Savage Summer by Constance O'Banyon Page B

Indian princess?”
    “Yes, that’s true, and so are you.”
    Joanna studied her niece’s face for a moment. Danielle looked so like her own daughter that it was like a knife in her heart. The biggest difference between the two girls was their disposition. Sky Dancer was sweet and kind, while Danielle was stubborn and willful. Joanna feared her niece would suffer greatly before she came to terms with who she was.
    “Your grandmother is marking off the days until you come. She has talked of nothing else but your visit for months. She loves you a great deal, Danielle.”
    The young girl stopped and leaned against the trunk of a tall tree. “I wish I didn’t have to see her. How am I supposed to act with her? What will we find to talk about?”
    Joanna took a deep breath. “Shall I tell you a secret? This last year, Sun Woman has been learning to speak English just so she could converse with you. Let your heart guide you, Danielle. Sun Woman has so much love to give you. If you will only allow it, she has many worthwhile things to teach you.”
    Tears welled up in the young girl’s blue eyes. “I…am afraid of her,” she admitted. “I have always been afraid of Indians.”
    Joanna pulled Danielle into her arms and stroked her dark hair. “Oh, my dear, dear child, there is nothing for you to fear in the Blackfoot village. You are going to be received with so much love it will astound you.”
    Danielle pulled away and turned her back. “I am not afraid of my Uncle Windhawk.”
    Joanna smiled. “Why do you suppose that is?”
    “I…don’t know.”
    Joanna sat down on a fallen log and motioned for Danielle to join her. “Shall I tell you something?”
    Danielle sat down and folded her hands in her lap. “Yes, if you aren’t going to tell me more about my…mother.”
    “I was going to tell you about Windhawk, but your mother may come up in the conversation.”
    Danielle turned troubled eyes to her aunt. “Why did you abandon your life in Philadelphia to remain with the Blackfoot? You are so beautiful, and my father says that you could have had your pick of young gentlemen to marry.”
    Joanna smiled, wondering how she could tell this young girl how Windhawk had swept through her life one autumn and stolen her heart. “When I first met Windhawk, I was frightened of him. I had been injured, and he nursed me back to health and then took me back to his village. I can still remember that first day in the Blackfoot village so clearly. The only friendly face I saw that day was your mother’s. She wasso kind to me, and later we became the best of friends. Since she died, I have never found a friend to replace her in my heart.”
    “Why did you decide to stay with the Indians, Aunt Joanna? My father said you could have returned to Philadelphia had you wanted to.”
    Joanna’s eyes took on a faraway look, her mouth curved into a smile. It would be hard to explain all-consuming love to someone who hadn’t experienced that emotion for herself. She turned her blue gaze on her young niece. “Have you yet met a man whom you love?”
    “No.” Danielle shook her head. “I have had many beaux who have liked me, but I never felt I could marry any of them. I always feared that if a man found out about me being a half-breed, he wouldn’t want to love me.”
    Joanna tilted the young girl’s face up, feeling her heart break. She thought perhaps it was a good thing that Danielle was spending the summer with the Blackfoot. She needed to learn many lessons, but most of all she needed to learn to be proud of who she was.
    “Danielle, when you find the right man, and if he truly loves you, it will not matter who your mother and father are.”
    “I could never love an Indian,” Danielle said as her blue eyes sparked with something akin to fear. “I don’t want a dirty Indian to even touch me.”
    Joanna closed her eyes, remembering the awful day when Morning Song had died. How well she could recall taking this girl to her