Full Circle

by Rosanne Bittner

  “I promised I would. We’re going up to Fort Yates day after tomorrow, then one more show at the northern edge of the agency. From there we go to Cheyenne. It’s so exciting!”

  Evelyn glanced at Herbert True. “I am sure it is.”

  “Well, shall we be off, darling? I have many things to tend to.”

  Evelyn knew the man was only anxious to get away from her discerning eyes.

  “Yes, my darling,” Beverly squeezed Evelyn’s hand once more and left with her new love, and Evelyn felt sick at the sight. Herbert True had totally hypnotized poor Beverly, taking her on a flight of fancy, filling her with wonderful dreams.

  “God help you, Beverly,” she murmured. She headed toward the tiger cages to find Anita, but just as she rounded one of the wagons, a woman stepped into her pathway, an Indian woman with dark eyes that were filled with hate. She wore a red bandana around her short, cropped hair. Evelyn drew in her breath, backing away slightly. No Indian woman wore her hair like that, and since she knew Black Hawk had cut off Otter Woman’s hair, she realized this had to be her… the woman who had tried to kill her!

  “Otter Woman,” she said, wondering how she had managed to find her voice.

  “So, finally we meet,” Otter Woman sneered.

  Sixteen

  Evelyn felt light-headed at the sight of the dark, menacing-looking woman standing before her. Here was the woman responsible for all her pain and suffering, the woman who would have killed her if the good Lord had not diverted the pathway of the arrow. She took a deep breath, unwilling to cower before her, as she was sure Otter Woman wanted her to do.

  “Yes, at last we meet,” she answered. “I am glad to finally see you face-to-face. Now you can see that I am not some horrible monster to be feared, Otter Woman. I am just a schoolteacher who wants to help your people learn how to survive this new way of life.”

  Otter Woman’s eyebrows knitted in a frown. Evelyn could tell she was surprised at the reply. This woman had probably expected some kind of tirade out of her, perhaps even scratching and screaming and accusations.

  “You lie,” Otter Woman accused, speaking in English. “You only pretend to help us,”

  Evelyn could see how beautiful the woman had once been. She still had a subtle beauty, but there was nothing delicate or gentle about her. It was a rugged, wild, earthy beauty, and it was obvious, even under her loose-fitting tunic, that her voluptuous body was well curved in all the right places. Evelyn could not help another surge of unwanted jealousy. Otter Woman was a little heavy, but the weight lay more in muscle than fat. She was not a woman Evelyn cared to contend with physically. The only area in which she might be able to beat this woman was in mental cunning.

  “You’re wrong, Otter Woman. And if I was trying to trick Black Hawk and others in some way, don’t you think I would have told the soldiers who tried to kill me? I could have had you out of my way, but I said nothing.”

  Otter Woman folded her arms, studying this white woman with whom so many of her people were impressed. There was genuine concern in the woman’s eyes. She did not want to like her. She was too beautiful, standing there with her golden hair tied at one shoulder with a pretty pink ribbon that matched her pink dress. This white woman wanted to steal Black Hawk’s heart, maybe his soul. “Why did you not tell them?” she asked a hint of guilt in her eyes.

  “Because I did not want to make trouble for you. I don’t want to make trouble for any of your people… and because I understand why you did what you did. I am not your enemy, Otter Woman. I would much prefer to be your friend.”

  The woman sniffed. “Because of you, Black Hawk no longer speaks to me or asks me to come to him.”

  “No, Otter Woman. It is because of you and what you did that Black Hawk has cast you out. Though you brought this upon yourself, I am still truly sorry for what Black Hawk did to you. If I had known, I would have begged him to bring you no harm, because hurting you would only make you hate me more, and I don’t want that.”

  “Is there a problem here?”

  Evelyn looked past Otter Woman to see Lieutenant Teller approaching with Janine on his arm. She knew that the entire army and the agency personnel probably suspected it was Otter Woman who had tried to kill her, and she had done everything in her power to keep them from arresting her. She glanced at Otter Woman, saw fear and defense come into her eyes at the approach of a “bluecoat.” She put on a smile for Teller. “None at all, Lieutenant. I was just getting acquainted with Otter Woman.”

