Amazed, Powchutu thought, here is a white girl who cals me by my name and looks me in the eye. She apologizes for my suffering and humiliating by her people. She truly cares what I think suffering and humiliating by her people. She truly cares what I think and feel. How can this be? Yet, it is true, for I see it in those gentle, honest eyes and hear it in her voice. Now, I must comfort and help her.
“I know your fear of the Indian is great, but in time you wil forget the pain they have inflicted on you. It was wrong for them to treat you this way. I am ashamed I carry their blood. If it were possible, I would punish them for this.” He had a need to reassure her.
As he spoke to her, she lowered her eyes in pain and whispered, “Does anyone ever forget such hatred and cruelty, Powchutu? Never feel shame for the actions of others. We cannot control what others say and do. These people out here are confusing to me. We are much alike, you and I, for I cannot seem to fit in with either side.”
There was a strong bond of understanding between them. Each was reaching out to the other. There existed a feeling of natural friendship, of finding a kindred spirit. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to sit together, to talk, to laugh and to share their happiness and pain. She felt she could discuss anything with him.
She raised imploring eyes to his and asked, “Why do they hate each other so much, Powchutu?” The soft way she spoke his name caused him to tremble as he listened to her words, both forgetting where they were and how she was dressed. “I mean the whites and the Indians? Except for their skin color and different customs, they’re just alike. Why do they hate and kil each other?”
The door flew open and Mrs. Philsey marched in. She gaped at the intimate scene before her eyes in shock and horror. She became livid with rage.
became livid with rage.
Powchutu hastily rose from the bed and faced her. He tried to explain what had happened to her. He wanted to protect Alisha from her anger, for she had no idea of how these people would view and treat her for befriending him. They would not alow them to be friends and she must be made to know this before she was hurt. He would rather give her up than see them do to her what they did to him every day of his life.
Mrs. Philsey’s animosity filed the entire room. She shouted,
“What the Hel are you doing in here? I don’t alow Injuns in my quarters! How dare you come here! You… you savage! I’l have the stripes of the man who sent you in here. This is an outrage! An outrage, I tel you! If you’re lying, I’l have you beaten and tossed in the stockade!”
Powchutu tried to calm her down, but she would hear nothing of his explanation. He gritted his teeth, trying to suppress his fury for Alisha’s sake. He held back the words which threatened to spil forth. He forced himself to not stare at her with those darkened, angry eyes, which could bring fear with their very coldness of expression. He lowered his gaze to the floor to feign humility and respect, waiting for her tirade to cease.
It did not. “I’l kil you if you don’t get out of here. This insult is unforgivable! The officer who sent you here wil be sorry he ever laid eyes on you! Don’t you ever come in here again, orders or no orders! Do you hear me¿ Get out! Get out!”
Alisha was taking in this entire exchange in shock and disbelief. Was this woman realy saying what she was hearing? She could not believe the viciousness of her attack on Powchutu. Finding her wits, Alisha spoke up, “Please, Mrs. Philsey. He was only helping me. I was startled and weakened. I nearly fainted. was only helping me. I was startled and weakened. I nearly fainted. He only placed me on the bed and bathed my face with a cool cloth. He was very kind and helpful. He did nothing wrong.”
She ignored Alisha’s explanation. How dare she defend that scum? “He had the audacity to touch you! The heathen savage should never touch any white woman for any reason.”
Alisha was flabbergasted by her attitude. “But I could have been injured if he had alowed me to fal! He said and did nothing improper. You can’t mean those terrible things you said.”
“It doesn’t matter. The filthy savage put his hands on you and, worse, while you were unconscious. How do you know what he did or didn’t do?”
“Mrs. Philsey!” she retorted. “Stop this immediately! You have no reason or right to accuse him or me of such things. I wil not alow you to speak to him in this manner.” Powchutu watched and listened to this defense of him. “He is not a savage. He’s a scout for this fort. He lives and works here like al the other men.”
