Grey Eyes (30 page)

46
nīmitanaw nikotwāsosāp

T
he boys dropped the wood at the Eagle medicine lodge before continuing on to the Bear lodge for the evening meal. To the astonishment of the adults, Flying Rabbit Boy talked on and on about one thing. “…and she comes from
Azaadiwi-ziibiing,
the place of the poplar tree river, which is south and east of here,” he babbled. “Her people are very different from us, but in many ways we are the same…”

“What was she doing alone out in the forest?” asked White Willow Woman.

“I do not know, picking clover I think,” answered Flying Rabbit Boy. “I was just returning from my hunt and I saw her talking to Little Grey Bear Boy.”

Everyone stopped eating and looked at Little Grey Bear Boy. With the sinking feeling that he had just gotten his cousin into trouble, Flying Rabbit Boy finally stopped talking.

After a long pause, White Willow Woman spoke. “What were you talking about, you and Water Lily Woman?”

“Nothing,” said Little Grey Bear Boy, his heart pounding under the intense scrutiny of his family. “I was collecting wood and she approached me. She said she wanted to look at my eyes. She had never seen another Grey-Eye before and she wanted to know what it looked like.”

The women looked at each other. “You must understand,” began Walking Moon Woman. “It is very important you avoid talking to this young woman. We know from the past that if two Grey-Eyes were to fall in love, their child would become a Red-Eye. Many people died when the Red-Eye and his warriors attacked our village, including my husband…”

“I was afraid something like this might happen,” said White Willow Woman, wringing her hands.

“She is not interested in him,” announced Flying Rabbit Boy. “After all, she gave
me
the arrow.”

“She gave you an arrow?” asked Singing Doe.

“
Tapwe!
” said Flying Rabbit Boy proudly. “And she put the Grey-Eye magic into it. She said if my heart was true and my need great, this arrow would never miss its mark!” Flying Rabbit Boy drew the magic arrow out of the quiver next to him and showed it to the family. Yellow Hawk Girl tried to touch it but Flying Rabbit Boy pulled it out of her reach.

“I didn't know a Grey-Eye could do that,” said Blue Elk Man, looking at his son.

“I didn't know either,” responded Little Grey Bear Boy. “I still don't know how she did it.”

“It might be a good idea to ask her,” suggested Brown Shield Man.

“
Motch
!” commanded Walking Moon Woman. “He is not to talk to her.”

“I don't think we need to be concerned about the Grey-Eyes,” said Brown Shield Man proudly. “She has made her intentions towards my son quite clear with this gift.” He took the arrow from his son's hands and examined it by the light of the fire.

“What do you mean?” asked Yellow Hawk Girl.

“Yeah, what are you talking about?” added Little Grey Bear Boy.

“Oh, my boys,” chuckled Brown Shield Man, “you have much to learn about the ways of women.”

Singing Doe scoffed at her husband but he continued all the same.

“You see, when a young woman gives such a gift to a handsome young man, she is showing everyone she admires him.”

“
Tapwe
?” asked Flying Rabbit Boy, a huge grin on his face. “I never thought I would be chosen by a Grey-Eyed one.”

“That is a great honour indeed!” beamed Brown Shield Man.

“Excuse me,” said Singing Doe, “but he is only twelve summers. It will be some time before he earns a warrior name and he must be worthy of a woman before I will allow him to marry.”

“It may not be so long,” whined Flying Rabbit Boy. “Besides, it is wise for her to express her interest early.”

Brown Shield Man laughed.

“It is true that such a match would be a great honour to the Bear clan,” said Walking Moon Woman, silencing the others. “But what is most important is that her interest is diverted from Little Grey Bear Boy.”

“
Tapwe!
” The others nodded.

Little Grey Bear Boy picked through his food. Suddenly, he felt very tired.

Painted Turtle Man turned to him. “My boy. I left something in the forest. Would you come with me to find it? I am afraid my old eyes will have trouble seeing it without more help from Grandfather Sun.”

“Can't you get it tomorrow,
Moosum
? I've had a very long day.”

“By then I will have forgotten where I left it.”

“All right then,” sighed Little Grey Bear Boy.

As the two left the Bear lodge, the family was still chattering about Water Lily Woman. Brown Shield Man was practically planning the wedding.

47
nīmitanaw tīpakohposāp

P
ainted Turtle Man led his adopted grandson a short way down the lakeshore. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I am well,
Moosum
,” the boy replied. “Thank you for asking.”

“That was a very polite answer,” chuckled Painted Turtle Man. “Not the one I was looking for. You seem troubled lately and I am afraid I have not been able to spend as much time with you as I would like. We are here now, together, if there is anything you wish to discuss with me.”

“Well,
Moosum
. I guess I have felt troubled. I do not understand the teachings of Red Sky Man and I feel confused after speaking with Water Lily Woman.”

“Confused? In what way?”

Little Grey Bear Boy continued reluctantly. “I had a very strange feeling when I met her. It is hard to describe...”

“Just try your best. I will not judge you, I want only to help.”

“I felt like there was something jumping around in my stomach,” explained Little Grey Bear Boy, “and my heart was moving very fast. I felt hot in my cheeks…”

“
Tapwe
?”

“
Tapwe
, I feel that way whenever I see her and sometimes when I think about her.”

“I see.”

“What does it mean,
Moosum
?”

“It means you like her. And that is nothing to be ashamed of.” Painted Turtle Man shielded his eyes from the setting sun. The waves lapped against the rocky shore in a constant and steady rhythm.

“But…But that would not be appropriate.”

“My boy,” smiled Painted Turtle Man. “Love is always appropriate.”

