Lakota Dawn (10 page)

“Why do you smile, Cloud Chaser, when I speak such bad news?”

He disclosed what he had been thinking and it coaxed a smile to her lips. “Do you remember such times and things we shared?”

“Yes, for they stayed as green as the pines even during winter. When you were taken from us, I suffered much from the loss of my best friend. I became the companion of your sister to be close to anything which carried a part of you within it. As the seasons passed, we became best friends. I believed you would be returned one sun, and it has come to pass.”

Chase hadn’t known he could be so happy. Yet, everything about this woman created joy within him. She had not scorned
him in the past and was not doing so today. Surely it was possible to win her, unless…“What if I am rejected and sent away again?”

Macha frowned in dismay, then smiled. “Surely you will not, for the Great Spirit called you here for a purpose.”

“What if that reason has already been fulfilled?”

“I do not understand. You are not yet a Red Shield again.”

“What if that purpose was only to be reunited with you?”

Before she could reply, Macha heard Hanmani’s bird call. “Hanmani calls me. I must go.”

Chase cupped her warm face between his hands, leaned forward, and brushed his lips lightly over hers. “Think on me, Dawn, for you will enter my thoughts each time I breathe. Go quickly, Sunshine of my heart.”

“I will think much on you, Cloud Chaser,” she said, and left, only to discover that Hanmani had been overcautious. No one was coming. She wished she could have finished her talk with Cloud Chaser, but perhaps it was best not to risk exposure by being gone too long. Flushed with joy, she rapidly told her friend all that had happened.

Hanmani hugged her and laughed. “Did I not tell you your Life-Circles would be entwined one sun, for it was revealed in the Creator’s dream message to my brother? When the moon comes in the seasons far ahead, you will help me capture the man who steals my heart,” she murmured mysteriously, then gave a romantic and dreamy sigh.

Chase waited for a short while, then headed back to his campsite to bed down for the night, hoping his dreams would be filled only with Macha. Tomorrow morning the Red Shields planned to leave for the annual buffalo hunt on the Plains. He was being allowed to go with them, but could never have guessed what was going to happen next…

In the middle of the night, Chase was awakened by rumblings of thunder. Flashes of lightning lit the sky and he felt a strong wind blowing over him. He felt and smelled heavy moisture in the air, could almost taste it when he opened his mouth and breathed. He knew it was not unusual during that time of the year for violent summer storms to come without warning, and strike with awesome power.

“A storm comes fast, Cloud Chaser; it will be large and long. Gather your possessions and come to my tepee for shelter and sleep.”

Startled, Chase reflexively grabbed his knife as he whirled and looked up at his older brother as the man arrived without his knowing and spoke from behind him. With him on the ground and with Wind Dancer standing close by, his brother seemed taller and larger than he actually was. Clad only in a breechclout and moccasins, his brawny muscles and sleek coppery flesh were displayed. The light of the nearly three-quarter moon, which was not yet obscured by clouds, and flashes of brilliant lightning also illuminated the Sun Dance scars upon his broad chest, as well as a few other scars. Chase studied his brother. In any world, Wind Dancer would be considered handsome and virile. In face paint and his finest array, surely
Wind Dancer would strike fear and hesitation into the heart— the very soul—of any enemy.

As he sheathed his knife, Chase pushed aside those thoughts and said, “Your heart is good, my brother, and I thank you.” As he gathered his things and packed them with haste, he added, “Your skills and cunning are large as the mountain, for I did not hear or see your approach.” He glanced at Wind Dancer, who only nodded his appreciation. He tossed his bedroll over one arm, retrieved his saddlebags, and stood. “I am ready to go. We must tend the horses,” he added, concerned about his beloved animal.

“I tended them before I came to you; they are safe.”

“Thank you, my brother, for Red is my friend.”

They hurried to a colorfully decorated and well-constructed abode, and entered quietly to prevent disturbing Tokapa. Using the glow of a small fire, Wind Dancer motioned to where Chase should spread his mat and store his possessions, then took his place beside Chumani and near their son.

Before reclining to pass the remaining night dry and cozy, Chase glanced at his family and smiled with pleasure. If only, he thought, good luck and the Creator would grant him a wife and child of his own, he would be the happiest man alive. He lay down, closed his eyes, and soon slumbered in peace.

Unsettled by the same worry as his older brother, War Eagle had left his buffalo mat and gone to peer out the open flap to study nature’s menacing signs. Only after he’d sighted Wind Dancer guiding Cloud Chaser to his tepee not far away, had he relaxed. He sealed the entrance against an imminent deluge and returned to his former position. As he did so, he heard his mother whispering to his father.

“The storm will be bad, my husband; Cloud Chaser has no shelter.”

