At one o'clock, Tom and David walked over to the Grant's quarters. The horses they requested were ready and tied to the hitching rail. David knocked on the door. Julia opened it and invited them in. They started to laugh at Rip and the other men squirming in their dress uniforms, but before they could say anything, Rip said, "If the two of you ever want to make sergeant, you won't say a word. Having to wear this bloody thing once is more than enough but three times in two days is going above and beyond the call of duty."
"But Rip," said David. Just think how proud Cat will be to see her uncle and Godfathers wearing their dress uniforms. Also, don't forget, Tom and I are also in our dress uniforms and we wore them twice yesterday just as the four of you did. The horses are tied up outside so we can leave whenever you and the others are ready."
The nine of them walked out the door, mounted the horses and rode to the Walker's farm where they were greeted by John and Elizabeth. Cochise, Geronimo and several braves appeared a few minutes later to escort them to the village. Once they arrived at Cochise's village, they were shown to a large tepee where they could rest in the shade before the ceremony.
After Cat and Morning Dove had finished dressing, Little Bear's father, Tall Elk entered their tepee. "Wild Cat, I have come to teach you what you will do during the wedding." He pulled a long, thin piece of deer hide from his robe. "Come and sit next to Morning Dove. Listen to what I say and pay attention to what I show you. Cross your left wrist with Morning Dove's right wrist like this." He crossed his wrists to show what he meant. Then he said, "When I tell you to, you will wrap this deer hide around their wrists, but not tightly." He wrapped the deer hide around the girls' wrists to show Cat what he wanted her to do. Then he said, "Now, I will sit next to Morning Dove and you will wrap our wrists to show you have learned what I taught you. He handed the deer hide to Cat, "Now, wrap our wrists as I have shown you." Cat did as she was told. "That was good Wild Cat, but not quite right. Sit next to Morning Dove and watch as I show you again." Cat sat next to Morning Dove and Tall Elk showed her how to wrap the wrists again. Then he sat next to Morning Dove and Cat tried wrapping their wrists again. This time, Cat did it correctly. "That was very good Wild Cat. I will give the deer hide back to you at the wedding."
Shortly after Tall Elk left, Morning Dove's parents entered the tepee. She greeted them and introduced them to Cat. "Wild Cat, these are my parents. This is my father, Gray Eagle and my mother, Yellow Rose. Mother, Father, this is Little Bear's sister, Wild Cat."
Yellow Rose hugged Cat while Gray Eagle picked her up, hugged her and said, "At last, I get to meet the granddaughter of my good friend, Cochise, the daughter of my friend Geronimo, and the sister of my son to be, Little Bear. I am pleased that you will now be part of my family too." Then he surprised Cat by bending down and picking Silver Chief up. He held the puppy at arm's length for a few moments and looked him over very thoroughly. Then he held the puppy close and said, "Cochise tells me that you are already a mighty hunter. I think that you will also be a brave warrior when you grow up." After putting the puppy down, he hugged both girls and left with his wife.
At four o'clock, it was time for the ceremony to begin. Little Bear's mother, Bright Star came to lead them to where it would take place. Silver Chief followed them. Little Bear and Tall Elk were waiting for them at the ceremony grounds. Cat looked around and was in awe at the sight of all the chiefs wearing their ceremonial headdress. She had never seen either Geronimo or Cochise wearing theirs, so the sight of the chiefs from two tribes wearing theirs was impressive. The president's party, including the Walkers was sitting with Geronimo, Cochise, and their wives. "Wild Cat will have an important part in the ceremony. Whatever happens with her after the blessing, do not react." Cochise said.
Bright Star led the girls to the edge of the ceremonial grounds and told Cat to walk in first. When she came into view, the women were surprised to see Cat wearing a dress. "Isn't she adorable?" whispered Julia Grant. "I wonder how they got her into that dress." Cat walked over to where Little Bear and his father were waiting. Little Bear hugged her and her to stand next to him on his left side. Then Tall Elk handed her the deer hide from earlier. Silver Chief lay down on the ground next to Cat.
As soon as Cat was in place, Bright Star told Morning Dove it was time for her to go. Then she joined the rest of her family. When Morning Dove came into view, Irene said quietly, "The girls' dresses match. That's how they got Cat to wear hers."
