Lakota Winds (Zebra Historical Romance) Page 12

  Wastemna smiled at Chumani's words. "I must go and do my chores. My eyes and ears will remain open at all times for trouble. Do not worry, Dewdrops, such evil will be exposed soon, for your husband is a man of great skills and wits. If you have not done so, you must tell him your suspicions so he will not think badly of your actions."

  "My husband knows of such troubles and knows I am not to blame for them." For a brief time, Chumani was tempted to claw the feigned smile from the woman's lips, and was surprised to experience that dark urge.

  "That is good. If there is anything I can do or say to make things better for you, ask it of me or of the women in your new family circle."

  After the war chief's daughter left the tepee and Wind Dancer entered, he asked his wife, "Why do you mistrust Wastemna? I overheard your talk."

  "Her words roll sweet as honey from her lips, but I do not believe them. I have seen how she looks at me and ..." She halted before saying you. "And I have not forgotten her action on my first moon here."

  "What do you mean, mitawin?"

  Chumani disclosed the encounter with Wastemna in the forest during the welcome feast. "Her lodge is close to ours, so it would be easy for her to be the culprit. You are right; I do not like her or trust her."

  Wind Dancer wondered if his wife viewed Wastemna as a rival for his affections, but thought it best not to pose that query to her. If Dewdrops was right about Wastemna being to blame for the mischief, how could he ensnare the woman in the act?

  Midmorning on the following day as she was about to head into the forest to gather wood, Chumani heard Winona give forth a muffled scream. She flung down the wood sling and returned to her tepee, where she grabbed her bow and two arrows. One arrow she placed between her teeth and the other she nocked in readiness for trouble. As quietly as possible, she hurried to the tepee beside hers and peered inside. Her scanning gaze locked on Winona as the older woman stood petrified near the dwelling's rear. Winona nodded toward the peril located between them; that and the ominous sound of rapid rattling drew Chumani's gaze to the coiled and agitated snake.

  "Do not move or speak," she cautioned in a whisper. The creature obviously had sensed her arrival and repositioned itself to face her. Chumani froze in place until it was still again except for the swiftly moving clattering rings at the end of its tail. Its fat size and number of rattles told her it had been around for many circles of the seasons. Slowly and while keeping her gaze fastened to the viper, she stepped sidewise near the tepee's base. When she was between Winona and the snake and had backed her up as much as possible, she tried to force the creature to wriggle out the entrance by tossing several objects at it and then by throwing two toward the open flap to draw its attention there. The creature not only refused to be lured to escape but also made it apparent he was going to advance and strike.

  "Forgive me, Great Spirit," she murmured sadly, "for I must take its life to save my second mother." She drew back on the bowstring and let the first arrow fly, striking the snake in its largest section and pinning it to the ground, though it thrashed wildly for freedom. Without delay, she nocked her second arrow and pinned its head to the ground. She hurried forward, withdrew a knife from her waist sheath, and ended its life. She cut off the length of rattles and gave them to Winona, who embraced and thanked her.

  "I did not want to kill him, but he would not leave and was preparing to attack," Chumani explained. "I will feed him to Cetan so his sacrifice will not go to waste."

  Hanmani returned from gathering wood and was told the frightful story in haste. She, too, embraced and thanked Chumani for her brave deed. She rushed outside to fetch her father and brothers, as she had seen them approaching with the game from their morning hunt.

  The three men joined the women and listened to the same tale as an excited Hanmani told.

  As Chumani was being embraced and thanked and praised by Rising Bear and War Eagle, Wind Dancer looked around to make certain no mate or offspring was lurking about to cause trouble later and made a shocking discovery. Until he could speak with his wife privately, he secreted the item beneath his shirt. He moved closer to the group, told them no other creature lurked inside, then observed his wife furtively.

  "I thank Wakantanka for bringing you to us, Dewdrops, for you have saved the light of my eye and warmth of my heart," the chief said in an emotion-choked voice as he handed her an eagle feather he had retrieved from a pouch nearby. "This is your reward for such a great coup."