Mrs. Philsey’s anger skyrocketed. She screamed back, “How do you know that? You’ve been talking with him! I don’t believe this! You refused to meet the white officer who saved your life, but you’l sit here al cozy and friendly with one of the same savages who did this to you! Why you act like you prefer this… this scum to one of your own kind! I can’t believe this after al you supposedly went through in their camp. You sit here, half naked, on your bed, unchaperoned, with a total stranger, laughing and talking like two old friends. How can you possibly befriend another one?” Her last sentence was spoken harshly between gritted teeth.
“Another one?” She was definitely insinuating something improper and wrong, even shameful. “What do you mean?”
She acidly answered Alisha’s query. There was no doubt in She acidly answered Alisha’s query. There was no doubt in her mind the Brown girl’s accusations had just grounds. The proof of her love for Injuns was right in front of her. If she were innocent, she would fear and hate al of them. “That Brown girl has told us al about how you helped that Gray Eagle! I bet she told the truth when she claimed you helped him escape. She said you weren’t a prisoner. She said you been living with him like some queen. Wel, I say like some harlot! If it hadn’t been for your help to him, al of your people would stil be alive. I can see and hear for myself that you prefer them over your own kind. You chose his company over Jeffery’s, didn’t you?”
Alisha’s mouth fel open in shock. Her eyes widened and she inhaled with a loud gasp. “You actualy believe for one minute I could help him escape, to come back and kil my family and friends!
You cannot possibly think I would do such a terrible thing! Kathy is mistaken. I was his prisoner! I did not live like some queen. I worked just the same as she did, as a slave, Mrs. Philsey, a slave! I was tortured and punished just like anyone else when I defied orders. As for choosing Powchutu’s company over Jeffery’s, we simply spoke! Perhaps you have forgotten why I was bathing and dressing—to meet this Jeffery of yours! And, as for being an Indian lover, if not hating or rejecting them because they are different from me qualifies me for that name and position, then al right—I guess I am an Indian lover! Your attack on both of us in unjust, cruel and untrue. You have no right to speak to either of us this way.” Her green eyes flashed a chalenge to the woman.
Mrs. Philsey’s expression told Alisha her words had only brought on more coldness and contempt toward her and the scout. It was evident she believed Kathy’s lies. “If you would befriend one, Alisha, then you would befriend others. You admitted just now one, Alisha, then you would befriend others. You admitted just now you like and accept them. I have the right to say and think what I so choose in my home, and to the girl I nursed back from the door of death and waited on hand and foot for days. Can you deny you fed and doctored Gray Eagle when he was a captive in your fortress?
Can you deny you touched and helped his vile, filthy body? Do you deny you held a gun on your own people, even threatened to shoot them, if they didn’t stop beating and taunting him?”
Her tone, words and eyes chalenged Alisha to deny the statements. Alisha knew it would be useless to try to explain humanity, compassion and understanding to this woman. There was nothing she could say or do which would change anything this woman thought.
At Alisha’s silence, Mrs. Philsey demanded, “Can you deny any of it?”
Alisha defended herself, “Yes, I did help him that day; but I would have done the same for anyone who was being beaten without a just cause. I did
feed and care for him because no one else would. For al they cared, he could have died! No one deserves such abuse and contempt, no one! They were whipping him like some wild animal. I think they would have flogged him to death without remorse. I tried to reason with them and they wouldn’t listen, just like you’re doing now. I had no other choice but to stop them with the only way open to me.”
“Would you have shot one of them to protect him?”
Alisha did not have to say yes, for her eyes had. “Do you forget we’re supposed to be the civilized Christians? I see none of you practicing this. I’ve seen white men behave more like savages than they do. As for Powchutu, he isn’t like them and you know it. He is not to blame for his parentage, nor can he change it. How He is not to blame for his parentage, nor can he change it. How does his being of mixed blood harm you? How does it justify his abuse and hatred? I cannot accept these ideas of prejudice and hatred.”
