Brave Beginnings (13 page)

Julia watched in amusement as Gary’s jaw
dropped at the sight of the large cooked turkey that Aunt Erin
placed on the dining table.

“You caught that by yourself?” Gary asked his
sister.

“She did,” Chogan replied with an
unmistakably proud smile on his face. “She is a great hunter.”

Julia blushed. “I had a good teacher.”

Aunt Erin laughed. “Pick your jaw off the
floor, son,” she told Gary. “You underestimated your sister’s
abilities.”

Woape put a squirming Penelope into the
highchair and grinned. “You have the spirit of a Mandan in
you.”

Chogan nudged Julia in the arm and gave her a
knowing look. “You see? I tell you that too.”

The doorbell chimed.

Aunt Erin clapped her hands. “That must be my
brother and his family. I’ll go get it.”

“I’ll finish setting the table,” Julia
said.

“Need any help?” Woape asked.

“No. You have your hands full as it is with a
one year old that refuses to sit still.”

“I’ll help,” Gary offered.

Surprised, Julia agreed and led her brother
into the kitchen. “It’s nice to have you and Woape over,” she said
as she picked up the large bowl of stuffing and the smaller bowl of
cranberry sauce.

“It’s nice coming here.” Gary turned to the
tray where the coffee pot and cups were neatly arranged but didn’t
pick them up. “I wanted to say something that’s probably long
overdue.”

“Oh?” The bowls suddenly felt heavy and she
wondered if she should put them back down. Her brother looked
unusually serious, and she wasn’t sure if this was going to be good
or not. She thought they’d worked through their differences. Maybe
she’d been wrong.

“Woape just found out she’s expecting another
child.”

“That’s wonderful, Gary,” she replied,
thrilled for the two of them.

“Yes, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to
you about.”

She frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“No. But when Woape told me, it occurred to
me that Penelope will have a brother or sister, and I want them to
be friends. Then I thought about us and how we seemed to have one
problem right after another. I didn’t realize how much you did for
me while I was growing up, and looking back, I can see you gave up
a lot. At the time I thought you were trying to take our ma’s
place. But you weren’t. You were being a big sister, fussing over
me and loving me the way I hope Penelope will fuss over and love
her little brother or sister.” He cleared his throat and shifted
from one foot to another. “Anyway, I wanted to thank you for all
you’ve done for me. I didn’t appreciate it then, but I do now. I
love you, Julia.”

Tears came to her eyes, and he took the bowls
from her so she could wipe her eyes with her apron.

“It’s been a long time in coming for me to
tell you that, hasn’t it?”

More tears fell and she struggled to find her
composure. How long had she hoped her brother might one day look at
her and tell her he loved her? And now that he had, she couldn’t
stop crying.

He put the bowls on the table and wrapped his
arms around her. “You know, I thought this was going to be good
news.”

She laughed and hugged him back. “It is good
news, Gary. The best, really. I love you too, Gary. I never once
stopped.”

“I know. We might have argued, but underneath
it all, you always did.” He pulled away from her and grabbed a
clean cloth. Once he pumped water so it was wet, he wrung it out
and handed it to her. “I don’t want that tall husband of yours
coming in and finding you crying. He might take it the wrong way
and run me off.”

At that, she laughed again and pressed the
cool cloth to her face. “Chogan’s incredibly sweet. He wouldn’t
hurt anyone.”

“You don’t see him the way men do. He’s tall
and strong. Just the kind of thing that makes lesser men shake in
their boots.”

“You jest. Men don’t fear him.”

At that, he chuckled. “Not all but most. And
I happen to be one of them.” He paused and gave her a good look.
“Did you really threaten him with a knife when you thought I was
dead?”

“Sure. I thought he was the one who killed
you.”

“There you go. Playing big sister. Facing
formidable opponents to save your little brother.”

She noted his amusement, so she didn’t mind
the teasing. “If people bother you, then they have to deal with me.
I can shoot really well with a bow and arrow now, so it’s not an
idle threat.”

“It’s good to know I have you on my side.
Between you and Chogan, no one stands a chance.”

