Brave Heart

by Lindsay McKenna

  This time it was different, his wolf spirit guide whispered, as he held Cante Tinza. Yes, he felt his patient’s pain, but this time his heart was open to her, too. Wolf understood compassion and the healing power of touch, so he caressed her as he would a sick child. Stroking her hair, her shaking shoulders and long, deeply indented spine, he began to ease the burden she’d carried so long by herself.

  A spirit-departing song welled up within him. Wolf began to sing softly, his deep voice bringing the words to life. Almost instantly, he felt Cante Tinza cry even harder, her weeping sounds filling the tepee. He sang for what she had lost—for what had been taken from her by a man who was selfish in his eyes. He prayed in his own language to White Buffalo Calf Woman, to Wakan Tanka and to Tunkasila to come and help Cante Tinza heal her broken heart and splintered soul.

  As he knelt with Cante Tinza in his arms and felt her fingers digging into his buckskin shirt as she wept, Wolf finally understood why she had been so fearful of him. He was a man, and a man had hurt her. He had kept her confined to the tepee since her arrival, so she thought he was keeping her a slave just as Kingston had done. Worse, Wolf realized that Cante Tinza had been waiting for him to rape her, just as the wasicun had done.

  And yet, throughout the past quarter of the moon, Cante Tinza had disregarded her own fears to reach out in generosity and help others, whether it was Dawn Sky, Deer Woman or his sisters Little Swallow and Evening Star. With a shake of his head, Wolf ended the song and rested his brow against her hair. He found himself wanting to heal her completely, but the process would be long, and often painful for her. Was that what she wanted? Did she even want to stay with his people? Or did she want to return to a wasicun town to live among her own?

  He gently eased her away from him, and caught and held her tear-filled eyes. The corners of his mouth curved slightly as he framed her face with his hands. “I named you well, Brave Heart. For you are all of that and more, my woman. I do not think you know your own courage, your own fighting spirit.“ He wiped away the last of her tears and saw the shame in her eyes. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. You fought like a warrior. You were not meek, and the Lakota people will honor you. They will not judge you.”

  Serena hiccuped through her sobs and wanted nothing but continued closeness to Wolf. His eyes burned with such fierceness and care for her that she trembled. “B-but, I’m a soiled woman,” she cried. “I’m no good to anyone!”

  “Hush,” Wolf commanded, “the Lakota do not see you as soiled. You did not give yourself to a man. You were taken against your will. Even our women are sometimes taken by our great enemy, the Crow. Some have been forced to marry Crow warriors, and as prisoners, they fight back, too. If a Lakota woman escapes and comes back to us, we have a great ceremony to welcome her among us once again. She is honored and given many gifts. If she was single before capture, then she is looked upon as a maid once again, regardless if a Crow raped her or made her his woman.”

  Blinking, Serena pulled out of Wolf’s gentle hands. If she didn’t, she was going to throw herself into his arms to be held once more. Never had she felt so protected—or so fiercely cared for. Somewhere, in the back of her spinning senses, Serena had heard him call her his woman. What did that mean? Utterly torn and confused, she dried her face with her shaking hands.

  “I-if I go back to that town I don’t know what will happen. I don’t have any money, and no one would give me shelter or food.“ She looked up at Wolf’s suffering features. “I don’t have anywhere to go. I’m lost….”

  “Ah, Cante Tinza,” he breathed huskily, briefly touching the crown of her head, “you are never lost. As long as you know where you stand—where your feet rest upon Mother Earth—you are not lost.“ He touched his chest. “Your heart is your home. We would welcome you into our tribe, for you have not only saved our people’s lives, but you have more than proved yourself worthy to us in so many other ways.”

  “Y-you would?“ Hope flared strongly in Serena. She searched Wolf’s dark, liquid eyes, wanting to believe him as never before. How could she have feared him so much when he had given her nothing but understanding and respect? Serena realized with a start that if Wolf had been indeed like his white counterpart, he would have taken full advantage of her while he held her—and he had not.

  Wolf smiled slightly and gestured around the tepee. “It is an honor if you would stay with us.”

  “B-but, you’re married to Deer Woman, and you have a baby. I—I’m an interloper.”

