Cheyenne Moon

by Cathy Keeton

  “I did not intend to watch you. I will go behind a boulder and wait until you say you are finished. Please do not think that I would ever lie to you. No harm will come to you as long as you are with me.”

  Abby bathed quickly. The cool water was bringing color back to the skin. She lathered her hair with the soap that Green Eyes had given her. It smelled faintly of lard and flowers but at least it was soap. She washed and rinsed her hair and body and timidly got out of the water. She began to dress and realized that there was no underwear.

  “Shadow Spirit don’t come out,” but it was too late. He stepped out from behind the boulder just as Abby turned toward him. She quickly held the doe skin dress up in front of her. She knew she was blushing from head to toe. Shadow Spirit acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

  “Turn around so I can talk to you,” she pleaded

  “Is there a reason you cannot look at me and talk to me at the same time?” he asked with a smug grin on his handsome face.

  “Please Shadow Spirit.” He turned so that she was speaking to his back. “I can’t wear this dress without under clothes. Please go tell your mother that she forgot to give me any.”

  “Indian women do not wear such things,” he announced with a hint of laughter in his voice.

  “I am not an Indian woman, and I do wear such things. I can’t go around with nothing on under my dress. Please, Shadow Spirit, I just can’t,” she pleaded

  “Put the dress on Abby and just see how it feels against your bare skin.”

  “I’ll try it on, but I don’t think that I can walk back to the village like this.” She slipped the soft dress on over her head and was surprised at the feel of the doeskin on her skin. The dress was heavier than what she was used to, but so soft and supple, and really fit very well. “You can turn around now.”

  When he saw Abby in the dress that belonged to his mother, his heart turned over. The dress fit each curve of her body as if it had been designed just for her. She was positively beautiful with her exquisite blue eyes and her long blond hair falling in wave after wave down her back.

  He moved to stand in front of her. “You are stunning, none of the maidens of my village or any other village can compare to you!”

  He put a hand on each side of her face and slowly lowered his head to hers. The kiss that started out soft and gentle soon became more intense. Abby felt as if she was being drawn into some incredible dream. Before she had time to think she had brought her arms up and lovingly wrapped them about his neck. When she strained to get still closer, he groaned with pleasure. Her lips parted to grant him access to her mouth. When he began to stroke her tongue with his she felt a quickening sensation in the juncture of her thighs. Her lungs had no air left in them and she felt as if she were drowning in a passion like she had never felt. Shadow Spirit slowly ended the kiss. He left his arms around her for support. She laid her head against his chest; she could hear his heart beating wildly. Abby knew that if he let her go at that precise moment that her legs wouldn’t hold her up. They stood like that for several minutes before either one could breath normally again. He eased her back so that he could see her face.

  “It will be all right Abby. I will see that you are not hurt by anyone including myself.

  “I know that you won’t hurt me Shadow Spirit,” she said still shaking from the emotions of the kiss.

  “I am sorry if I upset you, but I could not seem to stop myself”

  She looked up into his eyes and thought what a very handsome man he was. “I’m not very experienced in these things, but I think that I was kissing you back. Let’s just not talk about it anymore right now.

  “Yes that would be best. Mother will think we have been attacked because we have been here some time. Let us go back and show her what a beautiful Indian maiden you make,” Shadow Spirit said.

  “Thank you,” she said. “The dress feels wonderful. I guess I can wear it without under things until I can make some for myself.”

  The walk back to the village was made without conversation. They had called a silent truce. Abby had decided not to pester Shadow Spirit about taking her home anymore until his Father had recovered from his illness. Shadow Spirit would have enough responsibility as acting Chief without her causing him any more trouble.

  As they neared the Chief’s teepee in the center of the village, Abby noticed a young woman watching them from behind a tree. Abby smiled at the girl but she received a cold hard stare in return that to Abby could only resemble a look of pure hatred. She looked at Shadow Spirit to see if he also saw the girl but he was looking straight ahead. When Abby turned to look back at the mysterious girl, she was gone. How strange, the young woman hadn’t looked at Abby with curiosity as the other women in the village had. She looked at Abby as if she were her worst enemy.

