Wild Innocence by Candace McCarthy

stay?”
    â€œIn every available room. And we had patients in several residences. And yes, some people died.” He looked solemn. “A woman and a little girl fell victim the first week.”
    It was clear that the memory of that time upset him. “The rest of the family survived,” he continued. “It was rough for a while, but eventually everyone else’s fever broke and they all recovered. Your sister about wore herself out playing nurse. Daniel was a godsend. He fetched and carried whatever we needed. He even went to the Ojibwa people for medicines for the fever.”
    She thought of how tragic that time must have been. “You used Indian medicine?” she said, startled. For a moment, she had an image of the Ojibwa brave Black Hawk. She tried to picture a whole village of Ojibwa people.
    John nodded. “I have tremendous respect for their knowledge of herbs and plant life. My own medicine supply had dwindled. We relied on the Ojibwa for something to help break the patients’ fevers.”
    Rachel’s lips twisted as she looked away. It was hard to imagine Daniel as anything other than the man who insulted and mocked her. He’d been ready to accept Miranda as Amelia’s sister. Why did he look at her as being unworthy of being a Dempsey? She was unused to being treated so poorly by a male. Until Daniel, men had always fawned over her.
    Except for Jordan, but he had still courted her ... before he’d broken her heart by leaving.
    â€œI promise you won’t be sorry I came,” she vowed to her father. “I can take care of sick patients. Why, only last year, I nursed Aunt Bess through a horrible case of the ague.”
    â€œYou’ll be dealing with worse cases than someone with the ague. Out here, there are injuries to doctor. Animal bites. Wounds from battle. Sickness. Death.”
    She couldn’t help herself. Rachel felt a chill at the mention of death. Battle? she thought. Between the Indians and the whites? Between the different Indian tribes? “I can handle it,” she insisted.
    â€œI sincerely hope so, Rachel,” her father said. “For I’ll not put up with a spoiled little girl’s tantrums. If you can’t make it here as my assistant, you’ll go home to Baltimore as soon as it can be arranged.”
    â€œBut I’ll have a month?” she asked. There would be things to learn; he couldn’t expect her to know everything right away. She told him so.
    â€œYes, daughter,” John said. “You’ll have your month. I’ll teach you what I can. There are some here at the mission who can teach you more.”
    â€œThank you, Father.” She gave him a hug.
    â€œDon’t thank me, daughter. By the end of the month, you may be looking forward to going home.”
    Â 
    Â 
    Black Hawk’s people were at their summer location, within a few hours’ distance of the mission settlement near the great lake. They had moved their village closer to the white mission settlement during the last hot season. This land was more fertile for their corn, pumpkin, and squash crops. Here, they wouldn’t have to travel a long distance to the place where they gathered wild rice in the fall. They were closer to the blacksmith and Jack Keller’s trading post. The Ojibwa women liked to trade for goods at Jack’s store.
    â€œHe-Who-Kills-with-Big-Stick was seen in this last Sioux attack on Red Dog’s people,” Black Hawk told Daniel. The two men were at the Ojibwa village in Black Hawk’s wigwam.
    Daniel raised his eyebrows. “You didn’t tell me that before.” He was surprised that his friend had remained silent until this time. Black Hawk had been searching for He-Who-Kills-with-Big-Stick for many years, since Black Hawk had become a man. The Ojibwa warrior had witnessed He-Who-Kills-with-Big-Stick torture and murder his father when he was eight years old. His quest for