Savage Summer Page 4

  Tag grabbed his niece and tightly hugged her to him, and she smiled up at him. He was indeed a handsome man with no gray to lace his blond hair and no wrinkles to mar his face.

  “Sky Dancer, you are all grown up, and nature did a beautiful job on you, too.” Suddenly his eyes rounded in astonishment. “I…swear you are the very image of your cousin Danielle. If I didn’t know better, I would say my eyes were playing tricks on me.” Tag was indeed shocked as he realized that the two young girls could pass for twins.

  Taking his young niece’s hand, he led her into the room and over to the girl that Sky Dancer had dreaded meeting. The beautiful young girl was dressed in a pink and white candy striped gown and her hair was arranged on the top of her head. To Sky Dancer the lovely girl looked like she could have just stepped out of the pages of a fashion book.

  When the two girls stood face to face, their eyes met and widened in surprise. In that instant they both realized that they did look like twins! They each had the same deep blue eyes and midnight black hair. Their features were finely chiseled and they had the same high cheekbones. There wasn’t a hairbreadth difference in their height.

  Danielle was overcome by the irony of the situation and she smiled brightly. “I had heard that we were alike, but until this moment I had no notion just how true that was. It is as if I were looking into a mirror at my own image, Sky Dancer,” she beamed, warming to her look-alike immediately.

  Farley ambled into the room and looked from one girl to the other. “Well, I can’t hardly tell which one’s which. Didn’t I tell you that they was like two peas in a pod?”

  Tag vigorously shook Farley’s hand, and Alexandria kissed his rough cheek. “We’re glad to see you, Farley,” Alexandria said with affection. “I hope you’re going home with us.”

  “Nope, I ’spect I’ll be going back to the village.” Farley was made to feel he was welcome in Philadelphia and in the Indian village. “Which one of you gals is Danielle?” he asked, lumbering over to the look-alikes. “I want to give Danielle a hug since I ain’t seen her in so long.”

  Danielle smiled impishly. “Can’t you tell I’m me, Farley?”

  “Yep, I knowed it was you, I just wanted to see if you knowed who you was.” He gave her a tight hug and then stood back. “I declare, you are both the same.”

  Sky Dancer shook her head in confusion. “I…did not know we were so alike.” She had dreaded this meeting with her worldly and sophisticated cousin, but she saw only joy and acceptance in the young girl’s eyes.

  “Papa, how can you be so cruel as to separate me and my cousin now that we have only become acquainted? I declare I will cause a scene if you don’t allow us to spend this summer together.” Danielle’s eyes sparkled mischievously as she winked at Sky Dancer. “What fun we could have fooling all my friends in Philadelphia.”

  Before Sky Dancer could voice her opinion, she was enfolded in the arms of her Aunt Alexandria. The tiny woman stood inches shorter than Sky Dancer and had the strangest golden-colored eyes. Alexandria’s mink-colored hair was pulled back in a bun at the nape of her neck, and Sky Dancer thought that her aunt had a soft, subtle kind of beauty. She was immediately warmed by the older woman’s smile.

  “We are going to have such fun, my dear. There are so many things that we want to show you.”

  Suddenly some of Sky Dancer’s apprehension left her. She could feel this newfound love reach out to her.

  Joanna approached her niece and took her hand in hers. “Although I haven’t seen you since you were very young, please know that I love you. I am going to love having you for the whole summer. I will always remember when your mother died and I nursed you along with my own daughter. That gives us a special bond, don’t you think?”

  Her aunt’s words came as such a surprise that Danielle had no ready reply. She had often wondered what her Aunt Joanna would be like. She couldn’t understand what would cause a white woman who had been brought up in polite society to abandon her way of life to live with an Indian. “Your portrait which was painted when you were a young girl hangs on the wall in my father’s study. You were lovely then; you are beautiful now” was all Danielle could think to reply.

  Joanna smiled. “I thank you for the compliment. You cannot know how long I have looked forward to this summer. There are so many people who are anxious to meet you, not the least of whom is your Uncle Windhawk.”