  That afternoon Abby met Shadow Spirit’s sister, she was a beautiful girl. She had been visiting with her friend when Abby and Shadow Spirit had arrived at the village. Abby was sitting outside the Chief’s teepee when Yellow Dove came running up and took her mother by the hands turning her around and around.

  “Yellow Dove you stop this right now. You are acting as if you are a child instead of a beautiful young woman who is about to be wed.” Green Eyes scolded.

  “Oh Mother I am going to marry the man I love. I am happy. I am not dead. Should I not be excited? Yellow Dove exclaimed with laughter turning her head toward Abby. “Hello.”

  “Yellow Dove, this is Abby Anderson. She was brought to our home by your brother.” Green Eyes explained. “Abby this is my daughter Yellow Dove.”

  “Hello.” Abby said with a smile.

  “Mother is Abby to be a captive?”

  “No, she will live in our lodge as a member of our family.” Green Eyes stated.

  “That is good. I will have someone to talk to and to help me prepare for my wedding.” Yellow Dove said while going to sit next to Abby.

  “I would be happy to help you prepare for your wedding Yellow Dove.” Abby replied.

  “There is so much to do and only a short time to do it in.”

  “When are you going to marry?” Abby asked.

  “We are to be wed in three days.” Yellow Dove answered. She turned to her mother. “We have our lodge prepared Mother,” she said turning to Green Eyes. “Have you finished the beadwork on my dress?”

  “I was beginning to believe you two had forgotten that I was here, but yes your dress is finished.” Green Eyes said with a smile. The two girls appeared to be destined to become friends. “Come, I will show you.”

  Abby did not know if she was to go with them or if she was supposed to wait here outside while the mother and daughter went inside, so she just stood in one spot.

  “Abby,” Yellow Dove called. “Come inside.”

  Abby went into the teepee as Green Eyes was unfolding the most beautiful garment Abby had ever seen. The dress was made of doeskin that had been whitened by many hours of handwork. It was fringed at the sleeves and hem, with beads strung from each fringe. Porcupine quills had been attached in a v pattern around the neck. Fine beadwork circled the waist and sleeves. Abby could only stare in disbelief at the dress. Her knowledge of Indians up until now was only what she had heard from others. This was not something that she had heard about. She was not aware of the lovely clothing the Indians could make or any of their customs. All she had heard about were the war party raids and the savage behavior of Indians.

  “This is beautiful Yellow Dove. You will make a beautiful bride.” Abby said.

  “Thank you Abby. I have put a lot of work into this dress,” Yellow Dove said with a loving look at her mother.

  “We must finish the evening meal before the day grows dark,” remarked Green Eyes.

  They ate a meal of some kind of stew that Abby found appetizing. Shadow Spirit ate with his family as he usually did. He was in a quiet mood. He did not speak unless he was directly spoken to. Abby wondered what he was thinking about. He was probably think
ing about how happy he was to be well rid of her. She knew he had a lot of responsibility while his Father was ill. Abby wasn’t the only one who had noticed Shadow Spirit’s mood.

  “Come, Shadow Spirit.” Green Eyes said. “Let us walk. I would like to talk to you, my son.”

  “Yes, Mother.” He answered without hesitation. He was hoping this would not be one of his Mother’s long lectures about him still being unmarried.

  “Shadow Spirit, your Father is not getting well as fast this time. I fear he will not survive this latest bought with the illness that has plagued him for some years now,” she said.

  “No Mother, Father is strong. He will overcome this sickness.” Shadow Spirit stated rather brusquely.

  “You have been away for two weeks; you have not seen him through my eyes. He grows weaker with each passing sun. He has told me that his last dying wish is to see you with a wife to care for your needs, and to give you fine strong sons, so that you will be as happy as we have been through the years. Is there not one of the maidens in our village that has caught your eye,” she asked?

