Brave Beginnings Read online

  “But I thought…” She drummed her fingers on the doorknob and shook her head. “Didn’t you fire him a couple weeks ago?”

  “No, ma’am. I didn’t, and I want to give him the job back. Is he here? I’d like to ask him about this matter.”

  She sighed. “Mr. Bleier, they gave him a job cleaning streets, and that’s no life for a man who was a prominent member of his tribe. Chogan and my niece went to his tribe.”

  A flicker of regret came over him. He should have insisted that Chogan keep his position at the Tribune instead of walking out and letting Mike fire him. Who could blame Chogan for saying he’d had enough of this place and leaving? If it were him, Larry would’ve done the same thing.

  Placing his hat on his head, he said, “I’m sorry for what we did to him. I hope he and your niece will be happy.”

  “Thank you.” The woman offered a smile and then shut the door.

  Well, Ernest. It looks like you got exactly what you wanted. You chased a good man out of town. Irritated, Larry shoved his hands into his coat pockets and headed down the sidewalk.

  He glanced across the street and saw Ernest. Stilling his movements, he debated whether or not he should give Ernest a piece of his mind. He almost continued on his way, but Ernest looked in his direction and narrowed his eyes at him. Gritting his teeth, Larry checked to make sure the road was clear before he crossed it. Ernest didn’t scurry off as Larry thought he would. In fact, by the way Ernest smirked at him, it was apparent that he welcomed the confrontation.

  Larry reached Ernest and snapped, “I hope you’re happy. You drove out one of the best workers Bismarck ever had.”

  “Whatever are you rambling on about?” Ernest asked in a bored tone.

  “Chogan left. He couldn’t find anything better than a job cleaning streets. He’s better qualified for the jobs in this town than most of the men are, and you made it so that he couldn’t find suitable employment.”

  Appearing undaunted, Ernest replied, “If he was that qualified, nothing I said or did would have hindered him from finding a good job.”

  “Have you no concern for your fellow man? Because of you, he had to leave town.”

  “I never forced him to leave.”

  “You either don’t understand or you don’t care to understand. Everything was fine until you said something that made Wilcox get rid of Chogan. Just what compelled you to run a man and his wife out of town?”

  Ernest’s eyes grew wide. “His wife went with him?”

  “You couldn’t expect either one of them to stay after what you did. Didn’t it occur to you that she has family here who will miss her now that she’s gone?”

  At that comment, Ernest smirked. “I wouldn’t worry about her. Once she realizes how savage those animals are, she’ll come running back home.”

  “You’re lucky I’m a gentleman or I’d…” Larry bit his tongue on the threat.

  “Or you’d what?” Ernest drew himself to his full height and stood eye to eye with Larry. “May I remind you that your boss wouldn’t like it if one of his employees attacked me?”

  “It’s just a matter of time before I find the chink in your armor and expose you for the fraud you are.”

  Ernest laughed. “A fraud? That’s rich.” He patted Larry on the shoulder. “As interesting as this conversation is, I have to go to work. You do realize it’s my bank that your employer goes through to pay your wages, don’t you?”

  “So that’s the warning you gave Wilcox. Now to figure out why you would stoop so low.”

  Ernest frowned but didn’t respond. Instead, he passed Larry and headed down the sidewalk in the direction of the bank.

  “I’ll be watching you,” Larry said. “You don’t scare everyone in this town!”

  Ernest didn’t glance back to acknowledge he heard him, and Larry grew even more determined to make sure Ernest wouldn’t treat anyone the way he’d treated Chogan again.

  ~~********~~

  Chapter 21

  Julia sat next to Woape in Woape’s lodge and watched all the activity of the women as they either prepared the evening meal or finished cleaning up the lodge. Julia held a sleeping Penelope. Caring for Penelope seemed to be her task for the past week, and as much as she enjoyed spending time with her niece, she had to battle the urge to dwell in despair because, once again, she was menstruating—another reminder that she wasn’t expecting a child of her own.

