Brave Beginnings (20 page)

“Will you be alright, ma’am?” the deputy
asked.

She smiled her appreciation and tucked a
stray strand of hair back into the bun at the nape of her neck.
“Yes. Thank you.”

“If he gives you any more problems, don’t
hesitate to ask for help.”

“Alright.” She took another deep breath.
Finally, her pulse was returning to normal. “I need to find my
husband.”

The deputy nodded and headed down the street
in the direction Ernest had gone.

She turned in the opposite
direction and looked for any signs of litter on the streets to give
her an idea of where Chogan might be.
He
must be so humiliated.
This wasn’t
anything like she thought their lives would be like in Bismarck
when they got married. Chogan didn’t deserve the way people were
treating him.

She had to turn down two streets and pass
three blocks before she found him. He was picking up an old
newspaper that someone left on a bench. She couldn’t help but
recall how proud he’d been to be in charge of printing the paper,
and now here he was, picking it up so he could throw it out because
someone else was too lazy to put it in the trash can not far from
the bench.

“Stop it!” She ignored the people who turned
to look at her and marched over to Chogan who still held the paper
in his hand. When she reached him, she snatched it from him and
threw it back on the bench. “No. I won’t have you doing this.”
Then, realizing the people hadn’t budged from their spots, she
yelled, “Don’t you have anything better to do than to watch other
people?”

“Julia, calm down,” Chogan said.

“Calm down? All of these people don’t care
what happened to you, and you want me to calm down?” She glared at
them until they finally stopped watching them and headed off to
whatever it was they had to do. “Why can’t they mind their own
business?”

He set the broom and dustpan down so he could
remove his gloves. “Most of them don’t know what happened. You
can’t blame them.”

“But none of them would hire you. Not unless
you agreed to clean up the streets?”

“Someone has to clean streets. If it’s not
me, it’ll be someone else.”

“Don’t try to excuse them, Chogan.” Tears
filled her eyes as she scanned the street, realizing that he did a
better job than whoever did it before. “You always do your best, no
matter what they give you. You’re too good for this.”

He collected her in his arms, and she clung
to him, not knowing what else to do but cry. “It’ll be
alright.”

“You’re right it will because we’re getting
out of Bismarck. I can’t go on living here. We’ll go to your tribe
where they know how to respect you.”

He tightened his hold on her and whispered,
“Are you sure?”

“I’ve been thinking about it, and after all
of this, I’m sure.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I’d like to
go back. I miss hunting.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“Because your life is here.”

“No. My life is with you. It doesn’t matter
where we live. I just don’t want to see you treated like this.”

“Thank you.”

As she stayed cocooned in his arms, she
thought it was something they should have decided on when he got
fired from the Tribune. But the decision was made now, and she was
glad to get away from Ernest and those who mindlessly believed
him.

“I will return the supplies to my employer,”
Chogan said as he released her. “Then we will go home.”

“I need to stop by the grocer first. I
promised Aunt Erin I’d pick up some sugar, milk and eggs.”

He picked up his things and turned to her and
smiled. “We will do that first.”

She wiped the rest of the tears from her
face and returned his smile. Finally, things were going to be
better. They could put this whole miserable experience behind them
and start over.

~~********~~

Julia’s smile faltered as she watched her
aunt who added water to the soup she was making. “Won’t you be
coming with us?” she softly asked, her voice barely audible above
the boiling broth.

Her aunt set the empty bowl by the sink,
looked her way, and gently replied, “I just bought this house. I
can’t sell it right now, especially in the middle of winter.”

She sank into one of the chairs, her
shoulders slumped. “But I can’t stay here.”

“And I don’t expect you to.” Erin pulled up a
chair and sat close to her. Taking Julia’s hands in hers, she
continued, “I knew that when Chogan got fired it was a matter of
time before you two made this decision.”

“Then why didn’t you say something?”

“Because there are some things you two have
to realize on your own.”

