The Comanche Way

On one side to the right of the door was a bed of sorts that appeared to be made of more hides, though these looked thinner and softer and had the hair or fur left on. Another that looked the same was to the left of the entrance. Opposite the entrance were sacks of what Melody assumed to be the possessions of Running Fawn. On the liner at this place hung a shield and leaning against the liner was a long pole with an iron point. It was decorated with several feathers. Melody couldn't understand why a woman would have those.

Running Fawn sat down on the bed on the left side of the entrance and then said, "You sit, I tell story."

When Melody sat down, Running Fawn began.

"Comanche mother say husband, Two Horse, raid white man farm. Two Horse bring me back to Comanche mother and say her baby die so he bring me to her. I not woman, just girl, but big enough know white mother and father dead.

"I afraid, but Comanche mother take care of me. She give clothes, give food, teach speak Comanche. She teach me be Comanche girl, be Comanche woman, marry Comanche man. Chief Towahwi my son. Have two son but other son die long time ago. What else want know?"

Melody had anticipated talking to a few Comanche women, finding out what they thought about their life before and what they thought about their life in the future. After what Running Fawn had just told her, she knew she couldn't just do that now. Running Fawn was the perfect person to give her the stories that the women in St. Louis would read over and over and discuss over afternoon tea.

She smiled at Running Fawn.

"I have much more that I want to learn and I had thought I could learn what the Comanche women do and how they feel in a day, but now, I see that it will take longer. I think I should go back to Fort Sill and make new arrangements to visit with you every day until I finish."

Running Fawn frowned. She had thought perhaps this white woman could tell the whites the truth about Comanche life and why they had rebelled against the Cavalry. There was only one way Running Fawn knew this woman would learn that truth.

"If want know Comanche women, must be Comanche woman. You stay in tipi with Running Fawn and Towahwi and be Comanche woman."

"Towahwi lives with you?"

Running Fawn nodded.

"It is Comanche way. Comanche man stay with mother and father until take wife. When take wife, live with wife mother and father or in tipi very close. Towahwi not find wife yet, so stay with mother Running Fawn."

Melody was torn between two things. On the one hand, she was intensely interested in Running Fawn and had a thousand questions she wanted to ask the woman. On the other hand, how could she explain to her editor, let alone to her family, that she'd stayed in the same tipi with an Indian man? She'd be, at best, considered a traitor to her race. At worst, she'd be considered tainted just because she'd spent time with an Indian man even though nothing had happened between them.

"Running Fawn, I greatly appreciate the offer, but I can't stay with you."

Running Fawn frowned. This woman was just like the rest of the whites. Indians were people to be either treated as a curiosity or as savages to be feared, not as other human beings.

"You not want know real Comanche woman. You leave now and not come back."

Melody sat there and looked at Running Fawn for almost a minute. She had an opportunity that might never come again. To refuse that opportunity would mean she'd have to abandon the reason she'd become a reporter, that being the search for the truth in any set of circumstances. She'd just have to bear the criticism that came along with that search.

"Running Fawn, if I stay, what would you expect of me?"

>>>--------->

When Melody walked back to the wagon, she had to shake the driver to wake him up. He yawned, stretched, and then frowned.

"Thought you'd be here longer."

Melody smiled.

"Please tell Mister Marks that I'll be staying with the Comanche for a few days and that I'll make my own way back to Fort Sill."

The driver shrugged.

"Suit yourself. Just watch out for them young bucks. They'll have you spread nekid behind a tipi while each'un takes his turn."

With that, he picked up the reins he'd looped around the brake handle and spoke to the team. Melody watched him drive away, wondered if she'd made the right decision, and then smiled because she thought she had.

>>>--------->

Melody was a little surprised by Running Fawn's answer to what would be expected of her.

"Not know Comanche woman until be Comanche woman. Take off clothes."

Melody looked at the open entrance and then back at Running Fawn.

"A man will see me naked."

Running Fawn chuckled.

"Comanche woman not care. Comanche man look but she know he only be with wife. Take off clothes. I give you dress."

Melody hadn't been naked in front of anyone since she was about six. By the time she was naked, she was blushing red all the way down to her breasts.

