Lakota Dawn (19 page)

As Chase sat down with his father and brothers, this time in closer proximity, he was aware of how different this meeting was than the last two. He couldn’t help but hope he had finally achieved his initial goal for returning. Yet, he pondered then how such changes would affect his and his wife’s future…

Chase’s heart thudded as he listened to his father’s words.

“I have been wrong and cruel to you, my second son, long ago and since your return. When you were born, I was ashamed for mating with your mother, for it was not right to do so. Omaste was obedient and trusted me. She loved me, my family, and my people. In my heart, I believed my beloved Winona was not lost to me forever, and I felt I had betrayed her by taking another woman to the mat I had shared with her and she would return to one day with the Great Spirit’s help. But in a moment of anguish, doubt, and weakness, I turned to her for comfort, and she gave it to me. I was ashamed I abused Omaste’s love, trust, and obedience. I wished I could free her, but a chief does not give away a gift from another chief and ally, and Omaste had no family or home in another place. She was happy living among us and was not mistreated except for that one time, though she said I was gentle with her. After I lay with Omaste, I purified myself in the sweat lodge, made sacrifices to Wakantanka at Mato Sapa, and prayed for His forgiveness. Your mother forgave me, for she was happy to bear a son, to have her own child. Winona forgave me upon her return, for she understood my anguish and one weakness. But I never forgave myself and never asked you to forgive me.
Each time I gazed upon you, I was reminded of my wicked deed. I feared I would be shamed before my people if I treated you as I did my other children, for you were not born of a mated pair whose union was blessed by the Great Spirit.”

Rising Bear paused in his painful confession to take a few deep breaths to calm himself. “When Omaste was taken from us by death, I thought it was the Great Spirit’s way of removing a stain against my honor. When you were lost to me and I could not find you, for I searched for many suns and moons and suffered much, the same thought entered my head. Both were wrong; both were only misguided ways of dealing with my two losses and my shame. When you returned, I feared to believe you were my lost son; I feared trouble would come if your heart and purpose were not good; I feared it would remind my people of my past weakness and if I accepted a half-White man among us during such grave times, it would cause conflict between me and my people. I ask you to understand my confusion and to forgive me for causing you to suffer. There is much love and pride in me for you, Cloud Chaser, and gratitude for saving Tokapa. I believe the Creator gave you to me long ago, took you away, and returned you this season. Stay with us, my second son, and be a Red Shield as you were born. I will never turn my eyes or heart from you again; this I swear on my life.”

Before Chase could speak, Wind Dancer and War Eagle told him of the things which had filled their hearts since his return; they, too, asked for understanding and forgiveness.

Chase smiled. “The Great Spirit often works in strange ways. We do not know His purpose for such deeds, but He plans and guides them. I love you, my father and brothers, and there is peace among us. We will store the troubled past in a ghost pouch and never open it again. All is good between us now, and we must seek to help our people together.”

“It is good.” All three said the agreement vow simultaneously.

“Tell me all you have seen and done since you left our other camp and rode into the white man’s world,” Rising Bear coaxed.

Two hours passed as Chase complied while their family,
closest friends, and people prepared for the impending celebration.

During the feast, Chase was positioned on a buffalo hide mat beside his father, with Macha sitting on his other side. Nearby were the rest of his family and hers, all in places of honor for this special occasion. The happy couple watched their brothers dance around a center campfire while singing and chanting the coups they had earned during their absence, their agile movements made to the accompaniment of a kettle drum and eight drum beaters.

Earlier, they had eaten food served to them by their people, who also were filled with joy, excitement, and appreciation for those cunning and brave deeds. After the sun had set, small ones with full stomachs and heavy lids had been lain on sleeping mats in their dwellings, to be watched by older siblings or grandmothers or mothers. The White River encampment was being guarded by braves who were posted around its fringes to prevent a surprise attack during the band’s merry distraction, though they wished they could participate in or witness the splendid celebration.

