MY FATHER'S DAUGHTER

(Not to be confused with "My Father's Daughter" cookbook by Gwenneth Paltrow)

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

As dawn approached the following morning Amelia awoke and once again remembered the moccasin that she had left out behind the village but had been too distracted to retrieve sooner. Still in her nightshirt she silently slipped out of her platform of furs and left for the entrance to the compound in her bare feet. The moccasins were a gift from Snowbird and she didn't want to lose one. With the graying sky lightning up to guide her, she walked towards the bushes at the edge of the clearing when she tripped over a fallen log. Suddenly she heard a hissing sound and she turned to locate its source. There in front of her was a skunk with its back arched and stamping its front feet. Then it began shuffling backwards before it reared up with its hind feet in the air and tail waving and let lose with a horrid stinking spray. Amelia screamed and turned away just as the spray reached her. The skunk disappeared after it had protected itself against the intruder, leaving Amelia gagging from the fetid odor covering her clothing and skin.

Hearing her scream woke several of the people and they gathered by the central fire to try to figure out where it had come from. Taunais and Nighthawk heard the commotion and wandered over to see what was happening. Once they were told, Taunais ran back to the hut to see if Amelia was still sleeping under the furs. When she didn't see her there she ran out and looked to see if Amelia was with Andrew, but he was standing around looking just as bewildered as everyone else.

"It's Amelia. She's gone!" Taunais ran outside the village with Andrew and Nighthawk close behind.

"Amelia, where are you?" she shouted.

They heard another cry and ran around the back only to be repelled by the odor. Andrew was the first to reach her and instantly backed up into the others who were close behind him. "Uhgg."

"Ewww."

"Agggg."

Holding his nose and covering his mouth as best he could, Andrew held his breath and tried not to laugh.

"This isn't funny. Don't you dare laugh at me, Andrew!"

Amelia got up and started walking toward him. Andrew backed up and very intensely said, "Stay away!"

Ever practical, Taunais solution was simple. "There are some salt licks not far from here where the buffalo sometimes graze. Their droppings and the urine contained in them are strong with odor absorbents that will take away most of the smell of a skunk."

"Buffalo droppings? You want to put buffalo droppings on me?," Amelia cried in horror.

"No, Amelia, you will have to do it for yourself. I'm not willing to get that close to you."

Unable to hold it back any longer, Andrew burst out in loud laughter, and everyone joined in after a second's hesitation. "Only you could get into this much trouble, Amelia. It seems to find you without your even trying," Andrew said through the breaks in his laughter.

Amelia wailed louder and put her hands over her face. The laughter died at her obvious anguish.

"The buffalo droppings will smell as bad as the skunk odor. What is the purpose of replacing one horrible smell with another?" Amelia asked in disbelief.

Taunais explained, "Because you can wash off the buffalo manure smell but not the skunk smell."

"I guess I understand," Amelia sniffled. "Please, let's hurry and get this over with."

Andrew and Nighthawk started walking back to the village when Taunais said, "Follow us." She looked at her forlorn and miserable sister who was just standing in one spot not knowing where to go or what to do.

Relenting and sympathetic, Andrew turned around and began walking back towards Amelia. "I'll help you clean off the smell."

Taunais put a restraining hand on his arm. "Please let me take care of her, Andrew. She is going to have to be stripped and cleansed. You can't be there for her this time. She couldn't bear the humiliation of nakedness in your presence. This is woman's work. Go back into the village and wait for us. If you want to help, please send Snowbird to the buffalo field with some clean clothes and moccasins for Amelia along with an axe to dig with. I'm going to have to bury what she has on."

Listening to every word Amelia offered, "I dropped one of my moccasins on the ground near where the skunk got me. That's why I was out there."

"All right. Is there anything else I can do?"

"No, that's all we need. You'll see her soon enough. Now go." Taunais turned back towards Amelia. She looked so bewildered and vulnerable. Taunais' heart ached for her sister, and with all the love and kindness in her she coaxed, "Follow me, Amelia. I will take you to where the buffalo go. If they are still there the droppings should be fresh and the urine will be stronger."

Taunais didn't move forward but waited instead as Amelia haltingly approached. "Why aren't you backing away from me? The smell is horrible."

"Because you are my sister and we are in this together. I changed my mind about making you do this yourself. I will suffer your burden with you, although if you weren't my sister I wouldn't," she laughed.

Amelia's spirits lifted and she smiled. "Thank you. Now can we go and get this smell off of me before we both get sick from it? Don't get too close to me. Just lead the way and I'll be right behind you."

Taunais linked her arm through Amelia's and tugged her along to a path on the other side of the meadow that lead back into the forest. She took short shallow breaths through her mouth and told Amelia to do the same. A short time later they crested a hill and looked down into the valley where a small herd of buffalo was slowly grazing on the other side.

