Brave Beginnings (4 page)

Julia set the cup on the table next to her
chair. “I don’t think so. They never wore them before. My brother’s
wife said her deerskin dress and moccasins were more
comfortable.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Neither would I. I’ve never worn those
clothes either.”

Millicent sighed and spread out the skirt of
her dress. “Well, I feel much better now that I changed into a good
petticoat. I’ll have to mend the other one later.”

“I should get home,” Julia replied, standing
up. “Gary is due to stop by sometime today, and knowing how he
times things, it’s likely to be right about now.”

“Oh! How delightful. I’ve never met him.”

Julia forced a smile. Millicent loved the
word “oh” a little too much. “You’re welcome to join me. I’m sure
Aunt Erin would like to have you over again.”

“She is a lovely aunt, is she not?”

“She is.”

Millicent stood and led Julia to the coat
tree by the front door. “I wish we had grown up together. We could
have been great friends. Oh well. Nothing can be done about that
now, can it? But here we are, and there’s no reason why we can’t
make up for lost time!”

“You’re right.”

Julia wrapped her shawl around her shoulders
and put her bonnet on. She wished she had brought her coat. When
she went to Uncle Clarence and Aunt Annabel’s house to drop off a
vase, she didn’t expect to get delayed by having tea with their
daughter. Now the temperature was dropping in the late
afternoon.

“I’ll make it a quick visit,” Millicent said
as she slipped on her coat and hat. “I do want to be back when
Mother and Father return.”

Julia nodded and waited for Millicent to
check her reflection in the oval mirror in the entryway before she
opened the door. “You have a good hour.”

Millicent passed her, patted her shoulder and
said, “I know, but I do love Aunt Erin’s stories. I hope I don’t
lose track of time.”

Julia shut the door behind them and went down
the steps. “You make Aunt Erin’s day when you come over. She enjoys
anyone who’ll listen to her.”

“Oh, but you listen, don’t you?”

“She tells the same stories over and over.
After awhile, my mind wanders,” Julia admitted.

She giggled. “I suppose that’s because you’ve
known her for most of your life. There’s not much else you can
learn.”

“You’re probably right.”

As they walked down the sidewalk, Julia
shivered and wrapped the shawl tighter around her shoulders. Next
time she went out, she’d be sure to grab her coat. Apparently, it
was going to be an early winter this year.

“Christmas is only a couple of months away,
and this year we’ll celebrate it together,” Millicent excitedly
stated. “Do you think Aunt Erin or my parents will want to
entertain?”

Barely noting the people they passed, Julia
shrugged. “That depends on who’s more eager to do all the
cooking.”

Secretly, Julia hoped it would be Millicent’s
parents. She didn’t realize what a recluse she’d become until she
had spent that time looking for her brother and his wife. She
glanced around for a view of the open land, but buildings stood all
around her. She knew what was out there. Open land that spanned for
miles in every direction. It was easy to forget that when she lived
in town. She didn’t think she’d miss that time in her life as much
as she did, but this was where she belonged. Her home was with her
aunt, and they enjoyed peace and quiet. Glancing at Millicent who
continued to ramble on about Christmas decorations and cooking a
turkey, Julia decided she’d much rather go to Millicent’s home and
leave when she was ready instead of having to entertain them in her
home until they decided to leave.

Julia wondered if that made her a bad person.
Shouldn’t she be eager to entertain guests? And it wasn’t like
Millicent and her parents were
just
guests. They were
relatives. She sighed. Maybe her brother was right. Maybe she was
too standoffish for anyone to get to know. But she liked her space.
She liked the quiet. Aunt Erin often commented on how pleasant it
was to wind down at the end of a busy day.
Yes, but everyone
likes Erin...

They turned the block onto the street where
she lived, and she noted the horses in front of her house. She
smiled at Millicent. “You wanted to meet Gary? You came at the
right time.”

Millicent stopped her talk of Christmas candy
and clapped her hands. “Oh, how wonderful! I do so want to meet
another cousin.”

It was then that Julia wondered if Millicent
wanted to talk to her because she was Julia or because she was a
cousin. Shaking the thought away, she focused her attention
forward. She wondered why there were two horses. Perhaps Gary came
with Woape? The thought sped up her step. She did want to see her
sister-in-law and niece again.

