Lakota Dawn (7 page)

“The Great Spirit and our teachings say it is wrong to be cruel. I try to be kind to all people, though it is hard to do so with some.”

“That is true,” he murmured as his gaze roamed her features.

“Did the Whites treat you bad when you lived far away?” Macha asked softly.

“No. At least, most of them did not. I was accepted as the son of the white man and woman who found me injured and reared me.”

“Hanmani said you did not return sooner because you thought your people had been slain by the enemy.”

“That is true,” he said, then told her the other reasons he had related to his family. “I do not know why I was taken far away or why I was called back here by the Great Spirit, but He will reveal such things later.”

Macha turned her head slightly, and tensed. “My mother calls to me,” she explained. “I must go. Remain here until I am gone.”

“After I am accepted as a band member, can we talk again?”

She nodded. “But we must not do so until that sun rises.”

“I understand. Go before we are seen together. Until another sun?”

Macha smiled and whispered, “Until another sun, Cloud Chaser.”

Chase watched her hastily disappear, then took a deep breath. Her radiant smile could vanquish the blackness of a moonless night and warm the flesh on a freezing day! Her gentle nature and musical voice could calm the most troubled soul! She was good, kind, and generous—as his mother and adoptive mother had been. She was so beautiful it was easy to understand why he desired her so, but his feelings for her went beyond anything he’d ever felt for any other female.

Chase returned to his assigned location to find Two Feathers inspecting it. He would have preferred to turn in for the night with pleasant thoughts and feelings flowing through him, but he suppressed a frown and harsh tone to prevent provoking the man into another quarrel. “What do you want here, my cousin?” As Two Feathers turned to face him, Chase read sheer hatred and contempt in the man’s expression, and sensed rage boiling within him. Why, he wondered again, did his cousin so detest him?

“Your camp was empty. Rising Bear said not to leave it.”

“I am allowed to go empty my body in the forest as needed. Were you sent to find and guard me or to fetch me for my father?”

“You cannot be trusted, half-breed.” Two Feathers almost snarled the words.

“To insult me insults my father, for I carry the blood of Rising Bear.”

“Your White blood is strongest within you and it paints your looks.”

“Do you say your chief and uncle has weak blood and seeds? Do you say they are so weak they cannot overcome those of a lowly white woman?”

Wind Dancer had approached as the two men challenged each other with words and glares. “Why are you here, my
cousin?” he asked Two Feathers. “You were told to stay away from Cloud Chaser’s camp. Why do you disobey?”

“He was gone. I came to find him. He—”

Chase interrupted and explained his absence, withholding only the part about visiting with Macha for a short time. “My cousin hopes I will flee or disobey so badly that he spies on me and insults me and Father.”

Wind Dancer glanced at his cousin and asked, “Is this true?”

When Two Feathers did not respond fast enough and glowered at Chase as if to dare him to repeat what he had said, Chase related their exchange of words, some of which his brother must have overheard.

Wind Dancer lifted his hand to indicate silence as he thought about the offensive matter for a while, trying to decide how best to handle it. He did not want to speak of his father’s past weakness with either man or to reveal their words to others, which could cause trouble in camp. “Go, my cousin, and do not return to Cloud Chaser’s camp without Father’s permission,” Wind Dancer ordered. “If you disobey, I will reveal your bad words to him.”

After Two Feathers left in a sullen mood, Chase asked Wind Dancer the question that had been tormenting him: “My cousin hated me as a child and he hates me as a man, my brother. Why?”

“He fears you will betray and shame his beloved chief and uncle and you will bring pain to his heart,” Wind Dancer speculated.

Chase guessed that was just a partly accurate supposition, but he was grateful to be answered. Although he sensed tension and wariness in Wind Dancer, at least and at last they were talking. “Is that also what you think, my brother?”

Wind Dancer locked his gaze with Cloud Chaser’s and felt compelled to admit, “I do not know my true thoughts and feelings, but they will be clear to me soon.” He wanted to say more, but this was not the best time. He had loved his brother and grieved over his loss, and he did not want anything bad to happen to force him to experience those feelings again. He wished this grim situation was different and simple, but it was
not; and a mistake in trust and judgment could be fatal for his people, for his family.