  As Woape added seasoning to the deer meat baking over the fire which was in the center of the lodge, Julia decided to come out and ask her sister-in-law the question she’d wanted to ask for the past week. “Can I ask you something of a personal nature?”

  Woape glanced at her and nodded. “Yes. What is it?”

  Lowering her voice, she asked, “Is there anything that women in this tribe take to help them get with child? I thought since you use ginger to ward off stomach aches, then you might have something for having children.”

  Woape sat closer to Julia. “You haven’t been married long. It’s too soon to assume you can’t get with child.”

  “That’s easy for you to say. You were pregnant immediately, and now you’re four months along with your next child. Is there something you eat or drink that makes this happen?”

  She laughed. “I did nothing different than what other women in this tribe do, and we use nothing special in our foods. When we lived in Sykeston, I ate the same foods you did.”

  Julia sighed in disappointment.

  “Not all women conceive right away,” Woape said. “Sometimes it takes a while. My mother was married to my father for two years before she was expecting me.”

  “Yes, but how old was she?”

  “Women in this tribe marry earlier than white women.”

  “So that made her how old?”

  “I believe sixteen.”

  Julia grunted. “I turned twenty-nine last month. Women my age have a couple of children already. Look at you. You have two. Sure, one isn’t born yet, but in July, I’ll have another niece or maybe even a nephew. And you’re…what? Eighteen?”

  “I understand what you are saying. Chogan’s first wife was with child three times. One did not survive birth and two were never born. But his wife was sickly. I do not expect this to happen to you.”

  “I knew she had a child that was stillborn, but I didn’t realize she miscarried twice.” She and Chogan had not talked much about his first marriage because it wasn’t something she gave any serious thought to, nor did she particularly care to dwell on it. However, she wondered if Chogan ever regretted not having a child that survived. She returned her attention to Woape. “I’d like to have a child. Ever since I was a little girl, I assumed I’d have one. I also assumed that it would happen right away.”

  Woape reached out and squeezed Julia’s hand. “I have heard of a mixture that might work, but I can’t promise anything. Not every woman who consumes it has a child.”

  “Really? What’s in it?”

  “I believe saw palmetto, ginseng, oat seed, milk thistle, and…” She paused and then snapped her fingers. “Licorice. The last ingredient is licorice. You will take a little bit of this three times a day. If you might be pregnant, you shouldn’t take it, so make sure you aren’t before you start.”

  “That’s not a problem. I’m in my womanly time of month right now.”

  Woape nodded. “Good. I’ll have it ready for you in a couple of days.”

  Penelope stirred in Julia’s arms and rubbed her eyes. Julia chuckled. “My niece is adorable.”

  Penelope opened her eyes and held out her arms to Woape who took her in her arms. “Did you have a good sleep?” Woape asked her as she tickled her.

  Penelope laughed and wiggled.

  Julia smiled, touched by the scene playing out in front of her. With any luck, in a year, she’d be able to do the same with her own child.

  ***

  Larry pulled the reins on his horse as two Mandan Indians and a white man came out to meet him from the
tribe. He waited until they stopped a good two meters away from him before he tilted his hat and said, “Good afternoon.”

  The older Indian nodded at the white man who turned his attention to Larry. “Good afternoon. What is your business here?”

  “I was told that a man named Chogan lives here. I wish to speak with him,” Larry replied, unsure of whether he should get down from the horse or remain seated on it.

  They were on foot, and it only seemed right Larry should be too, but if they said Chogan wasn’t there, then he’d just have to get right back up on the steed. He waited while the white man spoke to the two Indians in their language. The older Indian responded.

  The white man looked at him. “Chogan is here, but they want to know why you want to talk to him.”

  “I work at the Bismarck Tribune,” Larry slowly began, not wishing to go into all the details. “It’s the newspaper. I was Chogan’s supervisor. There was some disagreement as to whether or not to keep him employed. Long story short, he was fired. I came here to offer him his job back.”

