CHAPTER ONE
Please enjoy this excerpt from the book:
SHE STEALS MY brEATH
By
Karen Kay
CHAPTER ONE
Fort Union Trading Post
The Eastern Montana Territory
October 1834
"I tell you true, there is such a creature as a white woman. I have seen her here this very day."
Eagle Heart cast a doubtful glance at Gray Falcon, his napí, friend. "A white woman here?" he asked. "What you say cannot be so. All the tribes are speaking the same words about the white man: he has no women. In all these years we have known this man, we have never seen his women."
"Ha'! I do not lie, my friend. I saw her here. Today. Come with me to the trading room. You will see her, too."
"I am not interested," replied Eagle Heart.
"But, tell me, does she have long hair on her upper lip and chin, as well as all over her body, like the white man?
Does she smell as bad as all white men do?
And, is her hair dirty and greasy from failing to bathe?
Saa, I do not wish to see this creature.
I might lose the contents of my stomach. "
"I will not tell you any detail about her, my friend. Come and look at her and decide for yourself if she has all these features you speak of."
Eagle Heart shook his head. "I do not wish to witness the ugliness of this white woman. It might spoil the image of a woman's beauty for me. Besides, I must make inquiries about my brother since, as you know, this is the only reason I have made the long journey to the white man's fort."
"Napi, my friend, it will take but a moment to come and look at the woman. Then go your own way."
Eagle Heart sighed. Truly, he was not interested. However, if taking a glimpse at this being would appease his young friend, he would do it. And so, he found himself saying, "Okí, let us go so I might look at this ugly and smelly creature."
"áa, yes…this is a good plan." Gray Falcon smiled.
"Okí. Shall I hold my breath so I do not have to smell her stench?"
"Perhaps, my friend. Perhaps."
****
The trading room was busy this day in early October, the season when the leaves turn yellow.
With a quick glance around the room, Eagle Heart memorized the details of this place.
These included a long counter for trading where a large buffalo hide had been spread upon it; there were several beaver belts, mink and even raccoon furs which had been shoved to the side.
A large book, with many of the white man's papers, lay open on the counter.
On wooden shelves behind the trader were stacks of many more furs and neatly folded woolen blankets.
Off to the side of the counter were mounted moose horns, and these were holding up pots, pans and various items of clothing: belts and hats, moccasins and a few fur-lined jackets.
Kegs of liquor stood upright on the highest shelves in the room, out of easy reach.
Robes and furs could be traded here for guns, but no guns of any description were on display. Perhaps they had been put out of sight purposely.
At present, there were three Blackfoot men standing at the counter, quietly bargaining with the trader, Larpenteur, over the price of their furs, while seven Indians from an enemy tribe, the Crows, and ten Indian men from another foe, the Assiniboines, lounged against the cottonwood logs that were used for the walls of the room.
Because all the Indians, himself included, had been divested of their weapons upon entering the fort, not a man in this room could be seen who carried his quiver strapped to his back; there were no bows, no lances, not even the usual gun on display, that usually being carried in a man's arms. It was an odd sight for Eagle Heart to behold his enemies without their customary means of defense.
The owner of this place, McKenzie, insisted upon stripping a man's weapons from him before entering the fort.
The white traders stated this was a common practice within these trading centers and was done for the Indians' and the company's safety.
And yet, the white men and trappers who frequented this place were always armed. So deaths occurred here anyway.
It was why Blackfoot men did not allow their women to accompany them inside the white man's gates. Simply put, it was too dangerous.
Eagle Heart took a deep breath at the same moment he realized the room did not stink.
Instead, it was scented with the aroma of trees, logs and the distinctive fragrances of autumn leaves.
Certainly, he didn't notice there was much unusual this day, and there was no white woman he could bear witness to.
But, giving his friend his due, he decided to wait.
Looking around the room, he noticed Gray Falcon had positioned himself so he was leaning against a far wall, directly across from the table used for trading. Eagle Heart joined him there, and, leaning back, crossed his arms in front of his chest, prepared to wait.
