Brave Beginnings (29 page)

“Sit down,” she told him.

“Don’t you sit when there is bad news?” he
hesitantly asked.

“This isn’t bad.”

He obeyed and settled on their bed.

She sat beside him and took his hands in
hers. “I’m in the family way!”

His eyes grew wide. “What? But how did this
happen?”

Surprised, she gave him a good look and then
saw the teasing spark in his eyes. “Oh you! You know exactly
how.”

He shifted over her so that she fell onto her
back on the soft furs. “I need reminding. My memory is…what’s the
word?”

“Really, Chogan. We can’t make love right
now.”

“Why not?”

“Because your relatives are out there.” Then
for emphasis, she added, “Awake.”

Shrugging, he said, “But they know how you
got with child. Besides, we’re married. They expect us to do
it.”

She tried to think of a proper response but
couldn’t think of anything to say. She knew he was joking, and even
as he leaned forward to kiss her neck, he was chuckling. Sighing,
she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Are you happy about this?” she asked.

He stopped kissing her and let his gaze meet
hers. Brushing back a stray strand of her hair from her forehead,
he softly said, “Of course, I am. I knew this would happen sooner
or later.”

“Do you worry about losing this one?” She
recalled the hollow tree where his stillborn daughter had been
placed after being wrapped in a small robe.

“No. You’re tough.”

“Good. I hoped you wouldn’t think something
bad would happen this time. I know your first wife suffered through
a lot.”

He caressed her cheek and whispered, “She was
sickly. It was to be expected.”

“Except you didn’t expect it?”

“Not at first. But after the second
miscarriage, it became clear.”

“I’m sorry. It must have been horrible to
keep losing your children.”

“God has a reason. What I lost, He’s given me
in abundance. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and
you will give me children to make up for those I lost.”

She blinked back her tears and swallowed the
lump in her throat. “Maybe we’ll have a houseful of children.”

“Knowing you, you’ll make it happen. Nothing
stops you when you put your mind to something.”

“Well, I am very determined to get my
way.”

“That you are.” He leaned forward and kissed
her, letting his lips linger on hers for a long moment. “I am happy
about the baby, Julia.”

“I love you, Chogan.”

“I love you too.”

She pulled him closer to her so that she
could kiss him again. Everything was perfect. Everything she’d
wanted ever since she was a little girl was now coming to pass, and
she couldn’t think of anything to add to her life.

***

Chogan winced in his sleep. The images
running through his mind were, for lack of a better term,
disturbing. Julia labored hard and nearly died in giving birth to
their daughter.

When he was allowed into the lodge, Woape
looked up from Julia’s pale and sleeping form. “He took her.”

“Who?” Chogan asked.

“Citlali. He took your daughter.”

“What?! Why?”

Woape touched his arm and pressed her finger
to her lips. “Don’t wake Julia. She needs her rest.”

He rubbed his temples and lowered his voice.
“Where did he take her?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “But you have to
find him. And fast.”

Before he could ask how he was supposed to do
that, he found himself standing by a hollow tree in a place outside
the tribe. He recognized it immediately. It was where he’d placed
his stillborn daughter years before. After the miscarriages, his
first wife thought their daughter would live, and maybe the child
would have lived had the cord not gotten wrapped around her
neck.

He closed his eyes, not wishing to relive
that day or the tears that came with it. His first wife was never
the same after that. She’d been sickly before, but after that, she
couldn’t stand to be alone. She claimed she heard their baby crying
whenever she was by herself.

Timidly, he peered into the hollow tree and
found it empty. He released his breath and said a prayer of
thanks.

Then he heard a baby cry. Instinctively, he
knew it was his and Julia’s child. Spinning around, he saw Citlali
walking toward the tree. Citlali held the baby in a robe, and
though Citlali didn’t speak, Chogan knew his intent.

He marched up to Citlali and said, “Give me
my daughter.”

Citlali shook his head. “She is not a
full-blooded Mandan. She has no use in our tribe.”

