very wise. Now let’s go together and get the water for Blade Stalker.”
As soon as Blade tried to move, he realized that he must have cracked at least one rib. The slightest motion brought a jolt of excruciating pain. He ignored it, for no warrior paid the least attention to suffering. Personal sacrifice would gain the favor of the maiyun, who controlled the affairs of men.
He’d awakened at dawn to find Theodora sound asleep beside him. She’d squeezed her mattress up against his, and he could hear the soft sound of her breathing. Clutched in her hands was the water paunch, and he remembered, as in a dream, that she’d held it to his parched lips and urged him to drink from it several times during the night. He tried to take it from her hands, only to discover that he was too weak to sit up. With a sigh of frustration he slipped back into the arms of the great healer, naozistoz.
When he woke again, the angle of the sun’s rays told him it was mid-morning. The lodge was empty. He knew that by now many of the men had left for the day’s hunt. Outside he could hear the chatter of women. Over their soprano voices came the excited cries of the children at play. Gradually, he realized that what had wakened him was not these common morning noises but the neighing and stamping of many ponies tethered in front of the tipi. He tried to get up, but fell back on his bed. With painful effort he scooted into a sitting position and propped his shoulders against the soft backrest.
“Oh, you’re awake!“Theodora entered the tipi and walked over to him. With a smile she knelt, lifted the water skin, and offered him a drink.
“I can hold it myself, vehoka.” he said gruffly. His weakness made him cross and irritable, but he wasn’t about to admit it, even to himself.
She relinquished the waterskin with caution. “Very well.” She watched him drink with wide, solemn eyes, as though afraid he wouldn’t be able to manage.
“What’s all the commotion?”
“I’m not sure,” she answered with a frown. “Snow Owl hasn’t had time to translate for me yet, but it looks as though one of the young men has brought a gift of ponies to your grandfather.”
“What?” Blade Stalker started to get up, but she pushed him back against the buffalo robes.
Her smooth brow furrowed as she took the water paunch. “You’re staying right where you are, Blade Roberts. I didn’t fuss over you for two days just to have you tear out Snow Owl’s fine stitching.”
�
�What’s the brave’s name?” he growled between clenched teeth.
“Which brave?”
“The one who brought the horses.”
“How would I know?” Her look of indignation was sincere.
He relaxed against the furs. “How many?”
“How many what?”
This time he couldn’t keep the exasperation from his voice. “How many ponies did the man bring?”
She gazed at him in wonder, as though certain he’d lost his senses. “I didn’t count them. What difference does it make?”
“Merely curious. Indulge me.” His jaw tensed as he spoke.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Maybe twenty or so.”
He whistled in sarcastic admiration. “Twenty. Quite an honor.”
“I think you’re still delirious.” She pursed her lips in mock reproach.
At that moment Painted Robe entered the lodge. He came and sat down beside his grandson. “Strangling Horse has offered twenty-three horses for Little Blue Nose,” he said gravely. “He lost his young wife last summer when she bore his daughter. The child lives with her mother’s family, but Strangling Horse would like a new wife to help him care for her. Because of Little Blue Nose’s bravery and her great medicine, the family is willing to allow the child to live with them if they are married.”
“No, namsem, we cannot give Little Blue Nose to Strangling Horse against her will. It would not make a happy family for the little girl.”
Painted Robe lifted his gray brows in consideration. “Strangling Horse says that Little Blue Nose wants to marry him..”
“He lies!” Blade Stalker sat up, ignoring the piercing pain in his chest.
Cherish the Dream Page 28