CHAPTER TWELVE
First Rider could not take his gaze away from his woman, who was returning his regard from across the circle of people gathered here within First Rider's almost-father's lodge. How beautiful she was, this woman who was now his.
How he wished he could simply arise, take her hand and return to their own tepee, where he would—
Someone nudged him in the ribs. Looking askance, First Rider beheld Stands Strong, who was sitting next to him, as he leaned in toward him and asked in Blackfeet, "What say you? Will you accept your almost-brother's invitation to go hunting with him at first light tomorrow?"
First Rider realized his attention had been so centered in upon his lovely woman, he didn't recall even being asked. But, no, he did not wish to go.
Much as First Rider liked and respected his almost-brother and would have jumped at the opportunity to track game with one of the best hunters in camp, the prospect of leaving his own warm bed and his woman so early in the morning did not appeal to him.
Looking around the gathering of so many people who had crowded into his almost-father's lodge, First Rider barely knew how to politely decline the offer. All these people were honoring him and his wife with such enthusiasm that he felt it would be rude to simply leave here and be alone with his woman.
He opened his mouth to reply in the negative, but closed it when his almost-father spoke up and in Blackfeet said, "I know my almost-son would like nothing better than to hunt with youearly tomorrow morning. But, am I the only one here tonight who has seen my almost-son cannot long look away from his woman?"
The remark caused much laughter, First Rider smiling, too.
"I think," Chief Chases-the-enemy said with sign and in Blackfeet, "that you, my almost-son, and your woman, Ermine Woman, should be excused from these festivities, as happy and as cheerful as they are. I think, perhaps, there are other more contented merriments on your mind."
First Rider grinned, nodded, then came up to his feet to the chorus of giggling and laughter. And, stepping around the circle within his father-in-law's expansive tepee, he took his woman by the hand, led her toward the tepee's entrance flap, pushed it outward and, stepping over the flap, trod out into the night, bringing his woman with him.
He had only taken a few steps when he turned around to her and asked, "We go to tepee? Be alone there? Or get ponies, go to bluffs, sit together, watch sun come up?"
"Oh, let us grab our ponies and go to the hills."
"Could be danger from enemy tribes," he cautioned.
"What good be life," she began, imitating something he had once said to her, "without danger? But, thou should decide, and where thou goes, there, too, go I."
He grinned at her. "Then," he said, "we go…prepare ponies for adventure. Big excitement this night. We watch…stars move in circles."
Otahki giggled.
****
"Tomorrow will…be giveaway," said First Rider as he sat on the grassy ledge of a high butte, his woman nestled in between his outstretched legs, his arms around her waist and the back of her head snuggled in against his shoulder. But, becauseit was the season of the warm, Home Days and there was always the threat of war parties on the move at night, First Rider had searched until he'd found a spot hidden beneath an overhanging shelf of rock that would both hide them as well as disguise any fire they might need to light.
It also afforded him a view of the plains, where he could easily see the movement of an enemy. Still, not wishing to be disturbed, he had built a shelter between two rocks in a field of boulders that backed up to the extreme rear of the ledge, making the hideaway look as though it were nothing more than a scattering of pine branches and bushes.
Only a well-trained scout would question what most would think was little more than scrub bushes; it would, however, escape the attention of most men in a war party. And so, it had become their temporary retreat. After putting his attention outward and scanning the environment, First Rider felt he and his woman were safe enough to allow them to recline in front of the shelter where he had placed his buffalo robe, it acting as a buffer between them and the rocky terrain.
Said Liliann, "How could I be forgettin' the giveaway? Thy customs be so different from me own. Where I be comin' from, 'tis the tradition for one's friends and guests to be givin' away gifts to the newlyweds, the opposite of thine own custom. But, my own heart be low. I fear me own self has made nothin' to give away."
He pulled her in closer, if possible, and said, "It not…expected. My family…the ones who make gifts…to give away."
"Oh, that be right. I be forgettin'." She sighed and leaned back into his arms.
Because there was no moon this night, the sky was darker than usual for this time of year, allowing the stars to be seen and to shine with a glitter and brilliancy rarely witnessed in the summer sky. Looking up, Otahki pointed to the stars sonumerous they could not be counted—the ones creating a path in the sky—and she said, "Where I be comin' from, me own people call the path there in the starlit sky 'the Milky Way.' But, I be knowin' the Pikuni call it 'The Wolf Trail.' Does thou know why?"
Placing his chin atop Otahki's head, he said, "I do know…story of Wolf Path. But, legends told only…in winter."
"Oh?" she asked. "Why?"
He shrugged. "Summer…time of joy and…much work. No time legends. But, we have…time. Lean back…close eyes…and I…tell story ofMakóiyoh'sokoy, Wolf Trail…a tale about the people learning how…to work together…make all lives good…not starve."
Scooting her body inward toward him, she sighed, then said, "I love it when thou tells me stories and legends."
Leaning down, he kissed her cheek. "Remember this about you, I will. And so, I begin."
