Restoring Hope Read online

“I ran from her before she could do that.”

  Their aunt set her hands on their arms. “I don’t believe Woape meant any harm. Maybe she didn’t want a haircut and didn’t know how to express that any other way.”

  “Then why would she put scissors up to her hair?”

  “I don’t know. And since she does not speak our language, we’ll probably never know.”

  “Well, whatever the reason, I will not help her anymore.”

  She nodded. “That’s probably best. I can help her with anything she may need for now on.”

  Julia’s mouth formed a thin line. “I want her out of here.”

  “And where is she going to go?” Gary asked, aware that his voice had risen in irritation.

  Their aunt held up her hands to stop them. “This is my home. The decision is mine.”

  “Uncle wouldn’t have gone for it,” Julia sulked.

  “Well, he’s up in Heaven, so he doesn’t have a say in this. The Lord wouldn’t want us to turn our backs on someone who needs help, and that is why she is staying.”

  “The Lord is also against murder,” his sister said. “Perhaps Woape should be reminded of that.”

  “She wasn’t trying to kill you,” Gary argued, unable to believe his sister was still harping on that ridiculous story.

  “She hates me,” Julia insisted.

  “And you’ve shown her such great kindness,” he scoffed.

  Their aunt turned to him. “I agree that you need to find somewhere else to live. Whether that is in this town or seeking out your next adventure, I don’t care. You two will give me a heart attack unless you leave.” She then turned to Julia. “Woape is welcome to stay here whether you like it or not. So find a way to get along with her. This is not up for debate. Gary, get Woape and take her to Mrs. Clemmens.”

  Gary sighed but started toward the stairs to obey his aunt.

  She reached out to stop him. “Get her some things to make her feel more at home here.”

  “Like what?”

  “Things a woman likes.”

  He shrugged. What would those things be?

  Julia grumbled as she stomped to the kitchen.

  His aunt smiled at him. “Start with a comb or brush. A hand mirror. Maybe even a nice piece of jewelry. I believe Indians wear jewelry. A pretty shawl. Things like that. Maybe once she has some things that are her own, she’ll begin to feel comfortable here.”

  “Alright.”

  Seeming to be content, she went to the kitchen.

  Chapter Six

  Woape finished braiding her hair. She noted the scowl on her face and realized how ugly her anger was making her. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on what her mother used to tell her. “If you get angry, think of the gentle spirit of the bird. It flies on by and leaves its cares behind to be tossed into the wind.”

  She struggled to find the peace her mother spoke of. She even closed her eyes and imagined that she was one with the birds. But she couldn’t grab onto it because she could hear Julia shouting downstairs and knew the woman wouldn’t have the decency to tell them the truth.

  “Care not what others say. Let your actions speak for you,” her mother always said.

  She gritted her teeth and opened her eyes. Julia was yelling and so was Gary. Did he believe his sister? Woape quickly finished with her braid. The knot in her hair was still there in the few strands she wanted to cut. She tried to comb through the tangle, but her efforts had been in vain. The stubborn thing remained in place. Why did Julia feel it necessary to grab the scissors from her and cut her bald?

  Woape did have comfort in knowing that her hair was safe. It was an honor to have her hair at the length it was. Someday, she hoped it would be longer. She thought of her mother and the others. The screaming...the whips...the ropes... If she hadn’t run away, she would be dead. Tears slid down her cheeks as she touched her hair. Maybe she should cut it. Those in mourning could do it. Was she wrong to keep her hair? Should she have let Julia cut it? But what good would that do? It wouldn’t bring the others back.

  The knocking at the door made her pause. Should she answer it?

  “Woape?”

  She relaxed. It wasn’t Julia. She made sure all the buttons on her dress were done before she strode to the door and opened it.

  Gary smiled at her and waved her forward.

  Relieved, she stepped out of the room. Good. He wasn’t mad at her. She returned his smile.

  He motioned to the staircase and then the front door.

