Authors: Cassie Edwards
That is happiness; to be
Dissolved into something
Complete and great.
—Willa Cather
Dusk was falling upon Mystic Island, painting orange across the treetops as the sunset glowed along the western horizon.
The usual huge outdoor fire that was lit each evening in the Wind Clan’s village burned brightly into the heavens. It had
been built to keep night creatures from stalking the sleeping Seminole.
Wolf Dancer had stepped from his home just in time to see Running Bear and Deer Shadow return from their outing.
He knew their mother had become alarmed that they had not yet returned home, and Wolf Dancer was also concerned for them.
He had seen their mother, Moon Beam, step from her hut more than once to look toward the spot where the Wind Clan’s pirogues
were always beached.
For most of the day, Moon Beam had been busy in the communal garden and had not seemed to notice her children’s lengthy absence.
But when she had returned home and they stillwere not there, Wolf Dancer knew she was concerned, as was he. The swamp held
much danger in its midst. Two young braves could disappear within it and never be found.
Moon Beam rushed outside and embraced both of her sons at the same time, clutching them near to her heart.
Wolf Dancer went to them just as the young braves’ mother asked her sons where they had been for so long. They had done this
more than once of late, she scolded.
When neither boy seemed ready to explain their strange behavior, Wolf Dancer placed a hand on each child’s shoulder.
“Give your mother an answer,” Wolf Dancer said, frowning from one brave to the other as the moon slid slowly up into the sky.
At this moment he was taking on the duty of their father, who was no longer with them due to a lethal snakebite one moon ago.
The huge outdoor fire now cast a soft glow over the village. The smell of the food that had been cooked over the lodge fires
was fading. The evening meal had long since passed, without the two young braves to participate in it. That alone had been
cause for alarm, for they always were home for the evening meal.
Running Bear hung his head to avoid eye contact with his chief and his mother, as did Deer Shadow.
But though they would not meet Wolf Dancer’s eyes, they knew they must reveal where they had been, and why.
Deer Shadow jerked his head up and gazed with wavering eyes at his chief’s. “We meant no harm,” he stammered. “It was something
that seemed full of adventure and fun while we were putting our plan together. Since our father’s death, everything has been
so…so—”
“Tell me what you did,” Wolf Dancer said tightly, interrupting Deer Shadow. “Now. And stop stammering like someone who does
not know the skills of speaking. What have you braves done that makes you look and act so guilty? Is it something that will
bring danger to our village?”
Almost in the same breath, Running Bear and Deer Shadow blurted out the truth. As they spoke, many of their friends and neighbors
were coming from their homes to see what had caused their chief’s voice to rise above its usual level.
“We know now that we should not have done it,” Running Bear said, swallowing hard. “And we never meant to harm the girl, just
to talk with her and share our customs with her. We were going to let her return to her home tomorrow.”
“Do you mean you left this defenseless girl alone in your…your…tree house tonight?” Moon Beam gasped, her voice
trembling with emotion. The white panther stalks the Everglades both day and night, as well as many other things that could
…more than likely will…harm the poor child.”
“I will not take the time to hear any more of your excuses about what you have wrongly done,” Wolf Dancer said harshly. “Take
me to her. Immediately!”
After having heard their description of the young girl, Wolf Dancer had no doubt who she was. He knew she must be the daughter
of the woman who intrigued him so, for he had seen the child with her.
He could only imagine what was going on in this mother’s mind…a crazed sort of grief over the unexplained disappearance
of a beloved child.
He had to make this right for her. He only prayed he wasn’t too late. It would take only one snakebite to end the girl’s life.
And if that happened, he knew the child’s mother would be inconsolable. She might even bring the soldiers from Fort James
into his village, resulting in all of Wolf Dancer’s people being removed to the reservation where so many other Seminole people
now lived.
If he had to live there, penned up like an animal, everything within him—hope, trust, happiness—would die. His life would
end as surely as if he had been shot by a poisoned arrow.