Julia swallowed the lump in her throat. “Did
you know what job they gave Chogan?”

“No, but I figured it wasn’t good when he
kept avoiding the topic. I realize that Ernest caused a lot of
trouble, and I believe the day of reckoning will come for him but
who knows how long that will be? Until that day comes, people will
mindlessly believe what Ernest said.”

“Chogan never attacked him!”

“Of course, he didn’t.”

“I don’t understand why Ernest’s opinion
matters to so many people in this horrible place.”

Her aunt sighed. “Most people don’t take
time to examine the facts. Maybe someday people won’t be so quick
to judge an Indian, but for now, you and Chogan will never be
completely happy here. I think going to his tribe is the best
course of action for you. You won’t have to worry about being
treated badly over there because you’re white.”

“I know. They were very nice to us when we
were there.” Julia felt the tears slide down her cheeks before she
realized she was crying. “I just don’t know what I’m going to do
without you.” She tried to say more, but the swell of emotion that
rose up within her forbade her from speaking further. All she could
do was cry and hold on tightly to her aunt’s hands.

Erin drew closer to her so she could hug her.
“Oh, Julia. My dear, it’s not like we’ll never see each other
again. You’re not going that far away. You’ll come to visit, and
I’ll visit you. We still see Gary and Woape, don’t we?”

“But it’s not the same. I am not close to
them like I am to you.”

“I feel the same way, Julia. When you were
younger, I thought of you as the daughter I never had, and when you
grew up, you became my most cherished friend. I love your brother,
of course, but he and I will never share the connection you and I
do.”

“Then why won’t you come? Chogan likes you.
And Gary and Woape are there.”

“Maybe I will once the weather is better and
I can sell the house. You know how long it took us to get ready to
move here. I can’t just pick up my things and leave today.” Erin
pulled away from her and cupped Julia’s face in her hands. “I
really mean that much to you?”

Blinking back her tears, Julia nodded.

Erin smiled. “Yes, I will go out there to be
with you, but I can’t go right now.”

At her aunt’s words, Julia’s heart lifted.
“Really?”

“How can I not? I had no idea you thought so
well of me.”

“How could you not know?”

Erin shrugged and laughed. “I don’t know. I
never thought about it, I guess. We were together all the time. It
just seemed to be the way things were.”

“Then it’s good we had this
conversation.”

“You’re right. It is.” Erin stood and helped
Julia to her feet. “Go on and help your husband pack. I will finish
making supper.”

Julia gave her aunt a quick hug and kiss on
the cheek. “We won’t leave until after lunch tomorrow, but it’s
still sudden, isn’t it?”

“Julia, with you, I’ve learned things either
don’t happen at all or they happen all at once. There is no middle
ground with you. When you set your mind to something, it takes an
act of God to stop you.”

“I’m impatient.”

“A bit, yes. But your heart is in the right
place. Chogan is lucky to have you. Now be off. I have soup to
attend to.”

Julia left the kitchen and went up the
stairs to find Chogan taking out his buffalo hide from the closet.
She paused and watched as he stroked the fur with a faraway look in
his eyes.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

He blinked and turned to her. “Five years
ago, I led the buffalo hunt. This was the buffalo I caught. Some
said it was impossible to get one that big, but I did it.”

“I wish I had been there to see it.”

He laughed. “Knowing you, you would have
beat me to it. It’s good you weren’t there.”

Chuckling, she walked over to him so she
could feel the soft fur. “This is a lovely robe. It’s a shame you
never got to wear it here. Will you put it on so I can see you in
it?”

He obeyed and draped it over his
shoulders.

“I don’t recall you looking so formidable
before,” she whispered, for the first time seeing him the way
others did and understanding why they experienced a momentary
flicker of apprehension when he walked into the room. He’d been a
hunter, and a most impressive one. With a regretful sigh, she
touched his hair. “It’ll take forever to grow this out.” She
recalled how his dark hair had hung down his back. “Promise me
you’ll never cut it again.”

