tepee to enter the family clearing. The sun was just beginning to shine
down upon the camp.
Men and women were busy, moving around. Some cleaned their weapons,
others watched her with curiosity.
The women moved around with buckets of water or with bowls of food.
A soft word was said to her, and she was moved forward. No one was cruel
to her, but she couldn't have escaped the women who were determined to
escort her.
She heard the stream before she saw it, as they walked a trail that
brought them through trees and dense shrubs.
From the trail she could hear the tinkling melody of the water,
reminding her that she was very thirsty, and that there was a certain
personal necessity she had to take care of. She was glad to he with the
women, even though she flushed when they tugged at her buckskins,
indicating that she was to strip and bathe.
Still, she felt better once the water was against her skin and once she
had swallowed huge mouthfuls of it. She realized that the women were
disappearing between a bank of trees, and she was certain the trees had
to be the latrine. She followed them, and thought longingly once she was
done of disappearing into the brush, but' even as the thought came to
her, she saw that two of her keepers had come for her. Again, they were
not cruel, but the women with the ink-dark hair and the huge dark eyes
placed firm hands upon her and took her to the stream.
There they ignored her. It was Nalte's sister who gained everyone's
attention. Once she, too, had bathed, she was dressed in a soft, pale
buckskin dress with shades of yellow coloring on it. A yellow paint was
smeared over her face, and her hair was lovingly combed out and let
loose to fall beneath her shoulders. Necklaces were placed upon her,
beautiful pieces of beads and silver cones, and one rawhide strand with
a claw upon it. She smiled during it all, flushed and lovely.
It was her ceremony day, Tess remembered. And then she realized that she
had not been forgotten after all. A woman called for her from the bank
of the stream. She had no choice but to crawl out and let them stare at
her. They whispered over her nakedness and she flushed, backing away
when they would have touched her. Her pale skin was very different from
their own, she knew.
But it was her hair that seemed to fascinate them most--both that upon
her head and that upon her body.
They didn't tease her long, but gave her a new outfit to wear. It was a
soft, pale buckskin much like Nalte's sister's dress, but with no yellow
on it. It fell just to her knees. Her feet were still sore from her
barefoot treks over the mountain trails, and she had hoped that someone
would give her soft doeskin slippers to wear. But nothing was supplied
for her feet, and when she tried to ask one of the women, the Apache
shook her head. They were preparing to go back to the village, and Tess
was to go with them. Tess wondered again about her chances of escaping,
but she had heard that the Apache women could he every bit as fierce as
their men. The women were excited about the young girl they had dressed
so carefully for her rite, but their eyes were still upon her. She
walked along, weary and desolate, trying to focus her thoughts on her
