Candace McCarthy Read Online Free Page A

of a blacksmith.”
    “Thank you,” Amelia said. “I’m sure we’ll be happy here.” Over my dead body will I go to that iron-hearted Trahern man for help!
    It was evening, and Daniel was done at the forge for the day. He had cooked supper and cleaned up the dishes.This next hour would be his favorite time with Susie before he tucked her in bed for the night. It was their special time together, when Susie would sit on his lap and he would tell her stories. In the summer, they’d sit outside under a starry sky, and in the winter, before the fireplace in the main room of the cabin.
    “Pa?” a soft voice called.
    Daniel glanced toward a bedroom doorway and saw seven-year-old Susie. He smiled. “All ready for a story?” She beamed as she nodded. “Which one shall it be?”
    “Tell me about Black Hawk’s great bear hunt.”
    “Shall we sit outside or in?”
    “Inside,” she said.
    He pulled a chair out from under the dining table. Once seated, Daniel patted his lap, and Susie climbed up and made herself comfortable within his arms.
    “As you probably remembered, Black Hawk was just a boy when he went on his first hunt …” In a deep voice, Daniel told the tale of how his Ojibwa friend had killed his first bear, a great beast that stood up on its hind legs and roared when Black Hawk shot an arrow into the animal’s hindquarter.
    “And there began the chase. Black Hawk had gotten separated from the rest of his hunting party …” Daniel went on to describe how the angry bear had chased the young brave, until Black Hawk had found a hiding place where he could prepare his bow and arrow for his next shot. “Then, he left his hiding place to face the bear. While the bear roared at him, Black Hawk shot another arrow. This time he hit the bear’s neck.” Daniel saw Susie’s rapt expression and smiled. “You like hearing about Black Hawk, don’t you?”
    She nodded. “I like Black Hawk. He’s always nice to me.”
    Daniel smiled. “Because he’s your friend.”
    “Tell me what happens next,” Susie urged.
    Daniel went on to finish the story, which ended in Black Hawk’s great victory over the bear. He explained how the people of Black Hawk’s village had called the brave a true warrior. “Because of his bravery, Black Hawk was deemed a man, and everyone within the village came to respect him.”
    As he described the celebration in the Ojibwa village, he saw Susie’s head nod. He continued the telling in soft tones. When he saw that she was sleeping, he ended the tale and stood with the little girl in his arms.
    He put her to bed in the back bedroom, covering her with a blanket which he tucked tightly around her. Then he studied her with a tender smile for several minutes before leaving. She was seven, four years older than she’d been when Jane was kidnapped. He was pleased to note that Susie was finally past having nightmares. She had become more open and loving as the horror of what she’d seen on that terrible day faded with the passing of time.
    As he stared down at Susie, he saw how much she resembled her mother. She had Jane’s blond hair and fair skin. She had Jane’s blue eyes and her smile.
    Susie was Daniel’s niece, not his daughter, but he had no objection to the child calling him “Pa.” He was more like a father than her own had ever been. Susie’s father hadn’t been present at, or even nearby, his daughter’s birth. In fact, the man had come home only twice during the first three years of Susie’s life. An officer in the US Army, Daniel’s brother-in-law had given little thought to his wife and child. It had been Daniel who had been Jane’s rock when she needed one, staying near all through Jane’s delivery of Susie.
    After the death of his wife, Pamela, Daniel had givenup his home and gone to live with his pregnant sister, where he’d remained until the day the Indians had attacked. Finding Susie alive beneath Jane’s bed had been a godsend, but Daniel still hadn’t