“He freed you, then?”
“Yes, he did. He even showed me the contract I had signed with my mark upon it before he burned it. It is still there, in the fireplace.”
“Let me see it,” Skenan said, stepping toward the hearth. He picked up the burnt paper and, squeezing it between his fingers, the parchment, which had once indentured her, became nothing but a fragment of ashes. He threw the ashes back into the fire, then slapped his hands together as though its litter had left a stench upon him.
“This,” he said, “is the rightful place for a paper that enslaves one man or a woman to another man or woman. If I could, I would burn them all. But, of course, this is impossible.”
Abagail sent him a shy glance, and she was about to ask him if she might attain the position of becoming his sister. But, she hesitated. For a reason she didn’t know, she could not speak the words, being afraid of what his answer might be.
“Nyoh,yes?”he asked. “What is it?”
“Oh,” she murmured, afraid to look at him. “Do not be bothered by my hesitation. It is nothing.”
He said, “Have we not become as close as a brother and a sister? You can ask me anything.”
She said, “I…I… Well, because I am now free, I was wondering if…if you might ask me again to be your…your sister?”
All at once, Skenan’s glance at her seemed guarded. But, why? Had he changed his mind?
A long silence ensued between them, until at last, Skenan whispered, “I still wish you to be part of my family.”
“You do? Oh, I am so glad. May I now call you ‘brother’?”
He grinned, but, again, he seemed to be shielding his words. At last, he said, “Not yet. There is an adoption ceremony we must both attend. Perhaps, after this dance, if I am not still needed at this fort, we might go to my home and you will be very welcome there.”
“Oh my,” she cried, and there were tears—real tears—in her eyes. “I can hardly believe it. I am to have a family…an actual family. Oh Skenan, when can we leave here? I can barely believe I might have someone to call Mother. Someone to call Father. And, of course, a brother.”
“A brother.” He repeated her words, though he seemed to be not as excited about it as she was.
“I will ask to leave here soon. I think it will be granted.”
“Oh Skenan. I am so excited. But, come. We are here to learn this dance.”
And, taking their places opposite each other, they practiced until the sun began to set in the western sky.
It was to the orchestral music of the violins, the cellos, a double bass, a flute, a clarinet and a few trumpets which greeted Skenan and Abagail as they stepped into the lavishly decorated ballroom. Curtains in the colors of red, blue and white hung from every window. The colors were repeated throughout the ballroom with banners.
For a moment Shenan listened to the beauty of the white man’s songs, the melodies seeming to him to be alive and the instruments to be singing, instead of a string and a bow making the sounds. He had attended a few of the white man’s balls in the past, but, not knowing the dances and not really interested in learning them, he had soon tired of watching, and, partaking of the food offered, he had soon gone his own way.
But tonight was different. Tonight both he and Abagail were to be honored. Looking at Abagail now, he could hardly believe this was the same girl he had rescued only weeks ago. Indeed, as soon as the women in the fort had been informedthat she was to be honored, they had begun fussing over her. He had watched as these women, both Oneida and white, had surrounded her and how they had, within three days, dressed her in the white man’s fashions.
He was proud to have her hand upon his arm, although, accustomed to the dress of Oneida young maidens, he was at once overwhelmed by the sight of the low-cut bodice of her forest-green dress. Unused to the style, he could barely keep his glance from her.
Her hair was caught up into an elaborate hairstyle of curls and spirals that fell down to her shoulders. The skirt of the dress was wide, puffy and long, and the waist of the dress was tiny in comparison. And, Abagail looked lovely, almost beyond description.
As for himself, Skenan was dressed in his very best clothing. His shirt was made of soft deerhide; his leggings were fashioned, too, from deerhide. They were skintight and fell to the floor, though they were tied below the knee with an opening in the front of the moccasin. He wore a short buckskin breechcloth beneath his shirt which was tied to a buckskin belt. His coat was made of blue trade cloth, and on his head he wore a cap of panther skin with feathers adorning it at its top.
He recalled he had dressed quickly even though he had donned his best regalia. Slightly nervous, he had trod toward the Millers’ home, where Abagail was currently living. Once there, he had waited for this woman whom he was prepared to marry and to love for the rest of his life, if she would only have him.
But, she had made her wishes known to him earlier, apparently not even considering he might, indeed, desire her to be a part of his family, yes, but not as his sister. His desire was to make her his wife.
Yet, she had been so happy to know she was at last to have a family that he’d not had the heart to tell her he did not wish her to take his sister’s place. Instead, he hoped to make her his wife. The words had been there for him to speak, but he’d been unable to say them, fearing she might not love him as he loved her.
And, if she did not love him in a romantic way—and there was every chance she might not—it would present him with a problem. Loving her as he did, how could he live his life pretending to be something he was not?
He recalled now the moment when he had realized how much he loved her. Although he had always considered her to be one of the most beautiful women he’d ever known, he had not been interested in making either her or any other woman a marital partner.
But then, there on the trail, he had watched her as she had been prepared to fight a bear, had even tried to scare the bear away from him using fire. He recalled watching her bravery, amazed she should try to save his life even if it had meant possibly ending her own.