  "You are kind, my second father, and I shall wear it in honor. I, too, thank the Great Spirit for slowing my body this sun. If He had not done so, I would have been in the forest gathering wood and not heard her cry."

  They talked for a short while longer before Chumani left to finish her daily tasks, taking the snake with her to give to her hawk to devour.

  Wind Dancer followed her into their tepee and asked, "Why did you take your bow and two arrows when you rushed to Mother's lodge?"

  Chumani was baffled by his odd tone and expression. "When I heard a scream, I sensed trouble or danger must be nearby. I did not take the creatures's life quickly or easily, mihigna, and I asked Wakantanka's forgiveness for doing so. Did you not hear how I tried to force him to flee, but he would not go? Was there another path I should have walked? Did I displease you?"

  "I am happy you saved the life of my mother, and you showed great skill and courage in doing so. Soon, all who live in our camp will hear of your good deed and prowess." Was that, he worried, a possible motive for creating the perilous situation? No, surely she would not endanger his mother.

  "Perhaps that is why the Great Spirit guided him there, to show your people I am skilled and worthy to be your companion on the sacred quest." When he continued to look at her strangely, she asked, "What troubles your heart and mind about this deed, mihigna? It is in your voice and gaze."

  Wind Dancer withdrew the item from beneath his shirt, held it up before her, and queried, "Is this your wozuha?"

  Chumani looked at the beaded pouch. "It is mine," she said. "Why did you take it and hide it beneath your garment?"

  "I found it in my mother's lodge behind a backrest. Signs within the wazuha say the snake was kept there for a long time and crawled out of it." As he spoke, he opened the pouch and dumped the dark droppings into the palm of his hand. He watched her stare at the small black balls, then lift her gaze to look at him questioningly.

  "Do you ask if I captured the snake and put him there?"

  "I only ask how and why your wazuha was there?"

  "I do not know. I have not missed it. I did not take it there. Who would want to frighten or harm your mother?" Chumani's gaze darkened and narrowed. "Or perhaps it was used to make me appear to blame? It is another wicked trick of the silwaecon or wicagnayesa. Who was found in our tepee on the last sun?" she reminded him.

  "Do you say Wastemna stole it, captured the snake, and placed it in my mother's lodge?" After his wife half-nodded, he considered the accusation before concluding. "She lacks the courage and skill to do so.

  Chumani knew he referred to entrapping the viper. "When one's heart and mind are controlled by evil thoughts and feelings, one can do and say many things we find hard to believe and accept. It does not require much skill or courage to kneel upon a high rock and use a stick with a thong loop to slip over a snake's neck. Do you forget this is the season when they leave their winter holes and lay about in the sun, making them easy prey?"

  "I have not forgotten."

  "Why did you not show the pouch and question me about it before the others? Did you fear they would also doubt me and wish to punish me?"

  "No, I did not want them to know of the mischievous intent. I did not wish to frighten and sadden my mother or to worry my father. Until we learn the face of the trickster, I do not want such matters known to my family or my people. I must go speak with Grandfather in private and ask him to seek answers from Wakantanka."

  "That is good, mihigna, for these tricks could cause much trouble
if not halted soon. I will do my chores while Cetan guards our tepee and you seek guidance from the Wise One and Great Spirit."

  Distracted by her troubled thoughts, Chumani walked very deep into the forest as she gathered wood there. After the sling was filled and she straightened, she gasped in surprise to see she was not alone, and that person was heavily armed and close by.

  "Where have your skills and instincts gone in such a short time, Dewdrops, for you did not sense my presence?"

  Chumani smiled and playfully scolded, "Zitkala, you must not sneak up on me and tease me unfairly." She knew why Cetan had not sounded a warning-for her best friend's face and scent were familiar to him.

  The two women hugged and laughed in elation.