“You might get to meet more than your
cousin,” Julia said, unable to hide the trace of anticipation in
her voice. “I think he brought his wife and daughter out.”

She paused for a moment and then smiled.
“That would be lovely too.”

Julia frowned at the hesitation in her
cousin’s voice. She knew it wasn’t in line with Millicent’s
otherwise joyful nature, but she couldn’t quite grasp what the
pause meant or how to interpret it. Finally, she ventured to ask,
“Do you really want to come into the house? Perhaps you might like
to go back.”

Millicent’s eyes grew wide, even as her
cheeks turned a bright shade of red. “Oh, I do. I mean, Gary is
your brother.”

“Right,” she slowly said, still unsure of
what to make of the younger woman’s slight giggle and quick
aversion of the eyes.

Yes, something wasn’t right, but she knew
better than to press the issue. With a shrug, she led the way up
the steps to the porch. She turned the knob and stepped over the
threshold. From her vantage point, she saw her aunt stop talking to
the others in the parlor who were obscured from her view. She waved
to her aunt before she motioned for Millicent to follow her into
the house. Her cousin’s brows furrowed for a second, and then, in
the next instant, the curious expression was gone as she
obeyed.

Julia took her shawl off and hung it on the
coat tree. “Should I take your coat?”

Millicent gripped the top of her coat tightly
around her neck. “No. Oh, I mean that I’ll be leaving soon. Very
soon. I just want to say a quick hello.”

Julia’s gaze darted to her aunt whose
expression seemed to ask what was wrong with Millicent. Julia
waited until Millicent wasn’t looking at her before she rolled her
eyes and shook her head. Then she turned to take off her bonnet and
hung it over her shawl.

Gary peered around the doorway and smiled.
“And here I thought you were going to avoid me,” he told Julia.

“If you had stated a time we could expect
your arrival, then I would have been here,” she retorted in a
playful tone.

“You must be Gary,” Millicent said, stepping
forward. Glancing between him and Julia, she added, “You look a lot
alike.”

“Yes. He gets his good looks from me,” Julia
joked. She gently took her cousin by the arm and led her into the
parlor. “You might as well meet everyone.”

She turned, expecting to see Woape and a
little girl, but her gaze fell on Chogan and she didn’t have time
to fight the smile that crossed her face or the speeding up of her
heart. Heat rose to her face, and the year that had passed seemed
to melt away. It had seemed like yesterday when he was teaching her
to hunt for rabbits, and her elbows still tingled from the way his
hands felt on them as he steadied her aim with the bow. She blinked
and was immediately back in the parlor.

She hadn’t seen Chogan in his full Mandan
dress before. Yes, he’d worn a deerskin tunic and shirt. But it’d
been summer then, and they’d been traveling along the prairie. This
was how he truly was. He stood taller than she remembered, or maybe
it was the headdress full of multicolored feathers that gave her
that impression. His black hair was parted so that two sections of
his hair hung down each side of his face and the middle part hung
to his nose, curling at the end. The rest of his hair was pulled
behind him, but since it was under his robe, she couldn’t tell how
long it was.

He was smiling at her, and for a moment, it
was as if no one else was in the room. It was the same smile he
gave her when there was nothing but them and the open land. Erin
was always nearby, but she never kept in hearing distance. She
seemed to be content to glance their way from time to time. So in a
sense, it was just the two of them.

“Gary and Chogan, this is Millicent
Edwards.”

Julia turned her attention to her aunt who
made the introductions.

“Millicent is my brother’s daughter,” Erin
told Chogan.

Chogan nodded at Millicent who inched closer
to Julia. It was then that Julia understood Millicent’s unease, and
she had to choke back a chuckle. She supposed with Chogan in his
full Mandan attire he looked rather imposing, but since she’d known
him already, she knew there was nothing to fear.

“It’s alright,” she softly assured Millicent.
“He won’t hurt you.”

“Julia speaks truth,” Chogan added with a
trace of mirth in his eyes. “When Julia and I meet, she...what is
word?”

“Threaten,” Erin filled in.

“Yes, she threaten me with knife,” he
said.

