Twin Willows: A Novel by Kay Cornelius

Author:Kay Cornelius [Cornelius, Kay]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Literature & Fiction, United States, African American, Romance, Western, Westerns, FICTION/Romance/Western
Amazon: B00F4AQ8BG
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2012-08-11T05:00:00+00:00

16

WACCACHALLA

Otter sat under a tree near his lodge, applying red and yellow war paint in the pattern he’d used for the ten turnings of the seasons he’d been a warrior. Never had the prospect of a fight been more welcome. From the day that Bear’s Daughter had taken Willow from Waccachalla, Otter’s anger had grown hot inside his belly.

He recalled how long he had waited for the old woman to get better, until at last the time was right for him to claim Willow. All one night he had hunted to find a deer worthy as a wedding offering, only to find himself bringing it to an empty lodge. Otter had no doubt that Bear’s Daughter had meant to keep him away from Willow, and had Black Snake allowed it, Otter would have gone after them immediately.

“Let the girl go. Full-blooded Shawnee maidens in a dozen villages can give Otter strong sons. You must look elsewhere for a wife,” the chief told him.

Remembering that day, Otter grunted so loudly that Bright Stone, his young warrior companion, looked to see what ailed him.

Noting how Otter’s eyes smoldered, Bright Stone nodded. “Your eyes show you are ready to kill the Shemanese. You will make our village proud.”

Otter considered the young man’s words. “There is none my equal on the warpath,” he said, more stating a fact than making a boast.

“So all Waccachalla knows.” Bright Stone stood and looked back to the village, where the women made preparations for the Warriors’ Dance. “Soon we prove it with the scalps of many Shemanese.”

“You have not walked the warpath before, Bright Stone. Do not boast of scalps before you take them.”

“I have gone with my brothers on many raids—I am ready. My wife will be proud.”

Otter thought with envy of the maiden that Bright Stone had been joined to last year. Had she not been too near his own kin, Doe Eyes could have been the mother of Otter’s sons. Already she had given Bright Stone a man-child. Otter frowned, not wanting to think of such things.

Instead, he imagined how he would be greeted with new respect when he returned to Waccachalla, victorious over the Shemanese.

Then I will find Willow, he vowed. Otter sensed that Black Snake thought that if Bear’s Daughter had found a warm welcome in her old village, she’d likely stay there for some time. By now Willow could already share another man’s lodge in that place. The thought made him even more angry.

I must know about this thing, Otter told himself. Black Snake could not stop a man from going hunting. If on the way he happened across Willow and she came back with him, then Black Snake would have no choice but to join them in marriage.

For the first time in many days, Otter felt almost happy. Now that he had determined the solution to his problem, he was ready to take the path of war to far Penn-sylvania, where the Shemanese lived who had killed Chief Netawatawees.

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