Clouding: Day 11

Word Count: 66,039

Summary of Events:

Theresa attended the funeral for the Hanington family and was distressed by the pastor's insinuation that there had been good in the death of her father and the Haningtons. Asher was unsure of whether he should take Ashley — who seemed to be getting sicker — to the doctor or not, and eventually decided against doing so. Theresa discussed her growing suspicions and dislike of Mr. Peck with Mama over tea, with Mama suggesting heritage had a role to play . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Do you think Mr. Peck dislikes Papa as well?" Theresa asked. "Then he could have killed everyone whether he wanted to frame the Hunter or not."

"I don't know that he knew Jeremy's mixed heritage," Mama replied.

"How could he not?" Theresa asked. "No one else I've met, especially since we've come to Arizona, has Papa's fine, delicate facial features other than Patrice and myself."

"No one here is prejudiced against the French blood," Mama replied. "There is too little of it, and I assure you, Asher does not look French."

"But I thought Papa was French and English," Theresa said.

"Don't you remember the other word Theresa?" Mama asked.

Theresa thought hard. It had been something other than French. She distinctly recalled asking about it, and Papa had told her it was a French word that denoted him to be partially French and partially not.

"Métis," Theresia said when it finally came to her.

"And did not Jeremy explain that word to you?" Mama asked.

"He said it meant partially French," Theresa replied. "That Grandpapa was partially French."

"He did not tell you what the other part was?" Mama asked.

"Is that of significance?" Theresa asked.

"Yes, Métis are specifically people who are half French and half Native," Mama replied. "In the fur trading days Frenchmen known as courer du bois — runners of the wood — collected furs from the Native tribes in return for goods at forts across the continent, and some found themselves in love with young women from the tribes they interacted with, and so they married those women. Their children were the first Métis."

"You mean that the Hunter is partially Native?" Theresa asked.

"Jeremy suspected as much," Mama replied. "He didn't know for sure, but he could see some Native features that suggested it to be possible."

"Papa's are more hidden in the French then," Theresa said.

"Somewhat, yes," Mama replied. "Not to mention it was your great grandmother who was Native, and Grandpapa didn't marry a Native woman, nor did Jeremy."

"So effectively you're saying it's been diluted, making it harder to appear as a dominant feature," Theresa said.

"Yes," Mama replied.

"Wouldn't it be the same with the French?" Theresa asked.

"Obviously not," Mama replied. "Unless maybe the French dominated the Native. But I do believe Grandmama had a little French in her, which might help the French show through better."

"I haven't noticed Mr. Peck to be the sort to be cruel to Natives," Theresa said. "Not that I can say I've seen him with any either, I guess."

"Even if he hasn't interacted with them a lot, Bartholomew has kept an eye on any and all information regarding attacks of white settlers by Natives, especially the Apache around here," Mama replied. "And Jeremy many a time told me that he was troubled by Bartholomew's statements on those attacks, not just because Natives are a part of Jeremy's heritage, but because they, like all men, are created in the image of God."

Pronunciations:

Métis: mehtee

Courer: kohruhr

Bois: bwah