Sharp Blade, Broken Knife

Chapter 2

The old woman shelling beans is dressed in a loose black shirt and skirt. She has a blue chin, no, her chin is tattooed with three blue chevrons from the bottom to the lower lip. “Who is the white woman you bring?”

I started to answer, but a slight hand movement from Bear warns me to be quiet. He answers, “She is named Grace. I have brought her here to find her way. If you bless her, mother, I will send her on a vision quest.”

“It is a dangerous thing you ask. I lost you to a vision quest.” They start talking in Mojave, so I start to rise, but she stops me and points to a smooth stone with a depression on top. “Two Feathers, we must have corn to make breakfast.”

Taking her meaning right away; That I must work to stay; I place a handful of corn in the depression and use a small stone, rocking it back and forth to crush the kernels to a fine powder. I do it again and again until I have filled a bowl.

She addresses me for the first time, “Grace, you are welcome to share my bed; you may call me Kuna.”

“I will. May I ask, what is a vision quest?”

Her look turns sour. “It is a journey through your time among the living.”

I now know where Bear learned how to riddle me. “Will I see my future?”

Kuna answers, “To see the future, is to see your death. You will see how you will live.”

We eat our meal of gritty corn cakes, but no one complains. I help Kuna clean up while Bear goes for a walk. Finished I go out to find him building a sun shelter for the refreshed horses and I help. He orders me to bury my saddlebags nearby and sweep the ground smooth. I ask, “She called you Two Feathers.”

“It is my given name; I was too big for One Feather.”

I smirk, but ask, “Why are we here, it’s not just to visit your mother.”

“You’re right; I watched that bank clerk; he knows about your money and he will try to get it anyway he can.”

“Murder,” I ask?

“Even so. That is why we are hiding out. We must have time to make him, or his friends show themselves.

Kuna comes out of the hut and drags me back by the arm. “Grace, you must put these clothes on.” She hands me a loose black shirt and skirt which I put on, as well as the wide straw hat she hands me. Back outside the clothes do feel cooler; the black cloth is keeping the sun off my skin.

“Grace, in this tribe a woman must do as a man says. This is the way it has always been. Listen to Kuna and you will be alright,” Bear says,

He asks his mother, “How is Wana? Will you let her go?”

The woman spits on the ground. “She will not become a warrior like you. Broken Knife has said she will marry Half Hand so that he will take care of me. Your two brothers will not help me. They play with the other men all the time.” Again, she spits, “Worthless.”

Looking down the valley Bear says, “We will have visitors soon; Broken Knife is coming, be respectful.”

“You mean, don’t talk?”

“That too,” Bear says.

Grrr… I scan the horizon but see nothing. “How do you know?”

“They saw us coming, our horses kicked up dust. Be careful of Broken Knife, he is old and small, but his blade is sharp.”

A line of marchers, all dressed in black, walk in from around the side of a hill, led by a small man with two long white ponytails. He was followed by several strong men along with women and children. Every woman has a blue chin tattoo, but none of the men bear tattoos.

The old man walked past me, without so much as a glance, to face Bear. “Two Feathers, have you come to be chief of the tribe?”

“I have not. I come seeking your blessing to teach a white woman the old ways.”

“Has Kuna given her blessing?”

“Yes.”

“We shall see if it is a good thing.”

Broken Knife sits by the fire pit next to the pond, and is joined by the other men. Before Bear joins them, he glances at me and nods to the hut. I take his meaning and go inside, followed by the other women.

~

I start to grind corn, much will be needed. The other women chat, sometimes in English, sometimes in Mojave, and they seem happy at their tasks. I ask Kuna, “Tell me about Wana.” The conversations stop and my ears start to burn.

“Ask her yourself,” Kuna says.

I look around at the younger women, each with a unique chin tattoo, and one with a herringbone design is looking down.

“What would you know?” she asks.

“Will you marry Half Hand?”

“I must; Broken Knife says it will happen soon.”

“Is he a good man?”

“His sisters have said he is, but I see their bruises.” The other women nod in agreement.

I ask, “You would become a warrior like Two Feathers?”

“I am not allowed to leave; I must stay near Half Hand.”

Kuna interrupts, “Go put wood on the fire, enough to keep it going until tonight. Broken Knife will test you; do not look upon his face.”

~

I go out, pick up an armful of split wood, and approach the fire pit at the pond. Stepping between Broken Knife and the next man, on a path left open to force me to walk by the chief. Kneeling down I stir the ashes, and place the rest of the wood around the sides to heat up over the next few hours, so the fire will be ready when the night chill settles in.

I start to stand up, but a hand on my shoulder stops me.

“Turn around Little Girl,” Broken Knife says.

I pivot on my knee to face him but keep my eyes to the ground. He puts his hand under my chin, and without raising my head, rubs it with his thumb. “White women do not know what pleases men; they will not take on the woman’s mark.” The men laugh.

Removing his hand, Broken Knife pulls off my hat and combs his fingers through my short blond hair. “Little Girl thinks she can be a white warrior, but we will see the truth of it. He drops his hand and I take it as a sign to go back to the hut. I stand, careful to not touch anyone, and glance at Bear Two Feathers, who glares at Broken Knife. I also notice a warrior with two fingers missing from his left hand; he is hard and handsome, and he scowls. He must be Half Hand.

I stomp into the hut followed by hoots.

~

“Kuna, he is…” I complain.

“He is a hard man, and that is why he no longer shares my bed.”

“Why did Two Feathers leave the tribe?”

“He had a vision quest, and Broken Knife said he must leave, or he will bring big trouble.”

Kuna tells me to nap and I’m too tired to argue, I haven’t slept since yesterday. Before I lay down, I ask Wana, “Why do you want to become a Warrior?

