Lakota Winds (Zebra Historical Romance) (35 page)

"Just tell them what I said. I got men itching to buy horses to replace
some stolen by Crow recently. I'll give you a bottle of whiskey and
pouch of tobacco for your help." Bert eyed the reluctant man. "Ah,
hell, you drive a hard bargain, Henry. I'll throw in two traps and some
coffee and salt. You can take 'em now, or I'll credit them to you to
pick up later this year."

Chumani covertly observed the rough-looking man near her and
realized he did not want them to be cheated, but was being given an
enticing offer to aid the bargaining in Bert's favor. She was strangely
disappointed when he dishonored himself.

"It ain't right, Bert, but I'll do it if you throw in some flour and
jerky. I had me a bad season last winter and I didn't earn enough on
my pelts and furs to stake myself for next season. We got a deal?"

"You're a tough barterer, my friend, but I agree."

After Henry repeated Bert's words in Cheyenne, Chumani looked at
the pile of furs, at the trade goods, and pretended to think for a while.
She replied to Henry in Cheyenne, "I will trade one horse, the large
brown one; the small spotted one is not mine to trade and is needed
for carrying our goods. What goods must I not take for the trade to he
a fair one?"

Henry related her answer to Bert, who removed one of the kettles,
a knife, and two blankets. "Give her the blankets and it's a deal," Henry said. "Even giving me my stuff, you're making at least twice what's
fair."

"Like I said, Henry," Bert scoffed, "you're a hard man to barter
with, but I'll do it. They can tie up their stuff in their blankets and
haul it away."

Chumani watched Henry as he told her he had asked the man to be
generous and allow her to keep the blankets and Bert had agreed. He
bragged about the quality of the furs and her skills with tanning them.
He admitted they were worth more, but that was the best deal Bert
would offer and advised her to take it. He smiled and looked relieved
when she agreed and smiled again when she thanked him in Cheyenne,
"Ne-aese. "

After the trade was completed, Bert summoned a worker to haul the
skins to a store-house while he took the brown horse to the post stable.
Henry offered to help the women tie up their goods in their new blankets
and load the bundles on the spotted horse.

As he did so, Henry asked their names, "Ne-toneseve-he?"

Chumani pointed to herself and said, "Na-tsesevehe He-eheeno. "She
motioned to Zitkala and alleged her name was Hestoekeheso.

"Tosa a ne-hesta-he?" he asked where they came from.

Chumani hoped her apprehension was concealed as he questioned
them in a friendly manner and she tried to come up with responses
which would not arouse his suspicions. She told him they came from
far beyond the Mo ohta-vo honaaeva, the Black Hills.

When Henry asked who their leader was, Chumani said, "Sharp
Lance," a Cheyenne who lived and hunted in that area, according to
what Wind Dancer had told her. Again, she hoped she appeared calm
and he had never met that man and could not ask her things about
him which she could not verify.

Henry related he had spent part of two winters with Lone Wolf's
band along the E ometaa e, what the white man called Little Missouri
River.

Chumani remarked in Cheyenne, "He is the brother of Fights-Hard;
we have traded with his people. We thank you for helping us speak to the trader and load our horses. Now we must leave, for it is a long ride
home." Panic raced through her as Henry voiced another question, and
she wondered if he suspected anything about them.

"Why did you two women come so far alone to Fort Pierre when
Fort Laramie was closer to you?"

"There are many Bluecoats there and they frighten us," Chumani
said, looking him straight in the eye. "Others told us the traders here
would give us more for our furs and hides." If he noticed she did not
respond to the part of his question about traveling alone, it did not
show to her.

"Those are good and smart reasons. Ride safe, Blackbird and Fawn."

"We thank you and ride for our camp. Come, Fawn, we go."

They saw Zeb grin and nod to them as they passed him at the gate.
They saw his sky-colored gaze sweep over the size of their bundles, and
he grinned again as if aware of and amused by Bert's trickery. As they
headed toward the rolling hills, both sensed the man's lustful gaze on
their backs. They yearned to gallop off and escape it, but knew that
was unwise.

As soon as they were out of his hearing range, Chumani scoffed, "He
is an evil man, and I would like to shoot an arrow into his breechclout
shaft."

Zitkala laughed. "It would burst into flames, for the fire in his
breechclout was large and hot for you. The one with long hair on his
face was not all bad; some of his words and feelings were good," she
added in a serious tone. "But fear leapt within me when he asked you
so many questions."

"As it did with me, my friend, but I believe we guided him down
the wrong path and he did not learn the truth about us."

"I was no help, Dewdrops, for you tricked him, tricked all of them,
with your cunning words and your sly face. If I did not know you
spoke false, I would be misled as they were. My pride and love are large
for you."

"You honor me, my friend, and I thank you. But I could not have
come here alone; only with you at my side did I feel brave and cunning."

"We have ridden, hunted, and fought together many times on past
suns, but this glorious deed stirs my heart and soars my spirit more
than any other occasions for we traveled into the white wolf's deepest
den, defeated him there, and left unharmed. Our companions will be
pleased by our victory."

Chumani watched Zitkala's gaze fly as an arrow to where the men
awaited them, and she teased her best friend in affection. "Your eyes
soften and your cheeks glow as with the sky when the sun goes to sleep.
Your love and desire for Red Feather grow larger each sun and moon,
do they not?"

Zitkala touched her flushed cheeks. "That is so, Dewdrops, but those
feelings are still strange to me. How can I be sure he truly loves and
desires me as I do him?"

