Chapter Four
Precautious Measures
Kaitlin retrieved her waterproof basket she was constructing. Her other one was in constant use to soak the soap roots she used to bathe and clean with daily. Another finely woven basket to hold water would be welcomed and well-used.
On this night, Spirit Bear took flint pieces to shape into arrow heads. He’d told Kaitlin he was working on preparing for the buffalo hunt that the tribe usually did before the winter months, but he also was preparing for war. It was an untimely thing to do before his wedding in about a month, but war never chose well. The Crow could not be permitted to prowl Sioux lands. They would be driven forth!
Kaitlin watched him as she prepared her weaving materials. He seemed so intense on his work. Usually she could not look at him for but a moment before he turned his stygian eyes upon her. His power was focused as he shaped the sharp tips for arrows.
She worked on her basket slowly. It was precise work, and she was more interested in watching her fiancé zero his vast power into such precision as to make the delicate-looking arrowheads. She admired his sleek and graceful moves. For such a big man to hold such composure astounded her.
His body was honed to physical perfection. Even his forearm muscles rippled with unbound strength that he mastered in the art of knapping. She watched as he struck the flint onto a conical structure in his lap, and another sliver of sharp flaking broke free.
Woniya Mato held the new sliver up to examine. It was thin and sharp. When sharpened and shaped onto the end of a light shaft, it would sink deeply into the tough hide of a bison… or a deadly enemy, toka.
Kaitlin watched the warrior as he began to work on shaping the stone tip. He had a very thick piece of rawhide in his lap. He held the flint in place with his thumb while he placed an antler tine onto the spot he wanted to whittle. Then he placed a stone tool on top of the antler and applied pressure until a sliver from the opposite side broke free. He repeated this procedure until slowly, and arrow head took shape.
Next, he took a core of obsidian. He repeated the entire process with the shiny black stone. When he was finished, two very sharp instruments of death were ready to be united with a light shaft with feather guides.
Light was waning when Kaitlin stood to take her basket weaving supplies back into their home. Her day had been long, and she was weary. The chief stayed outside a little longer to clean up his sharp flakes so that none would damage feet or shoes on the needle-like shavings.
When the man she loved entered the tipi, Kaitlin was already asleep. Spirit Bear stripped and lay down beside her. He loved to watch her relaxed features.
Her honeyed hair spilled around the top of her head, for she did not like it against her neck while she rested. Her finely arched brows flitted delicately above her thickly fringed eyes. Those golden orbs were now resting behind fragile pinkish lids.
Her nose was straight with a hint of being pert. Her lips were just right. They could not be called full, but neither were they thin.
Her cheekbones were fairly high, and shallow hollows underneath them added to her beauty. Her chin was feminine, and her forehead was of medium height. He’d never seen a finer specimen of womanhood.
He wished he could break her habit of wearing the robe-garment to bed. She was so modest! Slowly, as not to disturb her, he unlaced the braided leather ties and removed the garment from her. His body would be all the heat she would need this night.
In the morning, there would be a warrior’s meeting in the ceremonial lodge. The tribal council would be present as well. A decision would be made on what to do about the imposing Crow. His mind kept straying to his toga as he tried to relax.
Many hours passed before sleep claimed the mighty warrior. His arm was possessively draped over the winyan of his heart. His sleep was light, and he awoke well before the first morning bird.
When the first bird’s song broke the stillness before dawn, Woniya Mato could wait no longer. Slowly he untied the laces of Kaitlin’s breechcloth. He inhaled as her fully uninhibited beauty struck him yet again. He loved this ska winyan more than life itself.
His hands began to lightly explore and stroke her body. She smiled in her sleep and muttered his name. His seductive mouth perked in pleasure at her response.
He increased the pressure of his hands as they rubbed up and down the full length of her body. He gently rolled her to her back and focused on her beautiful and shapely breasts. With a groan, he bent his head down.
Kaitlin stirred to passionate arousal. When she opened her languid golden eyes, they met the hot blackness of his. Her lips parted, and she licked them; it was almost more than the war chief could bear…
Immediately upon completion of their lovemaking, Spirit Bear propped himself up.
“I was not too rough, was I, Mazaska Zi Ista?” he asked sheepishly.
“Hiya, my chief. It was welcomed if you could not guess,” she smiled at him.
“You are sure that I did not hurt you? I am not usually so… harsh when I take a woman.”
“Hiya, my chief,” she repeated. “I enjoyed this coupling.”
Woniya Mato hugged her to him, still feeling a little guilty for losing control over his stringent restraint. The beauty not only of her body but also of her soul caused him to be weak with her. Spirit Bear knew he might be facing war and absence by her side for a time. It made his taking of her more insistent. They lay, still as one, until time finally receded that part of him. He kissed her again before he rose.
“I have an important meeting in the tribal council lodge this morning,” he told her. “I should be back by the time you come to eat your mid-day meal.”
She nodded her understanding.
