Light Bird's Song
By Sydney Tooman Betts
Chapter 30
“Standing Elk…let me put away my weaving.”
When the tall warrior nodded, Small Doe ducked inside her mother's dwelling to find her parents eating their late meals. “We would have called you,” Brought-Us-the-Book explained, “but we did not wish to disturb your conversation with Quiet Woman.”
“I am not hungry,” Small Doe replied, “and Standing Elk is waiting outside. I told him I would join him.” She did not miss the approving smile that crossed her father's lips or the pleasure that lit her handsome first-love's eyes when she went outside. Slipping into the blanket Standing Elk spread open, she remembered how much she once had liked him.
“When we passed them near the water,” she heard Pretty Face, her older brother, saying as she reached the flap to enter her mother's dwelling. “They were laughing as we all did together when we were children. I do not think he will hold her feelings for her captor against her.”
“He thinks her strong loyalty commendable,” added Straight Arrows, the eldest among the siblings, “and told me he will offer for her when she is ready.”
With a slight jerk of his chin toward their door, Preying Eagle warned his sons that they were no longer alone. “Good,” he nodded, smiling at his daughter. “You will accept Standing Elk's horses when he offers.”
Small Doe stopped, too taken aback to give a reply. I like Standing Elk and have accepted his blanket as father bid me, but how can they ask more of me so soon? When Standing Elk holds me in the darkness, whose face will my heart see…and what of the little Raven-Enemy that grows within me? He is the answer to my pleas on Pacing Wolf's behalf, to make amends for Wild Dog's deeds. Can I take a gift the Lord meant for one man and offer it to another?
Knowing better than to argue, she responded meekly, “I desire to obey you in everything, but the verse that you read to me—the one in Corinthians—does it give me permission to marry another warrior or merely say that I may live apart from my husband?”
Preying Eagle's mouth became a straight line. He did not mind that she'd asked the question; he could tell by her tone that she honestly sought his counsel, but he was unsure of what to answer.
Encouraged by his pause, Small Doe went to her place in the dwelling and withdrew her old Bible. “I have read chapter seven over and over and found some verses that disturb my conscience. Ten and eleven—here: ‘A wife who leaves her husband should either remain without a warrior or go back to the one she left.' Didn't Jesus, Himself, say that whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery?”
Preying Eagle tried to rein in his growing impatience. He was weary of watching her pine for a man who did not deserve her loyalty and was certain Standing Elk would offer her much happiness. Not only did the young warrior love their Savior, but he also possessed a generous and affable temperament. Nonetheless, Preying Eagle, admired his daughter's care regarding The Word, and he, too, wanted to adhere to his Friend and Master's path. He had read these verses earlier, and thought them confounding. As long as he drew breath, he would gladly provide for Light Bird, but he couldn't guarantee his life would last beyond this season, let alone long enough to see the Raven-Enemy's death. He knew well the lot of unmarried and fatherless women: they lived by the grace of their brothers' wives, who greatly varied in generosity. In the days that he walked the way of all flesh, he would have done as Pretty Face suggested in the cave and raise a war party to attack the Raven-Enemy's village. The man had provided him ample justification.
Understanding her husband's struggles, Brought-Us-the-Book spoke up. “I, too, have read the chapter over again. The verses you have read come before the ones we looked at yesterday. Paul must have taken this into account when reaching his conclusion.”
“Where does Jesus say this?” asked Straight Arrows, who was avidly searching the chapter. “I can't find it here.”
“In one of the similar Gospels,” shrugged Small Doe, “but I don't remember which.”
“Matthew's,” their mother answered, quickly turning there. “The fifth chapter, verse thirty-one and two. ‘You have heard the law says a man can give his wife a notice of divorce, but I say: a man who divorces his wife, except for unfaithfulness, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman also commits adultery'.”
“What does this mean, ‘except for unfaithfulness'?” little Follows-His-Shadow, the youngest walking member of the family piped up.
“When a woman lays with another man,” answered his father, “she makes herself an adulteress—her husband has not forced her to become one by casting her out.” Turning back to Brought-Us-the-Book, Preying Eagle added, “Jesus words are clear and our daughter accepts them, but what of the little potbelly that she carries? Should he grow up without a father because this Raven-Enemy?”
