Unspoken Ch. 03

**Author's Note and Disclaimer: A fair amount of research went into developing this series. Historical records for the North Georgian Cherokee tribes' day-to-day life between 1720-1730 are spars, so I'm not claiming perfection. I wanted to explore what native life was like before European ideologies heavily influenced their culture. My goal was accuracy, but in the end, this story is fiction/fantasy and meant for entertainment. All the characters, their actions, and their values are from my imagination and do not directly represent modern or historical Cherokee values despite the similarities.**

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A New Family

Cabin life with Aimon Sky was blissful compared to my old life. My injured leg was healing fast, but I struggled to keep up with Sky's training regimen. You heard me correctly. Sky, my silent hero, was training me in every fighting and hunting technique he knew, and he knew a lot, thanks to the Cherokee. How is that blissful? Well, Sky constantly showered me with affection. He valued me like an important human being, and he invested in our future while keeping our combined happiness in mind. He made me feel appreciated, wanted and loved, and I did the same for him.

My old life was defined by abuse and neglect. My mother and I could have thrived had my father not constantly mistreated us, leaving us weak and dispirited. After my mother died, my father and his extended family treated me like property. No consideration was ever given to my long-term health, happiness, or comfort. My value stemmed from what my father, Oscar Clemons, could trade me for. He arranged for me to wed our neighbor, Jed Barton, in exchange for a sizable piece of farmland. Jed was a lot like my father, but ten times more violent. My father didn't care what Jed did to me as long as he was paid. My brother, Allen, had married and established his own farm to the west of our father's land. Allen was my father's pride and joy. I was expendable, so I fled into the wilderness and almost died. Sky rescued me and made me feel human again. He was my new life.

My mother died of lung disease when I was twelve. On her deathbed, she told me to think more of myself and bide my time until I could run away. She told me some men actually cared for the women that gave them life and risked their lives to give them families. Men like Sky and Eagle were examples of that. But some men, men like my father, turn against the person that first loved them, the very womb that labored to bring them into the world. My father cared nothing about his own mother. Grandma Rene was a sweet woman. I loved her dearly when I was a child. After she and my mother passed, all the love went out of my life. My mother said Father hated to admit that he owed his existence to a woman. That simple, fundamental truth hurt his pride, so he used his strength to dominate the "weaker" creature that selflessly loved and cared for him. Mother said men like my father falsely believed strong women caused chaotic households. I can tell you from experience that my father led a shitty, chaotic household, especially after my mother died.

I was finally free from that poor excuse of a family. I would never willingly go back after the bliss I experienced with Aimon Rosemoor, or Sky, according to the local Cherokee. Eagle said Aimon's eyes reflect heaven, and I couldn't agree more. Sky was a silent angel, and I was determined to make him as happy as he made me. It was a joy to love him.

My training centered around archery, ax throwing, knife throwing, blow darts, firearms, and speed-of-hand until my leg healed. Shooting practice was my least favorite. It was noisy and unpleasant, but I was proud that I knew how to load, aim, and fire Sky's rifle and flintlock pistol. To strengthen my leg, I stood and limped as often as possible. Running was too painful. Eagle figured I needed three more weeks of healing before I could run again. My arm strength was improving. Darts, knives, and shooting were easy after the first two weeks of practice.

Weapon training was the strangest and funnest thing I had ever done. It gave me confidence in my own strength. Eagle's future bride, Agasga, or Rain, was the first woman warrior I had ever met. Her clan was mostly farmers, but sometimes members showed talents in other areas and were encouraged to pursue them. It didn't matter that Rain was female. Her tribe honored and respected her as a talented human being. She was stunning and fierce, and I wanted to be just like her. Rain and I would slowly practice hand-to-hand combat until my leg began to throb, then we would sit together in the snowy yard and watch Sky and Eagle fight like wild men.

Watching Eagle charge at Sky with a tomahawk scared me to death at first, but Sky always blocked the attacks and went on the offensive. Wolf, Eagle's younger cousin and spirit brother, would join the men for training a few times a week. Eagle wanted Wolf to improve his English. He told him to practice speaking with Rain and me in between fights. Rain's English wasn't as refined as Eagle's, but she was making a solid effort to speak without a native accent. Rain and Eagle often ate supper at the cabin. Afterward, I would teach them English letters. On rare occasions, Wolf and Rain's younger sister, Ayita (First to Dance), would join us for writing lessons. Wolf and Ayita didn't take the lessons as seriously as Eagle and Rain.

