Chapter 5

Chapter 5

White Swan made her way down the trail towards the river to wash the clothes she carried in her woven basket. Unfortunately, Badger Snaps, who was one of the braves assigned to watch over the group for the day, walked behind her while two of the other slaves who were going to wash clothes walked besides her. She knew that other braves and their charges were probably already at the river. If not, they’d be along shortly since it was wiser to wash clothes in the early part of the day, rather than later so that they could take advantage of the daylight.

As she rounded the corner of the brush that obscured the river from her view, she got a pleasant surprise. It appeared that Black Wolf had also been assigned guard duty that day since he was one of the braves stationed around the area. White Swan stared at him as he continued to scan the area until his eyes met hers. A smile played at the edges of his lips and his eyes sparkled, prompting her to return a smile of her own.

As the other slaves and White Swan joined the ones already at the river, Badger Snaps took his place in the surroundings after hailing the other braves with a word and a hand signal. White Swan greeted the slaves who were already working in the river and set her basket down before kneeling at the edge.

She quickly noticed that Mouse Daydreams wasn’t there making her briefly wonder if the girl was coming today or would it be someone else in her stead. Picking up the first item, she dunked it into the river to get it wet before pulling it out and placing it on a large, flat stone next to her. She pulled the bag of soap chips out of her satchel and sprinkled some on the cloth before taking a handful of water which she poured on top of the soap.

As she began to spread and wash the cloth over the stone, she glanced out of the corner of her eye to see Black Wolf still standing on guard. He stood with his legs in a wide stance with his arms crossed over his chest, making him look imposing but White Swan knew he could probably have his bow and arrow notched and ready to fly within seconds. He was far enough away from her that they couldn’t have carried on a conversation if they’d wanted to, yet he was close enough for her to see the way his eyes continued to survey the surroundings.

Today, there was a slight chill in the air, so he wore a long-sleeved leather jerkin with a pair of fringed leather pants and moccasins on his feet. Most of the other braves wore similar outfits while they wore their long hair partially braided or held back with a leather strip. Some of them even had beads, bones and other decorations in their hair to match the clothing they wore.

Even though Black Wolf had cut his hair in order to go to the English school, he was now letting it grow out but it was still rather short. Still, there were a few beads and other decorations in his hair. However, most of the feathers that signified his family crest were found on his clothing instead of in his hair like the other braves had.

Black Wolf’s family wore the feathers of an eagle since his was the line of chiefs of the tribe. Every single feather was then decorated with beads, shells and paint to make it unique to the family and the individual who wore it. White Swan knew this because her family wore the feathers of a crow, signifying the family’s connection to long-standing council members who often made and implemented laws.

While some of the other slaves chatted around her, White Swan’s thoughts turned from Black Wolf’s attire to the budding friendship between the two of them. Over the last few weeks, she and Black Wolf had seemed to run into each other often and when they did, they always took the time for a small chat. Even though they usually spoke about light topics such as their day-to-day lives, she still felt as if she was getting closer to him.

Black Wolf was always happy to see her and always asked how she was doing and if her family was treating her well. She in turn would ask how he was doing and how his own family was. Sometimes they were able to share a quick story about something one of their family members did which was usually funny more often than not. Still they mostly exchanged short pleasantries since they both often had other things to do, but White Swan was grateful for the fact that Black Wolf was taking time out to talk to her as if she were a friend of his.

She looked up as a few more slaves joined them at the river with another brave guard in tow. She immediately saw Lauren among them, which meant she was there instead of Mouse Daydreams since they were both slaves of the same family. Lauren had been with the family for about a month now, but it seemed it was only Mouse Daydreams who still got the abuse from the family.

As Lauren and the others joined them, White Swan asked her how she was adapting. “Are things getting easier for you to fit in with the tribe, Lauren?”

The girl nodded. “Yes. Rosalie is a big help of course. Especially since I’m still having a bit of trouble understanding the language.”

“Oh, well I’m glad she can help. You know you can always come to me if you need extra help with the language.”

“Thanks Bella.”

White Swan nodded in reply.

“How’s Rosalie doing?” asked one of the other girls.

Lauren glanced at the brave who stood nearest to them before she lowered her voice a little. “She says she’s fine, but I know better.”

White Swan glanced up with a frown. “What do you mean?”

Lauren sighed. “She thinks she’s hiding the bruises from me, but I’ve seen them. I know she’s been taking the blame for stuff I didn’t do in a way to satisfy them, but she won’t admit it.”

“How do you know that?” asked one of the other girls.

