Chapter 16

They woke late the next day - it had been daylight for some time when the lovers emerged from their teepee. All three made a quick dash for the bushes around the camp and then, having returned to collect clean clothes, they made their way to the river.

People were already up and about and the three of them, dressed in their wedding finery from the day before, attracted much attention and many greetings.

Reaching the bathing area, they quickly stripped off the nice clothes which already appeared a little second-hand after the previous day. Looking at each other, they had to laugh. The paint that had been so carefully applied to the girls’ faces had run and the extra paint on all three of them from the marriage ceremony was now quite streaky. There were also some other marks and stains from their activities last night.

Jake threw himself into the water, the girls following on a little more decorously. Once they were wet all over, they started the task of getting themselves clean.

The two girls worked on each other. They used Sue’s soap and carefully picked crushed flowers from their hair which they also washed. Jake just watched as arms, chests, breasts and backs were soaped and rubbed. They did their own faces but, for some reason, the washing process seemed to need them to wash each other’s breasts.

Walking towards the bank until the water just reached their knees, they washed lower down as well, again helping each other to work soap into those hard-to-reach places and exchanging kisses in the process.

Relaxed and enjoying the view, Jake saw them finish up and turn towards him. In no time he was submerged under two laughing, wet and slightly-chilled naked female bodies. Getting back on his feet, Sue washed his chest and neck while Grey Cloud, who had disappeared from sight, was washing him lower down. Although that had the desired effect, or the one that she had desired anyway, there was no chance to do anything with it as other bathers were nearby, watching their antics.

So the girls had to content themselves with washing his hair, arms and anything else they could reach until he was clean all over.

Grey Cloud rubbed his bare cheeks and chin. “I like you like this, smooth as a man should be, ” she said, referring to the fact that Indian men were always beardless.

Jake was more interested in what else was rubbing against him as she did it. However, as she pulled away the cool water didn’t allow him to stay interested for too long. They were soon back on the bank, warming in the mid-morning sun, while the girls used two of Jake’s towels to dry their hair.

He reached over for the bag he had brought with him, the one he had obtained in the store at Ennistown. “I have something for you, ” he told them, opening the bag. Pulling out two elegantly-carved wooden combs, he gave them one each.

“Ooh, ” breathed Sue, while Grey Cloud let out a little squeal. Both kissed him their thanks and then, having quickly examined them, Sue started combing Grey Cloud’s hair. That took a while as it had a few knots in it, but before long her hair hung down straight and sleek. Sue then braided it for her into two pigtails. As she did so, Jake reached into his bag again and pulled out two pink ribbons. Passing them to Sue, he watched while she tied off the end of the pigtails with them.

Then it was Sue’s turn to sit while Grey Cloud combed her hair. She then pulled it back into one larger braid reaching down her back. Jake had a red ribbon for that.

Once they had finished, the two girls looked at each other and then tried to look at their own braids. It was quite comical, watching them twist their heads around trying to see over their shoulders but always failing, particularly as they were still completely naked.

Giving up, they got dressed in some fresh buckskins. The girls gathered up the pile from yesterday and they started back to the teepee. Jake wondered where all of these clothes were coming from and asked Grey Cloud just that.

“The women of the tribe have given them to us for our marriage, ” she said. “They realised that we needed them, they have seen you give guns to the men, so they give these back to us. I think Speaks Loudly started it when you gave that gun to Pale Horse.”

Once back at the teepee, Jake’s mind turned to breakfast. He went over to his pack and brought out the new pan he had bought the other day. Grey Cloud looked at it. It was quite shallow, and had a single handle like a stick coming out of it.

Sue, of course, had seen a pan like that before. They had one back at their home. So she took it off Jake who then went to pull out the wrapped piece of meat that he’d bought at the same time.

As Sue worked to put the pan on embers from the fire, with Grey Cloud watching carefully, Jake set about slicing the meat. He used his big knife and soon had six thin slices ready for the pan. Sue took them and placed them on the base of the hot pan, where they started to sizzle. A distinctive aroma filled the air.

Grey Cloud looked at him quizzically. “Bacon, ” he told her.

“Bay-cun, ” she repeated.

“That good - Bacon, ” he encouraged her.

“Baycun, ” she said again, wondering what it was. It smelled interesting, but what did it taste like?

Sue had vanished into the tepee from whence she reappeared with some bread. It was a type of flatbread made from corn, but it was good enough to introduce Grey Cloud to the delights of a bacon sandwich for breakfast!

Grey Cloud finished cleaning Djaik’s flat pan - a ‘fraien paan’ he called it. She had enjoyed breakfast, her ‘zandwidge’. It was the first time she had eaten white men’s food and it was totally different to what she was used to. But now she was married to a white man she supposed she would keep finding new things to try, and even perhaps enjoy.

It was already mid-morning - too late for Jake to go hunting. Dawn and dusk were the best times, and he would ask Pale Horse where he would have a good chance of finding some game this evening.

Sue was seeing to the horses and Grey Cloud was just contemplated washing some clothes when Jake emerged from the tepee clutching three rifles and a couple of bags. Grey Cloud went to help him with his awkward load - she presumed he was going to teach the men how to shoot again.

But these weren’t the same guns. “Time you learn shoot, ” Jake told her. So, collecting Sue on the way, the three of them went up to where he had been training the men of the tribe the day before.

