Dark Days at Saddle Creek. Shelley Peterson

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СКАЧАТЬ her! All I know is that he rode in the rodeo.” Bird reached across the table and grabbed her aunt’s arm. “You can tell me, can’t you?”

      “I only know what I heard from Eva.”

      “Please?”

      “Bird, you’re putting me in a corner.”

      “Was he so horrible? Was my father a murderer? A rapist?”

      “No! Nothing of the sort!”

      “Then why can’t you tell me about him?” Bird was in tears. She let them fall down her face.

      Hannah reached across the table and wiped them away with her hand.

      Bird said quietly, “Please, Aunt Hannah? Tell me about my father?”

      Hannah studied her. She nodded slowly. “Okay. Eva may never speak to me again, but I’ll tell you everything I know.” Hannah took a deep breath and released it slowly. Bird waited while she found the right words.

      “I’ll have to tell Eva I told you, Bird, and I don’t look forward to it, but I’ll start at the beginning as I understand it.” She paused, and began. “My sister, your mother, was a gorgeous, headstrong young woman. She loved having fun. Still does, but she makes better choices now.” Hannah smiled and briefly shook her head. Bird knew the two sisters had had a troubled relationship over the years, but since Eva’s visit the previous summer, things had been much better.

      “Eva met Fred Sweetree at the Stampede in Calgary, in the province of Alberta. That’s why she named you Alberta, but you knew that.”

      “Sweetree,” Bird repeated. “Fred Sweetree. Wow. I never even knew his name until now.”

      Hannah stretched her back and got comfortable. “Fred was a broncobuster of enormous fame. He won more rodeos that year than anyone ever has, before or since. People said the horses bucked better for him, and less viciously, than for anybody else.”

      Hannah looked at her niece and smiled fondly. “Your father was a star. No — a legend. And above all the women flirting with him, he noticed Eva. They happened to be in the same bar one night, and he bought her a drink. Then another. Eva fell head over heels. It didn’t hurt that all the other women were jealous. They left the bar together, and spent the Stampede week as a couple.”

      Bird could imagine the whole scene — Eva would have loved every minute of being with the toast of the town. The charismatic cowboy and the glamorous party girl.

      Hannah continued, but her voice was more guarded now. “The last day of the Stampede, things went terribly wrong. Rumours circulated that Fred drugged horses. Some of the cowboys, not all, believed what they heard because of the change that came over the horses when Fred was around.” She paused. “They were plain jealous. They couldn’t figure out how else he was so successful.”

      Bird could guess the rest, but she let her aunt finish the story. “The big awards dinner was that night, but Fred knew what people were saying about him and left town before the big trophy and the shiny new belt buckle could be presented.” She paused, and her voice dropped.

      “He also left your mother. Eva was heartbroken. She really loved Fred, Bird.” Hannah moved chairs to sit beside Bird, and put her arm around the girl’s shoulder. “When he left town, he took your mother’s heart with him. But Bird,” Hannah said gently, “he left her with a rare and beautiful gift. He left her with you.”

      Bird imagined her mother, young and irresponsible, but in love and crushed. Alone and pregnant.

      “By the time she found out she was going to have a baby, Fred Sweetree was far away. She tried to contact him through the Stampede and various cowboy associations. After a while she accepted that she was going to have to raise you on her own. She tried her best to forget her dashing cowboy.”

      Bird remembered something she’d once overheard. “Mom once said that when my father saw her for the first time, he came up to her and asked, ‘Do you want to play cowboys and Indians?’” Bird looked intently at her aunt. “Is my father from a First Nation?”

      “Yes, Bird. And very handsome. His rodeo name was ‘Indian Fred.’”

      Bird let this sink in. She was half Aboriginal. That made her Metis. She sat up straight. Her father was maybe Cree, or Sioux, or Blackfoot. Or some other people, like Apache or Mohawk or Oneida. How astonishing! Why did she not know this until now — this very important fact about who she was? There were so many questions that she needed answered. Which First Nation did she belong to? Did she have aunts and uncles and grandparents? Even brothers and sisters? She resolved to find him and ask.

      “Thanks so much for telling me,” said Bird. “Where is Fred Sweetree now? How can I find him?”

      “Oh, Bird. I thought you knew.”

      “Knew what?”

      Hannah drew in her breath. “Eva’s quite convinced he’s dead.”

      Bird felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. “Dead?”

      Hannah nodded.

      “How?”

      “He was in a bush plane accident. There were no survivors.”

      “Oh, no!” Bird’s stomach flipped. “That’s horrible! When did it happen?”

      “Years ago. I’m so sorry. I thought you knew.”

      “How could I know? Nobody tells me anything!” Bird’s pain turned to anger as she tried to digest all of this new information.

      “Don’t shoot the messenger,” warned Hannah.

      Bird relaxed. “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. My mother should’ve told me a long time ago.”

      “I hope I did the right thing, telling Eva’s story.”

      “You did, Aunt Hannah. It means so much to me to finally hear the truth.” Bird turned to hug her aunt. “I can always count on you.”

      Bird simply couldn’t understand why her mother had never wanted to tell her about Fred Sweetree. Maybe Hannah was right, her heart was still broken, but Eva was nothing if not resilient. She’d gotten married to someone else before Bird was even born, and she’d had Julia a few years later. And now she was madly in love with her newest husband, Stuart Gilmour.

      Bird snorted at the thought. The solid, predictable public school principal was the polar opposite of the dashing, carefree rodeo star.

      Just then, Eva flew through the screen door, letting it slam behind her and startling both of them. Aunt and niece were still sitting side by side at the kitchen table. “Speak of the devil,” whispered Bird.

      Eva was out of breath. “Hannah, I have a big, big favour to ask.”

      “Sure. What is it?”

      “Can Bird stay over for a few days? Stuart and I have been invited to visit some old friends at their cottage in Muskoka. They have a daughter Julia’s age. Bird would have nothing to do, and I’m sure she’d СКАЧАТЬ