Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,118

was almost uncomfortable. For years he had slept on robes on the ground. He did not like this bed, nor did he like this strange dwelling, hard walls all around, odd structures of wood sitting about. He could see light through openings in the walls, but when he looked up, there was no sky! There was not even a hole, like in the top of a tepee.

Panic began to build inside him. He felt closed in. How could he commune with the Great Spirit in a place like this? The Great Spirit would never find him in here! He had to get out. He started to rise, but pain pierced his side, and he realized only then that his hands and feet were tied to the posts of the soft bed.

He heard some kind of commotion somewhere below him, then pounding footsteps, rising, coming closer. "Hurry!" he heard a woman saying. "He's in the guest room."

A herd of white people entered his room then. He strained at his ropes for a moment. Then he saw her... that woman with the dark red hair and green eyes... the one who said she was his mother. She was the first one through the door, followed by the Crow Indian who knew the Sioux tongue. Then came the tall white man with the blue eyes, followed by a string of young ones. They circled his bed and gawked at him as though he were a ghost.

The woman smiled, touched his arm. She said something to the Crow man.

"She says to tell you she is sorry about the ropes. If you would promise not to run away, she will untie them. She wishes to know how you are feeling."

White Bear looked around at all the staring eyes. Surrounded by whites, and by walls! He hated this place! "Well enough to get away from here," he answered Runner. "I do not like these walls. I want to see the sky. The Great Spirit cannot find me in this place." He was surprised at the understanding look in the Crow man's eyes. Yes, even though he was his enemy, this man was still Indian. He said something to the woman, then looked back at him.

"I am called Runner, in case you do not remember. The woman who is your white mother is called Lettie, and her husband's name is Luke. Do you remember they told you they are your mother and father?"

White Bear studied them, noticing the white man watched him with a look of love and terrible sadness in his blue eyes. "I remember," he answered.

"Lettie says that as soon as you are strong enough, she will take you out where you can see the sky. The openings where you see the light are called windows. She says she will take away the coverings over them, and she will open the windows themselves, so that you can smell the air and see the sun and sky through them. The Great Spirit will be able to come through the openings and find you."

The woman rattled on about something else, all the while rubbing at his arm and watching him with such love in her eyes that much of his initial fear of being in this place left him. Following her instructions, Runner introduced the children as his brothers and sisters. The one called Katie was tall for being almost eleven summers. He wondered how soon she might marry. In the eyes of the Sioux, she was almost old enough. She was already developing breasts. The oldest boy was Tyler. He, too, was tall and looked older than ten years. The pretty little girl who had gone running out of the room was Pearl, Runner told him. White Bear had never seen such bright red hair. She had the same unusual green eyes as her mother.

These white people certainly had hair and eyes of many colors. Half Nose had kept him away from white people, and he had imagined they were all the same as himself, with light hair and pale blue eyes, but all around him were different-colored eyes and different-colored hair. Some had skin as pale as the clouds, others, like the tall one called Luke, were dark from the sun.

Next came a boy called Robert. "He will be seven when the leaves turn to gold," Runner told him. "The youngest is Paul. He was five only two moons ago. Lettie says to tell you they are all your brothers and sisters, and that you