A near-full moon had risen during the entertainment; it, along with the huge fire, brightened the area. The evening breeze was warm and steady, with the scents of grass and wildflowers and smoke traveling across the land with it. The roaring flames before them also seemed to dance with glee; the wood crackled and popped and sent an occasional and brief burst of colorful sparks into the night air. The drumming continued. People talked and laughed in low voices. Some nodded their heads or moved their torsos in time to the kettle drum’s beat.

A proud and beaming Hanmani watched older girls and unattached young women eye her three handsome brothers, especially the remaining single one—War Eagle. She was thrilled for Macha and her half-brother, and felt they were well matched. She did not know how that union would alter her close relationship with her friend, but she was not worried.
With her best friend now joined and so happy, she was eager for a romance of her own, but she was only sixteen and no one had captured her heart and eye, at least not from her band, or even from her tribe.

Macha and Chase exchanged smiles, their eyes meeting as they glanced around to view the wonderful and unexpected episode. Each sensed what the other must be experiencing. Now that their union had been blessed by their families and people, they could hardly wait to be alone, truly and safely alone for the first time since their lives and bodies became as one. At last, everything seemed perfect and surely nothing could go wrong to cause problems for them.

On the sly, Wind Dancer studied his first cousin several times during the feast, and worry nibbled at him. He hoped and prayed his perceptions were wrong. To him, Two Feathers appeared to be watching the couple with a treacherous gleam in his eyes. The disgruntled man needed close observation in the suns ahead, he decided.

By dusk the following day, the Red Shield women—under the direction of Winona and Ohute—had constructed Chase and Macha their own tepee, their first home. Poles to form its shape had been cut, hauled, and prepared by skilled and eager hands; hides to cover them had been donated by many women from their stores. Many had sat in a circle to stitch them together while laughing and talking, then helped wrap them around the tall conical frame. Chumani and Zitkala had made the dewcloth to hang inside against those tanned skins for diverting rain, cold air, and smoke outside; for adding beauty to the home with the colorful designs upon its smooth surface; and for using its leather rope upon which to suspend possessions out of the way on limited floor space. Countless people had gifted them with items they would need for supplying it: sleeping hides, blankets for winter, sitting mats, willow and rush backrests, cooking and working tools, various storage pouches. Hanmani and Little Turtle had arranged those generous and thoughtful gifts in their proper places. Wind Dancer and Red Feather had
painted Chase’s first coups upon its exterior. War Eagle had completed a new set of weapons just in time to mount them on the three-legged stand made for them by Swift Otter and River’s Edge.

While the people had worked, many in different shifts because of duties to their own families and the chores demanded by the annual hunting and tanning season, Chase had chatted and visited with the men honoring him while Macha had done the same with the women honoring her with their tasks. The couple had thanked people time and time again for their presents and assistance, only to be told they were much deserved and given with loving hearts and hands.

After everything was done, their parents, siblings, and grandparents guided the beaming couple to the abode and halted at its entrance. The shaman walked around the tepee while shaking a smoking cluster of special herbs and grasses to bless the dwelling, then wafted the gray haze over the people who would inhabit it. Following embraces and good wishes, Macha and Chase ducked and entered their first home to view its interior and contents while the others returned to theirs.

They strolled around hand-in-hand admiring the workmanship, beauty, and kindness of their people. At one spot and knowing they could not be seen since the flap faced the side of Wind Dancer’s tepee, they shared a joyful hug and a long and tender kiss.

Each was aware that their first real privacy loomed before them, and their bodies warmed to that reality. Yet, they knew that before they could surrender to the desires chewing at them, they must eat and await cooling night air when they could seal the flap.

When that long-awaited moment arrived, no fire was built in the rock circle which Hanmani had placed in the center of the tepee. They needed no light other than that of an obliging full moon which flowed down the wide span created by the ventilation gap. As if the Great Spirit was helping them, fresh air swept downward in gentle gusts and swirled around the
interior, keeping them cool and comfortable. Others were inside their abodes at that hour; the shelter hides were thick and muffled sound well; and night had blanketed the land, so it was almost silent.

