Sweet Whispers with Stephy Smith and Swim the River

Swim the River by Stephy Smith.


Blurb: Since Amelia ‘Falcon Woman’ Tucker was a small child, she heard the stories of how her mother was Rescued from the River by her father. All she wanted was a man who loved her with all his heart. Rising Wolf held her heart captive for years before he asked for her hand in marriage. The tall handsome man brought happiness to her life until the unforgettable day of the bear attack. Although the river had always called to her, she never knew how much she loved Rising Wolf until she had to Swim the River to save him


1889
Chapter One

Amelia stomped across the wooden porch. She clenched the folds of her ankle-length skirt in one hand and a crumpled piece of paper in the other. "What’s the meaning of this?" She thrust the letter into Jerome’s chest
.
"Ma, Pa, she’s been in my stuff again." Jerome caught the letter before it hit the ground.

She glanced at her parents, Emma and Kale Tucker, and her temper flared even more at their unreadable expressions. Tears filled her eyes.

"You can’t let him leave. You just can’t!" Amelia ran to where her grandmother rocked in her chair. She dropped to her knees before Woman With Small Voice.

"Grandmother, tell them he’s just a boy. He can’t leave us." Amelia’s tears flowed down her cheeks to dampen her grandmother’s doeskin dress.

Woman With Small Voice stroked Amelia’s hair. Overpowering loneliness settled in the pit of Amelia’s belly.

Sobs racked her body, like a quake shaking the mountain.

"Ma’ enetse is no boy. He is a man."

The soft flowing words of her grandmother’s betrayal stung Amelia’s chest. She jerked her head up and glared at the wrinkled face.

"Yes, he is, Grandmother. I mean no disrespect, but he isn’t old enough to venture to Washington, D.C., alone." Amelia stood up to leave but paused for a few moments.

"You are just a girl. What do you know?"

The weathered look on her face and penetrating stare of the Cheyenne woman added to the anger boiling in Amelia’s veins. Her hope to keep her brother from making a big mistake with his life didn’t seem to matter to anyone but her. She clenched her fist.

"I am not just a girl. I’m a woman." She folded her arms across her chest.


Stephy Smith