Westward Dreams (11 page)

Hannah said, “Oh, boy.  Come with me.”

Even in horrible pain Owl noticed that she wore the barrettes he’d given her.  He followed her to an exam room and said, “You look pretty.”

She smiled and said, “You’re very sweet.  Sit here for me.”  She motioned to the examination table and he sat on it. 

“Is it still up under your shoulder blade?”

“Yes.  Down back, too,” Owl said.

He needed help getting his shirt off and it was slow going.  Once they had removed the garment, Hannah began to run her fingers very lightly over the area.  It felt swollen and hot to her.  “I guess you really did overdo it.  I’m going to go get Doc.  He’ll be right in,” she said and left the room.

Hot tears pricked the backs of his eyes and Owl closed them.  The fact that Hannah had gone to get the doctor greatly troubled him.  It meant that something was very wrong.

In a few minutes, Doc came in and shut the door. 

“Hello, Owl.  Good to see you, but not like this,” the older man said with a smile.  He liked Marcus’ brother.  “Let’s take a look back here.  Hannah says that you were trying to shoot bow and arrow today, huh?”

“Yes.  First time in season,” Owl said.  He trusted and respected Doc.

“Ok, now let me know where it hurts the most,” Doc said.

He started lightly pressing and when he got to the space between Owl’s shoulder blade and his spine, Owl jerked and slammed his right fist down on the table.  Doc kept going over to Owl’s spine and started down it.  Owl grunted a couple of times, but he didn’t have near as strong a reaction as when Doc had pressed a little by his shoulder blade.

Doc moved around to stand in front of Owl.  “Is the pain still going down your arm?”  He'd helped Marcus with Owl when he’d been injured and was familiar with his case.

“Yes.  Can’t hold bow to make shot,” Owl said.

Doc nodded.  “You overdid it and got it flared up.  I can give you laudanum for the pain, but you’re gonna have to rest it for a couple of weeks.  After that, you can start with light exercises.  You have to build the muscles back up, but you’re gonna have to be careful so you don’t injure it again.  I’m also gonna have Hannah bring in some oil of wintergreen to rub on the area to help with inflammation.  I want to see you back next week to check it again, ok?”

“Ok, Doc.  Thanks,” Owl said.  “How much I owe you?”

“It’s on the house.  Family discount,” Doc said with a wink at Owl.

Owl smiled as Doc left the room.  It wasn’t long until Hannah came in.

“This is the oil of wintergreen,” she said.  “I’ll rub some on you now and you’ll want to do it again this evening.”

“Ok,” Owl said.

Hannah applied the ointment and said, “I’m so sorry, Owl.  I know this has to be frustrating for you.”

Owl just nodded and gritted his teeth as the liniment started burning.  He knew it would pass, but it was intense at the moment.  She finished and cleaned her hands off. 

“Thank you,” Owl said.

She smiled.  “No thanks needed.  Now, Doc wants you to take laudanum, but you already know that you have to be careful with it.”

His mood began to lift a little and he said, “You come give it to me.” 

Hannah was relieved to see his playful smile.  “You mean tonight?”

“Yes.  You know way now,” Owl said.  “Have to do it sometime.”  He was intent on making her independent and the best way to do that was to have her actually do things.  “You have horse now.”

She chewed her bottom lip as she tried to make up her mind.  He shouldn’t ride while he was taking laudanum so taking it now before he rode home wouldn’t be a good idea.  If he took too much it could have serious complications.  Without Marcus being in the camp, there may not be anyone else to correctly administer it.  Owl was right; she was going to have to get used to traveling around on her own, even at night.

“Ok.  I’ll come after work.  You can’t take it now and ride.  You might fall off or something,” Hannah said.

Owl nodded.  “Ok.  We will eat.”

“Ok.  I’ll come as soon as I can,” Hannah said.

Owl slid off the examination table and started putting on his shirt.  Hannah helped him with it.  Once he was dressed, Owl ran a hand down Hannah’s arm and gave her a quick kiss. 