  Janine’s eyes widened as she and the lieutenant came closer. “Evy, you shouldn’t—”

  “We’re having a very nice conversation,” Evelyn interrupted, trying to warn the woman with her eyes not to say anything more. “Otter Woman was just telling me she would like me to come and visit her grandmother.” She turned her gaze to Otter Woman. “Weren’t you, Otter Woman?”

  Otter Woman refused to even look at the lieutenant. “Yes,” she said meekly, aware that Evelyn Gibbons was trying to protect her. Was she truly sincere in her concern, or was she trying to trick her? Why did this woman continue to protect her?

  Teller scrutinized the situation with discerning blue eyes, stroking his mustache thoughtfully. “You sure everything is all right here?” he repeated.

  Evelyn nodded. “I’m sure. How did you and Janine like the circus?”

  Janine stood gawking at Otter Woman. The lieutenant answered for them. “It was wonderful,” he said, his eyes still showing concern. He put an arm around Janine. “And by the way, Janine and I are going to be married in October. I’ve had to send for the rings—they’re hard to come by out here. But the engagement is still official.”

  Evelyn smiled, reaching out with her right arm to embrace Janine, finally drawing her attention away from Otter Woman. “Janine, I’m so happy for you!”

  Janine finally smiled and turned her attention to Evelyn. “Yes. We were coming to tell you when we saw you talking with Otter Woman.” She glanced again at Otter Woman, who had moved farther away from them. “Evy, you—”

  “Everything is fine,” Evelyn assured her. “And I’m so happy for you!”

  “We still have to tell John. Don’t say anything if you see him. Jacob is being transferred to Fort Leonard in November, so I will have to give up the missionary service then. I just feel bad for John. We have always worked together. He’ll be so alone.” She kept hold of Evelyn’s hand. “I wish he, too, could find a companion. He’s a lonely man, Evy.”

  Evelyn caught the meaning of the words. The woman wanted to see her brother with her, not with Anita Wolf; but this was not the time or place to argue about it. She had many things to discuss with the reverend, and number one on the list was Anita, no matter how angry it made him whenever she brought up the issue. “He will find someone, Janine. In the meantime, he is a grown man and doesn’t need you to keep mothering him. You are going to be the wife of Lieutenant Jacob Teller. John will be happy for you.”

  Janine smiled, looking up at the lieutenant and thinking herself the luckiest woman who ever walked. She had always considered herself too plain to be attractive to any man. She knew Teller was not the most handsome man who ever walked, but in her eyes he was a knight in shining armor. It would be difficult to leave John and the reservation, but her place would be to follow her husband wherever he was sent. “We’re going to the church now to talk to John,” she told Evelyn. “I wish he would have come to the circus, but he is studying for his sermon on Sunday.”

  “Your brother works much too hard. I will have a talk with him myself about that,” Evelyn answered her. “You really should see if you can’t talk him into coming to the next show.”

  The lieutenant and Janine both stood there hesitantly. “You sure it’s all right to leave you here alone with…” Teller cleared his throat. “Miss Gibbons, we have strong suspicions—”

  Otter Woman stepped even farther away from them.

  “You’re wrong, Lieute
nant, I assure you. I am having quite a pleasant conversation with Otter Woman. You two go ahead and ride to the church. It will take you at least a half hour.” Evelyn decided to say nothing about what she had learned from Beverly Evans. She did not want to spoil the moment for Janine. She would talk to John Phillips about it tomorrow.

  Teller frowned, but nodded in resignation. “You be careful, Miss Gibbons. Don’t forget that someone—” He glanced over at Otter Woman, then back to Evelyn. “Tried to kill you,” he finished. “It could happen again.”

  “I don’t think that it will,” Evelyn answered. “They can see that it didn’t work the first time. Since it could have brought considerable trouble to the Sioux, I think whoever tried to hurt me has probably already been properly chastised by his own people.”

  Teller nodded. “I hope you’re right.” He left with Janine, and Evelyn turned to Otter Woman, who stood several feet away now, watching her sullenly.