  Wolf reached over and began to untie the deerskin thong wrapped around one of her braids. “Cante Tinza, I am not married to Deer Woman. She has agreed to help because my sister was killed, and I am the baby’s uncle. I must see that Dawn Sky is raised and loved.”

  As Wolf began to unbraid her hair, Serena gave a little gasp of surprise. She was wildly aware that he was going to not only unbraid her hair but brush it, too. Oh, how she’d enjoyed the experience the first time, once she had rid herself of her initial fear and distrust of Wolf. She watched him now, mesmerized as his dark brown fingers divided the copper strands of her hair.

  “You aren’t married?“ she asked in a whisper.

  Wolf heard the tremor in Cante Tinza’s voice. Was it fear? He wasn’t sure. He released the rest of her hair and gently began to run an elk comb through her strong, thick strands. “I am thirty summers old, and once, long ago, I fell in love with a maid.“ He frowned slightly, enjoying the closeness—the beauty of the moment as he combed her hair. “Pretty Shield was out picking chokecherries alone, and a Crow war party found her.“ Wolf’s mouth twitched and he stared hard at the red hair in his hand. “They raped her, killed her and scalped her.”

  “Oh, no!” Serena cried. She felt Wolf’s pain, and saw the loss in his burning eyes.

  “That is the past and all things must move forward, as Wakan Tanka teaches us.“ The memory no longer haunted him, for he had released his anger and hatred toward the Crow over the many years since the incident. Wolf was touched by Cante Tinza’s response to his sad story. “It is over now,” he reassured her. “It is the past. For many summers, I grieved for Pretty Shield. But then my work, learning the ways of medicine, gradually took on importance, and now the people of our tribe own my heart.”

  Serena could hear the maturity and wisdom of years in his voice. Scalp tingling, she held still as he expertly began to braid her hair. “I thought you were married and Dawn Sky was your child.”

  “All children belong to the tribe,” Wolf said, tying off the first braid. He enjoyed sliding his fingers through the silky sheets of her hair. This was something he could do forever, and envisioned waking up with Cante Tinza every morning and each taking turns combing and braiding each other’s hair. Such was the way between a husband and wife: respect and love. Wolf realized Cante Tinza was watching him with a soft expression. He ached to lean down and explore her full mouth, but he controlled the unbidden urge.

  “The Lakota is one large family,” he added. “It is not uncommon to take in a child if the parents die. We do not let our old ones go hungry. After a buffalo hunt, we give the elders the hearts, tongues and livers to honor them and their wisdom.”

  “In Wexford,” Serena whispered, “people die in the gutters for lack of food, no matter what their age.”

  Wolf flexed his mouth into a thin line and said, “Wasicuns respect nothing. They see themselves as dominant. They do not realize that we are all related. We are tied to our Mother, the Earth, and we are her stewards, not her conquerors.”

  Serena sat there as Wolf finished braiding her hair. He brought over a parfleche and opened it.

  “You will stay among us?“ he asked, fearful that she would say no.

  “Yes—I’d like to,” she ventured softly, watching as he drew out two otter skins.

  Joy coursed through Wolf, but he tried to hide his reaction because he didn’t want to influence Cante Tinza’s decisions. “You may stay with whomever you choose.“ Wolf wrapped the first otte
r skin around her braid and tied it off with red cotton cloth. On the end of the first braid, he placed a small, fluffy brown-and-white eagle feather as a symbol of her newfound freedom.

  Serena courageously lifted her lashes and looked directly into Wolf’s eyes. “I think Dawn Sky needs more attention than Deer Woman can give her. I’d like to stay here—if you’ll let me.”

  Wolf’s heart took a galloping beat, and his hands trembled ever so slightly as he fitted the second otter skin on the other braid. “We would be honored with your presence. And you are right—Deer Woman has many other duties and I worry that my niece is not being properly attended. You are a free woman, Cante Tinza. The Lakota people honor generosity, bravery, responsibility and hard work. You possess all these things. No one owns you. If you want to leave at any time, you are free to do so. If you want to stay forever, that is your decision.”

  The words, spoken so low and with such feeling, drove tears into Serena’s eyes. Free. She was free. For the first time after four months of brutal captivity.

