“Monkeys are quite fascinating, aren’t they?” she spoke up.
Both girls turned to look at her. Katy smiled, but Lucille seemed instantly alarmed. Her gaze moved past Evelyn, as though to check and see if anybody might be watching them before she finally greeted her. “Hello, Miss Gibbons.”
“If the two of you could attend school, we could study other countries and the unusual animals that live there,” Evelyn told them, not sure how else to start the conversation. “Has your father said anything about allowing you to come to school?”
“He won’t let us,” Katy said with a scowl. “Seth isn’t really our father. We don’t call him that. He just wants us to do his work, and he—”
Lucille grabbed her sister’s arm. “Be quiet, Katy. Seth is coming.”
Evelyn saw fear come into both the girls’ eyes. It irritated her that they should have to live in such terror. Her hunch was right. There was something terribly wrong at the Bridges household, and somehow she had to get to the bottom of it without getting the girls into trouble with Seth. Before Seth reached them, she spoke quickly to Lucille.
“If you girls need help, please come to me. I have been wanting to talk to you. If Seth Bridges is hurting you or threatening you somehow, or making you work too hard, I can try to do something about it.”
“You stay away from us and from our house,” Lucille told her. She quickly grabbed Katy and pushed her away, walking over to greet Seth and the sergeant, who was still with the man. She longed to tell Miss Gibbons the truth, realized she had just missed her chance, but she knew how cruel Seth could be… how cruel Sergeant Desmond could be. She could not risk something bad happening to poor Miss Gibbons, who she’d heard had already nearly lost her life for coming here and trying to teach the Indians. Besides, to tell the woman the truth would mean having to tell her all the ugliness of what Seth had been doing with her, and what he now allowed the sergeant to do. She was ashamed, mortified. How could she tell a pretty, proper lady like Evelyn Gibbons something like that? The woman would think she was bad, that she liked men. She probably wouldn’t want to help her if she knew the truth.
Evelyn in turn was already putting that truth together. She watched the sergeant put a hand on Lucille’s waist, noticed how he looked at her hungrily. The four of them approached her, Seth glaring with a look that made her feel sick inside.
“Well, Miss Gibbons!” the sergeant said with a sneering smile. “I see you’re up and about. You’re the talk at the fort, you know. There aren’t many soldiers who have suffered an arrow wound, then you come along, an innocent, pretty little schoolteacher, and in a matter of weeks you come close to starting another Indian war! I thought us soldiers were the ones the Indians hated.” He laughed. “So, who do you think put that arrow in you?”
Evelyn rubbed at her arm, wincing slightly from lingering pain in the muscles at the left side of her chest and back. “I have no idea, Sergeant. A lot of the Sioux resent my being here. It could have been any number of men.”
The man shrugged. “Or a woman. Everybody knows that slut, Otter Woman, was Black Hawk’s favorite under the blankets. She’s a vicious, jealous woman, Miss Gibbons, and you going out to see Black Hawk alone…” His eyes moved over her as though she were a saloon girl. “Well, she might have thought maybe you were taking her man away from her. I hear tell Black Hawk cut off all her hair. Why do you think he did that?”
Evelyn struggled to keep her composure. The man was deliberately baiting her, insulting her. Seth Bridges stood there with a smirk on his face, enjoying the suggestive remarks. “I am sure I don’t know,” she answered. “I only saw Black Hawk twice, Sergeant, to teach him and his little boy. He never talked about Otter Woman, and to this day I have never even met the woman. Perhaps Black Hawk was angry with her for some other reason. I don’t know anything about his personal affairs, but one thing you now know for certain is that Black Hawk is not the one who hurt me. You had no reason and no right to attack him the way you did.”
“He resisted arrest.”
“With his hands tied behind his back?” Desmond reddened and Evelyn glared into his narrow eyes. “It takes a brave man to beat an unarmed man who is also tied, Sergeant, especially when you’re backed by several other men. I am impressed by your bravery.”