Taunais led them down to an area opposite the buffalo and found a spot that was plentiful of droppings. She pointed to a place right in the middle. "Take everything off, Amelia, and sit there for me."

Amelia did as she was told and when she sat down Taunais stripped off her own clothing to protect it before gathering fresh buffalo dung in her hands and rubbing it over Amelia and into her hair. Amelia began to gag. "Don't you dare get sick, Amelia. Wait until we are finished," she teased.

Amelia choked back her bile and said through clenched teeth, "How can you stand to put your hands in that awful stuff? This doesn't feel funny."

Stifling her humor Taunais replied, "I am used to harvesting buffalo dung. We put it in our gardens and around our crops in the fields. It is very beneficial to the plants and helps them grow. Don't you English do the same thing for your food in Columbia?"

"I don't know. Father and William used to take care of the planting and everything that went with it. Father also hired people to work the fields. I spent my time going to school, helping Mother with laundry and household chores, and then helping Father out at his business. My contribution to the planting process was helping Mother and Megan preserve the food for storage."

"While you are here I will teach you the ways of honoring Mother Earth and all the bounty that she brings forth for our edification."

"I have so much to learn of your life here. Tell me, Taunais, what is the women's secret for being so respected by the Cherokee men? Snowbird has given me a small inkling of women's standing among your people, but I would love to learn more."

"Women have great power among almost all Indian tribes. We are the property owners and the children belong to us. We are the Clan Mothers and we keep society running smoothly by sitting on councils and helping choose the chiefs.

"Once every year in the early spring, just before the new shoots of grass peak out from the earth, we women wear our beaded clothing and gather at the south side of the eternal fire to sing and dance. As the fertile life givers we do this Spirit ceremony to give hope to Mother Earth so she will have the strength and will to begin again the new cycle of life. The restless dead souls who have trouble letting go of this life are soothed by our chanting and dancing and it helps them to move on.

"Women have strong medicine and powers. When we add our powers to those strengths of the men, it keeps our lives in balance. The men honor and respect us for the continuity of life."

Amelia was in awe of the words spoken so sincerely and reverently by her sister. "Thank you so much for sharing that with me. Life seems so simple and uncomplicated here compared to all that goes on in Columbia. I shall miss this when I have to leave."

"Ewwwww," exclaimed Snowbird as she approached the women. "You smell horrible. That skunk got you good. I also brought some soap and a bristle brush to scrub you better." She laid down the bundle and gingerly picked up the soiled clothes. "I'll take these and bury them for you."

"Thank you Snowbird."

After Amelia was totally imbedded with dung, including between her toes and under her armpits, Taunais handed her the soap and led her to the nearby pond. "Go scrub yourself off and we will see how you smell. We will probably have to do this again to get it all off."

Amelia enthusiastically ran into the water and dived under. When she thoroughly rid herself of the last remains of buffalo dung she emerged with a questioning smile on her face. "Tell me, is the smell gone? I can't tell because I think that smell will linger in my nose for a long time to come."

Taunais had already washed the dung from herself and went over to smell Amelia's hair. "I think we will have to do it again," she laughed.

Amelia sighed and sat back down resignedly. When Taunais began putting more dung on her she asked, "Taunais, I am so very confused. All my adult life I have had chaperones with me when I've been courted by gentlemen callers, just the same as your culture requires. This is the first time I have ever had so much freedom to be with a man and I'm not sure if I'm really in love with Andrew or if it's just my body responding to being so near a man for the first time. Does this make me a potential whore or do I truly love Andrew?"

"What does your heart tell you?"

"Both. I am so confused. Is a woman supposed to enjoy having a man touch her and be near her like that? Why does my body betray my beliefs? I have to struggle with myself to keep from bedding with him when his body is pressed so close to mine."

"What you are feeling is normal, Amelia. But you must not go off alone with him again until you are wed. Either Snowbird or I will go with you when you need to talk to him. We will keep our distance so that you will have your privacy, but if he touches you someone will be there to step between you both. And if you truly love him, you will know without his having to touch you."

"I can't stop thinking about him, Taunais, and I want to be with him all the time. And yet we fight so much when we are together. Is this what love does to people?"

"Every relationship is different, Amelia. I can't answer that for you. This is something you have to figure out for yourself. Now, go wash yourself. I think we are about done here."

"Let me tell you the story of why Creator made a seganku, which means one who squirts. The English call this animal a skunk," said Twisted Wing to the gathering children sitting at his feet.

"In a village long ago a woman gave birth to a girl with pure white hair. She grew up to be beautiful beyond compare, and because of her white hair, she was thought to be very holy. Men would often court her, but she showed no interest in them, preferring to gaze at her own reflection in still waters. She loved the smell of flowers and would rub their perfumed petals on her skin and hair."

