Chapter 22
The next morning Lou awoke to an empty bed, the sun already high in the sky, she had slept way in, a smile on her lips knowing Buck probably had told the others to let her rest. He knew how easily tired she was these days, and that she hadn't been sleeping well. She looked around the room, her eyes landing on Buck's hat, and not the new one, the old worn one. It was sitting on Buck's trunk. Lou smiled sadly thinking of Ike, she really did miss him. She wondered what he would have thought about her and Buck being together, would he have approved? She liked to think so.
A knock sounded on her door, it opened and Teresa burst in before she even had a chance to answer, "Louise!" The young girl called as she bounded in, her braids flapping behind her at her speed.
"Resa how many times have I told you to wait before you just come in someone's room." Lou scolded the young girl, pulling the sheet up to her shoulders, as she was still naked.
Teresa looked around Lou's bedroom, taking in Lou's scattered clothing, her little hands on her hips as she looked back at Lou, "Louise, you know better than leaving your clothes everywhere, you get on to me all the time about it yet you do it too."
Lou looked down, trying to hide the laughter on her lips, how would she explain to the girl the reason. "You're right, I should know better." Lou said completely straight faced. "Did you need something?"
"Rachel sent me to fetch ya, Mr. Tompkins, the preacher, and a few men I don't know are down in the parlor." Teresa told her.
Lou's face went white, "Why are they here?"
"Don't know, just wanna talk to you." Teresa said with a shrug.
"Alright, go tell Rachel I'll be right down and then, go out to the barn and stay there until they leave." Lou told the young girl, she didn't know what the men wanted and she wanted to make sure Teresa didn't hear anything inappropriate.
"Do I have too Louise?" Teresa whined.
"Yes, now go." Lou told the girl.
Once the door was closed Lou slipped out of bed and quickly dressed before she joined Rachel and the men in the parlor. Buck nor Teaspoon were there. "What's going on?" Lou asked when she walked in.
Tompkins smiled at her, instantly relaxing her a little, "Lou, this here is the town council."
Lou looked around at the men. Tompkins, the preacher, one man she recognized as the banker, and the other she swore was the saloon owner. So, this was the town council… what did they want with her? "What brings you gentlemen out here?" Lou asked, sitting on the couch next to Rachel, she patted Lou on the knee.
"Mrs. McCloud… It seems we the town owe you an apology." The preacher started.
Lou just looked at them, her brows knitted. "Yes, it seems that we were quick to judge you, and Mr. Cross to be honest. It's come about, that certain rumors that have been spread about town where in fact just that, rumors."
"You don't say." Lou said a little sarcastically, had Kathleen really convinced the town that she had lied about her and Buck?
"Point in fact, the person responsible for starting the rumors, has admitted that she made them up." The banker said.
"Did she?" Lou asked, actually surprised.
"Yes and because of her lack of character, the council has removed her from her position as school teacher at Tompkins insistence. I offered her a job at the saloon." the rough man said with a grin, causing a surprise gasp from the preacher and Rachel.
Lou snorted a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand to try to hide it. "Ya fired Ms. Devlin then."
"She left out on the stage yesterday afternoon." Tompkins spoke up grinning like a cat that ate the canary, he had been really glad that he convinced the council to get rid of that woman.
"Good riddance." Lou muttered. "But y'all didn't need to come all the way out here just to tell me all this."
"No, be we felt you deserved an apology in person. Plus, we also came to talk to Mrs. Hunter." The preacher spoke up.
"What do you need to talk to me about?" Rachel asked, looking at the men confused.
"Rachel, we were hoping, that you'd take over the school teacher position until a new teacher is found or permanently if you'd like." Tompkins said.
"You want me to teach? But I'm not a teacher." Rachel asked, looking around them.
"Rachel, you been teaching 'Miah and 'Resa." Lou pointed out.
"That's different Lou, that's just two children." Rachel argued.
"Rachel, you know you'd make a wonderful teacher, and you love children." Lou told her.
"Please Mrs. Hunter, there's not another woman in town that can do it and it's not fair to the children to miss out on an education until we can send for another school teacher. There's no telling how long it would take to get one." The banker told them.
"Well … I suppose I could take over for the time being, but only until another teacher is found, I've got too much work to do out here." Rachel relented.
"Wonderful! You can start tomorrow." The preacher said, clapping his hands together. "Now we really should get out of you fine ladies, hair."
The men stood, tipping their hats as they left, "Good day ladies."
Tompkins hung back a little to talk to Lou, "I don't know what you had on that woman, but whatever it was she really didn't want out."
Lou laughed, "No, she really didn't."
"Ladies." Tompkins said tipping his hat as he went to mount his horse to return to town.
The two women stood on the porch watching them ride away. The devil woman was gone. She had fixed things in town for her and Buck. Sam and Emma were moving to town, few more weeks they'd be here permanently. Rachel would be the new teacher, her siblings could go to a real school. She was free to marry Buck when the time was right. Lou put her hand to her stomach, in just a couple more months she'd be a mother. Things were looking up. At least she thought they were until Teresa's scream filled the air.