Desmond smiled, but a hateful glint sparkled in his eyes. “Well, I’m glad to see you’re all better and back to your old cocky self, Miss Gibbons.” He leaned closer. “You watch yourself, lady. You need us on your side. Some day you might holler for help, and nobody will come running.” He straightened, putting an arm around Lucille, who hung her head. “Me, I prefer white girls. My own kind.” He chuckled again. “Oh, by the way,” he added, before Evelyn could reply, “if you’re so hell-bent on getting Black Hawk and his kid to school, why don’t you try doing it through his sister? You get on Many Birds’s good side, and Black Hawk will think highly of it. It’s better than putting yourself in danger by going out to meet the man alone. Use your good sense, woman.” He tipped his hat. “Goodday to you, ma’am.”
The man walked off with Lucille, and Seth glowered at Evelyn. “I warned you once, lady, to stay away from my girls, or I’ll see you get kicked off this reservation altogether! With what I hear has been goin’ on, I expect that wouldn’t be too hard to do.” He grabbed Katy’s hand. “Let’s go!” he said angrily. “And don’t let me catch you talkin’ to this woman again!”
The man left, tugging Katy along. The girl glanced back at Evelyn, tears in her eyes, and Evelyn wanted to run and grab her away from the man. What was going on at the Bridges household? She did not need to guess what was going on between the sergeant and Lucille, nor did she need anyone to tell her that it was not a willing act on Lucille’s part. She hated this helpless feeling, and she decided she must try talking to Reverend Phillips about it, and perhaps to Agent McLaughlin. Something had to be done.
She turned away, surprised the sergeant had suggested she try to get Black Hawk’s sister to school. She had already thought of that but hadn’t the time to meet the girl yet. Desmond was right in one respect. If Many Birds came to school, perhaps Black Hawk would at least send Little Fox, knowing the boy’s aunt would be there to watch him. If the man was afraid to send Little Fox now because of a new distrust of the soldiers and the agency, Many Birds might be the to link to winning back his confidence. What confused her was the fact that it was Sergeant Desmond who had suggested it. Why on earth would he care?
Her thoughts were interrupted when someone called her name. She turned to see Beverly Evans standing at the corner of a colorful wagon where taffy candy was being given away in small, wrapped pieces free to the Indians. “Beverly! How nice to see you.”
She walked to where the woman stood, surprised to see that Beverly’s hair was worn hanging long and clipped at the back of her neck with a fancy barrette. She had not even seen the woman since leaving her and her husband at the Oahe Mission when first arriving at Standing Rock, but she remembered how prim and proper the Reverend Greggory Evans’s wife was, how stern and demanding Evans himself was. She was surprised the man would even come to a circus, much less allow his wife to have her hair hang loose, and to wear a lovely yellow, short-sleeved dress that was cut low at the bodice. Far from the quiet, reserved, and unsmiling Beverly Evans with whom she had traveled here by train, this woman was glowing.
“Evelyn!” she greeted, grasping her hands. “How good to see you!”
To Evelyn’s surprise the woman embraced her.
“You’re as beautiful as ever. I’m so glad you’re up and around. I heard what happened, but I was having some problems of my own at the time, and I couldn’t get away to see you.”
“Problems?” Evelyn pulled away. “What is wrong, Beverly? You look very happy, and so beautiful! What a lovely dress, and you look so different with your hair down.”
“Herbert thinks so, too. Oh, Evelyn, I feel like a new woman since I’ve met Herbert.”
/> Evelyn frowned in surprise. “Herbert?”
“Did you see the circus announcer, the handsome man in those wonderful high boots and that dashing red coat? That’s Herbert True. He manages the circus. When they leave Standing Rock, I am going with him, Evelyn.” Her eyes suddenly teared. “Please be happy for me. I’ve been so unhappy all my life, until now.”
Evelyn struggled to keep her composure. A little over two months ago this woman had been as submissive and proper as any minister’s wife could be. Now she was leaving her husband, to run off with the circus? “Beverly! Have you given serious thought to what you are doing? What does your husband have to say about it? Are you divorcing him?”
