Lakota Flower Page 14

  Caroline noticed how relaxed and cheerful Chumani was as she talked and joked as if they were indeed friends. She smiled and said, “She is a beautiful daughter, Dewdrops, and I am honored to be your friend.” She did not say that friendship and words of gratitude were enough thanks for her, as she had learned it was bad manners to refuse a gift. As she watched mother and child cuddled together, she felt a mixture of emotions and sensations: calm, elation, relief, pride, and envy. She also was stimulated and awed by the wonder of this miracle and her important part in it. Surely it was to her benefit being the one who had saved the lives of the wife and child of the Red Shield’s future chief, the brother of her heart’s desire.

  Even so, to capture War Eagle’s attention, respect, and affection was not why she had helped Chumani, nor was any attempt to better her role in the camp a reason for doing so. Yet, it would please her if those things happened as result of her help today. Perhaps, her excited mind imagined, her deed would prompt her release. But that freedom would have a heavy and painful price, the loss of War Eagle forever. How, her heart queried, can you lose what you do not possess, will probably never possess?

  Caroline thrust those troubling thoughts from her mind as Hanmani entered the tepee and approached them. She watched the young woman kneel, gaze almost reverently at mother and child, and smile in apparent joy.

  In Lakota, Hanmani said to Dewdrops, “I bring you a cradle for your daughter. May it give her many seasons of happiness, protection, warmth in winter, and good dreams on every sun and moon. You suffered long and hard, my sister, but she is with us now, and I thank the Creator.”

  The grandmother lifted the bundled infant and secured her in the highly decorated and skillfully crafted cradle. She tied the leather sand lizard to a piece of the top section, then replaced the baby by its mother, which was the signal to summon the father and the family to view the child.

  Hanmani leapt to her feet to beckon the others. She noticed Caroline standing at a distance to give them privacy during this special event, or perhaps awaiting the command to leave. For a brief time, she could not help remembering that the mother of her heart’s desire also was white—Sparrow, mother of Red Wolf of the Cheyenne, friend and ally of her brother War Eagle. Nor could she forget that Cloud Chaser was half white, and she loved him as much as she did her other two brothers. She smiled and said in English, “Thank you, Caroline.”

  Caroline smiled, and said, “Pilamaya, Hanmani.” As the men—Rising Bear, Wind Dancer, and Cloud Chaser—entered, she wondered what she should do now—go or stay, speak or keep silent. She was surprised when the father halted in front of her before approaching his wife and newborn.

  “My heart feels great joy and pride in your deed,” he said. “I thank the Great Spirit for sending you to us. You are a woman of much honor and skills. I thank you for saving my mate and child. It is good you are here.”

  An emotional lump entered her throat and played havoc with her speaking, but Caroline finally managed to say, “Thank you, Wind Dancer, for trusting me and allowing me to help them. Both will be well and strong very soon. Your knife,” she said as she held it out to him, and he accepted its return with another smile before joining his wife.

  Wind Dancer was handsome, tall, muscular, kind, and intelligent. With numerous coups painted or beaded on his tepee—horses, weapons, and certain garments—he was a man of enormous courage and prowess. From what Caroline had witnessed so far, he was loved, respected, and obeyed by his people. There was a regal air and majestic look about him, no doubt the results of years of training and practice to become the next chief. She felt as if she was in the presence of a man who would be a great leader. She noticed that his father did not join or speak to her, but Rising Bear looked her way and nodded before he focused his attention on his family. But Cloud Chaser did join her for a few words.

  “You did a brave and skilled deed, Caroline. Everyone in my family is grateful to you for saving their lives and ending their suffering. Perhaps this event was why you were sent to us and why the Great Spirit did not allow War Eagle to take you to the Cheyenne camp. Most of our people will feel and think the same way. I wish this good deed could earn you your freedom, but this is not the time for you to leave us with war approaching. If we spoke for your release, some would resist it in fear of you revealing our strength and my brother’s past deed to the soldiers. I am sorry.”

