Proud Wolf's Woman

by Karen Kay

  “Julia!” Kristina hollered again, and Julia saw her friend hurrying through the crowd. Julia and Neeheeowee had just arrived at the Minneconjou camp minutes ago, there to be met by a group of perhaps fifty to sixty people.

  “Kristina!” Julia reached down to grab her friend’s hand as Kristina rushed up to her. Julia bent down, giving her friend a hug. “Oh, how I have missed you.”

  Kristina grinned. “And how I have missed you,” Kristina said, keeping step alongside the pony Julia rode, for the animal had never stopped moving. The two friends clasped hands. “I hope you have come to see me,” Kristina said, “Although I’m sure you have news from home, I do hope you have come here with the desire of visiting and enjoying yourself.”

  Julia beamed down at her friend. “Yes,” she said. “I have come here for all those reasons, plus one other.”

  “Ma!” Kristina uttered the Lakota expression. “It probably won’t take me long to discover what that other reason is, especially if the reason is male and is under thirty years of age.”

  Julia grinned. “You still know me well, don’t you? I guess some things never change.”

  Kristina chuckled. “Come, let me lead you to my lodge. We can let one of the boys in camp take care of your pony while you and I catch up on all the latest news and gossip.”

  “Yes,” Julia said. “I would like that.”

  “I thought you would,” Kristina said, and, taking hold of the pony’s reins, Kristina set out toward her lodge.

  Once there, Kristina called to a small boy and, handing him the pony’s reins, she asked him to care for the animal in her stead. The young boy nodded eagerly and, in the midst of a rush of Lakota words, led the pony away.

  “Come inside,” Kristina beckoned Julia, holding up the rawhide covering to the entryway. “I have so many questions for you, I barely know where to start, but let me ask you this one first: However did you run into Neeheeowee again?”

  Julia grinned and cast a quick look up toward the heavens. “That is a long story. If you have several days, I might be able to tell it all.”

  Kristina nodded. “It is one of those stories, is it? I’m fascinated. Come on in. I’ll make us some coffee.”

  “You have coffee?”

  Kristina nodded.

  “Ah, I’d love some,” Julia said, and bent down to enter the tepee. She looked up, noting at once the interesting array of Indian versus American trade articles strewn throughout the dwelling.

  In one corner stood Tahiska’s bow and backrest; in another lay Kristina’s guitar. Hanging from the tepee lining were Tahiska’s quiver and arrows as well as a flower arrangement from Kristina. Over to the right was an Indian cradle board and next to it an actual cradle. It went on and on. Here was Tahiska’s medicine bag, there were Kristina’s cups and saucers.

  Julia smiled, her mood lightening to see that Kristina had been able to keep a part of her own culture with her.

  “You seem to have made your mark here in Indian society. Tell me, Kristina.” Julia paused. “Has it been difficult to blend the two cultures together?”

  Kristina glanced at her friend from over her shoulder. “Not very,” she said. “Tahiska indulges me.”

  “I see,” Julia said. “And do you nag him just a little to buy some of these things for you?”

  Kristina laughed. “Often,” she said. “Often. But he never seems to mind. He just figures out a way to trade for these things and before I know it, I have them.”

  Julia grinned. “I envy you.”

  Kristina, two cups of coffee in her hand, came around to sit beside Julia. “Now, I wonder,” she began, “why you would envy me?”

  Julia shrugged.

  And Kristina leaned forward. “It couldn’t be because of the certain man who brought you here, could it? He didn’t capture you, did he?”

  “No!”

  Kristina smiled. “That is good. That is one part of Indian culture that I cannot quite condone, although I suppose I can understand it a little. Listen, Julia, it has not been that difficult bridging these two cultures. Every society has something to recommend it, and so it is with Indian society. There are many things that I could teach you that I think you would enjoy. And the life here is very independent, very free. There is much about the Lakota to recommend them. Above all, though, I couldn’t think of being anywhere else but with Tahiska.” Kristina cast a shrewd glance at her friend. “Which reminds me…what are you doing with Neeheeowee and why are you dressed in Indian clothing?”

