"Thank you. We also decided we must erect a lodge for your father's servant and his daughter. Your young brother will stay in my lodge, if this is agreeable to you."
"It is, indeed, agreeable. It is more than I had hoped for, believing as I did that my father's servant and his daughter would be required to sleep within the wagon. Perhaps my brother would have been required to make his bed within the wagon too, although he seems to have become quite independent of late."
Sharon smiled. "This is good. He is, after all, male and will enjoy many companions of his own age here in camp."
"Indeed, I think he will."
"Ah, at last, my almost-sister's son, Howling Wolf, is turning the wagon in a direction to join in with the rest of the people. We should reach the fort by afternoon, and there we will set up camp. Come, let us follow along behind the wagon as we did before."
"Yes," said Czanna. "I do very much wish to hear the rest of your story about my husband and the white bear, especially since you say there is more to the story. I would like to hear the rest, since there has been mention of it troubling my husband, even to this day. If this be true, will you tell me about it?"
"I will," said Sharon, dropping back out of hearing distance from the wagon. "But, first let me ask if you have knowledge of an Indian boy's adventure into manhood?"
Czanna shook her head. "I do not, I fear," she said.
"Then, please let me tell you about it…even if briefly. You see, Indian boys, after a certain age, endeavor to fast and to dream, so they might obtain an animal protector. This they require as a means of helping them to keep alive when they are confronted by an enemy. Animals have many powers. And, although they are spiritual powers, sometimes their medicine can manifest into the physical realm. Often, animals are called upon by Sun, the Creator, to help one of the people. And, sometimes a person might call for help, and the help is answered by an animal."
"I admit, this is all so very strange to me," confessed Czanna. "But, I am fascinated. I did not know animals had this kind of power. Although, if I am to be truthful, I have often talked to my horses, and they back to me. Even plants and flowers sometimes speak to me."
"Soka'pii. This is good. Perhaps what I am about to tell you will not seem too astonishing, then. But, to return to how a boy obtains his power, it goes like this: when old enough, a boy, along with his father's help, sets up a place where he will not be disturbed and where he can fast and can dream.
"We women and men bring the boy the water he needs to continue his fasting and his prayers, but this water is all he is allowed to have. He prays to the Creator, or Sun—or Old Man, as the Indians here sometimes call the Creator. He tries to sleep and to dream. After several days of fasting, the boy lies down to sleep, hoping his shadow will venture forth into the shadow land where animals and men can still converse. But, I should perhaps tell you what is meant by this kind of dream, for it was strange to me when I first heard of it."
"Yes, please," encouraged Czanna.
"Very well. Now, in this kind of dream state, the shadow of the boy—this is what you or I might call the 'soul'—ventures forth into the shadow world and asks for the help of an animal to be his spirit protector. He sometimes has many adventures in this world, which is the same world we all live in, but different. As a spirit, he can talk freely to all the animals, and they can talk back to him. Even the trees, water and plants can speak to him and he to them.
"Sometimes, even while awake, our medicine men talk to the animals, and they speak back to him. And, always a medicine man talks to a medicine plant, explaining he will not uproot all of its children, so the plant may yet live on. But, for a boy, this is not common to speak to these animals or plants aloud. And so, in his "dreams," a boy's shadow ventures forth, seeking an animal helper without fear, for the boy will not be damaged in this shadow world.
"Always the boy prays to Sun, the Creator, and begs an animal to hear him and become his protector."
When Sharon paused, Czanna asked, "And, has my husband done this?"
"He has," Sharon answered, but didn't say another word further.
After a slight pause, Czanna asked, "And…?"
"There is some trouble about it, and it concerns the white bear, I fear."
Again, Sharon said nothing further, causing Czanna to ask, "What is this trouble?"
"My almost-son has said nothing to you about it?"
"I fear he has not," answered Czanna.
Sharon sighed, but spoke nothing more…until, at last, she murmured, "He believes the white bear is his spirit protector, and yet in none of the wanderings of his shadow has he been able to contact the white bear again."
"Oh?" asked Czanna. "What does this mean?"
"To my almost-son it means that he has lost his medicine helper, the white bear. We know not what happened to the white bear fifteen years ago after our fight with the Cree. We saw her, the bear, only once after the fight was over, and we counselled together, and then never again."
Czanna frowned, but then a thought occurred to her, and she asked, "But, even if the white bear were no longer alive, couldn't my husband find a different animal protector?"
"We, too, thought this way. But, it has not come to be. There is a little more to it also, which I should relate to you, if you would like to hear it."
"I do. Please do tell me all of it."
"Well, as you know, my almost-son is natively Lakota. What we did not have knowledge of for a long while was about his lineage."