Once Morning Dove was standing next to Little Bear, he took her hand in his. Then Tall Elk turned to all of the guests and said, "As a father and medicine man, this is one of the happiest days of my life. It is a day I have looked forward to for many years. For today I get to perform the marriage of my son to a woman he truly loves. Then he turned around and spoke to Little Bear and Morning Dove. He told them what it really meant to be married and from now on, when making decisions, each one now also had to consider the other. He told them that it was important to communicate and that they were both responsible for raising their children.
Once he finished telling the pair what it really meant to be married, he said, "Little Bear, you paid many ponies for the privilege of marrying Morning Dove. Tell her how much you love her and what you will do to make your marriage succeed."
Little Bear told Morning Dove that he thought she made the sun and moon rise. He said that he fell in love with her the first time he saw her. He promised to always listen to her, to keep them well fed, and to help her raise their children. He made many more promises to her and told her that he would always cherish her and that she and their children would be the most important things in his life.
When Little Bear finished, Tall Elk told Morning Dove to tell Little Bear how much she loved him and what she was going to do to make their marriage succeed. She said that she fell in love with Little Bear the first time she saw him. She told him that there had been many suitors who offered many more ponies than he had but she rejected all of them because she only wanted him. She promised to always keep their lodge warm, help him raise their children and always listen to what he had to say. Morning Dove also made many more promises to Little Bear.
When they had finished, Tall Elk told them to cross their wrists like they had been shown. Then he said, "Wild Cat, now is the time to do what you were taught." Cat used the deer hide and wrapped it around Little Bear and Morning Dove's wrists the way she had been shown. When she finished, Tall Elk blessed them.
"May the sun bring you new happiness by day;
May the moon softly restore you by night;
May the rain wash away your worries
And the breeze blow new strength into your being,
And all the days of your life
May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty.
Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years.
May happiness be your companion and your days together be good and long upon the earth.
Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulties and fear assail your relationship, as they threaten all relationships at one time or another, remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong. In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight."
After Tall Elk finished the blessing, Morning Dove motioned for Cat to stand in front of her. She put her free hand on Cat's shoulder and said, "This is Wild Cat. She is Little Bear's sister. Now she is also my sister." Then she stooped down and picked up Silver Chief, held him up and said, "This is Silver Chief. He and Wild Cat belong to each other. He is now part of my family."
After Morning Dove set the puppy down, Gray Eagle walked up and asked, "Wild Cat, are you brave?"
"Yes I am."
"We will see." Then he took out a very large knife, gently took one of her hands in his and cut one of her fingers open. Once he made sure Cat's finger was bleeding, he cut one of his open and pressed the two bleeding fingers together for a minute. Then he handed Cat a small piece of cloth and said, "Hold this on your finger and it will make the bleeding stop." Next, much to her surprise, he picked Cat up with both hands and held her up for all to see. "This is Wild Cat. She is the granddaughter of Cochise, daughter of Geronimo, and sister of Little Bear and Morning Dove. She is also now my daughter. My blood flows with her blood and her blood flows with mine. She is also very brave. I brought my biggest knife and she did not even flinch when I took it out. Nor did she cry out when I cut her finger. She is already a very good hunter and provided the evening meal for her family yesterday."
Silver Chief did not like it when Gray Eagle cut Cat's finger and attacked him, trying to bite through the buckskin trousers he was wearing. Gray Eagle laughed, picked him up and held him up for all to see. "This is Silver Chief. He and Wild Cat belong to each other. Yesterday, he proved that he was a mighty hunter and killed a rabbit as big as he is. Today, he has proven that he is also a brave warrior. He is very small but has the courage of a cougar and attacked a chief in defense of the girl he loves. Now he is also part of my family and his bravery shall not go unrewarded." He pulled a feather out of his headdress and put it in the braided collar Morning Dove had made for the puppy and set him down.
After Gray Eagle set the puppy down, Tall Elk said, "We have prepared a great feast in celebration of the wedding of Little Bear and Morning Dove to each other. Let us go and eat. When we are done feasting, we will dance in celebration of the marriage."
Once the wedding ended, Cat ran over to her Apache family where she was praised for her part in it and also for her bravery. Then Cochise said, "Come granddaughter. Your father and I have a surprise for you." He picked her up, carried her over to where Rip and the others had just stood up and set her down.
