Lakota Flower

by Janelle Taylor

  War Eagle nodded and used one hand to urge her toward camp before he changed his mind about their parting and his caution. As she walked away with the loaded sling suspended over her back, he raised the crushed blossom to his nose and smelled its sweet scent. He recalled his final prayer words from last night: Show me if I can have the flower of my heart. Had the Great Spirit answered him this soon and in this manner? With all of his being, he hoped so. He untied the thong of his medicine bundle and placed the special coup inside it, and smiled in victory…

  As Caroline left the tree line, she was happier than she had been in a long time. Surely he loved and wanted her, as he had whispered, “You are mine, Heart Flower.” Perhaps he hadn’t meant to do so or didn’t realize he had spoken loud enough for her to hear him, but she had. Now that their mutual feelings were exposed, what would happen between them?

  When she entered the tepee, Cloud Chaser looked at her and said, “I was about to come look for you, Caroline. It’s almost dark, and danger could be lurking about in the night.” He noticed she was smiling and humming upon her return, but she halted both actions as he spoke to her. Her eyes seemingly glowed, as did her cheeks; and she quickly averted her gaze as if she had been caught doing mischief. He would think she had been running except she was not breathless, not even breathing hard. He had a strong feeling that something unusual was up with her. He wondered, But what?

  As she put away the sling filled with wood, she said, “I’m sorry I worried you, but it’s such a lovely and calm time of day that I got distracted and worked slowly. It will not happen again.” But I had to spend time with War Eagle because he’s leaving tomorrow and, heaven forbid, might never return. Please, God, protect him from all harm; and protect David from all harm. Please don’t let them challenge each other in battle. I couldn’t bear it if either killed the other or if either was slain in this war.

  “Is something wrong, Caroline?”

  “No, why?”

  “You looked strange, sad, for a moment.”

  “I was just thinking about my brother, who must also be worried about me. Do you think I could send him a message that I’m alive and safe?”

  “I will think upon your request, but it will be a hard task. We do not know where he is, and contacting him could endanger us.”

  “You’re right, Cloud Chaser, and I don’t want to imperil anyone here.”

  “I cannot make you a promise, but I will do your deed if possible.”

  “Thank you, Cloud Chaser; you’re a kind person. I—”

  Caroline’s words were interrupted when War Eagle called out for her owner to join him. Her head jerked in the direction of the entrance flap and she saw him standing beyond it. Actually, she saw him from the chest down, as his neck and head were concealed by the tepee. But even a half sighting was sufficient to spark the embers of her smoldering passion to life again. She struggled hard to prevent exposing his effect upon her.

  Cloud Chaser told his brother he would join him soon, then said to Caroline, “We will talk again later. I must speak with War Eagle.”

  As the men walked away to seek a private spot to talk, Caroline busied herself helping Macha with Casmu and with spreading out the sleeping mats. She was glad they had eaten early this evening and was elated it was almost time for bed. She could hardly wait to drift into slumberland where she could visit the man she loved…

  “Something troubles your spirit, my brother?” Cloud Chaser asked.

  War Eagle nodded as he took a deep breath. He was worried about leaving Caroline without close protection in camp from Two Feathers. He wished he could take their cousin along so the evil-ensnared man would not be there to intimidate her with his stares and presence. But he could not allow Two Feathers to distract them from duty and alertness with his spite toward Cloud Chaser, whose presence and special skills were needed on this particular mission. He did not know what his second brother would think or say on the strange matter, but he related that concern to him.

  Cloud Chaser was not surprised by that revelation, as he had suspected there were strong feelings between those two people. He did not know if a serious relationship between them was possible or wise, but he was not the one to make that decision or to face that great challenge. He remembered how difficult it had been for him—with his half-white blood—to lay claim to Macha as his wife, but it would be harder for War Eagle—who was second in line to become the next chief and was full-blooded Lakota—to take a white woman—one of the enemy—as his mate. His heart went out to his younger brother, who might be denied his desire forever and for what War Eagle might endure if he attempted to travel that obstructed path regardless of the perils, sacrifices, and consequences. He said, “I will ask Wind Dancer to look after her during our absence. Bent Bow is to hunt fresh game for Dawn and Caroline and to protect them if peril strikes at our camp. Do not worry, for they will be safe in our brother’s and our friend’s care.”

