Chapter 8

Sky headed north and west once more, after he could no longer see Mr. Cody on the trail. He rode through the low lying hills, and as he topped a hill, he would stop and wonder how the prairie looked when the great buffalo herds roamed this land. As he rode through the plains, his eyes never stopped searching the lands that seemed to unfold in front of him, as if a new book were opening pages.

He saw the ears of his horse perk up, then his horse stopped. Sky heard the sound too. It was like wind blowing through the pines up close to the high country, but the sound was sweet and soothing to his ears. Picking a point he thought the sound was coming from, he nudged his horse with his knee and started in that direction.

The sound was at times like the wail of a Loon, then would change pitch to a musical tone. Sky was always curious about things he had never seen and especially things he had never heard. He turned his horse to the top of a higher rise in the land. Before he reached the top, he stepped off and walked quietly to the crest to look below.

There below him were two Indians he knew to be Sioux by their buckskins. Sky sat low on the hill and listened as they made the sounds come from a long stick they held to their mouth. At times the mournful sounds would harmonize and Sky would feel a thrill as the music would drift on the wind to where he sat and watched. Sky turned back to his horse and waved his hand in a short circle to him, then stood up and walked down the slope to where the Indians sat.

While still a good distance away from them, he whistled to let them know he was there. The two women jumped up at the sight of him and backed away in fear. From above, Sky had thought the two to be Sioux braves, but now as he neared them he saw them to be young Sioux women, they looked identical.

“I am Sky, brother of the Sioux,” he said.

The young Sioux looked at the tall young man with the buckskins and moccasins of the Sioux, but he wore a black hat and had a gun on his leg as a white man.

“If you are Sky, then tell of the name on the trading post.” one of the young women said.

“Eagle Creek Trading Post, Crenshaw is my father’s name,” he answered.

“Who are you?” Sky asked.

“We are Cekpapi Takawaya Cuwitku Etanhan Humpa Kagi.”

“I have heard his name, so you are twin sisters, daughters of Two Crows, medicine man of the Nakota’s?”

“Yes,” answered the other girl

“Why are you two out on the prairie alone?”

“We are sent here to play the music of the wind with our flutes,” the girl answered now speaking English as well as Sky.

“I heard your music from a distance, it’s very pleasing to my ears.”

The two sisters looked at each other and smiled.

“What is your age.”

“We are seventeen.”

“You speak English well.”

“We have had school at the mission.”

“How long have you been here?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“I am curious.”

“We have been here ten days and we will stay three days, until the moon is full.”

“May I sit with you and listen to your music?”

“Yes, but you are welcome to our camp near the creek,” one sister said pointing toward a scope of trees.

The girls gathered up their mats and their buckskin pouches, and all three started walking toward the trees.

“What about your horse?” one asked.

“He will not leave me,” Sky said as all three looked back to see his horse following.

When they neared the trees, Sky could see the small tipi lodge of the girls.

“Are you not afraid to be here alone?”

“No, we have weapons and we know how to use them.”

“I will have to learn more of the ways of the Sioux women.”

“Will you stay and share our meal today?”

“I would be honored to share a meal with you, maybe you will tell me more about the identical twins of Two Crows.”

Sky went to his horse and pulled the saddle off, placing it near the tipi. Zizi wandered to the creek to drink and walked out to eat from the lush grass along the bank.

They ate jerky and dried bread.

“So tell me, how does one tell you sisters apart?”

“We know the difference, but we have told no one.”

“I don’t even know your names.”

“I am Wimaheliyaye, Sunset.”

“I am Wihinape, Sunrise.”

“Do you swim Sky?”

“Yes I swim, but this creek is too shallow to swim.”

“Come with us, the beaver have built a dam just up creek, the water is good for swimming.”

Sky didn’t know which sister he was talking to, as one would talk then the other.

He followed them up creek a ways from the tipi, then around a bend in the winding creek. He saw the beaver dam before they even came to it.

As they walked around, and out on top of the beaver dam, both girls stripped their deerskin dresses over their heads and dove into the clear water. Sky had never seen a naked woman, and though he only saw a flash of skin as they stripped and dove, he liked what he had seen.

Feeling unsure as well as excited, he pulled his gunbelt off and hooked it on a limb sticking up out of the dam.

