Sunny filled in more details. “My grandmother, Mary Sunrise, left the reservation when she was eighteen or nineteen, and she rarely spoke of her mother.” She paused, studying the old woman’s countenance. “I think she was ashamed…of her mother.”
Aunt Lulu did not look surprised.
“And my grandmother gave me reason to believe that her mother was a very bad woman. A dishonorable woman. I think my grandmother wanted to push her mother’s memories far away from her.”
Aunt Lulu put a crooked forefinger to the side of her head now, slowly making circles as if to signify that Polly Wikiapi had some mental instabilities or worse.
“You believe she was crazy?” Sunny asked quietly.
“That’s what people said.”
Sunny glanced over at Hank now. He and Raymond were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee, but she could tell they were listening.
“You’re saying that Polly Wikiapi was not in her right mind?” Hank asked his aunt.
“Maybe so.”
“Oh.” Sunny leaned back in the chair. In a way, she was shocked. In another way, she was not.
“Polly Wikiapi was too beautiful,” Aunt Lulu said soberly.
“Too beautiful?” Sunny watched the old woman closely.
“Too much of anything is not good.”
“Oh.” Sunny tried to take this in. “And you think that made her crazy?”
“Maybe so.”
“My grandmother said her mother was an alcoholic.”
“Yes.”
“You knew that too?”
Aunt Lulu shrugged. “Everyone knew. But there was more. Polly Wikiapi was different than other women—not like other mothers and aunts. She held herself high…looked down on others. Yet she did not care for her child. She did not respect her elders. She ran with men. Drank with men. She died young.”
“Yes. I know.”
Now Aunt Lulu looked closely at Sunny. “You are like her?”
“No,” Sunny said suddenly. “I am nothing like her.”
Aunt Lulu held up the photo, peering at it and then at Sunny as if skeptical. “Why are you here? Why do you want to know about Polly Wikiapi?”
“I want to understand my family,” Sunny explained. “I went to college, and I got a degree in anthropology—” She paused, trying to think of a simple way to explain this concept more clearly. “That’s the study of people and society. After my graduation, I taught anthropology to college students. Yet I never studied my own people.” Even as she confessed this, she felt ashamed. Deeply ashamed.
The scowl on Aunt Lulu’s wrinkled brown face intensified. “You teach the study of people? And you never studied your own people? How can you teach what you do not know?”
Sunny had no answer for that. In fact, she was on the verge of tears. Of course, Aunt Lulu was exactly right. Not only was this preposterous, it was arrogant and downright hypocritical. No wonder Sunny had lost her job. She had never deserved it in the first place.
“Aunt Lulu,” Hank said gently, “education in the white man’s world is different.”
Aunt Lulu gave him an even darker look, full of disapproval. Sunny could imagine what the old woman was thinking—that the white man’s education wasn’t only different, it was foolish and worthless.
“Remember my boy, Cody,” Hank continued without intimidation. “You know how he went to the university to learn how to help our people with their problems—problems with alcohol and illegal drugs. But Cody has never had a problem with alcohol or drugs. Yet he teaches classes and helps people get out of that destructive lifestyle and live a better life.”
She seemed to consider this. Then she pointed her finger at Sunny. “Why did you not learn of your own people?”
How could she explain? Sunny wondered. “My grandmother left everything behind,” she said. “Her shame was so deep that she pretended she had no family. She never spoke of it. She lived as a white woman with no past. She taught me to do the same.”
Aunt Lulu nodded sadly, as if she understood but didn’t approve.
“Because if you’re right,” Sunny said, “if Polly Wikiapi was crazy, it would be very painful for her child. I can understand why my grandmother would want to escape that kind of life.”
“There were other mothers…other women who helped raise Mary Sunrise, including her grandmother.”
“And I’m sure my grandmother was grateful to them. But for some reason, when she left the reservation, she left all her memories and everything else behind her.”
Aunt Lulu sighed with a faraway look. “Some of our people leave.”
“Like Myrtle,” Raymond said quietly.
Aunt Lulu looked down at her hands.
