Read Lakota Honor for Free Online Page A

garden would feed them for another week.
    Oh Pa, why? Why did you do this? She poured coffee into two cups.
    "Pa, it's time to get up," she sang. "You don't want to be late for work."
    She sat at the table and watched through half-closed eyes as her father dislodged his arm from under his chest. He groaned. The front of his shirt was stained brown, and an overwhelming odor invaded her nostrils. She covered her mouth and nose. He'd thrown up all over himself and the sofa.
    Pa's face lost all color, and she knew he smelled the vomit, too.
    She stood. "Here, Pa, let me help you."
    He waved his arm at her. "No."
    "But, Pa."
    He swayed and almost fell from the sofa.
    "Leave me be."
    Tears formed in her eyes. What was happening to him? He was no longer the man she knew. She went to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.
    He pushed her hand away, and ripped the soiled shirt off tossing it onto the floor. "I don't need your damn help."
    She stepped back toward the table.
    His pale face contrasted with swollen red eyes that glared up at her. "You left the yard. Jed said he saw you walking toward the forest yesterday."
    Oh dear.
    "I didn't go far, just enough to set the hawk free, that's all."
    He swayed. "You know the rules. You've disobeyed me."
    She held her tongue. Pa was provoking her. She'd seen this many times before when he'd had too much to drink and wanted to put the blame on her. If she took the bait, he'd be packing up their things and they'd be gone within the hour.
    "I'm sorry, Pa. It won't happen again."
    He tried to stand, and swayed to the side falling onto the sofa and into the mess there.
    She grabbed the wet cloth on the counter and brought it to him.
    "Here, let me help you."
    "Get away from me." He swung at the cloth in her hand missing it by a foot.
    She dropped the cloth onto the table and fled to her room closing the door behind her. She could hear him trying to get up off the sofa. The table shifted and something banged against the far wall. She cringed.
    Pa went to work feeling the effects of his drinking almost every day, but this morning was different. He was still drunk.
    She gnawed on her bottom lip while she waited for him to wash his face, dress and leave for work. Wanting to escape, she glanced at the window. She'd just promised Pa she'd stay in the cabin but a walk in the forest would do her some good. He wasn't going to check on her or say goodbye. She'd clean the mess when she got back. She braided her hair and crawled out the window. The morning air smelled much better than the awful stench inside the cabin.
    Pa's drinking had always been a problem. When she was younger she'd find him in an alley curled up in his own vomit and urine sobbing about how he couldn't save her mother. Not strong enough to carry him home she'd sit and console him. He drank to forget and Nora was the reminder of what he'd lost. When he found out she could heal, he drank even more, distancing himself from his only child. He spent every night at the saloon gambling and drinking. She hadn't seen a glimpse of happiness in him in years.
    She shook her head. Was their life that bad? Sure, she'd complained and argued with him for freedom; she'd do anything for him to loosen the rope tied around her neck. But was this life terrible enough to become inebriated every night? She pursed her lips.
    She passed the Mercantile, and her shoulders slumped. They had no money. He'd gambled everything. How was she supposed to fix this? She couldn't get a job.
    "Oh, damn it."
    She shoved her hands inside her apron pockets. The hotel stood at the north end of Main Street and backed onto the forest. She had no problem walking past it except when Elwood was in town. She shivered and pulled her hands from the apron to rub along her arms.
    When the mine owner was in Willow Creek she stayed close to home, but this time she'd have to see him. She promised Joe a game of cards this afternoon, and she couldn't let the boy down because his father was no