Westward Dreams

by Linda Bridey

  She turned around and got her bearings so she could remember the way to Owl’s tipi. Hannah started out and things began to look a little familiar to her. People watched her as she went by. She smiled and said, “Hau,” to them. Some responded and some didn’t. Hannah kept going until she was about four tipis away from Owl’s.

  A woman suddenly came up to her and started speaking angrily to Hannah in Lakota. Hannah couldn’t understand her, but she could tell that the woman didn’t like her. She decided to ignore her and go on to Owl, but the woman got in front of her, blocking her way. The woman continued to berate her and Hannah backed up.

  “I don’t want any trouble,” Hannah said. “I’m here to take care of Owl.”

  The woman kept advancing on Hannah and then roughly pushed her. Hannah hadn’t been expecting the rough treatment and stumbled to her knees. Raven suddenly appeared and began chastising the woman. Fury blazed in the young boy’s eyes and he shouted at the woman. Whatever he said had an effect on the woman and she left after throwing hateful looks at Hannah.

  Raven came over and gallantly helped Hannah off her knees. “Hi, Miss Hannah,” he said. “I’m sorry about her. She won’t bother you again.”

  Hannah dusted off her jeans and said, “Thank you so much, Raven. You’re my hero. Why was she so angry?”

  “She’s jealous. She likes Uncle Owl. Everyone knows you’re his lady now and she’s mad,” Raven said.

  “Oh. I see. What did you tell her?”

  “That you are under Father’s protection and if she bothers you again, he will make her sorry,” Raven said.

  Hannah smiled at Black Fox’s son. “Thank you. Where did you learn to speak English so well?”

  “Uncle Silver Ghost. He started when I was born, Mother says,” Raven replied. “He taught a lot of us.”

  “That’s amazing,” she said.

  “I know. See ya!” he said and ran off.

  Hannah laughed as she watched him go. She walked unmolested to Owl’s tipi and scratched before anyone could interrupt her again.

  Owl heard her and said, “Come.”

  She went in and smiled at him. He sat leaning up against a support pole and smiled back at her. “How are you feeling?”

  “Not so good. You make it ok, huh?” Owl said. He was proud of her.

  “Yes. I had no trouble. My whistle must have been all right because no one stopped me,” she said as she knelt beside him. She decided that she might as well tell him about what happened with the angry woman because he would most likely hear it from someone else and be angry because she hadn’t told him.

  He saw a shadow pass over her face and said, “You ok?”

  She sighed. “Um, well, I was on my way to your tipi when some woman started yelling at me. I tried to get around her, but she pushed me. Raven came to my rescue and made her leave me alone.”

  Rage filled Owl that anyone would put their hands on Hannah in such a way. He could guess who the woman was that had gone after Hannah and he would deal with her. Hannah saw the anger in his face and didn’t want him to get worked up. He needed to rest and getting riled up wouldn’t help him.

  “You should have seen Raven,” she said with a laugh. “He was so fierce and cute. He certainly put her in her place.”

  “Good. I take care of her,” Owl said.

  “Please don’t worry about it. I doubt she’ll bother me again. Raven told her that I’m under Black Fox’s protection,” Hannah said.

  Owl could well imagine Raven doing such a thing. His precocious nephew was not above using his father’s clout to influence people. Black Fox had warned him about doing that, but in this case, Raven may have done a good thing.

  “Ok. I will let go,” Owl said. “This time. It happens again…” Owl let his words trail off meaningfully.

  She liked that he was protective of her, but didn’t want to cause any trouble for him. “I brought the laudanum. I’ll get it ready for you to take.”

  Owl sighed. The situation with his shoulder greatly frustrated him. He’d been so glad when he’d been able to stop taking the laudanum because it made his mind fuzzy. Now he had to take it again just because he’d tried to shoot his bow a few times.

  Hannah took the medicine from her little bag and began preparing the drug. She had been glad she’d hung on to her bag when that woman had pushed her. If the vial had broken, she might have gotten mad enough to push her back.

