Read Lakota Winds (Zebra Historical Romance) Online
Authors: Janelle Taylor
The three men joined the women and listened to the same tale as
an excited Hanmani told.
As Chumani was being embraced and thanked and praised by Rising
Bear and War Eagle, Wind Dancer looked around to make certain no
mate or offspring was lurking about to cause trouble later and made a shocking discovery. Until he could speak with his wife privately, he
secreted the item beneath his shirt. He moved closer to the group, told
them no other creature lurked inside, then observed his wife furtively.
"I thank Wakantanka for bringing you to us, Dewdrops, for you
have saved the light of my eye and warmth of my heart," the chief said
in an emotion-choked voice as he handed her an eagle feather he had
retrieved from a pouch nearby. "This is your reward for such a great
coup."
"You are kind, my second father, and I shall wear it in honor. I, too,
thank the Great Spirit for slowing my body this sun. If He had not
done so, I would have been in the forest gathering wood and not heard
her cry."
They talked for a short while longer before Chumani left to finish
her daily tasks, taking the snake with her to give to her hawk to devour.
Wind Dancer followed her into their tepee and asked, "Why did
you take your bow and two arrows when you rushed to Mother's lodge?"
Chumani was baffled by his odd tone and expression. "When I heard
a scream, I sensed trouble or danger must be nearby. I did not take the
creatures's life quickly or easily, mihigna, and I asked Wakantanka's
forgiveness for doing so. Did you not hear how I tried to force him to
flee, but he would not go? Was there another path I should have walked?
Did I displease you?"
"I am happy you saved the life of my mother, and you showed great
skill and courage in doing so. Soon, all who live in our camp will hear
of your good deed and prowess." Was that, he worried, a possible motive
for creating the perilous situation? No, surely she would not endanger
his mother.
"Perhaps that is why the Great Spirit guided him there, to show your
people I am skilled and worthy to be your companion on the sacred
quest." When he continued to look at her strangely, she asked, "What
troubles your heart and mind about this deed, mihigna? It is in your
voice and gaze."
Wind Dancer withdrew the item from beneath his shirt, held it up
before her, and queried, "Is this your wozuha?"
Chumani looked at the beaded pouch. "It is mine," she said. "Why
did you take it and hide it beneath your garment?"
"I found it in my mother's lodge behind a backrest. Signs within
the wazuha say the snake was kept there for a long time and crawled
out of it." As he spoke, he opened the pouch and dumped the dark
droppings into the palm of his hand. He watched her stare at the small
black balls, then lift her gaze to look at him questioningly.
"Do you ask if I captured the snake and put him there?"
"I only ask how and why your wazuha was there?"
"I do not know. I have not missed it. I did not take it there. Who
would want to frighten or harm your mother?" Chumani's gaze darkened
and narrowed. "Or perhaps it was used to make me appear to blame?
It is another wicked trick of the silwaecon or wicagnayesa. Who was
found in our tepee on the last sun?" she reminded him.
"Do you say Wastemna stole it, captured the snake, and placed it
in my mother's lodge?" After his wife half-nodded, he considered the
accusation before concluding. "She lacks the courage and skill to do
so.
Chumani knew he referred to entrapping the viper. "When one's
heart and mind are controlled by evil thoughts and feelings, one can
do and say many things we find hard to believe and accept. It does not
require much skill or courage to kneel upon a high rock and use a stick
with a thong loop to slip over a snake's neck. Do you forget this is the
season when they leave their winter holes and lay about in the sun,
making them easy prey?"
"I have not forgotten."
"Why did you not show the pouch and question me about it before
the others? Did you fear they would also doubt me and wish to punish
me?"
"No, I did not want them to know of the mischievous intent. I did
not wish to frighten and sadden my mother or to worry my father.
Until we learn the face of the trickster, I do not want such matters
known to my family or my people. I must go speak with Grandfather
in private and ask him to seek answers from Wakantanka."
"That is good, mihigna, for these tricks could cause much trouble if
not halted soon. I will do my chores while Cetan guards our tepee and
you seek guidance from the Wise One and Great Spirit."
Distracted by her troubled thoughts, Chumani walked very deep into
the forest as she gathered wood there. After the sling was filled and she
straightened, she gasped in surprise to see she was not alone, and that
person was heavily armed and close by.
"Where have your skills and instincts gone in such a short time, Dewdrops, for you did not sense my presence?"
Chumani smiled and playfully scolded, "Zitkala, you must not sneak
up on me and tease me unfairly." She knew why Cetan had not sounded
a warning-for her best friend's face and scent were familiar to him.
The two women hugged and laughed in elation.
"I have missed you and my heart soars with joy to see you," Chumani
murmured as she grasped Zitkala's hands and held them as they faced
each other. "You must tell me all that has happened in our camp since
I left my family's tepee," she coaxed, eager for the news of her loved
ones.
"Your parents did not want me to visit too soon; they feared it would
make you more lonely for us. I was sneaking close to camp only to see
how you are doing here and I was not going to show my face to you,
but I saw you enter the forest alone and sensed you needed me. Was
I wrong?"
Chumani's smile faded as she shook her head and admitted, "No,
my friend, and I am glad you came. My heart aches at our separation.
I did not know our shaman's dream meant I would be taken away from
our people and mated to a stranger in another hand, and so far from
my camp."