  "I have missed you and my heart soars with joy to see you," Chumani murmured as she grasped Zitkala's hands and held them as they faced each other. "You must tell me all that has happened in our camp since I left my family's tepee," she coaxed, eager for the news of her loved ones.

  "Your parents did not want me to visit too soon; they feared it would make you more lonely for us. I was sneaking close to camp only to see how you are doing here and I was not going to show my face to you, but I saw you enter the forest alone and sensed you needed me. Was I wrong?"

  Chumani's smile faded as she shook her head and admitted, "No, my friend, and I am glad you came. My heart aches at our separation. I did not know our shaman's dream meant I would be taken away from our people and mated to a stranger in another hand, and so far from my camp."

  "I am sorry I was gone when you were forced to join him and depart. It was hard to face such tasks alone, was it not?"

  "That is true. I needed you there to give me strength and guidance. Such big changes in my life have been difficult."

  "Your parents told me of the Red Shield shaman's vision that took you away from us. It is good to have an alliance with a strong band during such troubled times, but I wish it had not been your duty to bond us together. When and where do you ride to face that dangerous challenge?"

  "I do not know."

  "What must you do on the sacred journey to defeat our enemies?"

  "I do not know."

  "Are you happy in this camp and with your new husband?"

  Chumani took a deep breath and released it swiftly. "I do not know. At times, things are good; at others, they are bad and strange."

  Zitkala perceived her best friend's sadness and confusion. She placed her arm across Chumani's waist and guided them to a large rock where they sat down. "What do such words mean?"

  As they had never kept secrets between them, Chumani told her about Wind Dancer's astonishing arrival and the talks with her father and mother. She related the details of their joining ceremony, their first night together, her welcome into his camp and family, the many deeds of mischief, and her all the indications that her husband doubted her behavior. She also divulged the truth about their lack of intimacy and the alleged reasons for their long restraint.

  Zitkala reminded Chumani of her desire for Wind Dancer when she saw him at the annual trading fair, in the Brave Heart forest, and at Bear Butte. "Why do you resist becoming his wife in all ways when your heart and body have yearned for his many times in the past?" she asked. I)id you not say his touch and kisses are pleasing? Did you not say he is gentle and kind?"

  "That is true, but something stops me from yielding to him. It is hard to trust a stranger who raises wariness within me. I fear his unknown power over me; I fear it will change all I am and must be to face our challenge. What if seeing me in the forest and before his visionquest are what placed me in it, not Wakantanka?"

  "Even so, that does not change Sees-Through-Mist's dream. The owl messenger told him you would mate soon and would do a sacred task to save our people. Is that not what the Red Shield shaman also saw in his vision? Did you and your parents not tell me Waci Tate saw a dewdrop and hawk in his vision and painted those signs upon his new war shield and his face?"

  "That is true," Chumani reasoned, "but what if Wind Dancer is not the man from our Wise One's dream? What if an evil force has tricked me and them to lure me away from my rightful mate and our task together? What if Wakantanka is warning me of a mistake through those incidents and they are not the spiteful work of Wastemna or a silwaecon? Do not forget Wind Dancer and his grandfather saw me and Cetan at the sacred mountain during their ritual; that could have placed us in their minds before they entered the Spirit World and some force kept us in them. Even though they believe in their visions, what if they are not the true words from Wakantanka?"

  "Perhaps Wind Dancer only joined to you to honor his shaman's vision," Zitkala speculated, "but he thinks you are unworthy of his touch or he desires another woman among his people. It is unnatural for a man not to take possession of such a beautiful wife after sharing a tepee and sleeping mat with her for so many moons. Is that not true?"

  "I do not know."

  "If his shaman's vision is real, do you think your husband tests you with mischief, or the war chief's daughter or another woman tricks you?"

  "I do not know."

  Zitkala placed her arm across Chumani's shoulder. "You have answered me that way many times, Dewdrops. It is unlike you to be so doubtful and uneasy, or to lower your guard so far. What if I had been an enemy?"