“I asked her if they were punishing her for anything I did, but she says no…that she just fell or something.”

White Swan ground her teeth in frustration. She knew Lauren was right. More than likely Mouse Daydreams was taking the blame for whatever Lauren hadn’t done to the liking of their owners. Either that or their owners just automatically went and blamed Mouse Daydreams regardless of whose fault it was.

One of the other girls scoffed. “I don’t know why she’s covering up for them.”

White Swan turned to look at the girl and knew that whatever was coming out of her mouth next, wasn’t going to be good. “There’s no way I would cover for a…”

“I wouldn’t either, Victoria.” interrupted White Swan.

She quickly glanced to where Black Wolf was standing to see if he had heard anything before she went on. “We all know what our rights are here, but if Rose doesn’t want to report any abuse then we can’t intervene no matter how much we want to.”

Victoria frowned at her. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

White Swan shrugged. She knew Victoria was going to start name calling like she always did. Victoria was one of the slaves who loved to call their owners all kinds of names and tell them bad stuff all while looking directly at them with a straight face. Since said owners didn’t know English, they had no idea their slave was telling them off or describing all sorts of bad things she wanted to do to them.

However, White Swan was the only slave present who knew there was a brave nearby who spoke and understood English very well. Because of that, she had no intention of letting Black Wolf hear the rude words that Victoria would say if she could help it.

“I think we all know you well enough to know what you were going to say, Victoria. But for my sake could you just not start with the name calling and bad language? The last time you did that when I was nearby, I must have washed myself several times that evening because I felt so dirty.”

Victoria wagged her eyebrows as a wicked smile stole over her lips. “Speaking of dirty, anyone else besides me having thoughts about that brave who returned not to long ago?”

Most of the slaves looked up at her with curious gazes.

“Which one?” asked one of the others. “There were a few who returned.”

“True, but there’s only one of them guarding us right now.”

One by one, the slaves all quickly glanced towards Black Wolf while White Swan did her best not to give a retort to Victoria. As she continued to wash her laundry, the others continued talking.

“Oh, he is cute, isn’t he?”

Victoria chuckled. “Oh no, I think ‘cute’ is too soft a word for the likes of him.”

White Swan pursed her lips.

“Hm, you may be right,” replied one of the others.

Victoria laughed this time, making some of the braves, including Black Wolf look towards them.

“Oh I’m willing to bet that I am right. In fact, I think he’s bound to live up to his animal’s name. You know, he probably even acts like one…at least where it matters most, if ya know what I mean.” she gave them all a wicked grin.

White Swan stiffened at that.

“Victoria!” she hissed. “Keep your voice down!”

She rolled her eyes at White Swan. “What for? It’s not like any of them understand English!”

If she only knew, thought White Swan.

Victoria grinned. “I’ll bet he really is like his namesake! Can you just imagine what he’d be like in…”

White Swan huffed. “Really Victoria! Must you make me want to take another bath!”

Another girl chuckled. “Ooooh, I agree! And it’s probably just as dark as the name too!”

White Swan grimaced as she stole a glance towards Black Wolf, hoping he hadn’t heard that. Luckily, it appeared that he was oblivious to their words since he was still scanning the surroundings with the same stoic expression he had worn since she had first gotten there.

She gave all of them a warning glare. “Now is not the time to be talking about things like that! You know they’ll become suspicious if we stop washing and start talking too much. The last thing we need to do is get them all riled up!”

The others reluctantly nodded before going back to their work, but Victoria gave her a puzzled look. “What’s with you Bella? Normally you’re not this uptight.”

White Swan shrugged. “I just don’t see the need to stoop to the level that some of them go to, but really I think I’m still upset over Rose’s problems.”

Victoria gave her a sympathetic nod before she too went back to work.

Their conversations became more subdued for a while as they all finished their washing and began to concentrate on laying out all of the items for drying. As they moved around checking their work, a couple of braves who stood nearby began teasing them.

Of course, it just had to be Badger Snaps who gave the girl nearest him a once over before motioning to Moose Calls who stood a few feet away.

“Too bad the only wet cloth is on the ground, huh?” he snickered.

Moose Calls chuckled. “Yeah, and it doesn’t look so good there, does it?”

The girl immediately straightened up before turning to give them a frown.

Moose Calls shrugged as he answered her frown. “What? Nothing wrong with a little looking.”


“Right, and that’s just where it’s going to stay,” she snapped.

He tsked as he looked to Badger Snaps. “I thought women liked it when we talked about them?”

