She was no longer permitted to sit with her family. The captured wives were not even allowed to speak to her. Hawk Sight saw to that, by inviting the wives to join the circle of women. Even though she was still in male flesh, the men would have nothing to do with an aberration. So, she sat alone.Sitting cross-legged in the snow with a small patch of elk hide underneath her, Dancing Cat pounded dried strips of buffalo meat into powder. Her nails chipped and bled from the constant smashing against the rocks, but she did not care. Pain meant that she was still alive. She reasoned that the constant bleeding forced blood into her often-numb fingertips. She’d hate to lose her fingers to frostbite.She looked around at the bustling group and decided it was not so bad after all. The women dumped off the work that they did not want to do, and she could work at her own pace, since they would have to speak to her in order to berate her. Also, having stronger arms meant that she could pound the meat easier than the other women could.No one was watching.