  "Cetan sits in the tree above us and would have attacked you or given me a warning as you sneaked up on me."

  Zitkala glanced upward, smiled, and greeted the hawk who kept cocking his head and blinking his tawny eyes as he observed them and guarded Chumani. As if he understood, the hawk sent forth a shrill cry and fluttered his wings before he flew off to hunt. "Is he happy here?" Zitkala asked.

  "He has accepted his new home and territory and no one bothers him, which I wish was true for me. It is good Waci Tate did not force me to part with him, for it would be easier to cut off a finger than to lose him, just as it pained my heart to lose you."

  "You have not lost me, Dewdrops. We will remain best friends until we walk Mother Earth no more. Then we will travel the Ghost Trail together. Soon we will be together again on the grasslands. But it troubles me to see you so unhappy."

  "Do not worry, Zitkala, the Great Spirit will protect and guide me. I will keep alert for more mischief, and Cetan will watch over me. Do not tell Mother and Father how you found me; it would make them sad. Besides," she added with a smile, "it calms me to see and speak with you. This is good medicine for me and heals my troubled spirit."

  "It is good medicine for my suffering heart and spirit."

  "Why do you not return to the camp with me where we can talk while I do my chores? You can sleep in our tepee and leave on the new sun."

  "Since there is trouble between you and your husband, it would not he wise to have me stay there. It would look as if I was sent to check on you and them. It is best I come and go in secret."

  "Your words are wise, my friend. Now, tell me all that has happened in our camp since my departure," Chumani coaxed again, then listened with great enjoyment until it was time for Zitkala to slip away.

  While they were lying upon their sleeping mat without touching or speaking, Wind Dancer realized that his wife had been acting distant and unusually quiet since that morning. He assumed her reserved behavior was caused by his unintended accusation earlier that day and the continued bouts of harmful mischief. He thought it best to leave her be until she settled down and they could talk again.

  The next morning after returning from an early hunt, Wind Dancer was looking for Chumani to tell her about the game she needed to prepare when he encountered Wastemna as she returned to her tepee from fetching water. He asked the smiling woman if she had seen his wife. He noticed a strange look on her face as she glanced around as if to see if anyone was nearby and appeared reluctant to respond. "What holds your tongue, Wastemna? Have you seen Dewdrops? Has more trouble struck while I was away? Speak, now," he said in a commanding tone and with a stern expression. He watched her glance around once more
, then answer just above a whisper.

  "Perhaps she sneaked into the forest to meet with the man from her tribe as she did on the last sun. Perhaps he stayed nearby during the night so they could see each other again before he returns home."

  Astonished by that unexpected reply, Wind Dancer scowled and asked in a sullen tone, "What do your strange words mean?"

  "When I saw her leave camp, I followed her, for I did not think it was safe for her to be in the forest alone. She looked sad and distracted, so I feared her guard was down and she would not hear an enemy's approach. She is the wife of our next chief and the vision-woman, so she must be protected. I also hoped it would give us time and privacy to talk so we can become friends; and if I was with her and more mischief was done, she would know it was not my doing. Before I could catch up to her, I saw her meet with a man. They embraced many times and held hands as they spoke, and the hawk knew him. I could not get close enough to overhear their words, for I feared they would see me or the hawk would either attack me as a threat or warn them of an intruder. It was a tall man with a plain face and garments, but he must have been from her band, for it was clear she knew and loved him from her smiles and touches. Yet, often she appeared sad and I saw her wipe tears from her cheeks, and the man placed his arm around her and drew her to his body to comfort her. After their talk, she returned to camp and he slipped into the forest."

  Anger and jealousy washed over Wind Dancer, reactions he struggled to conceal and to master. Surely, he reasoned, Wastemna would not speak falsely about a matter he could investigate for himself. He might believe she was mistaken if his wife had told him about the meeting and had not behaved so strangely last night. "Are you sure that is what you saw? Are you sure it was Dewdrops with him?"