  Julia rolled her eyes and grinned. “It is a very long story.”

  “Ma!” Kristina said. “It is good that we have a very long day stretching out before us then, because I will want to hear every single little detail.”

  Julia laughed, and, reaching out to take hold of her friend’s hand, she proceeded to tell Kristina everything, right from the beginning.

  “And so Kenneth is dead now?”

  “Yes,” Julia said. “It was not a good marriage, Kristina. Kenneth was too wound up in himself and his own problems to be a good husband and he was often cruel to me.”

  “Oh, I am so sorry.”

  Julia shrugged. “I have not mourned him much. Not as much as I should.”

  Kristina laid her hand over Julia’s. “I can understand. If I were in your same place, I would not mourn him too much either.”

  Julia sighed. She and Kristina had been reclining inside the tepee now for quite some time, talking, gossiping, catching up on the latest news. Julia began to worry that she was keeping Kristina from fixing the evening meal, but when she queried Kristina about it, Kristina waved away her concern, saying that her mother-in-law would see to their supper. “She knows you and I will be talking away most of the day,” Kristina had said. “Don’t worry about it. Tahiska’s mother will enjoy helping us.”

  Julia had relaxed after that and had related to Kristina all the facts of her capture, Neeheeowee’s rescue of her, and, minus a few pertinent facts, had told how she had asked Neeheeowee to bring her here.

  Kristina had listened, had smiled and then had said, “He’s quite a handsome warrior, is he not?” to which Julia had not responded at all. But Kristina had gone on to say, “Someday when he has put his past behind him, he will make a fine husband. In the meantime he can be moody and distant, although…” Here Kristina had leaned in toward Julia, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Wouldn’t you say both he and Tahiska fill out a breechcloth well?”

  And to Julia’s shocked giggle, Kristina grinned. “You can stay here with me,” Kristina went on to say, “while Neeheeowee will sleep in the guest lodge, safely away from you. I would presume,” she said, “that you presented quite a temptation to him.”

  And when Julia burst out with a spurt of laughter, she assumed Kristina had her answer.

  The evening meal had come and gone, and while Tahiska and Neeheeowee sat outside the tepee, relating stories of their various coups, Julia and Kristina reclined inside catching up on more news, more gossip and, after introductions had been made, teasing the children. Julia had learned that Kristina and Tahiska had three children; Wowaste, or Goodness, the eldest; Cikala Peta, Little Fire, the younger girl; and Keya, Turtle, the youngest of the three and the only boy. The two girls sat with their mother and their newest “aunt,” while Keya, who was no more than two years old, alternated between staying with the men outside and venturing back inside to his mother, as though to ensure she was still there for him.

  Kristina and Julia each leaned back against a willow backrest, their legs stretched out before them and crossed at the ankle.

  “So tell me,” Julia had said after a while. “Are you happy in your new life here?”

  “I am happy,” Kristina answered, nodding at the same time. “Though at first it was very hard. There are many customs and taboos here and I knew none of them. I’m afraid I made more enemies than friends when I first arrived. And, of course, getting used to sleeping on the ground took some adjustment.”

&nb
sp; “Yes,” Julia said. “I can see how that would be tough. Do you ever regret making the decision that you did?”

  Kristina thought for just a moment, her gaze taking in the tepee, her children, skirting to the tepee entrance, where her husband sat outside. She sighed. “No, I don’t regret it,” she said. “Without Tahiska, I would be half-alive. I have discovered also that white society is not all that it’s made out to be. And I miss very little of it, though I do wish from time to time that I could get news of how things are at home. My father has visited us twice, and I hear my mother went back East. But other than that I have no news of the fort, and I wonder how things are there. And,” she said, gazing over to Julia, “I have wondered about you. I have worried. I did not think Kenneth would make you a very good husband. I didn’t want to say anything to you at the time, but after the way he treated Tahiska, I never wanted to have anything to do with that man again.”

  Julia gave Kristina a smile that was half-self-conscious, half-apologetic. “You were right,” Julia said. “He did not make a good husband.”