  Once it was ready, she gave it to Owl and put her things away. “That should start to work soon,” she said.

  “I know,” Owl said with dismay. “Makes me fuzzy.”

  “Yes, unfortunately, it does that to most people,” Hannah said.

  Someone scratched on his tipi.

  “Come,” Owl said.

  The flap opened and a woman entered. She looked at them and smiled and Hannah saw her resemblance to Owl.

  “Hi, Squirrel,” Owl said in Lakota. He noted the cooking pot she brought with her. “Thanks for making that for me.”

  She gave him a quick glance and said, “As if I had a choice.”

  He smiled at his sister’s teasing remark. “No, I guess not, but you know I appreciate it.”

  “Your woman is pretty, brother,” she said.

  “Yes, she is,” he said. He switched to English and said, “Hannah, this sister, Squirrel. She make supper.”

  “Hello, Squirrel. It’s nice to meet you,” Hannah said with a smile.

  “Hi. It’s nice to meet you, too,” Squirrel said. “Owl speaks very highly of you.”

  Hannah was surprised at her excellent grasp on English and felt bad that she only knew a few words in Lakota.

  Squirrel laughed at Hannah’s look of shock. “Marcus has taught me a lot of English. He gets bossy and makes me speak only English some days. He does the same with the children. I’ve brought some stew for you to eat.”

  “Thank you. It smells delicious,” Hannah said. It had a rich, savory aroma and Hannah realized she was very hungry.

  “You’re welcome,” her dark eyes turned serious as she looked at her brother. “I hope he gets better soon. He is worried.”

  “Squirrel,” Owl said in an admonishing tone.

  She sent him an annoyed look and said, “I will leave you to your supper.”

  “Thank you again, Squirrel,” Hannah said.

  Squirrel smiled at Hannah but gave Owl another displeased glance and left. Hannah wondered at the nature of their relationship and couldn’t figure it out. Owl hadn’t raised his voice, but he had been authoritative with Squirrel who had obeyed. Hannah could tell that Squirrel hadn’t been happy, but she had listened to Owl.

  “Why were you rude to your sister?” Hannah asked.

  Owl’s eyebrows rose. “Rude? I was not rude.”

  “Yes, you were. She was concerned about you and you made her stop talking,” Hannah said.

  Owl sighed. Now he knew what Marcus had gone through when Claire had first come there. “Sisters must listen to brothers. She not to say such things,” Owl said.

  Hannah decided to let the matter go and ask Claire about it the next day.

  “Oh, I see,” she said.

  Owl could tell that she really didn’t but he didn’t want to argue with her so he didn’t press the point. He decided to change the subject. He showed Hannah where his bowls were and told her to eat before the soup got cold. The laudanum helped him with pain, but sometimes made him sick to his stomach so he only ate a little of the soup.

  Hannah cleaned up every bite of hers. She recognized the potatoes and vegetables, but didn’t know what the meat was. “What kind of soup was that?”

  “Venison,” Owl said.

  “Deer?” Hannah asked.

  The look of distaste on Hannah’s face in combination with the slightly euphoric effects of the laudanum caused Owl to break into uncontrollable laughter. It made his shoulder and back burn again, but he couldn’t stop laughing.

  Hannah saw him grab his shoulder and was worried about h
im hurting it more. “Owl, stop laughing. You’re making your shoulder worse.” She saw his slightly dilated eyes, a sure sign that the laudanum had kicked in. “Oh, boy.”

  Owl’s laughter subsided and he groaned instead. “Hate laudanum,” he said.

  “I know, but it’ll help you. Why don’t you lie down?” Hannah said.

  Owl looked at her and noticed that she was slightly blurry. “Ok. If you stay.”

  Hannah asked, “You mean stay the night?”

  He nodded.

  “Is that allowed?” Hannah inquired.

