Sunrise awoke Dyani and Aiyana Smith. The new fresh sunrays entered their longhouse lighting up the room they shared. On a normal day perhaps the girls would turn around to catch a few more minutes of sleep, however today was different. Jamestown was waiting. They got out of bed and prepared themselves for the 'adventure'.
Pocahontas and John hardly ever took their children to Jamestown. Their mother deemed it too dangerous and John unnecessary. Unfortunately for them, all their children had inherited their curiosity in full force, and thus wouldn't always take no for an answer. But though they would rarely admit this to their parents, but the girls had never been able to fully enjoy Jamestown. People stared and spoke in whispers whenever they were there and they were called names. Though Dyani was far more enthusiastic about Jamestown than her year younger sister, Aiyana wasn't as harshly treated due to her lighter complexion. She had those light blue eyes and dark golden hair that the people in Jamestown just seemed to love. However if they only took the time to really look at the sisters, one would find that Dyani looked far more European with her long nose, large eyes and thin lips than her sister did. Colouring however was too important. The same could at times also be applied to the Powhatan village and the surrounding villages and tribes. To the Indians, Aiyana was a wàbà ikwe, a white woman just like her twin Tuari.
Of course going to Jamestown required the girls to dress in their British clothes, or as the British liked to call it, 'civilized clothes'. While Aiyana pulled her white shirt over her head and tied the strings, Dyani had gathered her red skirt and Aiyana's blue one.
"Where are the corsets?" Aiyana asked her sister, who was having a battle trying to keep her shirt in her skirt.
"Somewhere is those baskets in the main room," Dyani answered, "the aprons should be there too." She called after her sister. As she waited, she got her wooden comb and went through her thick black hair. Swiftly Aiyana returned with the corsets and aprons.
"Ok, I'll put mine on first, will you help with the strings?"
"Of course! Thank God these are at the front, makes it a lot easier to handle." Aiyana nodded her head to agree. Having put the brown corset in place she started to thread the strings through the assigned holes. Dyani came up to help her.
"You'd think they would find an easier way to do this." She said frowning as she started to pull the strings tighter.
"I am sure they'd be delighted if you designed something better."
"And let them take the credit! Ha no, I'd design it just for mother, you and I."
"So that we will be the only ones able to breathe properly while those gossiping women faint?"
"Exactly."
"Brilliant idea." The sister laughed and Dyani turned to her sister.
"You of all people would like seeing that? My peace-plant-spirit loving sister would enjoy seeing those Jamestown women faint? I must call a healer, you are sick."
"Oh please! This peace-plant-spirit loving sister hates the way they treat this land or us. Perhaps fainting from these horrible things will bring some sense to them."
"Fair point," Dyani agreed, 'but I still think that's nothing like you.'
Once done Aiyana's corset was fastened, they switched roles. After Dyani too was done dressing they focused on their very long hair. While brushing Dyani looked at her sister.
"Do you think England is just like Jamestown?" Her dark eyes met blue.
"Well father and mother told us it did look very different, but I don't know how the people are. My guess is that they might be worse then the people in Jamestown. I mean at least they know about us and know we aren't that terrifying. You want to go don't you?"
"Of course I want to go. I want to see a different world."
"You could always ask if you can accompany father next time he sails. I am sure Helaku wouldn't mind going along. In fact perhaps in a few years he might be the one sailing you to England."
"Mother would have a heart attack, and father would refuse anyway. Besides then we would be there alone, with people who think we're savages. Sounds like a great idea."
"Well I never said it would be a good idea, I was merely suggesting the possibility."
At that moment their mother came in to the room. She too wore a white shirt, but with more puffy sleeves. Her corset was a dark brown, which contrasted greatly with her copper coloured skirt. Her long black hair was loose like that of her daughters and her mother's necklace lay proudly beneath her collarbone. Pocahontas smiled at the pair.