“That’s not for you to decide.” Chogan
reached out to take her but his hands went through her.

“She is not a real child. She cannot be a
real child because she’s half-white. You will marry Sarita and have
real children with her.”

Chogan lurched forward but Citlali
disappeared. Anxiously scanning the prairie, he saw Citlali gently
placing the crying baby into the tree. Chogan tried to move forward
but his feet were strapped to the ground.

“It’s better this way,” Citlali called out.
“You’ll see the wisdom of my decision in due time.” Then he
disappeared again.

Chogan clawed at the ropes binding his feet
to the ground, but each time he managed to rip one off, another one
wrapped around his foot and secured him to the spot. After several
attempts, he screamed in frustration.

The sound of a gun’s click caught his
attention. Turning his head, he saw Ernest aiming a rifle at
him.

“I always wanted to hunt animals,” Ernest
sneered. “You and that…”—he pointed his rifle to the tree—“thing
will make nice trophies over my fireplace.”

Ernest pulled the trigger, and Chogan’s
daughter stopped crying. Then he pointed the rifle at Chogan and
smiled.

Chogan’s eyes flew open and he gasped. In the
darkness, he couldn’t make out anything except the rapid beating of
his heart and tingling in his feet. He remained still for a long
moment, anxiously trying to figure out where he was.

A dream. It’d been a dream.

He sighed with relief, and when he could
move, he rubbed his eyes.
Just a nightmare. Julia’s safe. The
baby is safe. Everything is alright.

Julia shifted in the bed and snuggled against
him. Though the dream had made him break out into a sweat, he
reached for her and drew her into his arms. She snuggled closer and
let out a contented moan before she drifted back off to sleep.

Thank God it was just a dream.
His
breathing slowed as he repeated this sentence over and over in his
mind, still feeling the effects from it and recalling each image in
disturbing detail.

Citlali wouldn’t get rid of Chogan’s child.
Citlali was willing to marry Woape and raise her child even though
Penelope was half-white. Citlali was many things that irritated
Chogan, but he did value children. As for Ernest…

Chogan swallowed and closed his eyes,
unwittingly seeing the look of intense pleasure on Ernest’s face in
the dream. There was something wrong with Ernest. It wasn’t
anything obvious. More of a sensation Chogan felt, and perhaps
something in the man’s eyes, as if he had no soul. Chogan shivered
and tightened his hold on Julia. Chogan had never been more
relieved to be back at his tribe.

He rubbed Julia’s back. “I love you, and I
love our child,” he whispered.

Unable to go back to sleep, he spent the rest
of the night reassuring himself it was all just a dream and that
Julia and their child would be safe.

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

Julia stepped out of the lodge in the brisk
March air and tightened her coat. Her gaze fell upon Sarita who was
three lodges down. Sarita was laughing at something a couple of
women were telling her.

Julia inwardly groaned. On some days, the
tribe seemed much too small. She headed off in the opposite
direction, not in the mood for a confrontation today. Though the
ginger Woape had given her took care of the nausea due to the
pregnancy, it didn’t take care of the exhaustion she experienced
throughout the day. But even with the groggy feeling, she was
overjoyed. She was going to be a mother!

After she got around the corner of a lodge
and Sarita was out of sight, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her
boots crunched through the snow that had frozen over because of the
low temperatures and wind from the night before. Thankfully, the
wind had died down and the sun warmed things up a bit. In no time
at all, the snow would start to melt and spring would come. Woape
had told Julia she was lucky to have a baby born in November when
it was cold because there was little else to do but care for
children. The spring meant planting, summer meant tending to the
crops, and fall meant harvesting. Winter, it seemed, was a time of
rest.

