Land of My Heart (37 page)

Even so, there wasn’t a great deal of time for sorrow. Dianne spent most of each day working with Koko. The woman knew incredible things about tanning hides, gardening, trapping, and canning. Dianne found each day a new experience in learning, and where book learning had been hard, this practical knowledge came much easier.

“You are quick to learn,” Koko told her as they worked to scrape a deer hide.

“I want to be useful,” Dianne admitted. “And the work is so very interesting.”

“Most of what we do here is necessary for staying alive so far away from civilization.”

“I can definitely see that,” Dianne agreed. “Even during the war, because of the alliances my father made, we generally had a ready supply of goods in the store. Of course, we did without certain things. Everyone did, but it was nothing compared to this.” She grew thoughtful. “It’s hard for me to remember a time when we weren’t at war, and now that it’s over with, I wonder what will happen.”

“Bram says there will be a great many people who move west. The territories will offer an escape from the pain of what happened in the East. The brokenhearted will move to the frontier, along with those who desire a new start.”

“Yes, given the Homestead Act that Uncle Bram was talking about, I’m sure they will.”

“You ladies look mighty busy today,” Bram called as he and Gus rode up from the west.

“Are you leaving today?” Koko asked.

Dianne looked up rather surprised. “Leaving? For where?”

Bram dismounted. “I’ve talked with your brothers and with Cole. They’ve agreed to go with Gus to Virginia City and bring back the cattle and horses I ordered last winter.”

“My brothers agreed to that? They said nothing to me.”

“You’ve hardly had much time with them,” Bram said. He handed the horse’s reins to Gus and came to stand over his wife. “What will you make from this one?” he questioned.

Koko continued scraping. “Work gloves,” she answered without missing a beat. “The new men will need them, and your gloves are wearing out fast. I’ll get as many pairs as I can and then you’ll just have to get me another hide.” She looked up and smiled.

Dianne got to her feet. She barely came up to her uncle’s shoulders. She dusted her skirt and raised her hand to block the sun from her eyes as she lifted her face. “Are you leaving us too?”

Bram shook his head and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. He wiped the back of his neck as he spoke. “No. Someone’s got to stay here and see that things keep running. I’ll be here and so will Levi and a couple of the other boys. They’re actually out taking down more trees as we speak.”

Dianne nodded. She felt better knowing there would still be quite a few men around. Zane, Morgan, and Cole came from the barn leading their horses. They were deep in discussion about something, but from this distance, Dianne couldn’t hear what they were saying. Cole looked up and fixed his gaze on her for several moments. Dianne smiled. She had wanted to know him better and to have the chance to ask him about his father and bride-to-be. But as if he purposefully had avoided that possibility, Cole was never around her without one of her brothers or Uncle Bram present at the same time. It was infuriating.

“You boys ready?” Bram asked as they approached.

Zane nodded but looked to Dianne. “Sorry we didn’t get a chance to tell you about this.”

“Me too. Guess I’m the last to know.” She tried not to sound upset over the situation. She didn’t want Cole to think her a baby about the whole thing. Work had to be done and cattle had to be fetched. If she was going to prove her mettle in this isolated land, she would simply have to bear the burdens that came her way.

“Don’t forget to look into buying us another wagon,” Bram said to Gus.

“I’ll do it, boss.” Gus looked back at the boys while Bram came up and took the reins to his horse. The animal was a beautiful bay gelding that Dianne had immediately liked upon their first meeting. Her uncle found the horse to be feisty and full of fury, but Dianne thought him amazingly calm-tempered and gentle. Koko said the horse had never responded to anyone else the way it had to Dianne—even Uncle Bram had been impressed.

“I’m going to head out and see how those boys are doing with the trees,” he told Koko. He mounted the bay, and the other men took this as their cue to take to their own animals.

“I can pack you a lunch to take if you wait,” Koko said, putting aside her scraping tool. She stood and waited to see what Bram would have her do.

“Nah. I’ll be back before you know it, and the boys took food with them. If I’m too hungry, I’ll just make them share.” He laughed at this and the others joined in. Everyone knew Bram Vandyke was a gentle soul who’d deny himself first if it meant someone else’s needs were met.

Dianne met Cole’s gaze once again. He nodded, then nudged his horse down the long drive. “Be careful,” Dianne called out to her brothers but meant it for Cole as well. She didn’t know why, but she felt Cole was less cautious about his own care.

The men had been gone no more than three hours and yet Dianne felt their loss in a way she couldn’t explain. She worked with Koko to make mattresses for the rope beds that the men had put together before leaving. When the boys came back, she hoped they’d be pleased to find that they had nice beds to sleep in.

“Where do the hired hands sleep?” she asked Koko, suddenly realizing she’d never given it any thought.

“Mostly they sleep in the barn. For now. That’s why they’re cutting more trees. Besides clearing the land and getting wood for the stoves, Bram figured we needed to add a bunkhouse before winter. Levi and the others will work on this with Bram. Hopefully they’ll have a good portion of the needed lumber together before Gus and your brothers get back from Virginia City.”

Dianne nodded. “I suppose that makes sense.” She looked at the material spread out on the table. “We’ll have to make more mattresses.”

Koko laughed. “Yes. I suppose so. There will be plenty of work for all of us. We get so few months in which to secure things before winter.”

