Savage Spring Read Online Free

seems to be getting into trouble. I think Windhawk is too indulgent with him at times.”
    “He is the son and the grandson of chiefs,” Sun Woman said with pride. “It is good for a child to be active—it means he will grow up to be a strong warrior.”
    “I suppose. But he does seem to get into trouble more often than most boys his age.”
    “I know you are referring to his jumping into the river two moons ago. There was no harm done, and he did prove to the others that he could stay under the icy water longer than they could.”
    “I have trouble finding as much pride in that accomplishment as you and Windhawk do, my mother. Little Hawk could easily have drowned.”
    Sun Woman laughed. “But he did not. Instead, he proved himself to be very brave and fearless at the age of only five winters.”
    Sun Woman noticed that her lovely daughter-in-law was frowning, and she knew Joanna was finding many of the ways in which the Blackfoot raised their children difficult to accept. “Let him go, my daughter. Allow him to run free with the other children. Coddle the new baby, but allow Little Hawk to find his own way.”
    Joanna sighed. “I will…I know I have a tendency to overprotect him, but give me time to accept the Blackfoot ways. They are very different from the way I was brought up, my mother.”
    Joanna walked over to the cradle and smiled down at her baby daughter, Sky Dancer, who was but two months old. “I believe it will be much easier to raise a daughter than it is a son, my mother.”
    “It is so Joanna. I myself find great joy in my granddaughter. She will be a comfort to me in my old age. Perhaps Morning Song will have a daughter also.”
    “You are not old, my mother. I myself cannot keep up with you.”
    Sun Woman stared at Joanna, who looked strangely out of place in the Indian lodge. She lent an elegance to the simple doeskin gown she wore. Sun Woman had watched her son, Windhawk, change from a man who sought happiness but was unable to find it to a truly happy man when he had taken Joanna as his wife. Windhawk was a loving husband and father because of this white woman whom the Blackfoot called Flaming Hair. Joanna was looked up to and revered by the women of the tribe, not only as the wife of the chief, but because she commanded and deserved their respect. No one could say that Joanna was unworthy of their chief.
    Joanna handed Sun Woman a warm drink of broth andsat down beside her. “It will not be very long until Tag and Morning Song’s baby will be born, my mother. I look forward to the birth.”
    Sun Woman nodded. “I will have three grandchildren before the full moon has passed. Both of my children are happy with their lives. What more can a woman ask for when she reaches my age?”
    Joanna patted the older woman’s hand. She loved Sun Woman and was proud that her love was returned. “Tag is so anxious for the child to be born. I believe he will be a very good father.”
    “This is so. I have not before spoken to you of the pride I have in your brother. He has made my daughter happy. You will know when Sky Dancer grows into a woman, that to see her happy will be a great joy to you.”
    Joanna smiled slightly. In the Blackfoot tribe, a woman was forbidden to speak directly to her son-in-law. Therefore, Sun Woman had never told Tag how much she admired him. “You know my brother would be glad if he could hear these words from you, my mother. Since he cannot, I will speak them for you.”
    Sun Woman squeezed Joanna’s hand. “I have two daughters and two sons. Although you and Tag are not children of my body, I love you as much as the two children who were born to me.”
    Before Joanna could answer, the lodge flap was thrown aside and Windhawk entered, carrying his son by the seat of his leather britches. Little Hawk giggled delightedly as his tall father plopped him down in his grandmother’s lap.
    “Do you know where I found your grandson?” he asked his mother.
    “How would I know?