  “My heart thanks you, for I am sure Two Feathers will harass her while we are gone. He will try to do so cunningly, and she might tell no one.”

  “You fear for her safety and feelings because you love and desire her?”

  Before he could halt himself, Ware Eagle admitted, “Yes.”

  Cloud Chaser smiled and said, “I am happy and proud you trust and love me enough to share this secret with me.”

  “On this moon, you are the only one who would understand my trap and feelings. What must I do and say, for you have learned the truth?”

  Cloud Chaser inhaled deeply through his nostrils and exhaled the spent air. “I do not know how to advise you, my brother, for this matter is a heavy one.” He related what he had thought earlier, then added, “Perhaps our people would accept her in your life, for she has done many good deeds since coming to our camp. But the impeding war with the whites could cast shadows over her and many might resist a bond between you two. Two Feathers is certain to cause trouble for you and her. He hates and distrusts me for my white blood and for stealing Dawn from his grasp, and he will feel even stronger about Caroline’s enemy blood and for my refusal to trade her to him. I do not know which path to tell you to walk, for either will demand much from you. I will tell you: no matter the sacrifices and perils, I had no choice except to walk the path toward Dawn, for she is my destiny, my true love. If you feel the same way about Caroline, you must journey toward her.”

  “What if taking her is not the will of the Great Spirit?” “Ask Him to guide you to the path you must walk.” “I have done so many times, but I do not know if He sent me the sign I prayed for on this sun.” War Eagle related what had happened between him and Caroline on the trail toward the Cheyenne camp, during their return ride, and in the forest earlier. “Could the flower she picked be a sign?”

  Cloud Chaser was surprised to learn how far things had gone between them. Then, he realized he should not have been, for the clues had been there for him to grasp. He grinned and confessed, “It was much the same with me and Dawn before we fled our camp during the last hot season so I could prove myself worthy of her and of becoming a Red Shield and Rising Bear’s son again. We sneaked many visits together where we shared kisses and embraces and special words. Often Hanmani would stand guard for us, for she knew of our feelings and believed we belonged together, and she did not want Two Feathers to ask for her best friend in joining. I will guard your secret and meetings until it is the right time to reveal your feelings to our family and others. Until this current conflict with the soldiers and whites is settled, that time is not here. You are certain Caroline feels as you do?”

  “Yes. She does not respond out of fear for her safety and life.”

  “Are her love and desire strong enough to give up her world and ways for you, to turn her back against her people, against her brother? You know what she will be called by them and how she will be treated if they steal her back from us. Is she willing to have her hand held in the fire with yours?”

  Would she, War Eagle wondered, endure
such shame and anguish? Did he know her well enough to answer that question in her stead? “I have not asked her to join me. I have not asked her about her feelings for me. I have not told her I love and desire her and want her for my mate. I did not think the time had come for speaking such things to her. But she has much cunning and wits, so surely she has grasped them.”

  “You show wisdom with your caution and delay. Allow more suns to pass while she becomes more acceptable to our people. After we return from our journey, we will choose what you must do about her.”

  “That is good and wise, my brother, and I thank you.”

  After Cloud Chaser returned to his tepee, he told Caroline, “I ride with War Eagle and others at sunrise to learn the plans and location of General Harney and his troops. The council met today and chose us to carry out that task. We do not leave to ride against them, for they are too many and too strong for a small party to challenge. While we are gone, our friend Bent Bow, son of the war chief, will hunt fresh meat for you and Dawn and will protect you if our camp is attacked by enemies. If Two Feathers tries to harm or harass you, go to Wind Dancer and tell him of such trouble, and he will handle it for you. Do not let him frighten or injure you. I trust you, Caroline, so I know you will not attempt to escape during my absence. Do all you can to help Dawn and Casmu, and be good and respectful to our people.”