As I healed, Sky allowed me to do more work and cooking. We taught each other our favorite recipes. Sky would hunt in the mornings as I prepared lunch. Eagle and Rain would visit almost every other day and always in the afternoons. Sometimes Wolf and Ayita came with them. February brought frequent snowstorms. My walking was improving, so Rain helped me make a pair of snowshoes. They were a tremendous help during morning chores. Walking on top of the snow was less painful than treading through snowbanks. Sky and Eagle's latest training session was in knee-deep snow. Rain, Wolf, Ayita, and I were sitting on logs around a cooking fire as we laughed at them wrestling in the western field by the cabin. They would disappear into the snow after every tackle.

"Does your tribe usually train this much?" I asked Rain.

"Sometimes. Sky wants to be stronger for you, Snow," she smiled, making her dark eyes sparkle.

"Snow" was my name among the Cherokee, thanks to Wolf. Wolf had seen my naked breasts through Sky's cabin window, then he described my "Snowy Hills" to Eagle and got in trouble for peeking. I was an outsider at that point, and Eagle understood the prudish nature of the white men and their women. Eagle had a good heart like Sky, so he made the younger native apologize to me, but my new name stuck, and I honestly didn't mind. Sky declared me Haley Snow instead of Haley Clemons in one of his written messages, and I had loved the name ever since.

"This sign yours, Snow," Wolf said in his choppy English.

I gave the young native my full attention. Rain told me Wolf was nineteen-winters old, but compared with Eagle's and Sky's stature and broad shoulders, he seemed much younger. Wolf held out his hands with his fingers pointing down, then he moved them down and into a loop. It reminded me of blowing snow swirling away from the cabin.

"I see. I like that," I nodded.

"That's not the sign you use when you speak of Snow at home," Rain scolded, causing a chuckle from Ayita.

"Wait, you use signs in your village?" I asked in surprise.

"All the time. Some elders don't hear good. Also, different tribes speak different languages, but our hand signs are the same. We can speak to other tribes about the sun, moon, stars, wind, and rain," she said as she demonstrated her words with her hands.

I gasped when I realized Sky had been making similar signs with his hands when he pointed things out to me. They were so intuitive I didn't realize the motions represented words.

"Sky uses those! I want to learn all of them. What's the actual sign you use for me in your village, Wolf?"

Wolf blushed under my gaze before he scrambled to his feet and ran into the snowy field to join the other men.

"What was that about?" I sighed.

Rain and Ayita chuckled as they rotated meat skewers over the fire. We were having yams and venison for supper.

"Wolf affectionately refers to you as 'Snowy Hills' when speaking to the younger men. Like this."

Rain brought her hands to her chest and wiggled her fingers as she made circular motions around her breasts. My name sign was rather provocative, and I couldn't help laughing at it.

"Oh boy, how often does he talk about me?"

"No just talk, motion too. Like this," Ayita giggled.

Her English was on par with Wolf's, maybe a little worse. She stood and thrust her hips while pretending to slap the invisible buttocks in front of her. Rain burst out laughing as my mouth dropped open in surprise. I was quickly learning of the natives' lack of modesty about natural things. It was a culture shock that I enjoyed at times, but most of the time, I was simply shocked by it.

"He... talks about making love to me?" I stammered.

Ayita grinned and nodded as she continued her impression of Wolf. Rain contained her amusement when she saw my stunned expression. She and Eagle had spent a lot of time with Sky and Grandma Yona, both whites that had been accepted into the Cherokee tribe. They understood the culture shock and tried to alleviate it.

"It's in good fun, Snow. Wolf admires your features, and making love is something we all do. It's not to be ashamed of. Also, Wolf enjoys attention and will do his best to earn teasing from friends. Our young men are excited to meet you, thanks to Wolf's descriptions of your white hills."

"Wow... great... now I'm even more nervous about visiting your village."

"Don't be nervous, Snow. Our boys and men have fun, but they don't hurt women. They are not like your father."

