by Karen Kay
“Eya! Damn!” It was a maddening predicament.
Chapter Fifteen
It was with a heavy heart that at last his path brought him back to her. As he silently crept up on her, he found that she had hidden herself beneath her cloak, there, under their tree.
Coming up next to her, he startled her when he spoke. “Do not worry. It was only the footprint of a doe that I found. We are safe here, I think, but—”
She sighed. “Will I ever become used to you sneaking up on me?”
“Next time I will make more noise so I will not surprise you.”
“I would be grateful.” With a teasing smile aimed directly at him, she opened up her cloak, whereupon he saw she was not fully dressed, that she sat before him in a see-through white slip.
While he groaned, she said, “Come, you look cold, and I am warm inside my coat. Here, share the warmth with me.” Her smile was so alluring, he almost lost all his good intentions, right there.
He swallowed. He stared at her.
When she continued to speak, saying, “I would love to return the favor you have done me. Indeed, I would seek to indulge you with those very secret seductions you have shown to me this evening…” only the survival of his people and their destiny held him back from her. And even then…
“Come,” she urged again, and she patted the ground next to her. “Let us have more fun.”
He swallowed several times before he was able to find his voice. “That would, indeed, be most pleasant. But, we have managed to avoid detection thus far, and I fear if we stay here longer, we might risk others finding us.”
“Oh? There is reason for you to believe we are in danger of discovery?”
He paused while he debated if he could resort to the white man’s way and tell her a lie. He opened his mouth to do so, but discovered he couldn’t. He was not a white man, and lying to his wife was not a deed of honor. Alas, all he found he could say was, “No, we are not in imminent danger of discovery, but—”
“Then please, sit beside me here,” she said with a sweet smile.
He paused a beat while he collected his wits. Could he distract her? “Ah… Do you hear that music?”
“Music?” She set her head to the side.
“Hau. Is not the Song Bird singing tonight? Perhaps it is her voice I hear.”
“Your ear must be quite acute then, for I detect nothing more than the drums from your encampment.”
“And yet, I think your grandmother is singing tonight. We should go back there now.”
She frowned at him. “You would rather return to the party and listen to Irena than to join me and…”
He knelt next to her and picked up her hand, holding it within his own. “Listen to me, my wife, for I must speak to you solemnly.”
“Very well. I am listening,” she purred softly, and brought up her hand to run her fingers down his cheek.
He inhaled sharply. “There are reasons that I cannot tell you, that we must not repeat what we have done this night, not until I have finished the quest I am bound to do.”
Her brow furrowed, but she didn’t say a word.
“Perhaps it has been a fault of mine to not open my heart to you until now. From the start, it has been my intention to cause you to change your mind and take me for a real husband. That this requires intimacy is a circumstance I have desired. But this has been unwise, I fear, and I can no longer give you the familiarity that a wife deserves…until…”
Her frown deepened. “Until…”
“You recall my informing you about my people’s misfortune?”
“Yes.”
“I have come to realize I must complete my mission. I fear that only after I free my people will I be at liberty to make love to you again.”
“Oh?” She sat unmoving for a time, then said, “Indeed? And when will your mission be complete?”
“Very soon, I hope. But in truth, it could last my lifetime.”
“Your lifetime?”
“Hau. I fear that is so. Do not fret overly much, however, for I believe I am close to solving the mystery that keeps my people enslaved.”
“Oh.”
“Will you wait for me?”
“I have little choice. As you might remember, I have my own problems, and keeping you as my husband is a good solution to them.”
He nodded. “So it is. Then perhaps I have much luck this night, for it is not my desire to lose you as my wife.”
She withdrew her hand from his and carefully sat up. “Then this one time tonight is all we are to have?” Her frown deepened. “What was that all about, then, when you said that if I should change my mind, you would be more than willing? Do you remember saying that to me when we were first married?”
“Hau. It is true. But other things have happened since then.”
“Other things?”
“My mission.”
“Yes? Your mission…your people…but they have always been there, haven’t they?”
Another silence stretched between them. She turned her face away from him, and he was at once presented with her beautiful profile. He sighed, and she went on to say, “I do believe this is similar to what happened between myself and William. One night of love, and then… Are you spurning me as well?”
She came up onto her knees, sitting back against her calf muscles. Her cloak, upon which she reclined, was as soft as the feathered down of a goose. It was spilled out over the ground around her, making her appear as if she sat in the middle of a cloud. He had never seen anything or anyone more exquisite.
“Spurned?” he asked. “I am uncertain I know this word.”
“It means to slight an…invitation…”
“Slight? I do not understand. Does not slight mean very little of something?”
“Yes, sometimes it does, but not in this case.” She tightened her lips, and her voice took on an edge. “What would you have me do, spell it out for you? I think, Mr. Lion, that you know well what it means. Your English is very good, I must say.”
He frowned. “I try to be very good. But I do not understand. Why are you becoming angry with me over a word?”
