Brave Beginnings Read online

  “Here.” She collected the remaining two branches that were out of her brother’s reach and placed them securely in his arms.

  “Oh, Julia. Thanks.” Gary smiled at her. “I’m sure glad to see you.”

  She gathered as much from the relieved look on his face. “It’s nice to see you too, Gary.” Though she smiled, it lacked the mirth she displayed earlier.

  Chogan reached out and touched her shoulder. “Julia?” he softly asked.

  “In a moment,” she whispered and turned her attention to Gary. “When do you plan to go to Bismarck? I’d like to send Aunt Erin a letter with you, if that’s alright.”

  Gary cleared his throat and nodded. “I can do that. Uh, I think Citlali wants to do some bartering in two weeks.”

  “Citlali?” Julia recalled what Woape had told her about Citlali and him wanting Chogan to marry Sarita instead of her. “Which one is he?” she demanded, scanning the men who walked about. She didn’t mean for her tone to come out as sharp as it did, but considering her foul mood, she wasn’t surprised.

  “He is in his lodge,” Chogan replied.

  “Oh.” She didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed. She’d like to see what he looked like, but she didn’t necessarily want to see him. Eyeing Gary, she asked, “Do you like him?”

  Gary gave a slight shrug. “I haven’t thought about it.”

  “Oh.” She realized she was repeating herself, so she added, “It’s cold. I better go home.”

  “Give me the letter when you’re ready.”

  “Thank you,” she finally said.

  She crossed her arms and inched closer to Chogan as they left Gary to scurry into the lodge. Had she felt better, she would have found it humorous that Gary hurried to get away from Chogan as fast as he did. But now her mind was preoccupied with Citlali and Sarita and why they should care who Chogan married and what it might mean for her future in the tribe.

  ~~********~~

  Chapter 23

  “Julia, will you tell me what’s wrong?” Chogan asked on their way to the lodge.

  “Woape told me that Citlali wants you to marry Sarita,” she replied, figuring that she might as well come out and say it.

  He drew her to his side, and she immediately felt comforted by the tenderness in his touch. “Citlali came over to me moments ago and suggested I take Sarita to be a second wife, but I made it clear to him that I will not do it.”

  She studied his expression and noted that Citlali had irritated him, though she doubted Citlali annoyed him as much as he annoyed her. “Why does he want you to marry her?”

  “To have full-blooded Mandan children.”

  “What?” she snapped. “Is this because I’m not with child yet?”

  “You did not listen to me. I said ‘full-blooded Mandan children’, not children. Whether or not we have children means little to Citlali. He wants to increase the number of Mandans.”

  “And it doesn’t mean anything to him that you already have a wife?”

  Chogan paused near his family’s lodge and embraced her. “Citlali thinks of no one’s feelings. I will not take another wife.”

  She relaxed and rested her head on his chest. “I saw Sarita. She’s not the nicest person I’ve ever come across.”

  “I know. This is why I didn’t marry her. That, and you were the only woman who consumed my thoughts.”

  “I was?”

  “You know I couldn’t be with another woman after we met. It’ll always be you and no other.”

  “It’s the same for me, Chogan. I’ve never felt this way about another man.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “Don’t let Citlali or Sarita trouble you. They are a minor annoyance and nothing more.”

  Pulling away from him, she nodded. “Yes. I just don’t like anyone who tries to come between us.”

  “Next time, take a bow and arrow with you when you leave the lodge. No one will mess with a warrior who defeated Hothlepoya. Wear the warrior feather in your hair too.”

  She laughed. “I often fancied the two of us chasing Ernest out of Bismarck with a bow and arrow.”

  “You tell me this now? I could have arranged for a showdown.”

  “Things worked out. I liked Millicent, but I think Woape might be a closer friend, given enough time. It’s nice to spend time with Penelope too, and once Aunt Erin gets here, everything will be complete.”

  “You do not miss the white man’s world?”

  “I miss people but not the world, as you put it.”

  “Larry came by to offer me my job back.”

  She blinked in surprise. “He did?”

  “Yes,” he softly replied. “Are you disappointed I said no?”

  She thought over his question for a moment as she imagined her husband spending the rest of his life working indoors. Then she recalled the passion in his eyes when he picked up his bow and arrows to get ready to hunt. He’d drop everything and go back to Bismarck if she requested it, but the years of not hunting would most likely drain him of the enthusiasm she loved so much about him. With a slight shake of her head, she said, “You’re a hunter, Chogan. Your place is not at the Tribune, and my place is with you.”

  He reached out and took her hand. “You should come with me and hunt more often.”

  Her cheeks grew warm. “Oh, I cannot. I mean, not hunt all the time.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I am a woman.”

  “True, but you are a warrior too. You need to earn your hunting feather.”

  She bit her lower lip. Even as her heart raced with anticipation, she couldn’t stop from protesting. “None of the other women hunt.”

  “They don’t hunt in Bismarck either,” he pointed out with a mischievous gleam in his eye. “But you still wanted to get the turkey for Thanksgiving.”

  “It was a challenge.”

  “And now you are ready for other challenges, don’t you think?”

  Shyly smiling, she said, “It would be fun.”

