Lakota Winds (Zebra Historical Romance)

by Janelle Taylor

  Chumani understood his concern. She knew it was reckless to accuse an unknown member of his band of this wicked trick, but-to avoid appearing careless-she was compelled to say, "I do not know, but I did not make a bad fire. I used only a small amount of the wood I gathered this morning and the rest is piled nearby. I also do not use the dried wood of the pine for slow cooking, as it burns too swiftly."

  Wind Dancer did not want to believe one of his people had done such a thing on purpose; nor did he want to believe she was lying to him to cover her carelessness. Either way, he was worried about the strange incident. He felt it was wisest to advise her in her low tones: "It is best if we do not offend others by asking if someone did such a bad deed or to cause fear by saying an evil spirit sneaked into our camp to play a trick on Waci Tate and Dewdrops."

  "It is agreeable to me to walk that path to prevent trouble," she concurred, but added to herself, I will use the eyes of the eagle to watch for more trouble.

  "I will sit here and guard our lodge and meat while I play the flute for you." He assumed others would think he was only entertaining them, but she would know from his earlier words that he was courting her.

  As he played music and she worked, Chumani's mind whirled with questions about the cooking fire. Even the type of wood used was not what she had gathered. She wondered who disliked her so much and wanted to make her look bad to her husband, and to cause him to think even worse of her for accusing one of his people of such a foul deed. She knew if Cetan had not been tethered inside the tepee out of the bright sun, he would have sounded a warning to her about the encroacher; and if he had not been tethered outside, he would have attacked the person responsible, and his injuries would have exposed the guilty one. She realized that with the placements of the tepees, as many-like theirs-were backed up to the forested hills and all entrances faced the rising sun for spiritual reasons, it was easy for a clever person to sneak up to her site and create such mischief. Also, each woman's cooking and working area was to the left of her dwelling to prevent one's smoke from blowing into the next woman's face as she did her chores.

  Then, another and more irritating speculation crept into Chumani's mind. She wondered if Wind Dancer had created the event to see how she reacted. Perhaps he wondered if she would display bad temper, or panic and cry in helplessness. Would he do such a sneaky thing? Had their outing been nothing more than a means to relax and dupe her before he tested her character and skills? She did not know, but in time she would discover if he was fooling her.

  Both were a little guarded since the disruption earlier. After the evening meal was ready and as they ate it, they talked about many things as they sought to get to know each other better. It was the custom for men to eat first when in a group of them or with male guests present, but if they were with only their families, everyone ate at the same time.

  Neither Wind Dancer nor Chumani commented on the places where she had scraped away burned sections on the meat or remarked on its slight dryness from excessive heat. They also had camass bulbs which she had found that morning and roasted in the still-glowing coals, along with bread made from corn, nuts, and dried berries. Wind Dancer did smile and tell her how good the bulbs and bread were, and she thanked him.

  Afterward, they took a short walk through the camp, stopping several times to speak with friends, his grandparents, and family. Neither noticed anyone watching them or behaving oddly since the fire incident, though both kept a sharp and furtive eye out for such a person.

  Later as they lay on their sleeping mat, Wind Dancer suggested they practice kissing and touching to make their behavior appear more natural and convincing in public. He said, which was true but not his sole motive, that he was concerned that his people might worry about the sacred visionquest if it appeared they were not well matched in their joining and feelings. To his delight, his wife agreed.

  Even so, Chumani told herself she was cooperating only to safeguard the secret of their unconsummated relationship, and to dupe the trickster-who might be a jealous woman-about Wind Dancer's feelings for her and commitment to her. Yet, it was a fierce struggle not to lose herself in the passion and pleasure of her husband's lovemaking. His mouth was skilled and delicious upon hers. His hands were gentle and arousing upon her body, though he did not touch her intimately. His mood was tender and caring, and he seemed to enjoy their game. Her previous doubts about him vanished for a while as he enchanted her entire being. It was exciting and flattering to have a great warrior and future leader pursue her, and to do so with persistence and without a great rush to seek his own appeasement. She liked viewing this side of him, the gentle and sensitive man. It gave her the chance to become more relaxed around and with him before they united their bodies. She also wanted to delay their bonding for as long as possible because, if it was not enjoyable or was painful to her, that would breed resentment in her, and problems between them. It was best to move along this path slowly, even if she was tempted to race along it in wild and wonderful abandonment.

