Bound by Honor Bound by Love (6 page)

Onawa chuckled. “Only Julia, Erin and
Chogan can.”

“
This is Dakota,” Julia
told him. “Erin holds Tate.” When his gaze returned to Erin, Julia
shot an amused glance in Onawa’s direction before adding, “Erin
wants to learn about…about…sacred bundles. You will tell
her?”

Onawa’s eyebrows rose in interest. She
wasn’t sure if Julia’s aunt really requested such knowledge, but
she knew why Julia said it. Onawa’s father had been looking in
Erin’s direction a lot lately but hadn’t said more than a few words
to her, and if she judged right, Erin was interested in him, too.
Deciding to play along with Julia’s scheme, Onawa nodded. “You know
more about sacred bundles than us. You would be the right one to
tell her about them.” And that much was true. Plus, Erin did ask
Woape about them the other day, so it seemed like a good
idea.

“
Well, if she asked…” her
father said.

“
She did,” Onawa assured
him.

He cleared his throat and stood up.
Onawa hid her smile as he approached Erin who blushed as he sat
next to her and asked if she would like to learn about sacred
bundles. She nodded her agreement, so he began telling her about
them.

Leaning toward her, Julia whispered in
Mandan, “It is good. Erin needs a man.”

“
My father needs a woman,
too. It’s good for him.” Onawa glanced at the two and thought it
was fitting the two should be together. “They are good
together.”

Julia smiled. “Yes.”

Onawa watched as Erin laughed at
something her father said and shot Julia an amused look. She had a
funny feeling that there would be another wedding soon, and she
couldn’t think of a better wife for her father than
Erin.

***

Citlali sighed and opened his eyes.
Once again, he sat in front of the fire. He hadn’t eaten anything
for six days now. Tomorrow, he’d go home. Home to his lodge where
Onawa would be waiting for him. Her smile would ease his
loneliness. Her touch would warm him. And then, when they were in
bed…

He gritted his teeth. He couldn’t
afford to lose control like he did last time. It’d be too easy to
lose control again, especially after being gone for a week. Fasting
always left him feeling vulnerable, which was why he didn’t like
it. But it was also a good way to seek favor from the
gods.

This was not going to be one of those
times. His thoughts kept going to Onawa. Whether he was awake or
asleep, she occupied his mind. He thought being out in the
wilderness would ease the desire to be with her, but it had the
opposite effect. He only wanted her more.

He stood up and wrapped the buffalo
robe tighter around his body. Maybe a walk would help pass the
time. As it was, it was early afternoon. He had the rest of the day
and night to spend without her. Come first light, he’d go
home.

The snow crunched under his feet as he
made the same trek he took every day to help time go faster. On
this particular day, he made it around a group of trees when he saw
a sleigh in the distance. His first thought was that it was Onawa,
that she missed him so much she had to come see him. His heart
leapt at the thought, but then, he quickly dismissed it. She didn’t
have a sleigh.

Curious, he headed for it. He pulled
his robe tighter around himself since he was walking directly into
the bitter wind. As the sleigh neared, he waved, hoping to get the
driver’s attention. It slowed before turning in his direction. He
tried to make out the people in it, but from the distance, it was
still too hard to tell. Pressing forward, he trudged through the
snow.

Who in their right mind would make the
trip out in the middle of nowhere in a sleigh? Sure, it wasn’t
snowing today, but it was too cold to be enjoying a ride. As he
came within shouting distance of it, he realized there were four
people huddled together under blankets. It took him a moment to
realize there was a man, woman and two children. That, in itself,
wasn’t odd, but the man and woman were white and the children were
Indian. He judged the boy to be about seven and the girl to be
about four.

He stopped as the sleigh pulled up to
him. Upon closer inspection, he realized he’d seen them before.
They were with Woape after she ran away from the tribe because she
didn’t want to marry him. He had joined her brother and father to
find her, and when they did find her, she’d been with this white
couple. He never thought he’d see them again, but here they
were.

The man halted the horses. Citlali
expected him to speak but it was the woman who spoke, and when she
did, Citlali was surprised she spoke Mandan.

“
Can you understand me?”
she asked.

“
Yes. I speak white man’s
language, too,” he replied, his gaze returning to the two children
who seemed familiar. “Who are these children?”

“
The boy is Etu and the
girl is Yepa.”

No wonder he recognized them. They
were Motega and Takchawee’s children. He recalled when Hothlepoya
invaded the tribe the first time. He and the Sioux with him caused
a lot of destruction in their search for Woape. Motega died while
defending the tribe, and as for Takchawee… She never should have
left the lodge the men were protecting. But she did and she took
the children with her. Only, while they found Takchawee’s body,
they never did find the children.

Turning his gaze back to the boy who
was the oldest, he asked, “How did you end up with these white
people?”

The boy’s lower lip trembled and tears
filled his eyes. The woman hugged him and sighed. “He has
nightmares,” she explained. “We thought they would go away, but
they haven’t. He won’t tell us how he and his sister ended up on
the orphan train. You see, we adopted them two years ago, and for a
while, everything was fine. It wasn’t until three months ago that
the nightmares started. He used to talk all the time, but he
doesn’t say much anymore. Yepa was too young to remember anything.
We hope that by going to the tribe they came from, we can find
answers to help him.”

“
Etu and Yepa come from my
tribe,” Citlali told her. “I knew their parents. Their father was
honorable. A good hunter.” He looked at the boy. “Your father was a
good man. Your mother was a good woman. They are missed. You and
Yepa have been missed, too.”

The boy remained close to the woman as
he turned his tear-filled eyes in Citlali’s direction.

Knowing nothing he could say would
bring Etu’s parents back, Citlali patted his shoulder and turned
his attention to the white man and woman. “You will want to go to
my tribe. I will go there tomorrow. You are welcome to stay with me
tonight. You look too cold to keep going.”