“Did your doubts lead you to have War Eagle and his small band follow us this morning? What did you expect to happen?” he asked, and witnessed his older brother’s astonishment.

“They trailed us to prevent trouble,” Wind Dancer said in honesty.

“Was that by your order or by Father’s?”

“It was Grandfather’s, for he seeks to protect the next chief.”

“Protect you from me? He fears I would harm my own brother?”

“To protect me from any and all harm; that is all I can tell you.”

“Thank you for speaking the truth to me; it brings great joy to my heart and spirit. Is there a chance I will be accepted one day, or am I wasting my time here? Should I go or stay?”

“That is your choice to make, Cloud Chaser.”

“No, my brother; it is our father’s and people’s choice.”

“If your heart and purpose are good, wait for that sun to rise. Now I must go, for darkness is here and my family waits for my return.”

Chase smiled. “I am eager to meet your wife and son, my brother, when you say the time is right.”

“It is up to you to make that sun rise, Cloud Chaser. I go now.”

An exhilarated Chase watched his brother leave. Surely he had not misunderstood Wind Dancer’s subtle attempt at encouragement: “
Wait
for that sun to rise.” At long last, maybe he had made progress toward his goal. Perhaps all he had to do was be patient, obedient, and stay out of trouble.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live here and have a home and a family of my own?
he thought as he settled on his bedroll, then asked himself why he was thinking such optimistic thoughts. He concluded it was because of his meeting with Macha, as she was even more tempting up close than at a distance. And it also had to do with his past experiences. He had lived his early years as
a near-outsider, as the half-Indian child of a white woman, a mother who had been taken from him when he was only nine. He had yearned for his father to look at him and treat him as Rising Bear did his other sons, and he had believed that would happen one day. Despite the Martins’ love for him, he had never felt he really belonged on a farm or living amidst all Whites. He had felt set apart, different, a guest in their Oregon home. He had made a few friends with schoolmates and neighbors, but those had not been close relationships, such as he had experienced with Wind Dancer and War Eagle, who had been called
Tokapa
and
Icinunpa
before sacred vision-quests gave them their adult names. He had missed his father, two brothers, and sister. He had always believed this was where he belonged; this was where he would be fulfilled. Deep inside, he knew his destiny was here with the Red Shield Oglalas and on Lakota lands, and with Macha as his wife.

Icinunpa.
Chase’s mind echoed the name he should have been given, for he was Rising Bear’s “Second” son, not War Eagle, though he bore no resentment toward his younger brother for possessing it for many years. Wind Dancer had deserved his name of “Firstborn,” the same as his own son of two years.
A son…a child I can rear with love and pride. A child who will not be forced to endure rejection and anguish. But is that possible to do in a territory filled with animosities and conflicts? I don’t know.

The next morning, Hanmani arrived with his usual meal and a surprise for him. As she passed the small bundle to Chase, she whispered, “This is from Dawn; she cooked bread with dried nuts and berries. She told me of your talk in the forest. You must be careful not to go near her until you are a Red Shield again. If my cousin learns of your meeting, he will get you and her into trouble, for he will soon ask for her to join to him.”

Chase was shocked and vexed by that news. “Does Dawn love Two Feathers? Will she become his wife?”

“No, my brother, she does not love him or wish to mate
with him. He is also of my lost grandparents’ bloodline, but I fear he is bad. He has made whisperings to me about approaching her, but I have tried to stop him. He is viewed as a brave and skilled warrior and carries the blood of a past chief, so her parents will believe him a good choice for her and will ask her to accept him. I cannot speak against my cousin before others, for it would cause much trouble. Dawn is afraid, for she does not know how she will reject him without insulting his honor and displeasing her parents.”

“Why are you telling me such sad things, my sister?”

“Because of the sacred vision-dream and because she is my best friend and I do not want her mated to him.”

“What can I do to prevent it, my sister?” Chase asked.

“I do not know, but you must try to save her.”

Chase perceived how worried and desperate Hanmani was, and hated to imagine Macha’s feelings. “How soon will Two Feathers speak for her?”

