Excerpt
Watu pulled Grace around in front of him and spoke to his father in the Sioux tongue. There was boastfulness in the tone of his voice. His father was called Red Hawk and had taken a white woman for wife himself many years back, but she tried to run away so many times, the last time he turned her over to the women to punish. She did not live through it. At the time, he was glad to be rid of her. The pleasure of owning a white woman had worn off. Because of this, he looked Grace over and saw the spirited glint in her eyes. He smiled as he patted his son’s shoulder and praised him for getting such a lovely white girl. He stood back and waved his hand for Watu and Grace to enter his lodging.
Grace’s eyes were big as she looked all around inside the wigwam. She could see why it was so much larger than the others were. There was a seating arrangement all around the inside perimeter. She figured it must be for when they had a council meeting, and she was right. There was an Indian woman stirring something in a large pot over an open fire. She barely glanced at Grace and then turned her eyes back on what she was doing. She filled two bowls of meat stew and handed one to Red Hawk and one to Watu. Watu touched Grace on the shoulder and when she turned to look at him, he indicated she should sit and when she did, he handed her his bowl of food.
The Indian woman made a noise with her mouth, and Red Hawk backhanded her knocking her to the floor. He spewed a stream of curt words at her as she tried to crawl away. He then turned to Watu and questioned him with a frown on his face nodding his head toward Grace as she held the bowl in her hands. She was so hungry she wanted to tip it up and drink down the food, but fear held her still as she stared at the ground.
Watu said some soothing words to his father, and eventually Red Hawk sat down with his bowl of food. He yelled at the woman crouched on the floor, and she got up filling another bowl that she handed to Watu. Red Hawk said something else to her and she quickly left the lodge.
Grace felt rage boil up within her that she was here in this camp with a bunch of heathens that thought so little of human life, and it was obvious they treated their women terribly. She tightened her lips as she resolved that she would do what ever it took to survive, but she would never grovel.
Red Hawk said something to her, but she had her head down trying to control the hatred she felt. She did not look up at him. Watu reached over and lifted her chin as he nodded toward his father.
Red Hawk was taken aback at the fury he glimpsed in her eyes. He looked at Watu with a smile as he said, “Ah, this one has a lot of spirit. You better watch yourself, my son, or she will slit your throat.” He laughed as he spoke in the Sioux tongue, so Grace could not understand what he said, but if he only knew how prophetic his words were.
Watu was very hungry but he waited until his father dipped into his bowl with a wooden spoon and took his first bite, and then Watu followed suit. Grace was not long behind them and even finished her bowl before they were through. She swallowed and licked her lips as she looked toward the pot that still had some meat stew left.
Watu laughed, saying something to his father as he took Grace’s bowl and dipped it into the pot filling it once again. He handed it to her dripping from the juices. She licked the juice from the outside of the bowl, and then dug in again without looking at either of them.
Watu laughed aloud, and his father laughed with him. Grace smiled at them running her tongue over her teeth smacking her lips as she said, “Laugh you fools, but I will keep my strength up no matter what it takes.” She said this aloud because she was quite certain they could not understand a word she said. She held out the bowl that was now empty as she smiled again at both of them. “Just keep feeding me and one day, my sister Liza will come and rescue me.” She leaned in toward them with shining eyes, “You don’t know my sister, Liza. She can throw a knife with pure accuracy and follow it up with a second knife within one second. She always hits what she throws at.” Her lips tightened up a bit as she lowered her voice almost to a whisper, “Woe to the man who tries to stop her.” Her green eyes glittered from the fire light. She wanted to laugh, but kept a straight face when she saw the expectant look on Red Hawk and Watu’s faces as they leaned toward her.
Other than her screams, this was the first time Watu had heard her speak and he was fascinated by the musical tone to her voice and the animation with which she spoke. He had to shake his head to clear it. He wondered if she was bewitching him. He felt hollow in his stomach as this thought flitted through his mind. He looked sideways at her but she had put her head down with a faint smile on her lips.
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