This is a fictional account.
Sarah hoped Two Bears would only be gone a short time but Red Fox told her it could be a lot longer. It did seem to take on more of an element of permanence when White Flower and Sally were told to move into Two Bears’ tepee about ten days after he was gone.
Sarah had cried herself to sleep most of those nights. She was sad and frustrated at the same time. She was sad because she missed Two Bears so bad. She was frustrated both with Gray Cloud and the situation which made Two Bears leave, as well as sexually. She missed Two Bears’ love in many ways.
Happier times came a week later as preparations began for Red Fox’s and Summer Wind’s wedding. Sarah joyfully helped her friend sew new clothes for Red Fox and her. Running Water and Summer Wind’s mother helped with the food preparations. The actual wedding ceremony would be the first Sally and Sarah had been allowed to attend.
Gray Cloud and Sarah spoke little during Two Bear’s absence. Sarah pleaded often with Running Water for help or guidance. It was no use though as she wouldn’t go against her husband by taking sides. Once Sarah had seen Red Fox arguing with Gray Cloud but they quieted as she approached so she did not know the nature of their conversation.
The actual wedding was a joyous occasion for all. Being a late fall wedding, flowers were not part of the decorations or the ceremonial dress the way they normally were. They made do with other decorations and a huge bonfire.
The wedding itself was over quickly with an exchange of vows and the giving of the bride by the father to Red Fox in exchange for a horse as agreed. It was followed though by a good meal and much dancing around the fire. The party went on till long after dark and long after Red Fox and Summer Wind retired to his tepee.
Sarah cried herself to sleep that night too. Two Bears had been gone nearly a month. Sarah was becoming quite lonely and withdrawn. If not for Summer Wind’s occasional company when Red Fox was off hunting, she might have really gone crazy. Sally too, was old enough to realize Sarah’s troubles. She tried to lift up her older sister’s spirits.
Sarah reasoned it was sometime around late November when the first snows came. Life for the Arapaho People was easier in the winter. That is, if you had plenty to eat and a warm fire. Gray Cloud’s family had plenty to eat and most of the time was spent gathering firewood or on crafts inside the tepees. Winter was the time for making new clothes, cooking utensils, weapons, or decorative things like jewelry or headdresses.
Sarah tried to stay busy as much as possible to dull the ache and longing for Two Bears. She spent a lot of time with Running Water and the two young girls making things. Also with Summer Wind, who showed her how to make wedding clothes much to the consternation of Running Water.
Two things happened that winter to affect the family. The old chief died one December day in his sleep. His health had been declining in recent months and he just passed away one night.
A sad burial ceremony followed. It was the first Sarah and Sally witnessed for a major village elder and one where the whole village participated. A huge funeral pyre was built and set ablaze after a large ceremony honoring their fallen leader.
The next week was filled with many tribal meetings as a new leader was to be chosen. Sarah learned from Summer Wind that Gray Cloud stood the best chance. The other chiefs and the medicine man, whom Sarah had met on that first day and been forced to perform oral sex on, were deemed too old. They were not the right kind of leaders the tribe needed for the challenges ahead.
Gray Cloud was younger and had proven himself the best leader for the Arapaho People to face the problems that confronted them. Others tried to step forward too but everyone knew Gray Cloud was the top contender. The complex problems the new leader would need to deal with would require great wisdom and skill. The usual tribal problems were always present but the new dilemmas of the white man added serious concerns to the future for the Arapaho.
After several days of meetings, Gray Cloud was chosen by a vote of all the elders as the new chief of the Arapaho Nation. A huge ceremony followed. Gray Cloud’s family, including Red Fox, Summer Wind, and Sarah were all to move into the center of the village as was the custom for the chief to be in the middle of his people.
When they moved, Two Bears’ tepee was reconstructed closer to Gray Cloud’s as the new permanent home of White Flower and Sally. Sarah’s tepee was on the outer edge of the chief’s inner circle as was Red Fox’s.
