Grace and the Guiltless

Chapter 10

When Joe came to get Grace a little while later, his eyebrows rose at the sight of her buckskin top and skirt.

“You look . . . different,” he said.

Grace chuckled at his expression. “I look clean.”

“Uh, Sequoyah sent me to get you,” Joe said. “Everyone is ready to eat. Come join us.”

She shook her head. “I’ve taken too much from the Ndeh already.”

“Grace, you need to eat. It will help keep up your strength.”

“I do not want everyone staring at me.”

“It’s just because you’re a novelty with your hair.” The way his eyes traveled over its now-shining ripples gave Grace the impression it attracted him as well. “And your skin is so soft and white.”

Now she was even more embarrassed. She shook her head again, but Joe was having none of it.

“It’s rude to decline an invitation to eat. You will offend those who have been kind to you.”

She couldn’t do that. Reluctantly, she followed Joe from her new kuugh’a to where everyone was assembled. The scent of roasting meat wafted from the fire, and Grace inhaled it deeply. After so many days of being ill, her stomach longed for a taste, and the flatbread that many of the children were nibbling looked delicious.

“Come.” Joe led her over to Sequoyah’s side.

The girl smiled and gestured for Grace to help herself. In addition to the meat and bread, painted gourds and pottery bowls were heaped with chokecherries and wild plums. Everything looked delicious.

The younger children stopped eating and stared at Grace. Self-conscious, she smoothed down her hair and waited until they all got absorbed in eating again before she tasted the foods on the table.

She wasn’t well or strong enough to eat much, but she appreciated every bite.

As she ate, she leaned closer to Sequoyah. “Thank you so much for the clothes.”

“You look pretty,” Sequoyah said. “Joe likes them, I think.”

“I don’t know . . .”

Sequoyah’s teasing grin indicated that she didn’t believe her.

A few minutes later, Joe came over and sat beside Grace, helping to translate the conversation around the table. Every time he leaned close to talk to her, a young man with a badly scarred chest scowled at him.

Grace elbowed Joe. “That man over there seems angry with you.”

“Mmhmm.” Joe kept his voice low. “That’s Tarak. Cheis adopted him soon after he adopted me, so we’re blood brothers. I think he’s upset because I said that I plan to train you to be a warrior.”

A warrior? Was that how Joe saw her? Grace smiled and sat up straighter, trying to look more warrior-like. “I’m sorry I’ve caused trouble between you and your brother. But I do want to learn the Ndeh ways, and if you’re really willing to teach me, that would be much appreciated.”

“Well, that’s not the only thing that’s upsetting him.” He frowned, tore off a chunk of the flat round bread he called chigustei, and dipped it into his soup.

But before Grace could get up the courage to ask him what he meant, the meal ended.

After they had finished eating, the men gathered in a circle with a long pipe Joe called a calumet. A peace pipe. Feathers dangled from it along with tufts of horsehair and animal fur.