  Danielle looked down at the toe of her satin slipper which was peeking out of the hem of her gown. She couldn’t meet the blue eyes that held so much love and understanding. She didn’t want to like this woman. Hadn’t she sworn that she would make everyone miserable for forcing her to spend four months with a tribe of savages?

  “If you have any influence with my father, I beg you to intercede on my behalf. I do not want to spend the summer with the Blackfoot. All I want to do is go home.”

  Joanna turned quickly and looked at her brother. She had expected Danielle to be apprehensive, but she hadn’t expected her to be defiant.

  “Danielle, I am warning you,” her father said, giving her a look that clearly told her he was angry with her. “Apologize at once to your Aunt Joanna!”

  Danielle raised her chin stubbornly. “I will apologize because you ordered me to, Papa, but I will not say I’m sorry, because I’m not. I want to go home.”

  Tag’s eyes sought his sister’s and she read the hopelessness there. “Danielle, you cannot possibly know how much you are loved by many of us in the Blackfoot tribe. Your grandmother, Sun Woman, marks the passing days off on a piece of buffalo robe. There are many who impatiently await your visit. We have planned many exciting adventures with which to entertain you,” Joanna said, watching the young girl’s eyes fill with anger, or perhaps it was apprehension.

  Danielle crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “I’m not in the least interested in what a bunch of Indians have planned for me. I was brought up to be white; I will not act like a savage!”

  Tag’s face showed the rage he was feeling. When he would have vented that anger on his daughter, Joanna silenced him with a glance. Taking Danielle by the shoulders, she turned her niece to face her. “You only say these things because you are frightened, Danielle. I understand what you are feeling because at one time I felt the same as you. Give yourself this chance to experience a whole new way of life.”

  Again it was hard for Danielle to look into her aunt’s eyes. She wanted to cry out her anguish because no one seemed to understand what she was feeling except her aunt. “I won’t go, and no one can make me!” she cried, throwing herself into Joanna’s arms.

  Joanna raised her niece’s face and stared into her eyes. “Danielle, you are forgetting one very important thing. You are the daughter of Morning Song, and as her daughter, you, in your own rights, are an Indian princess of a proud and noble family. It is your duty to act accordingly.’

  “I…am a real princess?” Danielle asked in shocked surprise. “No one has ever told me this before.”

  “I can assure you it is the truth,” her father concurred. We have never mentioned it to you because, as you know, we had to keep your identity a secret. We wanted you to lead a normal life, which wouldn’t have been allowed had the neighbors known that you were half Indian.”

  Danielle was thoughtful for a moment as she looked at Sky Dancer. They were both half white and half Indian, yet her cousin didn’t look or act like a savage. Perhaps she had been wrong in not wanting to visit her mother’s people. If she were a princess, would she be treated like royalty? “I will go with you, Aunt Joanna,” she said reflectively. “But only because I am forced to. I am unimpressed with the title of Indian princess.”

  Joanna saw the anguish on her brother’s face as he sent her a grateful glance. She realized that Danielle had a long way to go before she would be able to come to terms with who she was. The way would be a difficult one, but she was determined to help guide this girl in finding true happiness. She owed it to her brother and to Danielle’s dea
d mother, Morning Song.

  Tag held his arm out to Sky Dancer and gave her a bright smile. “Let us proceed to the dining room. I will have the distinction of escorting the four loveliest ladies who ever stepped foot in this town. St. Louis will never see the likes of you again.”

  Alexandria took Joanna’s arm and gave her a woebegone look. They both knew that they were tampering with nature to transplant two young girls into a world they didn’t belong.

  “Danielle will come around, Alex. She just needs time to grow up.”

  “I will take the greatest care of Sky Dancer, Joanna. She is so sweet and lovely. I wish Danielle could be more like…” She shrugged her shoulders. “I just hope we haven’t made a mistake.”

  “Me too,” Joanna agreed. “Me too.”

