Brave Beginnings (25 page)

Woape lifted Penelope in her arms and walked
back to Julia. “No, he’s not. Maybe Penelope will grow out of it
too.”

“The men will be more than happy to court
her, even if she does bump into things.”

Woape giggled. “I won’t be making any marital
arrangements for her. I want her to choose her own husband.”

“After what you went through, I don’t blame
you. I’m glad you didn’t have to marry Citlali.” Julia turned with
Woape to head back to the lodges. “So, does he love Onawa?”

“I’m not sure. I like to think so, but I
worry for her.”

“It’s apparent she loves him.”

“Yes. That’s why I worry.”

Julia sighed. “I hope it’s not because of the
corn bundle that he wants to marry her. I hope there’s more to it
than that.”

“From your lips to God’s ears.”

As they neared the first batch of lodges,
Julia happened to notice a woman who was carrying a bucket. Julia
recognized her but was sure she’d only seen her a couple of times.
Something in the woman’s eyes bothered her. Stepping closer to
Woape, she whispered, “Who is that?”

Woape grabbed Penelope’s wrist before
Penelope could pull on her hair. She turned her head in the woman’s
direction, and the woman quickly looked away and hurried off.

“Does she hate me?” Julia asked, wondering
what she might have said or done to upset any of the women in the
tribe.

“No. Citlali wanted Chogan to marry her, but
Chogan didn’t want to be with her.”

“I take it that she would have been happy to
marry Chogan?” Julia wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear the answer
but didn’t see what good it would do to hide from the truth.

“Yes, she would have been,” Woape softly
replied. “But you shouldn’t trouble yourself over it. Sarita would
have been wrong for him. She is not strong. His first wife was more
than sickly. She needed someone to support her all the time. He’s a
hunter. He can’t be strapped to the lodge all day. His first wife
used to make up illnesses to get him to stay home. Her mother and
sister told him to go out and hunt once they realized what was
going on, and this caused a lot of problems between them. Sarita
may not be sickly, but she requires more attention than a hunter
can give her.”

Julia considered Woape’s words. “Does Sarita
still harbor feelings for him?”

“It’s hard to say. She hasn’t said anything,
but she probably wasn’t pleased to learn you married Chogan.”

“There seems to be a lot of that sentiment
going around. Ernest didn’t care much for my marriage to Chogan
either.” She could only hope that Sarita wouldn’t cause problems
like Ernest did. She and Chogan left Bismarck to come here, and she
didn’t know where else they might possibly live. This was their
permanent home. She’d hate to ruin it with bad feelings. “Maybe I
should offer her my friendship? Do you think it would help smooth
things over?”

“There’s no reason why your paths should
cross too much. The tribe is not so small that we have to see each
other all the time.”

Julia glanced back at the area where Sarita
had been glaring at her. Looking back at Woape, she asked, “Is
Sarita someone I want to avoid?”

Woape shifted Penelope from one arm to the
other and stopped. After a quick scan of the area around them, she
lowered her voice to say, “Citlali had her believing she would be
Chogan’s next wife. In some ways, I don’t blame her for feeling
betrayed, but Chogan didn’t give her a reason to believe the
marriage would happen. Citlali pushed for it.”

Despite the chilly air, Julia’s face grew hot
as her anger surfaced. “Why would he push for such a thing?” And as
an afterthought, she added, “Is he still pushing for it?” She’d
seen a couple of women who shared a husband. Goodness, was Citlali
thinking that Chogan should take more than one wife? Her hands
clenched in her pockets and she gritted her teeth.

“Citlali wants Chogan to have full-blooded
Mandan children.”

“What?” Julia yelled, unable to decide what
was worse: knowing Citlali wanted Chogan to take a Mandan wife or
the reminder that she hadn’t gotten pregnant yet.

Woape shushed her and then smiled. “You have
no need to worry. Chogan did not take a second wife when he was
married to his first wife, and he will not now. He loves you more
than he ever loved her. It’s obvious in the way he looks at you. He
never looks at Sarita that way.” She giggled and leaned forward to
whisper, “In fact, last summer, he made it a point to hide behind
the cornstalks just so she wouldn’t see him when he had to pass by
her family’s plot of land when he came back from hunting.”