  “Yes. Claire did,” Owl said. How had he forgotten that, he wondered.

  Hannah said, “Won’t you get in trouble?”

  “No. Stay. Please?” Owl said.

  The truth was staying appealed to her both on a professional and a personal level. Laudanum had strong effects on some people and because she didn’t know how it affected Owl, it might be good for someone to be with him. Plus, she would be close to him and have a little more time with him.

  “Ok. I’ll stay,” she said.

  His broad smile made her heart speed up. Even slightly loopy he was incredibly handsome. He tried to lie down, but Owl couldn’t get comfortable. No matter which way he lay, it pulled on his shoulder. Hannah wished that she had some pillows to prop him up against. An idea came to her and she told Owl that she would be back.

  Owl watched her go and sighed. This was not how he wanted to spend time with Hannah. He wanted to have fun with her and keep teaching her things. In a way he was sorry he’d asked her to come because the evening wasn’t going as he’d had planned. At the same time, her presence was comforting to him.

  Hannah soon returned with a bunch of blankets and Owl asked, “What are they for?”

  She smiled at him and said, “They’re going to help you feel better. Sit up a moment. I’ll help you.”

  He was surprised at her strength as she slowly helped pull him up into a sitting position. Then she started folding and stacking the blankets and he realized what she was doing.

  “There. Now lie back,” she said.

  Owl did and his shoulder didn’t hurt nearly as much. He held out his hand to her and asked, “How do you do that?”

  She sat cross-legged by him and asked, “Do what?” as she put her hand in his.

  “Make things ok,” Owl said.

  Hannah smiled and said, “That’s what a good nurse is supposed to do.”

  “No. More than that,” he said. “You bring me peace.”

  She said, “I’m glad that you feel that way.”

  “I do. Not just because of injury.” He smiled as he spoke.

  She couldn’t stop looking at him and she was afraid to speak and interrupt his train of thought.

  “When family was killed, I lock up heart. I was not happy for long time. Did not want get hurt again,” Owl said. His brain was getting even more muddled so he tried to concentrate harder so he could get out his thoughts before he passed out. In his mind he tried to hear Marcus speaking English and attempted to recreate the proper sentence structure on which he’d been instructed. “You are good for me,” he said carefully. “You give me hope that things will be ok.” He rested his head back then and just looked at her.

  Hannah stroked his face and kissed his forehead before looking in his eyes again. “You do the same for me, Owl.”

  He smiled and closed his eyes. Owl’s hand relaxed and his breathing changed. Hannah realized that he was asleep and was glad that he wasn’t in pain for the moment. She sat for a while just holding his hand and monitoring his breathing. It was important to make sure it wasn’t going to cause any respiratory problems.

  Seeing that Owl was fine, Hannah lay down close to him and pulled a blanket over her. She fell asleep holding his hand.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dear Silver Ghost,

  I’m sure by now you’ve heard about me and Hannah. I need some advice about the situation and I feel that you’re the best one to ask. Our brother Dean brought something to my attention and now I can’t get it out of my head.

  “Our brother Dean?” Marcus said as he lay on his bed reading the letter from Owl. He almost wondered if Claire had messed up something in the translation, but then he dismissed that notion because he knew his genius of a wife wouldn’t make a mistake like that. That must have been the way Owl had said it to her, or she wouldn’t have written it that way.

  My feelings for Hannah are very strong, but I’m afraid to go much further in our relationship because of one thing; going away for the winter. I am torn between my duty to our family and my feelings for her. It wouldn’t be fair to expect her to travel with us because of the important work she does here. Plus, you would kill me if I took away your nurse.

  “Damn right, I would,” Marcus said.

  However, I have a responsibility to our tribe to help provide food and protection all year round. I know that things are different in your case. But for me, I’m obligated, especially because of now being the brother of our chief. Even if I did stay behind with Hannah, what would I do? I would be bored to death during the day while she works.

