The Wolf You Feed Arc (24 page)

Kachina kept her head bowed but she looked relaxed, which was more than Tore felt. His hands were clammy and his heart raced. Kachina cast a furtive look from under her thick eyelashes. As his eyes met hers, she gave him a reassuring smile. It was only a brief moment that their eyes met, but it calmed him.

When Jessie appeared at the door, Hania gestured for Kachina to step forwards. She did as she was bid and Jessie stood aside allowing her to enter her ‘home’.

With the handover complete, the crowd dispersed and Hania returned to his house. Molega was the only one to stay. He shook Tore’s hand and took a seat next to him and Liam on the step.

Inside the cabin, Jessie had already set up a work area. She’d placed a large mortar and pestle and two enormous wooden bowls on the floor. Beside them was a folded thick blanket. Kachina knelt on it and poured some of the white cornmeal into the mortar. Then she began to grind it, with the pestle.

“Do you have to do all of this?” Jessie asked.

Kachina nodded.

“It’s gonna take days! I thought Molega said this was going to be a quick version of the ceremony. Please, at least let me help you?” Jessie said.

“I have to do it by myself to show you I’m worthy but… there is something.” She glanced sideways through the open door to the men.
 

“Don’t worry about them,” Jessie said, closing the door.

A few minutes later a loud brrrring sound floated out of the doorway. Tore raised an eyebrow at his silent companions. The sound of a modern appliance seemed out of place.
 

Liam shook his head, confused by the noise. Molega shrugged his huge shoulders. “I told you, we’re speeding things up. Anyway we live in a modern world, no one grinds their own meal by hand anymore.” Tore watched Molega crack a smile for the first time since their first meeting and he laughed along with him.
 

Even with the aid of the coffee grinder the task still took Kachina a few hours to work her way through the corn. After she ground the white meal, Tore knew his sister-in-law had another large sack of blue for Kachina to finish. It was hours later before Jessie announced that Kachina was done.

Molega inspected the two bowls and nodded his approval. He walked down to the center of the yard and threw back his head. A high-pitched warble rang out across the yard and floated over to the camp. At once people began to appear from everywhere, carrying small bowls of ground meal. Once more, the crowd first went to Hania’s house and then followed him as he led them to Tore.

Molega took Tore around to the side of the cabin where several huge sacks of dried corn were stored. They hauled the sacks to the porch. Hania and Jessie stood at the door to Tore’s cabin, holding Kachina’s bowls of corn flour. As Hania’s friends and family passed, they tipped their own ground meal into one of the bowls and presented themselves to Tore.

He followed Molega’s instructions. Thanking them for their kind gift and then filling their empty containers with full ears of corn. After everyone had given and received payment, the crowd formed a loose semi-circle around the yard.

Hania took Jessie and sat with her on skins laid on the snowy ground in front of the cabin. He showed her how to pound and mash up the Yucca root. One of the women brought a bowl of hot water and placed it before Jessie, then returned with a second for Hania. They mixed the mashed Yucca with the water, creating a mass of foaming suds in each of the bowls.

Molega collected Kachina from the cabin and brought her to kneel before Jessie and then guided Tore into position in front of Hania. Jessie untied Kachina’s braids. As the girl leaned over the bowl, Jessie washed her hair with the yucca-soap water. Alongside her, Hania repeated the process with Tore.

As they sat, heads bent over the bowls, their wedding guests took turns to ladle handfuls of soapy suds over the couple’s bowed heads. After everyone had finished, they repeated the ritual with clean water that they each poured from flasks. Once the hair washing was over, the crowd dispersed again.
 

By now, the sun had begun to set. The sky lit up in a fiery blaze of orange and pinks as the sun sank towards the horizon. Tore helped Kachina to her feet and Jessie combed out her wet hair, separating out a narrow section at the front. Hands shaking, Jessie took a pair of scissors and snipped off the hair at chin level. Then she twisted and coiled the section and secured it at Kachina’s temple. She did the same to the other side, and stepped back. “Did I do that right?” she whispered to Molega. He patted her hand in reassurance.

