Two Eagles articulated rapidly. His tone not happy.
Mary huffed. “What did he say?”
“A fledgling that stays in the nest has not yet the strength to fly, and your backbone is of soft willow and must be stiffened to oak.”
“So, the heathen insults me. I am strong. What does he know?”
Juliet gave an impatient snort. “Mary, you are being childish. Two Eagles has showed nothing but kindness.”
Mary brushed her hair back over her shoulder and stood. “I do admit they are softer. “Thank you,” she said tersely. She took a step, slipped on cold, damp leaves. Two Eagles scooped her up and placed her back on her feet. Mary held his arm…overlong, gazing at the proud Indian.
He urged her on, taking her hand, and leading her to the river. Juliet raised an eyebrow, mystified by her friend’s response and followed.
* * *
Days passed, the earth swollen and pregnant with the finale of spring. They traveled north on the lake to another river, and then east onto the Oswego River, crooked and winding, possessing many curves and at various points, tributaries rushed in. Snowy white blossoms of trillium and bloodroot rioted up the hills. Here and there a newly budded green island rose up in the middle to cut the broad river in two. The current rose strong, and a contrary gust of wind shook the canoe. They had seen no one, and threats of Onontio vanished with each passing day, presenting a surreal notion of security.
Two Eagles and Joshua’s arms rose and fell as if commanding the elements with their paddles. Indeed, both men were hardened woodsman and knew the way through the trackless wilderness.
“How did you meet Two Eagles?” asked Juliet.
“Two Eagles was set against a couple dozen trappers determined to steal his furs. I balanced out the odds and convinced them it was in their best interest to leave him alone, of course, after a good fight. Afterward, we became friends, Two Eagles teaching me the art of trapping and trading as a profitable living.”
“What they say concerning your legendary feats are true?”
“What legendary feats?”
“Killing a mythical bear, how you can catch sunbeams in your hand and hurl them across the firmament, part the lakes with your staff, walk on water,” she laughed.
“All that.”
“I like your story. I was forever the kind of child who was convinced elves lived in the parks, trees were flesh and blood, and gaps in the floorboards housed fairies rather than rodents.”
“I’m just a man.”
And what a man.With the warmth of the day, like most days, Joshua had removed his shirt, his skin bronzed from the sun, his broad shoulders seeming broader and his lean stomach muscles rippled with his movements. Awareness of him filled every pore of her being, admiring his male beauty, savage like the wilderness. He matched this world, thrived in its untamed ferocity.
She pictured him in a ballroom in London, vying for her hand to dance. Other women swarmed like locusts, pushing her away from this rugged, vital man who had a monopoly on virility. To tear their dresses, to claw their eyes. Oh, how she put the notion to flight.
With him conscious of her scrutiny, her thoughts clouded and erased. Staving off the tingling in the pit of her stomach grew impossible. Twice her hand dropped in the water. What did she say? She swallowed and managed a feeble reply long held in her mind.
“You make me feel safe.”
He choked with a rough laugh of disbelief and her heart floundered. Why?
In these beautiful surroundings, it was like looking through a window into this soul—and seeing the enchanted Achilles trapped inside his gruff exterior. In that moment, she had forgotten to breathe. Her mind filled with the image before her: Joshua, her magnificent husband who was always so full of swaggering confidence, hunched like a defeated man. The real question was—by whom?
The breeze ruffled his hair, more brown than black in the rippling sunlight. He kept his own counsel and since the day yielded bright and beautiful, and because she thirsted to learn more regarding this land, she said, “I remain confused on the Iroquois and Two Eagles’ tribe.”
“There are Six Nations, representing the Iroquois. The Senecas, the Cayugas, the Onondagas, the Oneidas, the Tuscaroras and the Mohawks Clans represent earth, air and water. They are like families living together in one great longhouse with a door at each end. The Mohawks are fierce and are the Keepers of the Eastern Door while the Senecas, the most formidable, are the Keepers of the Western Door. The Cayugas and the Oneidas are in the center, and the Onondagas keep the council fire continuously burning. These tribes look upon each other as brothers and in time of war fight side by side. Except with this war, there has been a schism cast between them.
“Two Eagles belongs to the Oneida Clan, or Ohkwani, Keepers of Medicine and Knowledge and are the peacemakers. His Bear Clan means strong, courageous, wise, disciplined and devoted.”
Mary snorted. She was not going to give one inch to the handsome warrior.
On sun-warmed rocks turtles basked. Otters played happily. Juliet trailed her fingers through the cool waters, beaming with their antics. Ojistah had compared her to the Sky Woman.
“Joshua, who is Sky Woman?”