Cat couldn't believe her eyes. "Uncle Rip!" she cried joyfully as she ran, jumped on him and hugged his neck.
Rip wasn't prepared for the attack and almost fell backwards. "Sam, Phil, Bill, help me. I've been attacked by a wild Indian," he laughed.
"It's just a Wild Cat. Once your neck recovers, you'll be fine," joked Grant. "Come here monkey and let me hug you too." Cat hugged all of her Godparents, the Walkers, Tom and David. Everyone admired her pretty dress and praised her for wearing it and for her actions during the wedding. Silver Chief also received a lot of praise for his actions.
Geronimo and Gray Eagle joined them a minute later and Geronimo introduced Gray Eagle to everyone. "I am very happy to meet you Gray Eagle," said Rip. "As I'm sure you have been told, I was just promoted and given command of the fort the day before yesterday and am still trying to sort things out. Once I have done that, I would like to meet with all of the chiefs in the area. I need to get to know them if I am going to work with them and do my best to keep the peace in this territory."
All three chiefs said that they would be happy to arrange such a meeting whenever Rip was ready. Then Cochise said, "Come granddaughter. It is time for the feast. Little Bear and Morning Dove have said they will not start unless their sister is with them. Your white family will be here all night, so you will have time to spend with them also." Cat said goodbye to everyone and ran off, followed by her puppy.
When she reached Little Bear and Morning Dove, Tall Elk was getting ready to bless the meal. When he finished, he cut a large piece and handed it to Little Bear who cut it in half and offered one part to Morning Dove who ate it. After eating his piece, Little Bear cut another large piece, handed it to Cat and told her to give it to her puppy. "Normally, my father would eat next, but any puppy brave enough to attack a chief is indeed a great warrior and deserves to eat second." Cat kept the piece of meat until she had gotten her food. The president's party had been invited to join her Apache family, so she was able to eat with both of her families.
During the meal, Cochise said, "Wild Cat, tomorrow we will go hunting. You and your puppy will accompany us."
"Why do we need to go hunting father? We just hunted yesterday and we have all of this food from the feast."
"All of the deer we killed yesterday were for the feast little one," said Geronimo. Much of it will be eaten tonight and the rest will be consumed before the mid day meal tomorrow." Then he stood up, picked Cat up and sat her on his shoulders.
She looked at all of the people and said, "Wow! That's a lot of people. Is there enough food for everybody? Do we need to hunt for more now?"
"There is more than enough food," said Cochise. "Now you know why we need to hunt tomorrow." Before long everybody had eaten their share and the drums began to sound. "It is time for the dancing to begin. Go, get a large bone and put your puppy in Little Bear's lodge with his mother and the bone."
Cat did as she was told and then joined the dancing. She danced well into the night when Rip found her asleep on the ground, curled up in a ball. He picked her up and carried her to Geronimo who showed him were to put her. While Rip was putting Cat to bed, Geronimo went to get Silver Chief. He brought him back and laid him in the sleeping child's arms. On the way back to the celebration, Geronimo invited Rip to join the next day's hunt. Rip said he would like to but going hunting in his dress uniform was not a very good idea, but maybe he could join another hunt before it was time for Cat to leave. Then Geronimo said something about Cat sleeping late the next morning and Rip laughed loud and long. "That child doesn't sleep late," he said. "I'll wager that she's up before the sun." Geronimo agreed and they decided that this wager would be for bragging rights only. Then they rejoined the celebration.
The next morning, neither Rip nor Geronimo won their wager as Cat slept until sunrise. After breakfast, she said goodbye to the president's party and rode out with the hunting party. Gray Eagle joined the party as he wanted to see Cat's hunting skills for himself. During the remainder of her two weeks with the Apaches Cat was busy. She went hunting, began learning how to track, and make a fire. She also learned many things from her Apache mother. Little Bear and Morning Dove also spent time helping her train Silver Chief.
Soon it was time for Cat to return to the fort. She reluctantly said goodbye to the tribe, put Silver Chief in her saddle bags and joined Cochise, Geronimo, Little Bear, Morning Dove and some braves for the ride to the Walkers. Rip and some of the soldiers met her there. When she arrived at the fort, she was surprised to find her Godparents were still there. Rip explained that they decided to wait and take her to the McCains and they would leave the next day. Later that night, the president walked into his quarters and found his wife sitting at the desk, writing. "What are you writing Julia? You have been writing every night since we left Virginia City."
