Interview with
Grace from Dancing Fawn
Today my guest, Grace Cummings, the heroine in Dancing Fawn is here to tell us how she survived being held
captive by Indians. So, without further
ado, let's begin the interview:
Just for clarification, HOST will indicate the interviewer’s
questions below:
HOST: It must have been a very traumatic ordeal
for you. Can you tell us about it?
GRACE: It was horrid. (She shudders) I still hear my mother's screams in my head. I…
HOST: Do you need a moment to compose yourself?
GRACE: No, I'm fine.
(Deep breath) It was 1874. My family had moved around a lot
because my father, bless his departed soul, was a restless man. It was hard for a girl my age to make
friends, not living in one place for very long, and just when Ma, Kevin and I
thought we might settle down, General George Armstrong Custer made an
announcement about gold being discovered in the Black Hills of Lakota
territory. That's all it took! Pa loaded everything back into our Conestoga
and insisted this was his chance to strike it big.
HOST: Why didn't you mother put her foot down?
GRACE: You have to understand that back then, women
were expected to know their place. Ma
pretty much did as Pa said. Besides, he
promised her that when he hit the mother lode, he would buy us a new house; new
furniture and we'd never have to move again.
HOST: I can see how that might have sounded pretty
enticing.
GRACE: It was.
We all had visions of putting down permanent roots, so being out on the
plains, cooking over a campfire again and roughing it for a just a little
longer was worth it if Pa and my brother, Kevin, found gold.
HOST: Tell us more about your experience, please.
GRACE: All right.
We had made camp at the base of the Black Hills, near a sparse stand of
trees. There was a small stream nearby,
so water was plentiful. Ma and I slept
on a pallet of blankets in the wagon, while Pa and Kev slept in a makeshift
tent. We had just finished breakfast one
morning and were laughing and talking before Pa and Kev went off to the mine,
when I happened to spy some riders on the horizon. It soon became clear from
the whooping and hollering that they were being attacked by Indians.
HOST: Oh my goodness, what did you do?
GRACE: Pa immediately yelled for Ma and I to get back
in the wagon and he and Kev grabbed their rifles and crawled
underneath. I hunkered down behind the
tailgate, waiting for Ma, but she never came.
I was so scared, hearing the sound of gunfire and those blood-curdling
war cries, I covered my ears, but it didn't help. When I got the courage to peek outside, I saw
the Indians circling our hiding place and Ma running in the opposite direction. I think she was trying to draw them away from
me. I didn't realize it at the time, but
Pa and Kevin were already dead. They
were easy pickings with no real shelter.
HOST: How awful.
GRACE: You have no idea! (Stopping to bite her knuckle, then staring
straight ahead). They…they shot my ma down in cold blood right before my eyes.
HOST: Oh you poor thing. What did you do then?
GRACE: (Dabbing at eyes with hanky) I curled myself
into a ball and prayed that it was all just a bad dream, and that I'd wake
up. When I didn't hear anything for a
while, I found the courage to rise to my knees and peer over the tailgate
again. I almost had heart failure when I
came face-to-face with the ugliest sight I'd ever seen.
HOST: Oh my gosh, I have goose bumps. What was
it?
GRACE: It was the person I later learned was Black
Crow. His face was painted with bright
yellow lightning bolts, and he had a scar that ran from ear-to-ear. He pulled me out of the wagon, barking orders
in a strange language, and threw me to the ground. I felt like my heart was going to pound its
way right through my chemise. (Holds hand against chest)
HOST: Oh my goodness, what was going through your
head?
GRACE: I was certain he was going to kill me,
too. I think he might have had it not
been for one of his friends. The one,
called Little Elk, seemed to step in and calm Black Crow down. Still, it was an awful thing to go through,
wondering if you were going to live or die.
After Black Crow tethered my arms together and dragged me along behind
his horse, like I was nothing more than an animal, I almost wished I had
died. I fought to keep up all the way to
the Indian village.
HOST: How far was it?
GRACE: (Holding out her wrists). I'm not sure, but you can still see the scars
where the rawhide bit into my skin. I
didn't have time to get my shoes on, so my feet were pretty raw, too. I'm used to walking beside the wagon every
day, but being dragged is quite different.
It took forever.
HOST: What happened when you got to the village?
GRACE: I was so tired I could barely stand, but I
dared not drop to the ground when it seemed like the whole village stood in a
circle around me, staring and laughing.
I thought for sure I was about to meet my maker, but something very
surprising happened.
HOST: Don't stop now!
GRACE: A beautiful green-eyed woman walked into the
midst of things and protected me. She
spoke their language and dressed in their clothing, but it was evident from her
flaming red hair that she was white. If
it hadn't been for her I would never have survived to tell this story, that and
the fact that Black Crow's mother didn't like having a white woman share her
home. (Grace gives a half-hearted chuckle)
HOST: What happened?
GRACE: After only one night in her tepee, Black Crow
handed me over to Little Elk. He, at least treated me with kindness, allowing
Green Eyes to help me bathe and wash my hair.
I was still scared, but not nearly as much. Pa always said I was headstrong, and it
almost got me into trouble when Little
Elk gave me a new name. (Sitting up
straighter, squaring shoulders)
HOST: Oh gosh, we're almost out of time and I hate
to make you stop. Can you give us a
brief summary, and quickly?
GRACE: Although there is so much more to tell, I'll
just say that Little Elk played a big role in the decision I made when the
white soldiers raided the camp. Unless you want to invite me back for another
visit, I guess you'll just have to read the book. (Holds out a copy)
HOST: Is this for me? How nice, and it's
autographed. Grace Cummings, thank you
so much for spending time with us and sharing your captivating story. I'd like
to remind our readers that Dancing Fawn by Ginger
Simpson is offered at http://bookswelove.com/authors/simpson-ginger/. It’s also offered on her Amazon page, but you won't get the BOGO sale going on right now. Buy one, get one Free. What a holiday deal. Happy reading!