  Caroline replied in matching whispers, “Don’t worry, Cloud Chaser; I didn’t perform this deed to earn my freedom. I understand your people’s hesitation and reluctance to release me. In their position, I would feel and do the same thing. Besides, Dewdrops will need me to remove the stitches in a week; and, with soldiers on the move, I wouldn’t know where to find my brother. I’m probably safer here for the present. But thank you for believing in me and becoming my friend. Is it all right if I leave now? I’m sure your wife needs my help so she can get some rest.”

  “You are kind, Caroline. Return to my tepee and help Dawn. Then, you must also rest. I doubt you got much sleep last night.”

  As she started to depart, Chumani halted her for a moment as the new mother smiled radiantly and thanked her again; so did a grinning Wind Dancer and Hanmani. As for the chief and his wife, Rising Bear and Winona simply nodded. The actions of War Eagle’s family pleased and elated Caroline, but she wondered where he was and why he hadn’t come to visit the new baby. Perhaps it was because she made him uneasy. No doubt he would come to visit as soon as she was gone.

  Caroline learned the reason for his absence as she exited and headed for Cloud Chaser’s tepee. She saw War Eagle and two braves—his friend Swift Otter and Dawn’s brother River’s Edge—returning to camp from a hunt, that fact apparent by the large buck lying across another horse. She saw him look at her, his expression one of confusion and surprise as she departed from his oldest brother’s dwelling, alone. Her body warmed from head to feet as she averted her gaze and continued onward to join Dawn. Dusk was closing in fast and she had chores—fetching water and wood, cooking, and eating—to do before night came.

  War Eagle leapt off his horse and asked his friends to tend it for him while he went to check on Chumani’s condition, promising to return soon and help them skin and butcher the animal. As he hurried in that direction, he truly was concerned about his brother’s wife and unborn child, but he also wanted to learn what Caroline had been doing there.

  War Eagle was stunned to discover what had taken place during his absence. His heart and mind filled with pride, elation, and astonishment as he listened to the stirring tale of Caroline’s deed. He was surprised and overjoyed when his family thanked him for capturing her, for not taking her away, and for the Great Spirit guiding him to her on the grasslands. He looked at the newborn girl, bundled securely so that all he could see was her face with ample cheeks. He glanced from Wind Dancer to Chumani to the infant, realizing how happy and fulfilled the couple was. The sight flooded him with yearnings for his own wife and child and tepee. Yes, he wanted those precious things … but with a forbidden woman, a white female whom he could no longer deny that he loved and craved beyond measure…

  After the short visit and as he departed to return to his friends and their task, War Eagle wondered if he should go to Cloud Chaser’s tepee and thank Caroline, as he was tempted to do. Just to look upon her up close, to hear her voice, to see her smile, to let her know he was not a cruel enemy would be nourishing to his spirit. As his gaze touched on a watchful Two Feathers, he decided a visit was unwise. Yet, he vowed he would find a private time and place to speak his gratitude to her, perhaps even find a cunning way to capture another kiss…

  Nahemana returned to camp on the third day after his departure and sought out Two Feathers upon arrival. He asked the young man to walk with him in the cool forest so they could speak in private. The son of the chief’s sister obeyed him as expected and required by their law. Nahemana took a seat on a large rock and motioned for the warrior to take the smaller one beside it,
compelling Two Feathers to look up at him. The shaman glanced skyward, closed his age-clouded eyes, repositioned his aching body, and took a deep breath.

  “Why do you seek me out on this sun, Wise One?” Two Feathers asked. “What evokes your delay in speaking? Did the Great Spirit give you a message for me?”

  Nahemana locked his gaze with the other man. “Yes, firstborn son of Pretty Meadow and Runs Fast, Wakantanka showed many things to me and sent a sacred owl to whisper in my ear while I fasted, prayed, and chanted. You have lived for twenty-two circles of the seasons upon the face of Mother Earth. You have become a Sacred Bow Carrier and a Strong Heart member. You have battled and slain many enemies, gathered many coups, protected your family, and provided much game and possessions for them. The Creator has blessed and protected you in many ways. Why do you seek to cause trouble among our people in a season of conflict and coming war?”

  Two Feathers gaped at the shaman. “What do your words mean?”