  “Mother I want a love that is as strong as the love you and Father have. I have strong feelings for a woman, but I fear she does not return my feelings.” He said.

  “Who is this woman and have you asked her Father for her?”

  “I do not know her Father,” he said.

  Green Eyes knew immediately of whom he spoke. “I have seen the way you look at Abby and I have also seen that she looks at you in much the same way.”

  “I believe perhaps it is only gratitude that you see in Abby‘s eyes, Mother.”

  Their walk had taken them to the edge of the village, where sentries stood guarding the people from intruders. The full moon had come out to light their way and smells from the evening meal still lingered in the air. It was quiet and peaceful this time of night.

  Green Eyes considered what Shadow Spirit had said. She thought of when she was first married his Father. “When your Father first rescued me from the Crow village, I was grateful but that gratitude soon turned onto genuine love. It is a love so great that the stairway of time could only strengthen it. I am white on the outside, but at heart, I am Cheyenne. I am the wife of a Cheyenne Chief and mother of a future chief. I think what Abby feels for you is more than gratitude.” Green Eyes finished.

  “We will see. Soon we will move to our winter camp in the Black Hills. It will be a long and tiresome journey for someone who is not used to the ways of the people” he said.

  “She is stronger than you believe. Otherwise she would not have withstood her ordeal with Black Heart,” she said as they arrived back at Green Eye’s teepee.

  “We will see how she adjusts to this life Mother. I must go to my lodge now. We are going on a hunt at sunrise and I have had a long couple of weeks away. Storm is improving. He can walk around a bit now,” he said. “You know Mother, Abby was quite frightened by Storm at first but she seems to accept that I am a friend to a wild animal now.”

  “Goodnight Son. Have a good hunt. We will need all the food we can store to see us through the winter,” she remarked.

  “I know Mother, goodnight.”

  As Shadow Spirit prepared to leave, Abby ventured outside. She had been talking to Yellow Dove for some time and needed to stretch her legs before retiring for the night.

  “Hello Abby,” said Green Eyes. “I am going to bed. I made you a bed beside of Yellow Dove’s. Goodnight dear” she said.

  “Goodnight” Abby responded. Green Eyes disappeared inside her lodge. “Your mother is a beautiful and kind woman Shadow Spirit. She seems truly at ease with your people.” Abby said.

  “What would you expect? That she is unhappy? That we are holding her captive? She has been with the Cheyenne for many moons and I have never heard her express a wish to be anywhere else. She would be out of place in the white world, with the white eyes,” Shadow Spirit stated with an edge of anger toward Abby.

  “I am sorry Shadow Spirit. I wasn’t saying she was a prisoner. I’m just wondering how she managed to adjust to your way of life. It seems to be a harsh life to me,” Abby explained.

  “The people of my village are content but I fear that our peace will be disturbed before many months have passed. There have been reports of more and more whites entering the Black Hills. Treaties have been signed but the white men do not keep their word,” he said.

  “I have seen what Indians have done to innocent people. They killed my mother,” she cried.

  “That was Black Heart’s band. All Indian people are not like that.” He explained. “Are there not whites that do horrible things also?”

  “Yes there are but they are punished when they are caught.”

  “Black Heart will also be punished but his punishment will be the Cheyenne brand of justice.”

  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. It makes me miss my father even more knowing there is no one to take care of him,” Abby said.

  “We will not discuss it if it upsets you. I wish you would accept the fact that you cannot go home now. We will go to our winter camp after the big buffalo hunt. There, maybe over the winter, your mind will change and you will not want to return to the white man’s world.”

  “Shadow Spirit will you promise me something, if I still want to go home in the spring will you take me?” Abby watched the expression on his face. His emotions were masked. He took so long in answering her that she thought he had not heard her.

  Shadow Spirit placed a hand on each side of her face and looked into her eyes. Abby thought he was going to kiss her again but he only smiled down at her. Abby’s heart did a flip-flop. Oh, how handsome he was.