“Have you always lived in this area?” Dianne questioned, forcing her hands back to work.

“My father was a white man who had a trading post up north. I grew up there with him and my mother and my brother.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“Just one, but one is enough. He’s rather wild,” Koko explained.

Dianne understood. “I have a brother back in Missouri … well, maybe Texas. Anyway, he was always the wild one in our family.”

Koko nodded. “Yes, Bram has told me about him. He is the one called Trenton.”

“Yes. I miss him a great deal. We were always closer to each other than to any of the others. The twins were always together, and my little sisters were too young to understand some of our frustrations and difficulties.” Dianne sighed. “We thought we had so much to worry about then.” She shook her head. “We were so na
ve.”

“A person can only know the things they are exposed to,” Koko said. “Our hardships always seem harder than anyone else’s and our sorrow more deeply felt. It’s the way we are.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” Dianne paused and stretched to ease the ache in her back. She so admired the petite Koko. She seemed so content to work with her hands and labor for the betterment of those around her. Dianne also thought her appearance so neat and orderly. Koko almost always wore her hair in two braids bound with rawhide strips. It gave her a decided Indian appearance but kept her hair under control. Unlike Dianne’s wavy blond hair. No matter how much she worked with it, she always had bits of it falling before the end of the day.

In their discussions, Dianne learned that Koko’s mother was of the Pikuni or Peigan tribe of the Blackfoot Confederacy. There were many tribes of Blackfoot—Bloods or Kainai, Pikuni, Siksika, and even a tribe called Blackfeet, who were still members of the larger family of Blackfoot. Some claimed the Siksika and Blackfeet were really part of one group, but others argued they were strictly separate. It was both confusing and fascinating to Dianne. She found that she wanted to know more and more about Koko’s heritage.

“You mentioned that the twins will have a birthday soon,” Koko said, interrupting Dianne’s thoughts.

“Yes, the ninth of June. They’ll be nineteen, and I don’t suppose they’ll stay around with us for long. Both of them crave their freedom.”

“I suppose I shouldn’t say this, then, but Bram has gotten them to pledge one year on the ranch.”

Once again Dianne felt a sense of betrayal. Why hadn’t her brothers spoken to her about this? It wasn’t that they needed her approval, but she would have liked to have known their plans. “I’d love to see them stay here,” she finally said.

“We need the help, that’s for sure. As Bram adds more cattle, we’ll have more and more trouble.”

“What do you mean?” Dianne asked.

Koko looked up. “There are always problems when you double the workload or, in our case, triple it. There are bears and puma, storms and forest fires. And you can’t get away from people and their desire to take things that are not rightfully theirs to take.”

“What about the …” Dianne paused, feeling uncomfortable given Koko’s family ties. “What about the Indians? Will they steal cattle?”

“If they’re hungry and the cattle are handy, they will. I can’t say that all Indians are trustworthy, just as I can’t say all white men are trustworthy. There are tribes that are warring with the whites. The Crow are very angry at the white man for being here. Bram tells me they have killed many travelers to the east of here.”

Dianne shuddered. “We were afraid of Indian attacks when we came west. The wagon master seemed to know a great deal about keeping us safe, however. He said there was no sense in antagonizing the Indians by crowding them. I guess I have to remember there are people with evil intent on both sides and that maybe the tribes are sometimes justified in their attacks.”

“That’s true. Before the whites starting moving west, the various tribes were fighting one another. Fighting is inevitable. Growing up with a white father and Indian mother and living at the trading post, I had quite an education in the ways of people.”

“You also seem to have had a decent amount of schooling,” Dianne added. “Your speech is so good, and I know you read and write.”

“My mother desired for my brother and me to be able to live in the white world. She begged my father to bring in a teacher, but he always thought it foolish. He taught us a good deal and then one day an older man came from the East. He was an educated man who had gotten tired of his former life and had come west to be free. My father allowed him to stay as long as he schooled us. He agreed and for almost five years he gave us lessons every day. At least every day we were at the store.”

Koko’s expression took on a faraway look. “At times when my mother’s people were nearby, we often went and stayed with them for weeks on end. I loved those times, and that’s where I learned much about the old ways. Of course, my mother was always teaching me something. She said one day I would be a wife, and I would need to know much in order to make a good home.”

“How did you meet Uncle Bram?” Dianne asked.

Koko laughed. “He was the man who came from the East. He was my teacher until my parents were killed by a raiding party of Assiniboin. After that Bram tried to help us with the trading post, but my brother had no interest. He was fifteen and wanted only to join our mother’s people so that he could avenge the death of our parents. He came and went and finally two days after my twentieth birthday, he rode away for good. Bram and I married the day after that. We ran the trading post for a time; then he decided it would be better to sell it and come live here.”

Dianne was stunned. She’d had no idea of how her uncle had come to marry or what he had done during his years in theWest. He’d written her mother marvelous letters, but not even once had he mentioned this little family he’d taken on for his own.

“I’m glad that out here you were able to marry my uncle. They would never tolerate such things back East.”

“They don’t always tolerate them here either,” Koko admitted. “In fact, most people would say we aren’t married at all, because no Christian minister would perform the ceremony.” She smiled a rather sad smile. “I hope you don’t think us wrong, but we married in a Pikuni ceremony.”