Page 62 of Red Hawk's Woman

He grinned at her. “’Tis to be expected that you are, and that you will.” He handed her another piece of jerky, which she took from him eagerly. “Your fingers are very small,” he commented, as he held up his hand in comparison.

She smiled as best she could beneath the muddy mask. “Yes, they are. I believe nature has intended it to be this way.”

“Aa.”

“Mr. Hawk?”

“Yes?”

“Tell me, what was it like living in a mist?”

He shrugged. “Much the same as I live here from day to day. Except perhaps that the mornings were always filled with fog. Always. But it was not as different as you might think.”

“Really?”

“I would simply go to sleep and arise with what seemed to me to be the next day. I was unaware of how many winters had passed between laying my head down and arising, or that the elders of our tribe were awake and aware all through those many years. Until I learned of it, I did not realize how greatly our tribe was cursed.”

She nodded. “Did you notice changes to the land?”

“Aa. In this way, one could discern that many years had passed.”

“But it didn’t occur to you how unusual this might be?”

“It did not,” he responded. “Not until I was older.”

“And what about the language? You tell me that the Lost Clan is a band of the Blackfoot people? And when you left, you came to live with a tribe that is also part of the Blackfoot Confederacy?”

“Aa.”

“Is the language now much different than the language of the Clan?”

“It has changed somewhat, but not enough that I do not speak or understand it well.”

“I see,” she said. “Ah, this does remind me of your promise to tell me what kitsikakomimmo means. Did you forget?”

He paused. “I have not forgotten. But before I tell you what it means, let me hear you say it again.”

“What? Kitsikakomimmo?”

“Aa. One more time.”

“Kitsikakomimmo. What does it mean?”

He winked at her. “It means I love you, and thank you for telling me of this love.”

She laughed softly. “You tricked me.”

“So I did. But it was good to hear it from your lips.” If he had expected her to say the phrase again or to comment on his teasing, he certainly didn’t give any indication of it. Instead, he lay on his back, and after a while, she did the same. Pointing toward the heavens, he said, “Do you see that group of stars? The one the white man names the Big Dipper?”

“Yes.”

“In my country, we call those stars the Seven Brothers. As the legend goes, there were once seven brothers who escaped into the sky to prevent certain death. Hannia, once they were taken up there, next to the heavens, they remained safe and unharmed. It was a good place for them, and so, there they linger, to this very day. And that…” he pointed out the beautiful Pleiades constellation, “…we call the Lost Children.”

“We call it the⁠—”

“Pleiades,” he finished. “Yes, I know. Perhaps you might remember that I did once escort a black robe into Flathead country, and it was from him I learned your language.”

“Yes. And what do you call the red one up there?” She indicated the planet Mars.