Winona’s concern for Omaste’s intrusive son took War Eagle by surprise, but pleased him. He did not give Rising Bear time to consider a hard decision before he murmured,
“He was taken to my brother’s tepee as I looked out, Mother. He will be safe and dry from the storm.”

“That is good, my second son,” Winona replied. “Return to sleep.”

Hanmani, with her back to her family, grinned as she pretended not to awaken during their whisperings Surely, she reasoned, their concerns for Cloud Chaser were good signs, even if they must stay hidden for a while. She assumed her best friend was awake and worrying, too.

As time passed and nature’s fury increased, brisk winds raged against Leaning Tree’s tepee as if trying to topple it. Macha tossed on her buffalo mat and fretted over Cloud Chaser’s safety and condition during the severe storm’s assault. Rain beat down on the conical abode as if each drop was a hard stone which was flung with great strength. Thunder growled almost like a provoked bear, and she knew from hearing the noisy bolts that lightning streaked across the sky. She feared one of its fiery lances would strike her vulnerable beloved or hit the tree at his campsite and a heavy limb would fall upon him. She could not endure losing him again and forever! She yearned to race to his side, to cuddle with him, and to face such awesome peril in his arms so he would not be miserable and alone amidst it.

Why, she fumed, was it taking so long to make a decision about his fate? Could everyone not see he was speaking the truth and was worthy of rejoining their band? What was it going to take for him to be accepted? How could it be that only she and Hanmani believed him? Even in the face of so much rejection and distrust, surely the two of them could not be wrong. Perhaps others did want to befriend him—such as his brothers and hers—and were as entrapped by the current situation as she and Hanmani were.

Great Spirit, protect and guide Cloud Chaser along the path You have chosen for him to walk,
she implored.
Soften our people’s hearts toward him. Make him a Red Shield again.
Send peace and safety to our people and land. Join our Life-Circles, for I love him and need him as my mate.

Ignoring the fierce storm, a drenched and excited Two Feathers went to Rising Bear’s tepee the next morning. After the flap was unlaced and he was invited inside, he gazed around and saw only four people present, which greatly pleased him. “Cloud Chaser has fled, my chief; he and his possessions are gone,” he announced. “I searched the forest for him to see if he had taken cover there, but he had not. He must be pursued, captured, and punished before he brings enemies to our camp to attack us. We cannot wait for the storm to halt; I will lead the hunting party to find and return him.”

War Eagle concealed his anger as he asked in a calm tone, “Did you look to see if his horse is missing?”

“It is still among yours. He must have stolen another’s to ride. Surely he goes to betray and endanger us. We must not allow his victory.”

War Eagle allowed his exasperation to show as he scolded, “Your bad feelings for him misguide and ensnare you, my cousin. Cloud Chaser escapes the powerful forces of nature inside the tepee of our brother.” He observed Two Feathers’ astonishment and disappointment before they were masked.

“He is with Wind Dancer?”

“That is true. Return to your tepee and look into your heart and head to find what causes such evil to stalk you, and destroy it before the next sun rises and we break camp.” He watched Two Feathers nod and depart in a hurry, no doubt concerned about being thwarted before Rising Bear. He turned to his parents and sister, who had remained silent. “It is time I speak to you of my cousin’s bad deeds,” he said, then exposed the man’s recent words and actions.

“Why does he seek so hard to defeat Cloud Chaser?” Winona asked.

“I do not know, Mother, for I have not seen or heard Cloud Chaser provoke or challenge him. Two Feathers does not want him here.”

“That is for Father and the Great Spirit to choose,” Hanmani said.

“Your words to him were wise, my second son,” Rising Bear said. “We must pray to the Great Spirit to purify him of such bad feelings.”

“If that does not happen soon, Father, he will cause trouble, for his hatred of my brother is large.”

“Watch him with cunning eyes to see what you can learn. When his troubled spirit calms, speak to him of such bad feelings. Say nothing to his family and others about this matter, for soon it may be gone. If not, I will speak away from camp with the son of my sister.”

War Eagle nodded obedience, but was doubtful his cousin’s feelings would change. All he could do to help was to keep the men apart. “After we eat,” he said, “I will go to my brother’s tepee to see what I can learn there. I will speak of all I hear and see when I return, but my visit may be long.”

“Come, sit, the food is ready,” Winona told them.

As Chase ate the meal served to him by Chumani, he watched his nephew eating and talking in the space between Wind Dancer’s thighs. “The food is good, Dewdrops, and I thank you,” he told her.

Chumani half smiled at him as she sat down and took Tokapa from her husband so Wind Dancer could eat and she could assist their son.

Chase was calm, as he had slept fairly well for the remainder of the night while the storm assailed the tepee and surrounding area. It still raged outside, so the departure plan was postponed until the next day. He had not been asked to return to his campsite and would stay as long as Wind Dancer allowed him to do so, with hopes of worming his way into their affections and close-knit unit. He watched Tokapa eating.

