CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
First Rider was wide awake and alert when the first rays of the sun finally presented themselves upon the eastern horizon. Otahki had slept a little, and he had let her. The rest of their lives depended on what he observed this day, as well as what he did.
A few women stepped outside their lodges, and, as he had already known they would do, they set to work at once. He watched every one of them carefully.
But, then he observed a being he did not know was here in the Flathead camp, and, placing a hand over Otahki's mouth, he urged her to awaken. When she gasped and her eyes fluttered open, he lowered his hand and pointed to a figure, there in the camp; it was a white man dressed in black—a Black Robe.
Was it Father d'Gallo? The same Black Robe who had reportedly been staying in the Nez Perce camp?
He smiled. This was a pleasant surprise.
He signed to Otahki, "This is good."
And she responded back in sign, saying, "Yes. It is very good."
By now, more and more men, women and children were moving around the camp, but still First Rider could see no sign of Tsistsaki. The sun had begun its climb higher and higher into the blue when First Rider glimpsed a woman who walked in the same manner as Tsistsaki.
Gaining Otahki's attention, he pointed toward the woman, and, in sign, he asked, "Is it she?"
Otahki frowned, shaking her head and then rubbing her eyes as if those actions would give her a better look at thewoman's figure. But, she signed, frowning slightly, "I do not know."
Then the woman began to pace directly toward them, as if being guided to them by an unseen source. And, as she came nearer and nearer, it became clear to First Rider that he was looking at Tsistsaki.
She was alive. Indeed, she was alive.
But then, again in a manner as though guided by an unseen hand, a man emerged from the same lodge as Tsastsaki and paced toward her, he holding a child of perhaps two or three winters in his arms. He called to her, but what he said remained unknown to both Otahki and to First Rider, since neither of them spoke the Flathead language.
Tsistsaki turned toward the man and smiled at him, accepting the child from him. Then, leaning down toward her, the man placed his head against hers and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
It was obvious: the man was Tsistsaki's husband, and the child was theirs. And, the smile she gave to the man, as she touched his face gently, was enough for First Rider to know she loved this man.
This was the reason she had hid from Heavy Storm. It was why the entire tribe had pretended to have no knowledge of her.
First Rider felt like jumping up and saying to her,You are free! You are free from the fear of being taken away from those you love!
But, of course, he didn't. Instead, he grasped Otahki's hand and grinned at her. He signed, "They love. They are a family."
She smiled in response, then signed, "I am so happy, so very happy. Does this mean we are still married?"
He signed, "Of course. And, with Black Robe…in camp…no need go to Nez Perce. You get peace now from the bad man, Maká pato'si."
As she gazed up at him, her face glowed with such happiness he could barely restrain himself from taking her into his arms and kissing her.
How beautiful is my woman. My woman, she is.
****
They stayed where they were for the rest of the day, watching, waiting through the evening hours when friends were visiting back and forth. It was only when the lodge fires were dying down that they belly crawled back to the timber where they had made their camp.
Still speaking to one another in sign alone, Otahki asked, "What do we do now? Go quietly home?"
"Not yet," he answered in sign. "I have a duty I must honor."
"A duty?" she signed. "Are you thinking to still bring Tsistsaki back to the Pikuni camp?"
"Perhaps," he signed, and when her expression fell and she looked down, he placed his forefinger under her chin and brought her face up so she could see his hands, and he signed, "Do not fear my intentions. I have no wish to bring Tsistsaki back into my life. But, I have a plan; one given to me by the Creator. Take courage. Will you do this?"
She nodded, though there were tears in her eyes.