  Wind Dancer struggled to retain control of his overtures and her effect on him. She was so tempting, so beautiful, so responsive that it evoked a fierce yearning in him to possess her fully. But, he was not certain she was ready to take that step. For now, he must be satisfied just to hold her, taste her lips, caress her arms and face, and heighten her awareness of him as a man. He realized he had to halt their stimulating behavior soon or stopping would he impossible for him. With reluctance, he dragged his mouth from hers and said, "It is good to work on such skills, as they will strengthen our bond for when we are alone and for when we are with others."

  "Your words are true and wise, mihigna. We get closer each time we are together in this way, and soon no space will exist between us. I am happy you wish us to become friends and learn to trust each other before we bond as mates. It is a good thing we do for our future life together."

  "Your words also are wise and true, mitawin. It is good we wait and move closer, for our bond will be stronger and more satisfying when we join together as friends than if we had done so as strangers. Now it is time to sleep, for we do not know what tasks or dangers lie before us on the next sun."

  The romantic game, which served to increase their mutual attraction, ended too soon to suit either one.

  The next morning, her husband's young sister entered the tepee and said to Chumani, "We go to wash garments, Dewdrops. Come with us. Macha, my mother, and Pretty Meadow head for the river now."

  "That is good, my sister. I will come as soon as my soup is cooking."

  After Hanmani left, Chumani tethered Cetan to his post outside so he could guard her fire and the kettle suspended over it, a trade item from the white man's world and a gift from one of his people. She collected their dirty garments and joined the other females at the river.

  She liked Hanmani, who was thirteen winters old, and her best friend Dawn, who was two winters older. Watching the girls laugh and talk and work together caused her to miss Zitkala even more than she had since their four-moon separation, six moons if she counted the two before Wind Dancer's arrival and their joining. She could hardly wait to see her best friend and to talk with her about the many changes in her life. She knew Zitkala missed her terribly, too, and would have difficulty finding another very close friend, as Chumani had accepted the differences in Zitkala's looks and manner without any reservations. Unfortunately, the males of her tribe viewed Zitkala as an unattractive and unfeminine woman, while the females viewed her a man. Surely the Great Spirit had a good reason for creating Zitkala that way, and some sun or moon it would be revealed to them and all others.

  Chumani realized how much she also missed the exciting hunts and challenging raids with Zitkala. Now that she was confined to camp in a wife's role, she missed the freedom she had come to enjoy in her camp. She also was aware that many of Wind Dancer's people seemed to watch her whenever she was outside. She understood they were curious about her and wondered what part she would play in the coming quest. S
he yearned for a visit with her best friend and with her family, so the seasonal move to the grasslands after the next full moon would be a favorable event. But that would not take place, she counted up, for another twenty or more nightly moons.

  That afternoon while Chumani was speaking with his sister near their tepee, Wind Dancer joined them and asked his wife to go for a short walk in the forest and suggested Cetan go with them.

  "I cannot do so, mihigna, for I must watch the fire and soup."

  Hanmani smiled. "Go with him, Dewdrops," she said, "and I will watch them for you. I have beading to be done. I will sit nearby and do both."

  "You are kind, my sister. Come, mitawin, and share a walk with me," he entreated again, extending his hand to her.

  Chumani realized she had no choice except to go with him, as to protest would not look good before his sister. She untethered Cetan and allowed him to fly upward, knowing he would keep his keen eyes on her and follow wherever she went.

