by Stephen Bly
“I am sorry we have no fire yet. This storm came up very fast,” the man said. “We will build one right away.” Retta puffed out her cheeks.
He leaned close and stared at her face. “You are surprised I speak English?”
Retta nodded.
One of the young men stepped up to a bundle and pulled out a strip of dried meat. He bit off a piece and then held it toward her.
“Are you hungry?” the man next to her asked.
“No,” she managed to murmur. “No, thank you.”
“My name is Two Bears.” The man pointed back at the others. “This my family.”
“My name is Retta Emily Barre. I’m twelve years old and from Barresville, Ohio. I’m on the covered wagon train going to Oregon City, Oregon, and I need to get back to my papa before he gets worried and comes looking for me with a gun,” she blurted out.
“Your name is Bear?” The man rubbed his smooth brown chin.
“Yes, Retta Barre.”
Two Bears spoke rapidly to the others in a language she had never heard. Then everyone laughed.
“What did you say to them?” she murmured. “Are they laughing at me?”
“I merely said your name is also Bear. I said because you don’t have sickly white skin like the others, perhaps we are relatives.”
“My name is spelled...” Everyone stared intently at her. “Eh, maybe we are relatives.”
“Yes,” the man beamed. “I knew when I first saw you helping Bear Heart that you were one of us.”
The woman with the infant sat on one of the deerskin bundles and rocked the baby back and forth. The old woman carved splinters off a dry stick. Rain poured hard outside the opening of the cave, and the sky was almost black.
Bear Heart hobbled over to Two Bears and said something.
“You belong to the wagon with the yellow canvas door?” Two Bears inquired.
“You have seen my wagon?” Retta folded her arms across her chest. “Have you been spying on us?”
The man’s face was expressionless as he stared out at the dark rain. “We have watched all the wagons.”
“But I didn’t see you. Nobody saw you. How long have you watched my wagon?”
“We have watched them all for fifteen days,” Two Bears reported.
“But I didn’t know you were here.”
“We were afraid you might shoot at us if we approached,” Two Bears explained.
Retta could feel the wet dress hang on her shoulders. “I don’t even have a gun.”
They whispered something among themselves.
“But my papa has a gun,” she added quickly.
Two Bears squatted on his haunches beside her at the mouth of the cave. “Thank you for helping Bear Heart. He said you found his horse stick. That’s why he was out there. He lost his horse stick and was hunting for it.”
“What is a horse stick?”
“I gave that to him when he was only four years old and wanted his own horse. I told him he had to wait until he was as tall as that stick to have his own horse.”
Retta folded her arms across her damp dress. “I’m taller.”
“Do you have your own horse?” he asked.
She studied the woman and the round-faced baby. “No, but I want one very, very much. I saw a beautiful one back at the trading post near Scotts Bluff. But I didn’t have enough money. Besides, my mother says it’s not ladylike for a girl to ride a horse. But Papa says when I save enough money, I can buy a horse. One he approves, of course. But I’ll never have enough money.”
Two Bears drew his fingers through the dry sand in the cave. “Then you should trade for one.”
Retta squatted beside the man in buckskin. “Yes, I should. But what could I trade for a pony?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“On the pony. What do you have to trade?” he asked.
“That depends,” she grinned, “on the pony.”
He said something to the others, and they laughed.
The young man at the side with the horses shouted out something.
Two Bears smiled, revealing large, straight white teeth. “Brown Bear says he is sure you are a relative.”
He stood up and so did Retta.
“You speak very good English,” she said.
“Thank you. I was a tracker for old man Bridger.”
“Jim Bridger?”
“Yes. Do you know him?”
“Oh, no. But I read this book about him. It was a penny novel actually, but don’t tell my mother.”
“I will not tell her. Does your mother look like you?”
“Oh, no, I don’t look like anyone in my family.”
“Perhaps you are in the wrong family. I believe you look like my wife’s younger sister.”