  That night the two girls went into Danielle’s room while their parents visited in Tag’s and Alexandria’s room. They were sitting in the middle of the bed getting better acquainted. Danielle reached out and touched her look-alike’s face. “We really could pass for twins, you know. I bet if we put our minds to it, we could fool almost anyone.”

  Sky Dancer removed the ribbon from her hair and tied it about Danielle’s head so it resembled an Indian headband. “Yes, I believe you are right. It is truly a wonder, is it not?”

  Danielle’s face became thoughtful and secretive. “I have an idea, Sky Dancer,” she said, smiling mischievously. “Tomorrow we are supposed to spend the day with your father. My father said it had all been arranged this morning. What if…” She giggled and stood up, dancing around the room, causing her gown to swirl out about her. “What if you pretended to be me, and I pretended to be you?”

  Sky Dancer scooted off the bed and caught her cousin’s hand. “It might be fun—do you think we could get by with it?”

  “Let me see now…” Danielle began thoughtfully. “Your voice doesn’t sound like mine. You speak English with an accent. Do you think you can talk like me?”

  “Do you think you can talk like me?” Sky Dancer mimicked her cousin perfectly.

  “That’s it, you did it!”

  “Now, listen to this. Tomorrow I will dress in one of your gowns, and you will wear mine. I will wear my hair straight like yours, and we’ll put yours up on your head.”

  “Wouldn’t it be something if we could fool them well enough so I wouldn’t have to go to Philadelphia, and you wouldn’t have to go to my village,” Sky Dancer said, giggling delightedly.

  Danielle’s eyes narrowed. “Who knows, if we are very clever we might just pull it off. Would you be willing to do that?”

  “No, I would never try to trick my mother and father in that way, Danielle. It would be fun for a while, but not for what you are suggesting.”

  “I thought Indians were supposed to be devious and sly,” Danielle said in a haughty voice.

  “I had heard that white men often say things that are not true,” Sky Dancer replied in an angry voice.

  Both girls glared at each other until at last Danielle’s face eased into a grin. “You know what—I think I like you. All right, we will just try to fool them for tomorrow.”

  Sky Dancer was slower to get over her anger than Danielle. She didn’t like the things her cousin had said about the Indians. “I am not so sure I like you at all,” she admitted.

  Danielle, who was always a tease, made a face at Sky Dancer. “How can you not like your twin. Come on, let’s plan what we are going to do tomorrow.”

  Slowly Sky Dancer’s temper cooled. No one could stay mad at Danielle for very long.

  From across the hall Tag heard Sky Dancer and Danielle’s laughter. “I knew the girls would get along once they got to know one another. It’s a shame that they haven’t known each other over the years.”

  “Well they won’t get to know each other this year,” Alexandria stated. “How can they, when they will each go their separate ways?”

  “I believe they will always remember this summer,” Joanna predicted. “Let us hope they will look back on this year with fond memories.”

  Sky Dancer was aware that she was dreaming and yet it seemed so real. She stood alone overlooking a strange and wondrous garden. There was a sweet aroma in the air, and she knew it came from the many flowers in bloom. Turning her face up to the moon, she felt a loneliness in the very depths of her being.

  If it were only a dream why did she feel so alive? She knew something extraordinary was about to happen. Glancing down, she found herself dressed in a lovely shimmering gown of the white woman…

  A voice she didn’t recognize spoke from out of the shadows. “I wonder what you were wishing for just now? A new gown, perhaps, or maybe a new bonnet?”

  Sky Dancer slowly turned to face the stranger. He was a head taller than she was and wore the blue uniform of a Cavalry officer—he was a white man! She couldn’t see his features very well since they were cast in shadows, but his eyes seemed to sparkle with mirth.

  “I do not know you, sir,” she heard herself saying.

  He reached out and captured her hand, stilling her movement. She looked into laughing silver-gray eyes. Those eyes gleamed as he gathered her in his arms. She felt his nearness like a pain in her heart. Who was this man who controlled her dreams.

  Sky Dancer wanted to leave—wanted to wake up—but she seemed hypnotized by the deep chord in his voice and the way he was looking at her. Since she had never been kissed by a man—no Blackfoot brave would ever have dared touch her—she didn’t suspect his intention until it was too late.