Unexpectedly, the delightful sound of a feminine laugh filled the air. He frowned, surprised, for the voice was pretty.
And, then he saw her: she had slipped into the trading center from a room in back and was standing behind the trader, Larpenteur.
When she moved slightly, Eagle Heart caught a glance of bouncing brown curls with a hint of gold within them.
And, those locks were shimmering against a very pretty face.
She laughed again and took a few steps around the clerk, a smile still affixed to her lovely countenance.
She was glancing up at Larpenteur, and Eagle Heart experienced a startling reaction: he forgot to breathe. She was that beautiful.
Her figure was slim and small, her profile showing off a perfect nose that turned up slightly at the end.
Her eyelashes were long and brown, and her eyes were a brilliant color of green.
Her cheeks were rosy, and her full lips were still smiling.
The brown color of her hair, with gold intertwined, was of a shade he had never before seen on a woman until this moment, and the length of it fell down her back in luscious curls.
And, he saw not a single hair on her face.
Eagle Heart tried to breathe in. He couldn't. She had literally stolen his breath away.
At this moment, he couldn't force himself to look elsewhere, and he felt as awkward as a young boy who was besotted by a girl.
It was, however, impolite to stare, so Eagle Heart at last glanced away from her, only to return his gaze upon her when he heard her say, "Mr. Larpenteur, how good of you to write down all of your transactions.
It is to be regretted, however, that I cannot read your handwriting. " She grinned up at the man.
And, Eagle Heart experienced the sensation of his stomach dropping, as though there lived both moths and small butterflies within it.
Of course, he had no idea what she'd said, for she didn't speak the same language as he.
All he knew was her voice sounded as engaging as the song of the meadow lark.
"Ohpo'kiiyoo! Follow!" Gray Falcon nudged him in the ribs. "I am leaving here. Okí! Come on, let us go."
"Saa, I do not wish to leave from here yet." From his peripheral vision, he saw Gray Falcon frown at him.
"I admit she is pretty," said Gray Falcon. "Still, I do not understand how a white man's seed can make a woman to be so comely. But, it is so, is it not?"
"áa, it is so."
Within a moment, another man, a tall, dark-haired fellow with a mustache that curled at its ends, stepped out from the adjacent room behind the counter.
He put his arms around the woman's waist, and she didn't admonish him, as Eagle Heart thought she should since this was a public place.
Instead, she laughed softly and turned into the man's embrace.
She must be married to the man.
Eagle Heart couldn't fully understand the feeling that swept over him, for his spirits plummeted. It was odd, because whether she was married to the curly-mustached man or not, it was nothing to him. She was beautiful, yes, but she was also married, as any fine-looking woman should be.
"It is told to me that she is not yet married to this man who holds her," said Gray Falcon as though reading his friend's thoughts.
"Although it is also said they are soon to be married.
I think the man uses her, for he should not be keeping her so closely to him if they are not married… and before all eyes to see."
"It is so, my friend," Eagle Heart responded.
"Yet, the whites are a strange people, and we do not yet know their ways.
Perhaps a white man is permitted to hold her, even if they be not married.
But still, he should not do this in front of others in case her reputation will be soiled.
Okí, come, let us leave. I must ask the white men in this fort if they have any knowledge about where my brother might have gone, for I would be on my way. "
Gray Falcon simply nodded, and the two friends quietly left the trading room.
****
Laylah McIntosh watched as two young Indian gentlemen stood away from the wall in front of her and, turning, left the room.
She wasn't certain what it was about them that caught her eye, for there were many Indian men here.
Perhaps it was the elegant manner in which the two of them were attired, for their buckskin clothing was bleached a startling white, and, set off as it was with the contrast of their black hair, their dress alone looked as elegant as any man's might, white or Indian.
Or perhaps it was the muffled sound of their footfalls that brought her attention to them, for they made little sound as they crossed the room.
With no boots to announce their departure, their footfalls were almost silent.
They were both tall, also; their shoulders were squared back and their steps seemed oddly graceful.
"Mr. Larpenteur," asked Laylah softly. "What tribe of Indians are those two men? The ones wearing white?" She nodded toward them.