Woman of Courage Read Online Free PDF Page A

perhaps I will be stronger for whatever trials I must endure
.
    Amanda was about to step out from the bushes, when a bloodcurdling scream pierced the air. It was unlike anything she’d ever heard, and it left her trembling and unable to catch her breath. Maybe some wild animal had ventured to the pond to get a drink. Harvey had told her there were wildcats in this territory. Could it be a bobcat cry she’d heard?
    Too frightened to look out, but afraid not to, Amanda clutched her valise and cautiously poked her head between the two bushes. Her legs started to cramp in the crouched position, but she didn’t move. What Amanda saw made her flesh crawl, and she felt sure that her heart had nearly stopped beating. Amanda would have much rather seen a wild animal, but instead, in the middle of the clearing were a dozen half-naked Indians on horseback.
    One of the red men had already seen her. Her legs were nearly numb, but Amanda’s fear got her up. Moving quickly, she started to run. She could hardly feel her feet as they whisked over uneven ground. The Indian caught up with her, reached down, jerked off her bonnet, and grabbed a handful of her hair so roughly that the combs came loose from her bun. Amanda gasped as her hair tumbled down her back in a tangle of curls.
    “Ouch! Thou art hurting me!” she cried, tears stinging her eyes as she held on tightly to her valise. It felt like her hair was being pulled out by the roots, and Amanda’s only defense was to slap the man’s horse with her valise. To her surprise, the horse didn’t budge, and the Indian merely gripped her hair tighter.
    “Don’t fight him, or it’ll only get worse,” Harvey hollered from across the clearing, where he stood with his arms pinned behind his back. One of the Indians stood behind Harvey, with his knife held dangerously close to Harvey’s throat.
    “Oh!” Amanda squealed. “What art thou going to do about this, Harvey?”
    “There ain’t nothin’ I can do. At least, not yet,” he said through tight lips.
    The Indian holding Amanda by the hair let loose, stepped down from his horse, and yanked her roughly to his side. His face was painted with yellow-and-white stripes, and his long, coal-black hair hung loosely down his bronzed back. He was tall and muscular, with foreboding, deeply set, dark eyes. His strong jaw was accentuated by a long, jagged scar.
    Despite her fear, Amanda couldn’t help thinking,
Here it is early spring, and these Indians have bare skin showing. How can they not be cold?
    Her mouth went suddenly dry, and she shuddered as she closed her eyes, clasping the leather valise to her chest.
This is it
, she thought fearfully.
Unless God performs a miracle, I am about to join Papa in the Promised Land
. While Amanda felt certain she would go to heaven, she wasn’t quite ready to die. Unbidden tears slipped onto her hot cheeks and she began to silently pray.
Oh Lord, if Thou art still with us, please show Thyself in some way. Protect Harvey and me from these savages, and I pray it will be soon
.
    The Indian turned Amanda’s body toward his, so that her full weight pressed against his rock-hard chest. Looking at one of the other Indians, he mumbled something in a deep guttural sound—something she could not understand.
    The Indian holding Harvey captive grunted and said something in response, but it was completely foreign to Amanda.
    “Aapi ahki,”
Amanda’s captor said, releasing his grip on her with one hand and running a finger down the side of her face.
    Amanda squeezed her eyes shut.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might,”
she quoted to herself.
If this is my time to die, Lord, then help me not to be afraid, and give me a sense of peace
.
    “I can’t speak the Blackfoot language,” Harvey shouted, “but I think he wants you for his woman.”
    Amanda gulped. She had not come all this way to be taken captive; she would rather die first. If only there was something