  “You make a more beautiful hunting companion than Achai.”

  “I hope so.” Giggling, she kissed him lightly on the lips. “I’d love to go hunting with you, Chogan.”

  “Good. Then we will go together.”

  “Will Achai be coming too?”

  “Of course not. He would get in the way.” He squeezed her hand and stepped toward his family’s lodge. “Come. I have something to show you.”

  “What is it?” she asked, her head still spinning with the knowledge that she’d get to join him in hunting more often. As nice as it was to help Woape with Penelope and learn what women in the tribe did, she longed to return to the open prairie and see what else she might be able to get with her bow and arrow.

  “I caught a coyote today,” he told her as they approached the front entrance. He stopped and added, “You will have your first Mandan shawl.”

  “I will?”

  “It’ll be good when the warmer weather comes. You don’t have to worry about putting on your coat to go outside. By next winter, we’ll have a buffalo robe for you to wear. Next summer, when we go on a buffalo hunt, I want to bring you back the best one in the herd. You can decorate it any way you want.”

  Her gaze lowered to his robe which was painted in blues, reds and browns in a variety of diamond patterns. Beads were sewn into the designs, and she wondered how she wanted her robe to look when the time came for her to replace her coat.

  He smiled and placed his hand on the small of her back as she stepped into the lodge. “You can decorate the coyote fur to your liking as well. My mother and aunts will be happy to show you how to do that, unless Woape wants to do it.”

  She nodded and took a deep breath as his mother and grandmother approached them. His mother had already started to skin the coyote. His grandmother looked up from the coyote and said something to Chogan.

  Chogan turned to Julia and said, “She said you will look lovely in that shade of brown. She says it will compliment your blond
hair.”

  Pleased by the compliment, Julia replied with a tentative thank you in Mandan, wishing it wasn’t taking her so long to learn their words. Chogan seemed to have an easy time learning English.

  “You’ll learn. Give it time,” Chogan assured her.

  “You’re right. I need to be patient with myself.”

  “I learned some English as a boy, so it was easier for me as an adult.” He helped her take off her coat. “Warm up by the fire, and we’ll work on taking care of the animals. I’ll take your coat to our room.”

  As he carried her coat to the room, she sat next to his mother and waited for her instructions. His mother smiled at her and patted her hand. Julia felt some of the tension ease. In so many ways, she felt out of place, as Chogan must have felt when he first married her, but Chogan’s family had welcomed her with the same enthusiasm Aunt Erin had welcomed him and that made the transition to her new life better. With a grateful smile in return, Julia got ready to cook the meat.

  ***

  Onawa and her aunt were sorting through the beads Onawa would sew onto her wedding garment when Gary entered the lodge. They looked over at him as he stumbled and some of the branches fell to the ground. Groaning, he kicked them toward the fire in the center of the lodge.

  Woape, who’d just put Penelope down for a nap and was sitting in front of the fire to warm up after being outside, glanced up at him. “What’s wrong?”

  He rolled his eyes and dumped the branches still in his arms near the entrance of the lodge. “Nothing. I’m fine.” As he turned around, he slipped but managed to steady himself.

  Woape burst out laughing. “You are lying. Something bothered you.”

  “Chogan must have talked to him again,” Onawa’s aunt whispered in her ear.

  Onawa bit her lip so she wouldn’t chuckle.

  “Why do you let Chogan scare you?” Woape asked.

  Gary gave a heavy sigh as he took off his coat. “I don’t let him scare me.”

  Onawa turned away before she laughed along with Woape.

  Her aunt handed her the bowl and whispered, “We will do this later,” and scurried to her other two aunts who were cleaning a blanket.

  Unsure of what to do, Onawa took her bowl and set it on the bed in her small room. She wouldn’t be here once she married Citlali. She’d be in his family’s lodge. The prospect didn’t upset her. In fact, she got along well with his two sisters. And, even better, Woape wouldn’t be there. She wasn’t sure what Citlali thought of Woape, but it was better if he didn’t have to be in this lodge and be reminded that he was once supposed to marry her.

  When she emerged from her room, she saw that Gary sat beside Woape and tossed the branches into the fire. Woape snuggled closer to him and kissed him on the cheek. Then she whispered something that made him utter a playful growl before he kissed her soundly on the lips.

  Onawa lowered her gaze and hastened to her aunts. She was grateful her sister had a husband she loved who loved her back, and she was glad, more than anything else, that husband was not Citlali. She supposed she could have married him even if he married Woape. Such things were not unheard of, though the practice had declined from the white man’s influence and the missionaries who came to tell them about their Christian faith. They didn’t take more than one wife, and though some of her people continued the practice, she didn’t wish for it. Thankfully, she had no younger sisters Citlali might marry.

  One of her aunts handed her a newly made necklace, breaking her out of her thoughts. “Amata might like your gift.”

  Figuring there was nothing else for her to do at the moment, Onawa nodded and took the necklace. As she went to her room to retrieve her robe, she glanced at Gary and Woape who had their heads bent together so they could talk without being overheard. She couldn’t wait to share such moments with Citlali.

