THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE returned to their summer home soon after the Sun Dance celebration, and several weeks had passed before Chocheta, Angie and Leotie saw Kimana again.
“How is it to be married?” Chocheta excitedly asked Kimana.
Kimana looked at her and answered, “It is alright.”
“Tell me,” Chocheta insisted, “how does it feel to have a man in your arms?”
Kimana didn’t answer her.
Angie, feeling Kimana’s sadness, said, “I think we should ask her later, when she has had more time as a wife.”
Chocheta was disappointed, but didn’t press Kimana any further.
Angie didn’t see much of Kimana after that. Kimana was busy with her own camp and providing meals for her husband. Dyami was a possessive man and kept her friends away.
That afternoon, Angie went down to the river to pray and to spend her daily time with God. As she closed her eyes and whispered her words to God, she heard a voice next to her.
“What are you doing?” Enyeto asked as he sat down next to her.
“Praying,” Angie answered.
“To which god?” he asked her.
“There is only one God I pray to,” Angie answered him.
“You have only one god?” he laughed, “We have many gods who help the Shoshone people.”
“I need only one God,” Angie told him. “He is powerful and can do everything.”
“Can he turn your hair black?” Enyeto teased.
“If he wanted to,” Angie answered, “but why would He want to do that?”
“So you will look like Shoshone,” Enyeto reasoned.
“I like my hair just the color He made it. I like the way I was created,” she explained. “And I like you just the way you were made, and Kimana just the way she is made, and Leotie just the way she is made and Chocheta just the same. Everyone is made to be just as they are.”
Enyeto stared at her. “You like me just the way I am?”
“Of course,” she smiled, “God made you special, just like He made me special.”
“And everyone is special,” Enyeto laughed suspiciously, “If that is so, do you like Halona just the way she is? Is she special?”
“Yes, she is special,” Angie answered thoughtfully, “She has a lot of pain she is trying to hide. But she is special in her own way.”
Enyeto shook his head and got to his feet. “I do not understand you, Angie Owens. You are truly different from anyone I have known before. I will think on what you say, but your words are confusing to me.”
Then Angie watched Enyeto walk on down the path to the village.
Angie smiled to herself. She was happy she got to share her God with Enyeto. This was the first time someone in the village wanted to know about the God she believed in. She rose to her feet and walked back to her tent, thinking about the words she shared with Enyeto. As she started to enter her teepee she was surprised to see Halona gently stroking Angie’s crocheted blanket. A faint smile was on Halona’s face and she was singing quietly to herself.
Angie stepped back, exiting the teepee, without Halona seeing her there. She was puzzled by Halona’s behavior and all kinds of thoughts entered her head.
Does she really like my blanket after all? Angie asked herself, Has she been trying to cover her true feelings all this time? I’m just not sure.
As she walked away from the teepee, Elsu caught her by arm. She was surprised to see him smiling at her.
“I have decided we will still marry,” he told Angie, “This lie will stay between us. No one else must know.”
“I don’t understand why you insist on marrying me,” Angie tried to get Elsu to listen to her. “You are my friend, but I’m not ready to marry anyone. I’m not in love with you, Elsu.”
“After we are married,” he said gently, “you will learn to respect me. Then you will learn to love me. It is the way of nature. It is the way of the Shoshone.”