Read Online Girl in a Buckskin by Dorothy Gilman - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Dorothy Gilman
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mountains hunting and soon there was no time for swimming, for the shore was full of drying frames stretched with rawhide. The men brought home beaver and bear as well and the knives were scarcely idle a minute as Becky and Dawn-of-the-sky skinned and cut and scraped.
“But half belongs to them,” Becky told Eseck one day when he said they would put away the skins for the autumn and trade them with Black Eagle for a winter’s supply of corn.
Eseck shook his head. “Blue Feather leaves soon on a great hunt. When the corn has been gathered and the leaves turn red the hunters of his village shoot meat for the winter. He has come to help us because we are his cousins.”
“Cousins?” Becky echoed.
He nodded, giving her a faint smile. “His friends, if you prefer.”
“Oh,” she said, coloring, and walked past him to the door of the cave. Outside the sky was gray and a thin mist filled the air. For the first time in many days the lake was calm, without so much as a ripple to stir the surface. The mountains were hidden by clouds and the island was hidden by mist but in spite of the paleness of lake, trees and sky it was not drab to Becky. The gray had a pearly quality and there was a great stillness that was soothing to her ear. To shield them from the rain Blue Feather had made a wigwam for him and Dawn-of-the-sky on the beach, and as Becky stood at the entrance to the cave she saw Dawn-of-the-sky sitting at the door of the hut, her head bent over her sewing. Hearing her Dawn-of-the-sky looked up and smiled and pointed to the buckskins in her lap. Becky saw that they were hers, and ran to her and sat down. “Are they almost finished?”
Dawn-of-the-sky understood and answered in Indian.
“Only a few more stitches,” Eseck said, translating for her. “She has pleaded with Blue Feather to stay until she can see you wearing the strange clothes.”
“Not so strange,” insisted Becky.
“No?” laughed Eseck. “A girl in buckskin trousers and shirt?”
“Never mind,” Becky said comfortably, “I should look even stranger dressed like Dawn-of-the-sky, and in a gown even the squirrels would laugh at me for I would trip over every stump and rock.”
Suddenly Dawn-of-the-sky gave a triumphant little cry and held up the lapful of skins. Silently Becky took them from her and held them, feeling their softness against her hand. Then she ran back into the cave and stripping off the tom breeches and shirt she made haste to put on her new clothes. The trousers fitted her legs snugly so that she need never stumble again, and Dawn-of-the-sky had added fringe to the shirt so that it had elegance. It was the very first new garment Becky could remember wearing, so accustomed was she to Adah Ann’s hand-me-downs, and she felt a surge of gratitude to Dawn-of-the-sky for helping her cut and sew them. Now she would know exactly how to shape winter buckskins for Eseck as well.
“You are no longer full of holes,” Eseck said when she walked self-consciously from the cave.
But Becky did not care what Eseck thought. In womanlike fashion she looked only at Dawn-of-the-sky, who examined her critically from head to foot and then nodded.
“She says to tell you,” Eseck translated, “that in your new clothes you have the color and look of a young doe in the summertime, for the skins and your hair are the same. She says that now you are truly Little Doe. What she means,” Eseck added lightly, “is that you look fine.” Full of contentment, Becky nodded and went in to cut up her tattered old clothes for tinder.
Chapter Ten
THE TIME HAD COME, ESECK SAID ONE MORNING, WHEN she too must learn the ways of the forest. It was not enough for her to stay close to the hearth and cook the meat he brought in; she, too, must bring in meat.
Becky looked at him in surprise. The idea pleased and yet alarmed her. It was a woman’s job to stay at home and cook for a man and mend his clothes and yet it had been apparent for
“But half belongs to them,” Becky told Eseck one day when he said they would put away the skins for the autumn and trade them with Black Eagle for a winter’s supply of corn.
Eseck shook his head. “Blue Feather leaves soon on a great hunt. When the corn has been gathered and the leaves turn red the hunters of his village shoot meat for the winter. He has come to help us because we are his cousins.”
“Cousins?” Becky echoed.
He nodded, giving her a faint smile. “His friends, if you prefer.”
“Oh,” she said, coloring, and walked past him to the door of the cave. Outside the sky was gray and a thin mist filled the air. For the first time in many days the lake was calm, without so much as a ripple to stir the surface. The mountains were hidden by clouds and the island was hidden by mist but in spite of the paleness of lake, trees and sky it was not drab to Becky. The gray had a pearly quality and there was a great stillness that was soothing to her ear. To shield them from the rain Blue Feather had made a wigwam for him and Dawn-of-the-sky on the beach, and as Becky stood at the entrance to the cave she saw Dawn-of-the-sky sitting at the door of the hut, her head bent over her sewing. Hearing her Dawn-of-the-sky looked up and smiled and pointed to the buckskins in her lap. Becky saw that they were hers, and ran to her and sat down. “Are they almost finished?”
Dawn-of-the-sky understood and answered in Indian.
“Only a few more stitches,” Eseck said, translating for her. “She has pleaded with Blue Feather to stay until she can see you wearing the strange clothes.”
“Not so strange,” insisted Becky.
“No?” laughed Eseck. “A girl in buckskin trousers and shirt?”
“Never mind,” Becky said comfortably, “I should look even stranger dressed like Dawn-of-the-sky, and in a gown even the squirrels would laugh at me for I would trip over every stump and rock.”
Suddenly Dawn-of-the-sky gave a triumphant little cry and held up the lapful of skins. Silently Becky took them from her and held them, feeling their softness against her hand. Then she ran back into the cave and stripping off the tom breeches and shirt she made haste to put on her new clothes. The trousers fitted her legs snugly so that she need never stumble again, and Dawn-of-the-sky had added fringe to the shirt so that it had elegance. It was the very first new garment Becky could remember wearing, so accustomed was she to Adah Ann’s hand-me-downs, and she felt a surge of gratitude to Dawn-of-the-sky for helping her cut and sew them. Now she would know exactly how to shape winter buckskins for Eseck as well.
“You are no longer full of holes,” Eseck said when she walked self-consciously from the cave.
But Becky did not care what Eseck thought. In womanlike fashion she looked only at Dawn-of-the-sky, who examined her critically from head to foot and then nodded.
“She says to tell you,” Eseck translated, “that in your new clothes you have the color and look of a young doe in the summertime, for the skins and your hair are the same. She says that now you are truly Little Doe. What she means,” Eseck added lightly, “is that you look fine.” Full of contentment, Becky nodded and went in to cut up her tattered old clothes for tinder.
Chapter Ten
THE TIME HAD COME, ESECK SAID ONE MORNING, WHEN she too must learn the ways of the forest. It was not enough for her to stay close to the hearth and cook the meat he brought in; she, too, must bring in meat.
Becky looked at him in surprise. The idea pleased and yet alarmed her. It was a woman’s job to stay at home and cook for a man and mend his clothes and yet it had been apparent for
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