The coils symbolized that Kachina was no longer a maiden. After she re-braided her own hair, kissed her father and Jessie, she went to the bowl of corn meal and took a small handful. Tore imitated her, scooping up some for himself. Kachina slipped her hand through his and led him past the house, around the barn, and into the backfield.
 

This time, the guests didn’t follow. The couple took this part of their journey by themselves. In the field, they faced each other and lifted the flour to their lips, before casting the meal on the breeze towards the sunset.

Kachina had chosen this spot for Tore. They’d both wanted to include Annike in their ceremony. They’d visited her many times over the week to ask for her blessing. After each visit, Tore’s mate appeared in their dreams and told them she wished them happiness.

As the fine flour floated around them, Tore turned his attention to Kachina. Taking both her hands in his, he whispered into her ear, the vows he’d written only for her to hear. Kachina blushed and lowered her eyes as she listened to his endearments. When he’d finished, she in turn, whispered her own feelings to him.

With promises exchanged, Tore wrapped his arms around his wife. He pressed his lips to hers, sealing their love forever. Before they walked back to the cabin, they recited a short prayer asking for a long and prosperous life together.

By the time they arrived back at the campsite, the feast was already underway. Several women had retrieved the meal flour and mixed it into vast quantities of batter. Now they cooked paper bread on the hot baking stones. The carved roasted meat was heaped in huge serving pans. Vats of boiled corn bubbled over open fires. Bowls of cooked potatoes steamed as large pieces of butter melted over their skins. Youths carried heavy flagons of foaming beer to thirsty guests. They poured them into waiting glasses and snuck sips from the dregs as they went to refill them.

Tore led Kachina to a pile of cushions on a raised platform in a place of honor. He pulled blankets around her and made sure she was comfortable. Then he searched the crowd for Molega. Tore had one more ritual to perform before he could relax and enjoy the festivities.

Molega appeared at his side, carrying several large sacks.

“Explain to me again, what I have to do with this,” Tore said, sifting through the raw cotton.

“You need to distribute handfuls of this to all the women. They will remove the seeds and give it to their husbands. In the full ceremony, the men would spend the next few days spinning it, but we are speeding things up. They have already prepared their cotton. Your raw cotton will be received as payment for the full spools they will place in your basket.”

Tore liked this Hopi tradition. Everyone contributed to the success of the marriage and the kindness was paid back in full.

“Tomorrow, you will use the cotton to make Kachina’s trousseau.”

This was the part that Tore was most worried about. How could he make such a thing? He’d never even darned a sock before and now he had to make her a whole outfit. “Okay. Now, about that, I…”

“We’ll talk about that tomorrow. Hurry up and get this done. Everyone is eager to get on with the feast. Let’s not hold them up,” Molega said.

Tore distributed the cotton. The women made a symbolic attempt to clean the fiber of seeds then thrust it at their men. Their husbands took it to their tents and returned with the prepared spools. Once Tore’s basket was full, cries and yells rang out around the campsite.

The food and drink flowed throughout the night. The women took turns making the paper bread, and the men continued to carve the roasted meat until no one could eat any more. As the beer flowed and the guests became more and more under its influence, Tore led Kachina back to his cabin.

With the loud revelry going on in the background, they lay as man and wife for the first time. As they were drifting off to sleep, the door to their cabin opened and they heard two sets of tiny footsteps enter the room. Liam’s voice hushed his nephews.

“See, there’s Daddy and your new mommy. Shush now, they’re sleeping. Blow them some kisses, then you can come and have a sleep over with Kai, Russell and Sarah.”
 

Rolling over, Tore beckoned for them to come. He kissed each of them in turn and mussed their hair.