“Really?”
“Yes, do you speak Shoshone?”
“No!” She grinned.
Two Bears cracked a smile. “I taught Bridger Shoshone, and he taught me English.”
One of the girls spoke to the woman with the baby. She in turn spoke to the man.
“My wife, Lucy, says you have a very pretty dress.” Retta glanced down at her wet, dirty dress. “Tell her thank you very much.” She studied the gray streaks in the woman’s waist-length black hair. “Your wife’s name is Lucy?”
“Lucy Two Bears. It is a nice name, don’t you think?”
“Yes, it is. Lucy Two Bears. It’s a wonderful name. Your wife has very beautiful hair.”
He said something to his wife, and she smiled as she rocked the baby back and forth.
Retta smelled unwashed bodies and horse manure.
“My first name is really Coretta, but I hate that name. Everyone calls me Retta. Everyone except Mama.”
“What does she call you?” the man asked.
“She calls me ‘baby’ ’cause I’m the youngest child.” Two Bears translated her words to the others. “Retta Bear. I like that name.” He rubbed his clean-shaven chin. “From now on we will call you ‘Red Bear.’”
“But my name is...” Retta paused.
He said something to the others, and she saw them nodding approval.
She rocked back on her heels. “Yes, I like it. I shall be ‘Red Bear’. But I don’t have red hair.”
The man grinned. “And I don’t have two bears.”
On her hands and knees in the cave, the old woman gathered up the splinters she had whittled, bunched them in a pile, and struck a flint against a rock. A spark ignited the shavings, and soon a smoky fire started. The old woman and the two girls dug out supplies from one of the bundles. “You will stay and eat with us?”
Retta stepped out of the cave and held her palms up. “The rain is slowing down. I should find my papa before he gets worried and comes looking for me.”
“You mean, before he comes looking for you with a gun?” Two Bears added.
The two young men in buckskin trousers led the horses out of the cave and into the brush beside the river. Bear Heart drew a circle in the dirt with his horse stick. He and another boy began to play a game with small, round white pebbles they held in each hand.
“I will have Shy Bear show you the way back to the wagons,” Two Bears announced.
The woman finished nursing her baby, and a girl about Retta’s age took the baby and bounced him on her hip. She spoke to the woman, who then spoke to the man.
“This is our daughter, Shy Bear,” Two Bears announced.
“Her name is Shy?”
“She has a beautiful smile,” Two Bears declared.
“Yes, she does,” Retta agreed.
“She wants to trade you.”
Retta glanced down at her empty hands.
Shy Bear rested her chin on her chest and stared at the dirt.
“She wants to trade her dress for your dress,” Two Bears explained.
“She does?” Retta studied the girl’s buckskin dress with blue glass beads on the fringe. “But—but her dress is beautiful, and mine is so pl
ain.”
“She has always wanted a purple dress.”
Retta folded her arms across her chest. “But this dress is not very new, and it’s really not purple. It’s pansy plum.” She stared into Two Bears’ eyes. “Would it be a fair trade?”
He put one hand on her shoulder and the other on Shy Bear’s shoulder. “If she is happy, and you are happy, it is a good trade.”
Retta felt some warmth blaze from the small fire. The cave filled with wispy smoke. “Maybe she could come back with me to my wagon, and I’ll ask my mother. Perhaps she’ll let me trade.”
Two Bears dropped his hands to his side. “No, I won’t let my daughter go with you. I don’t know your people. She could get hurt. She is afraid of those on the wagon train. She is afraid she will be captured and made into a slave.”
Retta rubbed her round nose with the palm of her hand. “She’s afraid of us?”
“Sometimes people on wagon trains shoot at us without talking to us.”
Lord, everyone on the wagons is afraid of Indians. And the Indians are afraid of us? We aren’t very scary ... are we? “I could make sure no one shoots at her.”
“Does the pansy-plum dress belong to you or someone else?” he asked.