  “You are not a very wise woman,” Otter Woman told her.

  Evelyn stepped closer. “Perhaps not. But I think you are wise, Otter Woman, wise enough to understand you must never again try to hurt me. Not only would it be trouble for you, but for all your people. You should know as well as anyone that when one Sioux commits a crime, often all of them suffer for it. Besides, you could have gotten Black Hawk killed. The soldiers beat him badly when they found me with him. It would not have taken much to give them cause to shoot him, the mood they were in that day. If he had brought me back dead, they just might have shot him.”

  Otter Woman turned away. “I thought I was protecting him… from you.”

  “You only made more trouble for him.” Evelyn studied the woman’s cropped hair. In spite of what Otter Woman had done to her, she was sorry for the way Black Hawk had spoiled what beauty she had left, and for the shame it must bring her. She knew she should take pleasure in the sight, but she could not. “Otter Woman, you have no reason to hate me. Black Hawk did not attack you in defense of me. He did it because of a vision that is very important to him. You almost destroyed the chance for him to discover what the spirits mean for him to do. You know how important visions are to your people, especially to a warrior like Black Hawk. It isn’t me he cares about; it’s the fact that he thinks I have something to do with his future. And if you want to know the truth, I have had dreams of my own. That is what brought me here, that and a love and concern for the Sioux. I grew up among Indians. My mother and father taught at a reservation in Indian Territory for years. I am not your enemy. Please understand that.”

  The woman met her gaze, and Evelyn was sure she saw tears in her eyes. She studied her intently for a moment before speaking again. “What is this vision? Do you belong to Black Hawk?”

  Evelyn shook her head. “No one can belong to another human being, Otter Woman. As far as Black Hawk’s vision, I can’t tell you what it is or what it means. That is only for Black Hawk to do, if he chooses. Nor do I understand my own dreams, but those dreams are the reason I went to see Night Hunter. That should tell you how much I trust and respect your own people. How many whites would go to Night Hunter and ask for his advice, believe in his wisdom?”

  Otter Woman sniffed holding her chin proudly. “I do not understand you. You are not like the other white women who have come before you who behaved as though just to touch us is a terrible thing. Great fear always showed in their eyes. Even the men, the preachers like John Phillips, look down on us. They do not even try to understand our ways. Their minds are set that we are bad, that nothing we believe is right. They think they must change every part of us—our spirits, our hearts, our clothes, our hair, our way of life. They do not want us to be Indian in any way.”

  “I understand that, and I believe it is wrong. I have already been in some trouble for the way I think and the way I believe the Sioux should be taught. Do you think either Black Hawk or Night Hunter would listen to one thing I had to say if they did not believe I was sincere? If they did not see into my soul and know that I am not like all the others?”

  Otter Woman’s lips moved into a pout, and her dark eyes moved over her, as though to sum up her strength and her worth. “Perhaps not. But then perhaps you are just more clever than the others.”

  “That is for you to decide. I can only tell you the truth and hope that you believe me. In fact, to prove to the soldiers and others that you were not the one who tried to kill me, why don’t you come to my cabin tomorrow morning, and we will ride out together. I want to talk to Black Hawk’s sister. You can take me to her village. A few days after that, perhaps we can meet at Mother’s Nest, and you can guide me into Eagle Canyon to Black Hawk’s camp. I could never find my way alone, and I need to talk to him. You know where to find him. Will you take me?”

  Otter Woman looked at her as though she were crazy. “You want me to take you into Eagle Canyon alone?”

  “Yes. I am afraid if I don’t talk to Black Hawk soon, I might lose all chance of still convincing him to send Little Fox to school. If I can talk Many Birds into coming, and can then tell Black Hawk she will be there, maybe he will still send him.”

  “He will not send the boy. He is very bitter.” Otter Woman put a hand to her hair self-consciously. “And he told me I must never go near you or come to his camp again.”

  “That was because he thought you would try to hurt me again. If you lead me to his camp, he will see that you have changed your mind about me. He will forgive you, and you won’t have to be afraid of him. He won’t bring you any harm if I explain that I asked you to take me there.”

