Love’s Memory

CHAPTER 1 It had been ten years since Silas Long Feather had last seen the young white girl spying on him and Jamie when they had stopped at a pond to swim. He had been nineteen, and Jamie was twenty-one. The first time he saw her, they had been to Rolling Fork to make a delivery for the lumber yard. It was a very hot day, and when he spotted the pond through the trees, he had talked Jamie into stopping to cool off with a swim. They had swimming trunks in the truck with them after forgetting to take them out when they had gone swimming last. They had changed and were running toward the water when Silas had felt eyes staring at him. He stopped and glanced around, spotting her in the trees. When he looked her way, she quickly hid behind the trees. Silas grinned and ran on and jumped into the water. The girl stayed there in the trees and watched until they started out of the water. She slipped away when they started toward their truck. Silas smiled to himself. She had been cute, but he knew he could get into trouble if he was messing around with a young white girl. He did not tell Jamie about seeing the girl. He didn’t know why. He usually shared everything with Jamie, but for some reason, he was reluctant to share this with Jamie. The rest of the summer, every time they made a trip to Rolling Fork, they would stop and go for a swim on the way home. Sometimes Silas would spot the girl watching them, and sometimes she would not be there. He began to look forward to seeing her hiding in the trees watching him. He did not know why he was so sure she was watching him and not Jamie, but he was sure. He had felt her eyes following his every move. He could feel her eyes caressing his body. She never approached them. She always stayed hidden and she would slip away when they left the water. The weather started to cool off, too cool for swimming. Silas missed stopping and he missed seeing the girl in the trees. He looked carefully when they passed the spot, but he never saw her in the trees. He didn’t know who she was, and he could not make inquiries about her because he was Indian and she was white. The next summer, they began stopping for a swim again, but there was never any sign of the girl. Silas pushed the memory of her to the back of his mind and kept it there safe and sound from the world’s intrusion.