She relaxed. “Really?”

“Yes. Really. Don’t worry. Chogan is as
devoted to you as Gary is to me.”

“Good.” She didn’t think Chogan loved another
woman, but she had wondered if he liked the idea of having Mandan
children. Any children she might have with him would not be
full-blooded Mandan, and she knew how he grieved the decreasing
number of the tribe.

“Love is more important, Julia,” her
sister-in-law said. “Being Mandan is more than who your parents
are. Penelope is Mandan. She is a full member of this tribe, and
your children will be too. Citlali’s ways are not the ways of most
of us. We want to be happy and live in peace. No amount of
ceremonies or sacred bundles will ever replace a good marriage and
the children that come from it. One thing your people have given us
that has been good is your strong family ethic. In our past, men
took more than one wife, and divorce was as easy as putting the man
out of the lodge. But you honor marriage and make it a lifetime
commitment. I don’t want to share Gary with another woman, and I
don’t want him having children with a woman besides me.”

“I doubt any woman likes to compete for the
love of her husband,” Julia thoughtfully replied.

“No, she doesn’t. And Gary said a husband
doesn’t want to compete for the love of his wife.”

“He said that?”

Woape grinned. “He did. You should have seen
how shocked he was when he learned the ways of my people. He made
it clear that just because he was in this tribe, he would not take
another wife and I would not kick him out because of an argument.
He said we were going to stick together. I told him after all I
went through in thinking I’d lost him, the last thing I’d do is let
him go.”

“Aunt Erin would love to hear this,” Julia
mused. “It’s hard to believe the same boy who spent his childhood
unable to stick with one thing for longer than five minutes could
turn out as well as he did.”

“Ah, then I think his older sister and aunt
helped to steer him in the right direction, don’t you?”

Julia noted the twinkle in Woape’s eyes and
laughed. “Yes. We will take full credit for how well he turned
out.”

Woape joined her in laughing, and they
resumed their walk.

Up ahead, Julia saw Chogan heading in their
direction. Her lips turned up into a smile at the sight of him. His
eyes met hers and he returned her smile.

Woape, seeming to understand the situation,
said, “I’ll go find Onawa. Say good-bye, Penelope.”

Penelope waved and Julia patted the girl’s
head before she changed course so she could meet up with Chogan.
When the distance between them came to a close, Julia stopped.

“I thought you were going to run into my
arms,” Chogan mused.

With a slight shrug, she said, “I thought
it’d be better to wait until we’re alone.”

He grinned and pulled her into his arms. “We
are not in Bismarck. White man’s rules do not apply here.” He
kissed her and caressed her cheek.

She blushed despite the chill in the air. “I
have some adjusting to do.”

“I will help you, like you helped me.” He
turned and kept her close to his side as they strolled down the
path. “You and Woape are getting to be good friends. You were
laughing.”

“It’s easy to laugh when it comes to Gary.
He’s silly.”

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t know. He rarely
comes near me.”

She laughed harder. “Because he’s scared of
you when it’s just you and him.”

“No.”

“Yes.” His exasperated look told her that he
didn’t believe her, so she poked him in the side. “Walk up to him
and see what he does.” She stopped and pointed to her brother who
was carrying an armful of branches to Woape’s lodge. “Go on.”

“This is unnecessary.”

“But you won’t believe me otherwise. Go and
see what he does,” she pressed.

Though he rolled his eyes, she caught the
glint of amusement on his face. “This is silly, but for you, I’ll
do it.” He took a step forward and then glanced over at her. “What
do I say to him?”

“What do men say when they see each
other?”

“Gary is not like other men. He is not good
for hunting. He just talks a lot.”

“Since he’s a chatterbox, let him do the
talking.”

He furrowed his eyebrows and shook his
head.

“Well…He likes horses. Talk about
horses.”

“I know about horses.”

She groaned. “Then ask him where Woape is.
Tell him I want to speak to her.” Before he could protest, she
added, “It doesn’t matter what he says. What matters is how he
reacts to you.” Then she gave him a pointed look. “Are you scared
of him?”