  After they returned, Hanmani left to help her mother with their evening meal and Wind Dancer went to play toss-the-hoop with Red Feather and his brother, War Eagle. Although it was a game, it was also training to enhance their hand-to-eye coordination, flexibility, and target accuracy skills. She would like to see if he could ring the Y-shaped sticks-far and near, tall and short, or either chosen branch-with the various-sized willow hoops each time he flung them from a measured distance. She wished she could go with him and even join in on the fun and show him how skilled she was at it. But she was not invited: the other men could object if she were, and she could not leave her soup and tepee unguarded.

  Instead, Chumani sat beneath a shade tree on a furry hide to do beading on a shirt given to Wind Dancer in her camp. She allowed Cetan to stay untethered so he could enjoy freedom for a while longer.

  As she sat down on a sitting mat inside their tepee, Chumani noticed the scowl on her husband's face as he stared at the soup in the wooden bowl which she had served him. "What is wrong, mihigna?"she asked.

  Wind Dancer looked at her, took a deep and decisive breath, and said with reluctance but in a gentle tone, "The soup is not good."

  Chumani filled her spoon, sipped from it, and frowned. She lifted the bowl and sniffed its contents, but detected no foul or unusual odor. She eyed the ingredients as she stirred them but sighted nothing strange. She tasted the soup again and tried to determine what caused its odd flavor, which teased too lightly at the back of her mind to grasp it. If the same trickster had put something in the kettle, it had been ground too fine to be visible. But with Hanmani working nearby during their absence, she mused, how was that possible? It was possible, she answered herself, if the trickster was watching the young girl and she left for a short time to excuse herself in the bushes. She knew she must not ask Hanmani any questions, or speculate about her new suspicion to her husband. There was no doubt in her mind that someone-the unknown trickster, Hanmani, or Wind Dancer-had ruined the soup. But, Chumani worried, who and why? As a test or a spiteful deed?

  "I do not understand why it is so bitter," she deceived him by murmuring. "Its looks and smell are good. Perhaps an evil spirit possessed the creature who provided its meat. Or dwelled within the plants I gathered," she quickly added to prevent her prior words from sounding like an insult to the family hunter or as if she were passing the blame to him. "Perhaps one or the other is tainted. We must not eat it or we may become sick or even die. Perhaps that is what the harmful spirit desires, so it can stop us from going on the sacred visionquest."

  Wind Dancer observed how she kept her gaze lowered to the bowl in her hands as if denying him a view of her eyes, and he listened to the tone of her voice which sounded strained. From those clues, he suspected she was not being fully honest with him and wondered why. Was she responsible for the two strange occurrences, either by accident or on purpose, and was grasping at anything to use as an explanatory excuse, or was an evil hand truly at work in their lives as she had proposed? There was that almost hated number two again; first, the oversize cookfire and burned meat, and now, bitter inedible soup. But if it was not Dewdrops or a silwaecon, he reasoned, who was behind such wicked mischief and why was it being done? He had no enemy or rival in his camp, and he had seen no member treat her as either one. Yet, something bad was afoot, as he was convinced that a cunning instigator was behind the two matters.

  "Until this mystery is resolved, mitawin, we must keep it a secret to prevent insults and trouble," Wind Dancer suggested. "But we must keep our eyes and ears alert for another trick. We do not want anything or anyone to stop or damage the sacred challenge before us. Do you not agree?"

  "That is true, mihigna, "she responded as her gaze locked with his. "I will stay alert and near our tepee so I will not be tricked again. I do not want you or your people to think I am foolish and careless."

  She looked as if she was being truthful that time. But her action would deny them of any future walks and rides ... Could that be the motive behind the two puzzling incidents? Did she dislike those romantic outings? Was she repulsed by him, only enduring his touch? There were a few questions he could ask and a certain request he could make which might expose her feelings. Tonight. Now.

  After serving Wind Dancer some of last winter's pemmican, wasna, leftover bread from that morning, and dried fruit from the last hot season, Chumani carried the kettle into the forest. She dug a hole, emptied its contents there, and replaced the dirt. She piled rocks atop the location to prevent Wakantanka's animals from eating the bad soup and becoming sick, or worse. Afterward, she went to the river to scrub the kettle. All the while, she had the sensation that she was being watched, but could sight no one.