They stood near the tepee’s center and beside a sleeping mat where the romantic glow of nature’s light washed over them. For a short while, they simply looked into each other’s eyes. Then Chase’s mouth covered hers with a tender kiss, which Macha returned. Afterward, he kissed her forehead and the tip of her nose. Her palms flattened against his chest while his hands cupped her face and his thumbs stroked the soft skin near her parted lips. Macha sent her fingers to delve into hair as tawny as a doe hide which curled under at his nape, and he slid his into her long tresses and drew her head toward his.

His lips brushed over her mouth as he said, “You have captured my heart, Dawn, and enslaved me forever. If I did not know the truth, I would vow I am only dreaming about you as I did far away and long ago.”

“As would I, Cloud Chaser, but we are awake. Each time I am near you or think of you, I feel as if I have waited and yearned for you since you vanished so long ago. I somehow knew you would return to me.”

He looked at her radiant face and into her luminous gaze, moved deeply by her soul-thrilling words. “I love you, my cherished wife; and I am a whole man at last because of you.”

Macha unlaced his shirt ties and peeled the garment over his head. She waited in anticipation as he removed her fringed dress and let it slip from his fingers. He undid the side thongs of her breechclout and dropped it, and steadied her balance as she wriggled her feet to discard her moccasins.

Chase shucked his remaining garments and moccasins and pulled her into his arms as Macha looped hers around his neck. Their mouths united in a budding kiss which swiftly flowered into full-blown passion. They pressed together and shared numerous kisses as their naked bodies made blissful contact from head to feet.

Macha quivered like a blade of grass in a strong Lakota wind. She felt ignited to a roaring blaze by pleasure and suspense.
Surely nothing and no one could make her happier than he did.

Time seemed to stand still and any reality beyond that tepee seemed to vanish as they explored each other’s bodies and hearts. Their kisses soon became hungry and greedy, as did their caresses.

Chase was almost staggered by the enthralling way she clung to him. He told himself he must move slow and gentle as he’d promised near Fort Laramie, but she was making self-control difficult with her ardent responses. He trailed kisses over her face. His mouth journeyed down her throat as she leaned back her head to give him access to her sweet flesh. He was elated and enflamed that he could so arouse her to heady desire for him. He nestled his face against her hair and relished the feel of it against his cheek. He drifted his hands up and down her back, and felt her ebony hair tease over his fingers during each trip upward.

Macha slipped her hands beneath his arms to rove his broad back, and felt the strength which dwelled there. His body was taut and well muscled and she enjoyed every inch of her explorations.

She groaned in pleasure as Chase’s hands wandered to her breasts and tantalized their already taut peaks to firmer points. When she grasped his manhood and stroked its full length, his embrace tightened and a low moan of intense emotion and need escaped his throat. They sank to the sleeping mat together.

Macha was awed by how delicious it felt to have him touching her breasts, kneading and stroking them. Her pleasure heightened when his tongue lavished hot moisture and teasing strokes there. The sensations he created were enormously arousing and she closed her eyes to absorb them. She had imagined their joining would be better with real privacy, but not as sensuously thrilling as it was proving to be.

Chase’s right hand ventured over her bare skin as far as he could reach without dislodging his mouth from her breast. She was beautiful and alluring. She had a firm and agile body, and every inch was an enchanting enticement. His hand drifted over her rib cage and stomach, caressing its way down to the warm
moist flesh between her thighs, which he aroused with light and slow strokes at first, then with firmer and faster ones as her hips began to squirm and soft moans escaped her mouth.

Macha’s fingers played in her husband’s hair as he feasted at her breasts and drove her wild with his hand. A ravenous hunger gnawed at her, though she tried to relax and slow her pace, eager to experience all her beloved would show her.

Chase’s mouth traveled slowly back up to her lips as he moved atop her. He knew she was as eager to continue their journey as he was. With great care, he guided his manhood into her, then paused while he struggled to maintain self-control as her fingers pressed hard against his shoulder blades and she arched toward him. After he appeared to have mastered his surge of weakness, he thrust himself deeper within her, kissing and caressing her all the while. When her ankles overlapped his calves and she seemed to open and offer herself more to him, he penetrated her deeper and began a steady pattern of rocking to and fro.