by Karen Kay
Having taken an early morning start, the sun was barely rising when she had come upon a tract of land so beautiful, she had stopped, dismounted and stared at the scene in front of her, unaware of the passage of time. Before her and straight down was one of the Chief Mountain lakes, its water pure and blue, reflecting the sky, the mountains and a few of the stars still visible in the sky. Close to it and a little above it was the other of the two Chief Mountain lakes. Looking more fairyland than rock and boulder, it was hard to believe that it was real.
It was from these lakes that Chief Mountain rose, its eastern side almost sheer upward rock. Magnificent, inspiring, it was no wonder the Indians looked upon this spot as sacred, a place where the spirits lived and played.
At last she had moved on, winding her way to the western side of Chief Mountain, where the ascent to its summit was worn and easy to climb. She passed several mountain goats on her way up, getting a good look at them, for one passed close by to her.
As Kali wound through a narrow pass, an eagle flew overhead. Glancing up, she smiled. The eagle soared, then circled overhead, its flight graceful, proud. Watching it, she realized that it shared these traits in common with her husband. Perhaps, she thought, her husband was well named.
The day was still new, and at this lower elevation, the dew hung on the mountain grasses, sparkling at her feet as though nature had given each drop a radiant jewel. In the east, the sun was finally beginning its climb, painting the sky and all it touched in shades of silver and pink.
A feeling of well-being came over her. Funny how it felt as though she belonged here. Here, with this land. Here, on this mountain. Here, with her husband.
She felt her face fill with color. Odd how she had come so easily to think of him as hers. Well, if that photograph was to be believed, he was hers. The thought gave her peace and, oddly, a sense of security.
It was most curious, for Kali was becoming more and more certain that there was nothing between Gilda and Soaring Eagle. His explanation that day in her darkroom had come from his heart. Moreover, that same day, as they were making love, she had seen into his heart, and had found him innocent. Besides, he loved her, and more—his was not the sort of love that hurt.
No, his was the kind of heart that gave, that allowed another the right to be, to grow. And it came as a surprise that she realized she didn’t need either Gilda or Soaring Eagle’s grandmother to “prove” his innocence. She trusted him…trusted him…
Strange… She wasn’t sure when it had happened. Perhaps when he’d sought her out in Helena. Or had it been before then? That night when they’d married, or the morning after. He had been kind, considerate, gentle.
Perhaps she’d “known” it then. She just hadn’t realized it yet.
Someday, she thought, she would discover the truth of who had been in his arms. But she felt fairly certain that this someone wouldn’t be Gilda. Perhaps it had been his grandmother…
Glancing up toward the mountain summit, Kali realized she needed to move quickly. Now that she understood the workings of her heart, she couldn’t wait to see Soaring Eagle again. But first there were questions that needed answering. Questions that perhaps only Gilda or the spirits could address.
Urging her horse forward, she reached into one of her packs for a breakfast snack. But instead of food, her fingers came in contact with the picture. She was struck with a sense of intense possessiveness. Now that she had the picture, she doubted she would ever part with it. However, curious to see it once again, she drew it out and stared at it, as though by doing so she could make sense of its mystery.
But it simply was not to be.
No images jumped out at her; no explanations came to mind. She did wonder at a symbol at the top of the photograph, however. It had been the last image to develop in the picture: a dark circle, surrounded by a lighter circle with beams or rays coming out of it, as though it was the sun.
Curious, very curious. Kali had seen the symbol before, knew it was that of an eclipse. But an eclipse? It would have been impossible to capture on film, for there had been no eclipse the evening it was taken. And yet there it was.
What could it possibly have to do with her? With Soaring Eagle? Or, for that matter, with her marriage?
Her eyes clouded with confusion, and she shook her head. There was no point, she thought, none at all in dwelling on it, for the more she thought about it, the more flustered she became.
Besides, that was why she was making this journey, what she hoped to discover. Somehow she felt certain that Gilda would be here, perhaps at the very top of the mountain. But if not, her trip would still not be without value. For it was here that she meant to try to speak to the spirits; here that she might determine, if she could, what it was they wanted from her. And maybe, if she was lucky, it was here that she might be able to disclose the secrets of her heart.
She sighed, returning the picture to the bag. She would find no answers in it. Best to put the photograph aside and think of other things.
She inhaled deeply, looking out upon her path.
She remembered this section of the trail. Ah, the thought was a pleasant one. Perhaps, she thought, she wouldn’t get lost after all.
The sun had climbed to its greatest height by the time she approached the mountain’s crest. She had left her two mounts in a meadow only a few hours ago, while she had gone on to climb the rest of the way to the top.
One last foothold on a piece of rock, and she at last pulled herself up to the camping spot where she, her father and Gilda had spent that first night. It seemed so long ago.
Unfortunately, Gilda wasn’t here, but the place held other treasures…other memories. Over there, she had slept; over there, they had pitched a fire; and over there, up another steep climb, was the place where she had left camp that night.