"Ready?" The combs were hastily thrown aside and large smiles returned. "Why did I even ask?" As she left the room, the sisters quickly fastened their identical golden necklaces they had been given by their father around their own necks, and followed their mother.
Breakfast consisted of flat bread and pumpkin soup, which Dyani and Aiyana quickly ate, even as the steam still rose from their soup bowls. Their father and brothers laughed at them.
"I didn't know you two were that excited! Keep going and you'll burn your whole mouth, though I have to say, I can't say no to a peaceful day." It received him two glares.
"Darling, who will we be visiting?" Pocahontas asked her husband, who was busy stirring his soup with his spoon.
"The Family Grey. Mr Charles Grey, younger brother for Robert Grey who runs the Grey estate in England, decided to try a make business here. His wife, Joanna and children Sebastian and Anne went with him. But I believe Sebastian himself won't be staying long and will go back to his uncle once his own family has settled. They need help with paper work and getting to know this area. Mrs Grey invited us all for tea."
"Ah, teatime, how lovely." Pocahontas replied.
Teatime had passed largely in silence. The Grey and Smith family had sat around the small table in the temporarily wooden house that the Grey family currently inhabited. The Grey family newly arrived from the glorious Empire, hadn't expected to meet a savage so soon during their stay. Certainly not one that had married the well known handsome Sea Captain John Smith and that they had brought children to the world, God forbid. It truly had been a terrifying experience. Yet Mrs Grey hadn't been able to help but note how dashingly beautiful Smith's wife, named Pocahontas was, with her thick black, angular features and dark eyes. Had she been white she would have been a celebrity. Now their children surely were something of a mystery. They were such a harmonious blend of their parents and she hadn't even meet all of them. Mrs Grey could quite honestly say she had never seen such beautiful creatures. She had trouble remembering the names they used to refer to themselves with at first, something exotic sounding like their mother. But thankfully they had been blessed with Christian names, Rebecca, James, and Sarah, which were much easier to pronounce. However as a proper English woman she never voiced these thoughts out loud.
The Smiths had tried to make some polite conversation with the Grey's to try and make them feel comfortable but the longer it took the more impatient Pocahontas got. John sensed the tension building in his wife. He prayed for some distraction. It was Anne who finally broke the silence.
"So," she said addressing Dyani and Aiyana, "I assumed you have been taught how to sew?" Anne Grey was a small girl of around 14 years of age. She had porcelain skin, which Aiyana found awfully pale, and her ash blonde hair was braided tightly against her head. The only colour she had were her large green eyes that had barely blinked since the arrival of the Smiths.
"Yes we can sew. It is an essential skill to learn, especially in the village. We always help when new clothes have to be made." Dyani answered bringing her teacup to her mouth, which had long gone cold, not helping its strong flavour. Anne nodded silently. The silence was returning rapidly, before Aiyana quickly spoke up.
"We also other activities of course. Dyani is very skilled at painting. Tuari is great at woodwork. I myself enjoy… enjoy learning how to heal, I mean how to…"
"She records different plants in the area that can be used as medicine. She is being taught by our healers to become one herself." Dyani helped her sister, who gave her a small smile.
"So you want to become a nurse Sarah?"
The question came from Sebastian Grey. The young man hadn't spoken since the start of their visit, but Dyani couldn't fathom why. His voice sounded like music, low and soft and reminded her of the distant sound of a waterfall. Sebastian like his younger sister had green eyes, but unlike her pale colouring, his eyes were surrounded by dark eyelashes. His hair was a dark brown that seemed like an uncontrollable mess of curls. He stared at Aiyana who became quite flushed at the attention.
"Yes. Yes that is what I meant, a nurse." Sebastian gave her a smile making the twenty-four year old look even more handsome.
"How about you take a stroll along the harbour? Anne needs some fresh air, the trip here didn't do her well I fear." Mrs Grey suggested nodding her head at her children. Dyani, Tuari, and Aiyana looked at their parents with quick glances. They seemed to be fine with the idea. Sebastian stood first and helped the Smiths sisters from their chairs, then lend Aiyana his arm to walk her out. Dyani saw her sister's expression, one of a frightened deer. Her blue eyes looked back at her mother, as she exited the Grey house, to find reassurance. Tuari himself helped Anne out of the door. As soon as they were outside he spoke to Aiyana in Algonquian to calm her down.