He huffed. “I am a hunter. I fear
nothing.”

Without further delay, he headed on over to
her brother who was a good five feet from the lodge. He waved to
Gary to get his attention, and she covered her mouth to hold back
her laughter at the uncertain expression on her brother’s face.

Julia strained to hear what Chogan said as he
approached her brother, but a group of women from her left
prevented her from hearing Chogan and Gary who were two lodges
ahead of her. She noticed Gary drop a couple of branches as he
fumbled to answer Chogan when someone said something to her in
Mandan.

Snapping her head to the left, Julia
recognized Sarita who spoke in a condescending tone while she
motioned to Julia from head to toe and snickered. The two women
standing with Sarita giggled and walked away. Sarita shot her one
last look and joined her friends. Julia gritted her teeth and
decided she wouldn’t befriend those three busybodies who had
nothing better to do than to stick their noses into someone else’s
business.

Julia faced forward and decided to help ease
things for her brother who was stuttering while he scrambled around
for the branches, unsuccessfully trying to hold onto all of them.
As comical as the scene was, her good mood had turned sour, and she
doubted anything would pull her out of it any time soon.

“Um…wow…that’s interesting,” Gary
stammered.

She noted the amused sparkle in Chogan’s eyes
as he glanced her way. She also noted that he didn’t make a move to
help Gary. Even if she found a not-so-appropriate enjoyment from
watching her brother squirm, she had to help him.

“Here.” She collected the remaining two
branches that were out of her brother’s reach and placed them
securely in his arms.

“Oh, Julia. Thanks.” Gary smiled at her. “I’m
sure glad to see you.”

She gathered as much from the relieved look
on his face. “It’s nice to see you too, Gary.” Though she smiled,
it lacked the mirth she displayed earlier.

Chogan reached out and touched her shoulder.
“Julia?” he softly asked.

“In a moment,” she whispered and turned her
attention to Gary. “When do you plan to go to Bismarck? I’d like to
send Aunt Erin a letter with you, if that’s alright.”

Gary cleared his throat and nodded. “I can do
that. Uh, I think Citlali wants to do some bartering in two
weeks.”

“Citlali?” Julia recalled what Woape had told
her about Citlali and him wanting Chogan to marry Sarita instead of
her. “Which one is he?” she demanded, scanning the men who walked
about. She didn’t mean for her tone to come out as sharp as it did,
but considering her foul mood, she wasn’t surprised.

“He is in his lodge,” Chogan replied.

“Oh.” She didn’t know whether to be relieved
or disappointed. She’d like to see what he looked like, but she
didn’t necessarily want to see him. Eyeing Gary, she asked, “Do you
like him?”

Gary gave a slight shrug. “I haven’t thought
about it.”

“Oh.” She realized she was repeating herself,
so she added, “It’s cold. I better go home.”

“Give me the letter when you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” she finally said.

She crossed her arms and inched closer to
Chogan as they left Gary to scurry into the lodge. Had she felt
better, she would have found it humorous that Gary hurried to get
away from Chogan as fast as he did. But now her mind was
preoccupied with Citlali and Sarita and why they should care who
Chogan married and what it might mean for her future in the
tribe.

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

“Julia, will you tell me what’s wrong?”
Chogan asked on their way to the lodge.

“Woape told me that Citlali wants you to
marry Sarita,” she replied, figuring that she might as well come
out and say it.

He drew her to his side, and she immediately
felt comforted by the tenderness in his touch. “Citlali came over
to me moments ago and suggested I take Sarita to be a second wife,
but I made it clear to him that I will not do it.”

She studied his expression and noted that
Citlali had irritated him, though she doubted Citlali annoyed him
as much as he annoyed her. “Why does he want you to marry her?”

“To have full-blooded Mandan children.”

“What?” she snapped. “Is this because I’m not
with child yet?”

“You did not listen to me. I said
‘full-blooded Mandan children’, not children. Whether or not we
have children means little to Citlali. He wants to increase the
number of Mandans.”

“And it doesn’t mean anything to him that you
already have a wife?”