Grail Quest (23 page)

“You must tell me your ways. I do not know four squaws. They come to my house. Why they come? Where they come from? I don’t want five squaws.”

“You honored friend, Squire. Three squaws are widows. They happy be your woman. Chief Wolf sent them to you.”

“But I don’t want four extra women. Will he take them back?”

“Oh no. You must keep them. If you not keep them Chief Wolf is dishonored. Squaws dishonored too. You will need them anyway.”

“I think my mate will be angry.”

“Hah. What matter what she think?
 
You honored by Chief. He send grand daughter. You very lucky. You have very young mate. Pretty girl. Maybe soon you have many sons.”

“You say four squaws not just for work. Not just help my mate. Real wives…for pleasure of husband?”

Bear thought that was funny. “I hear your ways are different, Squire. Yes, they all your wives. They tell you which one to go to at night. I think you must keep all happy.”

I thanked Bear for his sage advice and wandered off to think about it. Suddenly I had five wives…and they would schedule my visits to them?…I wondered if Leahna knew about it yet.

Gathering up my courage, I strode confidently into my new home. Moyock was there. So were five women. All of them had brought their own personal belongings to our dome. Four of them got up and retreated to the space each claimed. The fifth one stood up, and with her hands on her hips, glared at me. “So, Squire. Who your wife-mate?”

I hurried to wrap my arms around her. She remained stiff. “You are my wife-mate.You are the woman I love so much. You are the only wife I truly want.”

She pulled her head back to look at me. “Oh? Then why Violet, Rose, Cherry and Peach in my house?”

“Chief Wolf sent them to be your helpers.”

“Hah! Not just helpers. Say now they your squaws too.”

I expelled my breath. “Yes, that is true. Chief Wolf sent them. He not ask me. Bear says big Honor. To send them back is insult to Chief. Dishonor to squaws.”

“What Squire says is true, Leahna,” Moyock said. “I talked to young men. They say same thing. Cannot turn squaws away. Bad trouble. They think he lucky. Think you lucky too. Think you be glad for help when baby come.”

Leahna relaxed and with her head on my shoulder cried. Between sobs, “I want be your only wife, Squire.”

“I want you to be my only wife, Leahna. You are the one I love so much. I cannot turn the squaws out. You will always be my wife-mate. They will be concubines, not wives.”

“What concubines?”

“A great Chief has only one mate. The other women in his house are below her.”

“So…you make babies with concubines?”

What could I tell her? “Bear tells me a powerful man must have many sons. No matter who is mother. Concubines maybe can have sons. ”

“I not like. You tell me bone-thing just for me. Now I think you find bone-thing for new squaws too.”

“Bear say I keep squaws happy too. They not happy, much trouble.”

“Hmmm. Things not same. I not happy you have bone-thing for squaws.”

What ever happened to my care free bachelor life? “Leahna, you are my only true heart. If I must satisfy the squaws, I will close my eyes and believe I am with you.”

She smiled at first. “That good for you…What good to me?”

“You’ll know that I’m thinking only of you.”

Over a period of time, Leahna became reconciled with our arrangement and became friendly with the four squaws. She did disturb their scheduling of my conjugal activities by insisting that one of them could have a turn only if she wasn’t using me. Needless to say, I was surprised my bone-thing wasn’t worn down to a nub.

The biggest surprise was fifteen year old Peach, Wolf’s granddaughter that Moyock coveted. Leahna was most jealous of her. I think the lad hated me when I took her, until I told him that she was not a maiden, that I was not the first. Actually I had the impression that virginity was not important with Naturals. I told Moyock, “Perhaps, after your O-kee-pa test, if you still want her, you can have her then.”

The next day I spent time with Bear learning more about the Mandan ways. When I returned home I asked Leahna if she knew where Moyock was.

“I think he has moved out from here. To another place.”

“Hanh? What other place? Where do you mean?”

“A young man came by and told Moyock he had a very nice place…many fine things.
 
