Read Online Where the Broken Heart Still Beats by Carolyn Meyer - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Carolyn Meyer
Ads: Link
his mouth smiling. She knew that everyone was staring, watching her. Were these white war chiefs, then? Were they going to decide her fate? Is that why she had been dressed up and brought all this long distance, to face these judges?
She looked around wildly, wanting to flee, not knowing which way to go. In a panic she broke away from the women who were leading her to the chiefs and tried to run from them. Maybe they would kill her as she ran. She didn't care; they could kill her if they wished.
But Mrs. Brown seized one arm and Mrs. Raymond the other, and she heard their hushed whispers trying to calm her. She was stronger than both of them, they were no match for her, but in a moment Uncle was beside her with Mr. Brown. She knew that she could not fight off all of them. She quit struggling and stood still, head down and eyes closed, waiting to learn her destiny.
Lucy explained it to her afterward. "They were honoring you, Sinty-ann. Everyone cares very much for you," she said, taking Sinty-ann's hand in hers. "They're giving you a league of land, for you and Prairie Flower to live on, if you want to. And they've promised to give you a hundred dollars every year. That's a lot of money. You can use it to buy things—you know, to trade. It's wonderful news, Sinty-ann! You should be pleased, not frightened. They are doing something good for you."
Sinty-ann understood some parts of what Lucy was telling her. But it made no sense, the thing the men had decided to do. Why would they want to give her these gifts? And so she asked, "Why?"
"They want to make up to you for what you suffered all those years before you came to us," Lucy said.
It still made no sense, but she pretended that she understood and nodded her head.
After that, the white people would not leave her in peace. People kept coming to the boardinghouse to look at her, to ask her questions, or to talk to Uncle about her. They brought a large piece of paper with printing on it and showed her her picture. They called it a newspaper, but she didn't understand how that picture got there.
She also had to visit some of their homes, escorted by a member of the Parker family. A few of them even boldly asked her about her husband and her sons, not caring that the mention of them cut her like knives! They would not let her return to the People unless she promised to speak their language and live as they did, and yet they wanted to stare at her, to pry into her heart. And they fussed over her little girl, calling her Tecks Ann, picking her up and carrying her around, showing her off.
Prairie Flower seemed to like the attention. She laughed and chattered to these strangers, using the few white man's words that she had been taught. Sinty-ann longed to snatch the child from them, to hide her away so that they couldn't see her and she couldn't see or hear them. They acted as though the little girl belonged to them.
"Little heathen," she heard the women say when they had climbed into the wagons and started the long, tiring journey back to the farm. "We must do something about that."
"Scriptures, that's the thing," Mrs. Brown said to Anna. "I believe if you start teaching these poor lost souls the Word of God, it will make all the difference in the world to them."
"Yes, Ruth," Anna said. "We have been praying with them, but I agree that spending more time with the Good Book might be just the thing. Surely they can be taught to memorize some simple verses."
The women's conversation drifted past Sinty-ann's ears. She paid no attention to it. Maybe, she thought, when this long trip was over, Uncle would see how well she was taking on the ways of his people, and he would keep his promise to help her find her People.
In the wagon ahead of theirs, Lucy's yellow hair drifted lightly over the shawl she wore wrapped around her shoulders. Sinty-ann tried to imagine Lucy as one of the People, as she had been at that age, and the thought almost made her smile.
An idea came to her.
She looked around wildly, wanting to flee, not knowing which way to go. In a panic she broke away from the women who were leading her to the chiefs and tried to run from them. Maybe they would kill her as she ran. She didn't care; they could kill her if they wished.
But Mrs. Brown seized one arm and Mrs. Raymond the other, and she heard their hushed whispers trying to calm her. She was stronger than both of them, they were no match for her, but in a moment Uncle was beside her with Mr. Brown. She knew that she could not fight off all of them. She quit struggling and stood still, head down and eyes closed, waiting to learn her destiny.
Lucy explained it to her afterward. "They were honoring you, Sinty-ann. Everyone cares very much for you," she said, taking Sinty-ann's hand in hers. "They're giving you a league of land, for you and Prairie Flower to live on, if you want to. And they've promised to give you a hundred dollars every year. That's a lot of money. You can use it to buy things—you know, to trade. It's wonderful news, Sinty-ann! You should be pleased, not frightened. They are doing something good for you."
Sinty-ann understood some parts of what Lucy was telling her. But it made no sense, the thing the men had decided to do. Why would they want to give her these gifts? And so she asked, "Why?"
"They want to make up to you for what you suffered all those years before you came to us," Lucy said.
It still made no sense, but she pretended that she understood and nodded her head.
After that, the white people would not leave her in peace. People kept coming to the boardinghouse to look at her, to ask her questions, or to talk to Uncle about her. They brought a large piece of paper with printing on it and showed her her picture. They called it a newspaper, but she didn't understand how that picture got there.
She also had to visit some of their homes, escorted by a member of the Parker family. A few of them even boldly asked her about her husband and her sons, not caring that the mention of them cut her like knives! They would not let her return to the People unless she promised to speak their language and live as they did, and yet they wanted to stare at her, to pry into her heart. And they fussed over her little girl, calling her Tecks Ann, picking her up and carrying her around, showing her off.
Prairie Flower seemed to like the attention. She laughed and chattered to these strangers, using the few white man's words that she had been taught. Sinty-ann longed to snatch the child from them, to hide her away so that they couldn't see her and she couldn't see or hear them. They acted as though the little girl belonged to them.
"Little heathen," she heard the women say when they had climbed into the wagons and started the long, tiring journey back to the farm. "We must do something about that."
"Scriptures, that's the thing," Mrs. Brown said to Anna. "I believe if you start teaching these poor lost souls the Word of God, it will make all the difference in the world to them."
"Yes, Ruth," Anna said. "We have been praying with them, but I agree that spending more time with the Good Book might be just the thing. Surely they can be taught to memorize some simple verses."
The women's conversation drifted past Sinty-ann's ears. She paid no attention to it. Maybe, she thought, when this long trip was over, Uncle would see how well she was taking on the ways of his people, and he would keep his promise to help her find her People.
In the wagon ahead of theirs, Lucy's yellow hair drifted lightly over the shawl she wore wrapped around her shoulders. Sinty-ann tried to imagine Lucy as one of the People, as she had been at that age, and the thought almost made her smile.
An idea came to her.
Similar Books
