A Whisper of Peace by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Author:Kim Vogel Sawyer [Sawyer, Kim Vogel]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2011-10-10T10:34:09+00:00

What should she do? Lizzie stood at the pathway’s foot with Naibi clinging to her hand as if she never wanted to let go. She’d told the children they shouldn’t venture into the woods alone, yet she had to send them back. Given the hour of the afternoon, the villagers would be in their yards—the women preparing an evening meal, the youngest children playing, and men gathering in groups to visit. The likelihood of being seen was increased with the activity at this hour. Being seen would create problems.

Naibi pulled on her hand. “Walk with us, Lizzie.”

Even Etu, brave boy that he was, looked at Lizzie expectantly.

Lizzie chuckled to herself. Had there ever been any choice? “Let’s go.”

The path was too narrow for three abreast, and even two made a tight fit when one of the two was a full-grown woman wearing a wide-skirted dress. But Naibi refused to release Lizzie’s hand and walk on her own, unlike Etu, who prowled the path ahead, his hand on the little knife sheath and his fierce gaze searching the bushes for any animal brazen enough to attack. Branches tickled Lizzie’s arm and tried to tear the skirt of her blue-checked dress. She caught a handful of fabric and tucked the skirt closer to her body rather than sending Naibi ahead.

The little girl hummed, occasionally flashing a bright smile upward, which Lizzie couldn’t resist returning. She hadn’t smiled as much in the past two years as she had during the two hours Naibi and Etu visited. She’d laughed aloud, watching them frolic on the grass with Martha and two other dogs. Naibi had admired the beadwork on the coat, and Etu’s eyes widened in amazement when she showed him her cache of furs ready for market. Having them there—talking with them, listening to their childish babble, seeing wonder in their eyes—had given her such a lift.

Her heart ached as she considered the children’s bleak future. If their vitse was as old and feeble as the children had indicated, they might be completely alone soon. But Clay and Vivian were building their mission school. Even though Lizzie still believed they should be cautious in placing too much knowledge of the white world in the children’s heads, surely this pair would benefit from the missionaries being in the village. Someone would be available to provide for Etu and Naibi.

Jealousy twined through Lizzie’s heart—a foolish emotion, but an honest one. Her hours with them had proved Etu and Naibi were fine, good-hearted children, and a part of her wished she could claim them as her own. But she was leaving—and she couldn’t take them with her. She must arrive in San Francisco completely unencumbered to begin her new life. Her father had intimated Athabascan ways had no place in California. She must leave every vestige of her past behind.

Naibi’s toe connected with a root. Lizzie curved her arms around the little girl to prevent her from falling, and Naibi giggled her thanks. Etu glanced back, rolled his eyes in a long-suffering manner, then resumed his protective stance.

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