Destiny's Embrace by Beverly Jenkins

Author:Beverly Jenkins [Jenkins, Beverly]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, African American, General, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780062032652
Google: W7Q6LgEACAAJ
Amazon: 0062032658
Goodreads: 15818226
Publisher: Avon
Published: 2013-01-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Still simmering over not getting any breakfast, and the trespassing Arnell Wiley and his cows, Logan shook it all off and rode to the rancheria where his fifteen-year-old goddaughter Green Feather lived with her parents. She was the pride of her people, teachers, and the surrounding community. She was also his pride and joy, and that she might not attend Hampton was disappointing. She and her family were members of the Wiyot tribe, Indians who once inhabited the California coast. With the arrival of the Spanish, followed by the influx of the multitudes drawn to the area by the gold strike, the way of life for the state’s native tribes was irrevocably changed. None more so than the Wiyot. In 1860, a man named Hank Larrabee, who’d often boasted of having murdered Indian children in the past, entered the Wiyot village while the men were away and massacred most of the women and children. The few that survived moved in with neighboring Mattole and Yurok tribes and now lived on rancherias, small plots given to some of the tribes as compensation for the confiscation of their ancestral lands. On the rancherias, they set their own laws and were allowed to govern themselves without interference from the legislators in Sacramento. Logan wasn’t sure how dead set she was on not attending, or if talking to her would make a difference, but he’d grown up with her father and knew the struggles their people faced in the years since the massacre. When Reverend Dennis first floated the idea of her enrolling, Logan offered to provide the funds for her clothing, train fare, and other essentials, because her success could be the way to a better life for her, her parents, and the tribe.

Her father stepped out of the house as Logan dismounted and greeted him with a smile that mirrored their many years of friendship. “How are you, Logan?”

“Doing well, Walks. And you?” His tribal name was Walks Like Mountain, but in the White world he was called Enoch Redwood.

“Sweet Water has me running from sunup to sundown getting ready for the Brush Dance. I’m honored to be Green Feather’s father but I may not survive this.”

He nodded understandingly. Sweet Water’s Christian name was Lucy. Many tribal members were given White names after the massacre in hopes it might deter bigots like Larrabee from targeting them again. As it stood, the hate formerly directed at Blacks and Indians had now turned to the Chinese, but hate was hate, and Logan didn’t want it touching anyone.

“So, has she really changed her mind?”

He shrugged. “Says she has. Sweet, course, is having none of it and refuses to let her back out, but Feather’s my only daughter and has always had my heart, so I’m willing to let her make up her own mind.”

“Even if you don’t agree?”

“Even if I don’t agree, which is why my Sweet Water sent for you.”

“So where’s Feather now?”

“Out back. She and her mother just had another argument, so Sweet’s gone up the road to visit her sister to cool off, and Feather’s outside doing the same.

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