Moyock could stay with him if he wanted.”

“Who is he, one of the warriors?”

“I not know him. He look nice. Very clean. Pretty deerskins. His name Ber-da-che.”

When Leahna said his name, two of the squaws must have guessed what we were talking about in English. They giggled and held their hands over their mouths.

Leahna asked them what was so funny.
 
“They say Ber-da-che not warrior. He not fight, not do O-kee-pa. Stay with women.”

“I wonder what he wants with Moyock, or why Moyock wanted to go with him.”

“Squaws say he have fine dome. Many fine decorations. Mother and sisters live with him. No mate. No concubines. Many fine clothes.”

Now the squaws, guessing we were still on the same subject, broke out laughing again. Rose shouted something to Leahna causing both squaws to cover their mouths. “They say Ber-da-che wears Squaw Boots!”

Zounds! He must be the pretty fellow wearing white buckskins usually hanging about at the edge of any group. He didn’t join in the men’s councils. In our travels among Naturals I’d never before noticed any men who dressed like squaws. I suppose in any large society there are likely to be a few men like that. I wonder if Moyock knows what he’s getting into. “What did Moyock say when he left?”

“He say he visit Ber-da-che. That all.”

Some of Moyock’s belongings were still in his cubicle. He should be back. I’ll have to have an Uncle to Nephew talk when he returns.

Loud and angry enough to wake all of us up, Moyock returned in the middle of the night.

“Hey, hey, young man. What’s knotted your jaws?”

“Strange thing happen. I will not stay by Ber-da-che! He strange person.”

“All right, all right. Calm down. Tell me what happened.”

“Ohhhh. I think nice place to stay. Ber-da-che friendly man. Mother and sisters very nice to me. Fix good food. Have nice bed for me. Very soft. Nice furs. I tell you before how I dream, bone-thing leaks. Feel good.”

“Yes, and I told you that is very natural. Nothing to worry about.”

“This night I dream firm bone-thing is between Peach’s legs. It squirt long and hard. Feel really good. Then I wake up. Bone-thing not between Peach’s legs. Bone-thing in Ber-da-che’s mouth! I surprised. Not know what to think. Ber-da-che swallow my squirt. Then he say, “Wasn’t that very nice for you? Better than a girl. You did like it, didn’t you?”

“I breathing so hard I can hardly talk. I don’t want to tell him.”

He say, “You did squirt very good didn’t you?”

“Yes…I squirt very good. I not have girl. Don’t know if that better.”

“You poor boy. You have no experience. I tell you something even better…”

“He touched my bone-thing with his fingers.”

“…when it’s hard again, I have something for you better than any girl. You can put bone-thing in my arse and squirt like you’ve never squirted before.”

“Now I get mad. I shove Ber-da-che hard away from me. You crazy, I say. I never want put my bone-thing in any dirty nasty arse! Then I come home.”

I desperately tried to keep from laughing. I was glad Moyock couldn’t see my face.

We spent several days getting used to living with the Mandan and they getting used to us. During long smokes with Bear and Chief Wolf, I got them to tell me about some of Mandan ceremonies and rites. The most important one seemed to be a lengthy Buffalo dance that continued until a look out spotted the animals. Then
 
the dance stopped and the participants went hunting. The great central lodge used for ceremonies contained many of the costumes and other regalia used in rites.

“In the time of new buds, we have manhood trials for our youths,” Wolf said.

“At my home, young men must learn to fight with swords, such as mine. Is it the same
 
with your people?”

“Yes, our young men must learn to fight. More importantly, they must be strong, must be courageous when faced with terrible enemy.

“They must show courage and fortitude during pain,” Bear said, “O-kee-pa tests a young man’s heart during a four day trial.”

As they related how the O-kee-pa was conducted, I was exceedingly careful not to let my face express the shock I felt. They described inhuman barbarities. I wondered to myself how anyone could survive it. Yet all the living warriors had done so. The left little fingers of both men had been cut off. When I professed genuine interest in these things Wolf led me into the lodge to see for my self. If the Grail was in there, it was well hidden. After walking around the interior with Wolf, I was convinced it was not in there. It had to be the Wakan Totem in the Big Canoe.

