Colton's Folly (Native American contemporary romance) Read Online Free Page B

different culture. She’s not one of us, and I’d prefer to see someone like Emma, here, teaching our kids, over some outsider, and a white outsider at that.” He perched on the windowsill and went silent.
    All eyes turned to Abby, and everyone waited as she took a moment before answering. “I won’t debate Mr. Tallman on Indian-American history.” She turned to him. “Except to say that the origin of my ancestors and the color of my skin are no indication of what I believe or don’t believe, what I do or don’t represent, or even if I represent anything at all.” She smiled at Emma Walker. “With apologies to Ms. Walker, who is, I am certain, fully capable of stepping in, I would like to discuss my ability, or lack of ability, to teach your children.
    “The children I taught were different, but not for the reason given by Mr. Tallman. Unlike your children, who are living outside the mainstream and are easier to protect, those children were leading two lives at the same time. I was drawn to them precisely because they wanted to learn how to live within the ‘system’ without becoming swallowed up by it. Contrary to what Mr. Tallman has said, while I was teaching them how to get along in the white man’s world, at home they were learning the red man’s way --the religion, the culture, the values of their grandfathers and grandmothers. We gave them the opportunity to choose between the two ways of life. Whenever those cultures conflicted, we tried to find ways to make them compatible. When we failed, the children chose the way that was more important to them, the set of values that fit the best. But no matter how they chose, at least they had choices.”
    She turned to face Cat again. “Despite any negative cultural or historical baggage you think I may be carrying, I can help your children just as I helped the others. I can help them understand the world outside this place and prepare them to make their way in it. I can show them that they, too, have choices. With help from your elders and leaders, we can ensure that the old ways are not lost to them, even if they leave here. And if they stay, it will be because they have chosen to do so, have chosen to make a contribution right here, not because they can’t make it in that other world. I don’t see what more you could ask of any teacher, white or red.”
    “You’re pretty free with that word ‘choice,’ aren’t you, Miss Colton? What would you know about not having any?”
    “I know all too well what it’s like, Mister Tallman. I know how it feels to be told, ‘Here is your place, and here you will stay,’ and to have no voice in the matter, or, what’s even worse, to feel that you have no right to a voice in the matter.”
    She swung back to face the others. “So if you’ll be patient, and if the children respond, and if you’ll then help in the ways I intend to ask, perhaps we can keep that from happening to them. We’ll give them a sense of their worth, restore their dreams and give them a shot at making those dreams come true.”
    She turned back to her opponent once more, so caught up in her need to state her case that she was oblivious to the expression of doubt that flickered briefly in his eyes.
    She sure knows the right words, he thought. But is there any understanding behind them? He shook his head. “That’s all we need --some damned do-gooder on a crusade.”
    Abby’s humor returned suddenly, and she smiled. “I’ve been looking for a way to describe this venture. Maybe I should call it ‘Colton’s Crusade.’ ”
    “ ‘Colton’s Folly’ is more like it.”
    She laughed. “That’s even better, and much more to the point. May I use it?”
    He inclined his head slightly. “You’re welcome to it.” He nodded to the others, and as suddenly as he’d entered, he left.
    Totally at a loss, Abby turned back to the people behind the table, unsure of how to react. Emma Walker gave her a clue when she smiled. “Believe it or