  “But Neeheeowee will,” Kristina said. “Someday.”

  “Yes,” Julia agreed. “But that day may not be until I am an old lady and much past the age of needing a husband. Though perhaps it is a good thing that Neeheeowee does not wish to marry me. I am not all that certain I want to remain in Indian society.”

  Kristina glanced up quickly, Julia noted, though all Kristina said was, “I see.” A few moments passed before she added, “Have you always felt this way?”

  Julia shook her head. “No,” she said. “Not at the beginning. When Neeheeowee first asked me to stay with him, to come with him, I thought I might be able to make the change, but now… Though I did not find much happiness in the white culture, Kristina, I am not convinced I would find it any more pleasant here. There is too much here that is foreign to me, too much I don’t understand. No, I think perhaps it is for the best. If Neeheeowee truly wanted to marry me, I am afraid my feelings for him would force me to stay here and I’m not entirely certain, the more I think about it, that this is what I want.”

  “I see,” Kristina said again. “Perhaps you had better tell me again how Neeheeowee rescued you. I’m afraid I didn’t understand it all.”

  Julia sat forward, though her gaze centered downward. “He bargained for me. He had eight fine ponies he had brought to trade. He traded them for me.”

  “Maaa! Tell me it is not so.”

  Julia glanced up suddenly, sending a startled glance to her friend. “Is there something unusual with that?”

  Kristina nodded. “It is a high price to pay for a woman, even though he was rescuing you. Just so you know, most men give one, maybe two horses to the parents of a young girl when they seek her hand in marriage, although not always do they give that much and sometimes nothing is given for the girl at all.”

  “But you… Tahiska brought in plenty of horses for you.”

  “Yes,” Kristina said, “but that was an unusual situation, for my father did not know of our marriage. Julia”—Kristina’s voice was firm—“you may not realize it, Neeheeowee may not see it, but the man does truly love you if he did such a thing for you.”

  Julia stared at her friend. “He did it as a point of honor, he told me. I was a friend.”

  “Bah, he may have told himself that, he may even believe it. But I know that no man will give that many horses away for a woman unless he truly loves her. Now tell me again, what was it he did after he paid the price for you?”

  “He took me home to Fort Leavenworth.”

  “Ah.” Kristina nodded. “An honorable thing for him to do. What happened then?”

  “Well, it was strange at first,” Julia said. “All the way there, Neeheeowee barely paid me any attention. Nor did he speak to me, since we neither one remembered that we could communicate in Lakota, and you know I never did master that sign language. Kristina”—Julia gazed up to her friend in earnest—“I almost left him there, I almost rode back to Fort Leavenworth, but at the last moment Neeheeowee asked me to stay…in Lakota. It took me a while to translate it because I had forgotten the language. But when I did, when I realized he wanted me to stay, I… Kristina, I had fallen in love with Neeheeowee on that trip. I came riding back to him. I am not so sure now, however, that I did the right thing.”

  “No,” Kristina said emphatically. “You did the right thing it is good.”

  Julia frowned. “You think so?”

  Kristina nodded. “Yes, I do. You loved him enough to leave your home, all that you knew, for him. This love that you two share…”

  “Yes?”

  “It is good, I think.” Kristina paused. She chewed on her lip for a moment before she said, “But he will not marry you.”

  “Yes, he says he cannot.” Julia lifted her shoulders, looking away. “He is haunted by his past, Kristina, and I don’t know how to set him free of it. Nor am I certain I want to. These things he has told me, these customs and beliefs he holds are much too strange for me. He tells me he made vows to his dead wife and child not only to avenge their deaths, but to remain forever tied to them in marriage. He vowed he would never marry again, I believe. In his heart, he is not free and Kristina, though I long to be with him, I cannot understand him nor will I stay with him unless we are married. So you see, there is not much that can be done for us. A joining between the two of us? It may never happen.”

