Brave Beginnings Read Online Free Page B

hunt buffalo, we’ll do better,”
Citlali announced, obviously proud of their new weapons.
    Knowing the question wouldn’t please Citlali,
Chogan directed his gaze to Gary and asked, “Will you go to your
aunt and sister’s now?”
    Gary nodded. “I better. If I don’t, they’ll
probably track me down at the tribe.” With a grin, he added, “Now
that Julia knows how to use a bow and arrow, I don’t want to risk
upsetting her.”
    Immediately, the memory of the days he and
Julia spent hunting rabbits came to Chogan’s mind, and he felt a
smile tug at his lips. Those had been, perhaps, the best moments
he’d ever shared with another person. As soon as the wave of
pleasure washed over him, the reminder of her refusal to marry him
came crashing down on him. But she hadn’t rejected him. She made
the offer for him to make the move into her world—the white man’s
world—so they could be together.
    He hadn’t been ready to leave his tribe.
Glancing at the men who walked by with their hats, suits and coats,
he wondered if he was ready now. Could he ever leave his people,
his heritage, even if it meant he could be with her? He thought her
world had stifled her. Its restraints had pressed her in on all
sides. She had the inner fire that he couldn’t imagine this world
accepted from a woman. She had been honored for shooting a Sioux
with an arrow when the tribe was attacked, but would she receive
such honor here? Or would the men condemn her for her act of
bravery?
    Chogan returned his attention to Gary. “I
will go with you.”
    Gary nodded.
    Achai leaned forward, whispered, “Remember to
smile so you don’t scare her off,” and joined Citlali at the wagon
they would take back to the tribe.
    Chogan mounted his steed and waited for Gary
to lead the way through the busy streets of Bismarck. He scanned
the buildings and wondered why these people didn’t feel restricted.
They went about their business, seeming to be content with their
imprisonment. He didn’t know if he could do it—make the switch to
living here. He was used to the open land; there was a sense of
freedom in it. Didn’t Julia miss that?
    A young boy darted in front of his horse, so
Chogan pulled back on the reins and waited until the boy was safely
back with his mother on the sidewalk before he directed the steed
to continue. As he passed them, he heard the mother whisper
something about staying away from the savage. Skin bristling,
Chogan’s head snapped in the woman’s direction. Her eyes grew wide
before she clutched her child’s hand and scurried off down the
sidewalk.
    “Ignore it,” Gary said.
    “That’s easy for you to say. You’re white,”
Chogan bitterly replied.
    “I put up with it too. They just call me
different names.”
    Chogan couldn’t argue with that statement,
and there was no doubt Gary’s daughter would have a rough time of
it when she grew up if she chose to associate with the white man’s
world. They’d label her a half-breed. “Doesn’t it bother you?”
    Gary shrugged. “I figure it’s their problem.
Not mine.”
    If only such thinking came as easily to me,
Chogan thought. Why couldn’t the white people be as welcoming as
the tribes in the area were? No. He couldn’t live here. The only
thing he could do was ask Julia to come with him and hope she’d say
yes.
     
    ***
     
    Millicent Edwards leaned forward in the
parlor chair and giggled into her handkerchief.
    Julia gave a polite smile, wondering what it
was, exactly, that her cousin found so amusing about a rip in her
petticoat.
    As if Millicent understood Julia’s confusion,
she said, “I know no one can see my petticoats, but I’d die of
embarrassment if I left the house in such a morbid condition.”
    “Did you know that Indian women don’t wear
petticoats?”
    Millicent’s eyes grew wide. “I never thought
about it, but they do dress differently from us. Oh, they must feel
naked.”
    Julia set the cup on the table next to her
chair. “I