"I'm writing a letter to Ben. I want him to see Cat through our eyes. I want him to know what a precious, unique child he is getting. I want him to understand her the way she is. I am terrified that he and Adam, especially Adam, are going to try and break her spirit, and I don't want that to happen. I'm going to give this letter to Lucas and encourage him to add his insights before giving it to Ben. I spent quite a bit of time talking with the Apache women and have added their insights too. I want you to add something to the end of this letter and make it clear that if they try and break her spirit, you will transfer Rip somewhere out of harm's way so he can raise Cat."
"I can't do that Julia. I just promoted Rip and gave him command of this fort. I can't transfer him anytime soon, even for our Goddaughter. I also can't promote him again for several years. Even the President has rules to play by. I don't think it will be necessary, but I can use my authority to nullify the adoption and give her to Rip. I really do think that you are worrying too much. Ben loves that child and would never do anything to hurt her. It will take some time, but he and Adam will adjust to her wildness and they'll work things out. Now, it's late and our Goddaughter will be waking everyone up early, so I suggest we get some sleep while we can."
Before retiring for the night, Rip checked on Cat. He chuckled softly when he saw her puppy curled up beside her in the bed and didn't have the heart to put the puppy on the floor. Instead, he carried the puppy and put him in his bed. Then he returned and did the same with his niece. He kissed and hugged the sleeping child and told her that he loved her. Then he blew out the lamp and climbed into bed. Cat snuggled up against him, let out a deep sigh and fell into a deep sleep.
As usual, the next morning she was up early. After letting Silver Chief out and using the outhouse, she climbed back into Rip's bed and woke him up. "I warned you the last time if you wiggled too much, I was going to have to tickle you and that's exactly what I'm going to do," he teased. He tickled her and they played with Silver Chief for a little while and then Rip said, "Go and wake your Godparents. If I have to be awake, so do they."
Cat hugged her uncle, got down off the bed, put Silver Chief on the floor and ran out the door. She decided to wake the Sheridans first, walked into their quarters, entered the bedroom, put her puppy on the bed, and then pounced on her sleeping Godfather. "Wake up Uncle Phil. Uncle Rip's already awake and said I could wake you up."
Sheridan groaned and pulled her down on the bed and tickled her. "Don't you ever sleep late?"
"Only on days when I have to go to school."
"That's what I was afraid of. Alright, you've done your duty. Go and wake the rest of your Godparents. Don't forget to take this wild beast with you," he said, handing Silver Chief to her. Cat ran off and woke the Shermans and Grants then returned to Rip's quarters.
He was already dressed, looked Cat over and pointed toward her bedroom. "Go and put clean clothes on now. The ones you're wearing are dirty and I will not have my best girl running around in dirty clothes." Cat wanted to argue but something in Rip's voice told her that she would be in trouble if she did, so she went and changed clothes.
After breakfast, it was time to leave. Before putting Cat into the president's carriage, Rip took off his neckerchief and hat and put them on Cat. He also handed her a small leather case. "These were your father's and the case contains pictures of your parents. I've been saving them for you until you had a bedroom of your own to put them in." Then he reached under a carriage seat, took out a sword and handed it to her. "This was your father's also. I wouldn't be giving it to you if I didn't think you were old enough to take care of it. However, it is very sharp and you could get cut very badly. I want you to promise me that you will never take it out of the scabbard without an adult present."
Cat promised and Rip put the sword back under the carriage seat. Then he picked her up, hugged and kissed her and put her into the carriage. He picked Silver Chief up, hugged the puppy and said, "Take care of that little girl for me," and handed him to Cat.
"I wish you could come with us Uncle Rip," said Cat.
"So do I kitten but since Uncle Sam put me in charge, I have a lot of work to do. I'll do my best to join you for Christmas." They hugged one more time and the carriage drove out of the fort. Cat stood on the seat, looking backwards until she could no longer see her uncle.