I sighed and nodded. She could have easily said white men in general instead of referring to my father, but Sky had changed her mind. Rain and Eagle's mountain tribe was surrounded by cruelty. They were constantly under threat of losing their land to the white men as they flooded into the coastal ports from Europe, but the natives continued to enjoy their lives when they could.

Rain and Eagle had invited Sky and me to their wedding ceremony. They claimed it would be simple and fun, but the thought of spending a few days in a Cherokee settlement sent my stomach fluttering. I didn't feel prepared for it. Rain had taught me some friendly words in her native tongue. I'm sure my pronunciation sounded terrible. She assured me it was the effort that counted, but I was suddenly more interested in learning their hand signs. Sky obviously knew a lot of them already, and I was determined to understand him better. Hauling writing supplies with us all the time was terribly impractical. Our native friends left after supper, promising to visit again in two days.

Sky woke me up early the next morning to see if I felt like hunting with him. I told him I would slow him down. He simply smiled and shrugged. He didn't care. He just wanted me to go with him. I couldn't say no to his smile. We ate a light breakfast before bundling up in our fur-lined leather coats. Sky, Rain, and Ayita helped me make Cherokee-style clothing for myself. The soft leather shirt and pants were perfectly comfortable. I was determined to never wear a corset again. The air was cold and crisp as we set out over the snow with guns and bows on our shoulders. Sky carried the rifle while I carried his pistol. We weren't hard-pressed for food thanks to leftover venison, so the expedition was more educational than anything. Sky showed me how to identify animal tracks and droppings in the snow and if they were worth following. We often stopped so I could rest my leg. Sky was excited when he discovered turkey tracks, but we never found the birds.

The temperature was rising as the morning wore on, causing snow drips to splatter our coats as we left the woods. Spring was teasing us with her presence, but I knew better than to get my hopes up. It was late February. The worst snowstorms usually arrive in March. We stopped in the meadow on the edge of the woods to practice archery. I loved my hickory bow. Eagle made it for me. Rain and Ayita had made the quiver and arrows.

"Yes!" I laughed.

My arrow had hit the center of our practice stump. Sky clapped and kissed me as a reward. His encouragement was the key to my success. He would kiss me even when I missed the target. His praise made me want to impress him.

"Shall we practice shooting the rifle next?" I asked.

Sky nodded and started to hand me his gun, but he looked towards the cabin and gasped. Then he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me down into the snow to hide.

"What's wrong?" I whispered in fear.

He made a fist with his index finger pointing out and touched his forehead with the side of his hand. It was a motion I had seen Rain make while speaking about English settlers.

"White men? Where?" I squeaked.

He pointed towards the cabin and motioned for me to stay low, then he slowly raised up and peeked across the meadow. His bright gray eyes squinted for a moment, then he sighed and laid down next to me again.

"How many?" I whispered.

He held up one finger, then he used the fingers on his right hand to straddle his left hand like a rider on a horse. He made the motion of them riding away and then pointed west.

"He's leaving? Good," I breathed and scooted closer to him.

He pulled me tight against him and kissed my forehead. I could feel his heart pounding despite the layers of fur and leather between us. Sky was afraid of being found just like I was, and rightly so after his uncles tortured him ten years earlier. The jagged scar on his throat and his missing voice were constant reminders of that horrible event. We lay hidden in the snow for many minutes. Sky eventually raised up and slowly surveyed the land to make sure we were alone, then we gathered our gear and returned to the cabin. Once I was safely locked inside, Sky paced around the property to look for tracks. He returned twenty minutes later with a scowl on his handsome brow. He locked us in and picked up the writing tray.

"One rider came from the north and scouted the property. He left west," he wrote.

"It could have been my father's rifleman."

"Maybe, I hope it was just a curious traveler. We need to be careful for a while. No going outside alone," he wrote.

I took a deep breath and nodded. If my father and Jed were still looking for me, I knew they might eventually search the edge of the mountains and find Sky's cabin. They would likely avoid the deep woods and the Cherokee settlement. The cabin was officially on Cherokee land but far enough from the settlement to spark the interest of interlopers when they saw it. I had been with Aimon Sky for a little over a month, and this was the first sighting of a non-native all winter, excluding myself.