For the next couple of hours, Grey Cloud went through the same process that Jake had used with the men. She had, of course, already seen how he cleaned his guns, but he showed her again and also spoke of the importance of safety once the gun was loaded.

The two boys popped up again, drawn by the prospect of seeing some more shooting. So, after Jake had fired his demonstration shot, they were kept busy propping the target back up again. And they were called upon several times. Grey Cloud’s first shot missed completely, but Jake made some adjustments to how she was holding and aiming her weapon. Jake had her lying prone, the weight of the rifle was simply too much for her to hold steady while standing, and he made sure she was pulling the butt back into her shoulder properly so the recoil didn’t drive back into her.

Her second shot must have just grazed the target branch as it stayed standing but at a drunken angle. Then her third knocked it flat. Grey Cloud let out a whoop and Jake and Sue grinned widely.

After that, Jake made it more difficult for her by putting the target back to the tree line, about 100 yards away. Grey Cloud missed the next two, but then hit her mark again. After that she never missed for the rest of the morning.

Sue took the opportunity to get in a little practice, and even Jake fired a few shots. The boys had found some more branches in the trees so each of them could take a shot before they laid down their weapons and Jake, having checked that the rifles were empty and on the ground, sent the boys off to stand them back up again. A couple of times they had to replace the branch targets as the previous ones were too badly damaged to be reused.

Several braves had come to witness the practice. The ones who had themselves tried the day before were appreciative of the skill shown by Jake and Sue and impressed by the way that Grey Cloud had mastered it so quickly. However, there was much talk between them and, as Jake called a close to their practice at about noon, they approached him.

“They shoot well, ” one of them told him. “But why do you teach women? That is the work of men, braves and hunters.”

Jake thought for a moment. “If you off hunting, and there not many men in camp, just women and children, and an enemy comes, who will fight them? Too few men. So if women shoot like this they may drive enemy away.”

Sue came up and the men looked at her. “Djaik taught me to shoot. We are often alone, and when men attacked us I was able to help so we both lived and the enemy died. Better a woman learns to shoot than you all die.”

Leaving them with that thought, she went to help Grey Cloud collect up the bags. As they walked back to the village and their teepee, Grey Cloud was dragging. The effort of steadying the big gun and then absorbing the heavy recoil had worn her out. As soon they were back, she dropped her load and started rubbing her shoulder.

Sue sat her down in a quiet spot and pulled her dress down at the top. A large yellow bruise was starting to show on Grey Cloud’s right shoulder where the rifle butt had hit her as she fired her early shots. She had kept going all morning, putting the ache aside in her mind, but now it hurt.

Jake finished stowing the guns and saw the damage on Grey Cloud. He was immediately attentive. “Hurt much?” he asked her, crouching down so he could see properly. He remembered when he first fired a big rifle, aged about eight, and how his own shoulder had taken a pounding.

Sue, who had disappeared while Jake was studying Grey Cloud’s injury, reappeared with an older woman. She was the tribe’s healer and she looked at Grey Cloud’s shoulder, gently outlining the bruise and asking how much it hurt as she pressed. She left saying she would be back later.

Sue bustled around the fire, getting it going again and putting the ‘koffeee’ pot on to boil along with a large pan of water. Grey Cloud just sat there feeling exhausted and sore.

One of Pale Horse’s warriors approached, paused at a distance, and coughed politely. Jake looked up.

“Please, join us, ” he invited the man who obviously had something to say. He rose to his feet as the man came forward, holding a bundle.

“We know you haven’t had time to go hunting for yourself as you have been showing us how to shoot guns, ” he said to Jake. “I killed a deer this morning and I would be pleased if you would accept this gift in return for the training.” He offered a haunch of venison to Jake.

“Thank you, that very kind. I will do some more training later, after a meal. Please tell the others.”

The man looked at Grey Cloud, still sitting with her bruised shoulder showing. “Two of the men have shoulders just like that, ” he grinned. “Your woman is not the only one.”

“I just the same when I learned, ” Jake told him. “It take practice to learn to hold gun properly.”

At that moment the healer reappeared with an ointment she had made up for Grey Cloud’s shoulder. She started to rub it in and the younger girl gasped. The ointment was cold and hot at the same time, and the rubbing also hurt her bruise. But other than that first reaction, she sat there while the woman rubbed it in well before straightening back up.

“I will leave the ointment with you. Use it every few hours for the next two days and the bruise will fade.”

“Thank you, ” said Jake. “Did you know that two men of the village have the same problem?”

“No I did not. Men never say anything - they just suffer. Idiots!” She turned to the brave who was looking amused. “Who are they?”

“Red Fox and Small Dog, ” he answered.

“I am not surprised, ” the woman answered. “Those two never had any sense. I will make up some more ointment for them too.” And she went off, mumbling to herself.

Jake smiled at the man, who seemed equally amused. “I will do more training this afternoon. Perhaps for different men?”

“We will be there, ” was the reply, and then he turned and walked off.

That afternoon, Jake returned to the training ground. A group of men were there, and two women. The man he had spoken with that morning was with them. “What you said this morning made sense to me, ” he told a surprised Jake. “So will you please show my woman and my sister how to shoot?”