Scarlet Feather by Joan Grant

Author:Joan Grant [GRANT, JOAN]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC000000, FIC014000
ISBN: 9781468307986
Publisher: The Overlook Press
Published: 2012-12-18T05:00:00+00:00

The Bridge

The day after Na-ka-chek gave Raki and me our brown feathers, he summoned us to the Great Tepee.

“You have fulfilled my commands.” he said, “and earned the privileges of tribal brotherhood. I wish you to become the Chief of your own tribe next spring, on the Day of the Sowing, for that is the time of growth and re-birth. You will be eighteen, so you cannot say that I have burdened you with years before giving you authority. It is the Law of the Two Trees that the Brown Feather is free to make his own decisions…he has the right to take part in the Choosing which is at the next full moon. If you both wish it, I cannot any longer prevent you sharing the same tepee. …”

My heart leaped like a young deer. Raki and I would be together again…the magic of the birch grove would come back to us. Was it really true that we no longer had to fear lonely tomorrows?

My father was still speaking. “It is no longer necessary for Raki to live with the squaws or Piyanah with the Braves: you are free to decide what you must do, but first I want you to listen to the advice of the man who is still your Chief. I shall not give you the double headdress until the spring, and that is ten moons distant. If Piyanah becomes Raki’s squaw before then, the Young Braves may forget she is their equal. For six years you have given me much cause for pride, pride which has sometimes been almost impossible to conceal. I ask for ten more moons to complete my promise to your mother.”

He must have seen my disappointment, for he said with a rare gentleness, “Compared to the past years, I ask so few restrictions of you both: only that you shall not share a tepee, only that you think more of the happiness of your future tribe than of your own immediate wishes. There are reasons why I ask you to do this. …”

I saw that he was searching for the right words and was suddenly sorry for him. I had never seen Na-ka-chek hesitant before.

“What reasons, Father? Tell them, and we shall understand.”

“When a man takes his squaw into the woods, or shares his tepee with her, children are born to them. I want you both to lead your tribe in equality, and during the first moons in unfamiliar country Piyanah must continue to think as a man. There will be many decisions which you must make together; and it is not easy for a woman to think clearly when she is heavy with child.”

“I understand,” said Raki. “Piyanah shall remain free, so that together we shall lead our people to the country of their future.”

We left the tepee and took the path to the river.

“He meant our magic, didn’t he, Raki?”

He nodded.

“Then it isn’t only the Before People, and the animals, and us who know it…it is everyone’s magic too?”

“Weather, and trees, and mountains belong to everyone, Piyanah, yet all people see them differently.

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