Retta tried to brush dirt off one sleeve. “Oh, it’s my dress.”
Lucy Two Bears said something to him. He shook his head.
“Do you have another dress, or is this your only one?” he asked.
Retta bit her lip and then blurted out, “I have four dresses, but one is in Mama’s trunk. I can’t wear it until we get to Oregon City.”
The girl said a few words and pointed at Retta, giggling.
“Shy Bear wants to trade you right now,” he said.
“H-here? In the cave? Switch dresses?” Retta stammered.
“Yes.”
“But I—I need—I can’t...”
“Red Bear, do you want to trade for the buckskin dress or not?” His voice was firm, not harsh.
“Yes, but I...”
He spoke to the girl. She shrieked and then laughed and danced around the smoky fire.
Retta stared at everyone watching her. Lord, I have been scared to death to see Indians, and now I’m not scared at all. I know I should ask Mama first, but I don’t think trading a dress is sinful... is it?
“Okay, I’ll trade,” Retta announced. “But I still think her dress is much better than mine.”
Two Bears spoke to Shy Bear. The girl immediately pulled off her dress. She wore nothing under it.
“Oh no, I can’t—I can’t ... Retta mumbled and closed her eyes.
Two Bears studied her and then spoke to the others. They broke out in laughter, and all turned their backs to Retta.
“We will not look. My wife says perhaps you should be called ‘Shy Red Bear.’”
I can’t believe I’m doing this. I won’t even let Lerryn watch when I change clothes. Lord, smite their eyes if they try to peek.
Shy Bear stood next to her, holding the buckskin dress. Retta pulled off her gingham and brushed down her camisole and bloomers. She quickly grabbed the buckskin. Before she pulled it over her head, Shy Bear was wearing the gingham. The Indian girl hopped around the cave, laughing and dancing. The whole family shouted and applauded.
Retta patted the pale buckskin dress with blue beads. I didn’t know it would be so soft. This is the prettiest dress I ever saw in my life.
Shy Bear ran up to her and jabbered something.
Two Bears hugged his daughter. “She says to thank you for trading with her, Red Bear. This is the prettiest dress she has ever seen in her life.”
Retta stared at the girl’s dancing brown eyes.
Lord, I wish we could talk to each other. I bet Shy Bear and I would be really good friends.
“Do you like your dress?” Two Bears asked.
“Oh, yes, I love it. It’s so soft.”
“Lucy Two Bears chewed that hide soft.”
Lord, I don’t know what he meant and I don’t think I want to know. “It’s a beautiful dress, and it fits me very well.”
“Then you are both happy. It is a good trade indeed.”
Retta glanced out at the drizzle. “I need to get back to my wagon now.”
“Yes, you must hurry. There will be more rain soon,” Two Bears agreed. “I’ll have Shy Bear lead you there.”
“Thank you!”
He spoke, and the girl walked out to the muddy ground. She motioned Retta to follow.
“Will you come to visit us again, Red Bear?” Two Bears asked.
“I would like to very much, but we’re going to Oregon. I will be on down the trail.”
“It will rain hard tonight. The wagons will be stuck for several days,” Two Bears announced.
“Oh, no, we don’t stop for anything. I’m sure we’ll go on.”
Two Bears smiled. “If you are stuck, come visit us.”
“If my father will let me, I’ll come back.”
The little boy said something to his father.
“Bear Heart asks what happened to your hair?”
“What’s wrong with my hair?”
“For a girl your age, it is short. He asks if you got it near the fire.”
“It’s not short. It almost comes to my shoulder, see?” She leaned her head to the side. “I just like short hair,” she declared.
The old woman put more sticks on the fire and said something that made everyone laugh.
“What did she say?”
“My wife’s mother said you will never get a husband with short hair. ”
“A husband? I don’t even have a boyfriend.” Oh. I was supposed to be looking for Ben. “When I came down here, I was looking for a friend—a boy who is taller than me, with blond hair and a blue shirt. Did you see him?”
