Tykota's Woman(76)

How would he live without her?

He smoothed the letter out and read it again. Then he sat motionless until the lamp grew lower and the night grew darker.

Then he got on his horse and rode away.

It was after midnight when Tykota returned to the ranch house. He found his mother waiting for him in the parlor.

"Are you all right?" she asked, going to him and slipping her arms about his waist.

"I have been trying to think what to do."

"And what have you decided?"

"I do not have the answers. But I do know that I am no longer capable of leading the Perdenelas. My father's spirit must cry out that I have failed him."

"And what do you think of this?"

"I think my father did not understand that when he sent me away from our valley, he placed me in a world so different that I can never truly feel a part of my people. I think and love and act and feel differently than they do. They come to me with their problems, and I have no solutions for them."

"What do you do?"

"I have Coloradous stand beside me as an adviser. He seems to know just what the people need. He has already begun building a dam to irrigate the crops. He is the one who should stand in my place. He is the one who knows how the people feel."

"So Coloradous is a good and wise man?"

Tykota looked at his mother for a long moment. "Yes. Yes, he is."

"You changed your father's law and brought him back into the tribe?"

Tykota felt his heart lighten. "Yes, I did that."

"Then what is your answer?"

Tykota looked thoughtful. "I know what I must do." He hurried to the door and called over his shoulder. "And I know what will be best for the Perdenelas!"

Tykota faced the council. "I have two reasons I called you here today. One concerns my brother, Coloradous, and the other concerns Santo. First, bring in Santo, and I will put his deeds before you."

By now, everyone in the village had heard about how Santo had brought shame on his family. The Old Ones nodded.

Santo wore a surly expression as he was led before Tykota.

Tykota spoke. "You know why you are here?"

"I know that we were friends." Santo's rage was simmering below the surface. "I know that you have turned away from that friendship."

"While I was away, you took it upon yourself to make my sister, Inea, your intended wife. She was afraid of you, and yet, since she had no protector, you treated her as if she did belong to you.

"I was only taking care of her until you, her brother, returned to see to her well-being. She was a maiden alone and needed someone to keep other men away from her."

"Enough!" Tykota said, standing so he would be eye-level with the man he had once loved like a brother. "We both know you kept the other braves away because you wanted her for yourself." Tykota's voice was hard, his tone menacing. "You are fortunate that I do not kill you for what you did. But I do demand that you leave this valley in shame and never return."

"You will be sorry for this," Santo hissed. "You will regret this day!"

Tykota grabbed the bear-claw necklace around Santo's neck and jerked him forward. "You dare to threaten the chief in this council room? Men have been put to death for less."

Santo lowered his eyes so none could see the hatred and defiance there. "I was wrong. It is right that I should be expelled from the tribe. I brought dishonor upon myself and my family."

Tykota flung him backward, and he landed hard on the stone floor. "Get out of my sight. Never let me see your face again."

Santo was helped up and escorted to the door by two warriors. He did not look back, but hatred burned in his heart, and he would know no peace until Tykota was dead.

Tykota took a steadying breath. "Now, before I bring my brother in, I have something I want to say to all of you. Hear me out before any of you speak."

The room grew quiet, and all eyes were on Tykota.

"I love this valley, and the Perdenelas will always be my people. My father taught me that my wants and needs must come after those of my people, and I believe this."

Heads angled in puzzlement.

"I have come to know in my heart that I cannot give the people all they need from their chief. The fact is painful but true. I have walked too long in the white world to recognize the wants and needs of each of you."

There was a long silence.

"I have come to see that my father was misguided when he sent my brother, Coloradous, away. Coloradous was my father's oldest son, and he has remained true to the tribe even when he could not be a part of it. All of you know of the irrigation ditches he has dug for our fields. He is strong of spirit and honor. It is he who should stand in our father's shoes."