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They both stared in disbelief as Andrew flung himself into High Hawk’s arms and thanked him over and over again.
High Hawk stepped away from Andrew. He gazed into his eyes. “Now, I would not be all that thankful yet, for Rose has a father and he is the one who must give the final blessing,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “And you must pay a bride price for the girl, even if you are now only wishing to court her. What do you have to offer her father?”
Andrew’s eyes widened; then he took his Bible from his rear pocket and nodded toward it. “I will give her father my Bible, for that is all I have left, and it is, as you know, very precious to me,” he said softly, looking up at High Hawk.
Joylynn’s heart seemed to skip several beats when she saw what Andrew wanted to us
e as his bride price. She, too, looked guardedly at High Hawk, and found it hard to read how this young man’s suggestion had struck him.
High Hawk had only moments ago spoken against the Bible, and here the young man was ready to use it to win a Pawnee father’s approval.
High Hawk was speechless for a moment. He gazed at the Bible questioningly, then into Andrew’s eyes. He knew how this young man felt about his talking leaves; Andrew’s willingness to give away his Bible said much about his feelings for Rose.
The more High Hawk thought about the matter, the more he believed Andrew’s suggestion would work on his people’s behalf. If one of the Pawnee had possession of the Bible, it could not be used to persuade his people to believe what was written on its pages.
“Ho, as I see it, the Bible will be gift enough,” High Hawk said. “Go now if you wish. Offer it.”
“Truly?” Andrew said, swallowing hard.
“If it is your choice to part with your only possession, one that you care so much for, then so be it,” High Hawk said. “Go. Do not delay your talk with Rose’s father.”
Andrew glanced over at Rose, whose eyes were filled with eagerness and love, then gazed into High Hawk’s eyes again. “I’m a little afraid,” he said. “What if he turns me down? He has no idea how I feel about her. When he learns of my feelings, he might forbid me ever to see Rose again.”
“You will never know unless you ask,” High Hawk said. But in his heart he was glad about what was happening, for he no longer had to worry about Andrew telling white people things that could harm the Pawnee. When he had made the decision to bring Andrew among his people, it had been a hard one. Yet he now knew that it had been a wise one!
Rose came up to Andrew and shyly gazed into his eyes. “Come. I will go with you,” she said softly. “Ahte is home now, with Ina.”
Touched by the young people’s obvious affection for each other, Joylynn took High Hawk’s hand and stood with her husband and Two Stars. She watched the two go to Rose’s tepee. She could see Andrew’s hands trembling as he held the Bible while Rose called her father’s name outside the entrance flap.
When the flap was thrown aside, Rose’s father’s large frame filled the opening. His eyes narrowed angrily as he gazed from Andrew to his daughter, and then at the Bible in Andrew’s hand.
Andrew gulped hard as he gazed into the dark eyes of Brown Horse, who had yet to say a word.
“Sir, I have come to offer you my Bible as a bride price for your daughter,” Andrew finally said, his voice trembling. “It is my most prized possession. I hope that you will accept it, knowing that it is of great value to me, yet I am willing to part with it in order to court your daughter, and then marry her.”
Brown Horse stared at the Bible again, then suddenly stepped back from the entrance flap, closing it between himself and the world outside.
Joylynn covered a gasp with her hand. She could see how devastated Andrew was at the brusque way he had been treated, and the refusal of his gift.
His feet seemed frozen to the ground, his eyes still on the closed flap, while Rose clung to his arm, sobbing.
High Hawk was at a loss as to what to do, for he had never seen any of his warriors treat a young man in love so callously.
High Hawk supposed it was because Brown Horse’s daughter had brought a white man to his tepee. And, too, he had probably been mortified by the offer of the talking leaves, something that held little value to him.
High Hawk stood his ground as Joylynn rushed over to Andrew and Rose, looking at each with a quiet apology in her eyes, even though it was not she who had wronged these young people.
High Hawk waited for Joylynn to say how she felt, then he himself stepped up to Andrew and Rose, his eyes troubled. Was it possible that this rejection would cause Andrew to have hard feelings, not only for Rose’s father, but for the Pawnee people as a whole?
Andrew had been publicly humiliated. He had been denied his right to court and marry the woman he loved, and denied in the worst way possible.
“Young brave, do not despair because Brown Horse has rejected your bride price,” High Hawk said as Andrew slid his Bible back inside his rear pocket. “Many bride prices are turned down until the one the father thinks is enough is finally brought to him and accepted. Andrew, a true bride price usually comes in the form of a beautiful horse.”
Andrew’s eyes brightened, hope suddenly in them again. “I will hunt and find a wild horse and tame it,” he said in a rush of words. “I will bring it back for Rose’s father. Surely he will not turn it down.”
“Your plan is good,” High Hawk said. He nodded toward his own corral. “Come with me, young brave. I shall loan you one of my steeds for your hunt. I will give you what is required to capture a proud, wild steed. And there are some in a valley yonder. I have seen them.”
“In which direction is this valley?” Andrew asked anxiously. “I will go there.”
