Chapter 5

In Tavington's tent, the colonel allowed Awinita to look through his books, especially those that featured poems from England. She came across the poem Paradise Lost created by John Miller.

As soon as she started, she could not put it down. She was overcome by the story of Satan and his many followers, his banishment, the war between the angels, the fall of mankind, and Adam and Eve's banishment out of the Garden of Eden. Awinita had read the Bible, but the poem featured Satan in a much clearer light.

"The angels must've hated each other," Awinita said to herself.

"Indeed, they did," Tavington replied, which brought her back in the present.

"Oh, you scared me. I was so engrossed in this poem," she said and returns the book to him, but he politely gives it back to her.

"You can keep it as long as you want," he said to her and asks, "Who taught you to read?"

Awinita takes a breath and replies, "My adopted father. My early life was...tragic I should say."

"Tragic?" Tavington asked and she nods.

"My mother was a victim of a Native village raid. She gave up her life for me. My adopted father told me about her as soon as I was old enough to know that I was different from everyone else in my family," she explains.

"Oh, I'm sorry about your mother," Tavington replied. He had heard that many colonists raided on Native American villages for reasons such as taking their land or for the pleasure of slaughtering a few. "And what was life like to live among the colonists?" he asks, again.

"Difficult," she replies, "Many people in the colony think it's not right for a Native to live among them, let alone be raised and taught by a colonist. So my adopted father taught me to read and write. He said that people need to change their attitudes towards those who are different. He also treats his African workers like human beings and not slaves."

Tavington nods, he had become so fascinated with this woman. She turns her attention to his saber on the post and she touches the scabbard. Awinita takes in a deep breath, it was a beautiful piece of weaponry.

"Awinita," Tavington said and she looks at him. "We are in need of someone to scout the areas we wish to see. Unfortunately, the colonists are hostile to the British army."

"They have a right to be angry," she replies and he looks at her in surprise. "The colonists want to be free of your king. He taxed the colonies with horrible prices on sugar, tea, and other necessities."

He stares at the floor and then opens a box, which contained a smoking pipe and a pouch of tobacco. He gently puts some tobacco leaves in the spout and takes a wick to lit them. He puffs a few smoke clouds.

"I don't usually smoke, but it relaxes me," he said and Awinita looks at the pipe. He hands it to her and she takes a puff, but chokes on the taste of the smoke.

"It's awful," she said and Tavington chuckles.

"Quite right, but our king wants to please the British people. If the colonists were to shut off the tobacco supply, then the British would be angry," he replied and takes back the pipe.

"So you find it fair to heavily tax the colonists?" Awinita asked.

"It's the way our lives work, no one wants to die penniless, especially not our king," he answered, but Awinita gets angry and leaves the tent.

"Wait!" Tavington calls after her. She pushes pass several soldiers, she was eager to get away from Tavington, but then he grabs her by the arm. "Awinita, you are missing the point."

"No! You don't understand!" she shouts in his face. "These colonists are good people, yet you come along and decide to teach them their place."

"The colonists owe us a debt!" he shouts back, "Their families left England for a better life and they decide to cut off our support."

There were a few soldiers looking at them and one of them shouts, "Tavington! That woman needs to know her place!"

"Be quiet!" he shouts back and looks at Awinita. She was furious now and trying to get free of his grip. "You said so yourself, the colonists treat you like an outsider," he adds.

"True, but if one of them treated me with kindness, then there's hope that all can treat others with kindness," she replies. Tavington loosens his grip on her and eventually lets go of her arm.

"I don't doubt that, but I fear that much of them will hurt people like you," he said and takes her back to his tent. Something was wrong with him, he could feel it.

She goes back in and Tavington sits at his desk. "Answer me this, what is your favorite chore to do?" he asks. Awinita looks at him in shock. "I'm afraid you can't leave. I brought you here, now you must serve me," he adds.

"I rather rot than serve you," she replies and he stares at her with his cold blue eyes.

"If you serve me well, then I will consider letting you go," he said and he grabs the cuff of her sleeve. "If I catch you running away, then I will kill you," he whispers in an icy voice.

She takes a deep breath and answers, "I prefer to be around animals, horses."

"Good, you can attend to our horses. Feed them, clean them, and if possible, break them," Tavington replies.

"Break them? I never done it before," she said.

"It's not that difficult," he said and summons a servant to take her to the horses. "Keep an eye on this one, make sure she doesn't run off," he tells the servant. Awinita is led out of the tent and Tavington scoffs.

He was going to teach that Native woman a lesson when it comes to hateful people. The colonists were a bunch of hateful people and he will teach them a lesson. Leaning back in his chair, he begins to think about Awinita. She had a fire in her spirit and he always admired those with that kind of personality.

He then gets to work by looking over letters from Cornwallis. He despised that man.

From the author: Sorry for the delay! Have a bad cold, which means I can't think well! Anyway, both Awinita and Tavington are off to a rough start, but who knows where their relationship will end. See you soon!