His people might pay dearly for the misguided acts of these two young braves.
“Take me to her,” Wolf Dancer said, ready to leave. He stopped abruptly when he saw Joshua standing outside the hut that had
been assigned to him, a home for as long as the black man wanted it.
Wolf Dancer hurried over to Joshua. He quickly explained to him what had happened.
He saw immediate fear in Joshua’s eyes.
“Will you come with me?” Wolf Dancer asked, knowing that the black man was well enough now to accompany him. “The girl who
has been wronged is one you know very well. It would be good if you were there to assure her that she is no longer in danger,
that the two young braves who wronged her did so only out of curiosity, and that they acted without the knowledge of the Wind
Clan as a whole.”
Wolf Dancer hoped that Joshua would see the need of his being there when they found the wronged girl. He hoped Joshua could
help calm her. “Yessuh, I’ll go with you,” Joshua said.
He was now dressed far differently than he had ever before been dressed. He was no longer in raggedy clothes that the white
owners of the plantation gave him. He wore the same type of buckskin as all the other men in the Seminole village.
He especially enjoyed wearing the tunic that had been made from Spanish moss. He liked the feel of it against his dark, smooth
skin.
He also had exchanged his worn-out shoes for moccasins.
He now felt more Indian than black. And he felt special. He had a true friend now, and that friend was a powerful Seminole
chief.
Joshua was the only man that Wolf Dancer asked to accompany him.
The two men, along with Running Bear and Deer Shadow, hurried to the beached pirogues while everyone else stayed behind, whispering
about whytwo of their young braves would do something so foolhardy.
Moon Beam stood away from them all, ashamed.
At the tree house, beneath the flickering light of the one torch attached to the wall, Dorey was finally able to slide free
of the thongs at her wrists, then quickly untie those at her ankles.
Full darkness had come, making the Everglades pitch-black and frightening.
Everywhere outside the tree house, Dorey could now hear the night sounds of the swamp, but she was not able to identify any
of them.
“No matter how afraid I am, I must find my way home,” Dorey whispered to herself.
Her heart pounded at the very thought of leaving what safety she might have high above the water and land, in the tree house
the two Indian braves had erected.
“Why would they do this?” Dorey said, this time out loud. She was glad to hear her own voice in the darkness. Strange how
that made her feel not so alone!
No matter why the boys had done this, Dorey knew she must find her way home. She didn’t want to be in this tree house when
the braves returned.
She’d show them a thing or two about abducting a white girl!
Perhaps they thought a girl her age would be easily kept at their tree house. She would prove them wrong.
Her knees trembling and weak, she grabbed thetorch and threw aside the netting that had at least kept the mosquitoes at bay.
Then, stumbling on the hem of her dress, she made her way slowly down the steps that led from the tree house.
Finally she was back on the ground.
But suddenly she realized that in the darkness she was quite disoriented. She had no idea which way to go.
Now that she was looking at the shine of the water, where traces of moonglow crept through the leaves of the trees overhead,
she saw that at this particular place, the avenues of water led in many different directions.
She had no idea which way to go in order to get home.
And she had no canoe to travel in.
Carrying the torch, she walked on whatever dry land she could find.
She saw eyes in the dark shadows of the trees. She feared she would not last long, out there in the swamp all alone.
Then she screamed as she slid unexpectedly into the water. The grasses of the marsh rose above her head while muck sucked
at her feet.
After much scrambling, she was finally able to get back on dry land, although her shoes were soaked and felt strangely heavy
on her feet as mud pulled at them with each step she took.
She winced and covered a scream behind a hand when she saw a group of strange lights rising into the air. By, the flickering
light of the torch, which she had miraculously been able to hold on to whenshe slid into the water, revealed to her that what
she had seen was only a swarm of mosquitoes.