She answers, “I had a vision quest. I saw crying children. I will fight the men who make children cry.

I look at my own wrists, with their thin scars where I once sought the final peace.

Wana sees the scars, grabs me in a hug, and says, “We are sisters, yes.”

“Yes we are sisters.” I kiss her before I lay down to sleep.

~

I sleep through the afternoon and wake in time to prepare the corn for the evening meal. I look out the door to see a large crowd of men and women have gathered. There is the smell of cooking, and I see a goat roasting over the fire pit. Some of the men, wearing only loincloths, are wrestling, but all the attention is on two men fighting with staves. They are going at it hard and there is cheering for both sides. After a mighty swing, one man is hit on the side of his head and blood starts to run down from his ear. He counters with a low uppercut that clips the first man’s kneecap causing his leg to buckle and he falls. He doesn’t cry out or acknowledge that he is hurt. But it is plain to see, his leg cannot support him. Broken Knife stops the fight, using his own staff to warn the victor to cease. He is Half Hand and I admire how big and muscled he is.

“He is why Two Feathers left us,” says Kuna standing behind me.

I return to my duty of grinding corn. I ask, “Why? Was Half Hand going to hurt him?”

“Hah, my son would have killed Half Hand. Broken Knife likes Half Hand and said good riddance to Two Feathers, for if he comes back he will bring big trouble to the tribe. It is time to give the food.”

“I will prepare Broken Knife’s beans.” When Kuna says nothing, I fill a bowl with the hearty beans, chop up a jalapeno pepper, and mix it in.

~

Carrying the bowl out I avoid bumps by several men, and suffer several guttural words, which I think say what white women should do. I kneel in front of the chief, careful to keep my gaze down, and hand him his bowl. He takes a spoonful and soon I hear some snickering.

“Perhaps, Little Girl, you would like to taste this.” Broken Knife holds the spoon down to me. I look into his eyes to see tears, I cram a full spoonful in my mouth, and take my time chewing. I finish the fiery beans and say, “It is tasty but could use a little pepper.” The men laugh, whether at me or the chief, I don’t know.

~

I take my time walking back to the hut and enter to the sound of quiet giggling by the young women. Kuna grimaces and says, “You have hurt him; he will return the pain to you.”

“Kuna, it was worth it to wipe the humiliation off of my face.”

She smiles and says, “Mother, call me mother.”

“Mother, may I have a cup of goat’s milk; my mouth is on fire.” The other women laugh as Wana pours the soothing milk for me.

I am not allowed out of the hut again and spend my time learning to cook.

~

In the morning I follow Two Feathers to the pond and sit facing Broken Knife. The women follow, but sit a respectful distance outside the circle of men.

“Little Girl, what is the most important thing?” Broken Knife asks.

Without hesitation, I answer, “Family,”.

“Yet, you come to us without family.”

“The day before yesterday I stood by my father’s death bed.” there are murmurs from the assembly.

Broken Knife continues his examination. “What else is important?”

I reach into the pond to bring up a handful of water leaving my fingers spread apart, and the water falls back. “This is life. You cannot hold onto it; the earth always takes it back.”

“Did Two Feathers teach this to you?”

“No, the plants and animals taught me.”

“What will you do?”

“I will become a warrior like Two Feathers. I will fight those who would hurt women.”

“You are a wisp against an evil power.”

“My heart is not a wisp, my cause is not a wisp, and women are not wisps, for a man cannot live without a woman.” I reached down to scoop up another handful of water, holding it over the ground. “I will fight until my life is claimed by the land.” I open my hand and let the water fall onto the ground to be soaked up.

“Tomorrow you will see the truth of your vision,” Broken Knife says. He turns to talk to other men in Mojave.

Dismissed, I leave and am followed by the other women. In the hut they congratulate me on having such a long talk with the chief, telling me I have been honored. I wonder; the iron sharp stare he fixed on me made me shiver. He granted me a vision quest. Will I find what I want, will I be a warrior? I don’t know anything.

~

I spent the rest of the day learning to milk the goats, and with the help of the dog, I herd them into a valley with sparse grass and bushes. It is good to be outside again and away from the snotty men. Wana comes to visit me with water and a corn cake. We nibble on the cake and I ask her about her vision quest.

Wana says, “I saw green fields and trees grow so big and close together. I saw people hurting when they should be happy. I saw myself wearing clothes like Two Feathers. If I marry Half Hand This will not come to pass, I will never travel to other lands or meet good people, and he will beat me for wishing this. I am afraid for my children. He is an unhappy man and our children will be unhappy. I will go to a cliff and throw myself into the sky before I give him unhappy children. Before I fly off, I will make Half Hand peaceful as we make stallions peaceful.”

I shudder and ask, “Why must you marry Half Hand?”

“Mother is old and has no one to care for her when she can no longer herd goats and make cheese.”

“Is Broken Knife your father?”

“He is.”

“Is that why he can make you marry Half Hand?”

“Yes, but he no longer takes care of us and has taken another woman to be his wife.”

“Your brothers will not care for her?”

“Broken Knife is the father of Yellow Hand and Running Snake who are worthless. He is not the father of Two Feathers.”

“Have you told Two Feathers of your plan?”

“No. If I do, he will kill Half Hand and big trouble will come; Half Hand’s friends will kill him.”

“Wana, I have no words to help you. I tried the final escape, but was found and my wounds closed. It will get better for you. I now believe life is better than death.

“It still hurts,” Wana says.

“Yes, it hurts.”

We walk the goats further up the valley in search of forage, and I think about things. Wana must be saved. She must not jump off that cliff. I think about Bear’s knight lesson; A knight absolutely never ever quits. I must become that knight. By the time we return to Kuna’s hut, I have formulated an idea, a crazy idea, a dangerous idea, but it might work.