Bridget waited with the same apprehension as before after knocking on Ishkode’s door.
When Ishkode opened the door, his expression was one of near disbelief. Much like last time, he leaned against the doorway, waiting for her to speak first, his gaze as penetrating and mysterious as before. Had something inside of Bridget hoped she’d see those chiseled features and dark eyes again? It was deplorable.
“Hello, sir. I’m here to speak with you once again about your son.” Her statement was punctuated by a clap of thunder before rain began to fall. Ishkode glared at the sky, surprising Bridget when he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the house. When the Indian released her after the door was shut, Bridget realized that she’d been holding her breath.
Ishkode strode away from her, stoking the fire without a word.
“If you please,” Bridget began. “I’d like to tell you about what happened in my classroom today.”
Ishkode’s only response to her words was to look steadily back at her.
“Thomas spoke and acted in violent ways to a classmate in my room today and then left the school’s grounds.”
Ishkode didn’t appear at all surprised. “Yes. He came here. The authorities of the school came and took him back.”
Bridget could only pray that this had all been done while her uncle was out at lunch since it was during his break that this all had occurred.
“You mentioned at our last meeting that Thomas’ last fight was because of conflicting loyalties among the tribes. But, Andrew, the boy he fought with today is also a Lakota. It seems to me that your son isn’t only fighting against those his tribe had had trouble with in the past, but it seems to me that Thom— your son, needs to work on his relations with all people, not just his white teachers or enemy tribes.”
Bridget had presented her case complete with supporting evidence and her own conclusion. She figured this would be enough to show Ishkode that if his son would only cease to fight so against the school, he’d have the potential to learn quite a lot.
“I know who that boy’s father is,” Ishkode said after a few silent moments. “The one he fought with. His father was a Lakota, but his mother was of the Ojibwa tribe. They deserted and fought with the Ojibwa when trouble came.”
Bridget felt a little foolish for jumping to conclusions about things she didn’t know. She was attempting to tread in waters she knew nothing about and it had caused the very foundation of her argument to fall to pieces. The presentation and story she’d been so sure of now lack the potential to stand.
“You are as all white people are,” Ishkode said, straightening to his full height and surveying his unwelcome visitor from across the room. “You see what you want to see. My son is only angered by the tribes who nearly chased us to extinction. And the white men who started it.”
Bridget thought frantically about what she should say. She thought that she’d prepared herself better for this encounter, but it seemed she still hadn’t acquired the skills to hold a discussion with this man.
The corner of Ishkode’s mouth lifted in contempt. “You are stupid for someone who calls herself a white person.”
Bridget would have expected herself to be used to Ishkode and Thomas’ bluntness by now, but she still felt her feathers getting ruffled at the disrespect, especially since she’d just finished admitting to herself that she was unprepared yet again for an encounter with this man.
Ishkode spoke again before she could form a reply. “Other complaints?”
Bridget looked back at Ishkode, her face a mask of confusion. It seemed she was always confused and taken off guard when in the presence of this Injun.
“About Animkii?” Ishkode clarified. “Is he doing poorly in school?”
“Uh, no.” Bridget raised her eyebrows. “Actually, he does very well. A surprise considering his contempt for the subject matter.”
“I never told him not to learn what he is taught there. It is important for white men to see that we too are capable of learning even if they are not our ways.”
“I never doubted that he was capable of learning.” Bridget tipped her head slightly, her fascination with Thomas’ abilities momentarily overtaking the tension lying between she and the boy’s father. “His English is surprisingly good, even in view of his hate for white men. It’s well developed like your own, sir.”
“I learned English when negotiations between the white men and the Lakota was still possible.” Ishkode leaned against the wall, his arms crossed, his gaze on the floor, his thoughts seemingly going to another place. “Your father and brothers put an end to that, didn’t they?” There was bitterness in his voice, but not the open derision that was usually present.
Bridget locked eyes with the Indian for a few moments as she waited for him to finish.
“Animkii’s knowledge of your language has nothing to do with the white man. I saw to it that he knew your language so that he would be able to get on with your people. More than your white men did.”
The words he spoke about the white men striking out against the Lakota and starting what lead to a severing of negotiations were a well-known fact, but Bridget found herself pitifully tongue-tied when the statement was made so bluntly to her face by one of them.
It was then that the curtain dividing the front room from the next was pulled aside, admitting a petite, elderly, grey-haired woman. She looked from Bridget to Ishkode, her expression one of question. She said something to Ishkode who answered in the same tongue.
“My mother, Megis” Ishkode had the politeness to inform Bridget.
“Hello, ma’am,” Bridget said, though she wasn’t sure the woman could understand her. The woman looked her over a bit curiously, but with no censure. Though she too was a Lakota, Bridget couldn’t help feeling slightly comforted at the presence of another woman. It wasn’t as if she had anything to fear from Ishkode. In truth, he seemed largely disinterested in her unwanted conversation, but she did wonder if he was prone to displays of temper as his son was.
Megis said something to her son which caused him to raise one eyebrow at her. The elderly woman nodded her head again before Ishkode spoke. “Sit,” he said, motioning to a chair.
