Laylah looked sideways at her sister and said, "I help Eagle Heart sometimes with herbs and their remedies when he is ministering to people. I must go to him. He is trying to save the life of a great chief, who was injured this day when the canon fire caused a branch of a tree to break. There was a sharp part of the branch that cut into the chief's chest. Will you watch my son for me while I am gone? He should sleep well, but I would like someone to be here if he should awaken."
"Of course I will."
"And, you will stay with her, Mr. Falcon? She is new here and should have someone to help her and look after her."
Gray Falcon nodded.
Arising, Laylah hurriedly gathered together several bundles and bags that were hanging from the tepee lining and the lodge poles. Before she left, she said, "I will return here as soon as I can. But, I might be there with my husband through the night."
"Do not worry about us or your son," said Amelia. "We will watch him and ensure his needs are met."
"Thank you. How glad I am you are here." Barely had Laylah said the words than she trod to the entrance flap and, bending, stepped out into the night.
"You will stay with me, won't you?" Amelia asked Gray Falcon, raising her glance to his.
Gray Falcon nodded and said, "I will, since I have given my word to do so. But, you should know it is wrong of me to stay since we will be, once again, alone when we shouldn't be. But, their son, Ikoan, will not know you, and he might cry out too loudly and too long, waking others in the camp."
"So, will you stay, even if it might be through the night?"
"Áa," he said simply. "I will be here as long as I am not needed to help my friend."
She smiled, then glanced away toward the back of the lodge. "Tell me about the things I see in this tepee. What is this called?" She touched the lightly tanned buffalo hide that encircled the inner sanctum of the tepee. It was about five feet high and was decorated with blue, white and black designs.
"It is a tepee lining. It adds beauty and warmth to the lodge."
"And, what are those things that look like they are some kind of soft wood? There"—she pointed—"against the tepee lining."
"They are backrests and are very comfortable. They are made from willow branches." He suddenly looked her directly in the eye. "I have a suggestion for you."
"You do? What is it?"
"You have come here to see your sister and to renew our friendship?"
"I suppose one could say it this way."
"And, you have promised your mother to do the work of the Pikuni women and perhaps become so unhappy with the burden of work given to our women that you will soon tire of it and wish to return to the village of St. Louis?"
"Yes."
"She knows you desire to marry me? And, she wishes you to experience my people's way of life so you might perhaps decide you do not wish this for yourself?"
"Yes."
"Then, I suggest you should learn to do the work of a wife and see if it is to your liking."
"Yes, I think I should."
"And I believe," he went on to say, "that you should do this sort of work for me. After all, I have no wife and yet have many needs that my sisters usually attend to for me. They should be pleased to learn you have volunteered to do this work for me."
"You mean you want me to be your wife?" Was it too good to be true? But, on the tail end of this thought came another: if he really meant it, there would be trouble for her mother and her father…trouble she feared she might cause….
He quickly dashed her hopes as well as her fears, however, when he said, "Saa, no."
Amelia felt her enthusiasm plummet, and she couldn't help her smile turning to a frown. "No?"
"You would not be my wife. I would not ask you to become so close to me when you are not sure of me or of staying here. No, you would simply do the work of a wife. Since you wish to discover what it might be like to be a Pikuni man's woman, this is a path you might take to determine your likes or dislikes about the matter without damaging your reputation. And, it can be done without the attachment of having to care for a man's…needs."
"Needs? What do you mean by 'needs'?'"
