Little Flower

by Jeanie P Johnson

  Daisy watched as Gray Wolf swung upon his horse and rode down the driveway away from the house. His temper would cool, she told herself. His companions were not with him, so she was certain he wasn’t just riding off away from her forever, but even if he wasn’t, his actions left her feeling frightened.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “What is troubling Gray Wolf?” Rebeca asked Daisy as they sat in the sitting room, Rebeca embroidering while Daisy struggled with reading the primer Madison had given her. “He doesn’t seem to be excited about the wedding plans.”

  “He doesn’t like the fact that you want him to wear a tuxedo instead of his own clothes during our wedding. He wishes to marry a white woman, but remain true to his Sioux upbringing. It has created friction between us. I still wish to become his wife, but I have decided to wait a year until Gray Wolf can get used to the idea that it is not just the Indian way that must be followed. He needs to learn more about our way of living. Even though I know little about it myself, I have decided it would be good for me to learn to read and play the piano, and find out how I would have lived if I had never been raised by the Sioux. Because of that, I told him that we should put the wedding off for a year until we both feel secure in our decision.”

  Rebeca let out a long breath. “It is about time you came to your senses,” she smiled.

  “However, I still plan to marry him. I just want Gray Wolf to learn as much about our ways as I have learned about his. I spent eleven years living as a Sioux. He will have to deal with a year of living as a white man, which means you will have to allow him to remain here in our house for a year. Otherwise I will just return to the Sioux village with him and be tied to him there.”

  “Tied?” her mother questioned.

  “It is the way they seal a couple as husband and wife. The chief will cut the thumbs of both the man and woman, and then press their thumbs together so their blood can flow as one. Then he ties their thumbs together to officiate the ceremony. Only that is not all that takes place during a Sioux wedding ceremony. There is much dancing and celebrating, which may last the night or even for days, depending on how the tribe feels about the couple. The whole tribe vows to help care for and protect all children born to them. If anything happens to the parents, others will adopt their children as their own. They take family ties very seriously, whether you are adopted or born into the tribe.”

  “Well, that is admirable of them,” Rebeca mumbled, trying to be generous in her comments, but not quite convincing Daisy she felt any differently about the Indians than she ever had. “I thought it a hasty decision to allow you to marry the man, but your father only wishes for your happiness.”

  “And I know it pains him to think I would marry an Indian, and shirk my responsibility to my family. I know how much he wanted me and whoever I married to carry on his business concerns after he retired and, later, died. I don’t know if Gray Wolf could ever accomplish it, but despite you thinking he is a heathen, he and the rest of the Sioux are very smart and intelligent. They have outsmarted all the other tribes in battle, including the American troops that try to rid the countryside of their tribe. If Gray Wolf had the right motivation, he could probably be able to accomplish any goal set before him.”

  “So he is willing to live here for a year, before marrying you?” Rebeca narrowed her eyes, not truly believing Gray Wolf would last a month, which secretly pleased her.

  “He is considering it, but has not given complete agreement yet. I just wanted to make sure there would be no problem on your and father’s end. I would hate to convince him, only to have you refuse to allow him to stay here.”

  “I am sure your father will agree. After all, he is the one who gave you permission to marry the man in the first place.”

  Daisy clapped her hands. “Madison can teach him to read, the same as he is teaching me, and perhaps help him understand how to run the hotel,” she said eagerly.

  “I am not sure if having him run the hotel is a wise choice,” Rebeca said tentatively.

  “Well, not right away. He may not even agree to stay beyond the year. If I return with him back to the Sioux village, Davy will just have to step up, I suppose. We will have to see what happens, when father actually retires. By that time, we will know if Gray Wolf is willing to live in a white man world and how the rest of the people in this town will accept him.”

  “Does this mean you don’t wish to go back to his cursed tribe?”

  “If he can’t fit in, I suppose I will be forced to go back with him, but he has to make an effort, the same as I made an effort to live like his people. He should give it at least an eleven year trial,” Daisy chuckled.

  “You seem to be a scheming one,” her mother noted.

  “Only Davy is going to have to promise to be civil to him,” Daisy insisted.

  “What about his friends? Do you wish them to stay as well?”

  “No. They will return to the tribe to tell Chief Beaver of Gray Wolf’s plan to remain here the year, before I become his wife. I have not projected anything beyond that to him yet. He will have to get used to it a little at a time, the same way I had to do. Within a year, a lot of changes may have been made concerning what the government does with the Indians. There are so many renegades and rebelling tribes, I fear they will have their hands full for a long time, trying to corral them all, though.”

  Daisy looked up, just as Gray Wolf entered the room. He had Davy at his side, but her brother actually looked excited about something.

  “Guess what?” Davy stated, his face beaming. “Gray Wolf is going to take me out to the farmhouse and teach me how to use a real Indian bow and arrow and show me how to hunt. Only he said I had to get mother’s permission first.”

  “That is very thoughtful of you, Gray Wolf,” Rebeca replied. “Davy needs a good male figure in his life, who takes interests in his adventuresome side. Madison used to take him to the farmhouse to camp and hung birds. I just hope you don’t plan to turn him into a Sioux as you have done with Daisy, and take him home to your village.”

