CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It was late in the morning when Red Fox saw Poka'aki at last find her way home via a short visit to her brother's lodge.
Red Fox had not taken George into his confidence even though there had been time to do so.
Indeed, Red Fox was reluctant to talk to anyone except the Creator about his own and Poka'aki's dilemma.
There was more at stake here than them simply not being able to live together.
So grim was the Pikuni penalty for a woman who had lain with a man other than her husband, it did not bear even thinking about it.
And, the truth was, according to Pikuni custom it was Red Fox, not this Maximillian, who was her husband.
Even now, as Red Fox watched her from a bluff at a distance from her home, he, too, was crying.
Wiping the moisture from his eyes, Red Fox tried to consider this fine mess they were now in.
Both of them in love with each other, both of them married to one another, and yet, they could not let another soul know they were married.
Nor could they let so much as a whisper be said about them being in love, let alone the fact of them having committed the act of marriage.
As soon as he saw Poka'aki enter her father's ranch home, he turned his pony away, and, with his pet wolf running beside his pony's heels, Red Fox headed back to the Pikuni camp.
He had considered taking her brother George into his confidence while Poka'aki had dressed herself, but, like most Pikuni men, Red Fox did not speak to other men about love, romance or marriage. It simply wasn't done.
A man—and especially a medicine man—was expected to face all challenges as a man and to not encumber another with his problems, especially those regarding women. Besides, he didn't wish to breathe so much as a word to another as to what the real problem was he and Poka'aki now faced.
And, what was it they faced? A world alone, without one another? Or, if he were to leave the medicine path and live with Poka'aki as she wished and as his emotions were telling him he must, they would be required to live elsewhere without family or friends.
Would her God forgive her if she were to take two husbands? Would his forgive him?
For now, none except George knew he and Poka'aki had spent the night together and were, by Pikuni law, married.
And, with so much at stake, a slight word said at the wrong time could bring about a ruin both Red Fox and Poka'aki would be helpless to prevent if she were to live with him within the Pikuni camp.
These thoughts led Red Fox toward the knowledge of what his next path should be: he must go into the mountains to pray. Indeed, he needed the guidance only the Creator could give him.
áa, he would return to his lodge and would make the proper preparations.
The sacred Chief Mountain would be his destination, since it was the highest peak in their land.
There, he would find a high place where he could fast and pray to the Creator and ask for His help.
Hopefully, the Above One would hear his plea.
****
From the flat prairie at the edge of the Fehér homestead, George glanced up at the butte where he had spent the night guarding and awaiting the time when he could escort his sister back to the ranch. At present, he beheld Red Fox high up on the same ridge.
Red Fox raised his hand in the sign of peace, and George returned the gesture.
With his other hand on his forehead to block out the sun's blinding light, George watched his friend turn his pony around, and, followed by the wolf, George saw his direction was toward where the Pikuni encampment had been situated when they had been settled in close to Fort Benton.
What his friend didn't know is that the Pikuni had moved their camp to the Lower St. Mary's Lake.
Should he ride out to tell him? No, Red Fox would determine this for himself soon enough.
Early tomorrow morning, he, George, would ride out to the Pikuni's new encampment, going to his friend's lodge, and together they would hunt, as they usually did each day. And, perhaps if he were lucky, Red Fox might confide in him.
****
"My almost-brother," said Red Fox as both he and George began their early morning bath. "I will be going to Chief Mountain today."
"Good," said George. "There is always good hunting there. I will go with you."
"Soka'pii, good," Red Fox answered. "But, I do not go there to hunt this day. I go there because the peaks of Chief Mountain are the highest in our land and I wish to talk to the Creator. I tell you this so you will know where I have gone."
George signed, "Soka'pii. It is good. There is a forest of pines at the foot of the mountain on its west slope, and I will go there each day and await you in case there is anything you might need, and I will be there also to help you back to camp after your fast. Once we climb up the mountain a little, we will determine the place where we will meet when you are ready to return. Do you agree?"
"Soki'pii, I do. I would ask you to care for my wolf and my pony herd while I am gone."
"Do you believe your wolf will let me take care of him?" George asked, smiling.
Red Fox grinned. "He most likely will not. Still, he will need someone to take care of him. And, he knows you best of all, save me."
"I will watch over my sister, too," said George.
Red Fox felt the grin fade from his countenance, but he would say nothing to his friend about the predicament he and Poka'aki now faced. Instead, he looked away. After a time, he said, "Let us prepare quickly to go."
Turning away after the bath, they both dressed and Red Fox trod toward his lodge; once there, he set himself to action, gathering together the meager supplies and items he would require.
****
"Wake up, Mistress! Wake up!"
Briella moaned before opening her eyes to behold Parisa Hood, her actual lady's maid, standing beside her bed.
"Was I screaming again?" asked Briella.
"Yes, Mistress, you were."
Briella groaned before she sat up and glanced around the room she had grown up in since the age of seven. Somehow, the familiar and beloved furnishings calmed her mind.
With the walls decorated in white with red, blue and pink accents, the room was a study in two different cultures.
While the walls were made of sturdy cottonwood, the wood was painted white to give the room a more feminine appearance.
A tan Navajo woolen rug with triangular designs of deep blue and various shades of red and orange covered the wooden floor from one end of the room to the other.
Her sturdy wooden bed sat in the middle of the room, and at the head of the bed was a strong, though beautifully carved, wooden bedpost, the top of which was sculpted with an angel delicately carved there at the highest center point of the board.
Rising up at the foot of the bed sat another artistically carved angel who appeared to be always watching over her.