"His eyes, voice, and body will reveal what lives in his heart. Gaze
into his eyes as he speaks, listen to the sound of his voice when he
speaks, watch how his body stands or moves when he talks to you. If
only friendship and desire live within him, it will be revealed in those
places. That is how I knew Wind Dancer spoke the truth to me. It is
not wrong or weak for you to be wary and to walk this new path
slowly."

"Your words are wise, Dewdrops, and I will follow them."

As they neared the men's location, they ceased their private talk. When
they were out of the post's sight behind a lofty hill, they dismounted.

Wind Dancer embraced his wife, closed his eyes, and thanked the
Great Spirit for returning her to him. He leaned away from her with
hands resting on either side of her waist, smiled, and said, "Now my
breath can come easy; my heart slow its swift pace."

"As can mine, mihigna, " Chumani replied as her gaze swept over
him. She was warmed and elated as his look of concern waxed to relief
and joy. The expression in his dark eyes, the tone of his voice, and the
gentle touch of his hands told her he loved her as much as any spoken
words could reveal.

Red Feather smiled and echoed that sentiment, "As can mine to have
Dewdrops and Zitkala returned to us. We have not rested in ease since your departure and our eyes have not left the post. I am proud and
happy you carried out your daring task successfully. With so many
White-eyes there, a rescue would have been hard and dangerous, but
we would have attempted one as soon as darkness blanketed the land."

Zitkala smiled at Red Feather, for his gaze was on her as he spoke
and it seemed as if he sneaked a special message to her between his
words. Her heart swelled with intense and powerful emotions.

"Tell us of your deed," War Eagle coaxed as he watched the couples
exchange smiles and looks of shared love and desire, though Red Feather
and Zitkala tried to conceal theirs from their observers and each other.

"We will sit and talk after the horses are tended," Wind Dancer told
his younger brother at he glanced at the dark, threatening sky. "They
must be unloaded and given water so they can graze while we speak."

During the women's return ride, huge white clouds had formed in
all directions and drifted overhead, their snowy surfaces attacked by
ever-darkening gray splotches. Often, the sun would vanish behind them
for long periods, providing temporary shade from its glowing heat.

As more time passed, the Plains wind began to gust more forcefully
and the early-summer air cooled slightly. All prayed the weather would
hold steady until after they carried out their daring plan.

After those tasks were completed and the five sat in a circle on the
grass in cross-legged positions, the two Brule women related the episode
in detail.

"It is good the Whites blame the Crow for our raids on their dwellings,
and soon the Crow will blame the Whites for raids upon theirs."

"That is true, my brother," Wind Dancer said, "but it did not
provoke them to attack the Crow camp as we hoped."

"They did not do so, for there were too many Bird Warriors for that
number of wasicun to challenge," Chumani reminded the men. "The
men talking inside the post said they did not send for Bluecoats, for
the Crow and the stolen horses would be gone before the soldiers could
reach their camp. But the families along the great river banded together
and placed guards around their wooden tepees, and many kinds of
creatures. Some I have not seen before," she added, referring to the chickens, cows, and pigs. "It is the same with those at the trading post,
they take their animals inside while the moon rides the night sky."

"We will make it too risky for the Whites to live and hunt in our
lands, and too dangerous for our Crow enemies to attack us," War
Eagle proposed.

The other four nodded agreement.

As they awaited the needed cover of night, they lay on their stomachs
atop the hill in tall grass and observed the trading post. At one point,
Bert walked to the gate with another man and spoke with Zeb. Chumani
identified them as the trader who had cheated them and the guard who
had lusted for them, but she did not recognize the third man, who held
two sets of horses' reins in his grasp.

They watched as Bert talked to Zeb, as he pointed in the direction
of the women's recent departure. Zeb shook his head as he motioned
to the ominous sky surrounding them and seemed to argue against the
other man's orders. Finally, Bert nodded and left the gate, as did the
third man with the saddled horses, and Zeb returned to his guard duty,
glancing skyward again.

Chumani frowned and surmised, "The evil trader seeks to send them
after us to steal our horses and trade goods. Our three horses will bring
him much . . . `mon-ney,' he said, so he wants them to sell."

"And he can trade your goods to another Indian for more furs and
hides," Wind Dancer explained. "They will wait until the storm passes
before they ride after you, for they know you will travel slow and must
halt when it strikes. If they can find our tracks after Mother Earth
refreshes her face with much water, we will welcome them into our
camp and arms," he scoffed.

"It will be a good and victorious fight and we will punish them for
their evil," War Eagle ventured, and the other men smiled and nodded.

As they went over every angle and possible obstacle to their impending
raid and talked about other important things the women had overheard,
the storm's violent threat heightened. Soon, they knew, they must decide
whether or not to carry out their already difficult challenge if the storm
struck with great fury, which it did within a short time.

As rain poured upon them, lightning flashed across the darkened sky
in dazzling displays, and thunder followed in loud and lengthy peals
which often shook the ground. A fierce wind pummeled stalks of grass
and wildflower stems and tore loose thick green blades and colorful
blossoms. Its powerful force yanked at their soaked garments and braided
black hair. Streams of clear liquid flowed down their faces, arms, and
legs, dripping swiftly from their leggings to the already saturated surface.
The sun, early rising stars, and recent full moon were concealed by the
deep gray covering overhead. Only frequent bright charges and the last
remains of daylight allowed them to see each other, and the heavy
deluge obliterated a clear view of the post and their targets.