Paintbrushes and Arrows by Finotti M. C.;

Author:Finotti, M. C.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pineapple Press
Published: 2016-08-24T16:05:23+00:00

Chapter 11

Ah-kah, September 24, 1875

For Ah-kah, life at the fort brought many changes. For instance, she no longer wore moccasins or her buckskin dress. It was just too hot. Instead she often went barefoot and wore either a red-checked or blue-checked gingham dress that Mrs. Mather had given her. The dresses once belonged to someone much larger than Ah-kah, but she wore them anyway despite their size, thankful for their comfort.

Ah-kah couldn’t help but notice that Dick was dressing differently too. Since he was not required to wear an army uniform like rest of the men, he now wore pants the same color as deerskin, but made of cloth, along with a white shirt and black string tied around his neck. He shaved his hair up the sides just like the Pale Face and grew a mustache.

Sometimes Dick went to town and didn’t come back by sundown. Peonte thought he had a girlfriend. Dick’s absence was a problem for everyone because Dick was the most reliable translator there was at the fort. And when Dick was gone, no one collected reeds and branches, either.

This changed one afternoon when Black Horse needed more materials for bows and arrows. More tourists were coming to the fort every day to see the Natives, and the bows and arrows were selling well. There was talk of an archery tournament in the future, perhaps between tribes, something that would attract an even larger number of tourists. Black Horse wanted to have plenty of bows and arrows ready to sell.

“Do you think you can collect some reeds and branches without Dick?” Black Horse asked one buttery morning so hot Ah-kah thought she might melt. Summer lasted so long here in Florida. She longed for cooler weather.

Still, Black Horse had never before asked her to do something so important, and Ah-kah was thrilled. She remembered the promise she’d made to Dick not to leave the fort alone, but she was not about to mention it to her father, not now.

Ah-kah soon found herself headed out of the fort with Lieutenant Pratt’s penknife tucked in her pocket. Black Horse watched from the ramparts as she climbed high into the mulberry tree at the base of the bluff. It wasn’t easy to cut branches with the penknife, but she managed to get what she needed and drag the branches back to the fort.

Next, Ah-kah headed out to cut reeds. This time, she needed to go a lot farther, to an area where Black Horse could not keep his eye on her.

“Come right back,” he said, looking her straight in the eye. “Please be careful.”

Ah-kah nodded, and was soon walking atop the two-foot wide seawall. She passed a big steamboat docked to her left, its crew unloading boxes. Wagons and carriages passed by on her right. There were men and women on horseback dressed in fancy riding clothes, and people on the street walking barefoot, just like she was. Everyone seemed very busy.

Ah-kah soon came to the end of the seawall and the town.

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