Tiopa Ki Lakota (32 page)

began.

"Go,
cunksi

. Your
ina
and I will be fine."

Anpo looked at him in startlement. "You know what I was going to ask!? You have learned to read my thoughts!?"

Chuckling, Wanbli shook his head. "
Hiya

, Anpo. I only know that Nupa is already going with Mani. Where Nupa goes, you go. And where you go, Nupa goes. It has always been so." He puffed in reflection. "And your
cuwe
has been talking of nothing else."

Relieved and irritated at the same time, the woman stopped just short of grumbling. A hand resting on her shoulder brought her back from her uncharitable thoughts.

"Hca is
winyan
. It is in her nature to chatter like the birds. Do not make your heart stone towards her for following her nature."

Immediately contrite, Anpo dropped her gaze. "
Ohan
,
ate
. Your words are true."

Nodding, the elder continued to smoke, idly watching his world of the plains. When the tobacco was gone, he dug a hole in the ground with his heel and tapped the ashes there, covering them with dirt. "You are worried about me,
cunksi
. Why?"

Anpo dragged the words from within, not wanting to utter them and thereby make them real. "You are getting old,
ate

. Your hair is changing colors and your bones ache in the winter. I worry about you and
ina
without any family to take care of you this season."

There was a solemn nod in response as Wanbli mulled her words over. "It is the way I felt when my
ate
was my age and I was yours,
cunksi
. I will tell you what he told me."

The
wikoskalaka
leaned forward just a bit. She'd never met her grandfather who had died before her birth. It was rare that her father spoke of him.

"It is the cycle of the world, to be born, grow old and die, Anpo. Nothing will change it. Whether you stay with Wagna's camp this season or go with Mani and Nupa, we will still grow older. And maybe we will die in your absence, I do not know." Dark eyes, still strong despite his age, peered into those like his own. "But you will not follow the path you were meant to be on by letting your fears rule you."

Anpo searched her father's face, finding nothing but love and pride. "Do you know my path,
ate
?"

The man gave a slow grin and he nodded. "
Hau
, Anpo. You are to be a warrior and a hunter, like your father before you. This was seen by Inyan at the moment of your birth. He heard the scream of the
igmu

in your cries." Wanbli broke the eye contact, looking out over the water. "Tell me,
cunksi

. Have you ever seen a family of mountain lions together?"

"
Ohan

,
ate
. When the female has her cubs."

"And when the cubs are grown?"

Thinking carefully, the warrior considered the question. Her eyes widened. "
Hiya
,
ate
.... The
igmu
are always alone."

"Your path is not with mine,
cunksi
," Wanbli said seriously. He leaned forward to peer at his youngest child. "At least not now. Go with Mani and be easy in your heart - your
ina
and I will be strong until you return."

His larger hand patted her leg in reassurance as she slowly nodded. "I will go with Mani this season,
ate
. But next season, I will be at summer camp and rejoin you."

"You will do what you must, warrior. And you will be brave and strong as I have taught you."

Chapter 9

Wicasa Ki Ska
(wee-chah-shah kee skah)
The White Man

1780

Wi Ile Anpo

pulled her pony up as she crested the small hill. Turning, she looked out over the summer camp. Around her, Mani's camp flowed past, moving north. As these people who were strangers - yet not - passed by, the dark woman surveyed the encampment. With ease she spotted her mother's
ti

ikceya

. And the empty void where her own woman's lodge had so recently been.

It felt strange to be leaving her home, leaving her family.
I am not yet away and already I feel lost
, Anpo mused with serious wonder.
How will I feel when I cannot look up and see
ate

? When I cannot hear ina's voice as she speaks to Ketlin and Teca?

A hand on her bare calf caught her attention. Dark blue eyes met her gaze. A gentle, understanding smile graced the lips of the woman who stood beside her mount.
Mahasanni ki

, whispered a voice in her head and Anpo felt a rush of... something fill her. Love, fear, desire, tenderness all frothing together into a heady mix.

"We can stay,"
Kathleen

suggested, knowing it wouldn't happen but feeling it should be voiced.

The offer seemed to give Anpo the freedom to turn it down. "
Hiya
,
winuhcala

. We will go with Mani and meet this white trader." Dark eyes looked at summer camp a final time. "My parents will be well in our absence."

The blonde nodded and rubbed the brown skin beneath her fingers. She received a wonderful smile and a caress on her cheek before her warrior pulled away, urging her mount to catch up with her
sic'e

, Nupa Olowan.

She's nineteen years old
, Kathleen considered keeping the yellow shirt of her woman in sight.
The same age as I when....
The distant memory of a dying man's scream echoed in her mind and she shook it, her long yellow braids shifting in front of her. The white woman turned away from the sound, searching for something to latch onto, finding her son chatting amiably with
Hca Wanahca

.

The pair were on the back of her lodge, being pulled by the strong mare she'd received from Anpo. Nearby, a grey colt frisked as it trailed along with its mother. Her
stepan
had the reins of another pony wrapped around her wrist, another
ti ikceya
dragging along behind it. They were singing a child's song about animals.

Kathleen's face lost its tenseness and she grinned at them.
My family. I will always have Teca and Anpo.