Cat really missed Rip and barely said a word and barely paid attention to her puppy all the way to the first rest stop. When Grant asked if she wanted to ride her horse, she said she didn't care. Finally, Sherman and Sheridan could stand it no longer and started a pretend argument over which one of them Cat would ride with until they stopped for the night. She tried ignoring them until Sheridan challenged Sherman to a duel. They used tree branches as swords and Cat watched until she burst out laughing. Sheridan won and made sure that Ginger's saddle was tight. Then he walked over to Cat, took off his hat, made a great bow and said, "Your steed awaits my lady. Please allow me to assist you while you mount." Cat giggled as he cupped his hands for her to put a foot in as she mounted her horse. Then he handed her the saddle bags and Silver Chief. She put the puppy in one side of the saddle bags and then put them in front of her. Once Cat was settled, the group continued their journey until dinner.
Since they were near a large town, they ate dinner at one of the restaurants. Cat was afraid someone would steal Silver Chief, so she was allowed to bring him into the restaurant. Sheridan ordered food for her and the puppy with cherry pie and ice cream for dessert. The travelers left the town shortly after dinner, stopping to rest one more time before reaching a fort where they would spend the night. The commander was honored that the president's party stopped there for the night and wanted to have a celebration. "That won't be necessary Colonel," Grant said. "We just need quarters for the night and a hot meal. Please put an extra bed in my quarters for our Goddaughter and her puppy." Their quarters were soon ready and everyone washed up and went to supper.
"I wish Uncle Rip was here," Cat said during supper.
"I know Kitten," said Grant. "I do too. I'm sorry he couldn't come with us, but there was such a mess at the fort that it's going to take him a long time to fix it. I promise, he will be at the Ponderosa for Christmas even if I have to go back to Arizona and take him there myself. Now, eat your supper because I know that Aunt Julia and I aren't going to want you waking us up in the middle of the night because you're hungry. Look at your puppy. He's already finished his food and wants more." Cat ate her food and Grant ordered more food for the puppy. Shortly after finishing her dessert, Cat started yawning. Grant picked her up and started carrying her out of the officer's mess. Then he turned around and called Silver Chief. "Come on pup. It's time you and this girl were in bed."
They departed the fort shortly after breakfast the following morning. They stopped for dinner by a small lake and instead of telling Cat she couldn't go swimming; Sherman and Sheridan picked her up and threw her in. Their wives scolded them while Cat laughed and tried to splash them, but they stayed away from the water's edge. Even though it was a warm day, Tom and David built a fire so Cat's clothes would dry faster. Once Cat was dry and dinner packed up, they continued their journey. "We'll be in North Fork before supper tomorrow," Sherman told her. "We'll send a telegram to Lucas when we stop for dinner tomorrow and invite him and Mark to join us in town for supper. You can go home with them and we'll spend the night in town. The three of you can join us for breakfast before we leave."
They spent the night at a fort and departed shortly after breakfast. The party stopped for dinner in a large town where Sherman sent a telegram to Lucas telling him they would be in North Fork before supper and invited him and Mark to join them for supper. The citizens of North Fork were surprised to see the president and his party arrive in town and get rooms at the hotel. They were even more surprised when Lucas and Mark joined them for supper. Mark fell in love with Silver Chief and wished he had a puppy of his own. "When he grows up, I'll find a nice girl dog for him and you can have the pick of the first litter," Cat told him. After supper, Cat's Godfathers put her belongings on her saddle. Then she hugged her Godparents and rode out of town with Lucas and Mark.
When they arrived at the ranch, Lucas and Mark helped Cat carry her things into the house. They admired her saddle bags and thought that using them to carry Silver Chief in was clever. Then Cat showed them her father's hat, bandanna and sword. She told Lucas that she had promised Rip never to take it out of the scabbard unless an adult was present. He took it out, looked at it and told her that he would teach her how to care for it before she left. Mark laughed and Lucas frowned when Cat told them how she had been waking Rip and her Godparents up almost every day since they left Virginia City. It was getting late, so Lucas told Cat that she would be sleeping in his bed and he would be sleeping on a cot in the living room. After letting her puppy out one more time, Cat walked into the bedroom Mark shared with his father, put Silver Chief in Lucas' bed and then climbed into bed herself. Lucas came in to tuck them in and said, "I know you two have a lot to catch up on but it's late and we have to be in town before breakfast. You'll have a whole week to talk, so right now I want both of you to go to sleep." Then he blew out the lamp, walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
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a/n: The Apache wedding blessing was copied from these two web sites:
content/wedding-vows-native-american-apache
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