Small Doe's mouth fell open. “Corn-Tassels promised she would tell no one!”
“She did not,” replied Preying Eagle, “but no woman can keep such a secret long. Your mother noticed the expected changes when you dressed each morning.”
Small Doe did not know what to reply. If her father was set on her marrying Standing Elk, she knew well her duty to obey him; and yet in doing so, she felt she might disobey God. “Doesn't Paul also tell us,” she ventured, “that ‘whatever does not proceed from faith is sin'? If I believe that God would have me remain sing…”
Before she finished, Follows-His-Shadow blurted out, “What of Old Many Feathers and Quiet Woman? If her husband is still alive, are they committing adultery?”
Preying Eagle shook his head. “He is not alive. He was an old man when our people attacked their village. If he was not killed during that battle, he is surely dead now—and even if he is not, that all took place long before they any of us met Jesus. Would my uncle be just, after years of living as her husband, to cast her off?”
Preying Eagle's third son, just younger than Light Bird, chimed in, “If God has forgiven Many Feathers and Quiet Woman, will He not forgive our sister also when she marries Standing Elk?”
“Jesus' blood is enough to cover all sin,” answered Straight Arrows, “and He knew all she would do before she was born. But what will it reveal about her heart if she defies Him intentionally?”
A slight smile raised the edges of their father's lips when he heard his eldest son answer well, but they dropped again as he turned back toward the other. “I hope you would not disobey me, knowing that I would still love you. All choices bring consequences. ”
The youth shook his head. “No! I would not!”
“Good. Straight Arrows and Pretty Face have possessed my trust from boyhood. I hope you and your little brother will always possess it also.”
“And do not forget what Jesus told His disciples,” added his mother. “‘If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.'”
“But what of my sister?” interrupted Pretty Face, disliking the turn their father's thoughts had taken. “Must she forever suffer for an enemy warrior's sin?”
As they all turned toward Small Doe, they noticed a gentle smile played about her lips and that her eyes were greatly brightened. She, too, had been following their discussion closely but felt quite differently than Pretty Face about its outcome. In addition, the counsel of her old aunt had been deeply sinking down into her heart. “I do not suffer,” she murmured. “I have a husband who is fully worthy of my confidence.”
“He is worthy of death!” spat Pretty Face, assuming she meant Pacing Wolf.
“You will go back to your husband?” little Follows-His-Shadow asked, twisting up his small, affectionate face.
“Yes,” she beamed. “My Maker is my husband, the Lord of Hosts. I will run to Him and He will give me protection, provision, and love.”
Pleased by their daughter's maturing faith, Brought-Us-the-Book and Preying Eagle exchanged satisfied glances, but the former's thoughts turned to practical matters. “You have not yet eaten. You must keep up your strength for the sake of your child.”
Small Doe complied, smiling serenely at her private thoughts, while Straight Arrows engaged the attention of their father. “When she bears the little potbelly,” he proclaimed solemnly, “I will treat him as my own son, and I will care for my sister as long as I live.” His younger brothers all said the same, even little Follows-His-Shadow, who failed to grasp that the summers between him and the child would not amount to many. Small Doe felt grateful, even humbled by their love, but also keenly aware of a new idea the Lord was planting in her heart .
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Pacing Wolf paused on a high pinnacle, searching the horizon for a way to reclaim his life, but his spirit-guide offered him nothing. He couldn't remember when he'd last eaten—grief choked his parched throat and the smallest morsel hit his gut like a heavy rock—and his soul felt more vacant than his stomach. He couldn't return to his empty dwelling. Everywhere his eyes would land, he'd find her: in the choker she'd woven, the fringes of hair on his leggings and scalp shirt, even in the mended seams of his lodge cover.
She has made me a wanderer, he murmured, like the ghost I acted during her journey.
Although he'd refused to lead the long knives, Pacing Wolf had ridden ahead, keeping watch for roaming war parties as he searched out ample water supplies. Bites-With-Dog had easily interpreted his messages and often stole away to bring him news. The reports didn't vary: Small Doe rarely spoke and never smiled.
