CHAPTER THREE #2
Once seated, she turned Mr. Dandy around, and, without even a wave of goodbye, she galloped away from her family and her fiancé as fast as she could, taking a westerly direction, considering it might be these western bluffs where she would find Red Fox awaiting her.
"Is this the sort of behavior I am expected to suffer?" she heard Maximillian ask someone, most likely her father. There was a whine in his voice which grated on her. But, Briella ignored it. Her fiancé was not about to stop her from riding out to find the man she loved.
Indeed, Maximillian could disapprove all he wished. She simply didn't care. Once Maximillian had attained the title he would gain upon their marriage, he would be gone from here and she would see him no more.
This, she promised herself.
****
Red Fox was well aware of his actions being inappropriate; he shouldn't see Poka'aki nor talk to her.
Too many changes on the western plains over these past two years had brought danger into his people's environment, and, after the Marias Massacre, his people were now suspicious of this new breed of man who was steadily pouring into Pikuni country.
Hadn't his own journey into the territory of the Lakota people two snows ago confirmed this in his mind? Hadn't he been in one of their camps when the white soldiers had attacked?
áa, it was true; Red Fox had sought out the Lakota people to discover either the truth or lies of József Fehér's words those two winters ago.
And, in the end, Red Fox had fought the soldiers alongside his newly made Lakota friends.
But, because the Lakota and the Cheyenne had been greatly outnumbered, even he, the Pikuni fighter that he was, had fled from this new kind of white man—the men the Lakota called the Long Knives.
Niitá'p, despite the pleadings of his mother and his father not to go, Red Fox had journeyed south and east to seek out the camps of a tribe who had once been his enemy, the Lakota.
He'd done this because he had not believed József Fehér had been speaking with a straight tongue when he had said the whites were making war upon the Lakota and their allies, the Cheyenne and the Arapahoe.
This, József Fehér had said, was another reason why he was forbidding Red Fox his daughter's hand in marriage.
But, Red Fox would not, he could not, believe Poka'aki's father, a man who had turned cold to him. Thus, he'd been committed to discover for himself if the elder Fehér's tongue was twisted or straight.
What he had discovered by his own witness was, indeed, troubling: Poka'aki's father had been telling the truth. What Red Fox had learned in the Lakota camp—to his horror—was that the war now waging between the Plains allied tribes and the Long Knives could be coming to his own Pikuni people.
But, he had then wondered: did this have to be his tribe's future?
Niitá'p, the story József Fehér had told of the war and the carnage caused by the American cavalry to the Lakota people had been true.
This, Red Fox had discovered for himself.
But, in his own mind, there'd been doubt it could come to his own people.
For so many years, the Pikuni and the traders and trappers in these mountains had been friendly to each other; all of the traders were married into the tribe, making them a part of the tribe.
Only once had there been an incident of white men attacking the Pikuni, and it had not been caused by the white trapper or trader but by this new breed of white man called the Long Knives.
Indeed, this new kind of white man seemed to desire killing to the extent of murdering every person in a tribe, even innocent women and children.
Thus, they had massacred Heavy Runner's camp, a Pikuni band of friendly-to-the-whites people.
It had happened a few winter counts ago, the Long Knives doing their damage in the early morning when the fighting men were out of the camp hunting, leaving only the defenseless to face the white man's rage.
But, it, though terrible, had been an isolated incident and had not been caused by the trappers or by those who had always traded with the Pikuni. His people knew and respected the difference between these various kinds of white men.
And so, true though these wars with the Lakota and Cheyenne might have been, there was a dissimilarity to be considered.
József Fehér was one of the white men friendly to and a part of Red Fox's tribe.
Was it possible he had been denying his daughter's hand to Red Fox as a way of alerting him to a danger unsuspected by his tribe?
It had been two winters ago when Red Fox had approached Poka'aki's father with another offer for her hand.
It had been, indeed, true: Red Fox had kept his word to Poka'aki and had devised another plan, one he felt would sway her father into believing he, Red Fox, and he alone, was the best man for Poka'aki to marry. Red Fox remembered now the warning.
