CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Maximillian and his mistress left that very morning. They'd had no choice. József had kicked them out of his home, uncaring of where they went or what they were to do. Frederic was unusually quiet, and though he didn't openly talk to Red Fox, the respect he deferred to him was seen in his actions.
Finally, after several days, Frederic, at last, seemed to have collected up enough nerve to approach Red Fox, and, taking him aside, Poka'aki's elder brother said, "I will ensure Max says no lies about either my sister or you in the city of New York."
Red Fox grinned. "Almost-brother, I care not what he says."
"Well, I do," said Frederic. "I will ensure he does not blacken our name…
or yours. I think, after considering many different points of view, I will ask my wife and daughter what they might think of leaving the city of New York for good and moving our home here.
My mother is right; there is a freedom here that is not to be found in the East, and I think I'd like my own daughter to grow up here. "
"This, my country, is the best land you will ever find.
Your daughter would do well to call this her home.
But, there is change coming here, as there is to all the tribes, and I think the more white men who love the Indian way of life, the better this country will be.
You will be welcome here. áa, you will be welcome here. "
EPILOGUE
The next year, as the hot summer sun set into the west, József and Mária Fehér, as well as Frederic, his wife, Marsha, and their daughter stood in front of the entire tribe at the Medicine Lodge Ceremony. Behind them stood Weasel Plume, and there was a smile upon his face.
Said Weasel Plume, "I stand here now before the Creator as well as all the Pikuni people to say that this family who stands before me is now my family. And, although they have been part of my family because of the marriages of both my son and my daughter, I say before you all that from this day forward these people are Pikuni. This man"—he held his hand over József Fehér's head and then his wife’s—"is my almost-brother. His wife is my almost-sister; —he held his hand over Frederick’s, his wife’s and his daughter’s heads, each one of them in turn—"These are my almost children and my almost-grandchild.
By their kindness to us and by acting as a buffer between us and the white men who are starting to surround us, I say this day, they are now Pikuni. Let us welcome them, each one of them."
And, so it came to be. Red Fox and his woman, Poka'aki, had at last joined their two families together, and in doing so, they marched into history as the Pikuni couple who saved the people from the treachery of many land grabbers.
Indeed, Red Fox and Poka'aki taught the world around them how love and devotion to one another could heal almost any social problem.
To this day, many songs have been written to remember, forever, their love.
It is said they had many children and were in love with one another throughout their long lives. It is also said they inspired many a young man and a young woman to marry and to raise fine young families.
THE END