  Later, as she unrolled and spread their sleeping mat, Wind Dancer lifted an item, grinned, and said as he shook it between his fingers, "Why do we not play Share-The-Blanket before we rest? We still have much to learn about each other to strengthen our bond." He watched her as she looked up at him, smiled, and nodded. That told him she had no objection to the courting game of talking privately under that cover, which was usually done outside by couples who were getting acquainted or in love. When they did so, everyone was supposed to pretend they did not notice them.

  Instead of going outside where it was cool and they would be noticed by others or standing inside the tepee, they sat down cross-legged and face-to-face on the sleeping mat. As soon as they were positioned for a cozy talk, he tossed a Cheyenne trade blanket over their heads. It settled around their shoulders and halted near their hips, which, added to the loose weave of the material, allowed for light from the campfire to sneak under its edges and to penetrate its tiny holes to prevent total darkness from encompassing them. Their hands rested in their laps, and their knees touched. In the dim light, their gazes locked as they readied themselves for the game.

  "Do our joining and friendship bring you joy and pride, mitawin?" Wind Dancer asked.

  That question was unexpected but she responded without hesitation, "Yes, mihigna. We have a good match and alliance for us and our people. You are a man of many superior skills and traits. I am honored to be your wife."

  "As I am honored and pleased to have Dewdrops as my wife. Your good skills and traits are too numerous too count. We would not be mates if the Crow had not attacked our two camps long ago. Does love still live in your heart for your first husband? Do you still long to see and be with him?"

  Chumani gazed at him for a short time, surprised by those serious queries. "No, mihigna and mitakola, and such feelings for him never lived in my heart. Dull Star was chosen by my father and I joined to him to obey Father's wishes." She divulged how Dull Star's carelessness was to blame for the tragic Crow attack on her camp. "I was respectful and obedient as a chief's daughter and as a warrior's wife, but I did not love or desire him."

  "It was the same for me, mitawin: I joined to my first mate to give joy to my parents and people. I did not love and desire her, but I was a good husband and protector for her and our son." He took a brea
th before he disclosed, "There was no enjoyment with her on the sleeping mat, only duty and release. I believe it was the same for you, as great pleasure comes only to those who share true love and a unity of spirits."

  "Your words are wise and true, mihigna. I did not like sharing the sleeping mat with Dull Star and was happy he claimed me there so rarely. He was not patient, understanding, or gentle; as you are, mihigna. Perhaps it is wicked of me to feel and say such words, but I am not sorry Wakantanka took him away. I only suffered over the loss of my son."

  Wind Dancer was elated by her revelations. He was thrilled to hear her speak so highly of him and his behavior and relieved to learn she not only did not have lingering anguish over Dull Star's loss but also had never loved him. "Perhaps in a season to come, Wakantanka will give us another child, a son to become Red Shield chief after I walk the Ghost Trail. When the right time arrives for us to join our bodies, it will be different between us. I will never harm, dishonor, or reject you, mitawin, for you were given to me by the Great Spirit Who sees and knows and created all things."

  Wind Dancer cupped her face between his hands, closed the distance between them, and sealed their lips. That kiss was slow and gentle, but almost as entrancing as a peyote button. His mouth left hers to travel over her face for a while, then, his lips returned to hers with a firmer and swifter kiss. As his flames of desire burned brighter and hotter with her response, he separated their mouths so he could keep his promise of restraint. He gazed into her eyes, smiled, and murmured, "Yes, it will be good between us when that special moon rises and we become as one."

  Chumani was tempted to say "that special moon" had risen tonight, as her entire being yearned to unite their bodies. But if she did so and he was agreeable, that would not reveal his true feelings for her, as he might only react out of physical cravings. They both needed more time and more closeness. Yet, waiting would be difficult since he aroused her so highly.