  Nodding, she followed him out of the house. She was glad she didn’t have to run into Julia on her way out. For all she knew, Julia had another pair of scissors waiting for her. Turning her attention to their surroundings, she studied the buildings and houses lining the dirt road. Several people stopped to stare, but she didn’t mind since they also waved a friendly greeting. Gary spoke to them and mentioned her by name, so she guessed he was explaining why she was there. It seemed to her that people liked Gary, so she concluded he had lived here for quite some time before he headed in the direction of the Mandan Village.

  As they progressed along whatever journey he was taking her on, the cool afternoon reminded her that Fall was quick in approaching. Fall meant change. She couldn’t deny her life had drastically changed in the course of two weeks. Ever since that night she snuck away from her tribe, everything had changed. She didn’t recognize her life anymore. She wondered what other changes were coming. She glanced at Gary. Perhaps not all changes were bad. He, after all, was turning out to be a good one.

  He stopped at a house and knocked on the front door.

  She wondered who they were going to see. She expected to go to a store or check on their horses like they had before.

  An older woman opened the door and smiled when she saw her.

  Woape smiled in return, momentarily wondering why people seemed friendly except for Julia. What had she done to deserve to have her hair cut off?

  The woman waved her forward and since Gary waited, she crossed the threshold. Woape followed her to a room filled with all kinds of fabrics and clothing. Gary talked to the woman and pointed to some of the items. Woape watched the exchange carefully. She heard her name but that was all she could decipher. Neither he nor the woman said any of the words she’d started to recognize.

  He pointed to a pretty blue shirt and brown skirt, and the woman retrieved the items and handed them to Woape. She led her to a small bedroom, and Woape understood that she was to put them on. Woape nodded and went to do her task. Her heart raced in anticipation as she donned on the new clothing. It was nice to wear something other than Julia’s dress.

  But there was a bigger reason for her excitement, for if she understood what he was doing, then it meant he was interested in marrying her. Unlike the man she was supposed to marry, Gary hadn’t brought her gifts of a horse and food. Gary didn’t seem to have more than one horse, and he didn’t grow food so how could he give her such things? However, he found clothes to give her.

  When she emerged from the room, he smiled, looking pleased with his gift for her. He told the woman something and she quickly gathered a dress and shoes. Woape was ready to put the dress on, but the woman shook her head and motioned to the shoes.

  Woape obeyed and put them on. They felt restrictive compared to her moccasins, but she could walk around in them without hurting her feet. She wondered how the woman could make her clothes and shoes without knowing her.

  Gary indicated that their business at the woman’s house was done, so Woape collected the gifts, Julia’s dress, and the moccasins and followed him out of the house. They strolled down the street until they came to a store. Woape recognized the place since he’d bought food from there as well, but she was surprised when he led her to a new section. At least, it wasn’t the section she’d seen before.

  An older man came over to them and Gary pointed to her and then the items on the shelves. Turning to her, Gary encouraged her to look at the things neatly laid out.
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  Uncertain, Woape touched a brush with a nice shiny blue handle.

  Gary nodded, picked it up, and put it on top of the clothes and moccasins she was holding.

  Her smile widened. More gifts! This had to mean he was asking her to be his wife, and by accepting his gifts, she was agreeing to the marriage. She eagerly took anything he offered her. Under ordinary circumstances, she would have held out. After all, it had been to her benefit to delay her acceptance of Citlali’s proposal. Her parents had been proud of it. Little did they realize she delayed the acceptance for as long as she could because she didn’t love him.

  Woape’s mind drifted back to the present as Gary put a bonnet and hat in her arms. He indicated for her to follow him to the counter so she obeyed and nearly protested when he took everything but her new clothes out of her arms. When she realized he meant to purchase them, she relaxed. Things were different here in the white man’s world. It would take her some time to adjust to her new life.