“I am not becoming angry with you. I am…all right…I’ll define it for you. Slight…it means to snub, to…rebuff, to insult one.”
“Insult? What have I said that is insulting?”
She sighed. “I no longer wish to have this conversation with you. I think you are right. You should take me back.”
“Take you back? Hiya, no, not like this. If it helps, I should tell you that it is not you. Perhaps I should have made that plainer from the start. I cannot take any woman to my bed, no matter who she is, until my duty to my people is complete.”
Suzette had already come up onto her feet. He followed her up, but she looked anywhere but at him. Instead she was slipping into her clothes as fast as she could. If she had heard his explanation, he would not know it, for all she said was, “Thank you for the walk, Mr. Lion, but I—”
He reached out for her hand, touched her, but she jerked away from him. She stepped back, putting some distance between them.
As though to fill the gap, he said, “I do what I do because I must. I do not slight you, and believe me, if I could make love to you without possible harm coming to my people, I would do so.”
“So now I am the cause of you possibly harming your people?”
“Hiya, no, it is only that—”
“You expect me to believe this?”
“About my people?”
“No, your excuses.” She shoved her arms into her dress. “Perhaps the problem is not your people, but rather your will. Perhaps gaining that thing which most men seek from a woman has caused you to think you can insult my intelligence with your excuses.”
“Do you think that I lie?”
“Yes, I do.”<
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He drew back, stunned. “Though I realize the white man can have a forked tongue when the occasion suits him, you should know there is no greater insult than to call an Indian a liar. For my people, there is no dog so low. I will tell you the truth one last time, and I dare you to believe me. It is not that I do not wish to have more relations with you. It is that, for a time, I must not.”
In response, she sent her chin into the air. “Forgive me, but I still cling to the notion you are lying, and I think you try to play me for a fool. What is it? What is the real reason? Is it despite the laws on the reservations, you already have another wife, as you once told me so long ago? That you dare not tell me about it, for fear of…? Or another girlfriend, perhaps, who will be upset that you have had this pleasant interlude with me?”
“If that were so, I would tell you about it.”
“You? You would? When most men would not?”
“I would not have taken you for a wife had I another. What I say to you is the truth.”
“Is it? Very well then. I will consider it. When I go home tonight, I will think much over what you have said, and I will decide then if I trust what you say or not. But at this moment, it stretches credulity.” Bending down, she picked up her cloak and swung it over her shoulders. “And now I must leave.”
She turned and started to go, whereupon he reached out to detain her. “I will see you back.”
“No, I will see myself back to the party, Mr. Lion, thank you very much.” She turned away from him and paced several more steps forward.
He followed her, and as he did so, his frown deepened. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Do not leave yet, let us talk about this more…and tonight.”
“No, I need to think clearly, without the influence of you being beside me.” With this said, she shook off his hold, picked up the front of her dress and ran from their sheltered glen as though pursued by the white man’s devil.
He watched the place where she had been for a long, long time, and eventually he followed her, if only to ensure she returned to the party safely. He understood her upset. He could only hope that upon further thought, she would come to believe him.
In the meantime, he would wait. But not for long. Whether he made love to this woman or not, she was still his wife, and the voice of the sacred song. Before too much time had elapsed, he needed to discover if she, indeed, could help him or not.
Unfortunately, more than his people’s freedom seemed to depend upon that discovery.
In the end, he took a bath before going to his bed, for the icy water often helped to chase away the shadows in his mind. Though the bath had been freezing cold, it had been invigorating and had accomplished what he had hoped. Treading back toward his lodge, Black Lion was curious to see the image of a fire blazing merrily within his lodge. So, too, did he observe the shadows of two people who were sitting around it.
All the better, for he would welcome visitors. As Black Lion pushed back the tepee flap and stepped into his lodge, he was greeted by the sight of two friendly and familiar faces.
It was Two Bears and his wife, Rabbit Leggings, who welcomed him. Immediately, the two men greeted each other as was the Lakota way, with solemn appreciation. However, toward Two Bears’s wife, Black Lion was permitted a more appreciative nature, and he said, “Hau, kola, hello, friends, my heart is filled with gladness to see you.” Coming around to the left of the lodge circle, Black Lion squatted next to his friend, placing his hand over Two Bears’s shoulder. Two Bears returned the gesture.
It is probably safe to say that to an American onlooker, little joy would have been observed in the reunion, and such could have been confusing, for the two men were close friends. But such was the Lakota way of expressing the warmth of a deep friendship, since to the Lakota, an overly excited greeting was considered bad manners.
“Lel unkunpi kin he waste. It is good for us to be here,” said Two Bears.
“Hau, and my heart is happy to see you,” Black Lion responded. “However, let us speak in English so you may practice it. The Long-haired Show Man demands that we speak it and only it, while we are here with his show. It is a burden, I admit, but I fear we must.”