  Chapter Six

  Serena had barely dried her eyes and composed herself when Wolf, who had gone over to his robe, asked, “Would you care for my niece? I have need of a woman here, to live in my tepee.”

  “I’ve never been a mother, but I could try.”

  “Dove That Flies, who just had a son two moons ago, provides her milk whenever Dawn Sky is hungry. Would you see that my niece is taken to her for that purpose?”

  Serena nodded. “I love children, Wolf. I know you are busy, and I want to help.“ How could she turn down any request he had? Wolf had saved her life.

  He grunted. She had spoken like a true Lakota maiden, he thought. The eagerness shining in Cante Tinza’s eyes opened his heart, and he felt her joy in being able to care for his niece. As he sat there mulling over the situation with Deer Woman, the unbidden thought of Cante Tinza having his children struck him. Right now, she needed to put meat back on her bones. The winter and spring would serve to strengthen her. What then? Swallowing hard, Wolf knew what he wanted—Cante Tinza as his wife. What would she do if she knew that? Run? Scream in terror because he was a man, and he could also hurt her?

  Whatever he did, Wolf knew that as never before, he must allow his spirit guides to lead him through this thorny situation with Cante Tinza. Soon the village would know that she was going to stay with him. That meant any warrior could rightfully begin to court her. And who among them would not?

  “I will ask Deer Woman to show you how to cook and to bead and…well, perform the tasks that Lakota women are taught.”

  Wolf was about to say more, but Deer Woman entered the tepee with his niece. Her golden skin was flushed because of the chill. She smiled at him brightly in greeting and placed Dawn Sky’s cradleboard on the appropriate pallet. He watched Deer Woman’s smile disappear when she looked at Cante Tinza. Disturbed, sensing more than seeing, Wolf could feel the young woman’s jealousy.

  “Deer Woman, come over here,” Wolf invited. “We must talk.”

  Deer Woman eagerly came and knelt near him. “I await your words, Black Wolf. What may I do to please you?”

  Wincing inwardly, Wolf held her golden gaze. “Cante Tinza has decided to stay with us, and not go back to the wasicun town to live.”

  “Oh….”

  “She has further agreed to take care of my niece for me and live in my tepee.”

  Deer Woman’s mouth fell open, and she jerked a look over at Cante Tinza and then back to Black Wolf. “But—you have me!” she protested as she touched the breast of her quilled buckskin dress. “Have I not agreed to live with you and be your niece’s helper?”

  Wolf tried to soften his words because she appeared distraught, and he saw tears in her eyes. “You are but a child yourself,” he said quietly, “and you would rather run off and play than do the work required of a woman.”

  “But—”

  Wolf held up his hand and his voice grew firmer. “There is no argument on this. I have made my decision. And you are not shamed because you are being replaced. I feel you will have more time to allow Swift Elk to court you properly.”

  Deer Woman leaped to her feet, curling her hands into small fists at her sides. “How can you choose Cante Tinza over me?“ She struck her breast. “I am Lakota! She is wasicun! How can you expect her to care properly for your niece? She knows nothing of our ways, our beliefs! And I will be shamed if I am sent back to my parents’ tepee!” Tears flowed down her cheeks as she cried out, “And I do not love Swift Elk. I love you!” There, it was finally out. She stood there in front of the medicine man, taut and trembling. “My heart,” she whispered brokenly, “has never belonged to anyone but you, Black Wolf. All my life, I have watched you and loved you from a distance. I know you think I am young, but in my heart the summers do not matter. It is the feelings that lie there that are more important. I—I want the chance to prove myself to you, to show you that I am deserving of being looked upon as a good Lakota wife for you.”

  Wolf moved uncomfortably. He had seen Cante Tinza’s face change markedly when Deer Woman leaped to her feet and began to cry. He wished she did not have to see this. Mouth moving into a grim line, he spoke in a low tone. “You are a child in my eyes, Deer Woman. I cannot give my heart to you, for it belongs to the tribe.”