"Teresa!" Lou yelled, bolting off the porch and running as fast as she could towards the barn. She could see Rachel right behind her, Buck, Jeremiah, and Teaspoon rushing towards them from the field they were working in.
Lou rounded the corner of the barn, looking wildly around for her little sister. She found her passed out on the ground in the middle of the barn, an Indian kneeling beside her, his back to Lou, his hand to Teresa's throat. "Get your hands off my sister!" Lou hollered wishing she still wore her gun.
The Indian slowly got to his feet, turning to face Lou just as Buck arrived, his gun drawn. The middle aged Indian smiled when he saw Buck. "Hello little brother."
"Red Bear." Buck said with a smile, holstering his pistol. Buck moved across the barn to his brother embracing him before he pulled away and looked down at Teresa. "What happened to Teresa?"
"I'm afraid I startled her. She screamed and then fainted." Red Bear said looking down at the girl then up at Lou who had moved closer. "You sister is uninjured."
Lou knelt beside Teresa and shook her gently, "Resa, sweetie, wake up."
Teresa's eyes fluttered opened, going wide at the sight of Red Bear behind Lou. "It's alright 'Resa. This is Red Bear, my brother." Buck told her as he too knelt beside the young girl, his hand on Lou's back.
"I'm sorry I frightened you little one. I had to hide until the white men were gone." Red Bear said in explanation as to why she had found him in one of the stables.
Teresa sat up, "It's alright. I just weren't expecting you is all."
Buck stood and helped Teresa to her feet and then Lou. His hand staying on the small of her back, "Brother this is Lou."
Red Bear looked Lou up and down, his eyes lingering on her rounded stomach before looking over at Buck. "It seems I am late."
"Late? What do you mean?" Lou asked confused.
"You have already married my brother. You are with child." Red Bear told her.
"We are not married yet brother. I wanted to send for you, to have you come to bind us together." Buck told him.
"You are not bound already? She is great with child. Do the whites not frown on this?" Red Bear asked confused.
"The child is not Buck's, the man who fathered it abandoned me before he knew." Lou told him. She wasn't sure how to explain that she was married before but really wasn't, would Red Bear understand. He spoke English well, but he was still confused by some words.
Red Bear looked confused. "I not understand. The bald one came to me in a vision. Told me to come. Told me my brother had found a woman and that you would bear his son."
"Bald one?" Buck asked, his face paling.
"Yes … the one you called brother. He is among the spirits now. He came to me, he could speak to me."
"Ike." Buck breathed, his jaw clenching, his muscle ticking as he tried to get control of his emotions. "He sent you here."
"Yes. But the way he spoke, I thought you would be with child soon, not already, not with another's child." Red Bear said looking at Lou.
"Brother, I may not have fathered the child Lou is carrying, but he is my son." Buck told him.
Red Bear smiled, "I understand now. We should perform the ceremony soon. I must return to our people. It is dangerous for me here."
"Yes of course… I mean if that is what Lou wants." Buck said looking at Lou with a soft smile.
"You should know the answer to that Buck." Teresa spoke up, having been forgotten about up till that point.
"Yeah Buck! Honestly how could you think otherwise as loud as y'all are at night." Jeremiah said then.
"Miah!" Lou yelled, her face turning crimson right along with Buck's as Teaspoon, Rachel, and Red Bear laughed.
"What's he, mean by that?" Teresa asked in perfect innocence.
"Never you mind." Rachel told the young girl as she tried to get her laughter under control.
Lou was mortified, how did her little brother know of such things at his age? And God they really did need to be quieter.
"It seems you are already one then little brother, but I will still say the words for you. There is a creek just over the hill there," Red Bear said pointing towards the hill. "I shall go and prepare, meet me there when the sun is just beginning to go to sleep."
"Alright brother." Buck said, with a smile. He was going to be joined to Lou, she would truly be his, at least in the Kiowa way.
Red Bear retrieved his pack from the stall he had hid in and pulled something from it, "My wife sent this for you little mother." he said handing it over to Lou. "and for you Brother." He said pulling out another bundle for Buck.
Buck took it with a little nod to Red Bear as he watched his brother leave the barn. "What is that Buck?" Jeremiah asked looking at the bundle in Buck's hands.
Buck opened the small bundle to reveal an eagle feather, with beads and fur. "What's that?" Teresa asked looking at the odd gift. Buck smiled, "It's for me to wear in my hair for the ceremony. What did Morning Star give you, Lou?"
Lou looked down at the bundle in her hands, it was much larger than Buck's had been. She unwrapped the fur to reveal an almost white buckskin dress, intricate bead work on it. "It's beautiful." Lou said as she held it up against her chest. "I'm not sure it will fit though, not with this belly."
Buck laughed, "It has ties on the side Lou to adjust the size."
Lou looked down at it, noticing the lacing at the side, "It's almost like a corset."
"Louise! You don't mention unmentionables in mixed company." Teresa scolded, causing Lou to roll her eyes. Her sister was so prim sometimes.
"Come on Lou, we best get lunch on the table, so we got plenty of time to get you all fixed up before your wedding." Rachel said then.