However, though the bed frame was large and strong, the bed, itself, was girlish, with the bedspread flaunting a delicate lacy skirt all around its perimeter.
Glancing to her left, Briella saw the two south-facing windows, and she watched as the white lacy curtains blew in and out with the slight breeze in the air.
Although these curtains covered the windows, they were delicate enough to allow the sun to penetrate into the room.
More substantial blue and pinkish-red curtains hung at each side of these two windows, while a wide valance in the same colors hung down over the top of each window.
Above the bed, a small and white lacy canopy hung from a large wooden square hammered securely into the ceiling.
The canopy didn't descend down to the bed, and, looking up at it, Briella was reminded of all the times when, as a child, she had envisioned upon those pieces of cloth images of the direction her life might take—a life that had included Red Fox ever since the day she had first met him.
Refusing to think about the mess her life was now in, Briella brought her gaze toward one of her bedside tables, which was constructed of the same wood as the frame of her bed, and upon each table next to the bed sat a kerosene lamp.
A rocking chair with a bookshelf nearby it held several books for reading, while another chair with a pot hanging down from its center sat in a corner of the room for her convenience, especially used for those nights when one didn't dare venture out to the necessary.
The fireplace was across the room from her bed, and, at present, its fire was little more than ashes due to the heat of the day.
It was a lush room which had been built to accommodate the only child in the household at the time, her elder brother having left to seek his fortune in New York City, while her other brother, George, and her elder sister, Czanna, lived with the Pikuni Indians.
At present, Briella's lady's maid, Parisa, stood beside her bed, and, bending over, she reached down to feel Briella's forehead. Then, straightening up, her lady's maid said, "I do not feel a fever, Mistress. Was it the same nightmare as you have had this past week?"
"Yes, I fear it is so." Briella stretched her arms over her head. "Please, could you bring me the container of water we keep on the dresser?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Parisa came up to her feet and paced across the room, then back again.
Briella smiled at this friend who was her maid, then said, "Thank you, Miss Hood."
Parisa grinned. "Pardon, ma'am, but I should like it very much if you would call me simply, Parisa. Most people do."
"Ah, Parisa, I am so glad you have told me this. I do like the ring of this name better than the more formal Miss Hood. Parisa… The name is unpretentious, just like this western land."
"Yes, ma'am."
Their conversation paused for a moment as Briella took a drink of the fresh river water, obtained from the grand Marias River this very day. At last, Parisa asked, "Would you like me to help you to dress to go down to breakfast? Or do you wish to lay in bed a little longer?"
"I would like nothing more than to lay abed for the next year or so, but I fear I must…since there is no fever…arise and prepare to meet the day, as gloomy as it might be."
"But, Mistress, the sun is shining this morning, and it looks to be a beautiful day."
"Is it?"
"Indeed, it is, Mistress. Tell me, is it because of your dream that you wish to stay abed?"
"Perhaps," answered Briella.
"Would you like to tell it to me?"
"No, Parisa, but I thank you for asking." Briella paused for a moment. "Oh, if only I hadn't had to go to the city of New York. I fear my life changed there in a way that is not part of my nature. And yet, all I have done I have had to do so I might return here, to my home."
"I know what you say is true," said Parisa.
"Although, if you hadn't come to New York, I would never have met you, and had I not met you, I would even now be working in a factory mill all day long.
As it is, I am here with you and enjoying becoming more acquainted with this land known as the Indian Territory.
Every chance I get, I leave the ranch to do little more than gaze at the countryside. "
"Yes, there is no other land like this," replied Briella.
"You will love it even more the longer you stay here.
But, now I fear I am out of excuses for staying abed, and after these past few days of barely eating any food at all, I find I am hungry.
I suppose I had best arise and get dressed so I can mosey on down to the dining room, where I hope to see the cook might have prepared a good helping of buffalo steak. "
"Then, you would like to dine there instead of in your room today?"
"Yes," said Briella. "It is time for me to face my ghosts, or rather my fiancé and his mistress."
"Beg pardon, ma'am, but as you know, I do not believe this man is good for you. Oh, of course he is never improper, but I think he uses you only to gain what he wants."
"I know he is doing exactly as you say," replied Briella.
"But, in a way, I am using him, too, to get what I want, which has always been to return here, to my home, and to marry Red Fox.
But, the best-laid plans sometimes go awry, I fear.
Besides, Maximillian was the best I could do to further my plans to return to my home. "
"Yes, ma'am," said Parisa. "Beg pardon, ma'am, but I do hope your parents will dislike him and send him and his mistress packing."
Briella grinned. "That makes two of us, Parisa. I fear only my parents' dislike of him could snap apart the bonds I forged with him…those bonds now entrapping me.
“But enough about my problems.”—Briella attempted to smile.
— “Come help me to dress, and I shall venture out to confront Maximillian, the man who very well might be the devil, himself.” Briella grinned a little, but then, shaking her head, she added, "What a fool I have been.
Worse, I have hurt—perhaps forever—the man I truly love and will always love. "
Inhaling deeply, she said, "I thought perhaps the deep-brown skirt with fringe and beads, along with its matching vest, might do well for me today."
"Very good, Mistress." Then asked Parisa, "Would you like your off-white linen blouse or the stark-white one to go under the vest?"
"The long-sleeved off-white one?" asked Briella.
"Yes, ma'am."
"That will do very well, Parisa," Briella answered as she glanced out her window. "I intend to go hunting today. Yes, a good day of hunting might very well raise my spirits."