This would be the first year Julia would
experience this aspect of life. She had no idea how to grow crops,
and even as she experienced apprehension at the task, she knew
Chogan’s female relatives would show her how to care for their plot
of land. Ever since she met Chogan, she’d done things she never
thought she’d do before. She considered how her life would have
been had she married Ernest when he courted her all those years
ago. It would have been predictable, safe…and boring. But with
Chogan, things never got boring. He was predictable and safe. He
loved her and would always do whatever he could to protect her.
That, however, didn’t make him boring. She smiled to herself as she
recalled the passionate kiss he’d given her that morning. No one
would ever accuse Chogan of being boring. And she found that she
was beginning to like the tribe. She had much to learn, but
everyone was gracious about teaching her what she needed to
know.

She glanced over her shoulder and noticed
that Sarita was watching her from several yards away. Her steps
slowed and she frowned. Well, almost everyone was gracious to her.
Julia stopped and turned around. Sarita didn’t move from her spot.
Julia narrowed her eyes. It couldn’t have been her imagination.
Sarita was following her. But why?

Well, there was only one way to find out.
Julia took a step forward.

“Julia?”

Pausing, she turned her attention to Woape
and Onawa. Woape held Penelope, and as soon as Julia’s gaze met
Penelope’s, she decided she wouldn’t deal with Sarita. The
situation was aggravating enough without dragging an innocent
little girl into it. Taking a deep breath to ease her irritation,
Julia smiled and walked toward them.

“How’s my darling niece?” Julia asked,
tapping Penelope’s nose.

Penelope giggled and Julia relaxed.

“Is Sarita still bothering you?” Woape
asked.

“She’s getting worse, if you can believe it.”
Julia looked back and saw Sarita dart off in another direction. “I
don’t know why she can’t find someone other than Chogan to dig her
claws into.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Woape said. “Will you
hold Penelope for me?”

“Sure.” Julia took the girl in her arms and
hugged her. “You are such a pretty thing, aren’t you?”

As Woape followed Sarita, Onawa smiled at
Julia.

Julia smiled back and tried to think of some
Mandan words she could use to communicate with Onawa. “It
is…cold.”

“Yes,” Onawa replied and added a few more
words which Julia recognized as winter and spring.

“Spring soon.”

Onawa nodded. Then she turned to the snow and
said the word for it.

Julia asked her to say it again and then
slowly repeated it, knowing it didn’t sound exactly right but
figuring it was a good approximation of it.

Onawa grinned in encouragement and then
pointed to the sun to continue her lesson.

Even as Julia followed Onawa’s instructions,
she glanced over her shoulder. Woape had caught up to Sarita, and
Julia wondered what Woape was telling her.

Woape stood before Sarita and asked, “Why do
you keep bothering Julia?”

“Julia doesn’t belong here. Just look at
her.”

“What’s your point?” Woape asked.

“She does not wear our clothes.”

“So?”

Sarita sighed as if it should be
self-evident. “She has not embraced our ways. She will not teach
her children our ways. She will divide us. Her children will try to
change things in this tribe.”

“You can’t be serious.”

She crossed her arms and glared at her. “I’m
not surprised. You married a white man instead of Citlali. Of
course, you don’t care for the ways of our people.”

“That’s not true, and you know it. We grew up
together.”

“And you should have done the right thing and
married Citlali. He could have married you and Onawa, but now he
will only marry Onawa. Because you ran off to be with a white man,
you’ve limited the number of children he can have.”

Woape’s face flushed with anger, but she
resisted the urge to defend herself. What was the point? Some
people in the tribe would think what they wanted, and not everyone
approved of her marriage to Gary, just as they didn’t agree with
Chogan’s decision to marry Julia.

“Chogan had a right to marry whoever he
wanted,” Woape finally said when she could trust herself not to say
something rude. “You should find another man to have babies
with.”

“Citlali promised Chogan to me!”

“But Chogan didn’t make that promise. Citlali
has no right to promise Chogan to anyone. Chogan is a grown man. He
makes his own decisions.”

“Citlali is the second chief. He has
authority.”

“Citlali has no authority over the
heart.”

“You only oppose my being with Chogan because
Gary’s your husband, and Julia is his sister. You aren’t looking at
this from the perspective of what’s right for the tribe.”