He pulled his buckskin shirt and breeches off and hung them on the limb. He turned to see both sisters watching him as he too dove in the water.

The sisters swam like otters and soon the three of them were laughing, swimming and playing as if they had known each other all their lives.

“How old are you Sky?” one sister asked.

“I am eighteen.”

“You are very much a man for eighteen Sky,” the other sister laughed as she said this.

“Have you ever had a Tehila?” the other sister asked.

“No I have never had a lover, have either of you?”

“No, we are not allowed Tehila’s until we are married.”

“Why did you ask me to swim naked with you?”

“We wanted to see your body, you are a very, how you say Hope Ce, Handsome?”

“Do you swim naked with all those you call handsome?”

“You are both very Waste’, pretty,” he told them.

“Would you like to see how we are different?”

“Would you show me if I did?”

“You ask too many questions”

Holding hands the sisters walked out of the water onto the sandy bank. “Come see Sky, but you cannot touch.”

Sky was walking out of the water looking at the beautiful young Sioux maidens standing with water dripping off their hair and running in droplets down their bodies. He liked the way they looked. It was like seeing double.

“See this?” one sister asked pointing to a small mole on her stomach near her sparse pubic hair.

“Yes, is that the only difference there is?”

“Yes, I an Wihinape, Sunset. This is my sun,” she smiled at Sky as he looked at the beautiful sisters with more than a passing interest.

“So if I ever want to see who I’m talking to, I have to raise your buckskins to see if there is a sunset?”

All three laughed and the girls grabbed Sky, each by an arm as they walked over to get their clothes.

They all three dressed in silence, though watching each other as they did. Sky strapped his Colt back to his leg and they walked back to the tipi.

“You must leave now Sky, we have some thinking to do and some decisions to make.”

“Then I will leave, I have enjoyed my visit and my swim. I am glad you showed what it is that makes you different.”

“Will we see you again Sky?”

“Come to the trading post, I am there most of the time, if you see me riding my horse, wave to me or play the flute so that I will hear. We will all meet again I am sure.”

“We would like that, and the next time we meet, we will have a flute for you and teach you how to play.”

“I would like very much to play as both of you play, thank you again.”

Sky pursed his lips and made a chirping sound like a bird and his horse came running to him. When he had saddled up and placed his Henry in the scabbard, they said their goodbyes.

When Sky was gone from the camp the sisters sat talking.

“Sister, why did you invite Sky to swim with us?”

“I wanted to see him without his breeches.”

“And now that you have seen him what do you think?”

“I think I want to see him again, do you?”

“YES. I think I want him to look at me the way he looked at you, I think I want him to touch me and see him touch you sister.”

“He is very handsome and very nice, and he did not try for more than we offered, I want to offer more, do you?”

“Yes, I feel a glow in my woman parts, I feel the need to be touched by this young man with the black hat, the nice smile and the tight buckskin breeches. He has nice Wicasa Wikicaya too.”

“Yes my sister of Sunrise, I saw those ‘man tools’ also.”

“Then I think we need to plan a trip to the trading post soon.”

Sky rode in a direction that would take him to the trading post and his thoughts were homed in on the two sisters he met today. He kept thinking of the smooth skin and the wonder of seeing a woman naked. He had been scared, but he thought now that he had been more excited than scared, he just wasn’t sure about his feelings at the time, and they were hard to sort out now, maybe he could talk to his dad or the General, they would know.

Sky arrived at the post just before sundown and his mind went to the small mole on the flat stomach of ‘Sunset’. He felt a stirring in his loins. Having taken his Henry from the scabbard, he threw his saddle across the rack and rubbed down his horse, putting out hay for all of them before going in the post.

As he, his mom and dad sat at the table later, he wanted to get more information about what he felt.

“Dad, I met twin daughters of Two Crows, a medicine man of the Nakota Sioux today. They are identical twins and they were playing what they called a flute.”

“Sky that’s wonderful, did you like the flute music?” Beth asked.

“Yes Mom, they told me the next time I see them, they will have a flute for me too and show me how to make the sounds into music.”

“Just how old were these twins Sky?” his mom asked.

“My age and very pretty to look at,” he answered.

Sky saw his mom look at his dad and raise her eyebrow.

“Where did you meet the daughters of Two Crows?”

“Out west and south of here a ways, they were staying in a small tipi lodge until the full moon.”

