Chapter 17
After two days’ travel the landscape began to change. The forest gave way here and there to cleared fields, with crops of corn, wheat and oats. There were orchards, too, with apples and pears. To Robert it seemed that they extended farther from the fort than before they had left. Daniel noticed it, too.
“Looks like some new folk have moved in,” he said.
Robert nodded.
As they rode through a wooded area, Robert watched the dappled shadows flow over the backs of the horses, listened to the sounds of birds, saw the startle of a deer on the path. He wondered how he had not been aware of these small blessings when he had lived here as a white man. Living as a Shawnee had sharpened his senses to the beauty of nature around him. As they continued, new sounds came to him as well --