Running Fawn nodded and handed Melody a bundle made of thin leather.

"Look like Comanche woman only not same color. Sun make same color like me. Here Comanche dress. Put on."

The dress felt as soft as flannel when Melody slipped it over her head, and it settled around her curves without really defining them as had her dress. It felt more like the nightdress she slept in. The feel against her skin was nice. The length of the dress was not. It stopped at Melody's knees.

Like all women, Melody always kept her legs covered by a long dress except for when she was alone. She felt almost naked with her bare legs showing. She looked at Running Fawn.

"My legs aren't covered. A woman shouldn't show her legs to any man except for her husband."

Running Fawn laughed.

"You think because white woman not show legs white man not know she have legs?"

"Well, no, but a lady would never show hers."

"What think man do if see woman legs? Think he try make baby with her? White man maybe, Comanche man no. Comanche man only make baby with wife. You see."

Melody again decided that while people in St. Louis would think poorly of her for showing her legs to all the men in the Comanche camp, unless she told them she had, they'd never know.

She ran her hands down over the leather of the dress again.

"I didn't know leather could be this soft. How do you do it?"

"You learn make. Then know. Need wood for fire. We go find."

Melody asked if she could wear her shoes, but Running Fawn shook her head.

"Shoes too hard. Not feel ground like in moccasin. Comanche woman wear moccasin after make. You not make yet."

As they walked into the trees to gather firewood Melody was full of questions she want to ask Running Fawn. First and foremost, she wanted to understand how the Comanche women felt about moving to the reservation, so she asked Running Fawn. Running Fawn stopped and frowned.

"How you feel if move from home to place you not know?"

Melody had expected an answer, not a question, but as she was to learn, a question was often the answer she received from Running Fawn.

"I suppose I wouldn't like it, but I was told the Comanche didn't have a place they called home. They followed the buffalo herds."

Running Fawn frowned.

"Long time since speak English so not say right words. Home not mean place. Home mean where feel safe. Comanche woman feel safe in place she know. She know where is water and where is berries and where is wood and other things she need for husband and childs. Comanche woman know this where buffalo go. Not know here.

"I not feel safe when Comanche take me. I stay and learn, then feel safe. Comanche woman same. Not feel safe here, but stay and learn. Someday, Comanche woman feel safe here. You not feel safe with Comanche but you stay with Running Fawn and learn. Someday you feel safe with Comanche."

Running Fawn picked up two more sticks of wood and put them with the rest that Melody was carrying. She then lifted the sack-like thing of what also looked like leather she'd been carrying.

"Now get water then go tipi, make food. Towahwi want eat."

The making of that meal was Melody's first real introduction into Comanche life. Changing clothes had been embarrassing and gathering firewood had been something white men did, but it wasn't odd for a white woman to gather firewood as well. The making of the meal was so different Melody didn't know if she could live as a Comanche for more than a day or two.

They'd walked to the creek that ran near the Comanche camp. Running Fawn had dipped the leather bag into the water and when it was filled, they started back to the camp.

Once they were back inside the tipi, Running Fawn first built a fire in the circle of stones. As the fire burned down to coals, Running Fawn placed several smooth stones from the pile beside the fire circle right on the coals. Then, she took a tripod made of stout branches from the wall of the tipi and spread the legs beside the fire circle.

She went back to the wall and picked up another bag-like thing, hung it from the tripod, and then half filled it with water. This new bag was almost transparent and looked like something other than leather. She asked Running Fawn what it was made of.

Running Fawn pointed to her stomach and said, "Where buffalo put grass he eat."

"The stomach?"

Running Fawn smiled.

"Not remember that word. It buffalo stomach. Good for cook food. You see."

Melody watched as Running Fawn took three leather bags that hung from the poles of the tipi and brought them to the fire. From one she took she took two handfuls of what looked to Melody like potatoes only much smaller, ranging from the size of a pea to the size of a walnut. Running Fawn put these into the buffalo stomach and then used two forked sticks to lift two of the stones from the fire. She lowered the stones into the water in the buffalo stomach. As the stones went into the water Melody heard the sizzling sound of water boiling against the surface of the stones.