She made her way there now, down a gully and up again, noticing how, in the light of day, the shadows that had seemed so dark that night and had loomed over her so terrifyingly were no more than rock and boulder, as she had thought they were. She trudged onward, upward, her objective the small, level ledge where she had first seen Soaring Eagle.
Ah, there directly in front of her was the spot. She approached it now, noticing that her pulse was picking up speed. A pleasant sensation washed through her.
This was it. This was where it had all started, where she had first seen him, where she had first heard his song. As she stepped onto the ledge, a gentle wind blew toward her, pushing her hair back from her face. She gazed forward into the breeze, a brief smile crossing her lips.
What had he been looking at that night? At the time, she had not come back to investigate.
Gingerly, she peeked over the edge of the ledge and caught her breath. The view from here was spectacular…beautiful! For from this spot, one could see for miles and miles, practically in all directions. No wonder Soaring Eagle had chosen this location for his vision quest. Even now, as she gazed around her, Kali felt her heart become light. Ah, it felt good. In truth, her thoughts, particularly those that were the most disturbing, seemed to recede from her, as though here in this spot, they had no power to thwart her.
She sighed, content. She really had no further plans, since she hadn’t found Gilda, and she wasn’t entirely certain how to go about talking to a spirit.
At last, however, she decided to start, and with arms outstretched, she said, “Hear me, o spirit. I think there has been a mistake. I don’t know why you have taken an interest in me, for I am only Kali Wallace, a simple American girl. Please tell me what is it you want from me?”
There came no answer.
But Kali wasn’t giving up so easily. Again with outstretched arms, she said, “I fear that you have confused me with someone else. Tell me, do you wish me to find this person you seek, perhaps the Star Bride?”
And when there was still no answer, she asked, “Or do you wish me to simply write a book that exposes the crimes which are being committed against your people?”
&n
bsp; The wind whistled around a corner, and it seemed to Kali as if it spoke, but what was being said was beyond her. She admitted, “I didn’t understand.”
She waited.
An eagle flew overhead, joined by another midflight. Kali watched the birds’ aerial ballet for a moment before attempting another communication. At last, however, she said, “I’m sorry that I doubted the marriage ceremony. But these matters are out of my experience. Please understand.”
Again, she waited.
“I will be staying here for a while. I thought you’d like to know that. What Soaring Eagle has told me is true. And I’m thinking that if I help him, we can expose the crimes being committed here. It’s a big job and one filled with danger, perhaps, but it’s what I want to do.”
The eagles dipped down to her, coming within feet of her, as though in grand acknowledgement, and Kali was so caught up in the beauty of them that she didn’t immediately sense the danger. Not until she heard a growl behind her did she think to remember that she had come here with nothing more than a simple revolver.
What was behind her? Calmly, making as little movement as she could, she looked over her shoulder.
Her stomach dropped.
There stood a bear. A big, brown grizzly bear.
Her heart stopped, then began beating as though to make up for the lapse. Could she kill the animal?
Suddenly, she felt foolish. How could she have come here so ill-prepared? Little good a revolver was going to do her against a bear, especially a grizzly. Yes, she might be able to get in a shot or two, but she knew enough about bears to know that one, two, even three or more shots wouldn’t stop a bear.
Was it a mother? And if it was a mother, did she have cubs? Please, Lord, Kali prayed, don’t let it be female.
She watched as the bear took a clumsy step forward, and Kali swallowed the scream that rose up in her throat.
Bears don’t see well, she told herself. Pretend you are no more than a rock.
But suddenly she remembered that their sense of smell was acute.
Kali gulped.
The bear paced another step forward, and Kali did the only thing she could think to do, the only thing that for one reason or another made sense. She began to sing…
Chapter Twenty-Three
I call the Sun to treat you as you do her.
Spoken by a mother to her daughter’s abductor/husband, as he stole the young lady from her home.
—James Willard Schultz, My Life as an Indian
Soaring Eagle found Kali’s horses in the meadow. He left his own two mounts there, but atypically he didn’t hobble them. It was a precaution. Bears lived in these mountains, and the horses might be an irresistible treat to some hungry grizzly. At least if the ponies weren’t tied, they had a chance.
Looking for Kali’s trail, he found it easily enough, and as he had suspected, discovered that it led to the mountain crown. He knew where he would find her, and he hurried. For whatever reason there might be, he felt a sense of urgency.
Bounding over the rocks and boulders as though he were part mountain goat, he came to the place where those on foot often camped. But he would not find her here. He knew he wouldn’t.
That’s when he heard it. And the sound stopped him completely still.
Someone was singing. Kali?
He stepped forward softly, moving as quickly as he dared, yet holding back, for he feared there was danger.
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooo.
When you hear my voice on the wind,
That is my gentle touch, reaching out to your heart.