To their surprise Anne immediately started to talk to them. It seemed as if she had left her solemn spirit inside and now had burst out of her shell.
"So you enjoy painting?" she addressed Dyani, "That's wonderful! I love painting myself; it is so calming and awarding once you've captured the image. Oh do tell me! What kind of things do you paint? I enjoy still life most but this place is beautiful, I imagine landscapes would be brilliant too. Pray, what type of paint do you use? I haven't seen any supplies here in Jamestown, and I can't imagine your father going back to England often. Do you make your own paint? That must be so fascinating!"
"I like painting everything I suppose but I enjoy painting the ocean. Yes I do make my own at times, but thankfully there are quite a few ships docking here ever so often and father always tries to order supplies from England." Dyani replied and as Anne fired a wave of questions and pleasantries at Tuari about his woodwork, she smiled at the younger girl.
Meanwhile Aiyana felt increasingly uncomfortable while Sebastian kept trying to strike up conversation as the walked along the port.
"Pray tell me Sarah, how do you spend your time in this place? At home in England, ladies like yourself tend to amuse themselves with playing the pianoforte and such, but practicing medicine is something I have never heard of before."
Aiyana looked at him through the corner of her eyes. He was quite handsome she supposed with those green eyes, but his blinding pale skin and thin lips looked washed out and she decided that some more time in the sun would do him good.
"I enjoy playing the flute and dance but I prefer being part of nature, it calms me. What about yourself?"
While Sebastian eagerly complimented and started talking about recording the trade of tealeaves, Aiyana felt something pulled her mind away from the ocean. Slowly but surely she felt the force of spirits pull her into the space. Sometimes it called her, drowning all sound around her and blurring the world around her. Her mother told her she had a gift of future reader like her own mother had, had. Grandmother Willow had been delighted and tried to teach her how to go to the space voluntarily, but Aiyana dreading the limp feeling she would feel every time the spirits connected her in that way, avoided it as much as possible. However at time like these, she couldn't pull away. Hopelessly she tried to connect with Tuari with whom she shared a special connection, to help her but she couldn't reach him. The wind picked up and a stream of voices surrounded her. They guided her to the trees and as she watched, a golden red glow seemed to come from them. The voices became louder and louder to the point where she heard screeching. Painfully she tried to dampen the sound by blocking her ears, but it only seemed to make it worse. The screaming and crying was now joined by battle cries. The glow from the trees burst into flames and travelled to light the entire coast on fire. The heat became unbearable and she sunk to the ground, ignoring the flaming pain in her knees. Drumbeats filed her head and figures started to appear. Mothers and children running for their lives, their dark skin reddened by blood. Arrows rained upon them. Men, skewered by spears and axes rolled of a hills. They were being massacred, not by guns from Jamestown but by their own people it seemed or a different tribe. Aiyana felt tears stream down her cheeks as she desperately tried to stop seeing the tragedy unfold. Suddenly the vision started to dim, losing its colour and vividness and the sounds became softer. She could feel Tuari's presence close to her.
"Make it stop! Please! Stop!" She felt a warm hand on her shoulder.
"Aiyana, it's ok. Wake up." Another hand held her by her waist and started to pull her up.
"It's terrible Tuari. So much death."
"It will be ok, trust me. We are going home. Leave it Aiyana." She was lifted off the ground and felt like a boat on the water.
Gradually she left the space and began to see Tuari's arms clad in a white shirt with dark blue vest. His long golden hair fell onto his back and his amber eyes frowned at her with worry.
"Why didn't you block it?"
"I couldn't, it pulled me in. It was horrible Tuari…I feel…terrible…I…"
Then darkness engulfed her world.