“If you leave to gather food, take a group with you. If only one will come, see if a young man will accompany you.”
She turned her head to meet his look of serious concern.
“Why, Woniya Mato? Have I displeased you in some way?”
He met her question with a heated look that made her blood boil afresh. “You need to ask me that, Wastelaka? You please me much. This is why I must enforce this precaution. You have not witnessed this since your stay with us, but the Sioux have many toka. Many seek to destroy our strong band. We must always stay wary and vigilant so that we can meet and destroy all threats.”
“Tos, my chief. I will do as you ask.”
He nodded and turned. The warrior headed to the entrance flap.
“Do you not wish to eat first, Woniya Mato?”
“Hiya, but I will eat if you make something at mid-day.” He could not tell her that his adrenaline was already brimming with the excitement of gathering a troop to drive the Crow from their lands. With one last look from his dark eyes, he was gone.
Kaitlin sighed and grabbed her mniapahta. She might as well begin her normal chores since she was up. As the fire began to blaze, she placed a pot over the flames and dumped in the remaining water for her morning tea. When the water began to boil, she sprinkled mint leaves over the top of the water.
After if boiled for about five minutes, she removed the pot from the flames to let the tea seep. She went to the place of privacy and refilled the mniapahtas while she waited for the water to cool.
She added crushed raspberry and strained the leaves from the beverage. Then she poured it into a horn cup. She drank the concoction she’d grown to love.
She gathered wood for herself and the tipis of Wawat’ecaka and Wawakankan. She wanted to help the other woman as much as she helped her. She also wanted to repay her kindness and loving friendship. Gentle Rabbit emerged from her tipi when Kaitlin began stacking the dry wood.
“Thank you, Mazaska Zi Ista! You rise early this day!”
“Tos, Woniya Mato had a council meeting.”
The older woman’s eyebrow shot up. She did not voice any words, but Kaitlin could sense unease in her friend.
“What is it, Wawat’ecaka? Is there something to worry about?”
“Hiya, Mazaska Zi Ista. The chief will tell us all we need to know.” She stacked the last stick of wood and said, “Uwa yo, let us work the sacred hide once more. In four more moons, the hide will be finished.”
The exhausted women returned before noon to the camp. Kaitlin wanted to prepare her man a good meal because he’d missed breakfast. She took the net she’d woven from grasses that grew by the river. She would return to the banks to try to capture a fish.
She knew the perfect place. Upstream, the river water spilled over a rock ledge. The back waters swirled into a pool carved into the bank over time. The pool reminded Kaitlin of a pond, but the only difference was that it was never separated from the main body.
She could enter the pond where the water swirled in, always alternating fresh water with old. Then she could drive the bigger more cautious fish forward and net one.
Heeding Woniya Mato’s warning about going alone, she asked Desert Rose, Playful Otter, Morning Dove, and Moon Eyes to come with her. The four women gladly accompanied her. In fact, they all wanted to help in the fun. They laughed and joked as they entered the waterway together.
“Oh, look! There are six nice ones!” Playful Otter pointed out.
“If we can catch them all, you each will get one to take back to your tipi,” Kaitlin offered, “and one left over for Wawat’ecaka!”
“My husband would be pleased,” Morning Dove said happily.
The women slowly moved in on the wary fish. They darted to and fro and then regrouped. The aquatic animals sensed the trap but one broke forward and the rest followed. The women, each grasping the net, surged forward and surrounded the panicked fish.
Collectively, the women lifted the net upwards and six fat, shiny fish flipped their tails in the bright light. All appeared to be big-mouth bass. When they hauled the animals onto the bank, the women fell over, laughing.
“That was fun! Anytime you need assistance catching fish, we’d love to help you,” Moon Eyes exclaimed.
When she arrived back at the village, Kaitlin took one of the two fish to Wawat’ecaka. Then she returned to prepare her own for lunch. She used her skillet to prepare a fish stew. She boiled the whole fish. She placed chopped tubers, onion, carrot and Tinpsila into the boiling water. She mixed a batch of aguyapi. She used wild grain and acorn powder with bigger pieces of the nut.
The meal was complete upon Woniya Mato’s arrival. He smiled at her when he entered. He was so handsome!
She dipped out the stew into a bowl and brought him it with the aguyapi. She poured water from the mniapahta.
“Eat with me, Mazaska Zi Ista. Within our own tipi, I would like to share your company while I eat. I will close the entrance flap to ensure our privacy.”
Her eyes widened. The chief wanted to break the age-old custom and eat with a woman? She was very surprised but didn’t question his request. She didn’t like the tradition and was only too glad to bend the rules. Besides, she was hungry.
“Um, this is good,” Spirit Bear said in praise.
“Thank you,” she responded.
She wanted to ask him about the council meeting, but she didn’t think he’d confide that much in her. She wasn’t sure if she really wanted to know. She’d learned her lesson about men matters when she watched her chief extract vengeance upon Jed!