The family went inside and had lunch. After which Buck left the house to go bathe and prepare himself before his marriage. He wanted to pray to the spirits. He wanted to somehow thank Ike for sending Red Bear. He didn't know how it was possible, but he knew Ike was still with him, still watching out for him.
After lunch, Rachel had Teaspoon bring in the metal bath tub, then sent him and Jeremiah out to finish chores up, leaving just the females alone inside. After filling up the tub, Rachel helped Lou wash her hair. "Nervous?" Rachel asked as she worked a lather into Lou's tresses, her hair having grown out quite a bit in the past months.
"Excited. Buck is truly going to be mine Rach." Lou gushed, her cheeks stained a pretty pink.
"That boy has always been yours Lou, now that I look back, I don't know how any of us missed it. He's always been there for you. And you … you've always been there for him as well." Rachel told the young woman.
Lou smiled sadly, "I know … I wish I had known sooner."
"I know sweetheart and so does Buck." Rachel said, as she poured water over Lou's head washing the soap out. "Would you like to soak for a little while?"
"Just for a bit." Lou answered, Rachel leaving her alone to enjoy her bath.
Sometime later, Lou was out of the bath and sitting in Rachel's room in front of her vanity, a house coat her only cover. Rachel stood behind her brushing her hair, trying to figure out what to do with it. "Rachel just leave it down." Lou finally said after the fifth style Rachel tried.
"Louise you can't get married with just your hair hanging down." Rachel argued.
"Why not? It's just gonna be us out there. Why should it matter?" Lou asked, shaking her head slightly.
"Indulge me?" Rachel begged.
"Fine … but hurry up, it's almost time." Lou relented.
As Rachel tried yet another style, a knock sounded on the door. "Come in?" Rachel called, the door opened to reveal Teresa's sweet face.
Teresa slipped into the room, closing the door behind her. "I brought these. I thought we could braid them into Louise's hair." She said, holding up a small bouquet of wild flowers.
"Teresa you are a genius." Rachel breathed out, taking the flowers from the young girl.
The two worked together and managed to weave the stems of the flowers into Lou's hair, two short braids, starting at the top of her head on each side and working down. Flowers from top to bottom. "Perfect." Rachel breathed out when they were finished.
Lou looked at herself in the mirror. Not her usual style but she liked it. "It's beautiful. Thank you Resa for thinking of it. And thank you Rachel."
Rachel smiled, squeezing Lou's shoulders. "Let's get you in that dress."
After a bit of a struggle they managed to get the dress over Lou's belly. Even with the laces the dress was almost too tight. But it was so pretty. Lou looked down at her bare legs and feet, the dress only hit her calves. "I have no shoes to wear with this."
"Go barefoot." Teresa told her.
"I guess I can do that. I wouldn't want to offend though." Lou said, gnawing her lower lip.
"It will be fine Lou." Rachel told her, "It's time."
Lou swallowed suddenly nervous as she rose from the seat, her arm hooked in Rachel's, Teresa trailing behind them as they left the house and began walking towards the creek. Teaspoon and Jeremiah had already gone ahead. Buck should be there too. As they topped the hill, Lou spotted Buck with his brother standing before the creek. Even from the distance, Lou could see Buck's eyes lighting at the sight of her. He began walking towards them, taking her a hold of her hand when he reached her.
Buck looked down at Lou's bare feet, arching an eyebrow at her, "I didn't have shoes that would match." Lou admitted blushing.
"It's alright Lou." Buck said nodding his head towards his own bare feet. Together they went to stand before Red Bear.
"Face my brother and join hands." Red Bear told Lou.
Buck reached out his hand for Lou, she placed her hand in his. Red Bear started chanting as he wrapped a beaded cloth around their join hands, he walked around them waving sage smoke around them as he continued chanting. Buck looked Lou in the eyes, mouthing the words I love you to her. Lou smiled and mouthed the words back as Red Bear raised his hands over their heads, speaking in Kiowa, his hands closing over their joined hands, shaking them. He spoke a few more more words before Buck leaned in and kissed Lou on the cheek. Lou just smiled, because she had no idea what had been said. Red Bear unwrapped their joined hands and presented the cloth to Buck. Buck clasped Red Bears arm, Red Bear matching the movement. "Thank you, my brother." Buck told him.
Red bear broke the contact, turning to Lou, he placed his hands, on Lou's belly. "You shall bear a son in two moons. He shall be strong like his mother. You shall carry many more children, but will not birth them all. The spirits shall make it up to you, you shall have two children at one time after you lose two."
Lou could feel tears streaming down her cheeks at his words. Her eyes found Buck's a look of deep sorrow on his face. She knew he believed Red Bears words. And she believed them too. She was destined to miscarry at least two babies. "Are you sure?" she whispered.
"I'm sorry little mother. You have a fruitful womb, but something will cause you to lose two babies." Red Bear told her.
Lou just bowed her head as Buck wrapped her in his arms. He knew Lou would have a healthy baby boy but after that, he knew they would suffer loses and it would hurt. But he would be there for Lou, they would make it through it.
The family returned to the house with Red Bear, eating a simple supper before retiring for the night. Red Bear would sleep in the barn. He told them he would be gone before first light. And in the morning when they woke he was already gone.