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He stepped inside and found her busy cooking over her lodge fire. He went and knelt beside her, then told her the truth of where he was going, and why, but asked her not to tell Shirleen.
Instead, he asked Bright Sun to go and keep his woman company this day.
After his aunt agreed, he gave her a hug, then kissed his daughter and hurried outside to his saddled horse. Moments later he was riding away from the village with his warriors.
Shirleen had stepped from the tepee and watched his departure, but had also seen him go to his aunt’s lodge before he left.
She had wondered why he had taken time to speak with his Aunt Bright Sun, then thought surely it was to promise her food from the hunt. Shirleen knew that his aunt was his responsibility, especially since Bright Sun now kept his daughter in her lodge, being the mother Little Bee no longer had.
Shirleen went to sit beside the fire, eager for Megan to awaken. But her child must have been extremely tired, for she still slept as deeply as she had the moment her little head had hit the comfortable pelts and blankets.
Shirleen glanced at the closed entrance flap. She realized how silent the village had become since the warriors’ departure. It was as though the whole world had gone quiet until the warriors returned.
Then she heard a familiar and welcome voice. Aunt Bright Sun was outside the tepee asking for permission to enter.
Shirleen rose and hurried to the entrance flap.
She held it aside, smiling from ear to ear. She was happy not only for the food that Bright Sun had brought to her on a wooden platter, but also because Little Bee was with her. As usual she was clinging to her special doll, made exactly like the one the child had so sweetly given to her for Megan.
“Come inside,” Shirleen said, stepping aside. The tantalizing smell of the food made her stomach growl.
“I have brought food and Little Bee,” Bright Sun said as she set the tray beside the fire.
Shirleen smiled at Little Bee as the girl stood beside Bright Sun, staring at Shirleen.
“Has your child not awakened yet?” Bright Sun asked, looking questioningly at the blanket that hung from the lodge poles. “Is she asleep behind the blanke
t?”
Suddenly a little head peeked around a corner of the blanket; then Megan rushed to her mother.
She wore a cute nightgown, with designs embroidered on it, which Shirleen had put on her while she slept.
Shirleen wove her fingers through Megan’s thick, blond hair, straightening it as best she could. She would brush it later.
“Sweetie, we have company,” Shirleen said, smiling. “The child’s name is Little Bee and the woman is Aunt Bright Sun.”
Both children were silent for a while as they stared at one another; then Little Bee saw the doll that she had brought earlier for Megan and went to it. She picked it up, walked eagerly to Megan, and put it into her arms.
“I have brought this doll for you to keep,” Little Bee said sweetly. “I have one just like it. Do you want to see it?”
Megan had never been shy, and now she went to Little Bee just as the other child picked up her own doll.
“See?” Little Bee said, still smiling. “My doll and your doll are alike. They could be sisters, just like you and I could be sisters.”
Shirleen was stunned by what Little Bee had said. In fact, once Shirleen married Blue Thunder, Little Bee and Megan would be sisters!
“The dolls are different from any I have ever seen,” Megan said, gazing intently at the one in her hands. “But I like it. It is cute. Thank you, Little Bee.”
“Do you want to play dolls with me?” Little Bee asked eagerly. “I play dolls all the time with my friends. Will you be my friend?”
“Yes, I want to be your friend, and I would love to play dolls,” Megan replied happily.
Shirleen was amazed at how quickly the two children were bonding. Their skin and hair color were very different, but to most children, such things were meaningless.
Adults would shun those of a different skin color. Even Shirleen had been guilty of that from time to time. She had always heard only bad things about Indians, but now she realized there were bad white people, just as there were bad red-skinned people, like the renegades who had come and killed her friends.
The two women and the two little girls feasted on the food that Bright Sun had brought for their breakfast. The children often giggled as they ate, filling Shirleen’s heart with joy.