“Myrtle is Aunt Lulu’s youngest daughter,” Hank told Sunny.
“She left too,” Raymond supplied. “More than forty years she’s been gone with no word, no letter, nothing.”
“I’m sorry, Aunt Lulu,” Sunny said gently. “That must hurt. And you seem like such a good woman. I don’t know why your daughter would want to leave you.”
Aunt Lulu picked up the photo of Polly again. Once more she held it up, comparing the image to Sunny. “Are you married?” she asked Sunny. “Do you have children?”
Sunny shook her head. “No. I’ve never been married. No children.”
Aunt Lulu looked surprised now. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-six.”
“And not married? No children? What is wrong?”
Sunny held up her hands with a forced smile. “I went to college, and I worked and took care of my grandmother in her elderly years. I guess I just didn’t have time to marry and have children.”
Aunt Lulu frowned. “You are very old, not to be married.”
Growing more and more uncomfortable, Sunny decided to change the subject. “Did Polly Wikiapi have any brothers or sisters? Do you know if I have any relatives still living here on the reservation?”
Aunt Lulu’s brow creased and her eyes closed, as if she were thinking hard. Finally, she said, “Yes. I remember an older brother and an older sister. I cannot remember their full names. The family name was Blue Crow, and also there were some Staffords. The sister married a Stafford. I don’t know if you’ll find any Blue Crows around, but there are still some Staffords.”
“Pete Blue Crow was about my age,” Raymond told Sunny. “But he never married. Lived a rough sort of life. He died about ten years ago.”
“There’s Bill and Ellie Stafford and their kids,” Hank offered. “They don’t live far from me. And they’re a real nice family too. Tina Stafford was a Happy Canyon Pageant Princess a couple years back, and there’s a son who’s older and the youngest girl, Misty, is a friend of Echo’s.”
“And you think they might be relatives?” Sunny asked hopefully.
“More’n likely,” Hank assured her.
Sunny reached over to take Aunt Lulu’s hand now. “Thank you for remembering my family,” she told her. “I really appreciate it.”
Aunt Lulu looked deep into her eyes. “That is our job—to remember, to tell our stories, to teach the young people to remember, so they can tell our stories to their children…so that we never forget.”
“I promise you,” Sunny swore, “I will learn my story. I’ll even write it down.”
Aunt Lulu tapped her chest. “Write it down inside you. And then tell it. Tell it to your children and your children’s children so they never forget.”
Sunny smiled. “Yes. I will do that too…if I get the chance to have children.”
Aunt Lulu nodded. “You will have children. I can see it in your eyes.”
Sunny squeezed the old woman’s hand and thanked her again. Then she and Hank left.
“Your aunt Lulu is a sweetheart,” Sunny told Hank as she drove down the dirt road away from the cabin.
He chuckled. “I think she must’ve liked you, Sunny. She was a lot nicer than I expected her to be.”
“Even though she said some hard thing
s, they weren’t untrue.”
“Aunt Lulu speaks the truth as she sees it. Sometimes it’s not a complete truth.” He took a deep breath. “What she said about your great-grandmother being crazy…I would do as Cody advised.”
“What’s that?”
“Take her words with a grain of salt.”
“I don’t know,” she said thoughtfully. “It wouldn’t surprise me if Polly Wikiapi was insane. In fact, it would explain my grandmother’s deep aversion to her own mother. And it’s no secret that alcoholism is often a form of self-treatment for other forms of mental illnesses or chemical imbalances.”
“So would that be your explanation in regard to Jackson Sundown? Your reason for dismissing him as an ancestor?”
“I think it’s feasible that Polly Wikiapi—in a delusional state of mind—may have thought that Sundown had fathered her baby.”
“Does it make you more comfortable to believe that?”
“That theory helps to preserve Jackson Sundown’s larger-than-life image—preserving the hero legend.”
Hank slapped his thigh and laughed. “Well, that shows how much you don’t know about cowboys or Indians, Sunny Girl.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean it takes all kinds. Just because a man is legendary and he can ride broncs and bulls and impress the fans, that doesn’t warrant the man has morals or character.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that.”