“See you later,” he said with a smile.  It didn’t quite hide his pain, however.

“Yes.  Please rest,” she said as she followed him out to the waiting room.

“I will,” Owl said and went outside.

Hannah turned to the next patient and put on a smile for them even though she didn’t feel like it.

              When Hannah went to get her mare, there was a different groom on duty.  His name was Stew and he was very polite.  He readied her mount and helped her up on the horse.  Hannah concentrated on her riding.  She was relieved that it wasn’t completely dark out yet since the days were now longer. 

              She rode east out of town to the entrance of the trail leading to the camp.  Owl had pointed out landmarks for her and she was proud of herself when she remembered them.  Hannah kept the mare at a trot as they went down the trail.  She listened to the sounds in the forest and found them pleasant. 

As she came around a bend in the trail, Hannah recognized the place where Owl said she should let out a low whistle.  While he used a hoot owl call, the low whistle let the sentry know that it was a friend but not necessarily Lakota.  She whistled and continued onward.  Hannah was relieved when no one stopped her. 

When she came out of the trees, Hannah took a moment to get her bearings.  There were many fires burning and people moving about.  Children and dogs ran to and fro, laughing and barking.  It was a happy sight and Hannah smiled as she watched the village.  She dismounted and led her mare towards the holding area for the horses.  She took the horse’s bridle off and let her free to graze.

She turned around and got her bearings so she could remember the way to Owl’s tipi.  Hannah started out and things began to look a little familiar to her.  People watched her as she went by.  She smiled and said, “Hau,” to them.  Some responded and some didn’t.  Hannah kept going until she was about four tipis away from Owl’s. 

A woman suddenly came up to her and started speaking angrily to Hannah in Lakota.  Hannah couldn’t understand her, but she could tell that the woman didn’t like her.  She decided to ignore her and go on to Owl, but the woman got in front of her, blocking her way.  The woman continued to berate her and Hannah backed up.

“I don’t want any trouble,” Hannah said.  “I’m here to take care of Owl.”

The woman kept advancing on Hannah and then roughly pushed her.  Hannah hadn’t been expecting the rough treatment and stumbled to her knees.  Raven suddenly appeared and began chastising the woman.  Fury blazed in the young boy’s eyes and he shouted at the woman.  Whatever he said had an effect on the woman and she left after throwing hateful looks at Hannah.

Raven came over and gallantly helped Hannah off her knees.  “Hi, Miss Hannah,” he said.  “I’m sorry about her.  She won’t bother you again.”

Hannah dusted off her jeans and said, “Thank you so much, Raven.  You’re my hero.  Why was she so angry?”

“She’s jealous.  She likes Uncle Owl.  Everyone knows you’re his lady now and she’s mad,” Raven said.

“Oh.  I see.  What did you tell her?”

“That you are under Father’s protection and if she bothers you again, he will make her sorry,” Raven said.

Hannah smiled at Black Fox’s son.  “Thank you.  Where did you learn to speak English so well?”

“Uncle Silver Ghost.  He started when I was born, Mother says,” Raven replied.  “He taught a lot of us.”

“That’s amazing,” she said. 

“I know.  See ya!” he said and ran off.

Hannah laughed as she watched him go.  She walked unmolested to Owl’s tipi and scratched before anyone could interrupt her again.

Owl heard her and said, “Come.”

She went in and smiled at him.  He sat leaning up against a support pole and smiled back at her.  “How are you feeling?”

“Not so good.  You make it ok, huh?” Owl said.  He was proud of her. 

“Yes.  I had no trouble.  My whistle must have been all right because no one stopped me,” she said as she knelt beside him.  She decided that she might as well tell him about what happened with the angry woman because he would most likely hear it from someone else and be angry because she hadn’t told him.

He saw a shadow pass over her face and said, “You ok?”

She sighed.  “Um, well, I was on my way to your tipi when some woman started yelling at me.  I tried to get around her, but she pushed me.  Raven came to my rescue and made her leave me alone.”