Twisted Wing looked around at the children seriously and continued, "One day a strange looking man showed up and was very keen to court her. She laughed at him, scolding him for his ugliness-yet he was not a mere man, but one of the great spirits, Turtle. Turtle shed his wrinkled outer skin and appeared in all his glory. He decreed, "Since you rejected one of the great spirits, you shall be transformed into a lowly animal! When people see you, they will turn away from your repulsive odor."

"She began to shrink, and she became covered with little black hairs. The only trace left of her beautiful white hair was the furry white stripe down her back. She became the first of her race, the race of the seganku who live to this day."

Twisted Wing continued, "Did you know that Miss Amelia has met seganku and that he squirted his perfume on her? That is why she is returning from the buffalo valley as we speak. She has had buffalo droppings rubbed on her body so that she can get rid of the perfume that smells so bad. No one will want her to come into the village with us until she stops stinking so much. She should be returning any moment now."

The little girls giggled behind their hands while the boys focused on Twisted Wing's every word. Suddenly Twisted Wing pointed towards the village entrance. As one, they all turned to look at Amelia and Taunais striding across the compound. Amelia's wet hair was streaming down her back, her skin red from all the scrubbing, and she looked miserable and tired as she walked past them.

How Twisted Wing knew when Amelia was coming will always remain a mystery.

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Reviews

Set in South Carolina, "My Father's Daughter" is an engaging historical novel that takes place in the late 1800s after the expulsion of Native Americans from the eastern shores of the nation to an inhospitable west, through the end of the American Civil War (and after). It's the story of Amelia, a young woman who upon the death of her father sets out to find a half-sister she had previously been unaware of. Amelia joins with a trapper who is more hindrance than help. Along the way there are heroes -- and the need for one. "My Father's Daughter" is a riveting novel that combines romance with mystery with frontier adventure. The result is solid entertainment from first page to last. "My Father's Daughter" is especially recommended for personal reading lists and community library fiction collections. ---The Bookwatch, Midwest Book Review, Fiction Shelf

"My Father's Daughter" contains all of the best elements of a great novel. The author Teresa Marotta immediately swept me into the intriguing adventure. Not only does it have an incredibly compelling, well-developed plot, with interesting characters, it also has scenes that will make you laugh out loud. I love a tale with a strong female heroine. This story not only has one, but two. It also has a sexy, strong-yet-caring male hero. In addition to a wonderful plot, "My Father's Daughter" has a strong thread about the importance of personal values running through it. This touch greatly adds to my respect for the hero and heroine, and definitely adds to the suspense. This is a must read for all fans of historical fiction. ---Reader Views

A truly fantastic story with vividly drawn characters and a plot that really keeps you turning the pages. I didn't want it to end. It isn't often that you come across a novel that is not only entertaining but educational as well. 'My Father's Daughter' is just such a book. I must admit that I didn't know much about this time in our nations history, late 17th century. But the author has given us rich detail especially the customs of native Americans at that time.

This is a very personal book. I had to keep reminding myself that this is indeed a work of fiction and I was not reading about Amelia's real life. The style of Amelia's father's journals are very true to the way someone would write a journal in that day. The spirit of Amelia to find the sister that she didn't know existed until after her father's death is inspiring. Young girls didn't go off on long journey's by themselves in those days. It just wasn't done! The stalking and kidnapping of Amelia kept me on the edge of my seat. The suspense was amazing! You root for Amelia and very quickly into the story, you feel as if you know her. Amelia's courage and determination are beautifully portrayed by the author. The characters that surround Amelia are vividly drawn and believable.

This is a must read! 'My Father's Daughter' will remain with you long after you have read it. ---Charles Henry Jr. "Hondo", author

This story begins with the funeral of Amelia's father in the late 1800s. After the funeral, she cleans out his office and finds some journals. Some are about his travels among the Cherokee Indians where he trades each summer. Curious, she takes them home to read. Each night she reads several entries about his journeys. When Amelia learns about his attraction for a Cherokee maiden, their marriage, and the birth of a child, she is determined to find her half sister. Now the fun really begins when she teams up with a handsome trapper who takes her to meet her sister. They tend to butt heads with each encounter. Why? Because Amelia is stubborn, self-willed, and head strong, making the reader wonder if they will ever get along even though you know there's a great deal of attraction towards one another.

I like the fact that the author researched the traditions of the Cherokee Nation and was able to use authentic Cherokee ceremonies and beliefs in her book. This brought the story to life and what these tribes were like. I would recommend this book for ages 18 and older. ---Linda Weaver Clarke, author

I was not sure that I could get into this book, because I am not usually into historical romances, but once I began reading, I could not put this book down. I kept forgetting that this story was not real, and the characters were not real, because it all seemed so, well, real! This is not just a romance, though that does play a hefty part. This is also about a journey, an adventure, and also a bit of a mystery. A really great read! ---Hanging Off The Wire Blogspot