Wild Embrace

Marilyn drew her gently into her arms and gave her a motherly hug. “Positive,” she murmured. “Absolutely positive.”

Maysie clung to Marilyn, her eyes filling with tears, grateful, yet afraid to totally trust again.

Chapter 14

How many days, thou dove,

Hast thou been mine?

—BARRY CORNWALL

It was late afternoon. The sun dipped low in the sky as the muffled beat of ceremonial drums filled the air. The burial rites for the Suquamish dead had just begun. The survivors of the massacre stood on a butte that rose high over the Duwamish River. The cremated remains of the many dead were in one large communal jar. Some would be tossed into the river; the rest would be spread across the land.

Attired in a fringed buckskin dress decorated with seashells that Many Stars had sweetly lent her, Elizabeth stood among the Indians, with Strong Heart’s sanction.

She had felt awkward until Many Stars had come to stand by her to give her moral support. Elizabeth gave Many Stars a grateful glance.

Elizabeth did not think that the lovely maiden was befriending her only because Strong Heart wanted her to. Many Stars sincerely seemed to care for her, even though Elizabeth was white-skinned, and red-haired, and quite different from anyone Many Stars had ever known.

Elizabeth gave Many Stars a warm smile. She was warmed through and through when Many Stars smiled generously back at her. At this moment, Elizabeth could feel that she belonged in this new world, in this new place with its foreign customs.

Chief Moon Elk was carried through the throng of people, his wife walking beside him, and carefully placed on a pallet of furs at the front of the assembly. Elizabeth could see Pretty Nose’s devotion to her husband as she made sure he was completely covered by the furs before settling down beside him.

Elizabeth swallowed hard as she stared at Chief Moon Elk’s wounded leg as he eased it from beneath the furs and stretched it out before him. His wound was covered with some sort of ointment that was green in color. Elizabeth hoped that it would heal quickly. At least then there would be one less burden that Strong Heart would have to carry.

When Strong Heart stepped before the crowd of silent people, Elizabeth melted inside at his noble appearance. A robe of sea otter pelts was hung from his broad shoulders. It did not hide the heavily beaded, fringed shirt that he wore beneath, nor the leg bands of shredded bark that were twisted about his fringed breeches.

When he began speaking from the heart to his people, his father and mother looked proudly up at their son. Elizabeth recalled what Strong Heart had told her just before the burial ceremony.

He had told her that today’s ceremony was not the usual kind for those who had died. Today there were too many dead to eulogize individually.

And since most of the deceased’s houses had been burned during the raid, it was impossible to perform a main part of the ceremony.

Strong Heart had explained that his people feared the ghosts of the dead, and their burial traditions reflected that fear as well as the sadness of losing a loved one. Normally, when a death occurred in the village, relatives would cut a special hole in wall of the house, and the body would be taken out through that hole so that no living person would travel the same route again. That would not be possible today, when so many of the dead had lost their homes as well as their lives to the fire.

Usually, the body, wrapped in a cedar bark mat, would be placed in a tree, out of the reach of animals. Relatives would reverently arrange their loved one’s possessions nearby. But today there were few possessions left, and all that remained of many of the bodies was ashes.

“Do you hear Strong Heart and what he says?” Many Stars whispered as she leaned closer to Elizabeth, her English quite proficient. The tribe had dealt with white men for many years. “He will one day make a great chief. I have known him since we were children together. Neither of us had brothers or sisters. I became his sister. He became my brother. I watched him as a boy. He outran, out swam, and out wrestled all of his playmates. He also spoke well before people. Even when he was only fifteen winters of age, he practiced the art of speaking well. Then many of his speeches were devoted to restraining our people and allies from declaring war on the settlers. Today he again speaks to his people, sad though it is that he must.”

Many Stars took Elizabeth by the hand. Elizabeth felt their bond of friendship strengthening. She squeezed Many Stars’s hand in response. Many Stars further encouraged, “Listen to this man whose heart you now hold within your soul. Listen well, and you then will see how lucky you are that he has chosen you to be his la-daila.”

Feeling so grateful for so much, and at the same time feeling sad for these people and their losses, Elizabeth could not stop tears from springing in her eyes. She gazed proudly at Strong Heart. His words, translated by Many Stars, touched her deeply. He was skilled at making it seem that he was speaking to each individually.

She had never seen this side of her beloved. She felt filled with more love than she ever thought possible.

She leaned forward and soaked up his every gesture. The ceremonial drum still beat softly somewhere behind her. Many Stars’s voice murmured in her ear.

“My people, the spirits of our dead have drifted onward, to the ‘Land of the Dead,’” Strong Heart was saying. “What remains here with us today are pure white ashes, the essence of the good in those who have gone on before us. I shall fling the ashes to the winds and the waters. I shall scatter them on the rocks, the pines, the ferns, the sands, and the wild flowers. Forevermore, they will blend with the things that we all love so well. Would we not all want the spring rains to bathe us? To awaken to the fragrance of the forest, to the call of the birds from out of the sky, and to the lapping lullaby of the river? Would we not want to experience forever the leap of the frog and fish in the stillness of the dawn?”

He paused and smiled from person to person, stopping longer at his parents. Then he shifted his eyes slowly to Elizabeth, causing her heart to lurch as she met his steady, loving gaze.

Then he continued his speech, still commanding complete silence from his people. “Our departed loved ones will still be warmed by the summer sun. Be as one to the joy of life and love, to the wonders of a canoe skimming between towering bluffs crowned with emerald and jade. They will still be able to experience the thrill of swimming in golden waters, surrounded by the trees and rock giants, and to know the serenity of twilight, and the infinite mysteries of night. It is with these thoughts that you watch as I scatter the ashes. Then your grief will be lifted to the sky, along with the spirits of those who have loved you while living.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened as she watched Strong Heart reach into the white ashes. She sucked in a wild breath of air as he released the ashes into the river. Then he began walking along the bluff, spreading the ashes onto blossoming wild flowers, along the granite rock, the green grass, and into a brook that flowed down the sides of the bluff.

When the ashes were all scattered, Elizabeth stood mute as everyone returned to their dwellings, except for Strong Heart. He removed his sea otter robe, and dove into the Duwamish River, looking like a graceful eagle as he soared through the air, splashing into the sparkling clear waters.

Preoccupied with watching Strong Heart swimming masterfully in the water, Elizabeth did not hear the soft footsteps behind her. When a hand touched hers, she turned with a start, then swallowed hard when she found Strong Heart’s mother standing there.