An Extract from ' A Callous Land' by Susan Williams.
Tyak
looked at the woman. She was lying on her back now. Although Yamyung had
cleaned her up, her face was still covered in red welts and her long brown hair
was stuck to her cheek where Yamyung hadn’t managed to get all the blood off.
She had pale skin, even paler than any normal white woman, if that was
possible, and there was a blue tinge to her lips.
When he
thought on the matter some more, he realised, that she didn’t look as though
she was alive, so he got up and walked over to her. He leaned into her face and
when content with the fact that he could feel her breath on his cheek, he
walked back to the corner of the tepee. She stirred as he did so, and he called
out for the hag.
‘What is
it?’ she grumbled, as she struggled through the slit in the tepee, with a
bucket of water in one hand and some kindling in the other.
‘Is she
going to die?’
‘I hope
so. Then the problem will no longer be ours,’ she grunted.
Three days
passed and still the white woman looked as if she would die any minute, and as
the days wore on, he wished she would, because he was becoming strangely
attracted to her. He often woke in the night when he heard her cry out and
sometimes, she screamed so loudly, that he had to put his hand over her mouth
to silence her. He knew it wouldn’t be long before he would have to tell the
tribe. But he wasn’t prepared to let them know just yet. If a brave was to
claim her for his own, she would be too weak to satisfy him and would be cast
out.
The days
turned into weeks and then suddenly, January was upon them. The village was
more than prepared for the winter, so all looked well. Except the white woman’s
recovery was slow. She had managed to eat a few pieces of meat and some goat’s milk,
but her body was thin and Tyak knew, that if she didn’t get any stronger, he would
have to put her out of her misery. There was no room in the tribe for
weaklings.
January
came and went and then February met them full in the face with a blizzard. So
bad, that nobody was able to set foot out of the village for a full week. It
was during this time that the white woman started to recover. Now and then she
would peer out from underneath the blanket and look at him. He had never seen
such a look. Her face was still pale, and her eyes looked at him with a hatred
he had never experienced before. Now and again she went to say something but
thought better of it. He however, made no attempt to communicate with her. He
wished now that he had not brought her home.
The other
braves and the elders in the village were starting to ask questions. He was
usually so hospitable, yet over the last few months, the young braves
especially, wondered why they were no longer welcome in his tepee.
Yamyung,
one of the biggest and loudest gossips in the village, had told him about the whispers
and Tyak knew that it was time for the woman to go, and decided that next week
he was going to take her to Fort Benedict and leave her outside for them to
find. She was no use here. She was leaching their resources and giving nothing
in return.
However,
the blizzard lasted longer than expected and caused havoc in the village, and Tyak
couldn’t leave the village because there was too much to do. Meanwhile, the white woman was beginning to
sit up for her meals and the colour was starting to return to her face, but she
still had that cold, haunting look in her eyes that made him turn away from her
whenever she looked at him. She looked like a wounded animal. Her soul was
lost.
Finally,
after much protesting on Yamyung’s part, he finally mustered up the courage to
tell the elders about her and after a long night of talks, fueled by several
bottles of whisky, Tyak was considered her savior and could keep her if he
wanted. But he didn’t want her. He didn’t want the responsibility of her, and
he told the elders so. It was then that they decided that he should take her to
the fort under the white flag and leave her outside the gate.
‘Eat this
and then you come,’ Tyak said to the white woman as she struggled to sit up.
The tone in his voice told her that he meant business.
Isabella
ate the bread and meat he had given her and then the old woman threw a blanket
over her and led her out of the tepee, followed closely by another brave.
As she
walked through the snow, her whole body still hurt from the rape she had
endured, and in between her legs she could feel a pain so intense that she
almost fainted. She screamed and fell to the floor and Tyak roughly picked her
up, and as she lay in his arms, she looked up at him, her eyes pleading with
him to kill her.
Tyak
sensed what she was feeling and was seriously tempted to put her out of her
misery, but something about her made him put those thoughts to the back of his
mind. Today, he was taking her back to her own kind, and then he could forget
about her, for she was stirring strange feelings inside of him, feelings he’d
only ever had for his first wife, and he didn’t want that. No! She was going
back to her own kind.
But just
as they neared the edge of the village, he stopped. The little drops of snow
had now turned into a blizzard and the snow was coming down so thick that he
couldn’t see in front of him. He had to go back, for he knew, the woman would
never survive the journey. He would think about what he would do with her
later, but right now, he had to send for the medicine woman, for the white
woman’s wounds were not healing as they should.
Tyak went
in search of the medicine woman while Yamyung washed the woman’s wounds and
tried to make her comfortable. There were still large weeping welts all over
her body and she had no idea where to start. Between her legs were the worst
sores she’d ever seen and although the white woman must have been in agony, she
said nothing and for the first time, Yamyung respected the woman’s courage.
Thankfully, she was now able to eat, so there was some hope for her.