  The white man turned to the Indians and spoke to them. The Indians glanced at one another and nodded before the older one spoke to the white man and motioned for Larry to enter the tribe.

  The white man looked Larry’s way. “I assume you understand that you are welcome to enter.”

  “Thank you,” Larry said and offered a smile.

  The older one gave a slight smile in return and the younger one nodded while maintaining a solemn expression on his face.

  The men watched him, so Larry got off the horse. That seemed to be what they waited for since they turned and led him through the entrance of the wooden fence that surrounded the tribe. Larry wasn’t sure what he expected from a tribe. Snow covered lodges surrounded the center of the tribe where a round fence stood close by a larger lodge that he figured had to be the center of their activity. As he scanned the rest of the lodges, he thought of snow covered hills that dotted the landscape on his way to the tribe. The lodges were fairly close to each other and seemed to be grouped together. Larry figured it was much like being in Bismarck where people built their houses next to one another. The only difference seemed to be that the Indians were far less in number so their community was smaller.

  Indians hustled about, going from one lodge to another, and a few men stood outside talking over the fate of a dead coyote and deer.

  The older Indian said something to the white man and then motioned for the younger one to follow him to one of the lodges.

  Larry turned to the white man. “I take it that you will be the one leading me to Chogan.”

  “Yes. Chogan is my brother-in-law. My name is Gary Milton.”

  “Ah, yes. I remember Chogan mentioning you one time.”

  “Oh? Did he say anything good?”

  Larry felt a smile tug at his lips. “He said you are fortunate they need an interpreter in the tribe because you can’t shoot an animal to save your life.”

  Gary rolled his eyes. “Chogan thinks anyone who can’t shoot an animal between the eyes on his first try is inadequate when it comes to hunting. I can shoot anything as long as I use a gun, but he doesn’t think a gun counts. Guns are too easy. There’s no challenge in the hunt, he says. I say it doesn’t matter. The result is the same. You still get your food.” With a shake of his head, he continued, “Anyway, he’s right over here.”

  Larry followed Gary as he walked toward the four Indians who surrounded the dead animals. “My name is Larry Bleier.”

  Gary smiled. “I recognize the name. I read a few of your articles.”

  “Did you? I only write articles when one of the reporters can’t do it. My job is to oversee the printing and distribution of the paper.”

  They stopped by the four men who seemed to be arguing over which animal they could claim. Gary glanced at Larry in amusement, and Larry wondered what the men were saying that was funny. But this wasn’t for him to know, for in the next instant, Chogan noticed Larry and stepped away from the group.

  “Mr. Bleier?” Chogan asked, not hiding his surprise.

  “Hello, Chogan,” Larry replied. “May I have a word with you?”

  Chogan nodded and motioned to a vacant spot between two lodges where they could have their privacy.

  Once they reached the private spot, Larry opted to forgo the formalities so he could focus on the matter at hand. “I came to ask if you would return to work at the Tribune. Mike and I went to the other employees to discuss hiring you back, and they agreed that if Wilcox will not hire you, then we will go on strike until he does. Ernest Freeman may have some clout in Bismarck, but he can’t go against the entire staff. You wouldn’t have to worry about losing your job again.”

  Chogan didn’t answer right away. He took a deep breath and replied, “I have returned here, and I am happy with that decision. Thank you, but I will stay with my people.”

  Larry sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that. You were one of the best employees we ever had.”

  “Thank you.”

  After an awkward moment of silence, Larry asked, “Do you know why Ernest Freeman wanted you fired?”

  “He wanted to marry Julia, but she married me instead.”

  Larry waited for him to continue. Once he realized that the explanation was that simple, he asked, “You mean to tell me this is all because of a woman?”

  “Ernest is not a gracious loser.”

  “I’d say that is an understatement.” He couldn’t believe all of this mess boiled down to a case of unrequited love, but it made sense, given how petty Ernest was. At least now he had something to go on. “Is there anything you know about Ernest? Anything shady he might be engaged in?”