“You have a fine son, my brother. Many things seize his eye and tempt his hand,” Chase said of the inquisitive child who had been toddling around as his mother worked, and getting into mischief on occasion. Each time Chumani had retrieved
and distracted him from an object of interest—once he had played with his saddlebags, another time he had tumbled on the strange bedroll, and yet another, wanting to see the rain, he tried to unlace the entry flap—the boy’s actions had greatly amused Chase. At one point, the boy had climbed into his lap to grasp the locket he wore around his neck, one which had belonged to his mother and bore pictures of her parents, the only way he knew how his other grandparents looked, as they were long dead. He had opened the locket and shown the pictures to the boy, whose stubby forefinger had touched them several times. He had been relieved Tokapa had not cried and fought when Chumani explained he could not have the locket and must not yank on it and break the gold chain. He was enjoying their child and those peaceful surroundings, and was wishing for his own even more than in past days.

Wind Dancer nodded and smiled. “He learns much on every sun and keeps us racing after him in his busy quests. His legs are still slow like the turtle’s, but his mind runs as swiftly as the deer. If there is something unknown within his reach, he seeks to learn its mystery. Each time Grandmother tends him, she is weary before the sun is high above us; and Grandfather’s voice is weak from answering his many questions.”

Chase noticed the loving looks which passed between the couple and knew their feelings for each other ran deep and strong. “The Great Spirit blessed you with a good wife and son,” he said to Wind Dancer. “You and Dewdrops are well matched.”

“Did you leave a woman behind in the land far away?” Chumani asked as she removed their wooden bowls and the buffalo horn cups embedded in sturdy pine blocks to keep them erect. While she rinsed and stored the eating items, she listened and furtively watched him as he responded.

“No white woman captured my eye and heart as you did my brother’s. Perhaps in the seasons to come, Wakantanka will choose a special female for me to join and we will have a fine son like Tokapa.”

War Eagle looked at Chase and nodded a greeting when he arrived to join them, having overheard their last few exchanges
as he unlaced and relaced the entry flap. As he sat down near the two men, he was reminded of his love and acceptance of Cloud Chaser when they were children and wished he could show them again. But he had become a warrior during his second brother’s absence and he hoped to become his people’s future war chief when Blue Owl was too old to carry that dangerous and demanding rank. With his current duties as Sacred Bow Carrier and future band chief if Wind Dancer was slain, he could not allow himself to be swayed by those feelings and memories. He knew it was the same for their father: Rising Bear feared it would cast a stain upon his honor and cause dissension if Cloud Chaser failed to prove himself. Yet, he was eager to learn more about the man his second brother had become, just as this near-stranger needed to learn more about them. “Tell Cloud Chaser how you found Dewdrops and claimed her,” War Eagle coaxed, “and the many deeds you two did to save our people.”

While Chumani sat a short distance away to bead and their son played beside her, Wind Dancer told Chase how he and Chumani had each lost a mate and son to Crow raiders and how he had been given a vision to go to the chief of the White Shield Brule Lakotas and lay claim to her as his Wakantankachosen wife and vision-quest companion in a bold and dangerous attempt to defeat the Crow in many ways and locations. He related the adventures they had shared. His voice filled with reverence and his expression with lingering amazement as he spoke about a mystical wolf-dog and Old Woman who had helped them several times, and Chumani’s hawk.

Chase was saddened by the losses of their first families and knew it must be agonizing to have a mate and a child slain by enemies; he realized how a hunger for revenge must have gnawed viciously at the two of them. He was astounded to hear how Chumani had raised the hawk Cetan from a young age for both, how that bird had assisted them with such intelligence, and how Cetan had found a mate and returned to the wild. As he glanced at the lovely and feminine woman of twenty-seven, he was astounded that she had become a skilled warrior andhad ridden on such a dangerous mission at her husband’s side.
He knew there was no one better to be the wife of a future chief than the daughter of a chief and ally, a woman who could defend his home and family when he was away hunting or warring, a woman who clearly adored and respected him, and a woman who possessed his love and esteem.
You’re one lucky man, my brother, and I hope I have the same good fortune with Dawn.

“Do you remember the story Grandfather told us as boys about the Old Woman Who Quills At The Edge Of The World and her companion?” War Eagle asked when his second brother remained quiet.

Chase only nodded from a sense of shared awe.

“We believe our helpers were the Old Woman and her wolf-dog,” War Eagle disclosed, “for when they came and went, they left no moccasin or paw prints upon the face of Mother Earth.”

Chase thought about all the adventures Wind Dancer and Chumani had shared and asked her, “Were you not afraid when you sneaked to a Crow camp to rescue my captive brother, and when you appeared to the large encampment of many Crow bands as White Buffalo Maiden, and when you walked inside the wooden poles at Fort Pierre Trading Post to trick them?”