Bridget had been considering taking her leave, but took the chair anyway, appreciating the gesture even though the old woman had clearly had to talk her son into it. Seeing that this wasn’t the end of the meeting, Bridget decided to give showing Ishkode the reason behind her visit one more try.
“You see, sir,” she began. “I simply believe that if your son will submit to allowing Vermilion to teach him the basics of getting along with others, it could do him a great service. I’d only request your cooperation in encouraging him in this direction if you please.”
“You say please a lot for someone who believes that she can make us do anything, whether or not she says such things.”
“I don’t think that I can get you to do anything.”
“No? I thought it is what all whites thought. Superiority, is this the word?”
She quickly saw that she’d made yet another error in judgement. She should have left well enough alone.
“I don’t think I’m superior.” Bridget could hardly believe her own ears. Her father and uncle would be outraged if they heard what she said and her grandfather would surely roll over in his grave. The confession was foreign even to herself, but she realized that it was a reflection of what she’d been coming to realize in the past couple of weeks, especially when she spoke to Ishkode. But, it was with her students as well. It was wrong to think that the whites were superior when each day she spent in the classroom assured her of just the opposite.
Ishkode drew Bridget out of her musings with a question. “What was your name again?”
“Bridget Moore.”
“Bridget Moore,” Ishkode began. Her name on his accented lips sounded strange to Bridget’s ears. “It will make it difficult for you, but I will not force Animkii to submit to the school in every way. It was not our idea to send
him there. He was forced. We were forced.”
Silence lingered.
“Yes, I know,” Bridget said, once again thinking of how angry her father would be right now.
Ishkode watched her, his expression undecipherable. “Why did you come here?”
Bridget thought for a few moments, wracking her brain for answers. “I don’t know.”
The truth was, she did know. She’d believed that she had it all sorted in her mind. But, once again, Ishkode had shattered that illusion. But, she couldn’t tell him that. Goodness, she’d already humbled herself enough, hadn’t she?
“You came to tell us to give up, like that school did by forcing my son to attend. It appears that you have wasted your time.”
Bridget’s defenses were quickly reignited and she stood. “That’s not why I came.” She hardly knew what to think anymore. This man muddled her train of thought to no end. “But, it seems you wouldn’t be interested in anything I have to say, so I’ll be on my way and rest assured that I won’t be troubling you again.”
“A wise decision,” Ishkode said.
Bridget glanced at Megis. The older woman’s face held a tinge of sadness.
“Thank you for your hospitality, ma’am,” Bridget said, using the excuse of politeness to Ishkode’s mother as a way to ease out of this infuriating situation. She turned her gaze back to Thomas’ father, knowing that the displeasure she felt reigned on her face. “I’ll go now.” Ishkode’s expression didn’t change, which Bridget found all the more enraging. She turned on her heel and left, vowing to never return to the reservation again.
Chapter 4: An Entrusting
Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three. Every student had turned in a book report. Except Thomas, of course, but Bridget had grown used to that. Though he hadn’t ceased being obstinate, she hardly noticed it anymore. Or, when she did, she pushed it aside, remembering Ishkode’s feelings about the school his son was being forced to attend and the contempt he’d sent toward her personally. She was determined not to let that encounter, or the vain pursuit of trying to make Thomas’ father agree with the Vermilion Lake School’s ways claim anymore space in her thoughts.
Bridget glanced at the clock, sweeping the reports into a folder and gathering her belongings. She had herself on a strict schedule, generally able to stay within the time she’d allotted herself for after school grading quite flawlessly. Bridget was in and out of the school with trained detachment. She’d separated herself from any emotions that might hinder her work and had gotten very good at ignoring any qualms the two conversations she’d held with Ishkode had brought to her mind. To acknowledge her misgivings would be to question her entire upbringing and everything her father, uncle, and entire family believed in. She might have been momentarily swayed by Ishkode’s point of view, but she wasn’t ready to give up her entire past simply because of those uninvited encounters.
Intent on getting home so that she could review the following day’s lesson plans and complete the evening chores before darkness settled over the land were foremost in her mind, Bridget arrived home in record time. She was so focused on what she needed to do with her mind already working diligently on the next morning’s lesson that she didn’t notice anything strange about the house until she’d gone down the hallway and nearly reached the front room. When she heard the noise, like the scraping of boots against the floor, she froze. She was to be alone for the weekend as her family had left to visit family a few dozen miles away. Bridget had declined accompanying them since she thought it best not to miss school that day and they’d left in the morning. They should be long gone by now.
Bridget considered lighting a lamp and calling out to the intruder, acting like she lived here because she did. However, leaning toward caution, she tiptoed closer to the front room from which the noise had issued, desperately wishing she weren’t wearing her heavy boots. She craned her neck when she neared the entryway, torn between the frightening need to know who was trespassing and the desire to flee the premises. When Bridget caught sight of the intruder, her insides plummeted. She’d never seen him before and the look on his face was not a kind one. Though it was slightly obscured by the falling shadows of evening, there was an ill determination in the set of his taut mouth and a glare in his eyes for certain. If he was searching for something to steal, she hardly cared what he took so long as he’d leave her alone. Then again, he didn’t have the look of an ordinary thief. A burglar would have gathered any valuables he could get his grubby hands on and left the house. But, this man lingered. What could he be there for? Bridget hadn’t the faintest idea.