  “When Cloud Chaser returned to us during the last hot season, you battled his acceptance fiercely and with much hatred. After he proved himself to us with great prowess and by risking his life many times, you agreed to make a truce with him, to have peace among all members of our past chief’s bloodline. You do not honor the ways of your grandfather, Ghost Warrior, who now lives with the Great Spirit. You show disrespect to his son, our chief, your mother’s brother. That is wrong; it is bad; it must halt.”

  “How do I do such things, Wise One? What did Wakantanka say?”

  “Once more, you seek to shame and injure Cloud Chaser. You pull War Eagle into your quarrel with the second son of our chief, grandsons of Ghost Warrior, creations of Wakantanka. He and the spirit of Ghost Warrior are displeased; they worry your bad feelings will bring conflict among us at a time when we must band together tight and strong to defeat our enemies. You must cease distracting War Eagle from his duty as a Sacred Bow Carrier. You must halt distracting Cloud Chaser and Wind Dancer from their ranks of Strong Hearts. You must stop seeking the white captive in trade, for the Great Spirit placed her among us for a good purpose, one that cannot be fulfilled in your tepee. You must cleanse yourself of such weakness.”

  Two Feathers was angered by the scolding and suspected the old man spoke from what the sons of Rising Bear had told him, and not from what he had seen in vision. He was convinced no message had been sent to him by Wakantanka or Ghost Warrior’s spirit. Yet, he could not, must not, call the shaman a false speaker, as all others believed he spoke the truth at all times, so he remained silent and watchful, and consumed by ire.

  “I am weak and tired from my vision quest and journey. I must go to my tepee and rest. Remember my words and obey them.”

  “I hear your words and I will do what is right and good, Nahemana,” but what I think is right and good for me. Two Feathers watched the slump-shouldered man rise and depart with difficulty, using a walking stick cut and carved for him by Wind Dancer. The vexed warrior scowled to himself, displeased by this turn of events, this intrusion on his life by their shaman who was blinded by his grandsons and a half-breed. Just as Cloud Chaser had intruded on his plans last summer when he stole Macha from him, and when he tricked Wind Dancer and War Eagle into turning against him!

  If only his mother had been born a man and born first or he had come from the seed of Rising Bear, Two Feathers fretted, he would be the chief’s son and be next in line to become the Red Shield leader, a rank he craved. Rising Bear did not deserve to hold the highest rank in their band, for he had shamed himself with a white woman—a captive—long ago; Cloud Chaser was proof and a constant reminder of that weakness and evil.

  My love and respect for our chief was slain long ago when he dishonored himself When Rising Bear leaves Mother Earth, if Wind Dancer falls to an enemy’s blow and War Eagle shames himself with his new white captive, I will be next in line as Ghost Warrior’s grandson to become chief, for Cloud Chaser’s tainted blood will not allow him to tie on that bonnet. I will be the one to lead our people against the enemy and defeat them. I must not allow Nahemana’s false words to kill my dream. But I will not ask to trade for the white girl again. I will let her ensnare War Eagle in a trap for me. Then, Wind Dancer will live no more, just as my first mate lives no more to trouble me. I will become chief; that is my true destiny.

  Nahemana went to the chief’s tepee to meet with Rising Bear, Wind Dancer, Cloud Chaser, and War Eagle to reveal his talk with Two Feathers and his shocking vision. Later, he would relate that message to the council.

  After the five men gathered there, the shaman was told of the child’s difficult birth and of how Caroline had saved them with “big medicine and magic.”

  “It is good the Great Spirit sent her to us to carry out such deeds,” he said. “If He had not guided you to her and you had not obeyed His commands to capture her and to keep her among us, War Eagle, you, Dewdrops, and the baby could be dead on this sun and many would be mourning our losses. The Creator often works in mysterious ways to protect His loved ones. Did more happen while I was on the sacred hills seeking His guidance?”

  “There is nothing more to reveal to you. Tell us of your vision, Wise One,” Rising Bear coaxed as he perceived deep concern and even hesitation in his wife’s father. What, he worried, had the shaman been shown that was so alarming that he dreaded to reveal it?