Rage filled Owl that anyone would put their hands on Hannah in such a way.  He could guess who the woman was that had gone after Hannah and he would deal with her.  Hannah saw the anger in his face and didn’t want him to get worked up.  He needed to rest and getting riled up wouldn’t help him.

“You should have seen Raven,” she said with a laugh.  “He was so fierce and cute.  He certainly put her in her place.”

“Good.  I take care of her,” Owl said.

“Please don’t worry about it.  I doubt she’ll bother me again.  Raven told her that I’m under Black Fox’s protection,” Hannah said. 

Owl could well imagine Raven doing such a thing.  His precocious nephew was not above using his father’s clout to influence people.  Black Fox had warned him about doing that, but in this case, Raven may have done a good thing.

“Ok.  I will let go,” Owl said.  “This time.  It happens again…” Owl let his words trail off meaningfully.

She liked that he was protective of her, but didn’t want to cause any trouble for him.  “I brought the laudanum.  I’ll get it ready for you to take.”

Owl sighed.  The situation with his shoulder greatly frustrated him.  He’d been so glad when he’d been able to stop taking the laudanum because it made his mind fuzzy.  Now he had to take it again just because he’d tried to shoot his bow a few times. 

Hannah took the medicine from her little bag and began preparing the drug.  She had been glad she’d hung on to her bag when that woman had pushed her.  If the vial had broken, she might have gotten mad enough to push her back. 

Once it was ready, she gave it to Owl and put her things away.  “That should start to work soon,” she said.

“I know,” Owl said with dismay.  “Makes me fuzzy.”

“Yes, unfortunately, it does that to most people,” Hannah said.

Someone scratched on his tipi. 

“Come,” Owl said.

The flap opened and a woman entered.  She looked at them and smiled and Hannah saw her resemblance to Owl.

“Hi, Squirrel,” Owl said in Lakota.  He noted the cooking pot she brought with her.  “Thanks for making that for me.”

She gave him a quick glance and said, “As if I had a choice.”

He smiled at his sister’s teasing remark.  “No, I guess not, but you know I appreciate it.”

“Your woman is pretty, brother,” she said.

“Yes, she is,” he said.  He switched to English and said, “Hannah, this sister, Squirrel.  She make supper.”

“Hello, Squirrel.  It’s nice to meet you,” Hannah said with a smile.

“Hi.  It’s nice to meet you, too,” Squirrel said.  “Owl speaks very highly of you.”

Hannah was surprised at her excellent grasp on English and felt bad that she only knew a few words in Lakota.

Squirrel laughed at Hannah’s look of shock.  “Marcus has taught me a lot of English.  He gets bossy and makes me speak only English some days.  He does the same with the children.  I’ve brought some stew for you to eat.”

“Thank you. It smells delicious,” Hannah said.  It had a rich, savory aroma and Hannah realized she was very hungry.

“You’re welcome,” her dark eyes turned serious as she looked at her brother.  “I hope he gets better soon.  He is worried.”

“Squirrel,” Owl said in an admonishing tone.

She sent him an annoyed look and said, “I will leave you to your supper.”

“Thank you again, Squirrel,” Hannah said.

Squirrel smiled at Hannah but gave Owl another displeased glance and left.  Hannah wondered at the nature of their relationship and couldn’t figure it out.  Owl hadn’t raised his voice, but he had been authoritative with Squirrel who had obeyed.  Hannah could tell that Squirrel hadn’t been happy, but she had listened to Owl.

“Why were you rude to your sister?” Hannah asked.

Owl’s eyebrows rose.  “Rude?  I was not rude.”

“Yes, you were.  She was concerned about you and you made her stop talking,” Hannah said.

Owl sighed.  Now he knew what Marcus had gone through when Claire had first come there.  “Sisters must listen to brothers.  She not to say such things,” Owl said.

Hannah decided to let the matter go and ask Claire about it the next day.

“Oh, I see,” she said.

Owl could tell that she really didn’t but he didn’t want to argue with her so he didn’t press the point.  He decided to change the subject.  He showed Hannah where his bowls were and told her to eat before the soup got cold.  The laudanum helped him with pain, but sometimes made him sick to his stomach so he only ate a little of the soup.

