by Darrel Bird
together. Then he tied the leather into a bow, and the two were married. The old man lay his hands on their heads, “You may use the tent for privacy two days…after that I get it back. Then we will strike camp, and return to the people along the lower Colorado.”
As Gene made tender love to the girl that night, his heart was full, and he knew he had finally come home from out among the stars.
The next morning he walked back into the tent with his new moccasins on, and the girl slapped him so hard it made his ears ring, “Take your moccasins off fool!”
He staggered out of the tent, and looked at the boy, “I married her, and she still slapped me!”
“Yes, you will be happy, if she does not kill you.” The boy smiled, and continued to gather the fish off the poles.
“Why would she want to kill me?”
“We need to gather fire wood for one more day. While we do that you can ask me questions.”
They began going through the trees breaking off dead limbs.
“It is not for me to say, but I noticed you haven’t bathed in the river since you got here, and you walked into her tee pee without so much as pulling off your moccasins. Do you not respect her?”
“Oh yes, I respect her.”
“Then show her by your actions, or it will be a difficult life with her.”
“What is her name?”
“Her name is Kimi; it means secret.”
“What is your name?” the boy asked him.
“Gene Gordon.”
“You will be Kachada…white man.”
“And your name?”
“Chatan…Hawk.”
“What about your grand father?”
“What about him? There are many things about him.”
“No, I mean does he have a name?”
“Of course he has a name…his name is Waban…it means East wind.”
Gene thought about what the boy had told him a while, and then stripped his clothes off, and waded into the river. Taking hands full of sand he rubbed his skin until it was red.
Chatan watched him from the bank a minute, and did likewise; the boy splashed him, and Gene began splashing him back, and soon they were both laughing. After a while, they both climbed out of the water, put their clothes on, and began gathering the bundles of wood.
On the way back to the camp the boy looked over at him, “It is good you have come.”
Gene looked back at him, “Its good to be here. I didn’t fit in with the people that left, and went East.”
“I will help you…it is a different matter to fit in with the people on the lower Colorado.”
“Thank you.” For the first time in Gene’s life, he was truly grateful to someone.
When they arrived back at the camp, the old man said, “I heard laughter, is life good between you two?”
“Yes grandfather.”
“And sister?”
“The Kachada needs teaching, but he is willing to learn.”
“Good, that is all I can ask. We will break camp in the morning for the return trip to Parker.”
“Do you mean Parker Arizona?” Gene asked.
“Yes, the people live on the river near the old place, do you know it?”
“Yes, I went there once. It is beautiful along the river.”
That night Kimi was especially nice to him since he didn’t stink, and he pulled his moccasins off, and sat them by the doorway of the tent before he went in. As he lay beneath the covers with his arm pillowing her head, he needed to fart, and he almost got up a sweat trying to ease it out, praying she didn’t smell it.
He reached over, and kissed her gently, “Good night wife.”
“Good night my husband.” He felt ten feet tall and somehow felt that he was needed the same way as he needed someone in his life.
The next morning, the old man, and the boy began cutting saplings for a travois, and in short order they were packing the tee pee, the fish, and their belongings on it. Gene tried to help the best he could, but they were so proficient in getting ready for the trip back, that he mostly watched, and learned. His new wife had gone upriver to bathe. He never saw her bathe, but he knew she did, and her Indian name seemed to fit her.
The early morning pink of the sun was giving way to brass, as the old man walked up to him, “We will go around those strange looking rocks.” He pointed toward the top of the hill.
“Most of that is not rocks, it is concrete, this used to be a dam across the river. The people that were here before built it.”
“Why would anyone put a dam across the river?”
“They needed power to run the city, and that’s where they got it.”
The old man stood looking up at the massive structure; the early morning sun seemed to settle in the deep wrinkles on his face, “At any rate we will climb around the rock’s, and then go down to the river on the other side…there we can cross the river.”
The boy had hooked the travois to the horse, and then climbed onto the horse, “We are ready grandfather.” He mounted the horse, clucked at it, and they began the long climb out of the river basin. The old man clung to the horse as the going became steeper. Gene brought up the rear. He watched as Kimi’s butt began to waggle in the climb. She wasn’t fat, but she wasn’t exactly skinny either; she was a comfortable around, and as far as Gene was concerned, he liked a little meat on the bone. She seemed to like the sex as much as he did, which he had sampled often in their time in the privacy of the tent. He guessed that they would have to slip away, since the old man had reclaimed his tent.
They were nearing the top when the old man fell, and lay there gasping for breathe. Kimi stopped, and began fanning his face, “We need to stop more often grandfather.”
“The gray suit will not make an old man young again sister. One day, I will fall, and not arise.”
“It will be better when we are back at the main camp, you will see.” Kimi eyed him with concern.
Gene who had been lagging far behind walked up, and flopped down, “My new grandson has worn himself out in the tee pee.” The old man grinned at him with mischievous eyes, as Kimi pretended, she didn’t hear this.
They rested a while until the old man regained some of his strength, then made their way over the top, and began the gradual descent that would lead them around to the river again.
Eventually, they came to a spot where the river was at it’s narrowest point. The boy got off the horse, and helped the old man onto it, “Sister will take the horses tail, and you will hang on to the travois; I will hang to the horse's mane while we cross, do not let go, and the horse will get us across. Are you ready grandfather?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
The boy began to lead the horse out into the river, and eventually lost footing, and began to hold to the horse’s mane.
Gene’s teeth were chattering by the time they were across. The boy began gathering tender for a fire. He took two small stones, and struck them together very fast, and soon smoke was rising from the tender; he gently blew the smoking tender into a flame. At the same time, Kimi took the iron pot, put water in it from the river, and was putting some of the dried fish into the pot.
Gene watched in amazement at the proficiency, in which they prepared a meal, he also noticed that his buckskin clothing was already drying from the swim in the river. Life was a lot simpler with these people, and their needs few. It was an idealist life for Gene as he fit in with it with little effort. The boy, who Gene had tremendous respect, for was more than willing to help him fit in, and he had grown to love them all quickly, and easily, even though they had many laughs at his expense. They didn’t laugh at him in a degrading way; they were cheerful people, and accepted Gene as one of their own.
It took them eight days to reach the cottonwood stands along the river at Parker. Tee pee’s stood on the banks of the lower Colorado. Kids ran through the camp, and played, and a herd of horses guarded by two men, and dogs were at the northern-most end of the camp. The smoke from the camp fires per
meated the air. Several people came out to welcome them home, and they plied the old man with questions about his clothing, and also about Gene. “Wait until we gather at sun down, and I will tell you, do you want my brain to curdle from so many questions?” That seemed to satisfy them, as they happily accompanied the small group into the camp.
They reached a certain spot, and the old man turned toward the boy, “You will put my tent here, and I will rest under the tree there.” He said it indicating a large cottonwood. The boy didn’t seem to mind the task, and Kimi helped him with it, and they soon had the tent up, and the camp in order with supper cooking over the fire.
That evening, as if by some signal the people began filtering through the trees to sit in a great circle on the banks of the river. After they were all gathered, someone brought live coals from one of the other fires to light the wood at the center. One of the men stood up, and spoke, “Waban has brought some food, a suite of clothes, and a Kachada. We will hear how he has accomplished so much for a fish camp.”
The old man stood proudly with his arms folded, “My friends, we went to the large rocks to catch fish, and while on a hunt, Chatan found the white man in the old city. He had on the clothing that I