“And what a sight that was,” Erin added.
“Why, anyone could tell she had no chance against him since he’s
much stronger than her.”

Millicent turned her wide eyes in Julia’s
direction. “You held a knife to him?”

Julia shrugged. “It was all I had.”

“And she saved my wife by shooting a Sioux,”
Gary told Millicent.

Julia noted the proud tone in Gary’s voice
and smiled with pleasure. It was the first time she could remember
him speaking so well of her. This time when her cheeks warmed it
was for an altogether different reason. Her eyes met Gary’s and he
smiled, not because he was trying to appease her but because he
meant it.

A knock came at the door, and Erin excused
herself so she could answer it.

“You shot a Sioux?” Millicent asked
Julia.

“Chogan taught me how to shoot a bow and
arrow, and I saw no reason to let the lessons go to waste,” Julia
replied, feeling a little embarrassed by the group looking at her
with admiration.

“I wish I saw it,” Chogan replied.

Gary nodded. “Woape said it was an impressive
sight. Julia earned a feather for that.”

“Oh?” Millicent looked from Gary to Chogan
and then to Julia. “Oh. Why, your life certainly has been
interesting, hasn’t it?”

Julia didn’t see it that way, but she
considered from a twenty-year-old’s perspective, she had. Millicent
would likely accomplish more by the time she turned
twenty-eight.

A familiar voice came from the entryway, so
Julia peered around her cousin. Her breath caught in her throat as
her gaze darted to Chogan. For the third time in ten minutes,
Julia’s face flushed, and this time it wasn’t for a good reason.
The timing couldn’t be worse, and she didn’t even feel like seeing
Ernest.

She stood there, in a mixture of shock and
horror, as Ernest entered the parlor, greeted her in a
much-too-friendly tone, and stopped right by her side as if they
belonged together. She shot a frantic look in Chogan’s direction
and noted the narrowing of his eyes before Ernest spoke up.

“Gary? My goodness you’ve changed. You even
got a new look.” He laughed and shook Gary’s hand. “Who’d have ever
thought you would live with the Indians?”

“Well, he married a lovely Mandan girl,” Erin
said, seeming to be unaware of the tension in the room.

But Julia felt it, and she didn’t know what
to do about it.

As Erin made more introductions, Julia tried
to blend into the background as much as she could. This wasn’t
good. It wasn’t good at all. Chogan refused to look in her
direction, and Ernest continued to stand too close to her. She
shifted away from him but bumped into Millicent. Great. She was
sufficiently trapped.

“We better go back,” Chogan told Gary.

“What?” Julia asked.

“You’re right,” Gary agreed. “We’ve already
been here longer than we should have been. Citlali will wonder
where we are.”

“But-” Julia began, flustered.

No one seemed to hear her over the sudden
commotion of good-byes and promises from Gary to arrange a day for
Erin and Julia to see Woape and Penelope. Julia wanted to get
Chogan’s attention again. If she could get him alone and explain
the situation with Ernest, then perhaps he wouldn’t feel the need
to run off.

But Gary and Chogan were out the door before
she could put more than two words together. She blinked. It all
happened so fast. She wasn’t even sure
what
happened. Things
seemed to be going smoothly, and then it was all one big blur. She
glanced between a relieved looking Millicent and a smiling
Ernest.

Her aunt shut the front door. “That was
certainly a nice visit. It’s too bad you missed most of it,” she
told Julia. “Gary wanted to stay until you returned. Isn’t that
good?”

Julia understood the meaning under the
question and nodded to appease her aunt. Yes, it was thoughtful of
Gary to linger as long as he did, but if she could have had a
moment to speak with Chogan alone or if Ernest hadn’t shown up,
then things would’ve gone much better. Chogan assumed that she was
letting Ernest call on her. He had to assume it. She would if the
roles were reversed and she saw a woman standing close to him.

Her aunt, ever the gracious hostess, invited
Millicent and Ernest to stay for awhile, and Julia knew she was in
for a long afternoon. Well, she’d have to find a way to straighten
things out with Chogan. Right now, there was nothing to do about
it. Maybe that was good. She needed time. Time to think over her
words and what she’d tell Chogan when she did see him again.