  When their lips met, her mouth trembled beneath his. She was bewildered by the touch of this man’s lips on hers. A warmth seemed to surround her heart, and it frightened her so much that she pulled away from him.

  Placing her hand to her lips, she looked at him quizzically. What should she do? Surely it was wrong to allow a strange man to kiss her. “My father will kill you for this,” she said, voicing the first thought that came to mind.

  He laughed. “Surely not for just one stolen kiss.” The mocking laughter danced in his eyes.

  Sky Dancer knew she should leave but he seemed to hold her prisoner with his strange silver eyes. She also realized she was still dreaming and didn’t want to wake up. She wanted to stay in this dreamworld with her silver-eyed lover.

  Her face was flushed, and she placed her hand to her lips. She hadn’t known it could be so pleasant to be kissed by a man. The blue uniform fit his broad shoulders and six-foot frame to perfection. His features were bold and handsome. His hair and sideburns were golden in color. His most disturbing feature was his silver-colored eyes. They reminded Sky Dancer of the color of a frozen pond, except there was warmth and humor in his glance.

  What was his name? she wondered. Why was she dreaming about him? No, surely it was more than a dream—it was a vision—perhaps a prediction of things to come!

  She found herself reaching out to him, but a swirling shadow world had already enveloped him in its darkness. She cried out to him to take her hand and hold her in this shadow land, but already she could feel herself waking.

  Her eyes opened and she focused them on the ceiling of the hotel room. She felt strangely empty and bewildered. Had the dream been a glimpse into the future, or merely a nightmare? She didn’t know. She was fully awake—the dream was gone. Shaking her head she tried to clear it. Still sleep-drugged she tried to remember what she had dreamed but couldn’t—it was lost, gone.

  The dream had left her drained. Trying to fall asleep, she wanted to recapture the fleeting vision, but couldn’t. It was almost daylight when she again closed her eyes in sleep. Even then the dream did not return…

  Chapter Three

  Sky Dancer waited until her mother had gone across the hall to her uncle’s room, then she dashed down the hallway into Danielle’s room. Her arms were laden with a gown, slippers, and undergarments.

  “Hurry, Sky Dancer, we don’t have much time,” Danielle breathed. “Someone might come in and catch us in the act of trading clothing.”r />
  Both girls quickly changed into each other’s gowns and shoes. Danielle sat Sky Dancer down on the bed and arranged her hair on top of her head, with one long trailing curl hanging over her shoulder. They then stood back and surveyed each other.

  “Yes, it will work if you can remember to talk like me,” Danielle said with mischief dancing in her eyes. “You talk so proper, Sky Dancer. Try to drop your accent and remember to say can’t instead of cannot, and don’t instead of do not.”

  “I’ll try to remember. What do we do next?”

  “Here’s where the true test comes in. You go to my father’s room, and I’ll go to your room and wait for your mother.”

  “I am very nervous, Danielle.”

  “No, say, ‘I’m very nervous,’” Danielle corrected.

  “I’ll try to remember,” Sky Dancer said, feeling the excitement building up inside her.

  “Hurry, before someone comes! Let’s see how long we can fool everyone,” Danielle urged.

  “No, say, ‘Let us see how long we can fool everyone,’” Sky Dancer said, giggling.

  Danielle shoved Sky Dancer toward the door. “Go on, you little imp—but be careful.”

  Sky Dancer moved quickly down the hall. When she neared her uncle’s room, the door opened and her mother stepped out into the hall.

  “Hello, Aunt Joanna.” She held her breath wondering if her mother would discover the deception, and hoping she had correctly imitated Danielle’s voice.

  “Good morning, Danielle. Are you excited about the picnic?”

  “Yes,” Sky Dancer said, brushing past her mother and entering the room before she doubled over in a fit of laughter. This was going to be fun, she thought.

  “Good morning, dear,” Alexandria said, planting a quick kiss on her forehead. “I was going to come to your room and help you with your hair, but I see you have done it yourself.”