  At least, Gary was giving her a permanent place by his side. He’d proposed. She accepted. As soon as she joined him in his room, then they’d finalize the marriage. It wasn’t exactly the way it would have been with Citlali had she stayed for the wedding, but in many ways, it was better. She liked Gary more than Citlali. Gary seemed to enjoy life...and he was very brave. He could be a chief. Anyone who could scare Hothlepoya could lead a tribe.

  As long as she stayed with Gary, she wouldn’t have to worry about Hothlepoya or his two friends ever again. Also, maybe it meant that Julia would have to leave her alone. Why Julia insisted on bothering her while she bathed, she didn’t know. Woape was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Maybe she’d start putting a barrier in front of the door so Julia wouldn’t be able to barge in on her. But would Julia dare enter Gary’s room? Woape never saw her enter it.

  Well, it didn’t matter. What did matter was that she had a secure place with Gary. Where he went, she would follow. She wondered if he would head off on horseback like he had before when he’d found her. It would make her feel much better if she didn’t have to deal with Julia at all. Perhaps his time here would be limited. Regardless, the important thing was that he planned to keep her by his side, and that was all that mattered.

  He returned the items to her.

  “Gary...ibero,” she said. She did not know his word for ‘husband’, but she could tell him her word for it.

  “Ibero?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Ibero.”

  He smiled. “Yes. Ibero.”

  There. It didn’t get any clearer than that.

  ***

  That night Gary went to sleep, not expecting anything unusual to happen. For sure, he didn’t expect someone to slip into his bed. When a warm naked body pressed against him, he initially assumed he was dreaming. Unlike his other dreams though, this one seemed particularly vivid. Part of him struggled to wake up, to find out if it was really happening. The woman snuggled in his arms and began kissing his face. She started at his cheeks and before he knew it, she was kissing him on the lips. He finally stirred enough so he could kiss her back. The problem was, unlike his other dreams, he could actually feel everything. Her lips were soft, as was her flesh. By the time he realized that he was not dreaming after all, he was caressing her breasts.

  Startled, he bolted up in the bed and tried to get out of it. Since he was tangled in the sheets, his attempt to distance himself from the situation resulted in him falling onto the hardwood floor with a loud thud. He tried to stand up but tripped and fell again, this time landing on his stomach.

  The door to his room flung open and his aunt and sister gasped.

  “What is going on in my home?” Aunt Erin demanded, holding the kerosene lamp up.

  Once he was able to successfully stand up, he saw Woape frantically wrapping the robe around herself. Then it dawned on him that he’d been doing things with Woape that he’d never done with a woman before. Well, of course it had to be her. No one but her would even think to come to his bed. But why? He glanced at his sister who stared at him and Woape in shock, her hand over her mouth.

  “Gary, what is the meaning of this?” his aunt asked, her eyes a steely gray.

  “Wh-...I...” He shrugged. “I don’t know what she’s doing here.”

  His sister finally took her hand down and clucked her tongue. “A likely story.”

  “It’s true. I was asleep and...” Oh, for goodness’ sakes! The last thing he wanted to do was give them any details! “I didn’t know she was in my bed.”

  His aunt didn’t look convinced. “You aren’t stupid.”

  “I was sleeping! When I woke up, she was next to me.” And no, he wasn’t about to say any more than that!

  “Something was happening,” Julia insisted. “A woman doesn’t get caught naked in a man’s bed unless she’s planning on something she ought not to do until she’s married to him.”

  “Really, Gary. I thought I raised you better than this,” Erin scolded.

  “We didn’t do anything,” he said.

  They rolled their eyes.

  He looked at Woape who didn’t look as ashamed as he thought she should for pulling such a stunt. Didn’t she realize how weak a man’s will was when confronted with a naked woman in his sleep? She was lucky he had the sense to wake up and put a stop to this nonsense! He waited until Woape looked at him before he asked, “What were you thinking?”

  “Wife,” she replied. She pointed to Julia who still stood there with her eyes wide in disbelief. “Sister.”

  It took him a good thirty seconds before he realized what she was saying. “Wife?”

