Taboo Love in the West Part 1: A Heart Off-Limits (Wild West Adventures in Love Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

that well. They are beautiful and their needlework is spectacular, I just often think they could maybe make a bit more of their clothes. They seem so shapeless – unlike your fine fashions, Miss,” the young girl continued, oblivious to anything but her tasks and her words. She was clearly envious of Eliza’s gowns, having unpacked her things, and it made her want to laugh out loud, knowing that her dresses, skirts and blouses had all been picked apart and re-sewn more times than she cared to remember. But, it made her thankful yet again that she had learned her mother’s skill to make much from nothing.
    “I made them all myself, Alice,” she said quietly. “I can teach you how to make your own if you would like. Every one of them has been a different style at least three times!”
    “Oh yes, Miss. That would be wonderful if you would,” she gushed excitedly and was glowing with happiness when she left the room, over the moon that within a few weeks that she may have a beautiful gown to wear for church on Sundays, with no cost but her own handiwork. Eliza undressed quickly and had never been so grateful to feel the sensations of the crisp, lightly starched cotton of her nightgown as she pulled it over her tired and aching limbs. She crawled under the covers of the comfortable iron framed bed and felt she had discovered the source of all God’s bliss here on earth as she sank into a deep and peaceful sleep for the first time in months.
    The lodge was quiet, and Chief Iron Nation was glad of it. He was getting older and trying to manage the factions within his own small part of the oyate , let alone trying to represent them when he took his place amongst the Great Sioux Council of Elders from the other tribes was more tiring with each passing day. There was so much discontent since the treaty had been signed, and in his heart he wished that they had been in the position to have kept on fighting to keep their lands and their identities intact – but he was a pragmatic man and had been able to look at the bigger picture. He felt that the reservations were the only way his people had a chance to maintain their culture in some way, but to so many that had been perceived as weakness and a defeat at the hands of the White Man. But he had wanted to ensure there were some of his people left and had known that the White Man would have had no qualms about massacring each and every one of them if it suited their purpose. They were a people who lived by the values of greed and acquisition, so there would be no stopping them from trampling over everything good to achieve their aims. He saw the death of his kind as the real defeat, and so he had been instrumental in convincing so many others to sign and accept this terrible compromise – but at least it was something and they could still maintain some pride in their history and traditions. Nobody would be able to carry those on if they were all dead. Chief Iron Nation had been a leader for longer than many men spent in this world, and he knew his time to walk with his ancestors was drawing near. He was ready to stand down, to let a younger man take his place, to tackle the new challenges that reservation living would entail, to find ways to keep their culture alive and vivid moving forward. He was tired of the endless fighting, bickering and strain of leadership. It was time and he needed no vision quest to tell him so, though he would have liked to be able to spare the time to undertake one to be certain. Maybe he would be able to commune with his ancestors one last time before he joined them once he took his leave of the leadership role.
    “You need to slow down a little, Chief,” a rich and laughter-filled voice came out of the darkness. The old man’s heart lifted as he recognised it and realised that while there were men such as Amitola among the oyate their way of life and their heritage would be safe. He smiled at the approaching figure of the son he wished was truly