Land of My Heart (45 page)
Dianne took his praise warily. Takes-Many-Horses still unnerved her. Where Koko looked like nothing more than a darkly tanned white woman, Takes-Many-Horses looked every bit the part of Pikuni warrior.
“Come on,” Koko interceded, “you need to go change and then sit by the fire. I don’t want you coming down sick.”
“I’m coming,” Dianne told her friend, but her gaze was still fixed on the dark-eyed Blackfoot who’d rescued her.
D
IANNE QUICKLY CHANGED HER CLOTHES, PULLING ON A BROWN
wool skirt and yellow blouse. She glanced in the mirror, noting that her hair was still fairly neat and deciding against doing anything more. She felt nervous about rejoining Koko and her brother. Dianne knew Uncle Bram would be there, as well, but it was still rather unnerving.
Takes-Many-Horses had the same upbringing as Koko,
Dianne reminded herself as she reached for her doorknob.
He’s not that different
.
But he was different. He was Pikuni and proud of that fact.
Dianne went into the kitchen, where Koko and her brother were talking in hushed whispers. Uncle Bram had still not returned.
“I’ll set the table,” Dianne said, hurrying to gather the needed utensils and plates.
Jamie began to fuss and Koko smiled as he struggled on the buffalo robe. “He gets mad when he can’t do exactly what he wants.”
“And what does he want, sister?” Takes-Many-Horses asked as he moved to better view his nephew.
“He wants to crawl and walk and run, all at the same time,” Koko declared. “Much like his uncle.”
Dianne smiled to herself. She knew it was true of Jamie. The baby seemed very strong and very determined, and Dianne had no doubt that Koko’s brother had been the same way.
“Well, it doesn’t look like it’ll be letting up anytime soon,” Bram declared as he joined them. “It might snow like this for days.”
“I hope not,” Dianne said, thinking of the men on the cattle drive.
“I’m sure Gus will see everyone to safety. He’s been ranchin’ for a long time. He was foreman for almost twenty years down Texas way and then up in the Dakota Territory. He knows how to deal with the snow—even when it’s like this.”
“I’m glad to know that,” Dianne replied.
“I’ll bet you’re glad you stayed behind now too,” Bram declared.
Dianne straightened as she finished with the last plate. “I suppose I am. It wasn’t very pleasant out there.”
“I’m just glad you’re all safe,” Koko said, positioning her son so he could better see what was happening. “I can remember many times when people were lost up north when my father had the trading post. We’d hear about it come spring. Some poor fool would set out to walk to the post and winter would catch him unaware.” Koko pulled out the chair for her husband. “Supper is ready if you are.”
“I’m starved!” Bram exclaimed. “Besides, I know you’ve fried us up some chicken, and my mouth is watering just thinking about it.”
“And Dianne made an apple pie too,” Koko announced. “And of course we have green beans and potatoes.”
Bram took his seat. “Let’s stop talking and get to eating. Dianne, would you say grace tonight?”
Dianne turned from the stove where she’d just retrieved the coffeepot. “Sure, Uncle Bram.” She wondered what Koko’s brother would think of them praying. Dianne knew Uncle Bram had been instrumental in teaching Koko about Jesus, but had Takes-Many-Horses had the same lessons? Did he care about such things?
They all took their seats and Dianne was rather surprised to find that Takes-Many-Horses had chosen the seat beside her. The table was large enough to seat eight, and he certainly needn’t have crowded her.
They bowed in prayer and Dianne tried hard to steady her voice as she asked for protection for those on the trail as well as blessings on the food. All the while her mind was well aware of the man sitting at her right.
The meal began with lively conversation, and from the very start Dianne found herself drawn in when she’d expected only to listen.
“The Blackfoot are in trouble,” Takes-Many-Horses told them. “The white man has decided there is no room for us. They push us away and kill the buffalo for sport.”
“That grieves me as well,” Koko said sadly. “The Blackfoot use the buffalo for their very existence, while the whites seem to make a game of hunting.”
Dianne knew this to be true. She’d seen examples of it on the wagon train. Kills were made even when there was no hope of keeping all of the meat or butchering the entire animal.