Sighing, fighting off despair as well as mounting fear, Dorey stumbled onward, the skirt of her wet dress tangling around
her legs, threatening to trip her again.
But she still managed to travel onward until she stumbled over something.
The torch revealed that it was her own canoe!
Before the young braves had gone home, they must have found her canoe. They had taken the time to partially hide it by burying
it partway in the sand.
She thrust the handle of the torch into the sand, and, breathing hard, her heart pounding in her chest from both the effort
and excitement of having found her canoe, she finally managed to uncover it. She slid it into the water, glad that her paddle
was still inside. Unfortunately, she still didn’t know which way to go.
She tied the torch to the front end of the canoe, where it gave off enough light for her to begin paddling through the water.
She chose one of the three avenues of travel, hoping it would lead her back to the river.
She trembled as she traveled onward beneath trees where she could see snakes wrapped and coiled around the limbs. She was
terrified that one would fall down on her at any moment.
Then she felt faint when she heard the sudden rush of movement as an animal leapt from a tree, a streak of black. She recognized
a panther’s shrillscreech and was glad when she finally saw it slink off away from her canoe.
Relieved that it was no longer a threat, yet unsure of other dangers that might be lurking nearby, Dorey whispered a prayer
to her dead father, asking him to somehow protect and help her.
Man is the only animal that blushes,
Or needs to—
—Mark Twain
—Ernest Dowson
Ma’am, wake up,” Twila said, feeling that she had already waited too long to come and tell her mistress the news about Dorey.
“It’s Dorey. She ain’t come home and it’s dark outside.”
Those words awakened Lavinia with a start and caused a knot of fear in the pit of her stomach.
She gazed up at Twila, who held a candleholder with a lone candle in it, its flame flickering.
“She’s not home yet?” Lavinia said, her voice full of fear.
Lavinia looked quickly at the windows beside her bed. She had opened the shutters early in the morning and had not closed
them, which she didn’t usually do until late evening.
When she saw how dark it was outside, she threw her blanket back, stood up, and scurried around the room, dressing in clothes
she had discarded in order to rest more comfortably.
She had discovered of late that pretending to be ill and bed-ridden actually made her feel ill. Gettingno exercise, and not
going outside for fresh air, did that to her.
She was used to being out-of-doors for the better part of the day, supervising the staff or working in her garden. When her
husband had been alive, he and Dorey joined her in the early evening, first to eat at the dining table and then to sit on
the verandah in summer or beside a fire in winter.
Lavinia always loved the stories that her husband made up to tell Dorey when their daughter was smaller. After Dorey outgrew
storytelling, they all played board games. Dorey was usually the victor, or thought she was.
Lavinia and Virgil had become practiced at pretending to lose, even though they both had begun to realize that wasn’t a good
thing for their daughter.
She needed true competition in order to get along in life with others.
When Virgil had first won a board game against Dorey, the child had been immensely disappointed, but then had begun to enjoy
the competition more if she lost now and then.
Genuine competition made her want to play more often in order to show her parents that she could win without their giving
the victory to her.
Yes, Dorey had been clever enough to figure out what they were doing long before they realized she was on to them.
“And now she might be lost in the swamps?” Lavinia said, her voice breaking with emotion as she slid the tail end of her long-sleeved
white blouse into her skirt.
Lavinia would no longer hide away in her bedroom. Look where it had gotten her!
Flinging her golden hair over her shoulders, she went to the table beside her bed and pulled out the drawer. She grabbed up
her tiny, pearl-handled pistol, loaded it, then thrust it into the pocket of her skirt.
Now she needed her sheathed knife. She had to be protected in as many ways as possible since she would surely have to go into
the dangerous waters of the Everglades.
She opened another drawer and removed her knife, securing it at the left side of her skirt.
“Let’s go, Twila,” she said, hurrying to the door. Twila joined her as she left the room and ran to the staircase.
