draftnikotye

Nikotye

The sun had just risen on this cold March morning in Scioto, Ohio. Although it was spring, the nights remained cold and damp and would for a couple more weeks. It was especially cold back in the cave where Nikotye lay in the dark, her baby suckling at her breast. She had wrapped the baby twice in bedding clothes, but they were damp and needed changing. Soon, Nikotye would have to face another uncertain day without help from anyone. She needed to find fresh food and bring in water. Most of all, she needed to make plans. Without plans, she and the babe would surely die before the next winter snow fell. Ohio winters were harsh, and a young woman with a baby and no mate stood little chance of surviving one, much less several of them. Her child's fate lay in her hands, and her hands were cold and numb. She hummed a wordless tune as the baby sucked. She worried how long she would make milk when she had so little to eat herself. It seemed worry was her only companion but, just as she had this thought, the baby snuffled and sneezed. Nikotye smiled. No, I am not alone. Little Silver Flint went back to nursing, and Nikotye began humming again.

As the baby fed, her mind drifted again to the reason she was in such desperate condition, out alone with her baby with little food and no man to support them. She tried not to fall back into the actual details, but to no avail. She remembered the beautiful early May morning that she had risen early to go looking for ginseng as her supply was running low. She had dressed lightly but with good leggings and boots to protect her legs as she thrashed around in the brush, looking for the plant. The sun had been up about an hour when she heard a splashing sound near the creek where she had placed her medicine bag and food for lunch. She wondered if a wolf or other animal was trying to steal her food, and she ran back to the creek bank to look. As she cleared the light smattering of trees near the creek, she ran into a scene she would never forget.

Four men were running almost naked by the water's edge. Two of the men were dark skinned, slaves most likely. The others were white. They seemed to be drunk on spirits, as they were laughing foolishly and falling and stumbling. She stopped suddenly in her tracks and tried to backtrack quiety, but they had seen her.

"Lookee here boy, what have we here?" One of the whites stopped flailing around and stood with his hands on his hips, his bare hips. Nikotye turned her head to avoid looking at his nakedness.

"A squaw, a pretty little squaw." Another one said. "Come here, injun!" He started walking toward her. She turned to run. Suddenly, the men began to chase after her
In what seemed only seconds, they near her, the black ones running a little behind, but all them were quick. They apparently weren't as drunk as she had thought. One finally reached her and grabbed her long hair, pulling her backward and off her feet. She tried to fight him and get back up, but he was on top of her in no time.

"Not here, Jack." The other white man said. "Let's shut her up and take her somewhere quiet where we can all have a little fun."

They stuffed a dirty cloth in her mouth, tied her wrists and hauled her ot her fee. She was terrified but could do nothing to save herself.

They took her to a darker area, wooded, quiet and there, they took turns raping her, even the black ones, but going last.

"Let Jaybo and Jim have some fun too. A little taste of freedom makes a happier slave." The oldest white one, satisfied, was watching the black men takes turns with her.

When they were finally finished with her, she was told to go back to the chief and tell him she was nicely broken in for his best warrior, and they left her bleeding, bruised but untied on the ground. In time, she pulled herself together and found her way back to her camp. It was nearly dark by this time. She slipped into her parents' tent to the worried voice of her mother asking where she had been and telling her how they had worried. She told her mother she wasn't feeling too well and went to her pallet. She was unable to cry anymore.