When things settled down, I told Moyock, “Let’s look over our canoe and see if it’s seaworthy.
 
We need to recover our cache. I want some of those things to repay the Mandan for their hospitality.”

“I think we lucky it get us this far. It not in best shape.”

“No.” Sitting in the sun it looked like some of the caulking had melted away.

Looking on, Bear said, “Many pine trees by river bank. Maybe you can caulk with sap.”

We took his advice and when the canoe was ready, Moyock and I headed south to retrieve our cached goods. We left at dawn and traveling light, paddling after dark, and eating jerky and pemmican, we reached the vicinity of our cache in three days. Aware that the days, and particularly the nights, were getting colder, we didn’t want to waste any time. We didn’t plan to visit the Arikara when we passed their village. In fact their camp was deserted. Bear had said because they lived in domes like the Mandan, we must have visited a summer camp of the Arikara. I thought they must have moved south for the winter.

The Spanish helmet perched in the tree where I left it. That surprised me. Perhaps any Naturals who spotted it thought it was something evil. Not taking any chances, we pulled the canoe up and hid it until we could get the cache down. “Before we do that, let’s look for my pistol and our hatchets.”

“That gun any good after rain and mud for many days?”

“I don’t know until I get my hands on it. If the hatchets are rusty we can clean them off with bear grease and sharpen them on some rocks. I wish I had some more of them.”

“Yes, very valuable. Good thing you tell Leahna to keep hers out of sight unless she really needs it. Then when Chiefs see, they will want it. Not good for only woman to have.”

I looked at him. “A word of caution, the same might be applied to an untried youth.”

I never did find the pistol. The long grass having died down, the two hatchets, a package of beads and some other odds and ends were easy to find where they landed close by the canoe-killing tree. I was anxious to retrieve anything that would serve as gifts to our hosts. Since we arrived with little they didn’t expect much from us. The one pipe I’d presented to Wolf was the only object I’d given any Mandan, except to Old Cougar when he purified our dome. We kept the remaining two pipes concealed until I knew who was an appropriate recipient for that honor. Returning with the fine furs and colorful cloth for gifts should improve our standing among the Mandan.

With the cache on the ground, we opened the outer skin to examine the condition of the contents. Everything was dirtier than I remembered, and the cloth smelled moldy. Well now that I had so many wives, making these things presentable would keep them busy. We repacked the goods, loaded the canoe and headed back home.
 
We arrived during late afternoon of the third day.

Rounding the forested point to the south of the Mandan village, I saw two of my Squaws, Violet and Rose, between the field and forest acting very agitated.

“I wonder what bug is biting them,” I said.

“I think they unhappy about something.”

Fluttering back and forth they couldn’t make up their minds to enter the woods. When they saw Moyock and me in the canoe they ran to the waters edge and waved wildly to me.

“Squire, Squire, you must come quick!

As soon as we beached the canoe,
 
Violet shouted, “In the wood, in there! Leahna is in great danger! Hurry!”

SWEEEEOOOEEOOH!
Coyote’s whistling! Shocked my very heart! In the woods it seemed to come from every direction. I ran one way and another…Where was she?…Where was she? Before I could get to the source…it stopped. My heart pounded!… I listened for any sound…I blundered deeper into the woods… Then I heard
 
passionate moans…the erotic paen of my dearest Leahna!

I burst into a clearing…
Coyote rogered her!…
My mind seized up…I froze…I couldn’t move…Time stopped…I couldn’t breath….I wanted to shout. In strange slow motion…I saw Coyote plunge his bone-thing into my darling!…Her hips respond to his thrusts!…Her face glowed with desire…Her arms clutched his back…I never knew her to display such delight!
 
Intent in their pleasure, neither saw me. Then her groan of
 
joy drove me berserk!