Page 71 (1/2)

Ja off his breeks and belted his crimson plaid in record time, fastened it with a small bronze brooch, snatched a bottle out froh the open side of the house before I had finished tidyingup that attempt as a lost cause, I hurried out after him

The women watchedback as Jas involving the cere included in this ritual Only then did the second wo her head in shy acknowledg from one to another of us Her eyes rested onin every detail ofat her, likewise Mixed blood, I thought, perhaps French?

"Je suis sa feraceful inclination of her head toward Nacognaweto, the words verifying e "Je m’appelle Gabrielle"

"Uraceful gesture at myself "S’il vous plaît…" I waved at the pile of waiting logs, inviting the whether there was enough of the squirrel stew to go round

Janaith a mixture of amusement and irritation

"Oh, ‘no Franch,’ is it?" he said "Not a word, I dinna suppose!" The Indian gave him a look of profound blandness, and nodded to his wife to continue with the introductions

The elder lady was Nayawenne, not Gabrielle’s grandnaweto’s This lady was light-boned, thin, and bent with rheuly rese tied round her neck, orna, and the spotted tail feathers of a woodpecker She had a larger bag, this one of cloth, tied at her waist She saw h cloth, and s two prominent yellow front teeth

The girl was, as I had surnaweto’s; she had no resemblance to hiruous name was Berthe, and the effects of mixed blood were even more apparent in her than in her mother; her hair was dark and silky, but a deep brown rather than ebony, and her round face was ruddy, with the fresh coh her eyes had the Indian’s epicanthic fold

Once the official introductions were over, Nacognaweto e bundle she had carried, and opened it at reen-striped squash, a string of dried fish, a se pile of Indian corn, shucked and dried on the cob

"My God," I ave me a blank look, and I hastened to shly heartfelt--of joy and pleasure over the gifts It h to augnaweto explained through Gabrielle that this was a sift of the bear, which had been received with delight by his village, where Jaeous exploit (here the wo evidently heard all about the episode of the fish) had been the subject of great talk and adhly accustoe,the encounter as the merest accident

While Gabrielle was enored the mutual compliments, and sidled crabwise over to me Without the least sense of offense, she pattedthe he corew louder and took on a tone of astonishly took out the pins and shook it down over my shoulders She pulled out a curl, drew it taut, then let it spring back, and laughed like a drain

The lanced in our direction, but by this tinaweto the construction of the house The chimney was complete, built of fieldstone like the foundation, and the floor had been laid, but the walls, built of solid squared logs each soh Jas, in which he chopped his way steadily backward as he walked along the top of the log, narrowlyhis toes with each stroke

This for no translation, Gabrielle was left free to coh her French was peculiarly accented and full of strange idio each other

In fairly short order, I discovered that Gabrielle was the daughter of a French fur trader and a Huron wonaweto, who in turn was her second husband--the first, Berthe’s father, had been a Frenchman, killed in the French and Indian War ten years before

They lived in a village called Anna Ooka (I bit the inside of ht face; no doubt "New Bern" would have sounded peculiar to them), some two days travel to the northwest--Gabrielle indicated the direction with a graceful inclination of her head

While I talked with Gabrielle and Berthe, aug, I slowly beca place, with the old lady

She said nothing to h sheto knohat I had said--but her bright dark eyes stayed fixed on ard I had the odd feeling that she was talking to le spoken word

I saw Janaweto the rest of the bottle of brandy; clearly it was tiave Gabrielle the embroidered kerchief, and Berthe, a hairpin ornaifts they exclai different

I had been fortunate enough to find four large ginseng roots the week before I fetched all four fro She looked back atfrom her belt, thrust it at , luhed in return; yes, we definitely spoke the sae!