Epilogue
Six Months Later
Sky above me, earth below me, fire within me
Tula
It had been the most incredible six months of her life.
Tula had come to Rawhide to visit her uncle and aunt and to plan the next step in her life.
She’d intended to spend some time with her friends and rejuvenate her spirit by hiking and taking long rides in the great outdoors and refreshing her soul playing in the waters of the river and lakes. She’d done all that and so much more.
After the daily routines of camp spent with old friends and new, she’d been a bit concerned that she’d find the dream fading away upon their return from the mountains. She needn’t have worried. The dream hadn’t ended. Instead, it had grown to encompass so much more than she’d have thought possible.
She’d not only reconnected with the nature she so loved, she’d found a man who loved it as much as she did. And David Braxton was not just a man, he was her Daddy.
And not just her Daddy.
He was her heart.
Master Derek had not seemed surprised when she and her Daddy met with him to discuss building a home on the Ridge. Instead, it had been Tula who’d been surprised when he not only offered them their choice of lots but offered her a job as well.
“Sadie and Wren told me you’re sending out applications, and I knew you’d be a perfect addition to my staff.
Rawhide University is growing every semester and it would be remiss of me not to grab the perfect person to teach history.
Especially knowing that you entranced a giggle of Littles with your knowledge of our state’s true settlers.
Your stories came to life for them when you taught them plants to eat or use as medicine, showed them flowers offer far more than just beauty.
Montana is our home now, but it was home to your people long before my ancestors walked into this valley.
As well as teaching at the college, I’d like you to offer the occasional seminar on the cultures of your people.
They were the first teachers on how much the earth has to offer.
Learning more about how to protect our environment in order to pass it on to our children is not only a gift, it is our responsibility. The job is yours if you’d like.”
“I’d love it!” Tula had jumped up to throw her arms around him. Realizing what she’d done, she flushed and then giggled. “This is more than enough incentive, Master Derek. I mean where else could I not only hug my boss but know that he understands I’m both Little and Big?”
She and her Daddy made their home in Porter’s Corner while they worked with Master Roland who was not only an architect, but, along with Master Levi was a Daddy to Sydney who’d become one of Tula’s friends.
She’d thought life couldn’t be better until the day her uncle asked her to accompany him on a ride.
They’d ridden across the meadows and up the mountain, then had stopped beside the river to have lunch.
It was there that she discovered the depth of feelings her uncle felt not only for her, but for the man Tula loved.
David
He’d always considered the outdoors as his church.
Never did he feel closer to a higher power than when standing at the summit of a mountain or drifting on a river’s current.
David held each element of nature as a precious gift and felt blessed each moment he spent hiking beneath the canopy of a forest’s trees or standing in the center of a meadow with the endless sky above him.
It was moments like those that made him realize how small his contribution was to a world that provided everything he needed not only to survive, but to live a life filled with unequaled beauty.
But this? Where he was walking now made him realize how very little he actually knew about the part of the world he’d made his home for the past several years. He’d covered miles and miles roaming this very mountain without ever knowing the true cathedral wasn’t out in the world, but inside it.
They’d left the light behind the moment they’d stepped into a narrow crevice that one could easily never know existed as the opening was concealed behind a boulder.
Voices had been replaced by the dripping of water from the roof so far above him that it was concealed by shadows.
The only light was that given by the beam of flashlights held by their guide, Moses Banner.
From the way he walked, his steps never faltering or hesitating for even a moment as they moved deeper into the mountain, David knew he not only had been here before, but belonged here.
David discovered he’d only begun to view the beauty of the cave when he stepped into a cavern to find the true heart of the mountain.
Small clay dishes provided points of light, flames flickering to dance in the currents of air that passed through a cavern so immense it rivaled any David had ever explored.
But when movement caught his eyes that didn’t come from a single person standing with him, but from the very walls surrounding them, he lost his breath.
Drawings not only covered the expanse but they told a story.
One that was ageless and one that belonged to the people who’d stood where he did now separated by the span of millennia.
Mammoths dwarfed the hunters who’d not take a single part of the beast without first thanking it for its sacrifice so that they might live.
A huge thunderbird soared across one wall, denoting the symbol of their clan.
It was only with a brush of a hand on his shoulder that David tore his eyes from the pictographs.
It was time.
He turned to where Moses stood and when Tula moved to join her uncle, once again, David felt a rush of emotion so intense it threatened to fell him.
The two looked as if they’d just stepped down from their ancestors depicted on the walls of the cavern.
Both man and woman had hair the color of the obsidian found in caverns much like this one, feathers had been woven into the long length of Moses’ braid.
Beads and embroidered designs made with the quills of porcupines decorated their shirts and leggings made of deer hide.
The moccasins on their feet allowed them to walk silently in this sacred place.
When Moses gestured to him, the people who’d come as witnesses silently parted to provide an aisle.
David’s heart pounded in his chest as he took the steps into a future he’d never dreamed possible.
Knowing that while he wasn’t worthy of the honor, they’d gathered for a ceremony where Moses would not only adopt him into the Crow Clan but would then give his blessing as well as Tula’s hand.
Moses spoke the words with his hands, each movement of his fingers imprinting on those standing before him the solemnity of the ceremony being performed.
With each phrase and each response David gave with his hands, he felt his very core being changed.
When Moses declared him to be an adopted member of the Crow Clan and a beloved member of his own family, David felt an incredible joy fill him.
And when Moses lifted Tula’s hand and then placed it into David’s he was not the least bit ashamed of the tears that slid down his face.
Derek joined them for the second ceremony. One just as sacred as David faced the woman he loved, each word of his vows spoken with voice and hands.
In the darkness I feel the shape of you,
In the silence I hear your heart beating as one with mine,
In the cold, I am warmed by your breath.
In solitude I am never alone for you are always within me,
In our trials I will be strengthened by your presence.
Tula’s face shone with candlelight, her tears silver in the dancing flames as she spoke hers.
I will never be lost in the darkness for you are my light,
I will never fear the silence for I hear your voice in my heart,
I will never again be cold as your arms wrap around me like a cloak,
I will never be alone for even in solitude, you are part of my soul,
I will never fear what is ahead because I know you’re at my side.
Derek pronounced them husband and wife and the cavern echoed with the cheers of their Rawhide family.
As the others left to await the newlyweds at the Banner home where a reception would be held, Tula stood in her husband’s arms, and when they were finally alone, she turned to face him and smiled.
“There’s still one more ceremony. Aunt Jayne learned it when she and Uncle Moses wed in this very chamber.” She reached for the first button on his shirt. He stood silently as she undressed him and when he stood naked before her, he savored every inch of skin he revealed when he undressed her.
She took his hand and led him to another chamber where, once again, the only light came from candle flames.
Ribbons of steam danced across the space, disappearing into the roof far above them.
They stepped into a natural pool, the warmth of the spring covering them like a blanket, his wife’s arms wrapping around him in an embrace.
He could imagine other couples joining together in this water, in this sacred place.
“I love you, husband.”
“I love you, wife,” David said, bending to kiss her softly.
Once they parted, it was to offer their final vow, witnessed by the spirits of those David could feel surrounding them.
Together, they spoke a final promise.
“We will share every breath, every tear, each moment of joy and sorrow for our hearts and souls are now one forevermore.”
The End