Master, what is your name?”
“My name is Sidney,” with a chuckle he said.
“Sidney, what kind of a name is that?”
“It’s an old family name. I am named after my father. His was the same.”
“Sure is a funny name,” she whispered to herself.
Sidney said, “I told you my name. Now what is yours?”
“My name is Payacita,” she said, looking him square in the eye, waiting for him to laugh.
“What does that mean?” he wanted to know.
He thought it was a beautiful name.
“It means, little clown.”
“Well, that suits you. You are a little clown.”
She went on to explain that it was just a nickname, that one day she and her sisters were at the old mission school; and what was to become in later times known as the Franciscan friars, came out to see them, and all she could do was laugh and roll around on the ground at them. The shoes with straps on them were funny for her to see. Also, it was almost unbearable to see men dressed in dressed like outfits, with ropes tied around their waists.
Payacita became more comfortable about talking to the stranger. Now they knew each other’s names. She began talking about her grandmother, the Shininsani, the family dogs and sheep, about the night sky and how she loved to lay out under the stars and count them. Whenever she saw a falling star, she loved to pretend that the ravens were making their way from the heavens special for her to see.
Sidney knew that she wanted his attention, but it was time to move on to do other things. He was trying to think of a way in which they could go their own ways without hurting her sweet feelings. He then remembered that the conversation started with her letting him know that she had seen him coming out of the commissary store.
“Payacita, I have to get going now, but how about an apple that I happened to just have here in my bag?” He opened up his pouch and pulled out a beautiful green apple.
Handing it to her, he said, “Enjoy the apple. Maybe I’ll see you later.”
Payacita opened up her small hand, and he placed it gently into it.
She looked at it and said, “What is that?”
“It is a piece of fruit, and it grows on trees.” Smiling down at her, he said, “Go ahead and take a bite. You’ll like it!”
Payacita bit into the apple. Immediately the juice from the bite dripped down her chin.
“That’s good, Sidney, but something is caught in my tooth!” She then began to pick at her teeth.
“It’s the seed of the apple that makes it grow!” Hum, he mumbled, wondering why she had never had an apple before, just a thought. At that moment he said goodbye, reached out to shake her hand, and hers his.
“See you later, Commissary Master,” she said, speaking while she chewed the apple. As she began to run down the boardwalk, she suddenly remembered the puppy. She turned quickly back to see Sidney, yelling at him, “Can I go and play with your puppy?”
He pulled back his hat, thought for a moment while scratching his head, and responded, “Yes, you may, but don’t get into any trouble together!”
Before he knew it, he could hear her off in the distance, running and saying, “We won’t.”
Turning around to walk toward the post office, her voice faded, and he simply gave her a wave and continued on.
Payacita skipped her way along the different side roads and boardwalks through the fort. On occasion she would take another bite of the apple. With each bite, she grew closer and closer to the puppy. Soon the pup was in her site. She stopped for a moment upon seeing him and put her hands out with a sigh. Could this be the puppy of her dreams? Probably not, but nonetheless, she was happy to be able to go with permission to visit him.
With each bite of the apple she grew slowly closer and closer. Soon the puppy saw her. The puppy began to wag his tail. As she approached him, she lowered herself slowly down to him. He was so excited to see her—someone to give him attention—as she knelt down to him, he accidentally pushed her down on her bottom. She laughed, and he licked her face and ears. She hugged the pup, and looking into his eyes, she saw that he had one blue eye and one brown one. She knew that her Shininsani had said that if you ever see an animal with different-colored eyes that they are to be respected because they are medicine beings.
She continued playing on the ground for a while with the puppy. Then she told the puppy that it was a special medicine being and that they had to find Sidney and let him know. So Payacita untied the pup, and together they ran through the fort. The Payacita and the pup skipped, hopped, and fell over each other. As the pup would tug at her broom skirt, she would only laugh harder.
Anyway, they were back at the other end of the fort, where the commissary master had left her earlier. By then, they had worked up quite a thirst.
Payacita looked at the puppy and said, “We better get a drink of water before we see Sidney. My mouth is so dry I won’t be able to talk to him. Looks like you’re pretty thirsty too.”
Payacita looked around. Across the street in front of the infirmary was a water travah. They let some horses with riders pass and then hurried across the street. Payacita looked at the latell that hung above it. She dipped it in the water and first gave a drink to the puppy. Then she put the latell up to her mouth, and as she began to drink, a strong hold of someone’s hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, kicking the small pup into the middle of the dirt road that quietly sat at her feet. When the pup hit the ground, it rolled and made a horrible cry. Payacita was stunned. Never had she experienced such a thing. She remembered that the elders used to sit around at times and speak of these kinds of encounters with the white men.
The man went on to yell at her, “Injuns don’t drink out of the white man’s watering tanks. Go somewhere else!”
Payacita began to cry. She was scared and pulled her arm, now being held tightly by the stranger, away and began running and crying over to the pup. The pup was hurt and just laid there. By now other people from the fort were gathering around the watering tank. They were laughing, some spitting at her and the pup. Well, little to her surprise, at the same time all this started to happen, Sidney had just walked out of the post office; and to his horror, there laid on the street his pup, and he saw Payacita kneeling over him. Before Payacita knew it, Sidney had reached the man. He proceeded to pick him straight up into the air and dump him upside down into the tank. He was so angry his face turned as red as his hair, some would say. After almost drowning him, he pulled him upward and then hammered the top of his head with the ladle.
Then he yelled at him, “If I ever catch you near that little girl or puppy again, I am going to kill you, do you understand?” By now Payacita had the puppy lying on her lap and was sitting in the middle of the street, rocking him, telling him it’ll be okay. Being so afraid, she was shaking. Sidney looked at her and hurried to their side. “Oh Payacita, are you all right?” he asked, picking her and the pup up off the ground and holding them both in his arms. “It’s okay, you’ll both be fine. He won’t ever hurt you or the pup again, I promise.”
Payacita