  “Hum…” Kristina sat for a moment, while her two little girls looked on, watching. At length, Kristina said, “I will need to think on this, my friend. This is truly a dilemma. It is odd. Neeheeowee has been like a shell of a man for these past five years, and all who know him realize that he has made it the purpose of his life to avenge the deaths of his wife and child. That is why it is good to see him so happy. I have not seen him this way in many years. But you are right. This man is not free. Still, do not give up hope. You know that he loves you and when you have love, anything is possible. I will have to see what can be done about your dilemma. In the meantime, please stay with us. You are my dearest and best friend; I will do whatever I can for you.”

  Julia smiled, taking Kristina’s hand in her own. “Thank you,” she said.

  Kristina nodded, squeezing Julia’s hand. “Take heart, my friend,” Kristina said. “You are good for Neeheeowee, and he will someday be a good influence on you, too. I am sure of it. Come now,” Kristina said, sitting forward, “I have a surprise for you,” she said, holding up a white elk-skin dress she had earlier set before them. She gestured toward the dress. “This dress? It is now yours. I wish to honor you in the tradition of the Lakota. It is odd. In the white man’s world, when you have a special day, you receive presents. Here, on a special day, you give gifts away, or others in your family may honor you by giving gifts away in your name. The way the people think here is different from what you and I were used to. I am now giving you this dress to show you my sincerity. I wish to make you my sister, hakataya. From here on, throughout our camp, I would like you to be known as my sister, my kin.”

  “Your kin? You don’t mean as in a real—”

  “Sister?” Kristina queried. “Yes, I do. I wish to give you the highest honor a woman can bestow upon another. I remember seven years ago when no one in the fort would stand beside me. You did. You were always my friend without question. I have never forgotten that. And now that I have the chance to do something for you, I am happy to be able to do it. Sister.”

  “Kristina!” Julia cried and, sitting up, leaned over to hug her friend. “Always,” Julia said, “we will be friends.”

  “Hau, hau kola, my friend, Tahiska,” Neeheeowee said as the two of them sat outside Tahiska’s lodge. They had been discussing many things, most of them trivial, but now Neeheeowee wished to ask his friend some serious questions. He leaned forward. “Tell me again,” he said, “how you counted coup on the Crow. I have heard of the story all the way into the country of the southern Cheyenne. I have been waiting to see you to ask yo
u about it myself.”

  Tahiska grinned. “Ah, yes. The Crow. I will tell it to you if you truly wish it, do you?”

  Neeheeowee nodded. “I have been waiting to hear the story from you.”

  “Ah, I see,” Tahiska said. He sat back, then began, “It was almost one full season ago. It was a cool and clear morning and I was out on the hunt. None of the scouts had seen the enemy and so none were on the alert for danger.” Tahiska paused. “I saw the tracks in the snow and I knew, as you would, too, that the tracks were fresh and were not Lakota-made. They were Crow. I sneaked in upon the Crow, having been looking out for them, and when I found them, I saw that they were cold and were miserable, although determined to raid our camp for food. That’s when I decided to have some fun.”

  Neeheeowee nodded. “What did you do?”

  “Well, you know that I have always been able to run quickly. That morning my wife had given me a new robe. It was quite long and covered me from head to toe. I looked up and saw a tree branch about my height and so I walked into the Crow camp alone, greeting them. But then I threw my robe over my shoulder, covering my entire body from them while carefully hanging the robe on the branch. I ducked down and ran away as silently as I could and disappeared into the growth of trees while I watched them throw their spears and arrows at the robe. When they found out nothing was there, that their spears and arrows had hit nothing, they became quite alarmed, thinking me a ghost. They started to run home. I followed them, playing the same trick on them again and again. It was quite amusing.”

  “Eaaa. The story is better when you tell it. It is such a good tale. Your children will be proud to carry the story on down to their children.”

  Tahiska smiled. “I would hope so,” he said.

  Silence ensued between the two men. At length, Tahiska asked, “Do you still seek out the Pawnee who murdered your wife and child?”

  Neeheeowee nodded.

  Tahiska sat silently a moment more. “I would help you rout out this enemy and be done with it so that you can start your new life.”