  Chapter Nine

  Nahemana looked at the anxious chief, nodded, and said, “I saw a scene of great destruction and suffering, Zintkatogleglega clad in their finest blue feathers chased and encircled a large flock of Ihuhaotila, but the enemy’s shouts were not as that bird’s call; they were shouts of hatred and scorn and revenge. The Ihuhaotila tried to flee them, but the jays were too many and too strong, eager to swoop down on the brown-clad sparrows and slay them. The birds changed into bluecoats and Lakotas, and a fierce battle followed. Soon, many Lakotas lay dead or badly wounded. Mother Earth cried as she drank their blood, for it tasted bitter in her mouth. The grass and rocks were painted red with it against their wills, and the blades hung their heads in sadness and shame. I heard many death chants from warriors who were entrapped by countless enemies, their quivers empty of arrows, their lances and knives and war clubs useless against the bluecoats’ long firesticks and big thundersticks. I heard women wailing for their losses, and children crying in pain and fear while the jays sang in victory.”

  “What does the vision mean, Wise One?” Rising Bear asked in dread.

  Nahemana shook his head. “I do not know why I was shown such a fierce event, for I saw no Red Shields among them.”

  “That is good, is it not, Grandfather?” Wind Dancer asked.

  Although he knew what his grandson meant, the shaman said in a gentle tone, “I do not know, but the death of any Lakota is bad.”

  Wind Dancer concurred, “That is true, Grandfather. Does the vision mean Red Shields must not battle the soldiers or we will die as they did?”

  “That was not revealed to me during this vision quest.”

  War Eagle sensed another hesitation and suspected there was more bad news to come, so he asked, “What more did you see, Grandfather?”

  As Nahemana’s troubled gaze traveled from man to man, he said, “A betrayer walking among us, but his face and body were not exposed to me. They were concealed beneath a black wolf’s head and flowing hide. He was stalking his prey among us, but his target was kept hidden from my old eyes and ears. I spoke with Two Feather upon my return, but I do not know if he is or will become that cunning enemy.” The shaman went on to relate that conversation and his impressions of their baffling family member.

  “Do you think my cousin spoke false to you, Grandfather?”

  “Yes, Wind Dancer, for some evil clouds his eyes and mind this season. Though its source was hidden as an underground stream, I felt anger flowing beneath his surface, and he doubted my words. He said he would ‘do what is right and good,’ but I fear he does not know or accept what is truly honest and pure. I fear
that a powerful dark force lives within him; it troubles and misguides his spirit. If he does not resist and slay it, he will be consumed and destroyed, and others may become ensnared in that battle.”

  Rising Bear said, “That will injure my sister’s heart and stain his family’s honor, so we must pray to Wakantanka to clear his eyes and mind.”

  “That is wise and true, my chief and friend,” Nahemana agreed. “But first, Two Feathers must be willing to change, to obey the Great Spirit.”

  Cloud Chaser said, “I will try to make peace with him once more to avoid trouble among our people. He may not accept my offer, for his hatred of me runs deep and strong, as the underground stream you spoke of.”

  Nahemana told him, “If he refuses peace, the Creator will punish him. Obey our laws and ways, Cloud Chaser, and no blame will fall upon you. All will see it is you who lives by the Four Virtues, not Two Feathers.”

  After Cloud Chaser nodded and they talked for a while longer, War Eagle asked, “Did the Great Spirit reveal anything about the white captive who saved the lives of my brother’s mate and child and who fought Black Fist with me? Has she fulfilled her purposes for being placed among us? Did Wakantanka say to keep her here or to release her for her good deeds?”

  “I was shown and told nothing about her, my grandson. But if the Great Spirit was finished with her, He would have told me to free her.”

  War Eagle tried not to expose his elation at that news, as this was too soon to reveal his feelings about her, even to his family. But his mind leapt with joy and excitement that Caroline would remain near him and that she was working her way into his family’s and many of his people’s hearts with her good ways and deeds. He hoped and prayed she would become as acceptable to them as she was to him, as he would approach her that very sun if things were different for and between them. But if that time came, he mused, did he dare to claim her as his mate? What would he have to do and sacrifice if he did so? Would Kawa Cante agree to join with him? Or would it be impossible for a captive to love and accept her captor, a captor whom she had witnessed slaying her people and who must battle them again? And how long would it be before he had answers to those important questions? I must win you, Heart Flower, for your roots have spread throughout my body and every part of it loves and desires you.