“Are you and Kachina married?” Asked Kjell, his baby whispers loud and piercing.

Tore nodded.

“Does that mean we’re gonna have a new brother or sister now?” asked Rune.

Tore laughed, “Maybe, why do you ask?”

“Molega wouldn’t let us come when we asked if we could see you. He said you were making us a baby.”

Tore spluttered. He made a mental note to have to a word with Molega about that!

“So have you made one yet?” asked Kjell.

Tore hugged them close.

“We’re working on it, but making babies as cute as you two takes a long time. You’ll have to wait a while before you get your little brother or sister.”

The boys shrugged and gave him another kiss goodnight. Then they padded back to the door where Liam was waiting for them.

***

Tore woke to Molega yelling and banging on the door. He groaned. It felt like they’d had less than three hours sleep. He climbed out of bed and pulled on his jeans.
 

Kachina sighed. “What is it, honey?”

“Hush, go back to sleep. It’s Molega,” he said.

Kachina slipped from the bed and joined him. She was wearing a white shift made of light cotton, which hung loose from her shoulders and billowed around her. The thinness of the cotton hinted at the outline of her slender shape. Standing on tiptoes, she reached up and kissed him. Tore moaned into her mouth. “How I wish, I could take you back to our bed.” Glancing at the mess of blankets and sheets, he sighed. Just a little longer in that bed with her couldn’t hurt. Molega could come back in an hour. The impatient knocking began once more.
 

Damn, he would have to wait! Flinging the door open, Tore had half a mind to tell Molega to leave. Couldn’t a man enjoy his new wife in peace! As the door flew back on its hinges, he found himself facing not just Molega, but all of their guests. Kachina gasped and hid herself behind him.

The crowd erupted, cheering and shouting innuendoes. Molega reached in through the door and grabbed Tore by the arm, pulling him outside into the throng.

“Come on, you have a trousseau to make.” Molega laughed as the crowd cheered once more.

The crowd pushed and pulled them towards the temporary village. Tore looked around open mouthed. The guests must have slept less than he did, for they were all up and hard at work already. In one corner, a large group of men were threading and weaving the white cotton on huge looms. Further around the camp another group were sewing buckskin together. From where Tore was standing, it looked like they were making moccasins.

Molega gestured around the camp. Everywhere men were sewing, weaving, and embroidering. “There you go, Tore!”
 

“What are they doing?”
 

“Making your trousseau. Traditionally you’d make it yourself and anyone who wanted to help would come and join you. Lucky for you they all wanted to help. But now you have to go and add some stitches to each piece so when you present them to your bride, she will know you are worthy.”

“Where are the women?” He looked around the camp.

“Tsk, this is men’s work. The women have gone to prepare the goats and the sheep for the feast. Come now, we have much to do if you want to leave with Kachina tomorrow.”

Tore spent the morning going from group to group. He added stitches to moccasins, wove cotton through the weaves, and operated the looms. His favorite task was threading beads into an elaborate design along pieces of silk thread. The men working on this explained it was to make a yoke that would decorate Kachina’s tunic.

By the time the sun went down, Tore had a trousseau for his bride. Overwhelmed, he asked Molega, “How will I ever be able to pay everyone back?”
 

“In the standard Hopi way,” laughed Molega.

Tore looked confused.

“By filling their bellies. Tonight we feast.”

They set off back to the cabin, the crowd wending their way behind them.

Kachina was waiting for him at the door. Molega held the trousseau while Tore presented her with each item. First he handed her a large white blanket that had elaborate tassels on the four corners. She would wear this over her head and tunic tomorrow before they departed. Then he passed her a smaller blanket and a woven reed mat. Kachina rolled the blanket with the mat and tucked the bundle under her arm. The next gifts were a white sash with a long fringe and a pair of beaded moccasins. Last of all, he presented her with a pair of deerskin leggings. The hide for these had been exchanged for the skin taken from the stag they’d caught last week.