White Swan rolled her eyes. “Not when you talk about us like we are nothing but a piece of meat.”

Moose Calls turned his gaze on her and gave her the once over as Badger Snaps smiled and said, “Hm, but I can think of worse things to sink my teeth into.” He grinned at Moose Calls before turning back to her to finish with, “or should I say better things.”

She gasped in indignation when his eyes wandered to her chest and she saw the look in his eyes. “Keep that up and you won’t have any teeth left to sink into anything!”

Then she went off into a long string of curses in Quedeyona that had the other girls all staring at her with wide eyes.

Even Victoria looked surprised. “Wow Bella! Where’d you learn all that?”

White Swan smirked at her. “Guess it pays to listen to Badger Snaps and his friends when they don’t think I am.”

Victoria snickered. “You are so bad!”

White Swan’s words seemed to have had the desired effect on the two braves since they went back to focusing on watching their surroundings without another word to any of them.

Black Wolf hid the grin that threatened to come out, but if anyone had looked closely they would have been able to see the twinkle in his eyes as he looked at White Swan with pride. As usual, he was impressed with the way White Swan could stand up for herself and the others without needing anyone else’s help.

Her bravery continued to amaze him every time he saw her in action and he wondered just what her family had been like for her to be so strong. She was unlike any other woman he knew. Even those of his own tribe didn’t seem to possess the same spark that White Swan did.

With one last look in her direction, he went back to being alert to his surroundings.

*******************************************************

A couple of hours later the slaves began to gather up their belongings to head back to the village. Some had already departed with a brave or two in tow. As White Swan and the others got ready to go, the braves who’d teased them earlier had apparently gotten over their shock.

Once more Badger Snaps made his way over to the girl he’d been teasing earlier. As she bent over to finish placing the last of the clothes into her basket, he walked up besides her. Walking close enough as to accidentally bump into her side, he feigned helping her as she lost her balance and went tumbling into the river.

Granted, the river was only ankle deep where they had been washing, but she still managed to get rather wet. As she got to her feet, gasping since the air chilled her wet body, the braves chuckled wickedly.

“See? Told you the wet cloth would look good,” leered Badger Snaps as Moose Calls ogled the girl.

She glared indignantly at them.

“Why you rude…” she sputtered, trying to find the right words to throw at him.

White Swan and a few others moved to help her out of the water before White Swan turned her own glare at the braves.

“Do you have to act like a child? I pity the woman who gets stuck with you!” she sneered.

Badger Snaps gave her what he hoped was a hurt look. “What? There’s nothing wrong with me. I was just teasing.”


“Yeah, any woman would be glad to have him,” replied Moose Calls.

“Well then, you truly must not know very many women, do you?” she retorted.

They both frowned at her as Badger Snaps asked, “What is your problem? We were just having a little fun.”


“By knocking her in the river? She could catch a cold now!”

Badger Snaps wagged his eyebrows. “I’ll be more than happy to warm her up then.”

As he made a move towards her, White Swan blocked his way with her arms spread out to her sides. “You will not touch her!”

He looked at White Swan for a moment before looking up at the remaining girls. The one whom he’d pushed into the water was shivering slightly, even as the others surrounded her and tried to warm her by rubbing her arms with their hands.

He gave the wet girl a sultry look. “Come here pretty, I’ll get you warm.”

She gaped at him as White Swan once more went to cursing him in Quedeyona.

He menacingly glared down at White Swan. “If you don’t get out of my way, I won’t hesitate to let you take her place.”

Before he could make good on his word, Black Wolf was there. Placing his body between Badger Snaps and White Swan, he gave the brave a stern look. “That’s enough, Badger Snaps. We should get these slaves home before they get into any trouble with their families.”

Badger Snaps looked at Black Wolf for a moment before glancing at the girls.

Trying to avoid a confrontation, Black Wolf spoke up again. “Is she really worth the trouble you’ll receive if she’s not returned to her family in good health?”

Badger Snaps’ gaze returned to Black Wolf’s. Gone was the stern look from Black Wolf’s face, in its place was a dire warning in his darkened eyes. Without another word, Badger Snaps gave a short nod and backed away motioning for the Moose Calls to help pack up to leave.

Black Wolf watched him for a moment before he made his way to the group of girls. Picking up a blanket from a nearby basket, he wrapped it around the wet girl’s shoulders and gave her a kind look.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yes, thank you. I’ll be fine once I get out of these wet clothes.”

“Well then we should be getting you home.” He picked up her basket, but before he could make another move, another brave came up to him.

“It’s all right Black Wolf, I’ll escort her and her group home.” said Elk Brother.