Beverly pulled her aside. “I’ve given Greggory a letter telling him I have never loved him and have never been happy and that I want a divorce. I don’t even care if he claims adultery on my part. I’m so happy with Herbert, Evelyn. All my life it was either my parents or my husband telling me how I must behave, whether I was allowed to laugh, telling me I couldn’t sing or dance. Greggory has treated me like just a piece of dust under his thumb—even worse, since it turned out I would never be able to give him children. Herbert doesn’t care about those things. He makes me laugh, and we dance together. His life is so exciting, traveling all over the country with unusual people and exotic animals. I don’t care what anyone thinks, Evelyn. I am going away with Herbert. I just wish…” She wiped at a tear that slipped out of her eye. “I wish just one person would be happy for me. I hoped it would be you. I could tell when we talked on that train trip out here that you were different from other women, more accepting, understanding of a woman’s need to be independent and joyous. Oh, Evelyn, is it true you went out alone to visit that wild renegade, Black Hawk? I smiled when I heard that. It didn’t surprise me one bit, but I was so worried when I heard someone tried to kill you. Still, you’re single and independent and you’re doing something daring and different. I think you’re wonderful, and it’s so important to me that you be happy for me.”
For a moment, Evelyn was at a loss for words. She led Beverly to a bench the circus had set out, and both women sat down. Evelyn thought for a moment how her own mother had gone through a similar experience—forced to live a certain way, told how to behave. Wild Horse had awakened new passions and a yearning for freedom that had come close to destroying her own parents’ marriage, but they had worked it out. After Wild Horse’s death, her mother had managed to talk things out with her father.
“Beverly, maybe you should try to talk to your husband and tell him your feelings, your needs.”
“It would do no good. I know him too well, and since meeting Herbert, I have no desire to keep my marriage going.”
Evelyn sighed in shock at what she was seeing and hearing. “If this makes you so utterly happy, then I am happy for you. But… Beverly, I left a fiancé, not a husband. And what do you know about this Herbert True?”
The woman’s blue eyes sparkled. “I know that he is single, and he has a zest for life; that he is the most handsome man I have ever met, and that he makes me happy. That is all I need to know… except that I also know that he loves me.”
Evelyn hated to spoil the woman’s joy, but she felt only alarm. She took hold of her hands. “Beverly, the man is a showman, an actor. He is a man of the world. How do you know he doesn’t toy with innocent women everyplace he goes?”
Beverly’s smile faded. “He wouldn’t. I can tell. Please, Evelyn. I need a friend—one person who understands how I feel. If Greggory had come after me, tried to stop me, I might have considered changing my mind. But he never came, Evelyn, never said one word. To him I was just a display to others that he was a family man. He married me to show others the proper way to go in life. A man must marry and have a family. A woman must bear children and be submissive to her husband. I meant nothing more to him than that, and once it was discovered I wouldn’t be able to give him children, he turned even less passionate and attentive, more critical of every move I made, everything I wore.” Her eyes misted again. “He doesn’t love me, Evelyn, and now that he considers that I have transgressed and have been an unfaithful wife, he would never take me back; but I don’t care. I have Herbert, and once I am divorced from Greggory, Herbert and I will be married, and if Greggory never forgives me, I know that God will, for I believe God never meant for me to be with Greggory. He meant for me to be with Herbert True.”
Evelyn wondered if that was an idea Mr. True had planted in the woman’s head. A man like that was surely a smooth talker. She couldn’t believe such a worldly soul would suddenly want to marry and settle with a plain and inexperienced woman like Beverly Evans, but it was obvious Beverly was not going to be convinced the man was anything but a saint. Who was she to spoil what little happiness this woman had ever known? “I will pray for you, Beverly, that all will go smoothly and that God will bless this new love you have found. I am just so surprised, I am rather at a loss for words. Of course I am happy for you. However this all turns out, I would never condemn you for what you have done. My mother always told me to follow my heart, but sometimes the heart can lead us to dangerous places, so I must also always be careful. That is what I am telling you now. Be careful, Beverly, but be happy.”