Running Fawn sat back then and waited. From time to time, she put her finger into the water in the buffalo stomach and then put the finger in her mouth. Melody asked her what she was doing. Running Fawn just said, "Taste water."

Melody did as Running Fawn had done, and when she put her finger in her mouth, she tasted a bitterness she'd not tasted before.

"Ugh", she said. "That's terrible."

Running Fawn smiled.

"Bad taste in water now. I pour out and put in more water."

Once Running Fawn had taken the buffalo stomach outside and dumped out the water, she hung it from the tripod again and put in more water. From one of the other two sacks she took a handful of what Melody recognized as dried meat and from the third, a handful of small roots that looked to Melody like very small onions.

Running Fawn broke the dried meat into pieces and dropped it into the buffalo stomach, then put in the small roots. Finally, she added more hot stones from the fire.

About five minutes later, Melody discovered she was hungry and also that whatever Running Fawn was cooking smelled really good. She asked Running Fawn what meat she'd used. Running Fawn smiled.

"Towahwi good hunter. Kill buffalo, deer, antelope every year. I dry meat for winter. This him favorite food, buffalo stew with onions and potatoes I dig from ground. I use last of dried buffalo because Towahwi need feel better after move to reservation. Towahwi was war chief, now feel like he fail Comanche."

Melody tried to sympathize.

"Running Fawn, Towahwi didn't fail the Comanche. He saved them from all being killed by the Cavalry. The President of the United States ordered the Cavalry to stop the war between the Cavalry and the Comanche. If Towahwi hadn't surrendered, the Cavalry would have kept killing the Comanche until there were no Comanche left."

Running Fawn nodded.

"Towahwi know, but still feel like fail. No Comanche war chief lose battle before Towahwi."

Melody was going to explain that the Comanche had no chance of winning because of the number of Cavalry at Fort Sill, but she was stopped when a man entered the tipi. He looked at Melody, frowned, and then said something to Running Fawn that Melody couldn't understand. She smiled.

"Towahwi want know who you and why you in tipi."

She looked up at Towahwi then and Melody could see the love in Running Fawn's eyes.

"Towahwi, this Melody. She want write about Comanche. I tell her she not know Comanche until she be Comanche woman. She stay here and learn."

Before Running Fawn could say anything else, Melody interrrupted.

"He speaks English?"

Running Fawn smiled.

"Father and father's mother teach him speak Comanche. I have dream say he need know English. I teach him speak English."

Melody looked up at the man standing there and still staring at her. She'd seen him riding his horse at Ft. Sill, but he was too far away for her to see much. Now...

He wasn't as tall as some white men she knew, but he looked very strong. His bare shoulders were wide and his body rippled with muscles from his shoulders down to the loincloth he wore. Melody had never seen a man's bare legs before, but she couldn't imagine many white men she knew had such defined muscles in their legs. Towahwi looked as if he could probably run forever and was strong enough to overpower almost any man.

He noticed her staring and his chiseled face frowned.

"Why you want write about Comanche? You want say Comanche men turn into women and stop fighting?"

Melody shook her head.

"No, not at all. I write stories for white women to read and I thought they might like to understand how Comanche women lived before and how they will live now that the Comanche live on an Indian reservation."

Towahwi smiled then.

"What you write about Comanche women?"

"Well, I don't know yet. I just got here today and the only thing I've seen is what Running Fawn did. I need to know much more about Comanche women before I can write about them."

"How long you stay with Running Fawn?"

Melody shrugged.

"I don't know. I thought maybe two days, but now I think it will take longer than that."

"You not afraid? All whites afraid of Comanche."

"Well, yes, a little."

Towahwi smiled again.

"Why afraid?"

Melody chose her words carefully. She'd read in the newspaper about how the Comanche killed every white man they fought and how they raped and then killed every white woman. Usually they killed the children as well, though sometimes they captured young white girls. Running Fawn was an example of that practice.

"Well, from what I've heard and read, Comanche men usually kill white women after they...well after they take advantage of them."

Towahwi nodded.

"It is Comanche way make war since grandfather's grandfather's grandfather's time. The Comanche not make war now. You safe with Running Fawn...and with me."