“I refuse to let it grow too long. I can’t be
tripping on my hair.”

She sighed but grinned. “You are silly.” He
opened his arms, so she slipped into them and snuggled against him.
“Do you remember the last time you wore this robe? It was the night
Gary and I found you by the campfire, and we married shortly
afterwards.”

“That was a good night.”

She closed her eyes and recalled how he’d
looked back then. Over the months, she’d forgotten how Mandan men
dressed. It wasn’t that she intentionally put it from her mind, but
she got used to seeing him with short hair and wearing suits.
“It’ll be nice to see you as you were back then. My strong Indian
hunter who’ll hunt another buffalo so I can have my own robe.”

“You mean you will not insist on hunting the
buffalo?”

She noted the amusement in his voice. “No. I
want you to do it, so every time I wear it, I’ll think of you.”

“I like that. I want you to think of me.” He
brushed her cheek with his fingers.

“You’re always on my mind.”

“And you’re on mine.”

She looked up at him and said, “I believe
this is the part where you kiss me.”

He lowered his head and did as she
wished.

Slipping her arms under his, she encouraged
him to deepen the kiss. She knew she came up here to help him pack,
but there was something about being in his arms that made her
forget everything but him.

When their kiss ended, he whispered, “I want
to take you hunting with me. We can take a teepee and go out to the
open land.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful!” She jumped up
and flung her arms around his neck. “What will we hunt?”

Laughing, he wrapped his arms around her
waist and lifted her so that her toes were a few inches off the
ground. “I think you’re ready for deer.”

She gasped. “Something that big?”

“You can do it.”

“It will be fun to try.”

He gave her another kiss on the lips before
he left a trail of kisses to her ear. She squirmed in delight
against him. He carried her to the bed and enveloped her securely
with him in the buffalo robe.

“Chogan, we can’t make love right now.
Supper will be ready in a half hour and Millicent’s coming over
tonight,” she protested, even as she pulled him closer to her.

“We won’t take our clothes off. We will take
a break from packing to rest.”

“Rest? You call this resting?” she mused,
noting the way his hands caressed parts of her she found most
exciting.

“I often touch you when we are in bed.”

“Yes, and that often leads to not
resting.”

“We rest well afterwards,” he said with a
mischievous glint in his eye.

“You’re awful, Chogan.” She giggled when he
sprinkled more kisses on her neck, and then she let out a soft moan
when he cupped her butt in his hands and rolled on top of her so
that he was between her legs. “You’re horrible. You know I want to
be with you right now, but I can’t. Millicent will be here in ten
minutes.”

“This is to get you ready for tonight. It is
innocent.” He brought one hand up so he could touch her breast.

“Innocent? I’d hate to see what wicked is
with you if this is innocent!” She laughed and gave him a solid
kiss, brushing her tongue with his and intentionally shifting her
hips against his. “I can be innocent too, you know.”

“You are full of fire. I like that.”

From downstairs, she heard someone knock on
the door. Gasping, she said, “Millicent’s early!”

“Erin can get the door.” He kissed her
again.

Forcing the kiss to end, she groaned in
frustration. “I can’t do that. Aunt Erin is in the kitchen
cooking.”

With a reluctant sigh, he released her from
the robe and watched as she straightened her dress. “This robe is
empty without you.”

Shooting him an amused look, she replied,
“We have tonight. Like you said, that was to get us ready for
later.” Her lips turned up into a sly grin. “Are you ready?”

“I will be in pain until then.”

She rolled her eyes. “You are a brave hunter
who camps in the middle of winter. You’ve learned to deal with
pain.”

“But not this bad.”

Another round of knocking came from the
door.

“You’ll survive,” Julia assured him.

He grimaced, but the slight smile betrayed
his joke. “Barely.”

Giggling, she headed on out of the room to
answer the door and to help her aunt finish making supper.

***

After supper, Millicent asked to talk to
Julia, so Julia led her to the kitchen where they got ready to wash
dishes.