Sky stayed close to home for the rest of the week. His hunting trips were shorter and less productive, but we weren't short on food. Eagle and Rain often brought food with them when they visited. Wolf almost always had two rabbits to share when he stopped by with Ayita. We were spending a lot of time indoors, so Sky began playing chess with me to pass the time. He had carved a handsome set out of linden wood long before he found me. He had stained the dark pieces with blackberry juice. Sky and Eagle sometimes played when the weather was too windy for outdoor training. Grandma Rene had taught me to play chess as a child, but I wasn't very good at it. Sky and Eagle could stomp me every time, but I was determined to improve.

"How did you get this good?" I demanded.

Sky had beaten me with a checkmate for the third time that evening. He smiled big and picked up the writing tray. I admired him as he scribbled a note. His shiny black hair needed trimming. It was falling into his pretty gray eyes more than usual. He handed me the tray a few seconds later.

"My father taught me. He and Grandpa were almost unbeatable, but I eventually beat them both."

I smiled and looked at him in admiration. He had a wonderful family history, but his Uncle Oliver and Uncle Curtis were villains. They had robbed the Rosemoor family of their good name when they chased Sky into the woods and tried to kill him. They cared more about gold than people. Sky had hidden his father's solid gold chess set from them over ten years earlier. It was a priceless treasure from the Middle East. Grandpa Rosemoor won it from a pirate during his travels with the East India Company. Sky treasured it because he learned to play chess on it with his grandpa and father. I didn't know what it felt like to have treasure until I met Sky. He was my treasure, a perfect diamond in the wilderness.

A week passed without any more stranger sightings, allowing us to relax a little. I could finally walk without a limp, so Sky suggested we go hunting again. He had spotted turkeys on the edge of the woods the previous day, so we bundled up and headed in that direction. Most of the snow had melted, but it could easily return over the next two months. I hoped it stayed away until after Eagle and Rain's wedding celebration. The journey to their settlement took a little over an hour on horseback. Deep snow would make it too difficult for Daisy to safely navigate, and my leg kept us from making the journey on foot.

I was lost in thought about our future trip when Sky touched my arm, prompting me to stop. We had been walking along the edge of the woods where it met the meadow north of the cabin. Snow still clung to the oaks and firs. Sky motioned for me to stay silent before pointing towards the meadow. Seven handsome turkeys were strutting through brown grass in the morning sunlight, pecking at the soggy ground after the snow melted. Sky motioned for me to use my bow. I smiled and quickly nocked an arrow. I felt giddy to finally be aiming at something we could eat for a change. I took a deep breath to steady my arms, aimed at the biggest bird forty yards ahead, and released my arrow. I held my breath as it flew through the air and stabbed the turkey in the side. The poor creature made a terrible noise as it collapsed, sending the rest of the flock scrambling off the ground.

"I got it!" I cried in shock and delight.

Sky let out a breathy laugh before he hugged and kissed me in celebration. Then we ran into the meadow to retrieve our supper. Well, Sky ran. I limped at a fast pace. I felt incredibly proud of myself as we carried the bird back to the cabin. Manly activities were way more fun than house chores. Most women didn't know what they were missing. They also didn't have a choice in the matter most of the time. We cleaned and dressed the bird together. Sky kept the feathers for arrow-making. We rubbed the turkey with salt and dried herbs, then stuck it in a big pot. It smelled heavenly in the cabin for the rest of the day as the bird roasted over the fire. Supper that evening was the most satisfying meal I ever had.

I was eager to go hunting again the next morning. It was the first thing I suggested after waking up. Sky rolled over in bed and smiled in amusement at my enthusiasm. Then he climbed on top of me and kissed me breathless. I loved feeling his heavy, naked body pressed against mine. He squeezed my tits as he worked his knees between my legs. He reached down and guided his erection against my wet skin, teasing it into my lips to draw moisture out. I gasped when he penetrated me. I loved being impaled on his hard meat. Our lovemaking intensified as my leg healed. Sky could be as aggressive as he was gentle, and I loved every second of it. I spread my legs wide as he pounded inside me. I squeezed him with my inner muscles, enjoying the slippery friction between my legs.