Page 31 of Freedom's Kiss
Chapter 14
November, 1817
Winnie reached for the silver comb in the basket by her side, her fingers caressing the cool, shiny metal as her middle rippled like a stone cast in a still lake. A gift from Nokosi. One of many he’d given her over the last weeks—visual representations of his love and desire to provide for her as a husband, he’d said. Just remembering his words caused her skin to warm. Who would’ve thought the serious and fierce warrior would be capable of such tender words and gestures? She fingered the comb, then lifted it from the woven reeds and placed it securely in her hair. Peering into the basket, hundreds of beads glinted back at her. She took a string and began the morning ritual of threading the beads and tying them around her neck, layer upon layer until they stacked from shoulder to chin.
Many of these beads had also been given to her from Nokosi’s strong hand, but most she’d earned and bought for herself. Of all the things she’d been taught while living among the Seminole, independence was the most precious gift the people had given her. For the first time in her life, she was able to buy things with her own money—money she’d earned by raising hogs and grinding sacks of coontie starch to sell—and the necklaces of glass beads that hung heavy around her neck each day reminded her of the privilege of freedom.
With a twist of her fingers, she tied off the last string behind her neck and replaced the basket to a corner of the chickee. Many of the women were going to harvest oranges that had become sweet after the first frost, but she had other plans. She ran her hand over her skirt and poncho, then stepped off the chickee’s platform floor and onto the sandy grass below. With a grin, she ducked her head and hid her fingers in the folds of her skirt.
“Where you goin’, girl?” Asa’s booming voice stopped her in her tracks, and she slowly turned toward him. While he approved of Nokosi, he might not appreciate his daughter running off alone into the woods to meet the man courting her.
Asa had the barrel of a rifle clapped in a meaty paw, the butt resting on the ground. In a flash he could have the weapon aimed and discharged. Winnie knew because she’d seen it. That rifle had become Asa’s constant companion, and she had no doubt that he had other weapons on his person. The thought should make her feel safe, but it only reminded her of their precarious position and the news of growing unrest to the north that the scouts brought back with continuing frequency.
Winnie pressed a hand to her stomach and forced her lips to curve at the edges. “I thought I’d hunt berries in the woods.”
He eyed her. “Who’s goin’ with you?”
“Need me some alone time.”
A humph exited his mouth. “It ain’t safe. Take that bear of a man with you.”
Nokosimeantbearin the native language, and the clan mothers had named him correctly, for he’d grown into the size and strength of his namesake.
This time Winnie tried to suppress her smile lest she seem too pleased and eager for his permission to seek out Nokosi. “Yes, sir.” Before he changed his mind and thought to accompany and protect her himself, she turned and sprinted across the field and into the woods on moccasin-clad feet.
She reached the live oak where they’d agreed to meet and looked around. The song of a bobwhite trilled on the morning breeze while a gray squirrel with a fluffy tail scurried along the bark at the base of the tree. Spanish moss hung from the limbs like the gray hair from an old white woman.
Last time they’d met here, Nokosi had snuck up on her and scared her out of her mind. Her cheek twitched. Maybe she should repay him in kind. She looked up and gauged the distance of the lowest hanging branch. Out of reach, but just. Circling the tree, she found a knothole in the trunk about knee high. Sticking her foot in the hole, she pushed off and grabbed the branch, then swung her legs and wrapped them around the branch, pulling herself up. She straddled the limb and shimmied her body along it until she hugged the main part of the tree. Standing, she pushed her body flush against the rough bark and hung on. When Nokosi stood beneath, she’d jump down and surprise him. It wasn’t too far down, and the ground was soft from a recent rain, so she wouldn’t hurt herself.
A trail of ants crawled along in a straight line not far from her fingers. Their bodies blended in to the brown skin of the tree but stood out when they marched past a patch of sandy-white lichen. Winnie pulled her hand closer to her body to keep it clear of the ants.
“Pakse.”
She startled at the voice and looked down into Nokosi’s upturned face. To anyone else he would have appeared disapproving, but Winnie caught the slight turn at the corner of his mouth and the flash of laughter that came and went from his eyes like heat lightning illuminating inside a dark cloud. The look chased away any disappointment she might have at not being able to catch the warrior by surprise.
She grinned and lowered herself until she sat on the branch. “How’d you know I was up here?”
One brow rose and nearly disappeared behind his turban. “A warrior must be aware of all his surroundings lest an enemy jump out from behind a bush…or down from a tree.”
He put his hands up, and Winnie leaned forward and let gravity pull her to him. His warm palms encased her waist and set her feet back on the ground. “Good thing I ain’t your enemy then.”
“Though my heart has battled with yours for a while, no, you are not my enemy.” He stepped back and readjusted the strap of his rifle across his shoulder. “Come.” He held out his hand.
She placed her palm in his and let him tug her along. His long legs ate up the distance, but he shortened his stride for her. Before long they made it to the edge of a slow-moving river. Water lilies grew thick along the edge, hiding the blue water beneath them under a blanket of green foliage. Nokosi pushed a dugout canoe through the mass, slicing through the green. A frog jumped and splashed into the water.
Winnie steadied herself as she stepped into the canoe and lowered her body into the burned-out bottom. She’d seen some of the men in the different stages of boat making but had never climbed into the middle of one before. Isaac had recently built his first and had been eager to share tales of his accomplishments with her. After the woodsman had selected the right cypress log with the heart of the tree near the side and not the center, her brother had shaped the vessel using axes and fire. He’d thought he’d be able to travel the river then, but first the canoe had to be buried in mud for almost two years.
Winnie looked back to shore, wondering if Isaac’s canoe lay buried somewhere along the bank. He still had a few months longer to wait before he would dig it up, dry it out slowly, and then burn the wood inside the middle. A stick would be used to hit the sides, and only when the vibrations reached a certain pitch would the vessel be deemed worthy of floating atop the water.
Winnie slipped her hand over the side of the canoe and dipped her fingers into the current as Nokosi paddled. She didn’t know where they were going or why, but she was content to sit and just be, to soak up the presence of the man behind her and let it warm her from the inside out, like an alligator sunbathing on the shore, it’s cool blood thawing.
The canoe shifted underneath her, and she felt Nokosi’s warm breath on the back of her neck. A shiver raced down her spine, curling her toes in her moccasins. “Pakse, look.” He lifted an arm and pointed along the bank.
Five small creatures, low to the ground on short legs, stared back at them. Their bodies were long and lean, with whiskers sprouting from their faces and tails trailing behind them. Their fur appeared wet, like they’d just come back from a swim. Winnie had never seen an animal quite like them before.
“What are they?”
“Osvnv. Brother otter. Curious and playful animals of the river and excellent fishermen. Keep watching. They won’t be content to sit there and study us long.”