  Of course, I’ve got another problem staring me in the face. I can’t shoot my bow. My shoulder will not take the strain of supporting the bow with the proper tension in order to shoot accurately. I tried last week and was laid up for a couple of days. The only upside to that was that Hannah stayed with me a couple of nights.

  Do you see my problem? If I can’t shoot my bow, how am I going to be able to throw a spear or wield a knife properly? What about close combat? If I can’t do any of those things, what good am I to our family? I will be a burden, nothing more. Yes, my family will still love me, but I do not want to be kept around just because of that. I need to be productive.

  So either way, if I stay or go, what will I do if I can’t hunt and such? I’m not like you. You have other skills besides hunting and fighting that are important to our family, but I don’t. I couldn’t even be a sentry because I couldn’t do much about any trespassers. I’m fast, but not fast enough to be a runner like He Who Runs. I have nothing else to fall back on. I would have no purpose.

  I know you may not have a solution, but your thoughts on all of this would be greatly appreciated. I miss having you here to talk to and laugh with. I hope all is well with you, brother.

  Owl

  Marcus laid the letter on his chest and ran a hand through his hair. Owl was certainly in a predicament. Knowing Lakota culture as well as he did, Marcus understood how awful it would be for Owl not to be able to do the things he normally did. His brother was an expert marksman and skilled at hand to hand combat. He was the best sentry the tribe had, too.

  Chief’s brother or not, Owl played a big part in the survival of their tribe. With him out of the picture, it would make things more difficult for them. Marcus knew that the elderly often went off to die alone when they felt they were no longer any use to the tribe and felt they were taking up valuable food and time resources.

  The doctor in him hated that these people would die because of such a thing, but to try to get them to come back home was a huge insult. Marcus had made the mistake of attempting to coax an old woman to come back one time and had never made it again. Every time he heard that one of their older members had disappeared it ate at him.

  For Owl to be put in that position was unthinkable. He was far too young and vital to go off and die alone. There had to be something he could do for the tribe that would be acceptable for a man, but Marcus had no idea what.

  The matter of Hannah was a whole other issue. Owl obviously cared for her a great deal and was trying to consider her feelings without being selfish. He was faced with much of the same dilemma if he stayed in Dawson over the winter. Owl would need some kind of job, but what would that be?

  Marcus had no answer at that moment, but he would keep trying to work something out. In the meantime, he had to get some rest so he could do well on one of his last two finals in the morning. H
e turned out the gas light in his room and prepared for sleep.

  Dear Owl,

  I was so sorry to hear about all of the trouble you’re having. I know how much you pride yourself on your hunting prowess and ability as a sentry. This shoulder injury is very devastating to you, I know. Yes, of course our family will still love you, but I understand how your sense of worth would be diminished if you couldn’t perform at full-capacity anymore.

  What’s with calling Dean our brother? Explain that to me, please. Not that I mind, I just find it strange. I think you’re right to think about Hannah’s feelings in all of this. If she’s anything like Claire, she isn’t going to go with you because she has a sense of duty, too, and isn’t going to give up her career to go south. I know I won’t give up mine to go, either.

  So it all comes down to you, brother. If you stay in Dawson over the winter, I’m sure there’s something you would be able to do. The question is if you decide that you want to marry Hannah and stay, are you going to end up resenting her somehow? That wouldn’t be fair to her. You need to look deep into your heart and see the truth, Owl. You’ve always told me that the truth is the most important thing.

  I wish I would have listened to you about that a lot earlier in my life. It might have saved a lot of people a lot of heartache if I had. Anyway, use that strong inner voice you have to see what’s right. You can also do what I do whenever I have a problem like this I need to deal with; talk to Dean. He’s the most helpful person I know when it comes to this kind of thing. He’s the one I’ve always turned to for answers to some of the toughest relationship problems in my life. You wouldn’t think it about him, but trust me about this.

  I hope this helps. Please let me know how things are going. It won’t be long until I’m home for good, brother.