Walking Two Worlds by Josephy Bruchac

Author:Josephy Bruchac
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Book Publishing Co.
Published: 2015-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Ready to Help

Ely walked faster after leaving the British soldiers. It took less than two more days to reach home. As always, his mother was waiting for him in front of their cabin. She held out her arms.

Ely’s mother was a strong woman. She hugged him so tightly that it hurt his ribs. Ely did not complain. He was home at last.

His mother stepped back and looked up at him.

“You have grown more,” she said.

Ely patted his stomach. “I am thinner, too,” he said with a smile. “I need your good food, my mother.”

His stomach did not stay empty long. Wolf Woman fed him stew and biscuits. He ate like a wolf. The more he ate, the more his mother smiled. When he was almost finished eating, he looked up.

“Where is my father?” he said.

“Your father is meeting with the other chiefs,” Wolf Woman told him.

Ely nodded. He had seen the new houses the Ogden Land Company had built for white people close to the reservation. The company was still trying to take all of the Seneca land. The Seneca leaders were meeting to make plans and write more letters to Albany and Washington.

His mother looked at him. Ely thought he knew what she was thinking. She knew what he was thinking. So he said it.

“I have come back to return to school,” he said. “I want to speak English and read and write as well as any white person. I want to help our people.”

Wolf Woman reached out her hand and placed it on top of his. Once her hand had been bigger than his. Now it looked small on top of Ely’s wide hand.

“Good,” she said.

Ely looked around.

“Your brothers and your sister?” she said.

Ely nodded.

“Levi has gone to town for supplies,” Wolf Woman said. “Solomon and Newt are off trying to hunt birds with their little bows.” She pointed with her lips toward the small maple woods behind their house. A little smile came to her face. “Can you guess where Nic and Caroline are?”

“In school?” he said.

His mother nodded.

Ely returned to the Tonawanda Baptist School the next day. Reverend Stone was delighted to see him.

“Ely, my son,” he said. “My best student! You will inspire the others.”

Somehow, school was not hard now. Ely did not stay in the dormitory. He got up very early, helped around the farm, and then walked to school. It was only three miles. He’d grown used to walking longer distances at Grand River.

Ely was the first to enter the classroom every morning. He read the few books there. When he finished reading them, he read them again.

One day Reverend Stone came into the little classroom while Ely was reading. Reverend Stone was carrying a stack of books.

“Eee-lee, my son,” Reverend Stone said. “You need more to read. I have brought these from my own small library.”

Ely no longer felt out of place in school. It helped that Nic and Caroline were also students. The three of them spoke English together at school and at home.

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