from her increased respiration and the tightness around her eyes that she felt intimidated by him and that meeting. She shuddered, suddenly looking very vulnerable and afraid. That unexpected insight warmed him. To distract her, he rashly questioned her past and memory. “Lone Wolf told me you have been his sister for ten winters. He did not explain how a captive white child became the honored daughter of Soaring Hawk.”
Wild Wind halted and looked at him strangely. “Why would my brother speak of such matters to White Eagle? I do not know from where you ride or why I have not heard of you. Why do you question me?”
“Is there some evil secret to your capture and adoption?” His crafty response worked, for it kept the conversation on her. “Most prisoners hate their captors, but you do not hate the Oglalas. Why?”
“Oglalas did not murder my family and capture me,” she swiftly defended them. Her gaze lifted to the moon, which would reach its fullness within a week, and thatsight seemed to panic her. She began to talk dreamily, as if to force the alarm from her mind. “Kiowas killed my family and stole me. They were a cruel and fierce band and I hated them. I do not remember how long I was with them. Then, ten winters ago, Soaring Hawk raided the new Kiowa camp and rescued me. Soaring Hawk explained that the white man had driven the Kiowas from their lands and that the Kiowas were trying to invade Lakota lands. There was a violent storm and many whirlwinds filled the air with dirt. The Kiowas and their horses were blinded by the winds and sands and did not see the Oglalas attack until it was too late. The Oglalas knew of such storms and wore thin cloths over their faces. They could look out, but the sand could not come into their eyes and noses,” she related proudly.
She looked and talked as if she had drifted into a trance. “I was frightened. I tried to hide, but the sand burned my eyes and I could not see to run. Soaring Hawk found me lost in the whirling storm and took care of me. That is why he named me Wild Wind. He said the Great Spirit had come to him in a vision and had told him to take me as his daughter. His wife lived with the Great Spirit and his heart was full of sadness and pain. He ordered two Indian captives to care for Wild Wind, Lone Wolf and himself. When my father died, Lone Wolf sold the captives and Wild Wind now cares for his tepee. He is chief now and must take a wife. Soaring Hawk is gone and things are chang—Enough words of Wild Wind. Speak of White Eagle and his mission.”
Travis knew the meaning of her incomplete sentence. He pressed, “Do you remember your white family, Ra… Wild Wind? Do you know where your real mother and father lived before your capture?”
Wild Wind became nervous and angry. To stop this distressing talk, she lied, “No, I was a small child. Speak of other things. I do not wish to remember those darksuns and moons.” She lapsed into pensive silence. Many times in her sleeping and waking dreams she had seen a strange and wicked white man who terrified and injured her. She could hear him shouting awful words at her and see him striking her, his pale face distorted by evil and cruelty, his black hair flying wildly as he jerked his head and body about in fits of pure rage. She had heard herself sobbing and pleading to go home, but he had beaten her and called her filthy names. She had heard his icy laughter fill her ears and she had covered them to close out the wicked sounds. They had to be bad dreams, not memories, for she always saw herself as a grown woman, not as a child. Those terrible dreams were so strange, for she was always wearing white man’s garments and her fiery hair was not long and thick as it was in real life and was worn differently. Many times the dreams were petrifying, for her lovely face would be swollen and bruised and bleeding. The older she became, the less the dreams filled her mind. Yet whenever she thought or spoke of the
Wild Wind halted and looked at him strangely. “Why would my brother speak of such matters to White Eagle? I do not know from where you ride or why I have not heard of you. Why do you question me?”
“Is there some evil secret to your capture and adoption?” His crafty response worked, for it kept the conversation on her. “Most prisoners hate their captors, but you do not hate the Oglalas. Why?”
“Oglalas did not murder my family and capture me,” she swiftly defended them. Her gaze lifted to the moon, which would reach its fullness within a week, and thatsight seemed to panic her. She began to talk dreamily, as if to force the alarm from her mind. “Kiowas killed my family and stole me. They were a cruel and fierce band and I hated them. I do not remember how long I was with them. Then, ten winters ago, Soaring Hawk raided the new Kiowa camp and rescued me. Soaring Hawk explained that the white man had driven the Kiowas from their lands and that the Kiowas were trying to invade Lakota lands. There was a violent storm and many whirlwinds filled the air with dirt. The Kiowas and their horses were blinded by the winds and sands and did not see the Oglalas attack until it was too late. The Oglalas knew of such storms and wore thin cloths over their faces. They could look out, but the sand could not come into their eyes and noses,” she related proudly.
She looked and talked as if she had drifted into a trance. “I was frightened. I tried to hide, but the sand burned my eyes and I could not see to run. Soaring Hawk found me lost in the whirling storm and took care of me. That is why he named me Wild Wind. He said the Great Spirit had come to him in a vision and had told him to take me as his daughter. His wife lived with the Great Spirit and his heart was full of sadness and pain. He ordered two Indian captives to care for Wild Wind, Lone Wolf and himself. When my father died, Lone Wolf sold the captives and Wild Wind now cares for his tepee. He is chief now and must take a wife. Soaring Hawk is gone and things are chang—Enough words of Wild Wind. Speak of White Eagle and his mission.”
Travis knew the meaning of her incomplete sentence. He pressed, “Do you remember your white family, Ra… Wild Wind? Do you know where your real mother and father lived before your capture?”
Wild Wind became nervous and angry. To stop this distressing talk, she lied, “No, I was a small child. Speak of other things. I do not wish to remember those darksuns and moons.” She lapsed into pensive silence. Many times in her sleeping and waking dreams she had seen a strange and wicked white man who terrified and injured her. She could hear him shouting awful words at her and see him striking her, his pale face distorted by evil and cruelty, his black hair flying wildly as he jerked his head and body about in fits of pure rage. She had heard herself sobbing and pleading to go home, but he had beaten her and called her filthy names. She had heard his icy laughter fill her ears and she had covered them to close out the wicked sounds. They had to be bad dreams, not memories, for she always saw herself as a grown woman, not as a child. Those terrible dreams were so strange, for she was always wearing white man’s garments and her fiery hair was not long and thick as it was in real life and was worn differently. Many times the dreams were petrifying, for her lovely face would be swollen and bruised and bleeding. The older she became, the less the dreams filled her mind. Yet whenever she thought or spoke of the
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