Disclaimer: The following work has been written solely for the enjoyment of fans and not for monetary profit. The rights to the characters initially created for the Daniel Boone series belong to 20th Century Fox and Fess Parker. No copyright violation is intended
"Tara Mingo was 'a timber wolf in search of a jugular.' "
...Paul King, scriptwriter of "My Brother's Keeper"
episode from Season One of Daniel Boone TV Series.
"A Face in Quiet Waters"
Tara Mingo's Account
A face in quiet waters, a countenance from my past.
Like features shared between us I forever tried to mask.
She was my mother first, my father, a great Creek.
His name was feared by many, whether warrior or Chief.
A valiant death in battle, I was his only son.
Forced to live in her lodge, I am Creek, Cherokee none.
Rebellion in my heart against the white dog she let in.
His English tongue wagged, but me, he could not win.
Then you were born, my brother. A son. Her Cherokee pride.
Your Native spirit poisoned by his white man's blood inside.
Creek against Cherokee, our shared blood, only for bleeding.
Brother against brother, despite a mother's pleading.
When the Great Spirit took her, so many wasted days in grief.
You buried yourself in sorrow, there were no laments from me.
Now our mother is no more, tears fall on empty ground.
Your father made you his and now you are England bound.
You lived the rich life. Your father made you white.
You hid your Cherokee heritage, never learned to fight.
Then you came back a man, to claim your Cherokee name.
And sang Talota's death song, in the land of the Ken-tah-teh.
From boys to men, we grew, warriors, weapons to bear.
Cherokee versus Creek. Come after me if you dare.
Honor and loyalty, brother-all words in the wind.
Ashes in a dead fire get you nothing in the end.
You take what you want, no matter the price.
No value to the spoils, even if it is a life.
A confrontation between brothers. You shot me, then you wept.
Buried me in cold swamp water, then sang my song of death.
I battled death and won. Your face kept me alive.
When finally we meet, your grave will be my prize.
You say I have no honor, to me it's but a word.
What has honor got you? Only scorn, white man's cur.
They still call you savage, even with Boone at your side.
You will always be a half-breed, Your blood you cannot hide.
My strength and my might will win over your reason.
I am a great Chief, and you? Nothing. Her weak son.
So come after me, my brother.
Bring your honor that I lack.
For my corpse awaits your blood line,
and my whip awaits your back.
On the ground I see you weeping, by her grave you still grieve.
Do you think she hears you? No. She is ashes and leaves.
Still you sing her death song, same as when you sang mine.
Who will sing yours, Cara Mingo, when it comes your time?
Not the Cherokee or the white man. You are alone, you have no one.
In the short days you have left, all you are is Talota's son.
The tall man in buckskins, who you call a friend.
Will forsake your red blood to save his own in the end.
So come after me, my brother.
Bring your honor that I lack.
For my corpse awaits your bloodline,
and my whip awaits your back.
There you stood before me, in your innocence you said,
"There was no life left in you, I thought you were dead."
But I will have the last word, and honor, it is not.
In my shroud of vengeance, your last remains will rot.
Your shirt lays on the ground. Now you are mine.
With the crack of my whip I bury our bloodline.
You shot me once before, you cannot do it twice.
Now I watch you bleed, and leave you alone to die.
I put you in your grave.
No more to share this face.
There will only be one son left,
Tara Mingo, our mother's disgrace.
The big man follows after, they thought you were me.
How close to the hangmen's noose comes their trusted Cherokee.
Are they still your friends? They were quick to place the blame.
Do you see the white man's honor? And how swift they seal your fate.
But he listened to your story, and tended to your wounds.
You told him of my evil, the big man they call Boone.
Whip to whip we battled, while you lay in pain.
He defended your honor, I defended my name.
I had him on the edge, his life in my grasp.
Ah! To kill your friend, Daniel, both of you dead at last.
Then a crack of powder and shot echoed over the land.
I looked down and saw you, smoking rifle in your hand.
I fell to my death, my body, broken and bleeding,
Those words I heard you say, "I am my brother's keeper."
I could see your tears. I laughed with my dying breath.
"Sing to me Cara Mingo, my second song of death."
Her face in quiet waters, smiling back at me.
A mother's love forever, redemption is her plea.
I am still a Creek warrior, and I will die as one.
Yours is the eternal pain, to live with what you've done.
So come after me, my brother.
Bring your honor that I lacked.
Now my corpse awaits your bloodline,
and my whip awaits your back.