"Here," said Brings-the-water-woman in Blackfeet, handing a carved-out buffalo-horn bowl of boiling hot soup to Amelia. "Take this to my nephew," she signed. "Here, I will hold the tepee flap open for you."
Amelia nodded.
"Be careful not to spill it. If you hold it here"—she pointed to the two ends—"it is a little cooler to the touch."
"I will do my best not to spill it and will hold it as you suggest," Amelia said in English, unable to sign the words since her hands were full of the heated and steaming soup.
Bending, Amelia entered Gray Falcon's family lodge. She was not encouraged when silence fell over the assemblage of men. However, as though to conceal their shock at seeing her, they began to speak to each other quietly, and she noticed that none of the men, except Gray Falcon, looked at her. And, his look at her seemed a little surprised.
Stepping around the lodge, she at last came to stand by Gray Falcon's right-hand side and said in English, "Excuse me," as she bent down to hand him the soup. But, the buffalo-horn bowl had become much too hot to the touch, even though she held it by its ends. Indeed, it was so heated she could no longer hold it without burning her fingers, and, flinching involuntarily, the bowl slipped out of her hands, spilling most of the hot liquid onto Gray Falcon's naked thigh, for he was only wearing a breechcloth.
Thinking to spare him the embarrassment of her clumsiness, she murmured, "Oh, I'm sorry," and, utilizing her fingers much like a cloth, she bent down farther toward him, brushing the hot soup off his thigh with her hand.
As he brought his gaze up toward her, his pained, yet surprised, expression met hers.
Silence filled the lodge, and Amelia, still bent over Gray Falcon, felt so embarrassed, she stood immediately upright. Then, lifting her glance to look at the other men sitting in a circle, she realized she had committed some kind of faux pas because no one dared to look back at her, though she heard a few low-pitched chuckles.
And, then the worst happened: all at once, Gray Falcon sprang up to his feet as though he had been shot from a gun. Without pausing for a moment, he practically burst from the lodge, leaving behind a very stunned and astonished Amelia.
She blushed. Obviously she had embarrassed him. And, she could only surmise he had been so pained, he'd had to rush out of the lodge.
How was she ever to make this up to him? To his family?
Picking up the buffalo-horn bowl, she held it closely to her since the bowl no longer held any liquid. She stumbled then toward the tepee flap, and, as she fled from the place of her seeming "crime," she heard the sound of laughter following in her wake.
But, whatever she had done wrong, she hadn't meant to do it.
Still, whether intended or not, she had never felt so embarrassed, and she didn't stop running until, at last, she had run all the way to the tepee she shared with Sharon. But, not even her own lodge felt like a safe haven, and she soon found herself jumping up, stepping out over the tepee flap and darting as fast as she was able to the bluffs in the distance. Perhaps there she might find some peace.
****
She touched me high up on my thigh. And, her fingers tapped me like a caress.
Gray Falcon's immediate and masculine response to her had been as instant a reaction as if he'd picked up a hot coal. He'd been unable to control his ready male reaction, and he'd had no option but to flee the evening meal and allow his body to cool.
The evening swim had helped him gain control over his responses and had let his body's difficulty return its normal state, but he couldn't help but wonder what he was going to do with this woman who could cause him to respond to her with little more than a look or a simple touch.
Simple?It had been done in front of his elders and family.
Thinking about her brought on another consideration: he had thought she would find the daily tasks—as were expected of her as a Pikuni woman—to be difficult and unpleasant. In truth, he had expected her to be gone by now or at least to be making plans to leave. But, this wasn't so.
He'd recently observed—and his auntie had seen this, also—that the manner in which she worked with his sister appeared as though the two of them were having fun. And, more times than not, he'd seen his sister and A'sitápi laughing or giggling over one thing or another. Indeed, it seemed to him as if she were enjoying the chores given her. Perhaps he might engage in a more abundant hunt and bring her triple the amount of work. In this way, mightn't she, at last, realize she didn't take well to Indian life?
He gritted his teeth, remembering how he had bolted from his parents' tepee tonight. His only option had been to race to the river, and there he had swum within the water's cold depths until his problem had diminished. Drying off in the warm evening air, he was considering returning to his parents' lodge and facing the teasing that was certain to be his. But, his attention suddenly went to A'sitápi.
Had he stunned her with his sudden departure? Of course his behavior would have caused her some embarrassment. And, being young and female, she might not have understood his response to the simple touch of her hand upon his thigh.
He frowned. He was certain she would not have remained at his parents' lodge after suffering such an embarrassment. Perhaps he had best discover, then, where she had gone before returning there.
With this thought in mind, he trod toward her lodge and scratched on the entrance flap, glancing quickly inside when no answer came from within.
No one was about. Where had she gone? To her sister's?
Quickly, he paced the few steps necessary to take him to her sister's lodge. No, she wasn't there, either.
Returning to A'sitápi's lodge, he quickly glanced over the ground and discovered her easily recognizable prints. Realizing he owed her an explanation, he set off to find her.
