Greatest Change

Chapter Nine: Closer

Last night they had crossed the river into unfamiliar territory, to everyone but Booker. Did he know that he had intentionally crossed into Sioux land? Well, it was a risk, but hopefully, it would pay off. As the men sat there silently bickering in their heads, they failed to notice in the trees above several Natives watching them.

Chayton saw the heavy guns they all possessed. Despite only being about six men in total, if these white men stumbled upon any Native encampments, no doubt they could do damage. But the young scout did not hear the murmurs of Clara, whose name had become so familiar to him. In fact, he had just been near the river, both of them reading The Scarlet Letter together. It was mostly Clara reading aloud, often stopping to explain the figurative language or dialect on each page. But he was suddenly called by Enapay to join him, and it sounded urgent. While Clara was getting stronger and wiser every day in this area, he still didn't think she was ready to join him. Besides, by the way Enapay spoke, it did sound as if he didn't want Clara joining.

Now he understood why. White people. Of course, Chayton knew that Clara wouldn't just forget everything and run to them with open arms. But there was a fear in the back of his mind that if she were exposed to once a familiar life, she might miss it and want to return. Despite her being a bit of annoyance with Chayton, his father breathing down his neck on forcing her to leave, he was growing to love her. He knew he was. The mornings were spent with smiles, the afternoons spent with training, and evenings spent with small conversations on questions she had. She had a new issue every day, yet learned faster than anyone he had ever met. He admired her, significantly. She was so generous, often helping with the women cook despite spending a tiring day training or scouting. The women were also grown to appreciate her presence. It seemed like every day, Clara's color faded. Of course, she was still white as ever in appearance, but the veils in his tribe's eyes were becoming more colorblind. Clara was nicer than most of the Sioux women, who could be cold and very quiet. But not Clara.

She was just a complete mess of kindness, happiness, stubbornness, quietness, and gentleness. Chayton could not deny the way she made him feel each morning when exiting her tipi. Whether her hair was messy, perhaps even a small scowl on her face from the mud or even the simplicity of her attire, just the sight of her sent him into another world, as if he were one of the Spirits above admiring her. She was beautiful and got even more gorgeous as they days passed. Ever since her gentle lips had touched the side of his own, he had thought what it would feel like for their lips to collide. As a boy, he remembered being so disgusted by the idea of a kiss, or why it was a sign of affection. And yet now, it seemed he could not go a full day without thinking about taking that first move. But what held him back?

Privacy, for one thing, was a major issue. The only time they had alone was scouting or the early mornings, but he just never had found the right opportunity. Another problem was his own anxiety about it. Yes, there were constant visions of them being together. Even Shaman was pushing him to grow up and just make a move, but what if it was all wrong? Clara was a kind person in general. What if all of this was just her being friendly and caring for him? He could be misinterpreting the whole thing, right? These thoughts had always distracted him.

A snap could be heard, and it wasn't long until Chayton could feel his balance lose itself as he fell straight to the ground. Immediately the white men stood to their feet, bewildered by the Native to just fall from the sky. But before they could move to grab their weapons, or even tilt their heads up, the Sioux scouts had surrounded them with bows pulled and daggers in hands. They were severely outnumbered and obviously wouldn't win this fight. Chayton cursed in his head for being so distracted, but it wasn't that bad, right? Instead of sitting up there thinking of a plan on rounding up these men, it seemed his slight clumsiness had brought the opportunity to itself. He stood up with a grunt, brushing the dirt off him before noticing all the men staring at him.