  “I will obey your words, Cloud Chaser, I promise. Thank you for telling me what to do about Two Feathers if he causes us trouble,” she told him, though she suspected, hoped, that idea was War Eagle’s. “Be careful.”

  “I will be alert and take no unnecessary risks, and so will my brother and our companions. If the Great Spirit so guides me, I will seek out your brother and study him. If he seems safe, I will speak to him about you.”

  Caroline smiled and thanked him. “I would be forever grateful, Cloud Chaser, but do not speak to David if it endangers you and your people. Perhaps you could …” she began, then asked, “Do you know how to write English?” After he nodded, she smiled again and suggested, “Perhaps you could slip him a note telling him I’m safe and alive without speaking directly to him and letting him see your face and learn who has me captive.”

  Cloud Chaser grinned, then chuckled. “You are as smart and cunning as War Eagle said. That is a clever idea. Go to sleep now if you want to get up early to watch us ride away.”

  Caroline smiled and nodded, before she took to her buffalo mat. Lying on her right side and facing away from the couple, she nestled her cheek against the soft fur and let her joyous and inquisitive mind roam for a while. So, they had talked about her. What had they said? More importantly, what had War Eagle said about her? Had he revealed their actions and feelings to his brother? If so, what had Cloud Chaser thought and felt and responded? Was that why he had told her to “be good and respectful to our people,” so she could win them over as friends? Was that why he thought she might want “to get up early to watch us ride away” so she could see War Eagle for a last time before a lengthy absence? If he was in the know, it didn’t appear to disturb, offend, or anger him. Unless, Cloud Chaser believed, hoped, it was only a passing fancy for his brother. Could that be true in more than one way? Was War Eagle only temporarily intrigued by a forbidden temptation?

  With the aid of a small fire providing light, Caroline rolled to her stomach, turned her head, and sneaked a peek at the couple on the other side of the tepee. They were cuddled together and whispering too softly for her to overhear their words. Perhaps, she reasoned, he was telling Macha about his talk with War Eagle. Or maybe they were only saying bittersweet farewells. If secrets were being exposed over there, surely she would guess the truth tomorrow or soon, according to Macha’s gazes and behavior. For now, she had best get to sleep or she’d slumber through her love’s departure.

  Caroline stood close to Macha and held Casmu while the couple said good-bye and embraced for a final time, their strong bond evident in the ways in which they looked at and touched each other. She smiled and nodded at Cloud Chaser when he told her farewell and asked her to take good care of his wife and son during his absence. He mounted and took his place with the other riders: Swift Otter, her beloved’s best friend; River’s Edge, also a friend and Macha’s brother; Broken Lance, their first cousin and brother to her nemesis; and War Eagle, the man who had stolen her heart with ease and speed. All five men glanced at her and Macha and the men’s parents, who were nearby to observe their sons’ partings. She wished Cloud Chaser good luck and coaxed him to be careful, then glanced at War Eagle to let him know those words also applied to him. She saw her beloved give her a slight nod to reveal he had grasped her unspoken message. Then, the party of five walked their horses out of camp to avoid disturbing those who might still be asleep this early. Sadness and worry tugged at her heart and mind as they vanished from sight, off to scout the “enemy,” Harney’s massive forces.

  As she and Macha reentered the tepee, Caroline prayed for everyone’s safety and survival. Please, Heavenly Father, forgive me if it is wrong to have such love and desire for this particular man. You know these are good people, so protect them from the greed and misunderstandings of mine. I beg You to find some way to evoke peace between our two cultures. If there is any way I can help bring about harmony, please show me how to do so.

  As Caroline did her morning chores, she was aware that autumn would make its vivid presence known in a few weeks. She wondered what would happen when winter followed that colorful season and this area—as she had been told at Fort Pierre—was assailed by heavy snow and strong winds. Surely, she reasoned, soldiers could not travel the countryside in such harsh conditions, so the Red Shields would have a reprieve from their threat. Unless, her troubled mind refuted, General Harney was so determined to crush the Indians that he would take any and all risks to do so.