“After the buffalo hunt, unless he learns of your feelings for her. If he does so, he will speak fast and strong for her only to hurt and defeat you. I must go now, but think on my words, for she is your destiny.”

Chase did not have a chance to reply to that astonishing assertion before Hanmani rushed away to tend her daily chores. He sat on his bedroll and began to eat, his thoughts and emotions in a quandary. He was convinced by now that his sister believed and accepted him fully, though she dared not tell or show such feelings to anyone other than Macha. Yet, how did she think he could step between Two Feathers and his objective while he was still secluded and being tested? Hanmani was accurate in one area: if their cousin even suspected Cloud Chaser desired the daughter of Leaning Tree and Ohute, he would go after her with full force in order to spite him.

As Chase savored the sly treat and stroked the soft fur of the rabbit pelt it had been wrapped in and had been held in her hands, he thought,
It will snow on the hottest day in summer before my cousin touches her!

* * *

At midmorning of the following day, War Eagle and Swift Otter approached Chase’s campsite. “Do you wish to ride and hunt with us?” War Eagle asked. “Your horse needs a good run.”

Chase noted that his brother had spoken in Lakota, not English, and was scrutinizing him. He presumed he was about to face another test of some kind, but he was glad to have a diversion and exercise. He smiled and thanked War Eagle, and greeted the other warrior, a Sacred Bow Carrier like his brother.

As they walked to their horses, War Eagle wondered if Cloud Chaser suspected he was taking him along to see what he said and did, actions he was to report to his father, brother, and grandfather. Besides Swift Otter, three men were going with them: River’s Edge, Broken Lance, and Two Feathers. His cousin Broken Lance often rode and hunted with him, but Two Feathers did not. He was being taken along at Wind Dancer’s request, to see how their cousin behaved toward Cloud Chaser. Wind Dancer had confided the lingering conflict to him and wanted to learn if Two Feathers was obeying his warning. If there was going to be trouble between the two men, Wind Dancer, as a Shirt-Wearer who handled such problems, wanted to know before their journey to the Grasslands began soon.

As Chase saddled his mount, he said to War Eagle, “I will need my weapons for hunting. May I have them?”

“You cannot slay the Great Spirit’s creatures with a firestick. To give up their lives to a white man’s weapon would bring them great shame.”

Chase halted his task and looked behind him, but already knew who was standing there and speaking to him in such a harsh tone. Just as he dreaded, Two Feathers was going with them, and no doubt would spoil the outing. “I would use a bow and arrows, my cousin, but I do not have any. It is hard to slay a creature from horseback with only the knife I wear.”

“You can use our weapons?” Two Feathers scoffed with a glare.

“I am skilled with a bow and arrows, for I made and used them far away to keep in practice for my return home.”

“If that is true, why did you not bring them with you?”

“I thought it unwise to travel in the territories of the Whites and other tribes with such weapons. I will make another bow and arrows soon.”

War Eagle had come prepared for this possibility. He handed Chase his old bow and a plain quiver of four arrows. “Use these,” he offered. “I will test my new bow and quiver and ready them for the great buffalo hunt.”

“Thank you, my brother; they are still good weapons,” Chase said as he examined them, then suspended them around his torso in Lakota fashion.

War Eagle nodded, then glanced to where the other three members of his hunting party were mounting to leave. “Come. We ride,” he said, and swung himself atop his horse with fluid agility.

Two Feathers glared at the half-White man and said in a low voice, “If you try to flee, weakling dog, I will send my arrow into your back faster than you can travel across our land.”

“Your quarrel with me is foolish and must halt, my cousin,” Chase retorted. “We are no longer boys; we are men now and must behave as such. I have offered you my hand in peace, but you have refused to grasp it and only seek to cut it off. I will not offer you a truce again, for it is useless.”

War Eagle overheard that exchange and delayed his departure to warn, “Such words are not needed, my cousin. If you do not want to ride with him, you can hunt with others or with us on another sun. A Sacred Bow Carrier must practice the Four Virtues. Such words, feelings, and actions do not show Courage, Wisdom, Generosity, and Restraining Endurance.”