Savage Summer by Constance O'Banyon Page A

forced to live like an animal until she could return to Philadelphia.
    “Why don’t you rest, Danielle,” Joanna said kindly. She could see her niece was totally exhausted. “I will bring you food and then you can go to sleep.”
    Danielle sank back against the soft robe. Feeling emotionally drained, she closed her eyes. She was asleep when Joanna returned with her food.
    Danielle awoke feeling bruised and stiff. It was not yet daylight, so she turned to face the campfire. Stretching her arms above her head, she looked up at the overhead branches and frowned. If this was what it was like sleeping under the stars, she could well do without it. She was accustomed to sleeping in a downy feather bed with soft bed sheets next to her skin.
    Sitting up, she frowned in distaste at the animal skin she lay upon. It had done little to cushion her against the hard ground. How much more of this would she have to endure? This was the worst torture she could think of. Would her father feel pity for her, if he could see her now?
    “I see that you are awake,” her Aunt Joanna said, dropping down beside her. “I have always liked sleeping beneath the sky, don’t you? Of course sleeping in a tipi isn’t quite the same, is it?”
    Danielle was quiet for a moment. She could hardly credit that her lovely aunt liked the hardships she was forced to endure as the wife of a Blackfoot chief.
    “I much prefer to sleep in my own bed. I fail to see what you could possibly like about sleeping on the ground.”
    Joanna smiled in understanding. “I can see where you might feel that way now, but wait until you have become accustomed to our ways. Everything is new to you and I can imagine you might feel frightened too.”
    “I want to go home. Why is my father punishing me?”
    Joanna drew the young girl into her arms, knowing very well what she was feeling. “Your father isn’t trying to punish you, Danielle. He made a promise to your grandmother that he would allow you to get to know your mother’s people. He has merely honored that promise.”
    “Alexandria is my mother. I don’t want to think about the woman who gave me birth. She isn’t my true mother. I do not want to think about being half Indian!”
    Joanna stood up and motioned for Danielle to do the same. “Walk with me. I want to tell you about your mother. She was not only very fair of face, but she was beautiful on the inside as well.”
    Danielle rose reluctantly. She didn’t want to hear about the woman who had given birth to her. She had always been ashamed of the Indian blood that ran in her veins. Her father had often wanted to talk about her true mother, but Danielle wouldn’t listen.
    As they walked through the woods the sun painted thesky with a soft rosy hue. The birds in the branches of the cottonwood trees were singing sweetly to welcome the new day.
    “Danielle, are you aware that your mother died the day you were born?”
    “Yes, I knew that,” she said with a pout on her lips. Apparently her Aunt Joanna was going to talk about her mother whether Danielle wanted to hear about her or not.
    “How she would have loved you, had she lived. Her last thoughts before she died were of you. Did your father tell you that?”
    “Yes, but I never really listened when he spoke of such things. I didn’t know Morning Song, so therefore I do not love her.”
    Joanna felt tears sting her eyes. “It seems you have closed your heart to anything connected with your mother. What a pity. Do you realize Morning Song was your same age when she died?”
    “I…no, I never thought about that. Was she really beautiful?”
    “Indeed she was, Danielle. Her hair was midnight black, and she had the most beautiful brown eyes. Her voice was soft, and I rarely heard it raised in anger. Morning Song was a kind person. Everyone loved her, including your father. You were a child born of that love. If you deny your mother, you deny the love your father had for Morning Song.”
    “She was an