Proud Wolf's Woman by Karen Kay Read Free Book Online Page B

body; she felt the scratches and bruises on her body, the filth that clung to her hair, the stench that exuded from her body. She closed her eyes, experiencing more: the degradation of her spirit, the sadness in her recent memory, the betrayal ofher heart. She pulled back completely.
    Why should Neeheeowee help her? He was Indian.
    Indian.
    If her own husband hadn’t thought enough of her to try to save her, along with himself, why should this man?
    He was Indian.
    She looked away, silently cursing the fates that had brought her to this. Why should destiny suddenly bring this Indian back into her life? Reminding her of all the good she’d once known, reminding her of friendship, of honor, of…
    She didn’t finish the thought. She inched backward, away from him, away from her mistress, trying to recall if she had done something terrible in this life to deserve these fates. Nothing came to her—not a terrible passion, nothing—not even the opposite. Neither the good she had done, nor the people she had influenced, brought her happiness.
    At this moment, all Julia knew was despair.
    And so it was with the despondency of one who has known defeat that Julia gazed up at Neeheeowee, blind to all about him, save only one point: He was an alien to her, an Indian.
    She would beg no quarter; she would expect none.
     
    Neeheeowee glared at the Kiowa woman, at Julia, back at the Kiowa.
    “Where is your husband?” he asked of the Kiowa woman in sign language.
    “Gone,” the woman replied in kind.
    “When will he return?”
    The Kiowa gave him an assessing look. “Is my husband a woman that he needs to tell me his movements?” She smirked. “He is gone, I tell you. Do you want to purchase the captive? Is that why you ask? I will tell you now that if you want to purchase the woman, you will have to bargain with me.”
    “My business is no concern of yours.”
    “It is if you want the captive.”
    Neeheeowee didn’t even hesitate. “I bargain with no woman.”
    The Kiowa smiled, though the gesture quickly turned to a sneer. “Then the captive still belongs to me, and I can do with her as I want.”
    Neeheeowee grunted while the woman scoffed.
    “I will beat her if she does not obey me. She does little enough work, leaving it all to me.” The Kiowa woman suddenly chuckled as though with great pleasure, although her glance at the man was shrewd, assessing. “I like to hear her scream.”
    Neeheeowee set his lips; it was his only reaction. “Is it supposed to mean something to me if you beat her? Am I supposed to care? The only thing I can tell you is that if you damage her, I will not want to buy her.”
    The Kiowa woman smiled, the gesture showing small, yellow teeth. “So. At last we get to the truth. You do want to buy her. Why?”
    Neeheeowee glared at the woman’s upright hand as she completed the sign motions. He had not meant to give away so much. Perhaps his time away from camp had caused him to forget how to deal with people. He gave the woman a blank look before beginning. “It is not the concern of a woman what a man wants,” Neeheeowee said in hand motions. “If I intend to bargain, I will talk with your husband when he returns, not before. But know you this: If I find the captive damaged, I will tell your husband all you have said to me. I would ensure that he knows that I would have paid a higher price had the captive not been damaged.”
    The Kiowa woman snorted. “My husband cares not what I do, especially as regards a slave. And as for your wealth, keep it. My husband is already rich in guns and horses. Why should he want yours?”
    It was Neeheeowee’s turn to mock; he did so, using all the ridicule at his command. Was the Kiowa woman so blind that she could not see the wealth in the ponies which stood at his back? Was she such a bad judge of horseflesh?
    “I will return tomorrow when the sun is first up,” Neeheeowee signed, “and if you are lucky, I will purchase the slave then—maybe.”