Wolf Shadow (8 page)

Winter Rain’s gaze strayed time and again to Dawn Song and
Wolf Shadow. He danced with an effortless grace. Dawn Song stared up at him in
a most unmaidenly way, giggling behind her hand at something he said.

After they had danced awhile, the singers stopped singing
for a few moments, and then started up again. As four was a sacred number to
the Lakota, there were four parts to the songs. When the fourth section had
been sung, the men and women went back to their places and there was a short
intermission.

Winter Rain couldn’t help noticing that her friend was all
smiles when she sat down. Like a pot bubbling over, Dawn Song went on and on
about Wolf Shadow, about how tall he was, how handsome, how well he danced,
until Winter Rain wanted to shake her and tell her to be quiet.

Just when she thought she might do just that, the singers
called for the Circling the Kettle dance. Two of the men rose and danced before
the girls and then each of the men picked a partner. Now the four formed a
line, with the last girl chosen standing on the right. The four of them danced
around the fire and then the girl on the right chose a partner as she passed
the men’s side of the lodge. On and on it went, with the last dancer chosen
picking a partner. Each time a new dancer was chosen, the singers sang a
different song, whereupon the dances all swung around and danced in the
opposite direction.

Winter Rain’s heart was pounding as the line moved toward
her. Wolf Shadow had been picked last and now she waited, wondering if he would
choose Dawn Song as his partner. She slid a glance at her friend. Dawn Song had
eyes only for Wolf Shadow. There was an expectant smile on Dawn’s face as Wolf
Shadow drew closer, a smile that quickly faded as Wolf Shadow reached for
Winter Rain’s hand and pulled her to her feet to join the dance.

The song changed as she joined the line, and then changed
again when everyone was dancing.

Winter Rain was acutely aware of Wolf Shadow’s hand holding
hers. Strange, that it took no more than the touch of his hand to send shivers
of excitement coursing through her.

She was sorry when the singing stopped and the men and women
separated yet again. During this intermission, food was served. All during the
meal, she was aware of Wolf Shadow watching her. Feeling self-conscious, she
kept her head down and tried to enjoy what she was eating, but she hardly
tasted a bite. Dawn Song sat beside her, a sour expression on her face.

When everyone had finished eating, the warriors stood and
each one chose a girl. Once again, Wolf Shadow picked her to be his partner and
they stood facing each other. Winter Rain felt her cheeks grow warm under his
blatant regard and wondered, briefly, if Dawn Song would ever speak to her
again.

When the singers began to chant, the couples moved toward
each other, met in the center, and then danced back. As they moved forward, the
dancers sang while the singers drummed. As the dancers moved backward, they
were silent while the singers sang and drummed. They did this four times and
when the fourth part was completed, Crooked Lance, who was one of the Brave
Hearts, asked the drummer to hit the drum so that he might count a coup. Crooked
Lance then told of his bravery in a battle against the Blue Coats and how he
had counted coup on two of the
wasichu
Long Knives and killed a third in
hand-to-hand combat. When he was finished, he offered a gift to the hostess.

Dancing shadows cast by the light of the fire flickered over
the lodge skins and the faces of each of the warriors as they stood and related
one of their exploits in battle, and then offered a gift to someone in the
crowd.

Winter Rain paid little attention to the tales of bravery,
many of which she had heard before, until it was Wolf Shadow’s turn to speak.

Rising, he stood in the center of the lodge. There was
something about him that made her heart beat a little faster. He reminded her
of the wolf for which he had been named, lithe and dangerous but gentle with
those he loved. His gaze moved slowly over the crowd and then settled on Winter
Rain’s face.

“This is a tale that began many moons ago,” he said, his
voice low and compelling. “I was a young warrior then, one who had sworn a
blood oath of vengeance. Because it was necessary, I left the land of my
ancestors and traveled to the land of the
wasichu.
I saw many strange
things but my heart was set on vengeance. Many years passed and my enemy
foolishly thought himself safe. I did not take his life until he remembered who
I was and what he had done. And when he was dead, I took his scalp and then I
dipped my hands in his blood.”

There were murmurs of approval as Wolf Shadow finished his
story.