Lavinia was afraid that they might run into Hiram at any moment, but the house was quiet, although well lit by candles in
wall sconces and beautiful crystal chandeliers.
“Where’s Hiram?” Lavinia asked as Twila ran down the stairs beside her.
“He ain’t come home yet,” Twila said breathlessly as the foot of the winding staircase was finally reached. “I heard him mention
Fort James to his overseer. That might be where he is.”
“Well, it truly doesn’t matter,” Lavinia said, hurrying on to the front door. Just as she grabbed the doorknob, she stopped
and gazed intently at Twila. “Why on earth didn’t you come sooner to awaken me? You knew when Dorey was expected home. When
that sun started setting, you should have comeand told me she hadn’t returned yet from her canoeing. Lordy be, Twila, she
should have been home long ago. She knows the dangers of the Everglades. And so do you.”
“I’se sorry, ma’am,” Twila said, lowering her eyes. “Then why didn’t you come and awaken me sooner?” Lavinia asked, opening
the door and peering out into the ghostly night.
“I was afraid to,” Twila said, swallowing hard. “Massa Hiram would say it wasn’t my place to come and tell you anything, and
I didn’t want to be whipped by Massa Hiram’s whip. You knows he uses it when he gets de chance.”
Lavinia turned to Twila and placed her hands on the child’s frail shoulders. “Listen to me, Twila,” she said flatly. “Now
that my husband is gone, I’m in charge. I…I…just seem to have forgotten that I was. I never should have hidden
away in my room like a scared kitten. I shall no longer do that. And just let Hiram try something with you, or me, or Dorey.
I’ll shoot him.”
She turned and looked past Twila at the gun case hanging in the hall.
She hurried and opened the case, grabbed a rifle, loaded it, then went back to the door and opened it again.
“You come with me, Twila,” she said. “You shall hold a lantern in the canoe as I paddle. We’re going to search for Dorey.”
“Me?” Twila said, wide-eyed. “I ain’t nevah been in a canoe before.”
“You won’t be able to say that after tonight,because you are going with me,” Lavinia said. She determinedly took Twila by
a hand and hurried with her out into the dark. “I need you to hold the lantern while we search for Dorey. I won’t return home
without her.”
They ran to the stable that sat back from the house and hurried inside.
Lavinia snatched up one of the lanterns that the stable boy had lit for Hiram’s return and ran with it down to the river,
followed by Twila.
Soon they were traveling down the dark channel of water, Twila in the front, lighting the way with the lantern. The light
revealed that her whole body was trembling with fear.
“You will be much safer with me, Twila, than at the plantation,” Lavinia said to reassure the child.
Lavinia silently paddled down the cooling stretch of water that seemed to go on endlessly before her. Her eyes searched constantly
through the darkness, and she shuddered as the canoe entered the Everglades.
When she heard the screech of a panther somewhere deep in the thickness of the trees, Lavinia fought off debilitating fear.
She knew that more than one panther roamed this swampy land.
Lavinia did not fear the mysterious white panther. But there were other panthers out there, black ones that would not hesitate
to pounce on her and Twila.
“Twila, keep that light high enough to penetrate the foliage alongside the water,” Lavinia said, not missing a stroke with
the paddle.
The rifle was close by, resting against the inside of the canoe, ready to fire, if needed.
“We’ve got to find Dorey,” Lavinia went on. “We must!”
“I feel so guilty for havin’ put off tellin’ you that Dorey didn’t come home when she should have,” Twila said, tears spilling
from her eyes and half blinding her. “But I am so afraid of Massa Hiram. I’m just waitin’ for him to run me off your home
now that my pappy is gone. You knows how he must hate me bein’ there.”
“Just remember that I also have a say in the matter,” Lavinia said, again thrust back in time to the moment when she saw Hiram
carrying Virgil in his arms.
Somehow it still did not seem real…that Virgil was gone from her life.
Heaven forbid if she were to lose her precious Dorey, too!