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Authors: Rita Hestand
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couple.
The old Shaman of the tribe married them,” Sam told her without
thinking. “The only place their marriage would be recognized. Lee,
my brother-in-law, had a good friend from the Shawnee and he wrote
and asked them if we could come. They invited us with open
arms.”
“ I
never thought of that. So your sister married a white man.” Riley
eyed him.
“ That’s right, but you gotta understand, she’d known him a long
time,” Sam insisted. “Yes sir, a long time…”
“ Did she love him?” Riley continued to quiz him.
“ Oh…she shore did. She was crazy in love with him. Sounds
strange I guess, but it happened. When she thought he died in the
war, she buried him proper like. She cried forever it seemed. But
then so did I. Lee was special.
He was that kind of man, a caring man, a good man. He took us in
when our folks died. He buried my pa. Seen after us. But he went to
war. That was a hard time for Hattie, my sister. She shore did love
him. Lee didn’t die in the war like everyone thought though, but he
did lose an arm…” Sam shook his head. “I took one look at my sister
when he came back and knew she was crazy in love with the man.
Losing an arm was nothin’ to her, she loved Lee. She loved the man
he was. A missing arm meant nothing to her, and Lee he could hold
his own, in a fight, with work, and I guess with lovin’ my sister,
‘cause he made her happy. She’s been happy ever since.”
“ And his losing the arm didn’t bother her? I’d like to meet her
someday. She must be quite a woman.”
“ Not a bit. You see, Lee was still Lee to us. When we were
kids, Pa taught us that white people were mean, no goods. We
believed that ‘til we met Lee. Lee acted like there was no
difference in color. Kinda like you.” He stopped and thought on
that for a moment. “And he took care of us, paid money for someone
to see after us. Can you believe that? He paid a white woman to take care of us, didn’t want to
come back and see us slavin’ for someone. That’s what he told her.
Then he came back to us and made a real family out of us. There
just isn’t anyone better than that man, in my books or
hers.”
“ He
must have been a very nice man…I’d like to meet him someday too.
I’ve never met a one-armed man, especially one that could take care
of things.”
“ He
was the best. Still is.”
The wind
kicked up and the door shut, darkening the room for a moment. “How
long they been married, Sam?” she asked in the darkness.
“ Oh…nigh onto thirteen or fourteen years now.” Sam figured the
time up in his head.
“ They got any kids?” Riley asked as she finished the peach and
handed him the stick, touching his hand in the process.
“ Yeah, they have four kids, three boys and one girl. Prettiest
kids you ever saw,” Sam said, taking the stick and reaching in for
a peach for himself. “And of course Hattie had three girls before,
only they weren’t hers.”
“ Weren’t hers? Then how’d she get them?”
“ It’s a long story…”
“ Looks like we got plenty of time.”
“ You’d best be figurin’ what you are gonna say to them lawyers,
instead of askin’ me so many questions,” Sam said, enjoying the
peaches.
“ We
got time for that. Tell me about it, Sam. I like to hear it,” Riley
said, leaning against the wall and relaxing now.
The wind blew
the door open again. “Lee Nelson was goin’ to war when I first met
him. He couldn’t have been over twenty himself; I was five at the
time…” he began. “He come upon us the night my father was hung. I
don’t rightly know what would have happened to me and Hattie if he
hadn’t come along. Because Lee took such good care of us, because
he cared, well, we learned from that, to care about people. Along
the way, we met up with some kids that had about the same troubles
as we once had. So Hattie, she just packed those kids up and took
them with us. Said Lee done learned her not to leave anyone
behind.”
“
The old Shaman of the tribe married them,” Sam told her without
thinking. “The only place their marriage would be recognized. Lee,
my brother-in-law, had a good friend from the Shawnee and he wrote
and asked them if we could come. They invited us with open
arms.”
“ I
never thought of that. So your sister married a white man.” Riley
eyed him.
“ That’s right, but you gotta understand, she’d known him a long
time,” Sam insisted. “Yes sir, a long time…”
“ Did she love him?” Riley continued to quiz him.
“ Oh…she shore did. She was crazy in love with him. Sounds
strange I guess, but it happened. When she thought he died in the
war, she buried him proper like. She cried forever it seemed. But
then so did I. Lee was special.
He was that kind of man, a caring man, a good man. He took us in
when our folks died. He buried my pa. Seen after us. But he went to
war. That was a hard time for Hattie, my sister. She shore did love
him. Lee didn’t die in the war like everyone thought though, but he
did lose an arm…” Sam shook his head. “I took one look at my sister
when he came back and knew she was crazy in love with the man.
Losing an arm was nothin’ to her, she loved Lee. She loved the man
he was. A missing arm meant nothing to her, and Lee he could hold
his own, in a fight, with work, and I guess with lovin’ my sister,
‘cause he made her happy. She’s been happy ever since.”
“ And his losing the arm didn’t bother her? I’d like to meet her
someday. She must be quite a woman.”
“ Not a bit. You see, Lee was still Lee to us. When we were
kids, Pa taught us that white people were mean, no goods. We
believed that ‘til we met Lee. Lee acted like there was no
difference in color. Kinda like you.” He stopped and thought on
that for a moment. “And he took care of us, paid money for someone
to see after us. Can you believe that? He paid a white woman to take care of us, didn’t want to
come back and see us slavin’ for someone. That’s what he told her.
Then he came back to us and made a real family out of us. There
just isn’t anyone better than that man, in my books or
hers.”
“ He
must have been a very nice man…I’d like to meet him someday too.
I’ve never met a one-armed man, especially one that could take care
of things.”
“ He
was the best. Still is.”
The wind
kicked up and the door shut, darkening the room for a moment. “How
long they been married, Sam?” she asked in the darkness.
“ Oh…nigh onto thirteen or fourteen years now.” Sam figured the
time up in his head.
“ They got any kids?” Riley asked as she finished the peach and
handed him the stick, touching his hand in the process.
“ Yeah, they have four kids, three boys and one girl. Prettiest
kids you ever saw,” Sam said, taking the stick and reaching in for
a peach for himself. “And of course Hattie had three girls before,
only they weren’t hers.”
“ Weren’t hers? Then how’d she get them?”
“ It’s a long story…”
“ Looks like we got plenty of time.”
“ You’d best be figurin’ what you are gonna say to them lawyers,
instead of askin’ me so many questions,” Sam said, enjoying the
peaches.
“ We
got time for that. Tell me about it, Sam. I like to hear it,” Riley
said, leaning against the wall and relaxing now.
The wind blew
the door open again. “Lee Nelson was goin’ to war when I first met
him. He couldn’t have been over twenty himself; I was five at the
time…” he began. “He come upon us the night my father was hung. I
don’t rightly know what would have happened to me and Hattie if he
hadn’t come along. Because Lee took such good care of us, because
he cared, well, we learned from that, to care about people. Along
the way, we met up with some kids that had about the same troubles
as we once had. So Hattie, she just packed those kids up and took
them with us. Said Lee done learned her not to leave anyone
behind.”
“
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