“They are wild animals!” Mrs. Philsey shot back. “Not only that, but cold-blooded, murdering savages! And you, my dear Alisha, are no better than they are. I can see it al now. That Brown girl was right about everything. Now I know why you wouldn’t tel me what he did to you or about your life out there. You didn’t dare!
He wasn’t holding you captive… you were staying with him because you wanted to! Is that why you been so sad and lonely? Is Gray Eagle the reason you’re refused to see Jeffery? You’re his woman, aren’t you? And to think of al I’ve done for you! You, acting like the poor, innocent victim … like some fine lady!”
Aisha could not take any more of her hateful words. “It wasn’t like that at al!”
Mrs. Philsey cut her off. “Understand and help an Injun lover, harlot? I have learned the truth about you, haven’t I?’
Alisha knew there was no way she could reason with the vindictive woman. Would the others think the same way? Probably so, for this was the same type of hatred she had confronted with her own group at the fortress.
She turned her back to them and slowly sank down to the bed, her mind flooded with anguish and disbelief. Not here, too …
Not al over again … The mere sight or mention of an Indian brought insanity to the minds of people like Mrs. Philsey. How could she deal with insanity in so many people? How could a woman who had cared for her for so many days turn on her so brutaly just because she had been nice to a man who was only halfIndian? The look in the woman’s eyes, the tone of her voice, and Indian? The look in the woman’s eyes, the tone of her voice, and the words she used reminded Alisha of the same reaction from the settlers the day she first met Wanmdi Hota.
Powchutu had witnessed the entire exchange. He saw what the woman’s words did to Alisha. Her stricken expression knifed his heart. For a moment he had been tempted to pul his knife from its sheath and cut the old bitch’s tongue out. Perhaps he would one day … For now, the best thing for Alisha would be for him to quietly slip from the room. He did.
Finding no other insults she could hurl at the quiet girl, Mrs. Philsey whirled and left the room, slamming th door with a loud bang. She was seething in anger. She restlessly paced the floor of her room. The girl must surely be insane! Insane or not, she would have to leave her quarters immediately. She wouldn’t alow an Injun lover in her home. Why, that would be the same as housing one of those savages, she thought in her fury. I took care of her like she was my own child and this is how she repays me! It’s bad enough she’s an Injun harlot, but she’s taking my hold on Jeffery away. He’l no doubt blame me for not teling him this sooner. Damn her!
I’l fix her good before I’m through with her. She’l be sorry she ever befriended that savage Gray Eagle!
Darkness gradualy filed the room where Alisha sat immobile on the bed. For one so young, tender and blameless to be so hated and unwanted, was a tragic, crushing blow. How had everything gone so wrong? Her parents and uncle were dead. Every possession and penny she had ever had was gone. She was hurt and weak. She was hated and held in contempt by the strangers at Fort Pierre. There was not, and never could be, anything between her and the man she loved. She had nothing and no one. Her only hope for survival and a new future lay hundreds of miles of untamed hope for survival and a new future lay hundreds of miles of untamed wilderness and an ocean away. Hope. there wasn’t any. If only there was one person to help her, to tel her what to do, where to go. If only someone could care for her, protect her, love her. Was there no one to save her from this life of terrible suffering and emptiness?
Doc came in later. He slowly walked over to the bed and sat down beside Alisha. He studied the lonely, dejected expression on the lovely face. Mrs. Philsey had filed him in on al the details of this afternoon’s events. He had never seen his wife so hostile. He asked Alisha to tel him in her words what took place here this afternoon. She related the tragic scene almost word for word. He wondered how he could explain hatred, contempt, and prejudice to this girl who had not learned to feel any of them? The Doc tried to calm her. “Alisha, you don’t seem to understand or recognize the bitter enmity there is between the white man and the Indian. I know how you feel and what you’re thinking. This wil be very hard for you, but you cannot, you must not, befriend any of them, not even one who befriends you. You cannot acknowledge any other Indian. You also cannot speak of your feelings openly. There is too much bitterness and hatred for these people to accept or tolerate your friendship with them. You cannot have any contact with the Indians. If you refuse to take this advice, you are in for a very rough and unhappy time.”