Black Wolf nodded since he knew Elk Brother was a trustworthy brave who would make sure no harm would come to the girls while he escorted them back to the village.

As the others began breaking away, White Swan moved to Black Wolf’s side. “Thank you for what you did for us.”

Black Wolf nodded. “It was nothing. Besides, I didn’t want her to get sick.”

White Swan smiled at him. "Of course. I’m glad you had enough sense in you to think of that. It shows you are very considerate of others, more so than some people are.”

She said that last part as Badger Snaps and Moose Calls walked by looking sheepish. Raising her voice even more, just so they could hear, she added one last jab.

“Your thoughtfulness and concern are such that any woman would be more than happy to be stuck with you.”

Black Wolf looked up to see the way the two braves now seemed a little hunched over, as if her words had really deflated their egos. Waiting until they were out of ear shot, he leaned in to whisper to her in English.

“Was that for their benefit or mine?”

White Swan’s eyes sparkled as she grinned at him. “Oh, I’d say it was a little bit of both.”

Black Wolf chuckled as she bent down to pick up her basket. When she straightened up, he turned to the last brave who remained behind. “It’s okay, I’ll escort her to her family.”

The brave nodded as he walked off to follow the last of the group.

White Swan glanced at him with a puzzled look. “What about the others you escorted here?”

“They already left with one of the other braves.”

White Swan looked around and suddenly realized that everyone else had left without her realizing it.

Giving him a sheepish look, she nodded. “Okay then, I guess we should head back.”

Black Wolf nodded as he swept his hand out, allowing her to take the lead.

As the two of them walked back along one of the trails, they made small talk as usual. However, this was the first time White Swan had time to talk to Black Wolf without any interference, so she decided to take advantage of it.

When there was a lull in the conversation, she brought up another subject. “So, how is your little group of admirers doing?”

Black Wolf gave her a puzzled frown. “My what?”

“You know, that little group I saw you with a few suns ago.”

As Black Wolf got a look on his face that said he was trying to remember what she was talking about, White Swan clarified for him.

“Well not a few suns, but more like many suns ago. It was then that you asked me if I had told Crow Flies what Badger Snaps did.”

He grimaced. “Oh them.”

White Swan nodded. “Yes, them. I’m surprised I haven’t seen you with them lately. I’m sure they’ve been missing your company.”

White Swan had to squelch the laughter that threatened to emerge when she saw the pained look that crossed Black Wolf’s face. He looked like he was remembering something he would just as soon like to completely forget.

“What’s the matter, Jake? Don’t tell me they’ve abandoned you!”

He scowled. “I wish fate would be so kind.”

She arched an eyebrow. “You don’t want their company?”

“Not to sound rude, but no. I would prefer for them to leave me alone.”

White Swan gave him an incredulous look. “Are they really that bad?”

“You have no idea. Sometimes they start to talk on about things that I’m sure no man wants to hear about. And for some strange reason they seem to think I’m the one man who does want to hear it.”

White Swan chuckled. “So they bore you with their talk?”

“Not exactly. For lack of a better word, they irritate me.”

She gaped at him. “Really? How so?”

He shrugged. “You heard them. Chirping and hanging all over me, like I’m some kind of trophy.”

White Swan could hear the disdainful note in his voice. She reached out to place a soft hand on his arm. “If they bother you so much Jake, why don’t you just tell them to leave you alone?”

He shook his head. “It’s not that easy, Bells. I don’t really have any other choice than to be polite to them. If not, I could ruin things.”

“What do you mean?”

He started walking again as he spoke. “I can’t be rude to them or it will be reflected upon my parents. It also wouldn’t do for any of the fathers with single daughters to think that I am not worth looking at. Plus, my parents will take my hide if they found out I was disrespectful towards any woman, especially if I was disrespectful to one who looks at me as a potential mate.”

White Swan scowled. “So that’s what they were up to then. No wonder she looked at me like that.”

Black Wolf gave her a questioning look. “Like what?”

“Like I was encroaching on her territory.”

Black Wolf shook his head. “Well, I have to amend your earlier statement to Moose Calls, it’s not just women who are made to feel like nothing more than a piece of meat.”

White Swan looked up at Black Wolf and gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “You’re right. There are a few bad apples in both genders, just as there are bad apples in all races, no matter the color of their skin.”

Black Wolf gave her a huge smile. “Why Isabella Swan, you are definitely a smart one! And I have to say, I completely agree with that statement!”

She returned his smile as they continued to walk the rest of the way back to the village.