“The white man can keep pushing, but the Pikuni will just push back. If we push hard enough, the whites will go back to where they came from.”
Dianne shook her head vehemently. “Don’t believe that. The harder you push the whites, the more tenacious and determined they will become.”
“She’s right, George,” Koko said, reverting to his Christian name. “You know our father was that way. As hard as it was to keep a trading post in Indian country, he was only strengthened by the adversity.”
Takes-Many-Horses leaned back in his chair and eyed Dianne, quite serious. She met his gaze and squared her shoulders. There was a raw, unspoiled wildness about this man that held her captive yet terrified her at the same time.
“You think the whites will stay. Even with the Sioux and Cheyenne killing them? Even with the Blackfoot taking as many lives as they can?”
“Yes, I do,” Dianne replied. “Think of your father for an example. Or Uncle Bram.” She looked to the older man for confirmation.
“It’s true. The whites will force the Indian out, just as they have in the East. They’ll come with their superior weapons and numbers and little by little have every single Indian driven off the land.”
“We won’t let them,” Koko’s brother declared. “We’ll all die if need be.”
“Sadly, that’s what it will probably come to,” Bram said. “Why do you think I’ve tried to convince you to come join us here? At least if you’re living with us, living as a white man, you won’t be rounded up with the others.”
“But they’re my people,” Takes-Many-Horses declared.
Koko put her fork down. “So are we.”
“It’s not the same. I’ve taken the life of a Blackfoot. I’m accepted there. Any other white man would see me as a Pikuni. You know it’s true.”
“I know that,” Koko admitted, “but I also know that what my husband says is true. I don’t wish to lose you. I don’t wish to see you dead on the battlefield, believing in your heart that you had to kill or be killed.”
“That’s all that’s left to us. The whites will never allow us to be a part of their world.”
The conversation halted for several minutes. Dianne took the opportunity to cut the pie and offer it for dessert. Takes-Many-Horses took a piece and ate it quickly. He asked for a second before Bram or Koko had even begun to eat their first.
Dianne smiled and dished him another slice. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Some white man’s food is worth eating,” he said, grinning. “This meal was definitely one of those.”
“So stay with us awhile and eat like this every night,” Koko said.
Takes-Many-Horses laughed and declared, “I’d get as fat and lazy as a white man.”
Dianne pondered his words as the meal concluded and Koko left to put Jamie to bed. Takes-Many-Horses’ attitude toward whites was much the same as the white man’s attitude toward blacks. She remembered Faith talking about how no one wanted to hire her husband, a gifted and experienced blacksmith, because he was black and everyone believed he would be lazy.
“The two words go together,” Faith had once told her. “
Black
and
lazy
. They’ve come to almost mean the same thing, and whether we prove our worth or not, the branding follows us.”
Dianne had been saddened by that declaration, but now she thought of how the Indians viewed her own people. They saw the whites as marauders. Thieves. The whites would trespass upon the Indian lands, steal the buffalo, kill the people, and never face any retribution for their actions. The whites were lazy to the Indian—choosing to take what didn’t belong to them rather than working to make better what they already possessed. The whites were nothing more than opportunists in the eyes of the Indian.
Yet at the same time, the whites perceived the Indians as ignorant savages who knew nothing of the real world. She’d heard men on the wagon train discuss it.
“If you treat them like children and give them a little candy or a small trinket, they’ll generally go away happy,”
one man had told them.
“I had to deal with them in western Kansas—before it became a state.
They’re just simple-minded and not capable of deep thinking.”
But Dianne knew that wasn’t true. Koko, though only half Pikuni, was amazing in her depth of thought and intelligence. And the stories Koko offered about her people were fascinating and proved to Dianne that they were skilled and considerate.
It’s all about passing judgment based on ignorance and misinformation,
Dianne reasoned.
The whites blame the blacks for the War Between the States.
The Indians blame the whites for the wars on the plains. The Indians believe the whites to be indifferent and without compassion, and the whites believe the blacks to be shifty and lazy, hardly worth the trouble of considering. What a vicious and ugly circle.
“You seem awfully deep in thought,” Bram said as he got up from his chair.