  “Ho!” she spit, whirling around and pointing at Cante Tinza, “I think you hide from yourself, Black Wolf. I see the look in your eyes when she stirs. I see your mouth soften. I see longing in your eyes. Perhaps you do not lie to me about this, but you lie to yourself. You want her! And somehow,” she sobbed, “you have convinced Cante Tinza to not only stay, but to live in your tepee! You are a medicine man…you have put a spell on her—”

  Wolf slowly got to his feet, towering over Deer Woman, whose face was contorted with rage and jealousy now—not hurt. “Girl, do not accuse me of such things. I would never place a spell on anyone. If anything, I remove spells from others!”

  Deer Woman sniffed loudly and took a step away from his imposing presence. “Yet, you do not deny that you want this wasicun!”

  “Cante Tinza is a free woman who will walk among us,” Wolf gritted out between clenched teeth. His niece began to cry, and he glared at Deer Woman because she’d caused him to nearly lose his temper. The girl had a nagging trait of knowing the truth. Wolf saw Cante Tinza slowly get up to attend to his niece in the cradleboard. The baby, reassured, stopped crying instantly. He swung his attention back to Deer Woman, who stood breathing hard and glaring at him.

  “I had hoped that I could ask you to stay long enough in this tepee to teach Cante Tinza the womanly things she should know, but I see now that is impossible.”

  Startled, Deer Woman reached out and gripped Wolf’s arm. “No! I will stay. I will do whatever you want.”

  Sadly, Wolf pulled his arm out of her grasp. “No, you cling to this opportunity to stay the winter just to be with me, not to be here for Cante Tinza or my niece.”

  Deer Woman just stood there while her lips trembled and tears slid down her cheeks. She had not realized that Wolf had intended to allow her to stay upward of six moons with him to teach Cante Tinza. “Please,” she begged hoarsely, “let me stay. I can teach the wasicun well. I want to be here with you.”

  Wolf foresaw the danger in Deer Woman’s staying. She was a child instead of a woman, and one with dangerous emotions. He didn’t want to have such dissension in his tepee. His work as a medicine man demanded serenity and peace, to put him in the proper mood to conduct ceremonies, and it couldn’t be done with Deer Woman’s jealousy, or belief that he loved her, when he didn’t.

  “No, I think it’s best you pack your belongings and go now,” he told her heavily. “I thank you for what you’ve done. I will bring three of my best horses to your father in thanks for your services here. At least, when you marry you will have a good dowry of three horses to bring to your husband. People will admire these horses I give you, and you will admire them, too.”

&nb
sp; “I want Wiyaka, then!” Deer Woman cried. “You have fifteen horses. You are rich, Black Wolf. Make one of those you give me your very best buffalo runner, Wiyaka.”

  Anger sparked through Wolf as he watched the cunning in Deer Woman’s eyes come alive. Wiyaka, Feather, was his black mare, his personal favorite. “You may walk among my herd and choose any three horses other than Wiyaka.”

  “I suppose you are going to give the wasicun your black horse?”

  Stung, Wolf held on to his temper. Deer Woman had incredible insight into him, and it disturbed him greatly. Had she read his mind? He had thought of giving his buffalo runner to Cante Tinza after he taught her how to ride. “What I do, and to whom I give, is not your business,” he warned her darkly.

  Deer Woman glared at Cante Tinza, who held the baby in her arms, and then swung back to Wolf. Without a word, she went over to her pallet, quickly wrapped her belongings in a gray wool blanket and left without another word.

  Wolf sighed and glanced over at Cante Tinza. He knew she had understood very little of the argument, yet she was disturbed. There were so many fine lines to walk with her. How much could he tell her about Deer Woman? Realizing he had just made an enemy out of the girl, Wolf sat down and frowned.

  But Dawn Sky’s happy cooing and laughter gradually broke down the tension that had accumulated in his shoulders and neck from confronting Deer Woman. He looked up. Cante Tinza held the baby so that her tiny brown feet touched the robe. Wolf could see joy in Cante Tinza’s green eyes, and that joy evaporated the rest of his anger as if it were fog beneath hot sunlight.

  The laughter of his niece and the soft smile of Cante Tinza’s lips spun threads of hope in Wolf. He ached to go over to the two. That could not be. At least, not yet, he reminded himself grimly. Although many barriers had been broken down between her and him, he knew Cante Tinza still feared and distrusted men—no matter if they were wasicun or Lakota. And she had a right to own that fear.