"I have already told you," József Fehér said, "that I will not allow my daughter to marry you. But, do not take offense, my friend. If I were to let her go to any of your people, you are the man I would choose. But, I cannot do it. I have good reasons to forbid it."
Red Fox heard him, but he was also certain his next statement would sway Poka'aki's father to agree to his plea. And, he spoke up at once, saying, "But, Father of Poka'aki, I have another gift I bring to you if you will only give your daughter in marriage to me."
"I cannot do it," József Fehér answered. "But, I am curious to learn what gift you now bring me. I see no horses in front of my home. Nor does your pony there have robes or meat tied onto its back."
"áa, you speak true," Red Fox said. "What I bring to you is closer to your heart, I think."
"Oh? What is it, then?"
"I hear your woman's pony has taken ill and is now near death.
If you will give me your daughter as my woman, I will use what I know as a healer of my people's animals, both horse and dog, to help your wife's Paint to heal.
Although none live forever, there is much I can do to help this pony, I think.
And, if I cause the horse to live, I would ask again for your daughter to become my woman.
Do not fear for her. I will be good to her.
I love her, and I will endeavor to make her the happiest woman in camp. "
József Fehér didn't speak for several moments, but when he at last began to talk, his words cut into Red Fox's heart as though words were as deadly as an arrow.
The elder Fehér said, "What you offer, as you know, is, indeed, a gift no man could reject, since my wife loves her pony like a child of her own.
But, still I cannot consent. Understand, it simply is not possible. "
"Not possible?"
"Yes. You see, my daughter is no longer here."
"I do not understand. She is no longer here?"
"It is true. She and my eldest son and his family left in the early hours of the morning today, aboard the steamship, The Wanderer, enroute to St. Louis, and, once there, they will take a coach to New York City."
"Gone? Did she consent to go?" asked Red Fox.
"Well…" Fehér looked away from him, alerting Red Fox to the possibility that the man's next words might not be the truth.
But, after inhaling deeply, Poka'aki's father said, "No, she did not consent.
Perhaps I should have delayed sending her, particularly since I would have liked your aid with my wife's Paint. "
Then said Red Fox, "The day before this, I had to leave because I required prayer. Only the Creator could show me what I must do to gain your consent. It is why I delayed. I had thought a single night to do this would not bring about such a fate. But, I will wait for her return."
"Do not wait, my friend. My son will not be bringing Briella back until she is married to one of his friends."
"Married? To one of your son's friends?"
József Fehér nodded. "I did not know what you intended. I had thought, when you left, that you had given up your suit. But, in truth, because I have other plans for my daughter, I was glad you had gone."
"Never would I have given up. Never. I love your daughter. But, I respect you, too; you are a part of my family. Why did you send her away?"
"Because Briella's marrying someone of her own kind is what is expected of her.
Please try to understand. Where I come from, men and women do not marry for love.
Rather, they marry to reinforce friendship between the parents of the betrothed.
Wealth is exchanged between the two families, and love has nothing to do with marriage. "
"This can happen in my culture, too,” said Red Fox.
“Sometimes a girl is in love with another man when her parents give her in marriage to an older man.
We have seen this can bring great unhappiness to the girl, however.
And so, this is only done when the maiden's parents are poor and can no longer afford to keep her.
It is done, however, with the consent of the girl. "
"Yes, yes, I know. But, there is another reason why I am seeking to have Briella marry a non-Indian."
"And, will you tell me this reason?"
"It is because of the incident on the Marias."
"I do not understand. This was a terrible violation of my people, it is true. But, what has it to do with your daughter and me?"
"The massacre at the Marias is only the beginning of what is to come here, I fear."
"What is to come? I do not understand. My dreams have not foreseen this."
"Are you really unaware of what is occurring right this very moment in the lands of the Lakota, the Dakota, the Cheyenne and the Arapahoe?"
"I have heard nothing about this. But, why should I? All these you mention are the enemies of my people."
"Come, my friend. Let us sit and smoke, and I will tell you what I know."