  “Yes Abby, I will take you home in the spring if you still wish to go. Now I must say goodnight. I will not be in the village when you wake up for I am going with some of the other warriors on a hunt. We must begin to gather food for the winter” he said ever so gently.

  “I wish you wouldn’t go,” she said looking into his eyes. Somewhere in the region of her heart, she was secretly wishing he would kiss her.

  He had let his hands drop from her face to her shoulders. He was still staring straight into her eyes. “When I look into your eyes I see my reflection as if I am looking into the white man’s mirror,” he said.

  “That’s a beautiful thing to say. Thank you.”

  He drew her to his chest and gently held her. “I must go; Goodnight Abby.”

  “Goodnight Shadow Spirit.” When she drew back to go inside, he kissed her quickly on the forehead.

  Abby spent the next day working alongside Green Eyes. They washed clothes at the stream then worked on new dresses for Abby. She was amazed at what the Indian women could do with a needle made of bone. Green Eyes hand worked with amazing speed and perfection as she cut and sewed Abby a dress from soft doeskin. All day long they worked, only taking time out for a noon meal. She taught Abby to scrape the hide of deer that someone had killed and brought to the chief’s lodge while Shadow Spirit had been away. They would later stretch the hide on a board to dry and be made into clothing.

  Abby was working on the beads of her dress when she noticed the same girl, who had given her such a look of hate yesterday, watching her from another teepee some distance away.

  “Green Eyes, who is that girl watching me? I noticed her watching me yesterday also,” Abby asked?

  “She is called Lone Raven.”

  “But why does she look at me as if I’m poison?”

  “She has eyes for Shadow Spirit. She has always thought they would marry. I do not know why she feels that way. Shadow Spirit has not encouraged her to believe it is so. She probably thinks you are the one Shadow Spirit has chosen.”

  “Oh,” was all Abby could say.

  “I have talked to Shadow Spirit about taking a wife many times. He has never taken me seriously. Oh, I am sure he has visited the teepee of the loose women of our village. After all he is a twenty-four year old man,” Green Eyes said.

  “Do
esn’t the woman he marries have anything to say about it?” Abby asked.

  “Not really. The male members of her family decide it if it is a good match or not.” Green Eyes answered.

  “That is totally barbarian. What if the woman is miserable?”

  “Then she simply puts her husband’s belongings outside the teepee. Then they are divorced. But she must think long and hard about a decision that is so final.”

  “That sounds fair. I would never marry a man I didn’t love.”

  When Abby looked to where Lone Raven had stood watching. She had disappeared. Abby dismissed her from her mind.

  Shadow Spirit did not return until after they had eaten their supper. He was tired and hungry. He had killed two deer.

  He greeted Abby with a smile that showed how happy he was to see her. “What have you done today in my absence?”

  “Your mother has taught me a lot today but I still have much more to learn. I helped her tan a hide. We made pemmican and we sewed a new dress for me.” She was excited that he seemed pleased at the accomplishments. “Your mother also told me why most of the people in the village speak English. She taught anyone who wanted to learn.”

  “Yes she was a wonderful teacher for our people.” he said. “There is a celebration dance to be held tonight for the wedding couple. I would like for you to go and watch. I think you should learn something of our traditions.”

  They were walking by the stream and discussing Abby’s triumphs of the day. Shadow Spirit gently took her hand in his. They stopped and sat down on a large boulder facing the village. Shadow Spirit was very quiet. He sat looking at the village with an air of despair.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked.

  He said nothing for several moments, and then he turned to look at Abby. “I was thinking of what the future holds. I do not think my Father will live for very much longer. He grows weaker each sunrise. It is like a part of my life is slowly slipping away. Do you know what that feels like to know that someone you love is dying and the fact that there is nothing you can do about it?”

  “I know what it’s like to lose someone you love very much. My mother was taken from me suddenly I had no time to prepare. She was killed in a matter of minutes,” she sadly remarked. “I can feel your pain Shadow Spirit, but like my mother’s death, there is nothing you can do to save your father,” she finished.