“
Thank you,” the woman
replied.

The woman and children scooted over to
make room for him. Since the way back to the teepee was a good
distance, he accepted her offer and sat in the sleigh.

“
My teepee is in that
direction,” Citlali said, pointing north.

As the man urged the horses forward,
the woman turned her attention to Citlali. “My name is Penelope
Hunter, and this is my husband, Cole.”

Citlali nodded to them. “I’m
Citlali.”

“
It’s nice to meet you,”
Cole called out.

Citlali looked at the children who
remained huddled on either side of Penelope. They stared up at him
with wide, brown eyes. Though it wasn’t something he often did, he
offered them a smile in hopes of putting them at ease. The poor
children were scared, but they weren’t scared of Cole or Penelope.
He wanted to assure them that they had nothing to worry about, but
he figured they’d have to see it for themselves to understand how
excited the people in the tribe would be to see them.

Chapter Five

Onawa’s heart raced when she heard
that Citlali had returned. She glanced at Amata in excitement and
set the spoon down from the pot where she’d been stirring their
food. “Where is he?” she asked Citlali’s brother who’d come into
the lodge to make the announcement.

“
He’s in the chief’s
lodge,” he replied. “He didn’t come alone. He brought a white
couple with him, and they have Etu and Yepa with them!”

Citlali’s mother gasped. “Etu and
Yepa? Motega and Takchawee’s children?”

“
Yes,” he
affirmed.

“
Can it really be?” one of
Citlali’s aunts asked, her hand pressed to her chest.

“
There’s only one way to
find out,” his mother said. “We must see them.”

Nodding, Onawa joined Citlali’s
mother, brother, and one of his aunts in getting ready to leave
while the others decided to stay in the lodge to finish preparing
the meal. She wrapped the buffalo robe around herself to keep warm
and followed them out of the lodge. Though she was excited to see
the missing children, she couldn’t wait to see Citlali again. The
week apart from him had been a long one. Knowing he loved her
quickened her steps as they made their way to the chief’s
lodge.

His mother looked over at her and
smiled. “You will please him when he sees you. You look
lovely.”

“
Thank you,” she replied,
pleased by her words.

As soon as they reached the lodge, she
took a deep breath to calm herself enough so she wouldn’t run into
her husband’s arms. He stood by the chief, looking much better than
she remembered. Not that he didn’t make her weak in the knees in
the past, but seeing him as her husband made her pulse race even
faster.

She moved aside to get a better look
at him. The others around her were looking expectantly at the white
man and woman who were with Etu and Yepa. She didn’t remember them
very well, but she recalled the tragedy of their parents’ deaths
and the time when the men searched for the children. It was amazing
the children survived. She wondered how they ended up with the
white couple, so she focused on what the white woman was telling
the chief.

She caught the words orphan train and
adoption, but with the people whispering about her, it was hard to
make out much more. After a few minutes, she gave up and focused on
her husband who inserted comments from time to time as the white
couple spoke with the chief. At one point, Citlali glanced up and
saw Onawa. Blushing, she smiled at him. His lips turned up slightly
before the chief spoke to him. He directed his attention back to
the chief, and the momentary connection between them was broken.
But she didn’t mind. He was back, and they’d be together soon
enough.

The chief turned to face the crowd.
“Where is Woape?”

Onawa’s eyebrows furrowed. Why would
he want to talk to Woape?

“
She is not here,” Citlali
told him.

The chief gave a slight nod before his
gaze fell to Onawa. “Woape is your sister. Bring her
here.”

Onawa indicated that she would and
hurried out of the lodge, clutching the robe tighter around her to
brace for the burst of wind that swirled around her. When she made
it to Woape’s lodge, Gary was telling everyone that a white couple,
along with Etu and Yepa, were in the chief’s lodge.

“
When did they come here?”
Woape asked as she stood up from the rug she’d been on with her
daughters.

“
Just now,” Gary
replied.

As Onawa stepped forward, everyone in
the lodge turned their attention to her, so she said, “Woape, the
chief wishes for you to go to his lodge.”

“
I was about to go,” Woape
told her and hurried to retrieve her buffalo robe.

“
I’ll go, too,” Gary added
and helped her get their daughters ready to leave the
lodge.

“
You’ve seen the white
couple?” Onawa’s father asked her as he set down his
pipe.

“
Yes. They’re with
Citlali,” she replied.

Gary glanced her way. “Citlali came
here with them?”

“
Yes. It’s why I went to
the chief’s lodge.” Onawa waited until they were ready and then
left with them. With a good look at Woape, she said, “You’re
excited.”

Woape grinned and shifted her daughter
Phoebe to her other arm. Beside her, Gary carried Penelope. She
looked away from him and focused on Onawa. “I think the couple are
the two people who helped me when I was running from Hothlepoya. I
think they might be Penelope and Cole.”

“
The Penelope you named
your first daughter after?”

“
Yes. She became my friend.
I hope it’s her. I’d like to see her again.”

Surprised that this could be the same
woman who took care of Woape before she returned to the tribe with
her child, Onawa hurried her steps. When they reached the chief’s
lodge, she led them through the crowd which parted for them. Her
gaze fell on Citlali, and she offered him a shy smile as she
approached him. Even with the swirl of activity in the lodge, she
couldn’t help but be acutely aware of his strong, masculine
presence.

When they reached the chief, she
stepped aside so she was out of the way. Citlali glanced over at
her and seemed to be ready to motion for her to join him, but the
chief spoke, directing his attention away from her. She didn’t dare
approach the chief unless she had his permission, and since he
invited Woape and Gary to approach him, she understood she needed
to stay with the crowd and watch what happened.