Hank’s silence suggested he doubted this.
“So are you suggesting Jackson Sundown was a cad?” she challenged.
“No, not at all. But, on the same token, I’m willing to bet he wasn’t a saint, either. He was human, Sunny, a flesh-and-blood man. Surely you’ve heard the old story about graven images with feet of clay?”
“Of course. And I’ve done enough research to know that Sundown did some wild things in his time,” she admitted. “But that doesn’t prove he got my great-grandmother pregnant, then left her behind and married another woman.”
“Aha,” he said in a knowing tone. “So is that your secret fear? That maybe the legendary Jackson Sundown may have mistreated your great-grandmother? That he’s not the hero you’d like him to be?”
Sunny didn’t want to be insincere or dishonest with Hank or with herself, yet she hated to concede that he might’ve just hit the nail on the head. “I don’t know for sure,” she finally admitted. “I’d like to believe that I’m searching for the truth—that I’m not going to settle for anything less than truth.”
“The truth.” He nodded. “Well, I can’t fault you for that, exceptin’ the truth doesn’t always reveal itself all at one sitting. Sometimes it’s like digging a well, pulling out one bucketful of dirt at a time.”
“Hoping that you eventually hit water.” Even as she said this, she knew she’d be lucky to find her truth as easily as finding water. But maybe it was like that old saying: it was more about the journey than the destination.
Chapter Fourteen
It was close to noon when she turned onto the Barrett driveway, but Cody’s pickup was already parked in front of his house.
“You got me home just in time,” Hank told her as she stopped her car.
“Just in time?”
“Cody usually comes home for lunch,” he explained. “Checking up on me, I suspect, although he says it’s for other reasons.”
“Oh.” Sunny remembered about the diabetes now. “Well, thanks again for your help, Hank. Today meant a lot to me.”
“Hey, you can’t leave yet, Sunny.”
“Why not?”
“Because I got to introduce you to your other relatives.”
“But I—”
“No buts.” He put on his cowboy hat and opened the door. “You come on into the house and have a bite of lunch, then we’ll continue on our detective work.”
“Detective work?”
He chuckled. “Oh, you’ll have to excuse me. I like reading mystery books, and I suppose I’m pretending that we’re out to solve the mystery of whether or not you’re a descendant of Jackson Sundown. You’ll have to humor an old man.”
“I’ll humor you as long as you don’t go around bringing up Jackson Sundown, Hank.”
“I didn’t say a single word to Aunt Lulu,” he said defensively. “You saw that. She already knew the story.”
“Yes, but she’s very old. And I think she doubted the story right along with my great-grandmother’s sanity.”
“Maybe so.” He nodded. “Now, are you going to come on into the house, or are you going to make me sit here until Cody comes out to fetch me? He gets a mite bit grumpy when I’m late for lunch.”
“But I don’t want to intrude.”
“Then I reckon you didn’t notice that big old pot of elk stew last night. My best guess is that’s what we’re having for lunch. Leftovers.” He smacked his lips. “But if you thought it was tasty last night, I can promise you it’ll be even better today.”
Cody was out on the porch now, waving at them. Sunny put down her window and waved back.
“You guys better get yourselves in here before the stew gets cold,” he called out.
“See,” Hank said with satisfaction. “You should’ve listened to me in the first place.”
Still feeling like an intruder, Sunny followed Hank into the house where, sure enough, she could smell food cooking. “I really didn’t mean to invite myself to lunch,” she told Cody as she joined him in the kitchen.
“You didn’t invite yourself,” he said. “I invited you.”
“I invited her first,” Hank declared.
“But I had dinner with you last night, and here I am again today. You’ll think that I’m trying to move in on you.” Of course, no sooner had she said this than she realized how wrong it sounded.
But Cody just laughed.
“Well, after the way Aunt Lulu took to you this morning, I’m thinking maybe you are one of the family.”
“Aunt Lulu liked you?” Cody asked as he filled a bowl with stew and handed it to Sunny.