Grinning, she set the washcloth down and
retrieved the two bowls. “No truer words were ever spoken. So you
better get to work or I’ll send in Chogan to intimidate you.” She
giggled, still unable to see how Chogan could scare anyone but
taking her brother’s word for it.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied and turned to the
bowls of mashed potatoes and yams. “There’s enough food here to
feed an army.”

“Aunt Erin wanted to be sure no one went
hungry.”

“Of course. Remember how she used to insist
we have another helping of dessert to fatten us up?”

“I think she gave up after she realized we
were never going to be as plump as she wanted. These dinners make
her happy, you know. More than cooking, she loves to watch people
eating.”

“I purposely didn’t eat breakfast at the
tribe this morning so I could have the extra slice of pumpkin
pie.”

“It’ll make her Thanksgiving complete.”

“Woape will have to roll me home.”

“You aren’t staying the night?”

He picked up the bowls and headed for the
door. “Yes, but I’m going to eat so much I’ll still be comatose
tomorrow.”

“Wow. Then you’re really going to make our
aunt happy.”

“That’s the plan.” He pushed the swinging
door open and motioned for her to go first. As she passed him, he
said, “Happy Thanksgiving, Julia.”

“Happy Thanksgiving, Gary.” Smiling, she
walked out to the dining room.

~~********~~

Chogan went to the Tribune after delivering
his newspapers and noticed the decorated tree in the corner of the
room. Right after Thanksgiving, Julia and her aunt made a big fuss
over getting a tree so they could put it in the parlor and pretty
it up. The whole process amused him. It seemed frivolous, but it
made them happy, and apparently, even the men joined in this
tradition.

Thinking no more of it, he went to the
potbelly stove, took off his gloves, and warmed his hands.

Noah soon joined him and asked, “Have a good
Thanksgiving?”

“Yes. Did you?”

“I ate myself into oblivion.”

Chogan hadn’t heard the word
oblivion
before, so he watched Noah’s face to detect whether this was a good
or bad thing. When Noah laughed, Chogan smiled, assured that eating
oneself into oblivion was a good thing after all.

Their supervisor came by and Chogan got ready
to head on out to get the donuts like usual, but the supervisor
said, “Chogan, Mike over there will show you how to run the
printing press. Noah, I want you to do the donut run today.”

“But sir...?” Noah began and ran up to the
supervisor before he could head to his office. He glanced at Chogan
and gulped. When he looked back at their boss, he asked, “Can I
speak to you alone?”

Chogan frowned. He didn’t like it when people
spoke out of his hearing, and there was no doubt whatever Noah had
to say, it was in direct relation to him, and that meant he had the
right to know what it was.

“Not now, Noah,” the supervisor replied. “I
have to meet with the editor. Whatever you have to say can wait
until after lunch.” He waved Chogan forward. “Mike’s expecting
you.”

Nodding, Chogan obeyed and went down the
hallway that led to the printing room. To say he was surprised that
their supervisor picked him instead of Noah was an understatement.
Chogan worked hard and faithfully did the tasks given him, but he
never expected to be chosen over a white man. He assumed he might
work his way up slowly but only after Noah promoted before him.

What was even more surprising to Chogan was
that Mike offered him one of the donuts upon Noah’s return. Noah
gave Chogan a slight scowl when Mike handed Chogan the food and
asked Noah to bring them all some coffee. Chogan decided he would
not drink the coffee Noah brought for him. He’d seen Noah in the
past and knew the man had a spark of vindictiveness in him.

Shortly after Chogan started working there,
Noah was sent to sweep the printing press floor. He was nursing a
hangover and did a half-hearted job. When the supervisor returned
and told Noah to do it over, Noah ‘misplaced’ their supervisor’s
mail. Without Noah knowing about it, Chogan put the mail back where
it belonged.

It was then that Chogan knew the type of man
he was dealing with. In many ways, his pettiness reminded him of
Sarita. No amount of ‘she has full Mandan blood’ argument would
ever make up for her lack of qualities that truly mattered in a
woman. The irony wasn’t lost on Chogan. He’d went to Bismarck and
found that the same types of people kept popping up. When his shift
was over, he could go home and get away from Noah.