  “I have decided to remain here with Little Flower. She wishes for me to learn of your ways, but there is no reason why Davy cannot learn of the Sioux way while I am here twiddling my thumbs in a white man’s world.”

  “That is wonderful,” Daisy exclaimed. “It is good you are making efforts to make friends with Davy.”

  “Only to keep him out of trouble and teach him how to treat his sister. He needs to learn to honor his parents and value his family,” Gray Wolf grumbled.

  “Davy, you had better listen and mind Gray Wolf if you expect me to give you permission to go out with him and learn all those Indian ways, he has a mind to teach you,” Rebeca said, giving Davy a stern look. “I am surprised he even wishes to talk to you after the way you treated Daisy.”

  “He has already given me a long talking to, and both Madison and father scolded me as well. After two days locked in my room, it gave me time to think, and get very hungry,” he half chuckled, and then straightened his face. “I will be on my best behavior from now on, I promise!”

  “I hope so,” Rebeca said as her eyes went to Gray Wolf. She hoped she could trust the heathen and this wasn’t a ruse to harm Davy in some way.

  “On the way out, I will teach you how to track, using the tracks we made going out to the farmhouse and back,” Gray Wolf promised Davy. “It may help you in the future. You never know.”

  Rebeca and Daisy watched as Davy eagerly followed Gray Wolf out the door, the very bounce in his step indicated eagerness to learn from Gray Wolf.

  “It seems your young brave is going out of his way to try and please you,” Rebeca said.

  “He has always treated me kind,” Daisy informed her mother. Maybe everything would work out well after all, she thought, happy that Gray Wolf had decided to remain there for the year while she tried to finish her education before they got married.

  Later, when Gray Wolf returned, Davy came bounding into the room, all smiles, ta
lking faster than he could be understood.

  “Did you know that Indians get on a horse on the opposite side than we do?” he asked his mother. “We get on a horse on the left side, but the Indians use the right side because they have to have their left hand free to hold their bow, and load the arrow with their right hand. Because of that, you can tell whether it is an Indian or a white person mounting a horse, because the foot prints will show which side of the horse they mounted on.”

  “Very interesting,” Rebeca mumbled.

  “And you can tell if a horse is carrying a person, or a load by how deep the hoof prints are,” Davy continued.

  “I am sure this is all very interesting to you, Davy,” Rebeca smiled, “but it is really not my cup of tea.”

  Davy’s face fell, and Daisy suddenly remembered how when she was young, her mother hadn’t been very interested in her childish chatter either.

  “Why don’t you go tell Gordon about how to track,” Daisy suggested. “I am sure he will be interested,”

  Davy shrugged, and turned from the room. “We took Lucky with us, so you don’t have to worry about giving him exercise,” he called over his shoulder to Daisy. “We all had a great time!”

  “I’m sure you did,” Daisy laughed, looking up at Gray Wolf.

  Gray Wolf offered her his hand, pulling her up from her chair, causing the book to drop from her lap.

  “Enough reading,” he grumbled. “Come and walk with me.”

  Daisy followed him outside and he and Daisy strolled, arm in arm in the garden. Lucky bounded after them, happy to be with Daisy after his adventure with Davy and Gray Wolf.

  “Young Davy is actually very smart,” Gray Wolf mentioned. “He is easily learning to track and use the bow. He would make a good brave, if he were a Sioux.”

  “I am sure you are happy to have a young student to teach all of your special talents to,” Daisy laughed. “Davy seemed interested in the fact that I had a wolf for a pet, but his resentment of me, coming and seeming to take over his place, pushed him to treat me the way he did. Maybe now, he will see there is no danger of me taking anything from him.”

  “When you come back to the tribe with me, Davy will have his place back again,” Gray Wolf predicted.

  “Yes,” Daisy mumbled, realizing Gray Wolf was just planning on biding his time until he could make her his wife, and then he would expect them to go back to the Sioux way of life again.

  She decided not to let it concern her, because a year was a long way off still. She liked the way it felt to have Gray Wolf at her side once again, and she didn’t want to spoil it. She realized, though, that Gray Wolf had not kissed her once, since he had arrived, after that first time when he placed her on her bed. She looked longingly at his lips as he spoke, remembering how soft, yet strong, they felt against her own lips.

  Since he had been there, the time had been filled with planning a wedding. Rebeca had taken Daisy to a dress shop to look for a wedding dress, and Blake had helped Gray Wolf pick out a tuxedo, which had started the argument between them in the first place. Now Gray Wolf seemed a little calmer as they strolled together. Perhaps he was relieved that she didn’t want to become his wife so soon. Or maybe he thought he could talk her into having the ceremony back at the Sioux village at the end of the year. However, the deal had been they had to get married in a church, so if that was his plan, she knew her father would not give his consent for Daisy to marry Gray Wolf. To Indians, it was important to have the father’s blessing before taking a wife.

  “I have missed you so much,” Daisy murmured… her eyes fixed on his lips that were in a half-smile.

  “I wanted to come to you sooner, but our father made me wait until after the Sun Dance.”