  Otter Woman bit her lower lip in thought. “Perhaps I will take you to his camp; and I will think about taking you to see Many Birds.”

  The woman whirled and walked away without another word. Evelyn wondered what had possessed her to put herself in her care, to travel alone with her into Eagle Canyon. There was not one person on the entire reservation who would not think she was a complete fool for taking such a chance, but it was her only hope of winning Otter Woman’s trust and confidence.

  “This is outrageous!” John Phillips paced the forward section of the church, while Evelyn sat up front in one of the hand-carved pews, hating to give the man the bad news.

  “I saw her two days ago,” she said, referring to Beverly Evans. “By now the circus has gone on up to Fort Yates. A couple of days after that they head for Cheyenne. I didn’t know whether it was my place to mention anything at all. I supposed Reverend Evans had already said something to you.”

  “I have heard nothing from the man.” He faced her. “Does he intend to let her go? Just like that? In God’s name, why doesn’t he go after his wife?”

  “I suppose because he thinks she has committed an unforgivable sin.”

  Phillips frowned. “Well, I didn’t mean that he should take her back. That is a personal matter for them. But to be married to someone… I mean, surely he loved the woman. Surely he sees the folly of her ways and is concerned with how badly she could be hurt by this… this devil Herbert True! If he is any kind of man, he will try to stop her, bring her to her senses! Didn’t you try to?”

  Evelyn sighed. “In my own way; but you didn’t see her, Reverend. She was simply glowing, totally oblivious to any warnings. She didn’t want to hear anything I had to say, or believe that Herbert True is anything but a prince. I could see that there was no use trying to talk her out of it, and then Mr. True was there, and I couldn’t say anything in front of him. I could tell on the way out here, Reverend, that Beverly was a very unhappy woman. All her life she’s been—”

  “Who are you to judge? Who are you, twenty years old and never married, an independent, forward-thinking woman who cares little for rules and the high morals of men like Greggory Evans, to say it was right for his wife to run off with an obvious cad… a womanizer!”

  Evelyn felt her cheeks growing hot, as rage burned within. “I judge no one, Reverend and I do care for rules and morals! I never said it was right for Beverly
to do this. I wanted desperately to stop her, but she was not about to listen. If you had been there, you could not have stopped her any more than I could!” She rose from her seat. “And do not speak to me of morals and caring! If you truly cared about others, you wouldn’t think it was so terrible that I tried to help Black Hawk and his son! You wouldn’t be so quick to judge people like me, and like Beverly. You wouldn’t be so callous toward Anita Wolf! And what about Lucille and Katy Bridges! What have you done for those poor girls?”

  He frowned fingering the lapels of his neat brown suitcoat. “What do you mean?”

  Evelyn closed her eyes to gain control. “Reverend, can’t you see what is going on under your nose? Those girls are being terribly mistreated. Seth Bridges treats them like little slaves. I don’t think Lucille cares one little bit for Sergeant Desmond but you said they were together at the dance, and I saw them together at the circus. Lucille looked very unhappy, and the sergeant was being much too familiar with her. She’s too young for a man like that, and for Seth to allow it to go on only shows what a poor father he is.”

  “I am aware there are problems there, but I believe Seth Bridges is a very dangerous man, one you certainly should stay away from. I have tried talking to him myself, and was greeted with a shotgun. The fact remains that those girls were legally adopted by Seth, and there are no laws that give us permission to go in and drag them out of there. I have petitioned to both the agency and the Army, and neither one wants to get involved in a civil matter. Believe me, I am certain that the more you interfere, the more problems you will create for those girls. You will only make Seth angry, and he’ll take that anger out on Lucille and Katy.”

  The reverend sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I wish you wouldn’t think I have no concern in that matter, Miss Gibbons… or for Anita. I am not as unfeeling as you think. I am, after all, a man who believes that because God loves all of us, who are we not to love everyone in return? I am a Christian, for goodness sake! You have totally misunderstood my feelings and motives. It’s just that… I have to be very careful. I was sent here by Mission Services, and they expect me to behave a certain way. I can’t get involved in civil matters, and I am not sure how they would feel about me getting personally involved with an Indian woman.”