“But she is a Grey-Eye. If she chose me for her husband, our children would be Red-Eyes.”

“I am not so sure.” Painted Turtle Man sat down on a moss-covered rock, pulling his left leg over his right. “It is true that when Soaring Star Woman and Grey Bear had a child, he became a Red-Eye. But that was only one situation and no one knows if it had ever happened before. True, he was a Grey-Eye when I knew him as a boy and he was not kind and gentle like you—he used to be mean to us younger boys, always finding ways to tease us or hurt us—but it is possible something else caused Dark Cloud Man to become a Red-Eye. By the time he became a Red-Eye, his eyes were no longer grey like yours.”

“So I could still become a Red-Eye?”

“I do not think you could ever be a Red-Eye. What I am saying is that the Grey-Eye gift is so rare and precious that none of us understands it. Only
Kitchi Manitou
knows why this gift is bestowed on so few. Perhaps one day you will learn the secret. All you need to know for now is that you are beginning to walk man's road and you must start deciding matters for yourself.”

Painted Turtle Man extended his arm towards Little Grey Bear Boy. He gently helped the old man to his feet.

“So what should I do about my…feelings towards Water Lily Woman?”

“It does seem her attentions are towards your cousin,” said Painted Turtle Man. “Maybe you should step aside this time. There are many fine young women who would be proud to have you for a husband.”

“What if I never feel this way about another?”

“I have lived a very long time and have seen many things. There is someone out there for everyone. Often, it is someone we have known all along, but did not have the eyes to see them.”

“Is that how it was for you?”

“It was, something like that, yes,” said the old man.

“Now where did you leave your things?” interrupted Little Grey Bear Boy.

“I have just remembered. I did take them with me. I am sorry I dragged you out here for nothing.”

“I had a feeling you were going to say something like that,” said Little Grey Bear Boy.

“I just thought you needed to get out of the lodge for a bit,” said Painted Turtle Man. “I didn't think you wanted the others to know how you felt. Can you forgive me?”

“
Tapwe,
Moosum
. I suppose I should be grateful.”

“I suppose you should,” the old man said with a smile.

The boy and his adopted grandfather made their way back to the village and returned to the Bear lodge. The rest of the family had begun preparing themselves to sleep. Little Grey Bear Boy unrolled his hide, said his prayers, and drifted off to sleep. His dreams that night were filled with a beautiful Grey-Eyed girl.

48
nīmitanaw ayinānīwosāp

L
ittle Grey Bear Boy spent the next two days collecting wood to replace the wood he had used in the Eagle medicine lodge. Although it was hard work collecting, breaking, and bundling the wood, he enjoyed his time alone in the forest. Being kept in the Eagle medicine lodge for three days had made him feel trapped. Out in the great wide forest, with birds chirping and waves lapping the beach shore, he felt free and at peace. He could not help looking up once in a while, hoping to see Water Lily Woman approach.

He tried hard to shake these thoughts from his head. She was a Grey-Eye like him and pursuing his feelings for her would not be worth the risk. Besides, she had expressed her interest in Flying Rabbit Boy, and this seemed to make his cousin happy.

When he had replaced all the wood—and more for good measure—Red Sky Man sat him down in the Eagle medicine lodge.

“Now that you know the seven colours of the fire,” Red Sky Man said, “I will teach you how to control it.”

“How to control the fire?”

“
Tapwe,
” snapped Red Sky Man. “Pay attention.” The Eagle medicine carrier drew a buffalo horn rattle from his medicine bundle and cleared his throat loudly. “I am going to teach you the fire song. As you learn it, concentrate on the fire. Tell it what you want it to do for you.”

“How can I do this?”

“Just pay attention!” he snapped again. “There is no reason for you to speak until I ask you to!”

Little Grey Bear Boy felt his cheeks warming. In all the time he had known him, Painted Turtle Man had never snapped at him in this way.

Red Sky Man began to shake his rattle and sing an ancient prayer song dedicated to the fire. The words were unfamiliar to Little Grey Bear Boy, as they were in the ancient language. As he began to pick up the song, he drew out his own turtle shell rattle and shook it to the beat. Once he felt he had the song, he started to concentrate on the fire itself. He began to feel a vibration in the air and a warm burning feeling behind his eyes—the same feeling he'd had when he helped Flying Rabbit Boy shoot the ducks.

As his mind began to wander, the flames began to dance out of the fire, coiling up through the fire, criss-crossing this way and that, like burning ribbons. Little Grey Bear Boy was in a trance and began to feel he was not in control of his actions.

His heart jumped and he snapped out of it, the flames disappearing in a flash. Red Sky Man jolted as well, as though he had been in a trance too.

“I did not tell you to stop,” Red Sky Man said.

“I am sorry, Uncle,” gasped Little Grey Bear Boy, shaken. “I was distracted…”

“You must concentrate!” he yelled.

The two stared at each other in silence. Little Grey Bear Boy bit his lip. There were many things he wanted to say to Red Sky Man, none of them respectful.

“That is enough for today,” said Red Sky Man finally. “See to your chores. We will speak again after the sundance ceremony.
Ekosi
.”

“
Hiy, hiy
,” came the response through clenched teeth.

Little Grey Bear Boy gathered his bundle and rushed out of the Eagle medicine lodge, bumping into Soaring Spear Man and knocking him down with an unusual force. Some of the other Eagle helpers helped him back onto his feet. Little Grey Bear Boy could feel the vibration in the air and a burning behind his eyes. Trying to calm himself, he bowed in apology to the Eagle helpers, who all nodded back, a hint of fear in their silence.