Proud Wolf's Woman (31 page)

Julia had relaxed after that and had related to Kristina all the facts of her capture, Neeheeowee’s rescue of her, and, minus a few pertinent facts, had told how she had asked Neeheeowee to bring her here.

Kristina had listened, had smiled and then had said, “He’s quite a handsome warrior, is he not?” to which Julia had not responded at all. But Kristina had gone on to say, “Someday when he has put his past behind him, he will make a fine husband. In the meantime he can be moody and distant, although…” Here Kristina had leaned in toward Julia, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Wouldn’t you say both he and Tahiska fill out a breechcloth well?”

And to Julia’s shocked giggle, Kristina grinned. “You can stay here with me,” Kristina went on to say, “while Neeheeowee will sleep in the guest lodge, safely away from you. I would presume,” she said, “that you presented quite a temptation to him.”

And when Julia burst out with a spurt of laughter, she assumed Kristina had her answer.

The evening meal had come and gone, and while Tahiska and Neeheeowee sat outside the tepee, relating stories of their various coups, Julia and Kristina reclined inside catching up on more news, more gossip and, after introductions had been made, teasing the children. Julia had learned that Kristina and Tahiska had three children;
Wowaste,
or Goodness, the eldest;
Cikala Peta,
Little Fire, the younger girl; and
Keya,
Turtle, the youngest of the three and the only boy. The two girls sat with their mother and their newest “aunt,” while
Keya,
who was no more than two years old, alternated between staying with the men outside and venturing back inside to his mother, as though to ensure she was still there for him.

Kristina and Julia each leaned back against a willow backrest, their legs stretched out before them and crossed at the ankle.

“So tell me,” Julia had said after a while. “Are you happy in your new life here?”

“I am happy,” Kristina answered, nodding at the same time. “Though at first it was very hard. There are many customs and taboos here and I knew none of them. I’m afraid I made more enemies than friends when I first arrived. And, of course, getting used to sleeping on the ground took some adjustment.”

“Yes,”
Julia said. “I can see how that would be tough. Do you ever regret making the decision that you did?”

Kristina thought for just a moment, her gaze taking in the tepee, her children, skirting to the tepee entrance, where her husband sat outside. She sighed. “No, I don’t regret it,” she said. “Without Tahiska, I would be half-alive. I have discovered also that white society is not all that it’s made out to be. And I miss very little of it, though I do wish from time to time that I could get news of how things are at home. My father has visited us twice, and I hear my mother went back East. But other than that I have no news of the fort, and I wonder how things are there. And,” she said, gazing over to Julia, “I have wondered about you. I have worried. I did not think Kenneth would make you a very good husband. I didn’t want to say anything to you at the time, but after the way he treated Tahiska, I never wanted to have anything to do with that man again.”

Julia gave Kristina a smile that was half-self-conscious, half-apologetic. “You were right,” Julia said. “He did not make a good husband.”

“But Neeheeowee will,” Kristina said. “Someday.”

“Yes,” Julia agreed. “But that day may not be until I am an old lady and much past the age of needing a husband. Though perhaps it is a good thing that Neeheeowee does not wish to marry me. I am not all that certain I
want
to remain in Indian society.”

Kristina glanced up quickly, Julia noted, though all Kristina said was, “I see.” A few moments passed before she added, “Have you always felt this way?”

Julia shook her head. “No,” she said. “Not at the beginning. When Neeheeowee first asked me to stay with him, to come with him, I thought I might be able to make the change, but now… Though I did not find much happiness in the white culture, Kristina, I am not convinced I would find it any more pleasant here. There is too much here that is foreign to me, too much I don’t understand. No, I think perhaps it is for the best. If Neeheeowee truly wanted to marry me, I am afraid my feelings for him would force me to stay here and I’m not entirely certain, the more I think about it, that this is what I want.”

“I see,” Kristina said again. “Perhaps you had better tell me again how Neeheeowee rescued you. I’m afraid I didn’t understand it all.”

Julia sat forward, though her gaze centered downward. “He bargained for me. He had eight fine ponies he had brought to trade. He traded them for me.”