Oooooooooooooooooooooo.
When you see the eagle fly,
Know that he brings my love to you.”
It was his song. Haiya, she had listened. Even then she must have cared.
Glancing up, he saw two eagles overhead, caught in the up-current of wind. At any other time, their graceful antics would have brought a pleasant smile to his face. But not now. Now he sensed the birds’ agitation, as though there was danger.
Slowly Soaring Eagle crept forward.
That’s when he saw her…and the bear.
Carefully, noiselessly, he raised his rifle, took aim…
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Come to me on the wind, gently, gently…
Come to me in my dreams, softly, softly…
Come to me, my love, for I love only you.”
The bear had stopped. And setting down its great paws, it rested, as though it was listening to and captivated by her song.
Perhaps it was, for alas, Soaring Eagle was held spellbound by her voice, her words, the very beauty of her. Until this moment he had never heard her sing, and he had never seen her so beautiful.
It wasn’t simply her physical charm, though that was in evidence from the top of her reddish-gold hair to the tips of her brown boots.
No, it was something else…something…as though he knew her, as though…
The truth struck him like a thunderbolt. That was it. Immediately exhilaration filled his being, and he smiled as though he might never again frown.
He’d thought he knew her; he’d thought he recognized her. But never like this. This was a remembrance that happened perhaps once in a lifetime, if a person was lucky. This was a recognition soul to soul.
Ah, yes, to be sure, she was his counterpart; she was his very breath. But she was much more than that. And he now understood why Gilda had acted as she did, why she had come into his country. But most of all he realized why Kali was here. And if he’d thought he loved her before, it was nothing compared to what he felt now.
But he realized, as though coming out of a daze, something was wrong. The bear had risen to its feet, had emitted a growl, was starting forward, toward Kali.
What had happened? Surely he hadn’t been in a stupor for that long. What was wrong?
Kali had stopped singing. Soaring Eagle glanced at her, noting the way she held herself so tightly. Either she was too afraid to continue the song, she had run out of words, or she simply didn’t realize what her singing had been doing.
Once more he raised his gun, but immediately lowered it. It would do no good, even if he could shoot the animal. It was too close to Kali, and if he didn’t kill it in one shot, it would simply swipe out at her with its deadly claws, or run to her and either crush her or push her to her death.
Kali, perhaps hearing the movement of the bear, glanced over her shoulder and gasped.
Soaring Eagle took up her lead. He, too, began to sing:
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooo.
When you hear the wolf howl,
He brings you my message.
I cry for you.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooo.
When the wind calls your name,
Know that I search for you.
And when we find one another,
the earth will become a happy place.
You are my love.”
He paced forward. One step, another.
Kali swung around toward him. “Soaring Eagle,” she called, “I know you said you’d come to me if I ever called. But please, go back!”
“Never,” he called out. “Either we live together, or we die together.”
“No.”
But he wasn’t listening. Instead, he began another song:
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Sweetheart,
Do not worry.
You are loved.
I love you.”
He took another step toward her, placing one foot slowly after the other. She did the same. “Kali,” he called out to her, “keep singing.”
“Yes, yes. I will.”
The bear snuffed as though disturbed that the two of them were talking instead of doing what it wanted them to do: sing. It came up onto its feet and growled.
“Sing, Kali. Sing with me.”
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooo.
When you hear the wolf howl…”
Their voices joined in unison.
“He
brings you my message,
I cry for you.”
Then it happened. Slowly, barely noticeably at first, the sun began to darken at one of its corners. Looking up, Soaring Eagle saw a sight he had only heard about once, a long time ago.
He said, “We must keep singing, Kali, my sweet. Do you see that the moon is traveling across the sun?”
“It’s an eclipse, Soaring Eagle. Oh, dear Lord, the symbol on my picture.”
“Picture?”
“Yes. There is a picture of our wedding.”
“I know, my love. Your father told me.”
He watched as Kali took a deep breath. “On the picture—I didn’t see it until today—is the symbol of an eclipse. I don’t know what it means.”
Soaring Eagle pulled his lips into a thin line, frowning, thinking. At last he said, “I don’t think it is a bad thing, Kali. But one thing I know we must do. We must keep singing.”
And he continued:
“Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
When the wind calls your name…”
She joined him, their voices lifted in unison, the two of them singing as though they had practiced for this all their lives. And slowly, step by step, they shortened the distance between themselves.
“Know that I search for you.
And when we find one another,
the earth will become a happy place.
You are my love.”
He came to stand by her. And reaching out for her hand, he pulled her to him and said, “Kali, my sweet. You are the love of my life, my very existence.”
“Am I?” She smiled up at him, her look adoring, so devoted, he knew he would never forget this moment, not in all eternity And she said, “You are my love, Soaring Eagle, now and forever. Know that you were right. I have been looking for you all my life. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize it. Please forgive me.”