So when Noah handed him a cup of coffee,
Chogan thanked him and set it down. Later on, he tossed the coffee
out. But Noah was easily forgotten as Mike showed him how the
printing press worked, how to put ink into it, and how to lay out
the printed articles and ads to make a page in the paper. Chogan
found it fascinating, even if it had nothing to do with going out
into the fresh air and hunting like he was raised to do. This was
different work, and he’d adapt to this just as he’d adapted to
other aspects of his new life.

At the end of his shift, he found his coat
and hat. He inspected them to make sure nothing was out of place or
torn. They looked fine.

Noah retrieved his own hat and coat from the
spot next to Chogan’s things and asked, “How was it?”

Chogan remained still for a moment. “How was
what?”

“Learning the ropes. How’d it go?”

Chogan was suspicious of the man’s friendly
disposition. “Fine. It is work.” He watched as Noah put his things
on. “I did not expect it.”

“I saw how shocked you were.” Noah shrugged.
“Maybe they decided to teach us what to do in case one of them gets
sick and they need us to assist.”

“Maybe,” he answered uncertainly.

“See you tomorrow.”

Once Noah was out of sight, Chogan slipped
his coat on and went home, sensing that what had been a pleasant
place to work at was about to change.

***

A week before Christmas, Julia picked up the
paper and showed it to Millicent. “Chogan was in charge of printing
this! Didn’t he do a wonderful job?”

Millicent stopped by the newsstand as Julia
paid for two papers. “Don’t you have one delivered to your
door?”

“Yes, but this is a special edition.”

“How so? It’s not Sunday.”

Julia smiled. “No, but it’s Chogan’s first
paper.”

Millicent laughed and tightened the hood on
her coat as the snow softly fell around them. “Oh for heaven’s
sakes. From the way you’re acting, one would think he wrote the
whole thing himself.”

“If it weren’t for him, this paper wouldn’t
be out today. He’s the one who got everything printed out.”

“I’m surprised you don’t buy all the
copies.”

Julia glanced at the man standing behind the
newspaper stand and decided to buy another three copies.

“I was jesting, Julia!” Millicent said, her
eyes wide.

The man took her money and thanked her before
she collected five of the neatly folded papers and closed the
strings of her purse. She slid the papers under her coat so they
wouldn’t get wet and folded her arms over her chest to keep them
from slipping. Then she turned to her cousin and headed down the
sidewalk with her.

“Gary and Woape will want a copy. Then
there’s your aunt and uncle and you—”

‘“We already get the paper,” Millicent
teased.

“True. But that one was thrown carelessly on
your doorstep. These copies are well-preserved.”

“Oh, you are a hopeless cause, my dear
cousin.”

“I won’t do this with tomorrow’s edition. If
I did, then I’d be hopeless. But this is the first paper he’s
printed, and that makes it special.”

“I suppose a woman has a right to be proud of
her husband.”

“Well, he’s worked hard. He’s much better
than Noah Hawk. I heard about how lazy he is, doing as little as
possible to get paid. If his uncle wasn’t one of the editors, I
doubt he’d have gotten hired at all.”

Millicent stopped in front of the bank and
approached the entrance.

“Do you need to go in there?” Julia asked,
feeling uneasy. She’d only run into Ernest on four occasions since
she married Chogan, and fortunately, those had been during times
when they’d merely been passing by. But if she had to go in there,
she’d risk having to converse with him.

“I must withdraw a small sum of money so I
can purchase supplies for finishing a quilt. Time is quickly
running out.”

Julia sighed. She couldn’t fault her cousin’s
reasoning. “I’ll wait out here then, if that’s alright with
you?”

Millicent shrugged. “Oh, I would not insist
you go in. I suppose things are apt to be uncomfortable, what with
Ernest and all.”

Grateful she understood, Julia nodded.

“I will be out shortly.”

Once she went into the bank, Julia stood by
the entrance and wondered what she might do with her time. The
bench was covered in snow, so she had no desire to sit. Deciding it
was best to get out of the patrons’ way, she edged further away
from the door and leaned against the building where she had
adequate protection from the snow.