Hannah cleaned up every bite of hers.  She recognized the potatoes and vegetables, but didn’t know what the meat was.  “What kind of soup was that?”

“Venison,” Owl said.

“Deer?” Hannah asked.

The look of distaste on Hannah’s face in combination with the slightly euphoric effects of the laudanum caused Owl to break into uncontrollable laughter.  It made his shoulder and back burn again, but he couldn’t stop laughing.

Hannah saw him grab his shoulder and was worried about him hurting it more.  “Owl, stop laughing.  You’re making your shoulder worse.”  She saw his slightly dilated eyes, a sure sign that the laudanum had kicked in.  “Oh, boy.”

Owl’s laughter subsided and he groaned instead.  “Hate laudanum,” he said. 

“I know, but it’ll help you.  Why don’t you lie down?” Hannah said.

Owl looked at her and noticed that she was slightly blurry.  “Ok.  If you stay.”

Hannah asked, “You mean stay the night?”

He nodded.

“Is that allowed?” Hannah inquired.

“Yes.  Claire did,” Owl said.  How had he forgotten that, he wondered.

Hannah said, “Won’t you get in trouble?”

“No.  Stay.  Please?” Owl said.

The truth was staying appealed to her both on a professional and a personal level.  Laudanum had strong effects on some people and because she didn’t know how it affected Owl, it might be good for someone to be with him.  Plus, she would be close to him and have a little more time with him.

“Ok.  I’ll stay,” she said. 

His broad smile made her heart speed up.  Even slightly loopy he was incredibly handsome.  He tried to lie down, but Owl couldn’t get comfortable.  No matter which way he lay, it pulled on his shoulder.  Hannah wished that she had some pillows to prop him up against. An idea came to her and she told Owl that she would be back.

              Owl watched her go and sighed.  This was not how he wanted to spend time with Hannah.  He wanted to have fun with her and keep teaching her things.  In a way he was sorry he’d asked her to come because the evening wasn’t going as he’d had planned.  At the same time, her presence was comforting to him.

              Hannah soon returned with a bunch of blankets and Owl asked, “What are they for?”

              She smiled at him and said, “They’re going to help you feel better.  Sit up a moment.  I’ll help you.”

              He was surprised at her strength as she slowly helped pull him up into a sitting position.  Then she started folding and stacking the blankets and he realized what she was doing.

              “There.  Now lie back,” she said.

              Owl did and his shoulder didn’t hurt nearly as much.  He held out his hand to her and asked, “How do you do that?”

              She sat cross-legged by him and asked, “Do what?” as she put her hand in his.

              “Make things ok,” Owl said.

              Hannah smiled and said, “That’s what a good nurse is supposed to do.”

              “No.  More than that,” he said.  “You bring me peace.”

              She said, “I’m glad that you feel that way.”

              “I do.  Not just because of injury.”  He smiled as he spoke.

                She couldn’t stop looking at him and she was afraid to speak and interrupt his train of thought.

              “When family was killed, I lock up heart.  I was not happy for long time.  Did not want get hurt again,” Owl said.  His brain was getting even more muddled so he tried to concentrate harder so he could get out his thoughts before he passed out.  In his mind he tried to hear Marcus speaking English and attempted to recreate the proper sentence structure on which he’d been instructed.  “You are good for me,” he said carefully.  “You give me hope that things will be ok.”  He rested his head back then and just looked at her.

              Hannah stroked his face and kissed his forehead before looking in his eyes again.  “You do the same for me, Owl.”

              He smiled and closed his eyes.  Owl’s hand relaxed and his breathing changed.  Hannah realized that he was asleep and was glad that he wasn’t in pain for the moment.  She sat for a while just holding his hand and monitoring his breathing.  It was important to make sure it wasn’t going to cause any respiratory problems.

              Seeing that Owl was fine, Hannah lay down close to him and pulled a blanket over her.  She fell asleep holding his hand.