“Maaa!
Tell me it is not so.”

Julia glanced up suddenly, sending a startled glance to her friend. “Is there something unusual with that?”

Kristina nodded. “It is a high price to pay for a woman, even though he was rescuing you. Just so you know, most men give one, maybe two horses to the parents of a young girl when they seek her hand in marriage, although not always do they give that much and sometimes nothing is given for the girl at all.”

“But you… Tahiska brought in plenty of horses for you.”

“Yes,” Kristina said, “but that was an unusual situation, for my father did not know of our marriage. Julia”—Kristina’s voice was firm—“you may not realize it, Neeheeowee may not see it, but the man does truly love you if he did such a thing for you.”

Julia stared at her friend. “He did it as a point of honor, he told me. I was a friend.”

“Bah, he may have told himself that, he may even believe it. But I know that no man will give that many horses away for a woman unless he truly loves her. Now tell me again, what was it he did after he paid the price for you?”

“He took me home to Fort Leavenworth.”

“Ah.” Kristina nodded. “An honorable thing for him to do. What happened then?”

“Well, it was strange at first,” Julia said. “All the way there, Neeheeowee barely paid me any attention. Nor did he speak to me, since we neither one remembered that we could communicate in Lakota, and you know I never did master that sign language. Kristina”—Julia gazed up to her friend in earnest—“I almost left him there, I almost rode back to Fort Leavenworth, but at the last moment Neeheeowee asked me to stay…in Lakota. It took me a while to translate it because I had forgotten the language. But when I did, when I realized he wanted me to stay, I… Kristina, I had fallen in love with Neeheeowee on that trip. I came riding back to him. I am not so sure now, however, that I did the right thing.”

“No,” Kristina said emphatically. “You did the right thing it is good.”

Julia frowned. “You think so?”

Kristina nodded. “Yes, I do. You loved him enough to leave your home, all that you knew, for him. This love that you two share…”

“Yes?”

“It is good, I think.” Kristina paused. She chewed on her lip for a moment before she said, “But he will not marry you.”

“Yes, he says he cannot.” Julia lifted her shoulders, looking away. “He is haunted by his past, Kristina, and I don’t know how to set him free of it. Nor am I certain I want to. These things he has told me, these customs and beliefs he holds are much too strange for me. He tells me he made vows to his dead wife and child not only to avenge their deaths, but to remain forever tied to them in marriage. He vowed he would never marry again, I believe. In his heart, he is not free and Kristina, though I long to be with him, I cannot understand him nor will I stay with him unless we are married. So you see, there is not much that can be done for us. A joining between the two of us? It may never happen.”

“Hum…” Kristina sat for a moment, while her two little girls looked on, watching. At length, Kristina said, “I will need to think on this, my friend. This is truly a dilemma. It is odd. Neeheeowee has been like a shell of a man for these past five years, and all who know him realize that he has made it the purpose of his life to avenge the deaths of his wife and child. That is why it is good to see him so happy. I have not seen him this way in many years. But you are right. This man is not free. Still, do not give up hope. You know that he loves you and when you have love, anything is possible. I will have to see what can be done about your dilemma. In the meantime, please stay with us. You are my dearest and best friend; I will do whatever I can for you.”

Julia smiled, taking Kristina’s hand in her own. “Thank you,” she said.

Kristina nodded, squeezing Julia’s hand. “Take heart, my friend,” Kristina said. “You are good for Neeheeowee, and he will someday be a good influence on you, too. I am sure of it. Come now,” Kristina said, sitting forward, “I have a surprise for you,” she said, holding up a white elk-skin dress she had earlier set before them. She gestured toward the dress. “This dress? It is now yours. I wish to honor you in the tradition of the Lakota. It is odd. In the white man’s world, when you have a special day, you receive presents. Here, on a special day, you give gifts away, or others in your family may honor you by giving gifts away in your name. The way the people think here is different from what you and I were used to. I am now giving you this dress to show you my sincerity. I wish to make you my sister,
hakataya.
From here on, throughout our camp, I would like you to be known as my sister, my kin.”

