Sully didn't like leaving Sister Ruth to attend church on the reservation alone because he still didn't trust the hotheaded bunch of young men at the reservation. It had been 3 weeks since the confrontation at the baptism, and all they had done was cast hateful glances her way, but he didn't think it was the end of it by a long shot. Michaela didn't mind taking Brian and Katie to the service now with the change in Henry's style, so they all attended the church at the reservation.
Noah and Anna sat so close to each other that it wasn't hard to pinpoint them as newlyweds. Anytime Henry quoted directly from the Bible, she whispered the Apache translation in his ear. Although Noah had always respectfully listened to the services though he didn't understand any of it, she knew he counted it a joy to have Anna be able to do that for him.
Sister Ruth saw a white man she didn't recognize slip into the corner about halfway through the sermon. She stole looks at him every so often, but he didn't' seem to be there to cause any trouble. His full attention appeared to be on the service as he listened to Henry with an interested expression.
After the service when she had worked her way to the door, she asked Henry, "Do you know the man that came in?"
Henry took a look at the man, who was hanging back, letting the others leave first. He shook his head. "Never seen him before."
Sister Ruth moved to the side so that the people could continue to filter through. After taking their turns shaking Henry's hand, Sully, Michaela, and Brian stood with her. It didn't take long to get to the end of the line as the Indians were always eager to get out of the church.
"Fine sermon, Mr. Wray," the man said as he shook Henry's hand. "I'm Lucas Dunn with the Presbyterian Mission Society for the Betterment of Indians. We like to visit our missions periodically to see the needs you have and just to get a general idea of how things are going."
"Ah, I see." He gestured to Sister Ruth. "This is Sister Ruth. She's a recent addition. She got on by going through the Office of Indian Affairs."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said, shaking her hand. "A woman to teach domestic skills and relate to the women and children was sorely needed. It just tells me how true it is that our Heavenly Father knows of our needs before we even ask. I admire you already. You're a brave woman to want to work with these people. I'm sure you've heard stories that make your hair stand on end."
"It's not so much bravery as a love for all of God's children."
"Amen," Lucas said with a smile.
"And this is Mr. Sully and his family," Henry said, continuing the introductions. "He mostly works with Sister Ruth. He knows a lot about Indians and helps with communication problems."
Lucas had already guessed as much by his dress. "How delightful. I'm sure you're a great help to Mr. Wray and Ms. Ruth."
"I try to be," Sully answered with polite reserve.
"I'm going to observe you in the morning, Ms. Ruth, and you, Mr. Wray, in the afternoon if that suits. The report is for our own records but also so the Office of Indian Affairs can see what the mission is accomplishing; it's nothing to be nervous about. Then I'll catch the evening train, so I'll be out of your hair before you know it."
"Well, you're welcome to join me for lunch and stay the night if you need a place to sleep," Henry said.
"You're very kind, Mr. Wray. I'll do that," he moved beside Henry, so that he'd be ready to follow.
"Well, I stay with my good friends here who don't live on the reservation," Sister Ruth said, "so Sully and I will see you tomorrow."
"Looking forward to it," he told them with a friendly wave.
sss
Lucas saw Sully and Sister Ruth coming out of Noah and Anna's cabin the following morning.
"If you don't mind my asking what were you all doing in there?" he asked
"We meet with a Christian couple every morning but Sundays to study scripture," Sister Ruth explained.
He seemed surprised. "You mean an Indian couple?"
"Is there a problem?" Sully asked.
"No, no problem," he assured Sully. "I'm just surprised is all. There aren't many reservations that can boast even one Indian giving their heart to Jesus. Most of the time it's a polite interest in Christianity at best."
"Well, we've done a lot to them as a race. It ain't fair to God, but they associate Jesus with the things done to them," Sister Ruth said, "but you can believe this couple's going to stick with Him through the hardships. They've always got such a hungry look when His Word is being read to them. They soak it in like sponges, trying to memorize every word because the Sunday morning service and their time with me are the only times they get to hear it, not being able to read the Bible on their own."
Lucas nodded as he jotted down some notes in the notebook he was carrying.
The door opened and Anna joined them. The four walked to Henry's cabin without further conversation.
Lucas sat down on the bed where he was out of the way but still had a good vantage point.
The women's quilting skills had improved tremendously and so mornings were now being devoted to needlework. Henry had been the one to suggest needlework, but Sister Ruth was using the skill to help them learn their letters. Which unlike quilting and needlepoint was a skill that actually made sense to her because if they learned to read, they could read the Bible if and when they became Christians. She knew Anna appreciated it for that reason, and she was eager to learn to make the letters.
Sister Ruth started off by passing her sampler around on which she had finished the letter M.
"It is like that first letter that looks like a tipi," said one woman as she pointed to the A on her sampler.
Another woman nodded, able to see it, "Except that it is two tipis and no line."
"What words in your language start with M?" Anna asked.
"Messiah, Master, Moses, Mary, manna, mercy," Sister Ruth answered not only because she wanted to use any opportunity available to help them learn about the Bible but because biblical words were usually the first to pop into her head.