“Did you spend much time there with them, I’m sure they were preparing for some ceremony if they were out alone like that,” Beth said.

“Yes, I went to their camp and we ate, then we went swimming in the creek where the beavers had dammed it into a large pool.”

“Sky did you and the young girls swim without clothes on?”

“Yes Mom, they asked me to swim with them and they dropped their dresses and dove in. I undressed and dove in too.”

“Oh my, I’m not sure that I’m ready for my son to grow up this fast,” Beth said as she looked at Raif.

“Sky, you know that it isn’t proper for young men and women to swim together without clothes don’t you?” Raif asked.

“Well Dad you see when they asked, I said yes. When we got to the pool they just dropped their deerskin dresses and dove in. I felt that I would have shamed them if I had just watched them, so I took off my clothes and joined them.”

“I think you did the right thing Sky. If they accepted you as a friend and weren’t afraid to undress in front of you, I hope you conducted yourself as a gentleman even under the circumstances,” his mom said.

“Yes Mom we didn’t touch each other, I did look at them and I saw them looking at me, they also showed me the only difference in their bodies too.”

“I’m afraid to ask,” Beth said and smiled.

“Sunset has a small mole on her stomach near her woman part. Sunrise has no such mole.”

“What did you three do after you swam?”

“We dressed and then I said I had to go and they said they had some thinking to do and they had to play their flutes too.”

“Son, I’m proud that you’re able to talk to us about this, I’m proud too that you had an enjoyable time with your new friends even if you were naked together,” his mom said.

“Well, I was wondering about all I saw and felt today, and I know they told me that they could not have lovers until they were married. But why did they want to swim naked with me.”

“Sky, you may not know this, but you are a very handsome young man. The women, old and young alike are going to find ways to spend time with you. I’m sure that these sisters are just as curious about their feelings and their bodies as you are. Out here on the prairie you haven’t had many friends, and none that I know of have been girls. Please continue to use good judgment. It’s good to be curious and I know that you and your dad have talked, if you ever need to ask more questions, please keep coming to us, will you?”

“Yes Mom and I thank you for wanting me to learn right from wrong, not only according to the law of the land, but as a man also.”

“If you had this much fun with the sisters, then I expect they will find ways to meet you again, and soon. You have to remember that their culture is different than ours and not let them get caught up in the excitement and feelings that would harm them later,” his dad told him.

“You mean that it may be up to me to say yes or no to them about things they may want to do?”

“Yes that’s exactly what your dad is telling you Sky, even though you and the two sisters may want to do more, all three of you have to understand that it would mean they both could be with child and banished from their tribe,” his mom said.

“I would never want to cause them shame and have them sent away from their people. Life is getting more complicated and I’m not sure I have answers for all the hard questions,” Sky said and smiled.

“Just use good judgment and the girls will find a way if they ever want to take the feelings further,” Beth told him.

“Mom will you talk with them if they come here?”

“I would be happy to talk with them if they can understand what I say.”

“They have been schooled at the mission of white man’s language.”

“They speak a better English that I speak Sioux.” Sky laughed.

“I have a feeling they will make an appearance here soon then.” Beth smiled.

Sky got up and went to his mom and knelt by her chair, put his arms around her in a big hug, then went to his dad and did the same.

“I am honored to have you as parents.”

“We are blessed to have a son as handsome, as smart and as humble as you Sky,” Beth said.

“I have another story to tell you of my travel today, I rode down to the trail that runs from east to west. I met a man by his campfire.

“This man was Mr. Bill Cody, ‘Buffalo Bill Cody’.

“Goodness Sky you’ve had a very adventurous day,” his dad said.

“Mr. Cody taught me how to draw and fire my Colt at a stick of wood. I was able to hit the stick of wood with all six shots after he showed me and told me what I need to do,” Sky said proudly.

“Sky, I must caution you once again, that people will see you in a different way from the young man you are. Once you put a gun on your hip you will cast a different shadow,” Raif told him.

“Yes Sir, Mr. Cody told me the same thing and he told me that there will be some that will call me out just to make a name for themselves. He showed me how to draw and fire as I dropped to my side. Then he told me that one day I would be faster than the eye could see.”

“I’m sure that you were lucky to be taught about handguns by Mr. Bill Cody, I hope you’ll remember the things you’ve learned about firearms and self defense,” his dad told him.