The woman sniffed and suddenly hugged her. “You’re younger than I, and have never even been married, yet I knew I could talk to you about this. I have wanted to visit with you since arriving at Oahe, but Greggory wouldn’t let me. He thinks you are much too modern in your thinking, too bold in the way you dress and in your ideas; but all the time I have admired you.”
Evelyn pulled away. “Beverly, most of the time I feel like I am stumbling in the dark. I am having my own problems with the heart, and sometimes I just want to run back home and marry Steven.”
Beverly watched her sympathetically, quickly dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief she retrieved from where it was tucked into the sash of her dress. “It’s Black Hawk, isn’t it? You have special feelings for him.”
Evelyn looked away. “He’s a Sioux Indian, Beverly.”
“He’s just a man.”
“Not in the eyes of most of our own kind. They see him as Sioux first, and you know what people think of a white woman who would dare to have feelings for an Indian.”
Beverly sighed deeply. “I will be the first to admit that it’s a rather startling and difficult thing for me to imagine; and yet now that I have met Herbert, I understand that love can transcend all things, all difficulties and obstacles; and I understand that a woman should be free to love whoever awakens her passion and fulfills her needs. I would no more tell you it’s wrong to care about Black Hawk than I would want you to tell me it’s wrong to love Herbert True.”
But Herbert True is using you, Beverly. When he is through with you he will throw you away like yesterday’s trash. Evelyn could not bring herself to say the words out loud, and she prayed with all her heart that she was wrong. After all, she had never met Herbert True. She had only watched the man put on his act for an audience. “Thank you for understanding,” she told Beverly. “You must write me and tell me where you have gone, how things worked out. And let me know where I in turn can write to you.”
“I will. And just as you will be praying for me, I will pray for you. I—” The woman’s eyes brightened. “Herbert!”
“Well, dear, here you are. I wondered where you have been.”
Beverly rose, her cheeks reddening with pleasure. “Herbert, this is a dear friend, Miss Evelyn Gibbons. She is a schoolteacher here on the reservation. We traveled here together.”
Evelyn rose to greet the handsome Mr. True. She did not miss the meaning in his eyes when they moved over her appreciatively. He grasped her hand and bent down to kiss the back of it. “How do you do, Miss Gibbons. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Beverly moved beside him and put an arm through his. “I have told Evelyn our plans. She’s happy for us.”
The man smiled, patti
ng Beverly’s hand. “How kind of you, Miss Gibbons,” he told Evelyn, his eyes roving her body again.
Evelyn sensed he was wishing he had met her before meeting Beverly, and in spite of his handsome exterior, she sensed the cool, calculating man who dwelled within. She hoped her suspicions were unwarranted, that she was being too critical of a traveling showman. She felt a distinct urge to grab Beverly and beg her not to run off with this man, that he would break her heart, but the look on Beverly’s face told her that the woman would never listen to one word of it, and it would break her heart just as much to feel she had lost another friend.
“I have to go and find Anita,” she said aloud. She touched Beverly’s arm. “Please remember that I am here, Beverly. If you ever need me, or just need a friend, I will always be that for you.”
Beverly reached out with one arm and hugged her once more. “Thank you, but I have Herbert. I will probably never see this place again once we leave.” She let go but kept her arm wrapped around Herbert’s. “Unlike you, I never wanted to come here, Evelyn. I have hated every minute of it.”
Evelyn glanced up at Herbert, saw the glint of victory in his dark eyes. “Be good to her, Mr. True. She is a sweet, good-hearted woman, and she has done a very difficult thing, leaving her husband for another man. She will need your love and your strength.”
He nodded. “And she will get both.” He tipped his top hat. “Come and visit our trailer any time you wish, Miss Gibbons. It’s the blue one down the row there, with the yellow trim. We can give you a taste of circus life.”
“I believe I have seen all I need to see,” she answered, holding his gaze challengingly. She moved her gaze to Beverly. “God be with you, Beverly. Write me.”
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