“Your kin? You don’t mean as in a real—”

“Sister?” Kristina queried. “Yes, I do. I wish to give you the highest honor a woman can bestow upon another. I remember seven years ago when no one in the fort would stand beside me. You did. You were always my friend without question. I have never forgotten that. And now that I have the chance to do something for you, I am happy to be able to do it. Sister.”

“Kristina!” Julia cried and, sitting up, leaned over to hug her friend. “Always,” Julia said, “we will be friends.”

“Hau, hau kola,
my friend, Tahiska,” Neeheeowee said as the two of them sat outside Tahiska’s lodge. They had been discussing many things, most of them trivial, but now Neeheeowee wished to ask his friend some serious questions. He leaned forward. “Tell me again,” he said, “how you counted coup on the Crow. I have heard of the story all the way into the country of the southern Cheyenne. I have been waiting to see you to ask you about it myself.”

Tahiska grinned. “Ah, yes. The Crow. I will tell it to you if you truly wish it, do you?”

Neeheeowee nodded. “I have been waiting to hear the story from you.”

“Ah, I see,” Tahiska said. He sat back, then began, “It was almost one full season ago. It was a cool and clear morning and I was out on the hunt. None of the scouts had seen the enemy and so none were on the alert for danger.” Tahiska paused. “I saw the tracks in the snow and I knew, as you would, too, that the tracks were fresh and were not Lakota-made. They were Crow. I sneaked in upon the Crow, having been looking out for them, and when I found them, I saw that they were cold and were miserable, although determined to raid our camp for food. That’s when I decided to have some fun.”

Neeheeowee nodded. “What did you do?”

“Well, you know that I have always been able to run quickly. That morning my wife had given me a new robe. It was quite long and covered me from head to toe. I looked up and saw a tree branch about my height and so I walked into the Crow camp alone, greeting them. But then I threw my robe over my shoulder, covering my entire body from them while carefully hanging the robe on the branch. I ducked down and ran away as silently as I could and disappeared into the growth of trees while I watched them throw their spears and arrows at the robe. When they found out nothing was there, that their spears and arrows had hit nothing, they became quite alarmed, thinking me a ghost. They started to run home. I followed them, playing the same trick on them again and again. It was quite amusing.”

“Eaaa.
The story is better when you tell it. It is such a good tale. Your children will be proud to carry the story on down to their children.”

Tahiska smiled. “I would hope so,” he said.

Silence ensued between the two men. At length, Tahiska asked, “Do you still seek out the Pawnee who murdered your wife and child?”

Neeheeowee nodded.

Tahiska sat silently a moment more. “I would help you rout out this enemy and be done with it so that you can start your new life.”

It was all Tahiska would say on the subject of Neeheeowee’s arriving in their camp with Julia. It was all a man would ever say to another man about so personal a matter. No questions asked, the best always assumed.

But Neeheeowee only shook his head. “I have always sought out these murderers myself. I will continue to look for them alone.”

“I know this, but we have made the pledge of the
kola,”
Tahiska said. “We have made the man’s pledge, the pledge of brotherhood, to live and die for one another. Haven’t I vowed to treat any concern you may have as my own? Is it not so that I should help you?”

Neeheeowee frowned. “What you say is true, my friend, but we have talked on this before, and nothing has happened since then to make me change my mind. You know that this is something I must do myself.”

Tahiska nodded, saying, “Yes, I know the way that you feel about this. I will not press you. At least, not now. But come,” he said, getting to his feet,
“Wanituka,
my friend. You are tired. I will show you to the guest lodge.”

“The guest lodge?”

“Yes,” Tahiska replied. “Julia stays with us and though I know, by custom, you would usually stay with us, too, I sense there is much more between you and the white woman than what ordinarily passes for friendship. I am afraid she would prove too great a temptation to you. Or am I wrong? Is there something you need to tell me? You haven’t made her your wife, have you?”

“No,” Neeheeowee said. “But we have been together now for so long, I had thought to keep her with me.”

“Not in my lodge.” Tahiska grinned. “My wife would never cease to talk about it if I did such a thing. Have pity on me, my friend. I wish to love my wife, not listen to her scoldings.”