Chapter 3
It had been three days since we were all put into this stockade. The nights and days were getting colder and yet the white men gave us no shelter or more blankets. People were starting to get sick. Mother had an awful cough and was sometimes too tired to move from her position lying against the wall. Everyday one girl from each family was allowed out to go and gather what we could fin for food but it wasn’t enough to keep all of the tribe members healthy.
Father was beside himself with worry. Every time mother would cough he would hold her head up and rub her back until she stopped and laid back down. He had dark circles under his eyes for he had not gotten much sleep these past few nights.
I had mostly kept to myself these past few days. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I was scared for my mother and the way the white man with yellow hair looked at me made me feel uneasy. Dyami and Tiva had taken a liking to each other as they talked mainly to one another as I wouldn’t talk to either of them. Every time Tiva laughed at something he said my stomach would tighten. Why could he be so carefree and likable with her but so stone faced and cold with me? Whenever this thought entered my mind I shook my head and went about my duties.
I was currently heating water over the small fire that we had tried to keep going to keep mother warm. I looked up at the sky. From the position of the sun I could tell that the man with yellow hair would open up the gates soon. I looked back down at the now steaming water and quickly poured some of the water into one of the cups that we had borrowed from another family. I walked over to mother and kneeled down in front of her. She looked up at me. Her eyes had dark circles around them. She coughed and her whole body shook. She was a small woman and her tiny frame seemed so fragile these past few days when before she had always seemed so strong.
I brought the cup to her lips and she took a small sip. I sat the steaming cup next to her and put my hand on her cheek. Her skin was so hot today. I took my hand back and stood up. Walking back to the fire I watched the gate closely waiting for when ‘he’ would open them for us. I wasn’t watching where I was going and I ran into someone. Looking up I noticed it was Dyami. He reached a hand down towards me and I gladly took it.
“Thank you.” I said quietly. Shock crossed his features as he took in the fact that I had just talked to him. He put his hand on my shoulder to pull me back but at that moment the gate opened. I looked up and the yellow haired man called out, “One girl from each family may go and gather what you can.” I quickly ran to grab my large back and walked swiftly to the opening in the wall. I passed by the man quickly while looking down at my feet. I never looked at him for fear that it would anger him. I made a straight line for the forest walking quickly and silently through the fallen leaves that had now turned brown.
It seemed like I had only been walking for a short while when I heard the crunch of foot steps behind me. I didn’t stop or turn around, but kept on walking. Every now and then I would stop and reach down to collect some berries I had come across or dig up a root from a plant that I knew could be eaten. Whenever I stopped so did the footsteps. After a while I got up the courage to turn around and see who was behind me. I gasped at what I saw. Behind me was the man with the yellow hair. His uniform was crisp and there was little to no dirt on it. I quickly snapped my gaze to the ground and turned. I swung my bag onto my back and started running.
I knew that it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, run away, but I couldn’t stop myself. Why was he following me? I darted between trees and jumped over fallen logs. After I had been running for a while I thought I had lost him. I ducked behind a large rock that was in the middle of my path. I sat completely still and listened. The woods were silent. I slowly crept out from behind the rock and stood up. Turning around I almost screamed when I saw the yellow haired man standing before me. I turned to run again when I heard him speak.
“Wait! Please. I don’t want to hurt you,” he said. I stopped and slowly turned around to look at him. I tilted my head to the side to look at him. His hands were in the air and he had a small smile on his face. As to why the smile was there I did not understand. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you...You have no idea what I’m saying do you.” he said. He said this as if it were a statement and not a question directed at me. For reasons unknown to even myself I spoke.
“I know exactly what you are saying actually.” My voice rang out, clear as a bell, through the quiet woods. His blue eyes widened in shock. I guess he wasn’t very educated on my people. He thought that we couldn’t understand him. I almost laughed at his ignorance. “Just because we choose to speak in our native tongue most of the time does not mean that we can’t understand you.” He looked down almost shamefully. He had a small frown on his face and for some reason all I wanted to do was make it go away.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just assumed...” He took off his hat and ran a nervous hand through his hair. He stuck his hand out to me. I had seen men do this before but I never really understood the strange custom of the white men. “My name is Charles.” I looked at him for a while. After a short amount of time he brought his hand back to his side. I tilted my head and studied his face. He was not like the men in my tribe. His nose was small and pointed. His eyes were blue like the sky. His shoulders were not as broad but still you could tell that he was a strong man.
“My name is Nina.” I said. He smiled again and I couldn’t help but smile along with him.
“Nina. Your name is very beautiful Nina.” I looked around me and noticed that it was starting to get darker. My face fell as I noticed that my father would start to be getting worried about me.
“I’m sorry Charles but I need to go. My father will be worried if I don’t get back soon.” I looked at his grabbed his hand. “It was nice to meet you Charles.” He looked down at my hand that was holding his. I let go and it dropped back to his side. I turned and started to run back to the stockade.
A little while later I slowed to a walk and started to get my breath back as I made my way back into the camp. I passed the armed men at the gate and walked over to where my family and friends were sitting. They all looked up at me when they heard my approach. Dyami jumped up and hugged me to him. Shocked, it took me a few seconds to wrap my arms around him and hug him back.
“Where have you been? The other girls returned a long time ago.” He asked. I could tell that he was worried about me and I felt bad for having kept them all waiting.
“I...had to go farther into the woods because most of it has been picked over all ready. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take so long.” I quickly took my bag from over my head and started to unpack the wood and all of the things I had managed to find. “I was lucky today. I was able to find a slower rabbit that was able to catch.” Dyami came over and kneeled next to our small fire with me. He took his knife from its sheath and expertly gutted and cut up the small animal. While he was doing that I gathered water in our small pot and added the roots to it and put it over the fire. When he added the meat the smell of cooking animal started to raise out of the pot. My stomach grumbled as I realized just how hungry I was.
When it was done I poured some into small bowls for everyone. Dyami had already gone back to his family but would be back before I went to sleep. We had been sharing a blanket since he did not have one and I was glad because the temperature was rapidly dropping as the night sky became black. All too soon my soup was gone. I was still hungry and I was sure that almost everyone here was still hungry, even if nobody said anything. I gathered my blanket around me and sat down next to Tiva by the fire. She looked at me and smiled. I smiled back but still didn’t say anything. I wanted to tell her about meeting Charles but I didn’t want to upset her by talking about the white men. I didn’t know what I was going to do.
My thoughts all turned to Charles as I sat by the fire. Slowly, bit by bit, our fire turned to glowing embers. I got up and took some more small logs from my bag and added them, stirring up the flames with a small stick. Tiva had fallen asleep moments ago so it was just me. No sooner had that thought crossed my mind when I heard the crunch of stones. I looked up to see Dyami making his way towards me. I opened my blanket and shivered as the wind hit me. He got in and we both laid down on the frozen ground. He pulled me to him and I scooted as close as I could to be as close to my source of heat as I could. I sighed and closed my eyes. I was tired from running and I soon fell into what I thought would be a dreamless sleep.