“Hau, hau,” agreed Two Bears. “I wish to thank you for the money you have been sending me and my wife with the coming of each new moon. It has helped us through a hard winter.”
“My heart is glad to hear this,” said Black Lion. “And I am filled with happiness, for you are both a much welcome sight. I hope you will make my lodge your home.”
“Waste,” thanked Two Bears, with a hand motion out away from his chest—it was the sign language for “good”. “It is good to come visiting.”
Black Lion nodded. Meanwhile, Rabbit Leggings served the two men a supper of prairie soup. Metal bowls were used, bowls she and her husband must have obtained from trade, for they were white-man made. Accompanying the soup was pemmican and bone marrow.
Ah, here at last was a meal Black Lion could fully appreciate, and he accepted the food gladly.
After appeasing his appetite, Black Lion nodded toward Rabbit Leggings. “It is good to know you still make the best soup in all the Lakota Nation.”
Rabbit Leggings smiled and cast her head down. But etiquette allowed her to tease her husband’s friend. “I see…you…more handsome than does you…good. But, friend of my husband, you are…hmm…thin. It…good I am here. I feed you well.”
“Hau, hau. I will appreciate it too. They give us plenty of food here, but I find the white man’s offerings disagreeable, in the main. There is little meat in it and much grain and milk from a cow, and a thing they call bacon. It is not suited well, I think, to an Indian’s disposition.”
“Then it is good we made journey here.”
He smiled at Rabbit Leggings. “Tell me.” He spoke the words between mouthfuls, addressing Two Bears. “How do you come to be off the reservation? Are they not watching the Indians closely, to ensure we are all kept there?”
Two Bears didn’t answer at once. Instead, he looked at his wife, who then cast her gaze down.
After a time, Two Bears said, “As you know, I am supposed to be here, not on the reservation. But our agent did not notice that I had remained there, so for many moons there was no difficulty.”
“The agent is a fool.”
“No doubt, he is. But I think a trader must have alerted him that I was not with the show, for the agent came poking his nose at our house, asking my wife questions she could not answer. I hid from him, of course, and I hope he did not discover that I was, indeed, there. It was enough of a scare for both of us, however, that we decided to leave our home there and journey here, since this is where I am supposed to be. We sneaked away in the middle of the night. Do you think the Long-haired Show Man will notice the difference between you and me if I take your place, as I am supposed to do?”
“I do not believe he will,” answered Black Lion, “for I have little contact with him, and there are so many people here—Indians and whites alike—he will probably assume all is as it should be. But you should alert the others in our tribe to your situation, so they do not give you away.”
Two Bears nodded. “I will do so tomorrow. I will visit each family here in turn.”
“Waste, good,” said Black Lion, and they both became silent as they gave their attention over to finishing their dinner.
After their meal was complete and a pipe had been produced, the two men sat smoking and began to talk of other important things. Several moments passed, and when the time seemed right, Black Lion thought he should voice the question uppermost in his mind, even though he dreaded the answer. “Are you here, then, to take your rightful place with the show?”
“Hau. Though fear of the agent has sent me here, if I am to be here, I should relieve you of your duty. I know you have other, more pressing needs.”
Black Lion nodded, noti
cing Two Bears had set his lips together so firmly that his mouth appeared as though a straight line were etched across his face. He also became too quiet. Even Rabbit Leggings hesitated at her work. Alas, the only sound to be heard within the lodge at present was that of the spitting fire.
Black Lion frowned. What was this odd behavior in these two? Was something wrong?
Black Lion said, “I welcome your honor in doing your duty, but I sense you are not telling me all that you might.”
Again husband and wife exchanged a look, before Two Bears went on to say, “I am… I am…”
“My husband is weak,” Rabbit Leggings supplied. “Him…well enough…make this journey. But…”
“I am well. I am fine. It is only that—” Two Bears coughed.
With that cough came sudden realization, and Black Lion’s heart lightened. Two Bears didn’t want his job back…at least not yet.
But as was the way of the American Indian gentleman, Black Lion’s outward response was a nod. “It is no trouble for me to continue in your place. The truth is that being with the show has helped me in my own quest, and I am not yet ready to leave. So if you would stay here with me and hide from the white man’s eyes, the current arrangement could still stand. You were right, my friend, I needed to seek out the white man where he is. Many things have happened that I believe have set me on the right path.”
Two Bears let out a breath, and even Rabbit Leggings seemed happier. She went back to her duties around the fire.
Two Bears said, “I am glad the show has provided you with an opportunity. And if you would continue in my place, it would afford me the chance to gain back my strength, I think. A few more complete cycles of the moon is all I ask.”
“Hau, hau. You shall have them. And while you are here, my home is your home. In truth, when I leave the show, this lodge will be yours. But when the white man comes around, I would ask that you hide from him, since to the white man, I am you.”
“Hau, hau. Waste, this I can do. And now, I hope you will excuse us, but we have had a long trip, yet we desired to await your arrival home. If we might, we would see our bed now.”