  “You performed the Sun Dance?” Daisy’s hand shot up to a spot above his breast where she knew they had pierced his skin. “Was it terribly painful?”

  “A true brave feels little pain,” he grumbled. “We focus on the eagle feather and blow our whistle. Our mind has no room for anything else.”

  “Good,” Daisy said. “Even though I am proud of you, I am glad I was not there to see it.”

  “You have seen other Sun Dance ceremonies,” he stated.

  “Which, is the reason I didn’t want to see yours…it all seemed so unnecessary to torture yourself like that.”

  “You know it is the only way I could become a man.” His eyes looked a little pained at her statement.

  Daisy hung her head, forgetting about the coveted kiss. “I know,” is all she said, as she tried to understand her own repulsion at what was an accepted and treasured event in a Sioux village. Some braves chose to do it more than once and tribes from all over came to share in the event. Maybe she had more white traits than she wanted to admit, she worried to herself.

  “Now that I am a man, I will always be here to protect you,” Gray Wolf said, lifting her chin with his fingers and looking down into her sky-blue eyes. “While I did the dance, I only thought of you and how, when I became a man, I would come to you and confess all my love for you. I worried you would not want me, by the time I got here.”

  “You know I will always want you,” Daisy breathed.

  “Good,” he murmured as his head lowered.

  “There you are!” A voice interrupted their solitude, and the two jumped apart as though they had been caught doing something wrong, even though everyone knew they were pledged to get married.

  Madison strode to the couple’s side. “Your mother told me I could find you out here. She said you were not going right back to the Indian village, and are not getting married for a year. I hear you wish to have more reading lessons, and learn to play the piano.” His smile rested on Daisy’s face, as Gray Wolf scowled at him.

  “Well, yes. I figured as long as we are waiting for a year, I should learn all I can before Gray Wolf and I get married. Also, I wish for you to teach Gray Wolf to read, and do his numbers…even though he is very good at adding things up, he needs to know how to do it on paper.”

  Gray Wolf looked from Madison to Daisy. “Why do you wish me to learn these things?” he asked Daisy gruffly.

  “Even if we go back to the village, think of how it will help you when you go to the trading post to know how to read and add up sums. It will give you a better grasp of knowing if you are being cheated or not. I hear that your people have been selling land to the Government for prices that are way too low, because they do not understand their worth. Chief Beaver always used me to help with the bargaining, but after you have been here for a year, learning to read and write, your English will be so much better, and you will not have to rely on me so much to help you with the trades.”

  “You do not like helping?” Gray Wolf asked, feeling a little upset.

  “No, it is not that. I just thought you would want to learn as much as I know. Then you won’t think I know things that you don’t know,” she tried to explain.

  “So you want me to be more like a white person,” he reasoned.

  “You wanted me to be more like a Sioux. I don’t see the difference,” she scolded.

  “I will gladly teach you,” Madison broke in, to calm the situation, as both Daisy’s and Gray Wolf’s voices were starting to rise on the verge of anger.

  “I don’t need to read or write,” Gray Wolf grumbled.

  “Don’t be silly!” Daisy chided. “The only way your people can write down their history is with pictures. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to tell a story with words and pictures?”

  “Pictures work well enough. All the signs have their meanings. We don’t need words to tell our stories. We tell our stories by mouth and hand it down though each generation, so the stories will never die.”

  “Still, you can’t deny it would be nice to show off to the other braves that you can read the white man’s words, so when important people from the government come to make a treaty, you will know what is said on the piece of paper you sign.”

  “I do not sign them. I am a mere brav
e.”

  “What if you become a chief like your father? It would make you very wise and important, if you knew more than your other red brothers.”

  Gray Wolf shrugged. “I will think on it,” he said, turning away.

  “Where are you going?” Daisy wanted to know.

  “I have to take care of Wind Rider,” is all he said over his shoulder.

  “He does not seem very happy,” Madison observed.

  “He has yet to get used to being here. I assume he thought that when he came to tell me how much he loved me, he would be taking me right back to our village. Only my parents said they would not let him marry me if we didn’t do it in a church, right here. Then Loran reminded me about being engaged for a year before people got married, and decided it would be a good idea to wait, because then, Gray Wolf would be forced to learn more of the white man ways, and I could continue learning to read and play the piano,” she smiled.

  “I’m glad you decided to do that,” Madison said, his eyes softening. “I was starting to get used to having you around. Loran told me about how he tried to convince you to wait a year, so I am glad you listened to him.”

  “You are both good friends to me,” Daisy laughed. “So as long as you are here, why don’t you give me my first piano lesson?”

  “I think I would like that,” Madison smiled.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “You have to learn to dance,” Daisy huffed, glaring at Gray Wolf when he dropped his hands to his side, even though Madison was still playing the piano. “How do you expect to dance at our wedding?”

  “It is not right that a woman and a man dance together,” he mumbled. “Even though women are permitted to join in some of the ceremonial dances, they do not put their arms around a brave. You know the braves dance in the outer circle while the women dance in the inner circle. They don’t make steps together! The women shuffle and the men dance toe down first, heel down next.”