Read Online Brave Beginnings by Ruth Ann Nordin - Free Book Online Page B

he had noticed them. He stood and wrapped the robe
tighter about himself.
    “Who is there?” he called out.
    “It’s me and Julia,” Gary shouted.
    “You go too slow,” she muttered to Gary.
“Stop and I’ll get out.”
    “But we’re almost there,” Gary protested.
    “Gary!” She gave him her best ‘do it now’
look, silently willing him to comply.
    With a shrug, he obeyed.
    She got out of the buggy and ran toward
Chogan. The distance wasn’t far between them, but it seemed to take
her forever to reach him. When she stood in front of him, his eyes
were wide and his face pale.
    “Are you a vision?” he hesitantly asked as he
touched her shoulder.
    She laughed. “No. I’m real.” Taking a deep
breath, she continued, “Chogan, I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you.
I wanted to explain, but then Gary wrote that you were married and
I thought it was too late.”
    “You do not want white man?”
    “No. I never did.”
    He cupped her face in his hands. “Then you
are real? You are here?”
    She nodded. “Yes, I’m really here. I’m not a
vision.”
    A smile widened across his face before he
leaned forward and kissed her. “Julia, you marry me?”
    “Yes. Oh Chogan, yes!” She threw her arms
around his neck and kissed him.
    “You are cold.” He gently took her by the arm
and led her to the campfire. He glanced over her head and called
out, “You come to fire or stay there and freeze?”
    Surprised, she turned her attention to Gary
who waited in the buggy, not far from them but careful not to be
caught staring at them. “It might do him good to stay there for
awhile,” she said. “He told me you were married. It’s why I didn’t
come to see you sooner.”
    Chogan chuckled. “You have much fire in you.
I miss it.”
    “Missed. Past tense. I’m here now and won’t
ever leave you again.”
    “I learn to speak like you,” he promised as
he sat down and opened his arms to her.
    Her face flushed at the thought of being so
close to him while they were yet unmarried, but she reasoned he was
only going to hold her so she sat on his lap. He brought his arms
around her and the buffalo robe sheltered them both. She snuggled
against him, noting the softness in his clothing. But it was his
solid presence that she most enjoyed. He was strong and built for
hunting. Even as her heart raced from their close proximity, she
didn’t want to forfeit the pleasure in the moment. Wrapping her
arms around his waist, she rested her head on his shoulder and
didn’t bother looking up as Gary approached.
    “I marry sister. It is good I hold her,”
Chogan told him.
    Julia laughed, finding it amusing that he
felt the need to explain the situation to her brother.
    Gary gave a reply in the Mandan tongue, and
this was followed by Chogan using the same language to make what
sounded like a retort if she guessed the tone of his voice
correctly.
    She frowned and glanced from one to the
other. “It’s rude to say something about me unless I can understand
it.”
    Gary sat across from them and took off his
gloves so he could warm his hands by the fire. “You don’t need to
know everything that goes on around you,” he told her.
    “If it’s about me, I do,” she replied.
    Chogan gave her a slight squeeze. “He tell me
to wait until we marry to do more. He said he has gun.”
    “You lay a hand on him, and I’ll shoot you
with an arrow,” she teased. “You know I can do it too.”
    “She quick learner,” Chogan added, pride in
his voice.
    As if to mock her, Gary spoke to Chogan in
the Mandan language and laughed.
    Chogan grinned and whispered in her ear, “He
tell me I be careful when I sleep.”
    “Gary!” Despite herself, she couldn’t pretend
to be angry.
    Gary muttered something under his breath.
    She looked at Chogan to see if he’d translate
it for her.
    “You do good not to know,” Chogan said. “We
speak English, Gary. It not fair to her.”
    Gary made a show of rolling his eyes but
agreed.
    Though