The Mourning War-A Historical Romance by Kathleen O'Neal Gear

Author:Kathleen O'Neal Gear [Gear, Kathleen O'Neal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: American, indian, historical, western
ISBN: 9781639776986
Google: jSQ3zwEACAAJ
Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing
Published: 2022-06-28T13:55:10.345891+00:00

Whitecaps frothed against the hull of the canoe. For as far as Onrea could see, blue water undulated in the windless twilight. The six Iroquois braves sang and rapped their knuckles against their oars as they rowed; three sat in front of her and three behind. Phillipe hunched beside her. Onrea’s chest hurt when she looked at him. He hadn’t spoken at all since the beating days ago. His bald head still bore massive lumps and bruises. She sank deeper into the boat. The hull smelled of bird droppings and mildew from having been cached in the damp forest.

“Phillipe?” she whispered.

The little man did not seem to hear. He gazed up at the gulls that soared and dove through the dusk.

“Phillipe? Can you hear me?” she asked anxiously. She moved her foot over to nudge his black boot.

Phillipe frowned at her as though he’d never seen her before. Onrea’s throat constricted. Had they hurt him so much? Had his soul severed from his body, leaving an empty shell?

“Phillipe, it’s all right,” she whispered, knowing that he probably didn’t understand the words. “Aataentsic is watching. She will protect us.” Onrea pointed to the sky and tried to smile reassuringly.

Phillipe looked up, and his eyes gleamed suddenly. “Roah!” he said. “Roah.”

Onrea studied the wheeling birds. Their wings glinted. Roah? The dove that had followed them from Quebec? Here? Did Phillipe truly know, or was he raving? Why would Iouskeha send the bird to them? Perhaps Roah was the eyes of the Spirit World? Sent to watch and report back? Hope reared up like Grandfather Brown Bear in her soul. “Phillipe, how do you know it’s Roah? How can you tell?”

Tears filled his green eyes. In broken Huron, he responded, “He calls, ‘Phillipe, Phillipe, Moriah comes.’”

Onrea frowned, not understanding. She sat up straighter in the canoe and, in the distance, saw columns of smoke spiraling into the darkening sky. The chanting of the Iroquois braves grew to a terrible roar.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.