What would her expression hold , wondered Pacing Wolf, if I snatched her back again? Following this trail to the end, however, he inevitably found the same patch of thorns: his clansmen's disavowal.
When we next meet an enemy, he decided, I will leap down by Crow-Face' staff and welcome death. Better for my clan to follow Short-Neck than a walking carcass the vultures have already picked clean.
“Book-god,” he cried hoarsely. “Can you hear me? I am Pacing Wolf, your enemy, though I desire to be your friend. I did not mean to hurt the woman I called Small Doe. I have given her back to her people and hope I have not done wrong. Watch over her, protect her, keep her warm and feed her well; for I can no longer do these things.”
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Stopping briefly before Spotted Long-knife the evening after he, Lieutenant Wilson, and Bites-With-Dog had returned from the Hidatsa, Small Doe whispered, “Has Bites-With-Dog heard anything of my…of Pacing Wolf?”
Spotted Long-knife shook his head, and she moved on to serve her uncles. As he watched her offer them portions, he wondered again if he'd done right by bringing her here. His conversations with Bites-With-Dog had given him grave doubts: Pacing Wolf would not have parted with her, had he not asked. At least she looks happier than she did when I saw her last and has gained some much-needed weight.
When she came around a second time, he said: “Bites-With-Dog has not seen him. He returned to the Sparrow Hawks briefly after he guided us here, but he could not find Pacing Wolf. His grandmother, who asked about you, said that he left when we did, and the white-haired leader thought Pacing Wolf had gone alone up into the mountains.”
As her brow puckered and her hand slid down to her stomach, his eyes grew wide with sudden comprehension.
“I wish to speak with you,” she said softly and then ducked out of the lodge.
He did not see her again until the next morning, when Corn-Tassels and she were on their way down to the stream. Seizing the opportunity, he told her, “Come to Valuable Woman's dwelling after your chores, so we can speak privately. I do not want Bites-With-Dog to see us talking openly. He might make the wrong assumptions.”
When she did as he bid, he wondered if she would feel more comfortable with or without his daughter, but before he posed the question, she told him Corn-Tassels knew all that was in her heart. Opening her Bible, she turned to the passage in I Peter about Jesus bearing up under unjust suffering.
“Often, while I was with the Sparrow Hawks, I read this; and, for some time, I have been praying about a connection I sensed between it and something Quiet Woman told me.”
Glancing up, she saw that he patiently waited for her to explain what the Lord had answered.
“When Jesus came to earth, He knew what would happen. He did not come to be pleased or to find enjoyment; but to bring those He loved to His father.”
Again, she looked up and found her “white uncle” nodding in agreement.
“How, then, can I do less?”
Unsure he grasped what lay behind her question, he tilted his head to one side. “Exactly what do you propose?”
Like a distant bugle sound, the hesitancy that suddenly sprung into her eyes forewarned him of what she would say. “I want you to return me to the Raven-Enemy. I want to go to those I love who do not know our Father—and bring them to Him.”
Rather than reply, Spotted Long-knife tugged at his chin. He saw a host of difficulties with her plan. Her father was sure to forbid it and, from what Bites-With-Dog had told him of their peculiar customs, he was not certain Pacing Wolf would welcome her back. Might not another man claim her, whether she was willing or not?
“Your intentions are good and move my heart,” he replied at last, “but have you considered what will happen if Pacing Wolf refuses to offer you a place in his dwelling?”
“I do not return for Pacing Wolf; he has already made clear that he does not want me. I will earn a place in his grandmother's lodge by doing all her chores. Although I am not skilled with words, I am sure beyond doubt that the Creator has planned this, and He will provide everything I need.”
“Have you mentioned this to your father?”
“Not yet, but I have been praying for the Lord to direct his heart. Look at these verses in John's Gospel. I began reading them after my mother pointed out others in this same chapter.” Turning to chapter fifteen, she began with the ninth verse and continued to the fifteenth:
I love you as my Father loved Me. Continue in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will continue in My love—just as I have kept My Father's commandments and continue in His love. I have spoken these things to you that My joy may dwell in you and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love than this has no one: that he lays down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends because all things which I heard from My Father I made known to you.