“She took right to her,” Hank answered as Sunny set the bowl on the table and went back to get the next one.
“She knew both my great-grandmother and my grandmother,” Sunny said as she took the next bowl. “Do you think it’s possible that I am related to you?” she eagerly asked Hank. “Is it possible that your mother is related to my family? Didn’t you say her last name was something Crow and my family name was Blue Crow?” She grinned at Cody. “Maybe we’re long-lost cousins.”
He appeared thoughtful, then frowned as if it weren’t too likely.
“I felt such a kinship with Echo when I first met her,” Sunny said with enthusiasm. “Like she could’ve been a relative.”
Hank chuckled. “Well, if you go back far enough, we’re all related. But didn’t you say your great-grandmother was Cayuse?”
“Yes.” Sunny waited.
“My mother was Umatilla.”
“But didn’t they ever mix? I mean Jackson Sundown was Nez Percé and—” Sunny stopped herself, glancing over at Cody, who was getting down water glasses. “Well, I remember reading that he married someone from another tribe.” She went over to help fill the water glasses.
“You’re right. There is intermarrying amongst tribes. But from what I can remember, my mother was mostly Umatilla, maybe some Walla Walla.”
“Sounds like we’re not cousins,” Cody said as they carried the water glasses to the table.
When they were all seated, Cody said a quick blessing, then encouraged his father to start eating.
“Cody is like a mother hen,” Hank said as he stuck his spoon in his stew. “But lucky for me, he can cook like a mother hen too.”
“Hens can cook?” Cody questioned him.
“You know what I mean.”
“Dad’s a good cook too,” Cody told Sunny. “You should taste his barbecued salmon sometime. He’s got this killer huckleberry glaze, and he won’t give out the recipe to anyone.”
“I’ll teach it to Echo someday,” Hank said with his mouth full.
“That’s a relief.” Cody winked at Sunny. “In case he kicks the bucket, you know. Might be nice to keep it in the family.”
Hank laughed.
“It’s possible that some of your neighbors are my relatives,” Sunny told Cody.
“That’s right,” Hank added. “The Staffords might be related.”
“Nice folks.” Cody reached for a corn muffin. “Misty is a good friend of Echo’s. They’re less than a mile down the road from us.”
“I’m going to take Sunny over after we finish up lunch,” Hank explained, “to see if Ellie’s home and if she wants to visit a bit.”
Cody nodded, but Sunny could see concern in his eyes as he glanced at his father. Was he worried that Hank was overdoing it? Or was it something even more?
“Do you think we should wait until tomorrow to visit the Staffords?” she asked Hank. “Today’s been pretty full already. And maybe Mrs. Stafford would prefer if we phoned ahead rather than just showing up.”
“Oh, I doubt that Ellie would mind—”
“I have an idea,” Cody interrupted. “How about if I take Sunny with me to Crow’s Shadow after lunch. She might be interested to see what they’re doing over there. In the meantime, you give Ellie a call, have a little rest, and then when we get back, you and Sunny can head over to Staffords’. ”
Hank frowned, then nodded. “Yeah, I reckon that’s a good plan.”
So, after lunch, Cody went to check on a horse with colic, Hank went over to his house, and Sunny cleaned up the lunch things. She wasn’t trying to snoop, but she could tell that it was a fairly well-organized kitchen and suspected this was Lorena’s doing. And, not for the first time, she was curious about this woman. Curious beyond the pretty smiling girl in the rodeo photos. Who had she really been? What had she really been like? Not that it was any of Sunny’s business, but she just wanted to know.
“Hey, thanks for cleaning up in here,” Cody said as he washed his hands in the sink. “Good ol’ Joker is looking as good as new.”
“Is that the sick horse?”
“Yeah. I’ve had him since high school. And I should’ve known better than to let him out on a green field. He’s always been a greedy eater and prone to colic. Fortunately, he’s resilient. But I still need to be careful. The old guy is in his twenties.”
Love Finds You in Pendleton, Oregon Page 12