It was late afternoon. He had worked many hours getting the furs ready for the traders to pick up the next day. They would be exchanged for tools, fabrics, vessels to cook in. The people gained much from trading furs. Now he was on his way to be with Lean Bear.
Ever since the night he had suggested they leave the village, he had not been able to get the thought out of his mind. He understood Lean Bear’s hesitancy: fear of the white man, separation from his people, no certainty it would be any better for them in the other world.
He had the same concerns. But overriding them was his desire to be with Lean Bear in a way freeing them both from the cultural influences dictating men such as they had to live as objects to be used by other men, with no chance of a life on their own terms.
When