The man nodded and waved his hand to the west. “Yes. He rode off with the red-haired girl.”
“Ansley? He rode on the black horse with Ansley MacGregor?”
The man raised his thick black eyebrows. “Did she steal your man?”
“My man? No, I’m only twelve,” she protested.
He said something to the others, and they all laughed again. Then the old woman made a remark.
Two Bears grinned. “She said the girl on the black horse had long hair. She will get a husband soon.”
“Well, I don’t care who he rode with.”
“Your lips are convincing, but your eyes betray you.”
“If I had a horse, perhaps it would be different,” she murmured.
“The horse at the trading post?”
“Yes. That would impress him.”
“The horse?”
She grinned. “No, Ben Weaver.”
“Perhaps you should go back and get the horse.”
“I can’t. We’re going west. And I need to get to my wagon now.”
“Follow Shy Bear.”
Retta tramped through the mud along the river, following the girl in the pansy-plum gingham dress. Neither spoke. Lightning flashed. Thunder rolled in the west, but it didn’t rain anymore. From their position down the embankment next to the river, she couldn’t see the wagon train as they hiked upstream. Retta’s legs ached as she jogged to keep up with the shorter girl.
Finally Shy Bear stopped. She pointed up the embankment.
“Is the wagon train up there?”
The girl pointed again.
“Okay. Well ... thank you, Shy Bear.”
Shy Bear spoke several words. The only ones Retta understood were “Red Bear.” Retta trudged to the top of the embankment and peered out on the stormy prairie.
There it is. The wagon train and my wagon. Shy Bear brought me even with my wagon.
She spun around and stared back at the river, but she couldn’t see anyone. She started to jog toward the wagon, but the mud on her shoes slowed her down. She slowed to a plod. As she approached the wagons, she heard someone blow the bugle and shout.
Retta stopped to look up and down the long
line of covered wagons. It’s either time for a meeting, or there’s trouble.
Several men hiked out from the wagons with guns pointed. She could see people peering around the wagons at her.
“Stop right there and identify yourself,” Bobcat Bouchet shouted.
“I’m Retta Barre, and that is my wagon, Mr. Bouchet,” she yelled.
A man with a gun looped over his arm jogged out to her. “Retta darlin’, are you all right?” he hollered as he approached.
“Hi, Papa. I took shelter in a cave along the river just like you taught me. And I met a very nice family of Indians.”
“Retta, are you all right?” he repeated.
“And this girl named Shy Bear wanted to trade me dresses, so I just up and traded her.”
“Retta darlin’, did you hear me? I asked if you are all right,” Mr. Barre repeated.
“They are a very nice family, and they took care of me during the storm. Two Bears used to track for Jim Bridger. ”
Mr. Barre dropped to his knees and grabbed her shoulders. His face was only inches from hers. “Darlin’, answer me.”
Retta threw her arms around his neck and kissed his rough cheek. “Yes, Daddy, I’m all right.”
Chapter 5
Christen’s wet, curly bangs sagged down to her eyes. “Retta, how many Indians did you see?”
“Ten or twelve.” Retta rocked back and forth on her heels as everyone crowded around her. “It was just one family really. They were all relatives.”
Travis Lott’s Adam’s apple pulsed with every word. “Did they try to scalp you?”
Retta tugged her thick brown hair straight up. “Nope. It’s all here. My hair has always been this short. But they were very nice. They let me stay with them out of the thunderstorm.”
Joslyn’s black parasol matched her hair. “Did they have red skin?”
“No, it was brown.” In the distance Retta noticed some men ride off toward the river.
Gilson wrapped a gray wool blanket around her shoulders. She coughed a little and then cleared her throat. “Were they funny-looking?”
Retta rubbed her nose and rolled her eyes. “Eh ... one was sort of funny-looking.”
“What did he look like?” Johnny Dillard asked as he tugged on his suspenders.
