[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
as icicles.
Isaac was stopped momentarily. He hardly knew what to say.
I mean, it's good of you to remind us of our Christian duty, Orlena went on, retreating. We have a tendency to forget, or get so wound up in our own affairs, that we
need good family leaders like you and Uncle James to remind us of our ethical and moral duties.
He sighed, leaned back, and said nothing.
Later, getting ready for bed, Orlena said to her husband, We may have to take her and the baby in, but that don't mean I have to have anything to do with her.
At least, they say she hasn't been trying to run away, lately, said Ruff, through lips that hardly parted. That ought to make it a little easier.
Ruff O'Quinn, dressed in his church clothes, brought the buggy around to the front porch and drove the family the few miles to the church in the village of Ben Wheeler.
StillSheMourns sat on the rumble seat and looked at the countryside. Anderson County was another place with too many trees. Pine trees, the size of a man's waist
and bigger much bigger were everywhere. She understood that, among other things, Ruff O'Quinn had a sawmill to
Page 136
make these trees into lumber to build more houses. The open places where men had fields only made her more lonesome. She still wanted to return to the prairies of
the high plains. But no one would guide her to the prairies.
At the church, dozens of people were standing around, just waiting to meet the strangers. Ruff and Orlena introduced Cynthia Ann and Topsannah to them all. Still
SheMourns always looked down quickly whenever anyone looked her straight in the eye.
StillShMourns remembered only one of the couples, T. J. Cates and his wife, Frances, because the man had insisted on a proper name. Jist call me T. J., he said.
Don't call me Tom, and don't call me Jeff~ T. J. will do nicely. StillSheMourns knew the importance of correct names. This was the only white person she had ever
met who seemed to share that knowledge.
And is this little Topsannah? asked his wife, Frances, reaching for the child. How old are you now, dear?
Four, said Topsannah. Wanta see me dance?
Why, sure. She put the child on the ground.
TohTseeAh began whirling, chanting a little rhyme:
I'm a little Injun, Whoop, Whoop!
I can run and dance &
Oh, my, said Frances with a stop in her throat. She picked Topsannah up again. Maybe we'd better not do that one now. Maybe later. She was afraid the rhyme
would be pants and the meaning would be vulgar. Wherever did she learn such a thing as that? she asked Orlena.
Orlena pulled herself up straight and took a deep breath. Don't ask me. I'm not responsible.
She's certainly a bright little girl, said T. J., reaching out to touch TohTseeAh's hand. You must be very proud of her, he added to Cynthia Ann.
StillSheMourns could only smile and look down. She had no words to express her ambiguity: that, yes, she was proud of a daughter that learned rapidly~ and, no, she
was repulsed by what the child was learning.
Page 137
Later, StillSheMourns walked in the pasture near her sister's house with TohTseeAh. They were right, she thought~ it was time for the child to learn about important
things. The child could talk well and understand much. StillSheMourns had been so wrapped up in her own concerns and so dulled by her own depressions that she
had neglected the prairie flower's education~ she had hardly noticed how rapidly the child was developing. She resumed talking to TohTseeAhne in Comanche.
Your father is Peta Nocona. He is leader of a band called the Noconi, the Wanderers. They are part of a group called Quahada, the Antelope. Do you know what an
antelope is? He's an animal about this high she made a gesture and he runs around on the open prairie. He can run very fast, and bounce and jump even more
than you can. When you meet one of them, he stops, lifts his head, and looks at you. His horns curl like this: She curled her forefingers above her head to imitate prong
horns.
TohTseeAh giggled and put her fingers up to make the sign of an antelope also.
That's right, said StillSheMourns. When they see a person, they bounce away, like this. She hopped in imitation of an antelope. But they're so curious. They
don't know what's good for them. They have to stop and look at you. She turned, fingers still up as prong horns, imitating an antelope investigating the approaching
hunter.
If the hunter makes a big motion to scare them, they will run, of course. Or if the hunter just stands still, the antelope will get bored and bounce away, showing his big
white rump. They've got big patches of white hair on their backsides she bent over, rubbing her hands along her buttocks, to draw the white patches of an
antelope and they bounce away, showing the hunter their white rumps.
TohTseeAh bounced away also, in imitation of her mother.
So the hunter has to do something to make the antelope curious.
Page 138
Flashing a mirror is good. The antelope sees the flash and says to himself, Now, what in the world could that be? I'll just have to get a little closer look. So he walks
slowly, creeps, toward the hunter she crept toward TohTseeAhne and, all the time, he's saying to himself, I'm about to get into trouble. My curiosity is about
to get me in trouble. I'd better run away. So, he'll run back, just a little way. But his interest won't let him run very far.
TohTseeAh giggled as StillSheMourns acted out the part of the antelope.
So he comes right back, said StillSheMourns. He comes right up close, to see what all that activity is. Then the hunter draws his bow she straightened up to
became the hunter and, thunk, the arrow finds it mark, and we all have food to eat tonight.
She folded her arms and dropped the pantomime. She had almost made herself cry. The little game had brought it all back~ she could see the prairie in perfect detail as
she went through all the acts of an antelope hunt. For a moment, she had been back there on the plains, where she loved and was loved, where she spent her time
working, cutting and drying the meat, making buffalo robes, repairing moccasins or leggings, preparing the food for her husband.
Then what? asked TohTseeAh, jumping up and down.
Oh, we'll cut some of the meat in strips and dry roast it for later. We'll hang some on sharp sticks before a fire and let them cook. Oh, TohTseeAhne, she
whimpered, suddenly sitting in the grass and drawing her daughter to her, I want to be there~ the need sits in my chest like a big wolf who is eating my heart away. I
want to be there on the prairie & and hunt the antelope & and cook. &
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]