1
Saturday, June 7
Southern Wyoming
.
Sarah Martin was still unconvinced.
“I got us all up at six on a Saturday to go to a pow wow?!” she wondered aloud, shaking her head of shoulder-length, reddish-brown hair. “I must be insane!”
“You’ll love it!” her co-worker, blonde Rachael, assured her as the maroon minivan zipped down the freeway between Rock Springs and Rawlins. “So will the kids!”
“I’ll admit that the kids will love it,” Sarah replied, noting her excited six-year-old twins, Jackie and Jake, sitting in the back seat next to Scott, Rachael’s equally-blond, seven-year-old.
“They dress with lots of feathers and dance around like a sage grouse cock!” Scott cried out, as if excited to have a genuine use for that otherwise-offensive word.
“We’re going to see real Indians!” Jake exclaimed again.
“Will there be girls too?” Jackie asked.
“Of course there will be!” Rachael replied. “Many of them will be wearing special jingle dresses which make music as they dance.”
“Cool!”
Sarah remained unconvinced as she watched the Wyoming scenery pass by. She turned to Rachael. “Where’s Grizz? Didn’t he want to go?”
“He went last night to help set up. He doesn’t dance.”
“Lucky him...”
“Don’t be a spoil sport, Sarah. It will be fun!” Rachael insisted as they turned off I-80 and onto Hwy 287 towards the Great Divide Basin.
“How much further?” Jackie asked.
“About half an hour to the turnoff.”
Sarah grunted. It was Rachael who had insisted on treating her family to the outing. “You need more socializing anyway!” Rachael had pointed out meaningfully… meaning that Rachael thought Sarah should be dating.
“Besides! When’s the last time you treated your whole family?” she had asked two weeks ago when she told the twins all about the pow wow. “And this one is practically in our back yard!”
She had shrugged at the time, in no mood for humor. Freshly out of jail, Craig (her ex) had threatened to take her back to court to get custody of the twins – despite the fact he didn’t pay anything to support them.
“You might like them,” Rachael had replied. “Their men are very handsome. But it won’t be just people from Swan Valley. Natives from all over Wyoming will be there!”
Sarah realized that her co-worker and best friend was trying to set her up, which only made her more depressed. Just because Rachael was happily married to the Native lawyer who employed both of them and newly pregnant didn’t give her permission to try to get her married again! Sarah wasn’t too interested in going that route again. <Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!> Nope. No more men for her!
Even now, Sarah scoffed inwardly, wondering what the point really was. It was true that she had been poor ever since having her twins, Craig leaving shortly after learning she was pregnant. They were poor, but since taking the job at the legal office, they had their needs taken care of – and that was all Sarah truly needed. She didn’t need a man to get them comfortable – only to leave again.
Now that the twins were in school, Sarah was able to take law classes to get certified to be a paralegal – like Rachael. She would be doing better soon enough… The only thing still missing was a man to hold her at night. Someone to share her secrets, her hopes, her dreams… or hurt her. Rachael tried to convince her that she was unlikely to get that unlucky again, but then, her friend was much more optimistic and romantic, as befitted her blonde hair, green eyes and tall, willowy figure! Sarah wasn’t convinced that a man was necessary or even desirable. Sure, even she dreamed, but… dreams rarely came true for Sarah.
As usual, when driving through the Great Divide Basin, Sarah found herself wondering about how some of the mountains came to lean nearly sideways. She wondered how, long ago, the primitive peoples had explained the mysteries of their environment. With few people living in the Basin, it was easy to imagine that there weren’t others – except the Native tribe they were off to visit.
At last, they pulled off the road onto a small, unlikely gravel drive. “Are you sure this is the right way?” she asked her friend.
“Certain!” She pointed at a sign advertising the pow wow, but that didn’t make the road look any less desolate.
“Are we there yet?” Jake asked.
“Almost!” Rachael replied cheerfully. “This is where the Neme’o’ng were when the US cavalry stopped chasing them. The tribe were allowed to stay in Swan Valley.”
“It looks so desolate,” Sarah observed.
Rachael nodded. “Nothing but the best!” she said sarcastically. “The government has always played favorites… and that usually does not include the Natives.”
Sarah wasn’t sure what to say… she knew some of the betrayal the tribes had suffered at the hands of the US government. She also knew some of the poverty and associated problems that plagued reservations, but she had no idea how to fix these problems.
“The Neme’o’ng are very handsome people,” Rachael said in that tone that Sarah knew was a reminder that she should be looking for a man to date… preferably more…. just because Rachael was happily married to a Native man – and pregnant. Sarah sighed more loudly than she’d intended. It was nice to think that a man might find her worth a gamble – despite her twins… despite the fact that she was both poor and determined. But Sarah couldn’t help thinking that Rachael was off in La La Land. “Promise that you’ll keep an open mind, at least!” Rachael demanded as they drove into the small village.
“Of course,” Sarah replied, half-heartedly.
Rachael gave her a smile – one that guaranteed that she’d do her best to make sure Sarah lived up to her promise! She drove to a spot in a make-shift parking lot, following the instructions of several tribesmen, who clearly knew her blonde friend.
As they wove through the small field, Sarah thought she could hear the distant drumming and singing of dozens of wailing women. She wasn’t quite sure she wasn’t imagining things. Other than Grizz, she couldn’t remember knowing any other Native man.
Finally, the car stopped and Rachael put on the parking brake. There was something final and fatalistic as Rachael shut off the engine and the minivan became silent. It was like the last line of defense for her vulnerable heart had just been torn away, leaving Sarah well in the sights of the enemy… men.
♥♥♥
Back to chapter 1
Available to purchase at Books2Read. Print version will be available soon.
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Image Credits
Sarah
Genesis 2 Female by DAZ 3D Studio
Simple top by japfap66
Charm Hair by DAZ
Crow
Genesis 2 Male
Abstract Tee by Jimda
Shavonne Hair by Emma and Jordi
Set and Background
Medieval tent by Most Digital Creations
Landscape made on Gaugan
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Location:
Swan Valley is a fictitious American Indian reservation located in the Great Divide Basin of Wyoming, USA. The Neme'o'ng (Swan People) are based on the idea of blending the Shoshoni and Arapaho peoples - as might have happened if they were stranded in a desolate area as a small band of misfits. I have developed their language from the same ideas.
Please read my note on romance, teenage intimate relationships and underage sex. I apologize if my understanding conflicts with your sense of morality, but I'm only looking at things realistically, not ideologically. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing!
Writing and artwork copyright myself 2005-2105 – all rights reserved.
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Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
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