  “No. His reputation is clean.”

  So that was a dead end. Larry supposed he shouldn’t expect Chogan to know if Ernest had something he was hiding that would discredit his reputation. “I’m sorry that things turned out the way they did for you at the Tribune. If you ever decide to move back to Bismarck, you have a job waiting for you.”

  Chogan nodded and smiled. “You are a good man.”

  “You are too. Tell your wife she made the right choice.” He pulled his collar up and got up on his horse. He tipped his hat. “Until we meet again.”

  He caught the glint of amusement in Chogan’s eyes before he headed out of the tribe, wondering what the next step should be in regards to Ernest.

  ***

  Chogan returned to the other hunters and collected the coyote he shot with his bow.

  “What did the white man want?” Achai asked, nodding in Larry’s direction as he exited the tribe on his steed.

  Chogan looked away from Larry. “He was my supervisor in Bismarck. He said I could have my job back, but I told him I’ll stay here.”

  “Shouldn’t you have asked Julia about it? What if she wants to go back?”

  Chogan headed for his lodge, expecting his friend to follow. The others didn’t need to know his personal business. As Achai joined him, he said, “Most of the white people weren’t nice. You know how they treated us when we went into Bismarck in the past. Only it was worse because of Ernest. Larry was nice, but he was one of the few white men who didn’t see an Injun when he saw me. Julia doesn’t want to go back to that.”

  They stopped in front of his lodge.

  “How is Julia adjusting to living with us?” Achai asked.

  “She has her brother and Woape here. She spends most of her time watching their daughter.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  Chogan shrugged. “She hasn’t voiced any complaints. No one has treated her with disrespect.”

  “Maybe not, but it’s still a different world for her.”

  “You underestimate her. In her heart, she is a warrior. She is not a weakling like her brother, and he got along just fine here.”

  Achai laughed. “You shouldn’t talk like that about Gary. He does our tribe a lot of good. Because of him, we don’t get taken advantage of by the white m
erchants.”

  “But he’s not a hunter, and he didn’t kill Hothlepoya.” Chogan glanced at the coyote in his arms. “She hunted a wild turkey in November. I bet she’s ready for bigger game.” The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. Julia’s talent with the bow and arrow shouldn’t be wasted while she spent her days watching children, and he had enough female relatives to do the cooking. What his lodge needed was another hunter, and she’d do well for that position. “Next time, I’ll take her with me.”

  “Uh oh.”

  “What? The women may not hunt, but Julia isn’t like any other woman. She is better.”

  “No. I mean, ‘uh oh’ your least favorite person is headed this way.”

  Chogan looked in the direction his friend indicated and grimaced when he saw Citlali headed his way. “Whatever can he possibly want now? I’m already married.”

  “Who knows? But I’m not sticking around for this.” Achai headed off and called out, “Good luck.”

  Chogan purposely placed the coyote between him and Citlali. “Make it quick,” he told Citlali. “I have to take this to my relatives.”

  Citlali adjusted his buffalo robe. “What I have to propose won’t take long.”

  He narrowed his eyes at him. “Propose?” He didn’t like the sound of this.

  “Yes. I notice that your wife has yet to bear children.”

  “You notice too much.” Chogan stepped forward and glared at him. “You would be better off minding your own affairs instead of taking note of mine.”

  “This is a matter of survival. We need more full-blooded Mandans.”

  “I’ve already made my thoughts clear on this matter.”

  He turned to go into the lodge when Citlali said, “I’m not saying to end your marriage. I’m saying you should take a second wife: a full-blooded Mandan woman and have Mandan children with her.”

  Chogan dropped the coyote and stormed up to Citlali. He grabbed Citlali by his buffalo robe and growled, “You will never make this suggestion to me again. I don’t care how much honor you have in this tribe. I’ll chase you out of here so you’ll have to make your way in the white man’s world. Those white men don’t care how many sacred bundles you have or which clan you belong to. Then you will learn there are more important things in this world than producing babies.”