Every one of Bridget’s senses sprung to full alert when the footsteps began to grow louder and very confident as the prowler moved to another room. She scurried into the closet, hoping that the pounding of his own footsteps had drowned out any noise her hasty attempt at hiding had made. When the man continued to prowl through the house, obviously in search of something—or someone—Bridget knew that she had to get away. She was completely unprotected and was putting herself at risk. Heaven only knew what this man might do if he found a lone and defenseless woman lingering.
With self-preservation her only goal now, Bridget kept a keen and frightened eye out for the right moment to dash out the back door. Perhaps if he’d start rummaging for something he’d make so much noise that he wouldn’t hear her footsteps. Bridget’s lungs were tight with terror and for a few moments silence reigned in the empty house, seeming to stretch out forever.
A few moments passed before the man did begin to rummage. He was at her father’s desk. Bridget eased the boots off her feet, hoping that padding across the floor barefoot would give her a better chance of escape. Her heart nearly thudded out of her chest when the commotion ceased and the man released an exasperated noise. Bridget’s insides froze when she heard the intruder’s voice for the first time. “Moore!” he bellowed. She hoped that he was drunk, deciding she’d rather deal with that than real wrath. But, the man’s next words had her guessing that the man was quite sober. And thoroughly enraged.
“Moore, I said I’d come for you! I’ve already taken care of that crooked lawman who helped you take my land away! I’ve come to take back every inch of it. I’ve come to do it and I won’t stop until I have repossessed what rightfully belongs to me!”
Chills ran up and down Bridget’s spine. She knew who this was. She’d never encountered him before now, but this was Joseph Stall, a man who’d fought over her father’s purchase of land a couple of years ago. In order to ensure that the Moore’s had enough room to grave an additional head of cattle, Isaiah had bought the plot adjacent to their current home last year. Mr. Stall, their neighbor, had been quick to claim that the land belonged in his own family. It was a well-known fact that the Stalls had lost all of their money a number of years previously and that there was little chance of Joseph being capable of legally buying the property back.
Court cases in town were nothing fancy, yet it had been determined that Joseph could claim no right to the property and the matter was closed. Legally the dispute was settled, but it wasn’t over for Joseph it seemed. Land meant much to folks out here and Joseph had both greed and anger driving him on. Bridget remembered how her father had claimed that the family’s plight with Joseph was in the past. Apparently not since Bridget was now frightened for her life.
Bridget nearly jumped out of her skin when Joseph continued to bellow and his footsteps could be heard once again. She was too frantic to consider which direction they were headed; all she knew was that she had to make a run for it. She dashed from the closet racing outside. A desperate cry that came out as more of a squeak tore from her throat when she heard Joseph behind her. The words he screamed were snatched away by the chilly evening wind. Bridget’s mind was so muddled with fear she was certain her mind wouldn’t have processed what he said even if she could hear.
Bridget ran without looking back, the instinct of survival pumping through her veins like never before, causing her to mo
ve with more speed across the dark ground than she’d ever thought possible.
The dimness of nightfall combined with the blur of tears in her eyes had Bridget moving blindly and with mad abandon. It wasn’t until she smacked hard into someone that
She pulled back with a shout of aggravation, thinking that if Joseph had caught her, she was a dead woman and if it wasn’t Joseph, the person before her was slowing her escape. The person before her gripped her arms, preventing her from moving forward.
“Let me loose. Please, let me go!” she pleaded, pushing her fists against the man’s broad chest. “Please!” Bridget was sobbing now. She heard the person mutter a few words in a tongue she’d heard many times in her classroom, but couldn’t understand. Bridget looked up, blinking quickly in an attempt to clear her vision. She reached up to roughly brush the tears away when they only filled again. Though her emotions were still racing with fear, unexpected relief mingled with the tension boiling inside of her as she looked up at Ishkode.
“What happened, Bridget Moore?” His voice was low and calm.
Bridget took a few gulping breaths as she worked to steady her voice. “He’s chasing me. He’s looking for my father, but I’m the only one he found. God, he’s going to kill me!”
Ishkode’s eyes moved over Bridget’s attire, taking stock of the fact that she was without a coat in the chilly air and wore no shoes. She could feel herself trembling, but didn’t feel cold. Ishkode removed his tan, fringed jacket and tossed it around her shoulders. It’s rustic smell and the sudden warmth on her skin caused Bridget to shiver. The cuts the rocks and rough terrain she’d run over barefoot began to throb as the injuries finally had a chance to register in her frightened mind. She shifted her weight as the dampness of the ground soaked into her irritated soles. Bridget startled when Ishkode gripped one of her shoulders with his fingers. “What happened?”
Romance: The Bad Boy Affair: A Second Chance Romance Page 94
