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Not knowing how long this lad had been forced to stand there holding the buckskin flap open, Jolena hastened her steps.
When she finally arrived at Spotted Eagle's tepee, she smiled a silent thank-you to the handsome young brave, then went on inside, with Moon Flower following close behind her.
Jolena's heart melted when she found Spotted Eagle sitting beside his lodge fire in only a brief breechclout, his legs folded before him, his hands resting on his knees.
When he looked her way and gave her a slow, teasing smile, she almost swayed with the force of the passion between them.
She had to swallow hard and will herself to continue with these chores that came before the actual coming together as man and wife. She had thought of nothing but being with Spotted Eagle through the long hard night while her hands had been preparing the food for him.
She had wanted to slip away and go to his tepee and snuggle up next to him. She had wanted to be held within his powerful arms as he whispered sweet nothings in her ear.
Jolena wrenched her thoughts back to the chore at hand. She followed Moon Flower's lead in placing the food before Spotted Eagle, taking one empty bowl away so that he could eat from another.
He spoke not a word as he enjoyed his meal.
He refrained even from gazing Jolena's way, which unnerved her.
Soon the feast was over. Jolena and Moon Flower left the tepee and rushed back to Brown Elk's dwelling, again watched by everyone of the village.
Jolena and Moon Flower began taking the empty bowls and platters from the basket to wash in a basin of water that was already sitting beside the firepit. As Jolena was doing this, she wondered about her father's sudden silence as he prepared himself to leave. "Do not question him now about anything," Moon Flower whispered to Jolena as she busied her hands washing the dishes, while Jolena dried them with a thin strip of buckskin. "It is a solemn time for your father and Spotted Eagle. Soon I shall show you why."
Out of the corner of her eye, Jolena watched her father leave the tepee, then she continued drying the dishes until they were stacked and ready to store away.
"I think we can look now," Moon Flower said, taking Jolena by the hand and urging her to come to the entrance flap. "Look toward your marriage lodge. See what your father places there as your dowry."
Moon Flower lifted the flap. Jolena's eyes widened as she watched her father instruct several young braves to lead fifteen horses to her lodge, tying them there on posts that had been hammered into the ground.
"My dowry?" Jolena whispered. "And… so many?"
"Hurry away from the door now," Moon Flower said, half dragging Jolena back to sit down by the fire, just in time for Jolena's father to enter the lodge again, followed by the same young braves who had placed her father's horses in front of her lodge.
Jolena watched breathlessly as her father gathered up his very own war clothing and arms, a lance, a fine shield, a bow, and arrows in an otter-skin case, his war bonnet, war shirt, and war leggings ornamented with scalps. He then sent his complete war equipment out with the young braves and followed proudly after them.
"We can watch again," Moon Flower said, giggling as she scrambled to her feet. "Come, Jolena. See what is happening!"
Stunned by all of this, Jolena moved to her feet and again went to the entrance flap and watched from it. Her lips parted in a gasp as she watched all of her father's warring gear being set up on tripods in front of her lodge.
"The gift of those things from your father to Spotted Eagle is evidence of the great respect felt by him for his new son-in-law," Moon Flower said, looking softly over at Jolena. "His respect is great, Jolena, for see what he has given? Everything that means so much to your father is now Spotted Eagle's."
Spotted Eagle was watching from his tepee, touched deeply by the gifts of his woman's father. Several young braves were standing before him, awaiting his orders as to the number of gifts that would be given back to Jolena's father. He had already decided that he would give back twice the number of horses that Jolena had brought with her into the marriage.
"Go," Spotted Eagle said. "Take the horses from in front of my woman's lodge, and also the warring gear of her father. Place them in my corral. Then choose thirty of my finest horses and place them i
n front of my father-in-law's lodge."
The braves scampered away. As soon as Brown Elk and the other young braves had left Jolena's lodge with the gifts that had been left there for Spotted Eagle, Spotted Eagle left his tepee and walked with a lifted chin and smiling heart toward the lodge of his woman.
When he entered, he found a good fire and soft pelts beside it, but as was the custom, he took his place at the back of the lodge, awaiting his woman's arrival.
Already he could hear the steady beating of drums in the distance, songs being sung by the women of his village, and the gay voices of children at play, all of which signaled the beginning of a long day of celebration among his people.
Spotted Eagle smiled and folded his arms across his bare chest, savoring every minute of this timea time for which he had waited a lifetime!
Laughing and giggling, Jolena and Moon Flower ran to the river and found an isolated place for their bath and swim. After they were unclothed, they dove in unison into the river and swam and played and laughed.
Then, in a more somber fashion, Jolena and Moon Flower left the river. Moon Flower dressed quickly, then helped Jolena into her mother's wedding dress, which they had taken from Jolena's lodge before the sun had replaced the moon in the sky. After the dress was hanging beautifully and clinging sensuously to Jolena's curves, Moon Flower prepared Jolena's hair, brushing it, then braiding it and placing daisies above Jolena's ears.
Moon Flower added the final touch. She placed earrings made of shells on each of Jolena's ears, then held Jolena's hands as Jolena stepped back for her friend to see.