"I am sorry I was gone when you were forced to join him and depart.
It was hard to face such tasks alone, was it not?"
"That is true. I needed you there to give me strength and guidance.
Such big changes in my life have been difficult."
"Your parents told me of the Red Shield shaman's vision that took
you away from us. It is good to have an alliance with a strong band
during such troubled times, but I wish it had not been your duty to
bond us together. When and where do you ride to face that dangerous
challenge?"
"I do not know."
"What must you do on the sacred journey to defeat our enemies?"
"I do not know."
"Are you happy in this camp and with your new husband?"
Chumani took a deep breath and released it swiftly. "I do not know.
At times, things are good; at others, they are bad and strange."
Zitkala perceived her best friend's sadness and confusion. She placed
her arm across Chumani's waist and guided them to a large rock where
they sat down. "What do such words mean?"
As they had never kept secrets between them, Chumani told her
about Wind Dancer's astonishing arrival and the talks with her father
and mother. She related the details of their joining ceremony, their first
night together, her welcome into his camp and family, the many deeds
of mischief, and her all the indications that her husband doubted her
behavior. She also divulged the truth about their lack of intimacy and
the alleged reasons for their long restraint.
Zitkala reminded Chumani of her desire for Wind Dancer when she
saw him at the annual trading fair, in the Brave Heart forest, and at
Bear Butte. "Why do you resist becoming his wife in all ways when
your heart and body have yearned for his many times in the past?" she
asked. I)id you not say his touch and kisses are pleasing? Did you not
say he is gentle and kind?"
"That is true, but something stops me from yielding to him. It is
hard to trust a stranger who raises wariness within me. I fear his unknown
power over me; I fear it will change all I am and must be to face our challenge. What if seeing me in the forest and before his visionquest
are what placed me in it, not Wakantanka?"
"Even so, that does not change Sees-Through-Mist's dream. The owl
messenger told him you would mate soon and would do a sacred task
to save our people. Is that not what the Red Shield shaman also saw
in his vision? Did you and your parents not tell me Waci Tate saw a
dewdrop and hawk in his vision and painted those signs upon his new
war shield and his face?"
"That is true," Chumani reasoned, "but what if Wind Dancer is not
the man from our Wise One's dream? What if an evil force has tricked
me and them to lure me away from my rightful mate and our task
together? What if Wakantanka is warning me of a mistake through
those incidents and they are not the spiteful work of Wastemna or a
silwaecon? Do not forget Wind Dancer and his grandfather saw me and
Cetan at the sacred mountain during their ritual; that could have placed
us in their minds before they entered the Spirit World and some force
kept us in them. Even though they believe in their visions, what if they
are not the true words from Wakantanka?"
"Perhaps Wind Dancer only joined to you to honor his shaman's
vision," Zitkala speculated, "but he thinks you are unworthy of his
touch or he desires another woman among his people. It is unnatural
for a man not to take possession of such a beautiful wife after sharing
a tepee and sleeping mat with her for so many moons. Is that not true?"
"I do not know."
"If his shaman's vision is real, do you think your husband tests you
with mischief, or the war chief's daughter or another woman tricks
you?"
"I do not know."
Zitkala placed her arm across Chumani's shoulder. "You have
answered me that way many times, Dewdrops. It is unlike you to be
so doubtful and uneasy, or to lower your guard so far. What if I had
been an enemy?"
"Cetan sits in the tree above us and would have attacked you or
given me a warning as you sneaked up on me."
Zitkala glanced upward, smiled, and greeted the hawk who kept
cocking his head and blinking his tawny eyes as he observed them and
guarded Chumani. As if he understood, the hawk sent forth a shrill cry
and fluttered his wings before he flew off to hunt. "Is he happy here?"
Zitkala asked.
"He has accepted his new home and territory and no one bothers
him, which I wish was true for me. It is good Waci Tate did not force
me to part with him, for it would be easier to cut off a finger than to
lose him, just as it pained my heart to lose you."
"You have not lost me, Dewdrops. We will remain best friends until
we walk Mother Earth no more. Then we will travel the Ghost Trail
together. Soon we will be together again on the grasslands. But it troubles
me to see you so unhappy."
"Do not worry, Zitkala, the Great Spirit will protect and guide me.
I will keep alert for more mischief, and Cetan will watch over me. Do
not tell Mother and Father how you found me; it would make them
sad. Besides," she added with a smile, "it calms me to see and speak
with you. This is good medicine for me and heals my troubled spirit."
"It is good medicine for my suffering heart and spirit."
"Why do you not return to the camp with me where we can talk
while I do my chores? You can sleep in our tepee and leave on the new
sun."
"Since there is trouble between you and your husband, it would not
he wise to have me stay there. It would look as if I was sent to check
on you and them. It is best I come and go in secret."
"Your words are wise, my friend. Now, tell me all that has happened
in our camp since my departure," Chumani coaxed again, then listened
with great enjoyment until it was time for Zitkala to slip away.
While they were lying upon their sleeping mat without touching or
speaking, Wind Dancer realized that his wife had been acting distant
and unusually quiet since that morning. He assumed her reserved behavior was caused by his unintended accusation earlier that day and the continued bouts of harmful mischief. He thought it best to leave her
be until she settled down and they could talk again.