He grinned at her. "I am also good at counting and have a fine memory, as well," he signed, saying his words in Blackfeet, also. "I shall continue," he signed and set out five plum stones. Both sides had been smoothed out and one side was black, the other side was white. "Black side up is four points," he signed. "White side up is nothing."
She nodded.
Next, he set out five pieces of blue china, chiseled until they were round. He continued his instructions and signed, "As you can see there is a blue side and a white side of these small circles of china. Blue side up on the throw counts for three; white side up counts nothing."
He next set out five trade buttons. "The button's eye side up is two points; smooth side up counts nothing. And, here is the last: five brass tacks we Indians obtain in trade. When the side is up that curves inward, this counts one. If the side is up that pushes outward, it counts nothing. In this game, I keep your score and you keep mine."
"Is there also a song we sing?"
"Only if you wish there to be one," he answered using both words and signs. "Usually there is none, for this game is played only between men, with you being the exception. It is a serious and a desperate game because it is played until one of the players is brought down utterly. This man loses everything, even his wife, unless the players agree beforehand not to let the game go so far. But usually, because this is a game of war, it does go this far and a man can lose everything: his clothes, his horses, his wife. Sometimes the game goes on for days, the players breaking only to eat, for there is no sleep when one is playingCos-soó.
"However, we will take breaks to sleep whenever you need to rest because you are recovering your strength. But, we will play until you win everything I own."
"What?... 'Until I win everything'? What do you mean?"
"We will keep playing the game until you win everything from me," he repeated.
"But," she objected, "what if you win this game instead of me?"
"This will not happen. We will play this game until I lose everything. The game ofCos-soóis war, only no one needs to die."
Laylah blinked. "But," she signed, "what if I keep losing to you? Will I not have to give you everything I own? Aren't those the rules?"
"We shall not play by those rules," he signed and spoke the words in Blackfeet. "We will agree beforehand to continue to play until you win everything from me. Yet, it will not be easily done."
She shook her head before staring at him, feeling as though her eyes were wide open and owl-like. She signed, "But, if we play until only I can win, it's not really a game with real stakes, is it?"
"It is if we agree it is. You are to win your freedom from me, and we will not stop the game until you do. Do you agree?"
"I don't know. It seems unfair to you."
"Saa," he said the word and signed it. "The idea that I somehow own you is what is unfair. But, since you believe this, we will play and you will win your freedom from me." Suddenly, he grinned at her. "Then, you can choose between the two of us: the man who left you here to die or me...if you wish to choose at all."
"But, wait!" She raised her voice a little. "I am confused," she signed. "I understand you asked me to marry you a little while ago. However, before that you had said you might lose your power and not be of any use to your people if we were to ever marry. And then, while we were talking, you told me you should not have asked me to marry you and that you should have exercised better control. Is this not true?"
He sighed. "It is."
"Well, it seems to me, Mr. Eagle Heart, that you don't really wish to marry me, and you spoke when you shouldn't have. Nonetheless, you are now telling me if I win I could choose between you or Thomas. So in a way, aren't you asking me to marry you again? Even when you say you shouldn't?"
"Áa,you make a good argument, and I admit it seems I have done this. Also, it appears I do not know my own mind and I may even seem to be weak-willed."
"Weak-willed?" she asked with signs. "I do not think this of you. However, what could be happening is you might like me a little, and, were there not such great barriers between us, we might become friends."
"We are already friends."
"Yes, we are. But, I meant a little more than friends."
He laughed. Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he signed, "Say what you mean." His smile, however, made him look a little too much like a well-fed and satisfied cat.
And so, in response, she signed, "I will not." Her hand movements were firm and exact. "You know very well what I am talking about."
He was still grinning when he signed, "I did ask you to be my woman, it is true, when perhaps I should not have. Or"—he laughed—"maybe my 'tongue' knows better than I do what is good for me."
She giggled a little. She couldn't help herself.
"I will not take back my question to you, whether I should have asked you to be my woman or not. But, come now, you do not have to choose anyone."
She sighed. "Eventually, I will have to choose. I cannot forever remain unmarried."
