"Maybe, he doesn't know what love is either, then." Hannah smiled.
Black Feather smiled now, "He has seen love in his mother's eyes. But Lone Wolf has never felt it in his heart for a woman yet. But he grew up with it, surrounded by love. He knows what it is, that's why he seeks it so hard."
"I hope he finds it."
Black Feather chuckled, "He will, I'm sure of it."
"And me, will I find it?"
"It will come… One day you will feel it in your heart so deeply you won't be able to contain it and you will be so happy."
Black Feather was older, probably five or six years older and wiser than most the other Indian women of the tribe. Hannah trusted her.
Hannah glanced at her as they were making blankets and she stopped, "Why did the maidens not give me a hard time?"
"Lone Wolf told them of your plight. But it was you who stood up to Luki. None of them liked her. She is beautiful, but she knows it. She seduces men. You stood up to her, as many wish they had."
"I don't understand."
"You are very brave for a white woman. Your white husband made a slave of you, was mean to you. You have been through much. Lone Wolf said this. We understand as women that it's not right. You worked without complaint, you take orders without sass. Most white women we have known have a long tongue."
"My father taught me not to talk back." Hannah laughed.
"Sometimes, what seems harsh, is good for you. Makes you strong, and you learn better. Had he not taught you that, your husband might have killed you."
Hannah considered her words. "Maybe you are right about that. I always reached out to my father, but he never reached back. He seemed to favor me more than my mother ever did. She was miserable."
"It is sad you have never been loved, even by your family."
"Maybe there is something wrong with me. I have often thought it. Liam said it. I think he's right. I think there is something very wrong with me." Hannah admitted with a tear in her eyes.
"No, I do not think that. But someday I predict you will be loved like no other." Black Feather promised her.
"You are a good weaver, but you need to work on the tanning."
"Yes, I know." She chuckled. "I don't know how you women can do so much work. I thought I had it hard in the store."
"The store?"
"Yes, my white husb
and owned a General Store, I worked there every day."
"We do not have husbands that beat us. Gray Eye has been chief a long time. He leads us well. He teaches us to love one another and be good to one another. He is fair and good to his people. One day Lone Wolf will take his place as the chief. He too follows his father's footsteps. He is a good man."
Hannah smiled, "Yes, I believe this."
"But in the spring, will you leave us?"
Hannah hung her head, "I don't know… Black Feather what does nebii'o'oo mean?"
"It is an endearment, it means 'my sweetheart'. Where did you hear such an endearment?"
Hannah stared. "I don't remember, I guess it I heard it when I was in the store."
"I hope you chose not to leave us!" Black Feather smiled and walked away with her new blanket tucked under her arm.
Chapter Nine