Savage Summer Read Online Free

was called affectionately by the Blackfoot tribe. She was so lovely that Sky Dancer could easily see how her father had chosen her as his one and only wife. Many of the Blackfoot warriors had several wives, but her father wanted no one but his Flaming Hair.
    The young Indian maiden always liked to hear her mother tell about how she had met and fallen in love with Sky Dancer’s father. Flaming Hair’s white name had been Joanna James. Sometimes, when the family was alone, Sky Dancer’s father would still call her mother Joanna.
    “What a pretty picture you make nestled among the lovely wildflowers, Sky Dancer,” Joanna said, sitting down beside her daughter. She looked into the young girl’s blue eyes, catching a glimpse of sadness and uncertainty. Taking Sky Dancer’s hand in hers, Joanna squeezed it, and gave her daughter a reassuring smile.
    “There is no need to be disturbed by your visit to your Uncle Tag’s home. I promise that you will have a most enjoyable summer. Before you know it the time will pass and you will be back home.”
    Sky Dancer looked away from her mother and fixed her eyes on the distant horizon. “I am frightened of that which I do not understand. I do not think I will like the white world, my mother.”
    “Speak in English, Sky Dancer,” her mother urged gently. “Your English is very good, so you must not forget and speak in Blackfoot when you reach Philadelphia.”
    “Tell me again about Philadelphia. I have read many books and seen pictures of the town, but I cannot imagine what it will be like.”
    Joanna slipped her arm about her daughter’s shoulder, knowing what she was feeling. She would miss her, but she must think what was best for her daughter and take comfort in the fact that it would broaden her education.
    “I haven’t been back since I was seventeen, two years younger than you are now. I am sure it has changed a great deal since that time. We have talked on this before, and you will remember all that I have told you. You will be able to carry yourself well, because you have been taught the ways of the white man since you were small.”
    “Yes, but could I not go next year? I do not want to leave you and Father at this time. You have said there is unrest inthe white world. Would it not be better to go when the war is ended?”
    “Your father has said the rumor is that the war is growing to a close.”
    “Do you think I will make friends in Philadelphia, my mother?”
    Joanna knew many of the young warriors of the tribe had begun to show an interest in marrying Sky Dancer. So far her daughter had shown no preference for any of the warriors who had paid her marked attention. Joanna had decided long ago that her daughter would know both the white and Indian world before she made a decision to settle down to being a wife and mother.
    “I believe everyone you meet will love you, Sky Dancer. How could they not? You are a sweet, lovely young girl. You speak English as well, if not better, than most white people.” Joanna smiled. “You have a charming accent, I might add.”
    Suddenly Sky Dancer reached for her mother’s hand and held it to her cheek. “I have never understood why you were so insistent that I learn to speak the white man’s tongue. Nor do I know why I had to learn how to act like a proper white lady. Although I am half white, I feel like a full-blood Blackfoot.”
    Joanna looked into the blue eyes of her young daughter. There were many things she couldn’t tell her daughter. Sky Dancer was not like her friends. In many ways she was more white than Indian, though she didn’t know it yet. Joanna wanted her to be able to compare the two cultures, so she could decide where her future lay. Joanna hoped her daughter would choose the Indian world and return to her and Windhawk, but Sky Dancer had to be allowed to make that choice for herself.
    “Time has a way of passing, my daughter. If it is God’s will that you come back to your father and me, I will