"But, where to start?"
"Perhaps with simple words," he suggested, using signs, not words.
"All right. This word is simple. ‘You.’" She spoke the word and pointed at him.
He grinned at her, pointed at himself and said, "You."
"No, no." She shook her head. She pointed at him again and said, "You." Then, pointing at herself, she said, "Me."
He smiled, and, directing his index finger at her, said, "Me."
"No, no." She frowned. "I'm me and you're you."
He chuckled a little and repeated, "’I'm me and you're you,’" using all the wrong signs quite purposely.
"Oh, you!" she said. "You're teasing me. You know very well what I'm saying." This last she signed.
He grinned at her and was pleasantly surprised when her green eyes, so beautiful, lingered on his face. But, she looked quickly away.
"How do you say it in your language?" She both asked and signed the question.
He pointed at her and said, "Kiistó."
"And this means 'me'?"
He nodded, but when he pointed to her, he deliberately said in English, "Me."
She shook her head, but laughed nonetheless. "Let us take a break from the language lessons for a little while." She spoke the words and signed their meaning, also. "I am wondering, Mr. Eagle Heart, how you came to be able to talk to wolves and also to speak to me without words. I remember your saying you would tell me about this one day. Since we are not repeating legends, which you have said must only be told in the evening, and since this is not a legend, would this be a good time to share your story about how you came to be able to talk this way?"
"Áa,it is a good time," he said in sign. "And, I will tell you with words and also with signs so you might come to know my language as I say it."
"Yes, good. We should do this with each other whenever we are using the language of gestures."
"Áa,this we can do. And, now I will start my story. When I was still a baby," he began, "our people were engaged in moving our village. When we, the tribes, move, all our possessions are carried on strong lodge poles attached to our ponies. It is a sight to see, for a village on the move makes a line that stretches out for long distances across the prairie.
"It was summer, and I have been told the weather was warm and the day was beautiful. Now, my mother had three other children besides myself who were taking her attention. I was the youngest. I was tied onto one of our faithful dogs during our move. But, as sometimes happens, the dog saw many rabbits in the distance and ran to chase them. Down he went into many coulees and across the many streams that line the prairie. By the time my mother noticed I was gone, she didn't know how far back it was when our dog had left us for the chase. She placed my brother and my sisters in the care of our grandmother and came back to try to find me.
"I am told she searched for me for the rest of the day, and when our father finally learned what had happened, he accompanied many scouts to go out and see if any one of them could find the dog's trail. They discovered the dog, but the leather ties had been bitten off. They never found me. Indeed, I came to learn they believed I was no longer alive, yet for several months my father and mother searched for me. However, they could not find me.
"As the story goes, many moons later, a hunter discovered a pack of wolves while out on the hunt and noticed one of them had detached herself from the others and came within shooting distance of him. She looked at him with her slanted, yellow eyes. She didn't move away. But, when he raised his bow to shoot at her, she moved and placed herself out of shooting range. He followed. This went on many times until, in the distance, he heard a human baby's cry. I am told this was me.
"He found me, left food for the wolf who had brought him to me and took me back to his village, which was also the village of my parents. You can be assured they were surprised and overjoyed to see I was alive and was at last returned to them.
"But, something happened while I was in the care of the wolves for all those months. As I grew up, it came to the notice of several of the men of mystery in our village that I could talk to animals without speaking to them, and this was especially true of wolves and dogs. Others began to call me Strange Boy, for I was different from the other boys. I played their games, but I rarely became friends with any of them, preferring to be with the dogs. Mostly, other children avoided me and called me odd.
"As I grew older, it was observed that this thing which came naturally to me might be used to help our people. This was because I could talk to and understand even the language of many of the plants and trees growing on the prairie. Seeing this, one of the mystery men in my tribe sought me out and asked me to talk to many different plants, so I might determine what use they could have for our people. After I had done this, he asked me if I would like him to teach me how to use the mystery of what I could do to aid my people. This was how I came to be chosen to become a man of mystery, or, as the white men call us, the ‘medicine men.’
“It is unusual that I should walk this path, for a man of mystery often comes from a family who has birthed many of these kinds of men. But, this is not true for me; there have been no men of mystery in my family until me. Perhaps it is because of my unusual childhood."
"Yes, perhaps," she agreed. Then she signed, "I think I may know what a ‘man of mystery,’ or a ‘medicine man,’ is, but could you tell me a little about these men and why they are especially chosen?"
"Áa,to my people, the men of mystery are those men who have learned how to aid those who are ill or injured. Many of these men have become learned enough to drive out the evil spirits from the body of a sick person and thus allow him to return to health. Sometimes a man, or even a woman, might use roots and plants to bring about the recovery of a person. A boy has to show an inclination to aid his people in this way to be chosen."
"So, it is rather special, isn't it?" she asked, using sign.
"It is."
"Tell me, can these men, like you, speak to others at a distance?"