  She nodded. “Wife. Gary ibero.”

  “You think we’re married?” Who in the world told her such a ridiculous tale? He looked at Julia. “Did you put her up to this?”

  Julia inhaled sharply. “I would never tell a woman to engage in immoral activity.”

  Erin frowned at him. “So you don’t know why she’s insisting that you are her husband all of the sudden?”

  “No!” He ran his fingers through his disheveled hair. Then he remembered that he was in his night clothes. “Why would I be dressed if I thought I was going to...you know...with her?”

  “Hmm...” His aunt tapped her foot on the floor. “I guess you have a point. Still, something you said or did encouraged her.”

  “I never took her to the preacher.”

  “Her customs differ from ours. Apparently, something happened that made her think you married her.”

  “I don’t know what that could possibly be. I didn’t kiss her. I didn’t even hug her.”

  “Well, for some reason, she’s decided you married her.”

  “Fine.” He turned to Woape and noticed that she looked upset that his aunt and sister were still in the room. After he took a deep breath to settle his rattled nerves, he said, “Woape...no wife.”

  Woape’s eyebrows furrowed. Then she spoke in her native tongue, and there was no way he could figure out what she said. Then her overwhelmed tone became soft and sorrowful. Her eyes filled with tears and she ran out of the room, pushing past his aunt and sister. The slamming door of Julia’s bedroom echoed through the still house.

  He stared back at his relatives, feeling as bewildered as they looked. Finally, he sighed. “I reckon that solves that misunderstanding.”

  Julia still didn’t look as if she believed him, but she quietly turned and went back to their aunt’s bedroom.

  Julia, however, was the least of his problems. He hated that sad look on Woape’s face. Did it really mean that much to her that he married her? Great. Now he felt bad. Still, if he went along with what she expected, then how was he supposed to go to church with a clear conscience? In her culture, maybe they were married...how, he didn’t understand at all...but in his culture, they weren’t; and he wasn’t about to compromise that to spare her feelings or to satisfy his curiosity about what went on between a man and a woman in bed.

  His aunt walked up to him. �
��You should marry her.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because it’s about time you settled down and established a family.”

  “I didn’t get her in the family way.”

  “No. But why not do it? She’s a sweet girl, and I think you’ve taken a liking to her, even if you don’t know it.”

  “Of course, I like her. She’s nice.”

  “There you go. That’s all you need to get started on a life with her.”

  “I don’t know.” He rubbed his eyes and gave a loud sigh. “I’m not looking to get married. I’m not even sure what my place is in this world.”

  “You don’t want to end up like your cousin. It’s not good for a man to roam all of his life. Didn’t you get some idea of what you enjoy while you were gone?”

  He thought over the jobs he’d done. He’d helped out with the railroad, learned to build houses, and delivered supplies. None of those appealed to him. Was there a job in town that he could enjoy doing? But maybe life wasn’t about seeking out the job that a man got up every morning so excited about he dreaded going home. Maybe life was more than that. He was sure that God had a plan for him. If only he could figure out what that plan was.

  His aunt put her hand on his arm and spoke to him in a soft tone. “Your cousin was more concerned about his pleasures than his responsibilities. You remember what happened to him?”

  “I don’t like to drink moonshine.”

  “Everyone has a weakness. Alcoholism was his.”

  He knew his cousin had hurt his aunt when he left. Though his aunt managed to resolve her grief, there was a hole in her heart no one could fill. Gary walked over to the window and stared out at the landscape that spanned for miles. What exactly was he searching for?

  “At least think about it,” his aunt said.

  “Cousin Ned left after he married Carol. Why do you think marriage will settle me?”

  “Because you have something he didn’t.”

  He waited for her to continue.

  She smiled. “You have an emptiness that God and this world can’t give you. Don’t you know that God said it wasn’t good for man to be alone?” She stepped toward the door. Glancing over her shoulder, she added, “Your cousin didn’t think God was worth considering. It clouded his vision of what really matters.”