"It means to show a woman you are interested in marrying her."
"Saa."
"And, the word 'saa' means…?"
"No."
She didn't seem to have an answer to his simple admission, and so he came up to his feet quickly so as to get on with the day as well as to put the topic of discussion behind him, when she said, "I am glad."
Caught off guard by her admission, he further astonished himself when he replied, "So am I. Now, awaken your little sister and your almost-sister, before dawn comes upon the land. We must be on our way."
"I will do as you say. But, sir, if you have prepared our baths, as you said earlier, and we women are to bathe, I must have your word that neither you nor my brother will be anywhere near us as we attend to our bath. Do you promise you will not look at us?"
"I will not promise this to you. What man can resist looking?"
"Then, I will require one of your buffalo robes to place around us while we bathe."
He chuckled. "You would deny me the pleasure of a simple look?"
"Indeed I would, sir."
Again he laughed. "Then, I shall engage myself in scouting duties so I will not be tempted to see what you look like without clothing."
"And, the buffalo robe? Will you give me yours to place around us for privacy…in case your duties cause you to be situated within looking distance of where we must bathe?"
He sighed. "I will. But, I will also ask you women to attend to your bathing quickly. We must be on our way."
"And so, we will do it as quickly as possible. Do you think we will reach the fort today?"
"Not today," he said. "Maybe one, maybe two suns. Come, we have spent a pleasant morning, but we must now hurry. We will only be able to travel upon the open plains until the sun rises. So, we will break camp quickly and travel as far as we can while it is still dark and the war parties have made or are making their day camps."
"Day camps?"
"This is Pikuni territory. Enemy war parties do not dare to appear on the open prairie during the hours of Sun's light."
"But," she said, "if this be true and they make camp during the day, why can we only travel during the darkness of early morning?"
"Because some young warriors are anxious to prove themselves and do not care for the safety of the war party. Your wagon, being only one, tempts such men. We will not provide the temptation so long as there is only me and your brother to defend us."
"And me, too. I could help in our defense."
He grinned at her. "And you, too. Come, you must hurry." With this said, he turned and stepped away from her, his back to her, allowing him to hide the evidence of his sturdy response to her, which was still in evidence. He only wondered how long it might take her to recognize the urgency of his body to make love to her.
At least he could control it…for now.