Alisha lifted pathetic eyes to him and spoke despondently,
“Doc, I’ve only been in this new land for about two years. I do not know of this hatred and bitterness between the people out here, nor do I understand why they wish to torture and murder each other. I have no part in this conflict. Why do you al insist I take sides? Why must I hate someone who has done me no wrong or injury simply must I hate someone who has done me no wrong or injury simply because he is half Indian? It is not right to forcefuly impress your beliefs on others. I have never seen such violence. I would never have come to this land if I had known or suspected I would be forced to endure the things I have. I am perhaps too naive or foolish, for I truly believe we could have peace and friendship if we tried, if we realy tried. One thing you must believe, Doc, I did not help Gray Eagle escape, but I did try to prevent his brutal beating.”
She walked to the window and gazed upward to the starry heavens. “My father taught me to respect a person for himself, not for his skin or his status. He always accepted a man for who and what he was, not what others said or thought about him. Perhaps you are right when you say I do not understand the gravity of this situation. I did not go to Gray Eagle wilingly. We were and are enemies, but only because both he and you say we must be. The things he did to me…”
She did not continué. Later, she went on, “Your wife’s hostility hurt me very deeply. If she reacts this way after knowing me for many days, what wil Fort Pierre’s people think? Why does your wife hate Powchutu so much, Doc? He had nothing to do with my captivity. In fact, he was very polite and kind to me this afternoon. If you al hate him as she does, then why is he alowed to live and work here at the fort?”
“To most people, Alisha, he is Indian. Your father’s teachings are fine for London or back East, but not for living out here. I am sorry to tel you this, but the others wil also think and feel as Martha does. Before you leave this room, you must realize they wil react the same, if not more violently, than she did this afternoon.”
Doc talked on and on for a long time, trying to help her see the white man’s point of view. He talked until there was no more he white man’s point of view. He talked until there was no more he could say to her. A tear came to his eye as he painfuly realized he would be unable to help her. She was a white rose growing in a garden of weeds. They would surround her and cut off her sunlight, for they would never alow such a precious flower to bloom among them. A rose wil always be a rose, he reflected. She could never
become a weed and for that she wil suffer. How he wished he could pluck her and take her to safety far away.
“The best thing for me is to get wel and leave here as soon as possible,” Alisha decided. “You must help me, Doc! Please! I must find some way to get back East and catch a ship back to England. My father has many friends. I know I can find someone there to help me.”
Doc shook his head and replied, “It wil be a long time before you wil be able to travel, or before anyone wil be safe to leave. The Indians are making raids in al the surrounding areas. It won’t be feasible for anyone to head anywhere for a long time. Get some sleep. Things wil look brighter in the morning.” It sounded right, but he only half believed his own words. Doc stood up and left, closing the door quietly behind him.
It was a long time before Alisha finaly relaxed and went to sleep. For the time being, there was nothing she could do. While leaning against the wal outside her window, Powchutu listened to everything which she and Doc had said. Hearing her even breathing now, he knew she had finaly dropped off to sleep. He pondered al that had happened. It was easy to understand why the notorious Gray Eagle had captured this girl for his very own. Surely he wil want her back, Powchutu thought. I am surprised he has not come for her already. He grinned as he mused, he has the power and courage to dare anything, even to attack this fort. I await power and courage to dare anything, even to attack this fort. I await the day to see Lieutenant Gordon’s face when he knocks on the door and demands his woman’s return. I wonder if Wanmdi Hota knows who is responsible for the raid on his camp and the kidnapping of Alisha. He must wait for her to heal and regain her strength, or perhaps he does not know she is here. It would be good if the two of them would kil each other. If he comes for her, do I alow him to take her again? Could I lose her when I have just found her? She wishes to leave as “I do. Perhaps we could depart together. But like Wanmdi Hota, once she is mine I wil not give her up.
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