Shivering, Winter Rain folded her arms over her breasts. She
was not repelled by the tale, only by the cold look that had settled in his
eyes as he spoke of the blooding.

Wolf Shadow pulled a pouch of tobacco from inside his
breechclout and offered it to one of the warriors, then resumed his seat.

After the last warrior had taken his turn, the singers took
their places again and the dancing resumed. When the hour grew late, the couple
acting as chaperones rose, and after dancing with the other couples for a short
time, they made their way to the door and danced themselves out of the lodge.
This was the signal that the dance was over.

Winter Rain stood and followed the other girls as they filed
out of the doorway. Mountain Sage stood outside with the other mothers who were
waiting for their daughters. Winter Rain knew the young men would not
immediately return to their lodges. Given the freedom of men, they would wander
around the camp for a time before going home.

“Dawn Song did not bid you goodnight,” Mountain Sage
remarked as they made their way home.

Winter Rain shrugged. “I think she may be angry with me.”

“Angry? What have you done?”

“I did nothing. She has soft eyes for the stranger in our
village. She chose him as her partner, and she did not like it when he chose me
instead of her.”

“Ah.” A single word, but it said all there was to say.

Winter Rain bid her parents goodnight and went to bed, only
to lie awake wondering if the enemy Wolf Shadow had followed to the land of the
wasichu
was the one responsible for the scars on his back.

Chapter Seven

Strong Elk returned late in the afternoon two days later. An
hour after he returned to camp, his best friend, Two Beavers, approached Winter
Rain’s lodge leading eleven Crow ponies.

Eagle Lance listened solemnly as Two Beavers spoke.

“The warrior, Strong Elk, desires to take your daughter,
Winter Rain, as his wife. To show his respect, he offers you these ten ponies,
which he has stolen from our enemies, the Crow. This horse,” he gestured at a
pretty buckskin mare with fox-like ears, “is a gift for Winter Rain.”

Eagle Lance nodded. “Tell Strong Elk I accept his offer.
Tell him to prepare a feast tomorrow and we will bring Winter Rain to his
family’s lodge.”

Two Beavers passed the lead ropes of the horses to Eagle
Lance. “My friend will be pleased.”

Winter Rain stood inside the lodge, listening to the
exchange between her father and Two Beavers. So. It was done. She was to marry
Strong Elk. Now that it was arranged, she was beset by doubts. Like most Lakota
maidens, she had had little opportunity to be alone with the man she would
marry. Most of what she knew of him she had learned from friends and from
meeting him “by accident”. In the last year, they had managed to meet numerous
times.

When she had come of age, many of the young men had come
courting. Some nights, there had been half a dozen young men waiting outside
her lodge. Gradually, she had refused all the others until only Strong Elk
remained. Still, courting beneath a blanket was not the best way for a couple
to get acquainted, not when there were curious children running around nearby,
not when she was ever aware that her mother was never far away.

And now it was done. Her father had accepted Strong Elk’s
gift. Tomorrow, she would take her place as his wife. She was already past the
age when most girls married. Her mother had taught her all she needed to know.
She could cook, she was virtuous, honest, and a hard worker. She had a fine
hand when it came to sewing and beading. She was also accomplished at
quillwork. Quilling was considered one of the most desirable of female arts.
Tanning a hide required a good deal of strength, but quilling demanded a gentle
hand and dexterity. Her mother was one of those who taught others. Mountain
Sage had dreamed of the Deer Woman. Such women were noted for their ability to
do quill work. Mountain Sage had told Winter Rain that the first Lakota woman
who had dreamed of the Deer Woman had learned the art of quilling in a vision
while she dreamed. On waking, she had set up a new lodge. Over time, she had
sorted and dyed the quills of a porcupine, and then she had passed her skills
to another.

Winter Rain sighed. Tomorrow she would leave her mother’s
lodge and begin her new life as Strong Elk’s wife. She would do the things she
had seen her mother do: she would tend the fire, do the cooking and sewing and
mending, keep the lodge tidy, gather wood and water, and entertain Strong Elk’s
friends. If Strong Elk was not pleased with her as a wife, he would divorce
her. Among the Lakota, it was a simple thing. All he need do was publicly
announce that he had “thrown her away” and she would return to her mother’s
lodge in disgrace.

