Life was good. They had enjoyed several bowls of buffalo stew with wild turnips, sweet roots and onions. They would wash the dishes by the river the next morning. For now the wooden bowls and the horn spoons were stacked up next to Netséméóná'e's bed. Now they were drinking black-brew with sweet sand and chatting the night away by the cracking campfire. Netséméóná'e [Eagle Road Woman] drew on her clay pipe, inhaling the smoke of her personal kinnikinnick mix. She always treated the dry mix of tobacco and bark with bear fat and dried berries. Aénȯhé'ke [Hawk Woman] didn't smoke. She was busy relating the latest camp gossip. The Arrow Keeper's youngest daughter had been courted by no less than seven suitors for four summers now, which was rather long even by Cheyenne courtship standards, and she still hadn't made up her mind. The two women giggled at the thought how thoroughly frustrated the seven young men had to be by now. The conversation moved on to chastity belts, jokingly referred to as "safety ropes", a thing all women of the People used to wear from puberty onwards. Married women wore them also when their husbands were away. Netséméóná'e snuggled into the soft fur on her willow backrest and silently enjoyed Aénȯhé'ke's lively chatting. How good that they didn't have to put up with all these restraints, being hetanémáné'eo'o, "women-acting-like-men". Had they been normal women, they would be wearing dresses, and they wouldn't even sit they way they were sitting now. A regular woman never sat cross-legged but always with her legs closed, kneeling, and her feet right or left of her haunches. Women owned the lodge and all the household items. They could divorce a husband by simply throwing his weapons out of the lodge, but unhappy marriages ended rarely this way. Most women dreaded the prospect of losing both their provider and social status. Wives of richer men often found themselves in a polygamous marriage. In such a case the husband usually married sisters of his first wife, a habit which helped avoid competition and bickering between wives. Netséméóná was glad she didn't have to worry about such things. Sometimes she teased Aénȯhé'ke, suggesting to get a secondary wife for the housework. Should they capture one during their next raiding trip? Maybe a Crow woman? Or one from those mountain dwelling peoples? A Shosoni or a Ute woman? Netséméóná smirked. Whenever she raised the issue, Aénȯhé'ke got mad. First she had to finish her pipe. She needed both hands to counter the inevitable tickling assault. Which would probably lead to more. Life was indeed good... ______________ Poser Pro 2014 Reality 4 Plugin LuxRender 1.3