For the next several weeks after Gray Cloud’s inauguration as chief, he was constantly busy with tribal business. It gave Running Water and Sarah more time to spend together. It also gave Running Water, as Gray Cloud’s wife, more duties to attend to. One important one was the care of all the Arapaho People.
It was during one of these visits to other tribe members that Sarah once again went to the tepee of the old woman and younger girl. The reason for their going was a mission of mercy. The old woman and the young girl were lacking in food. Running Water and Sarah brought them some of theirs. Some dried meat and cakes they had made that morning.
Before the visit, Running Water shared with Sarah the history and the fate of the old woman and her daughter the younger girl. The old woman was a widower, twice over. At an early age she had lost her first husband to a bear attack on a hunting trip. She had successfully remarried which did not always happen within the tribe. The women that did not have husbands to provide shelter and food for them risked constant starvation. Without someone to hunt buffalo in the summers and deer and other meat in the fall, these women were forced to turn to any means they could to survive.
The old woman had lost her second husband relatively young too, this time to disease. She had a young daughter by then and was forced to provide services to the men and elder boys of the village in exchange for food and furs. The services were sexual in nature and payment was done on a credit type basis. After so many times, the man would be responsible for payment in the form of meat or hides.
To make matters worse for the two women, the younger girl near Sarah’s age was pregnant. Of course, she was the main desire for most of the men, not the old woman anymore. The birth control method using the corn cobs had apparently not been foolproof. Her growing stomach was affecting her desirability by the men of the tribe and ability to perform. If she couldn’t fuck, she needed to at least get clients for blowjobs. If not they would surely starve as they had no stores like the rest of the village people. Some generosity came from tribal members but few had much excess themselves to give.
As winter pressed on, one other young male Indian started showing interest in Sarah. He would come by and bring little gifts. Sometimes it was food. Sometimes it was an item he had made. He was nineteen like Sarah and his name was Black Eagle. He was a likeable enough guy but Sarah did not encourage him much. She still longed for Two Bears’ return even though months had now gone by without any word. She wasn’t even sure if he was still alive or not.
A heavy snowfall blanketed their winter home one day and forced all the Arapaho to stay indoors for several days. Life was more difficult in deep snow, when even finding places to relieve oneself were scarce. Bathing was not possible when the rivers were mostly ice and ponds were frozen over. Fire wood was even hard to find if you had not kept up your stockpiles.
One day Sarah went with Running Water again to visit the young pregnant girl. The old woman had died of illness probably brought on by near starvation. The mother had given most of the food to her pregnant daughter so at least they would survive the winter. Sarah carried wood for the woman and Running Water brought her dried meat and more cakes. Sarah felt very sorry for the young girl but there was not much else they could do.
The winter seemed long to Sarah but Running Water and Summer Wind kept telling her it wasn’t that bad. When the first signs of spring appeared, Sarah was delighted. She still missed Two Bears even though Black Eagle came by on occasion to see her and bring gifts. She would sit and talk with him for long periods but never much else. She sensed he was becoming inpatient with her. It was during one of these meetings, a rider came to tell Gray Cloud and Red Fox that Two Bears had been spotted. He was returning to the village.
It was an early spring day and many of the village turned out to witness his return. As Two Bears rode into the center of the village, he pulled with him two other horses loaded with furs and meat. He had apparently done a lot of hunting. He also had four new scalps attached to his spear.
Two Bears led his procession of horses right up to Gray Cloud’s tepee. Many in the village gathered around to watch the meeting of the two. There was much curiosity over the return of Two Bears. Naturally the whole family was there too, including Sarah. Two Bears rode right up to Gray Cloud and dismounted. The people that were gathered listened with supreme interest as Two Bears spoke.
First Two Bears congratulated Gray Cloud on being the new chief. He had learned that from a hunting party on the long ride back. Next he told of his adventures hunting along the border of the Sioux Nation. He had killed two Sioux that tried to steal his furs and kill him. He had done the same to two white trappers that also tried to steal his furs and horses. He had lived most of the months in the cave of a black bear he had killed. He was returning now with gifts.
Two Bears said to Gray Cloud, “These gifts I give to you for Sarah.”