Winter Rain frowned at the turn of her thoughts. Not even
married yet, and she was thinking of divorce.

A moment later, her mother hurried into the lodge and there
was no more time for worry or doubt, only time to make plans for the morrow.

Mountain Sage laid out the dress and moccasins she had
prepared for the occasion. In addition to the new clothing, Mountain Sage gave
her daughter new robes for sleeping, a sewing kit of her own, and a pair of
willow backrests.

“You have chosen wisely,” she remarked later that night
while brushing Winter Rain’s hair. “Strong Elk will make you a good husband. He
is wise and brave. He is a good hunter. You will always have meat in your lodge.”

Winter Rain nodded. She would gain honor and prestige in
being married to a warrior such as Strong Elk.

She went to bed early that night, yet sleep eluded her. She
was to be married tomorrow. Why did the thought fill her with trepidation
instead of excitement?

Long after her mother was asleep and her father was snoring
softly, she lay awake, staring at the sky through the smoke hole of the lodge.
And when sleep came, it was not her future husband she dreamed of, but a tall
man with a scarred back and storm-colored eyes.

* * * * *

Chance sat outside his cousin’s lodge, a cigarette dangling
between his lips. So, she was getting married tomorrow. She would don her best
tunic and moccasins and her father and mother would escort her to Strong Elk’s
lodge. There would be a feast, presents would be exchanged, and Winter Rain
would become Strong Elk’s bride. She would build a new lodge for the two of
them, bear his children, warm him on cold winter nights.

Damn.

Taking a last drag on his cigarette, Chance tossed the butt
away, watching the faint red glow as it arced through the darkness, then winked
out in the dirt. His hopes of collecting the reward were in the dirt, too, he
thought glumly. Maybe he should have just grabbed her and made a run for it. He
considered that a moment, then shook his head. As much as he wanted to pay off
the mortgage on the ranch, it wasn’t worth losing his cousin’s respect, or
jeopardizing his standing with the People. In a choice between the two, he
would give up the ranch. The Double C might be all that his father had left
him, but it was just a few thousand acres of land. The Lakota were his people.
Though he had not made his home here in years, his heart and soul were here, in
the land where he had been born. His ancestors had lived and died here. His
mother’s blood had watered the ground.

Tomorrow, he would go back to the ranch. Maybe, if he was
lucky, he could talk the bank into an extension on the loan. As a last resort,
he might be able to sell enough cattle to make up the difference between the
five thousand Bryant had paid him and what he owed the bank. If not…

He gazed out into the darkness. There was no point in
worrying about that now.

He glanced at Winter Rain’s lodge. Was she sleeping soundly,
dreaming of tomorrow? And tomorrow night?

He scowled at the thought of her sharing Strong Elk’s lodge.
What was it about the Bryant’s daughter that had him tied in knots? Hell, he
hardly knew the girl. She wasn’t even his type. He liked his women tall and
blonde and experienced. Yet none of the women he had known stirred him the way
she did, or had kept him up nights, unable to sleep for thinking of her,
wanting her.

Muttering an oath, he went into his cousin’s lodge and
crawled into his lonely bed.

* * * * *

Winter Rain woke early after a restless night. Sitting up,
she saw that her mother and father were still sleeping. Snuggling back under
her blankets, she closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep but she was too
agitated by her upcoming marriage to rest, too nervous to stay in bed.

Rising, she dressed quietly and slipped out of the lodge.

Only a few people were outside. She glanced toward Strong
Elk’s tipi, wondering if he was as nervous and uncertain as she was and then,
as if pulled by an invisible string, her gaze moved toward Kills-Like-a-Hawk’s
lodge. Would Wolf Shadow come to the feast?

Needing something to keep her mind from paths better off not
taken, she walked toward the timberline, thinking to gather some wood for the
morning fire. Tonight, she would be building a fire for her husband. The
thought did not please her as it should have and the next thing she knew, she
was walking toward the river.