>>>--------->

Unlike when Melody ate with her family, there was little conversation while they ate the buffalo stew. The meal was finished quickly. Towahwi left for a while, to talk with the council Running Fawn said. Melody said she thought since Towahwi was the chief, he would decide everything, but Running Fawn shook her head.

"Towahwi is war chief because he is brave warrior and know best way fight, but he not decide what village do. Council of elders talk, then decide. They talk before go to reservation. Towahwi war chief, but not decide. That is Comanche way."

It was dark outside when Towahwi came back. He didn't say anything about where he'd been or what he'd been doing. He just stripped off his loin cloth, lay down on his bed and covered himself with another hide.

Melody had gasped when she saw Towahwi's manhood. It was the first time she'd ever seen a man completely naked. She leaned toward Running Fawn and whispered.

"Does Towahwi always go to bed with no clothes on?"

"All Comanche sleep with no clothes unless think need clothes when wake up, like when hunting or war. Cooler in summer and warmer in winter. We sleep same and time sleep now. Take off dress and sleep with Running Fawn.

Running Fawn had left the fire burning and though it was just coals it still cast a partial light inside the tipi, enough light Melody knew Towahwi could see her when she took off her clothes.

"Running Fawn, I can't. Towahwi will see me and it isn't proper."

Running Fawn chuckled.

"You see Towahwi. That proper?"

"No, but I couldn't help it. I've...I've never seen a naked man's...I've never seen a naked man."

Running Fawn chuckled again.

"All men same, white or Indian. All women same too. Towahwi see, but just see what see before. Take off dress."

Running Fawn then pulled her dress over her head and hung it from one of the tipi poles, then turned back to Melody.

"See. I same as you."

Melody looked at Towahwi. He had turned his head away from where she and Running Fawn stood. She quickly pulled the dress over her head and then walked to another tipi pole, but couldn't find a way to hang it. Running Fawn walked over then and showed her the twig lashed to the pole next to the one Melody was trying to use. Melody hung her dress then, and when she turned around, she saw that Towahwi was again facing her and his eyes were open and he had a smile on his face.

Melody knew she was probably blushing, but she tried to maintain her composure. She followed Running Fawn to the bed and when Running Fawn pulled back the fur covering, she slipped inside. Running Fawn did the same and then pulled the fur up to their shoulders.

Melody couldn't see Towahwi because Running Fawn was in the way, but she did wonder if he was still watching her. She also wondered what he was thinking. He'd smiled so he must have liked her but was that a good thing or something she should fear? If they were ever alone together, would he do something to her? Melody decided she couldn't ever let that happen. She'd stay with Running Fawn every second of every day.

The next two days went by quickly because Running Fawn kept Melody busy learning what Comanche women did every day. During that two days, Melody learned several things about Comanche men and women.

She saw the same interactions between Comanche men and their wives as she'd seen with white people. There wasn't the open display of affection that she was used to, like holding hands or kissing, but the obvious attraction between a husband and his wife was there. It might be just a touch before the husband left to hunt. It might be a wife yelling at her husband and her husband trying to calm her down. She'd asked Running Fawn about that.

"I was told that Comanche men only marry women to cook for them and to have their babies. I didn't think a Comanche wife would ever yell at her husband.

Running Fawn smiled.

"Comanche husband hunt and make war. Comanche wife make home. Comanche wife not say how hunt or make war. Comanche husband not say how wife keep home."

Running Fawn chuckled then.

"If he do, he eat cold food and sleep in cold bed."

Melody noticed another thing that was the same. There weren't a lot of young, unmarried men in the group because many had been killed during the battles. There were several young, unmarried women though, and they were actively pursued by the remaining young men.

Running Fawn had explained that a Comanche man could only marry a girl if her father approved, and that the approval was based upon the gifts the young man would give to her father. It might be horses or a deer he had killed. The value of the gift was a reflection of the value the man placed on his proposed wife.

What Melody saw was that but also more. When a man decided he wanted to marry a girl, it was obvious that she agreed to the union. She would smile when she saw him, and often would stroke her hair when he was around. Melody had seen that in white women who loved a man. The gifts to the girl's father were really no different that the dowry white men of some backgrounds paid to the white girl's family.