“I know I must go—how can I not? There are people who I love there—people for whom Jesus died but who do not know it. He has called me friend and shared with me the desire of His heart. How can I do less than join Him in His purpose?”
“It is full of risk!” declared Corn-Tassels.
“Much less than when Jesus left His home in heaven for us—and look here, at verse eleven. ‘I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.' Everyone tells me continually that it hurts to see me sad. What greater happiness can I have than the joy that is mentioned here—the joy of laboring with Jesus at the task dearest to His heart? I know what I propose holds dangers, but I am convinced it is the surest course. Look here, a few chapters back:
Truly, I tell you: unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. The one who loves his life loses it; and the one who despises his life in this world will keep it to everlasting life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.'
“By clutching on to my own safety and happiness, I would risk everything; but by following in Jesus' steps, I gain all!”
The passion in her voice rebuked him, though doing so was not her intention, and he thought back to the old days, when salvation was new to the band. They had regularly sent out warriors: first to their bands of their own tribe and afterward to the tribes of their enemies. New believers joined them and those they sent out brought back wondrous reports of salvation. Some, indeed, had been treated brutally or even murdered, but could he, in good conscience, argue against what the Lord had placed on her heart?
But she is so very young, and a woman...Would not one of her brothers be better suited? His thoughts brought back a night long ago when he stood on the catwalk of his former outpost saying the same words, or something very like them. Whether Preying Eagle would agree to her plan presented an altogether different obstacle; the warrior was fiercely protective of his children and the ways of their people gave him unquestioned authority over her.
“Very well. I can see you have thought this out and are determined. If your father consents, I will do as you ask; but I will not go against him.”
Unexpectedly, the child threw her arms around his neck and soundly kissed his cheek. “I knew you would help me, and with your frequent visits, why should Father object?”
The Major could think of many reasons. In fact, if Corn-Tassels asked the same of him, he would consent only if Jesus peeled back the sky and told him in terms too clear to deny.
As cherries swelled on their branches, Small Doe's growing belly proclaimed that a small Raven-Enemy dwelled within her. Her heart, also, grew full: with love for a father who listened when the Creator spoke, regardless of his own inclinations; with appreciation for a mother, grandmother, and aunts who had taught her that His footsteps were the surest place to set her feet; and with thanks for her white uncle. Not only had Major Anderson guaranteed that he would visit her as often as he could, but he also recounted the trepidation he'd felt the night that her mother made a similar decision. Considering the latter, her father could hardly refuse.
“I know what he says is right,” Preying Eagle confided to Brought-Us-the-Book on their bed that night, “but I knew what you would find here. What do I know of this Raven-Enemy, except that he has made my daughter eat her heart?”
Brought-Us-the-Book gazed at her husband with a mixture of admiration and love. “Spotted Long-knife once told me that he wondered if God took my father home to Him to clear the way for me to come to here. Father would never have given me permission to do so and certainly not to marry you.” Stretching up in the dark, she ran kisses from his weatherworn cheek to his brow and murmured softly, “I cannot imagine life without you.”
The king's heart, like channels of water, is in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.
Proverbs 21:1
Author Bio
Sydney Tooman Betts currently resides in Florida with her protagonist-inspiring husband and two teen-aged children. When not engaged in writing, she spends most of her time home schooling, mentoring, leading the women's Bible study at her local church, or painting.
While single, Ms. Betts (B.S. Bible/Missiology, M.Ed) was involved in a variety of cross-cultural adventures in North and Central America. After marrying, she and her husband lived in Europe and the Middle East where he served in various mission-support capacities. Her teaching experiences span preschool to guest lecturing at the graduate level and she has been privileged to serve as Sunday School Superintendent, Children's Church Director, or Women's Ministries facilitator in several evangelical denominations.
Before her first novel, A River too Deep, she had ghostwritten several stories included in an adult literacy program.
Contact Sydney at: www.LightBirdsSong.com
To Purchase “A River Too Deep” and “Light Bird's Song”: www.e316.com , www.Amazon.com , www.authorhouse.com