Dianne started. “Sorry.”
Yawning, Bram scratched his stomach. “It’s completely all right. I think I’ll leave you to your contemplations. It’s been a long day and I intend to turn in for an even longer sleep. With that wind howling outside, I’ll probably think the wolf is at the door for sure.” He grinned as if amused with himself. “George, you’re welcome to stay with us for as long as you like.”
“As soon as the snow stops, I plan to rejoin my people. I just wanted to come let Koko know that I’d be away for a while.”
Bram nodded. “Well, don’t leave without saying good-bye.”
“I won’t.”
Dianne got up and started clearing the table. She said nothing as she worked, but her mind was overwhelmed with thoughts.
“You’re very quiet. Are you always this way?” Takes-Many-Horses asked as he poured himself another cup of coffee.
“No, not truly. My brothers would tell you I’m very opinionated and happy to speak my mind. You know that as well.”
He smiled. “Yes. I know that.” He sat back down at the table and watched her for several more minutes.
Dianne was rather unnerved by his appraisal but forced herself to continue with the task at hand. Koko returned and began to assist Dianne with the dishes. “When we’re done here,” she said, “I’m going to bed too.”
Dianne saw how tired Koko was and reached out to still her hands. “Go ahead now. I can take care of this.”
“No, I don’t want …”
Dianne pushed her gently in the direction of the bedroom. “Go. I’m fine. Uncle Bram will be freezing in there and need your body warmth.”
Koko laughed. “He makes enough warmth all by himself. That man is never cold.” She turned to her brother. “Dianne can show you to her brothers’ room. I’m sure they won’t mind if you sleep in there tonight.”
“I’ll bet they wish they were sleeping here,” Dianne said as she put the last of the pie in the pie keep.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Koko said. “I wish they’d waited to go, but I’m also certain the snows will be worse here than where they’re headed. Hopefully they made good time.” She gave Dianne a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for all your hard work.” Then without giving him time to protest, she kissed her brother on the cheek as well. “I haven’t had a chance to do that since you were little. I miss you and wish you’d stay.”
Dianne turned away, not wishing to further embarrass Takes-Many-Horses. She washed the dishes and left them to dry on the counter before turning back around. The entire time she could feel Takes-Many-Horses watching her.
“So, are you ready to … uh … well …” She felt embarrassed, unable to figure out how to word her question without sounding provocative or bold. “I can show you to your room if you’re ready.”
He chuckled at her nervousness. “You know,” he said as he got up, “I believe I am. I’ve traveled far today, and tomorrow, if the snows have stopped, I’ll go even farther.”
Dianne took up the lamp and led the way to the addition where her brothers shared a bedroom. “There are plenty of blankets in the trunk at the end of the bed,” she told him. She opened the door to the room and shivered at the cold. “I’ll light the bedside candle for you.” She went quickly to the task while Takes-Many-Horses leaned casually against the doorframe, watching her.
“If I didn’t feel it was my duty to put an end to white men taking over my people’s land,” he said softly, “I would steal you away for my wife.”
Dianne straightened abruptly, the lamp and candle trembling in her hands. She saw the seriousness along with the teasing in his expression. She hastily put the candle in its holder and wondered at how she should respond.
Humor
, she thought. That would make the situation less uncomfortable. Gathering her wits, she smiled and walked slowly to the door and eased past his unmoving body.
“I can make a very good moccasin,” she began, “but I absolutely refuse to chew leather. So, you see, if you took me for your wife, your clothes would always be hard rawhide and the other braves would laugh at you.”
She moved down the hall to the door of her own room, hearing his soft laughter. She swallowed hard and entered her room, firmly closing the door behind her. A part of her wanted to believe he was merely joking about stealing her away. Another part was absolutely convinced it could very well happen.
T
HE SNOW STOPPED SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT, AND COLE WAS
relieved to see the clouds clear and the stars appear. He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he’d been colder. Everything was covered in snow, and with no tents to take cover in, the only thing they could do was hunker down and wait out the blizzard. Short of throwing on a slicker over his winter coat, there wasn’t any way to avoid the bonechilling dampness of the heavy wet snow.