AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She sighed with frustration. "Because if a man will treat a woman that he is not married to that way, think what he might do, if she married him? Women have little rights with a husband." she told him. "Earl thought of women as property. To do as he pleased with. A woman can live a life almost as bad as an Indian in this country. I do not care to be beaten or accosted to please a man."
"You are wise for one so young."
"Young, I'm not young." She frowned at him.
"No, you look very young to me. You realize, I hope, that he would have taken you, if I had not stabbed him." He told her.
"Probably, I'm not a fool. I couldn't believe he tore my dress. It was all so wrong. And you're right, my Pa would have killed you if he'd seen you in the barn. I am only sorry you were involved. And I guess, I should thank you for what you did. I can't blame you for running, and if you are fair, you won't blame me."
"Yes, that is what I do not understand. You had to leave? Can you explain this need?" He frowned.
"It's complicated." She murmured. "And I don't want to burden you with my troubles.'
"Well your troubles have quickly become mine. I have shared some of my ways and people with you, can you not do the same? Why are you not afraid of me? This I do not understand. You fear your father, you feared what this Earl was trying to do to you, but you are not afraid of me. Why? It makes no sense to me. I am the Indian. They are both white like you."
She glanced at him. "I doesn't matter what color you are. It's what kind of person you are that matters. It makes perfect sense. And to begin with the color of your skin makes no difference of who you are. You killed the man that tried to rape me. I'm grateful for that, even if I don't sound it. I've always tried to size people up as I meet them, not by the color of their skin. We had a colored man work on our place once, I liked him too. He was a good man. He did his work and his pay fed his family. You don't look too dangerous. And if you wanted to kill me you could have easily done it back there in the barn." She looked up at his face. "The one thing my father taught me was that Indians were simply another kind of people. There are whites, blacks, Asian, Mexican and Indian, just different in many ways, but still people. Your blood runs red, the same as mine. In some ways my father was very wise, at least until he became such a drunk. He might have made something of himself if not for that. His drinking has ruined him."
"Yes, whiskey has ruined many people." He stared at her for a long moment. "He taught you to respect all people?" Shining Moon twisted his head, amazed by her words.
"Yes," she mused silently.
"Then he is not all bad."
"He wasn't, when my Ma was alive. He was much different. I actually liked him then. After she died, he seemed to lose his soul."
"In the bottle?"
"Yes."
She looked away, then back at him, all of him once more. "I have been around Indians a lot because of my father's work and I began to see he was right about everyone being people. You eat, sleep and do the same things whites and blacks do. When you first killed Earl, I was afraid at that point. Not because you were Indian, but because you were a man who had just killed another man. Your actions stunned me. I wasn't sure what you had in mind for me. I didn't realize you were so educated either."
"Educated?" He smirked.
"You speak very good English."
"Yes, so you've said. When I learn to do something, I try to learn it well. Still, why did you come with me? One man tried to take your virtue, why were you not afraid of the same from me?" He stared now.
She licked her lips and shook her head and smiled slightly. "You did not hear him call me Carter's old maid schoolteacher? And you are the one that saved me, not him."
"Yes, I heard what he called you, I did not understand that."
"Well, that's part of the reason. I'm not exactly a desirable woman. Men don't fight for my hand, or break their necks trying to court me. Earl's been trying to take me for months. He's a drunk or was. But today he was more aggressive because he was nursing a hangover. And the answer you seek is simple, I came with you to escape of course! I have good reason to escape. And you did not seem a threat to me. I have become fairly good at recognizing a threat. You want to get away, and so do I. Let's face it, you have killed me anytime."
"Escape what?" he asked his head twisting in question. "Would your father not understand, even after you explained what happened."
"How could I explain if you were not there. And he wouldn't have given you time to explain. He'd have hung you and not believed a word of it, after I told him."
He didn't look convinced. "If he has known Indians and accepted them as people. Why would he judge me so quickly?"
She sighed. "It's simple, he is no longer the same man he was back then. I knew you wouldn't understand. Earl was his drinking buddy. Earl might have taken me if you hadn't intervened. Mainly because I couldn't bring myself to kill him. And the truth is, my father wouldn’t have even scolded him for what he wanted to do. Later, he would have called me a whore, thinking he could do the same." She watched his expression change as she spoke. She hadn't meant to tell him everything, but he deserved to know why she insisted on following him. "I didn't want to tell you this, as I am ashamed of it. I have spent many night awake because of it. I'm tired of living like that." Her voice echoed her feelings. Her face changed too, more vulnerable now. "It is the rot-gut whiskey they drink that makes them act this way. I know that. But I cannot excuse it. Worrying every day what he might do. And then this happened, and it would only make things worse. Don't you see, if a man thinks you a whore, he would treat you as one."
Shining Moon stared now, his mouth hanging open at this admission. Her admission was shocking!
"You speak very plainly for a woman."
"Well, you wanted to know, now you know." She shrugged but didn't look at him.
"Yes, now I understand. It is your father you fear! Not the law, not me, but your father!"
