The Incredible William Bowles by Joseph J. Millard

Author:Joseph J. Millard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: history, pirate, native american, indian
ISBN: 9781479404551
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
Published: 2014-11-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Will stood staring down at Hannah Perryman, feasting his eyes on her remembered loveliness. When he spoke at last he had to force the words past the tightness in his throat.

“Hannah,” he whispered. “Hannah, why did you run away and hide without saying goodbye?”

She turned her face away. “If you have to ask, Will Bowles, then the answer would have no meaning.”

He reached out and took her shoulders and turned her gently around. “I don’t have to ask, Hannah. When I was far away my eyes were opened and I knew how blind I had been about so many things.” He pulled her into his arms. “As soon as the horses have been unloaded I will speak to your father.”

She tilted her face up to look at him with shining eyes. “Not my father, Will. It is the Creek custom that the children belong only to the mother. You must select a woman to bring your request and your asking gift to my mother. The mother of Little Panther is only waiting to be asked.” She giggled. “I know, because long ago I spoke of the matter to her.”

Will found Creek marriage customs both amazingly simple and exasperatingly drawn-out. First he had to hunt alone until he could kill a buck fine enough for an asking present. Before accepting, Hannah’s mother had to get the approval of all her relatives and members of her clan. Then there was the dragging wait until seeding time, when Will must plant Hannah’s corn and beans to signify his intention to keep her from want. Not until the beans grew and twined together, as their lives would twine, was the way finally cleared for the ceremony.

At dawn on his wedding day all the men of the town gathered on a vacant plot, each with his allotted share of materials for a new house. They went to work at a furious pace and by late afternoon their new home was finished, furnished, and ready to be occupied. Only then could the simple ceremony take place.

Will broke an ear of corn in two and gave half to Hannah. Afterward they exchanged painted reeds and the ceremony was ended. If at any time in the future one tired of the other, handing back the marriage reed would serve as formal notice of divorce. For Will and Hannah, supremely happy in their too brief time together, no such possibility would ever cloud their marriage.

Through the long ordeal of the betrothal, Will had been anything but idle. He discovered to his delighted astonishment that during his absence some of his training had taken root in the minds of the warriors. They were more willing to take orders and they seemed to have grasped the importance of coordinated movements. He plunged back into his training with new ardor and hope.

He began taking them on long trips that combined hunting with military exercises. Dividing his force into opposing “armies” he staged mock raids, ambushes, and pitched battles over different types of terrain.

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