  Once she wrapped the warm fur robe around her body, she headed out of the lodge. She made her way across the center of the tribe, and as she did, she passed the wooden circular structure that was a testament to the Lone Man who was believed to have taken a part in the creation of the world. He was also believed to have saved her people from a great flood by building a wooden wall to protect them. Mere myths was what Woape called the accounts of their past.

  It was further assurance that Citlali wouldn’t have been happy if he had married Woape. He held so steadfastly to the traditions of their people. He was surely relieved she married Gary instead. The familiar rationalization served to settle the doubt that threatened to discourage her enthusiasm for her upcoming marriage. If only the assurance would last longer than a brief moment.

  Sighing, she tightened her grip on the necklace and finished the walk to Citlali’s lodge. Every time she came here, her stomach tightened into fierce knots. She stopped in front of the lodge and took a deep breath before she entered it and called out a greeting. When she realized Citlali wasn’t with the seven women who were in the lodge, she released her breath, unsure of whether she was relieved or disappointed.

  Amata who was three years younger than her smiled and left her place at the fire so she could walk over to her. “Onawa, did you come to see my brother?” she softly teased.

  Blushing, Onawa shook her head. “No. I came to bring you this.” She opened her hand so her friend could see the green and white beads.

  “Oh! My favorite colors!” She eagerly took the necklace and hugged her. “I can’t wait until you marry Citlali so you can live here. It’ll be nice to do more things together.”

  “I’m looking forward to it too.”

  “Do you want to stay and talk?” Amata motioned to her mother, cousins and aunts.

  “I can stay for awhile,” she said and took off her robe so she could join them by the fire.

  An hour passed before she decided she better return to her lodge so she could help the women make the evening meal.

  Amata stood up with her and said, “Come. I want to show you something.”

  Intrigued by the way her friend looked excitedly at her, Onawa nodded and hastened to join her as she went to her small room. “What is it?” she asked as soon as they were alone.

  “I’m working on something for you, for your wedding day.”

  “You are?” Pleased, Onawa waited while her friend removed the lid to the large basket by her bed. “Is it something you’re painting?”

  “Yes. Remember the deerskin cloth you gave me?”

  She laughed. “Of course, I do. It wasn’t that long ago.”

  Amata smiled and took a neatly folded piece of the cloth from the basket. “It’s something special that I want to make for you. You can hang it on your wall after you marry.”

  Leaning forward, she waited as her friend unfolded it. “How long have you been working on it?”

  “Only for a week. It took me two months to figure out what I wanted to paint. I wanted to take something important to both you and Citlali and combine them.”

  She revealed the painting she had started on the smooth brown material. So far, she’d painted the two sacred turtles and a bushel of bluish-green flint corn to one side. Onawa thought it was fitting since Citlali’s clan was in charge of the objects that had once been used on a yearly basis for the Okipe Ceremony. The yellow flint and dent corn that Amata had begun to paint represented Onawa’s clan.

  Amata pointed to the area above the objects already on the cloth. “I will put a sunrise here to represent the beginning of your lives together, and below the turtles and corn, I will put the sunset with stars beginning to show for the night when you will be due to pass on to the next life. The stars will be your descendants who will carry on the ways of our people. And then around the border, I will have a circle so that there will never be an end to the joy you will find with each other.”

  “It’s lovely,” Onawa whispered as she traced the images of the turtles and corn. “You do such beautiful work. Thank you.”

  “I’m glad you’ll be coming to this lodge. I know we both have sister
s by blood, but you are the sister of my heart.”

  Blinking back her tears, Onawa smiled. “You are closer to me than Woape, so I feel the same.” She hugged her friend and added, “I’m glad I’ll be here too.”

  When Onawa pulled away from the embrace, Amata looked at her and laughed. “This is a good occasion.” She brushed the tears from Onawa’s cheeks. “You cry too easily.”

  “I can’t help it.”

  “I know. I can tell what you’re thinking just by looking at you.” She turned back to the cloth and carefully folded it. “You’re so unlike Citlali that way. With him, no one knows what is going on.”

  Onawa watched as her friend put the gift back into her basket. Clearing her throat, she asked, “Does he love Woape?”

  Amata glanced over her shoulder and shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s never said anything about her.”

  Onawa nodded, deciding it was best not to ask if he’d ever said anything about her in case he’d never mentioned her either or, worse, said he settled for the upcoming marriage because he had no other choice. Her father had given him an additional gift to accept her instead of Woape, and she’d like to think he would have accepted without the gift but would never know.

  A greeting caught Onawa’s attention as Amata put the lid back onto the basket. She moved the animal hide aside that served as a door and spied Ukiah, Amata and Citlali’s brother who was the same age as she was. She strained to hear what he was telling a couple of the women.

  She thought she heard Citlali’s name, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying so she left the room and inched toward the group.

  “But why would Chogan do that?” one of his cousins asked.

  Ukiah chuckled. “I don’t know, but does Chogan need a reason to shove him? Citlali annoys everyone.”

  “That’s not true,” his aunt replied.

  “Of course, it’s true.”

  His aunt shushed him and glanced at Onawa. As if on cue, the group turned in her direction, and Onawa’s face grew warm. She offered a tentative smile.