  Caroline called to mind things Cloud Chaser had revealed to her. Why, she fretted, had Lieutenant Grattan foolishly and recklessly provoked the Indians into a new conflict last August over the slaughter and devouring of one stray cow when the majority of the tribes and band in this vast area had agreed to peace with ally and enemy alike only four years ago? Didn’t her government and the army realize Grattan had drawn first blood when his nervous men had fired on friendly Brules, slaying the leader they had appointed as the head chief of all Dakotas? Didn’t they know Grattan took two cannons and a drunken and insulting interpreter with him to demand either the cow’s return or the brutal punishment of those who had slain and eaten the sorry beast? Didn’t they understand that the Brules were only defending themselves and their home when they retaliated? Why would a great man like Secretary of War Jefferson Davis send in General William “By God, I’m for battle—not peace” Harney to handle what was being called a “bloody uprising” that must be quelled at any price and action? How could they order every Indian—men, women, children—to leave their land—a territory designated to them in the Laramie Treaty or they would be viewed as “hostile” and in peril of being slain or captured and sent far away?

  Cloud Chaser had told her that Harney was closing in fast with a force of thirteen hundred or more heavily armed soldiers, including cannons, with orders to punish the dreaded “Sioux” and “restore order.” He said the War Department was humiliated and infuriated by Grattan’s “massacre” and held all Dakotas to blame for that incident and other deeds, even though only certain Brule bands and a few Lakota allies were involved in them. He said the government and army feared that unless punishment was swift and hard, worse trouble and more deaths would ensue. She had to concur with Cloud Chaser that the cow’s loss had been only an excuse for Grattan to intimidate, ridicule and attack the Indians. Now, Grattan’s loss was being used as another excuse to subjugate or exile the Indians from these lands.

  It was an injustice and a tragedy, Caroline decided, one that might be prevented if the two sides would talk and an understanding could be reached, but she somehow knew that would not happen. Just as she knew her people w
ere wrong in this grave matter. She hoped and prayed their cruel and antagonistic actions would not taint her currently good image in the Red Shields’ eyes and spoil her accomplishments there. Yet, it would be only human nature for at least some of them to turn against her…

  War Eagle and his small band headed southward toward Ash Hollow on the North Platte River to parley with Spotted Tail and Little Thunder, who were camped there according to the messages they had received recently. Their task was to learn if any bands had moved out of the specified Lakota territory as ordered by General Harney through Indian Agent Twiss. If so, they wanted to know which bands, where they had gone, and why they had agreed to the white war chief’s unreasonable demand. They also needed to ascertain Harney’s location and strength, and future plans if possible.

  As they journeyed over flat terrain or rolling hills covered with grass, wildflowers, scattered trees, and scrub bushes, they saw or encountered rutting buffaloes and herds of pronghorn and intermingled deer. With the sacred Paha Sapa to their right, each knew the leaves of hardwoods growing in abundance in the black mountains and its foothills would be putting on their colorful garments soon. Various grasses and wildflowers would either die or sleep as the bears until Mother Earth renewed her lovely face, most of them to slumber beneath blankets of snow. Spirits of fallen flowers would drift skyward to form the bands of rainbows whose edges kissed the ground one final time before rejoining the Creator to beautify His surroundings and those of Dakotas who had been summoned into His presence. Days were warm now, not hot; and nights were cooler, often enticing small fires to ward off a chilly one. Yes, the next season was approaching at a steady pace.

  After those perceptions were noted by War Eagle, he thought about Caroline, her mute message to him, and her close proximity to his spiteful cousin. He wished Two Feathers was like Broken Lance, but the two brothers were as different as the buck and the badger. He admitted he would miss Caroline greatly, but he must not allow such feelings and needs to distract him from his duty or provoke him to rush to complete it to hurry back to her. For now, he must think of his people and their allies, not the woman who had captured his heart as surely as he had captured her body.