"Mmm," Anna said out loud, isolating the sound.
The women had grown comfortable enough with the lessons that they chatted with each other when their full concentration wasn't needed and the morning went by quickly enough with Lucas scrawling the occasional note. He wasn't obtrusive at all, but the afternoon was much lighter to Sister Ruth and Sully, knowing their every move wasn't being recorded for Hazen to read.
Much like the people in town, the women had seemed to come to accept her presence as a nuisance they had to learn to live with, and they politely gave her goodbyes in English at the end of the day, which Sister Ruth returned in their native languages, having learned how to say goodbye in all their languages between Anna and Sully. It was a courtesy they seemed to appreciate though they said little about it.
She and Sully had gotten to the wagon when she remembered. "I left my needlepoint in the cabin. I was going to take it with me and get started on the N."
They both went back to retrieve it, and they hadn't been away from Henry's cabin for more than 10 minutes, but plenty of damage had been done in their absence. The quilts had been slashed with knives and a few of the samplers were burning in the fire.
Sully circled the room for signs of the intruders even though he knew they'd already sent their message.
Sister Ruth shook her head sadly. "All the ladies' hard work destroyed in a matter of minutes."
"Sister Ruth, I just thought of something. Could we practice letters at the Bible st—" began Anna, but she was unable to finish when she saw the damage. Her surprise changed to anger. "I know the boys who did this."
Sully nodded. "They haven't exactly been keeping their anger a secret."
"They are not going to act like this while I live on this reservation." She spun on her heels in search of them.
Sully and Sister Ruth followed. Anna found them hanging out at the river, skipping rocks and looking very proud of themselves. Sully and Sister Ruth hung back while Anna went down to confront them.
She yelled at them in English since they were of various tribes. "You boys are stupid! You want soldiers sniffing around here again, watching and listening and spying?"
"How is that any different than what your new friends are doing, Anna,"said their leader, the Arapahoe, using her white name with mocking derision.
"Because Sister Ruth is a gentle woman who will not wring your scrawny necks like they deserve to be wrung. Even Henry as bad-tempered as he can sometimes be would not resort to violence, but probably will call the soldiers back in if he thinks you will do harm to Sister Ruth, and you can believe the soldiers enjoy violence."
"We are not scared of pain," one of them remarked.
"How noble you are," Anna scoffed. "To make that decision for the whole reservation."
"We cut and burned some white crafts? Soldiers would come in for that?" another asked.
"Have they ever needed an excuse before?" Anna returned. "Not only have you hurt Sister Ruth by your action, you hurt your people. We have spent many hours working on them. Every woman was to have a quilt in her cabin when we were through. Now we must start over. You have added to our work. You think to show your hate for white things but you just show hate that will only hurt our people!"
Some of the boys were starting to look kowtowed, but it was obvious Anna was only getting warmed up.
Sully and Sister Ruth saw Henry and Lucas coming toward them. She and Sully went out to meet them to lead them away from the arguing, making their way towards the wagon.
Sister Ruth immediately launched into conversation to hide any of the sounds from the river. "I never pictured myself as a schoolteacher, but I feel like one some days. I ain't never had to teach nobody to read before. My own learning to read is kind of foggy I was so young, so I hope I'm doing it right."
"You're doing just fine. Combining needlepoint with reading skills was good thinking," Lucas said. "I must say this is the most successful operation I have ever observed. The genuine conversions are few. They go through the motion sometimes and then before you know it there's an uprising and missionaries get hurt or worse. I don't know what you're doing around here, Mr. Wray, but keep on doing it."
"I can't take the credit," Henry said. "Sister Ruth is the driving force behind the 2 conversions we've had and creating the respectful attitude."
"Really?" he said, turning his eye back on Sister Ruth. "I know it's only 2 adults, but even saving one is hard. How have you done it?
"I couldn't have done anything without Sully's help, and I haven't saved them; The Lord Jesus has, but I know one thing that's hurting our witness. You're sending the message that they need to be white to be saved. You have to stop clouding the message with an agenda, stop holding to the philosophy of the Office of Indian Affairs."
He nodded in a thoughtful manner. "I see what you mean. We have to remember we're God's missionaries first and employees of the Office of Indian Affairs second. Helping them assimilate into white society is not necessarily God's plan."
"Exactly. Nothing wrong with their languages. God gave it to them at the tower of Babel, didn't he? Nothing wrong with their culture either if it's not going against anything in the Bible. Another thing we got to remember is patience, brother, lots of patience. Some people are years coming to the Lord. Doesn't mean the mission work ain't accomplishing nothing."
"Well, you've given me some interesting ideas to think about and take back with me, and anyone can see the success you've had here. I'll be in touch." He took out his pocket watch. "I didn't realize it was getting so late. I've got a train to catch. It's been a real pleasure," he said as he hurried to get on the horse he'd rented from Robert E.
"Well, that's something," Sully said when he'd ridden out into the distance. "I don't know if he's got the authority to do anything if he's convinced of the rightness of letting them have their culture, but it's something."