"Not when you look as you do."
She shook her head, but smiled nonetheless.
"As I understand it," he signed, "I need to free you from being my slave, especially since my people have no slaves. Therefore, you must win. We should agree about this before we play."
She sat staring at him for several moments, feeling as if her head were spinning. On one hand, this man teased her with suggestions of marriage, yet, on the other, he insisted he did not wish to take her for a wife.
And she? What did she think about the possibility of marriage to him...if she were free to choose? This was an easy question for her to answer: she could never marry an Indian or live an Indian life. Never.
After a while, she said in the language of sign, "I do not understand you, but let us set this aside and return our attention to the business of this game. Please, let me ensure I understand these rules you wish to impose upon us both. What you are saying is that we continue the game until I win. Is this right?"
"Áa."
"Then, it's not a game of chance," she protested, speaking in both signs and words. "This is not fair to you. As I see it, I am not really playing. If I win, I get all you own?"
"Áa."
"But, if you win, you are not taking anything from me?"
"Áa."
"This is not fair," she signed. "If you are to play this way and lose everything, then the same rules must apply to me."
She watched him closely as his lips thinned. He sighed, then grunted deeply in his throat.
"I cannot play this game with you," she continued, "unless it really is fair. This means that I play with the same penalties as you."
He frowned, then said, "The penalties and wins will be the same as when two men play this game. It is only that we should agree to continue to play until you win. If at first you lose, we will simply start the game again and will do it over and over until you win it."
"No." She spoke the word and shook her head. "I don't want to play a game where you lose everything while only I can win. Then, I'm not really saving your life, am I? For, unlike you, I have risked nothing."
"And,Ido not wish to have you as my woman when you are agreeing to it only because you feel you are my slave. I wish to free you of this."
"Then just give me my freedom."
"And, this would be enough for you? I say you are free and you no longer feel any obligation toward me?"
"Yes." She signed and spoke the word. Yet, it was a lie, and she knew it. Indeed, she couldn't look at him.
It appeared her thoughts on the matter were known to him anyway, for he signed, "Look at me when you say this, for I would see the truth or lies within your eyes."
She drew in a deep breath and slowly released it. Then, she paused while she tried to understand this man. But, it was useless, and at last she said by words and signs, "No, we will not play this as you say it. We must play only in this way: if I lose, you will gain all I own including me, even if you don't want me. It is the only way I will play with you. To rig the game so that only I can win is not right. No, I won't do this."
"What does this mean to 'rig' the game."
"It means ‘to cheat.’"
"We will not cheat. We will play until you win."
"No, it's not fair, and I won't have any part of it. And, it is, too, cheating. You are condoning and allowing me cheat. No, I will not play by these rules."
He fell into silence and was quiet for so long, it felt like hours had passed. Indeed, she started to go to sleep awaiting his reply. As it was, he had to awaken her by touching her shoulder.
Once she opened her eyes, he signed, "I have this to say to you: it is my wish to return you to your home in the same condition I found you before the storm, if you feel you must go back there. But, if you come with me, you must do so because you wish it, and not because you feel you owe it to me. This is why I feel we must play the game in the manner I have said. I wish you to be happy."
"That's impossible now." She signed her words.
"Why is this impossible? If you wish to return to Fort Union, I will take you there in the same physical condition you were in before I found you."
