Ian and Anne again

This will be my last post for a while; NaNoWriMo starts next week! If things go well, I will have a new novel to edit along with Sable Wings. So enjoy!!

Dear husband,

I am offended that you would think I don’t know how to take care of my reputation. You said yourself that people are suspicious of my anyway as I am a foreigner – your words, not mine. Why can’t I have a little fun? I can no longer go out, discretion forbids it, and sitting at home day after day makes me want to scream. Mrs. Franklin has visited several times since my last letter, but there have been no more fits and we do not speak of it. She is enjoyable company and has a wonderful wit. She manages to skewer everyone with her sharp tongue and yet they seem to bear no malice toward her. Her wit is such that others do not realize they have been skewered. She is so good for my mood, Ian. If you only knew her as well as I do! And it isn’t true about her being descended from a shaman or something as you claimed. Her grandmother was a Cherokee, it’s true, but she never knew her as she died shortly after the birth of her last child, Mrs. Franklin’s mother. So you see, there is nothing wrong with her. She says that not everyone knows about her grandmother, though some suspect. It is just my natural good nature that made her confide in me.

I hope you are safe. I imagine you have reached New Echota by now. That is certainly a strange name for a town, if indeed it is really a town and not just a mean settlement somewhere. I hope you have sorted out the men who claim they were attacked. Liars are common in the army I suppose, along with thieves and cheats. Do be careful, Ian, I know what a trusting, gullible person you are. Don’t let them take advantage of you, and I do hope you are not gambling at cards again. You know how disastrous it was the last time.

I am spending my days in my wrapper lately. I have no desire to primp, and there is no reason for it anyway. The only person who visits is Mrs. Franklin. I do take care with my appearance on visiting days as I am never sure who might come calling. But I have let it be known that I am only At Home on Wednesdays between the hours of 3 o’clock and 4 o’clock. Mrs. Franklin may come when she pleases. She and I have come to be such good friends. She tells me I will have a girl who will grow up to be a famous seer and that then will come two boys but one will be crippled. I laugh at her so-called prophesies, Ian, don’t worry. I don’t take her seriously. I believe she is just having fun with me.

I know if we have a boy we shall name him Alexander after your dear father. But what if it is a girl? We were both so certain I would have a boy right away. Might we call her Isabel after my dear great-aunt? I so loved Aunt Isabel even if no one else in the family did. She made no apologies for her life and that is what I would want for a daughter of mine. What do you think?

Oh, I almost forgot! William’s wife has given birth to another daughter. I suppose I should visit and take her a basket. I don’t suppose she, or William, would care if I flaunted proprieties for a short visit. That makes five daughters now, I think. Poor William! He is putting a brave face on it, but I know he was really hoping for a son. I hope I shall give you a son, Ian, as you want.

I must go now as Mrs. Franklin has just arrived. She has another person with her Addie tells me. How delightful!

Do take care of yourself, Ian.

Your loving wife,

Anne

Dearest Anne,

I hope you are well. Mrs. Franklin does not sound like the type of person you should be seeing, Anne. And no daughter of mine would be named after someone like your aunt Isabel! I don’t know how you could even suggest such a thing. If you do have a girl, which I sincerely hope you do not, we will name her Gertrude after my sainted grandmother. She knew her place in society as I would hope any daughter of mine would, too. And a seer? Really, Anne, how can you listen to such claptrap? I must forbid you to receive Mrs. Franklin again. She would be a bad influence on you, I just know. I am frankly, shocked that you would cavort with someone of Mrs. Franklin’s caliber. She has Indian blood even if she never knew her grandmother. You must protect our family name, Anne, and stay away from her.

I am sorry that William’s wife gave him yet another daughter! I hope that shall not be the case with you, Anne. I must have a son to carry on our family traditions. It is very important that my son carries on our families military traditions and the family name. A daughter could never inherit our estate, and our name would die out. That would be a tragedy, Anne.

We arrived at New Echota safely. We lost only one man; one of those who had been supposedly attacked as I told you previously. The other man has totally lost his wits and is totally useless to me. Whenever he is asked about what happened he turns pale and babbles something unintelligible. He is kept under guard lest he harm someone as he seems to be prone to violent fits.

New Echota is nothing like I imagined. It looks like any other small town around here. The houses are neat with small gardens. There is a town square with a general store, and there is even a post office inside the store. The savages dress as we do, the only difference is their dark skin, and even the men wear their hair in long braids. I have seen some of them wearing strange attire with long fringes on their jackets and ribbons on their shirts. If they hadn’t been wearing trousers I would have thought them to be women. Many have been locked up in stockades outside of town. Oh, what a sight that is, Anne. They are filthy and stink to high heaven. It seems to me that if they were so civilized, as we have been told they are, they would keep themselves clean and neat. There are very few around town. The lottery ensured that their houses are given to our kind, which is as it should be. But some of them have somehow eluded capture, and I intend to rectify that very soon. They are savages. There is no way they are as intelligent as we are. All the learning in the world would not make them like us. There are a few farms just outside of town. But I understand that they don’t farm the right way. The farmland is considered communal land and nobody owns the land. How ridiculous! We all know that communal land doesn’t work. Somebody is bound to start a fight over boundaries. I am surprised they haven’t fought over it yet. But that will soon not matter at all. We are packing the lot of them out to the Oklahoma Territory with the rest of the savages.

Do end your relationship with Mrs. Franklin, Anne, for the sake of our children.

Ian