After Ever After

Chapter Fifteen

Virginia Park

Sunday Morning

John Smith yawned for the third time in twenty minutes. He and the rest of the crew were sitting around on half-way built homes, idling watching as Ratcliff argued with one of the city officials. Not that he really cared about that though; his mind was too preoccupied with the girl he had met a few days ago. He had offended her badly and wanted to apologize, but also...he just really wanted to see her again.

Seeing as the conversation between the two men was going to last awhile, John took it as an opportunity to sneak away for a bit. He dropped his shovel onto the ground and turned in the direction of the river. "I'm going on break," he uttered to one of the guys. He followed the dirt trail down to the wide stretch of water, kneeled down and splashed some water on his face. He was taken aback by how fresh it was, no traces of salt and very little dirt. He sat back on the grass and really admired the park for the first time. It was quite beautiful.

"Admiring the view?" a voice from behind him startled him half to death. He whipped around and saw Pocahontas coming from behind a tree. What is it with this girl and trees?

"Hi," he said with a smile.

"Hey," Pocahontas settled down next to him, crisscross-applesauce style. "You're not destroying the park today?"

John chuckled. "No. Apparently, there's a petition going around for the demolition to be canceled."

"Not surprised. We uncivilized people are very territorial about our land."

John rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, about what I said...I sincerely apologize. What I said was ignorant...and misinformed," he half-smiled at her. "I'm very sorry."

Pocahontas was taken aback by his apology. "Oh, um...yeah, no problem."

John gave a nod of his head, then turned his attention back to the water. "You know, we mean no harm when we do these projects," he started, "our goal is to improve the lifestyles of others. There's no reason to be angry."

"There is if you don't ask. You can't just walk into someone else's territory and claim it as yours. You don't own every piece of land you land on. Just because we don't live in big fancy houses doesn't mean we need help."

"I guess we never considered that. We figured we weren't doing anything wrong if we were helping people, but I guess we weren't helping at all, were we?" John looked at her, a curious look on his face. "You seem to know a lot about this park, it must mean a lot to you."

"Not just me. All of us. This park is full of our ancestors' history, so many things happened on this land...it's a piece of our pride."

John watched her as the wind blew strands of her hair around her face, her angular cheekbones, her glowing copper skin. "Teach me."

"What?"

"Teach me, about your ancestry. I want to know why this place is so sacred."

Again, Pocahontas was surprised as his strange request. "Um, okay," she motioned her hands to the river in front of them. "This is the Quiyoughcohannock River, which is connected to the Chechomony River."

"Qui...what?"

"Quiyoughcohannock. You get used to the language." Pocahontas stood up, nudging John's back with her foot.

"Come on, I'll give you the grand tour."

John Smith walked beside her, following her into a dirt trail outlined by pine trees. He breathed in the fresh, earthy scent and admired the way the sun's light illuminated the trees. He halted when he saw a deer and its fawn. He started to reach for his pistol, so conveniently tucked into the pack of his pants, when Pocahontas grabbed his wrist.