She swooped in from the south, screaming her cry as she attacked
tatanka

ska

with a spear. The warrior's hit was solid and the white buffalo was mortally wounded. With sadness and elation, she watched tatanka ska stagger closer to her younger self, blood pouring from its side and its nostrils flaring wide as it panted for breath. It fell to the ground with a solid thump, dust rising about its carcass. The Sun flared again, and she lost the image, turning away from its brightness. The light faded and she looked again, only to find the white buffalo gone.

Anpo was her younger self once again. In the buffalo's place was Ketlin. The woman's hair was long, longer than her own, and a yellow the color of the Sun itself. Her eyes were the blue of a deep lake, still and clear. She wore the standard dress that all Lakota women wore, buckskin and moccasins, her hair flowing freely in the breeze.

The child-Anpo watched in horror as the strange apparition rose from where tatanka ska had been, blood pouring from the side where the white buffalo had been wounded, walking gently closer. Then the woman knelt and put a hand to her wound, bloodying her fingers. She reached forward and brushed the blood onto the young girl's face, two thunderbolts beneath the dark eyes. She could see those brilliant blue eyes staring at her intently and hear the words whispered into her ear.

"Mahasanni ki." The white woman rose to her feet. From behind her emerged a
hoksila

who watched with solemn eyes.

"Teca?" she murmured.

Smiling fondly down at the childlike Anpo, the woman with yellow hair caressed her cheek. "Mahasanni ki," she repeated. She took the toddler's hand and walked away.

The light intensified until it surrounded the mother and child, so bright she had to hide her eyes. When she was able to see, there was nothing there.

"
Hiya

!" Anpo gasped, fighting herself awake.

The sleeping robes pooled about her waist, her breasts hanging free in the cool early morning air. Beside her, Kathleen rumbled and rolled onto her back, holding Teca to her like a doll.

A dream! It was a dream!
the warrior insisted, reaching a hesitant hand out to touch the blonde hair.
They are still here. Still with me.

Teca

woke a bit. He sprawled across his
ina's
belly, thumb tucked firmly into his mouth. Solemn eyes stared at his
inanup

, more asleep than awake.

The look haunted Anpo.
So much like the dream....
She stilled the fear and caressed her
cinksi
, rubbing his back until dark eyes closed and his breath deepened into sleep.

With slow, careful movements, Anpo eased out from under the covers. When she was clear of the bedding, she dressed. The warrior left her hair free and stealthily stepped out of Kathleen's
ti

ikceya

.

The sun had yet to come up and no one was about, all snug in slumber. On the outskirts of camp, the herd of ponies were being guarded by younger
koskalaka
, their presence keeping the camp and its inhabitants safe.

As the warrior passed the fire, currently a mound of ash surrounded by rock, she scooped up one of her robes. With long strides, she left Mani's camp behind.

Soon, Anpo stood at the side of a river. It was deep and swift with a small falls rumbling in a tenor voice. The sky was beginning to lighten, midnight blue giving way to the grey of dawn. Puffs of steam from her breath filled the chill air. The
wikoskalaka
found an outcropping that wasn't getting too much spray from the water and settled down, wrapping her robe about her.

Scouts had returned the previous day with good news. After a full moon of travel, they had found the white trader they sought. The morning would be exciting, people dressing in their finest, preparing their skins for trade, packing their lodges.

Anpo's family had spent quite a bit of time at
Mani's

fire after the scouts reported. The chief did his best to learn all he could from Kathleen. The picture the blonde painted of her people was not a pretty one. All the elders present at the council lodge were uncomfortable with the dangerous potential for misunderstandings.

The point was moot. There was no turning back now. Mani was wise enough to know that whether he made contact with this trader or not, others would. They would end up with the benefits that Topeya's camp had already attained.

A whisper of the dream tickled Anpo's mind and she tried to grab at it, make sense of it. For seven winters the vision had remained the same, even in her sleep.
Why is it different now?
All that she'd thought regarding it was put into question.
Do I hurt Ketlin? Or does she hurt me!?

The warrior's heart felt the remembered hollowness as her family disappeared into the brilliant light.
Will she decide to leave me for the white trader?
she worried, pulling the robe tighter against the cold. Anpo immediately discarded that possibility.
No. Not after what my winuhca said last night about her people. I do not see her wishing to remain with men like that.

Closing her eyes, she could hear Kathleen's voice, "
Mahasanni ki
," and see her walk away with Teca.
And though she leaves me, she still loves me.
The dark head was shaking in confusion.

"
Ate
,
Inyan

," Anpo whispered to the morning as she opened her dark eyes. "I wish you were here now to give me counsel."

Kathleen peered into the small clearing as the camp broke through the treeline. The forward scouts were there, whooping and riding around the large cabin that was belching smoke from its chimney. It was a ramshackle building made of thin logs, the entire building twice the size of the usual family settlement.

The area around the trading post had been cleared of tall grass and trees. A woodpile was beside one door with a large stump in the front yard being used as a chopping block. Already, two
koskalaka

had pulled the axe from it and were studying the blade closely. A separate, smaller shack was to one side. The snorting of a horse could be heard from within and it nickered at the steeds of three scouts circling.

Mani led his people down the gentle slope, resplendent in his red and yellow painted chest and a headdress that sported many eagle feathers. Behind him and fanned out were the elders and other important
wicasa
of his camp, all wearing their best clothing and paints, hair and bodies adorned with the proper badges and feathers of their accomplishments.

The blonde woman felt a sense of loss as the camp neared their destination.
Nothing will be the same
, she mourned, unsure where the emotions and thoughts were coming from.