The Blessed Blend (23 page)

   
But there was always a first time for everything and that included losing. Euan had come to love his wife’s family as his own, feeling more a part of them than he ever had his immediate family. Callie’s people were part of their land. It was who they were and he was learning to love it as well. Jim, Dave, Papa, and the other men of Callie’s family were teaching him the lore of the area and their way of life. Callie was teaching him how to tell the trees by their bark, how to track game, and how to navigate the terrain without getting lost.

Somewhere in his mind he had already known that his parents would enter the equation and that the life he was building would be threatened. He didn’t know how or when, only that it would be. The love he and Callie shared was strong and deep but still fragile in some ways, and he prayed that they would weather the storm when it finally hit.

Her pregnancy confirmed after seeing the public health nurse in Sneedville, Callie abided by her promise to not go hunting with the pack but she still worked with the wolves on other aspects of rehabilitation. Fortunately, the more experienced wolves were able to teach the recent arrivals much of what they needed to know. Callie and Jim still directed the training to avoid livestock and human beings, and maintained careful records for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. All of the wolves and mountain lions were micro-chipped for tracking and identification purposes both to study their movements and in the event of any problems.

Euan was present when TWRA agent Steve Elkins brought in a pair of bobcats to be released. He accompanied Jim, Agent Elkins, and Caleb to the release points for the big cats. The male was set free near Copper Ridge and they released the female about a mile-and-a-half away up a secluded hollow with plenty of potential den sites.

Returning to the lodge, Elkins and Jim went over Jim’s carefully kept records to make sure all was in compliance with the state’s stringent rules for hunting and fishing licenses and land-use policies for recreational businesses. Hunting season was over in a couple of days anyway, and no other guests were expected in for that purpose. There would be a writer and his assistant coming in to spend the winter, and a couple of photographers had arrived just the day before for a week’s stay. More snow was expected and they wanted the opportunity to get some shots of the deep woods in winter.

Life on the mountain as a husband and father was proving to be a natural fit for Euan.
 
He helped Jim and Callie’s brothers build the shell of the guest cabin while Callie helped her mother and grandmother with making crafts to sell over the winter. With the tourist and hunting seasons past, Callie spent more time home-schooling the twins, assisted by Darlene, Jim, and other family members.

Euan had been impressed all along by how much instruction was presented, both academic and cultural. Callie and Darlene handled the academics, Jim instructed them in Cherokee language and culture as well as mathematics. Papa taught them mountain lore, and Jolena and other elders taught basic herbal medicines, various crafts, music, and folk wisdom. They were well instructed in their Native, Melungeon, and Scottish heritage and family history.

Callie had always found ways to integrate the various lessons by having Red Wolf and Mountain Rose use what was learned in one lesson with others. They used math to help Jim or Euan measure out where to cut a plank or notch a log or to help Darlene and Nancy Jo calculate how to measure the ingredients for a meal feeding a certain number of people. They listened to songs and stories and pointed out how they tied into the history of a people and place. Callie had them do little experiments for science and explain the process and results.

Euan took a hand in his children’s instruction as well. Working with Jim and Darlene, he showed the twins the basics of running a business and managing a budget. He taught them more about their Scottish heritage and history as well as poems, stories, and songs in Scots Gaelic and Broad Scots. He was awed by the quickness of their minds, the ease at which they grasped any concept and mastered any skill. His own intellect was quite high, as was Callie’s, but their children’s were beyond even the two of them put together.

Wondering if their coming children would be as gifted, he asked Callie, “Wha’ will we do when they get auld
eneu’
to ken they’re smarter than we arre?”

She smiled and caressed his cheek. “That’s why we raise them to be upright, Euan,” she replied. “When they get to be teenagers, they’ll think they’re smarter than us whether they are or not. But they’ll know right from wrong and respect us enough as their parents to still act decently.”

She shrugged and added, “Failing that, we’ll make sure they know we can kick their backsides clear into next week.”

 
The day before their wedding, Callie and Euan were helping to prepare the lodge for the event. Since the temperatures were near freezing, some of the food was prepared ahead of time and stored outside in the unfinished guest cabin. Jim’s sisters Annabelle Cucumber and Marie Walkingstick had come up from Qualla Boundary with their husbands and some of their children and grandchildren. Annabelle, an expert seamstress, was helping to put the finishing touches on Callie’s wedding dress - an ivory calico Tear Dress with cut-out panels of pale blue floral calico and satin ribbon ribbon-work in shades of blue-gray, dusty rose, pale moss green, and a darker ivory to match the colors on the panels.

Darlene and Marie were finishing up the beadwork on Callie’s moccasins, which had outer soles made from Hell Hog’s iron-tough hide. That was only fitting as it had been Euan who had killed the hog, thus proving his ability to protect his family. The picture of Euan and his famous kill had been posted on the Lodge’s website to stir up more interest in hog hunting and they had indeed gotten inquiries for the following hunting season.

Papa was preparing
kanutsi
, a traditional drink served at special occasions by Cherokees and other Southeastern tribes. Made from hickory nuts and hominy, it took nearly twenty-four hours to properly prepare. Under Papa’s oversight and instruction, Caleb, Eli, both Mikes, and Euan took turns hulling the nuts to pound down with the lye-soaked hominy into a stiff mush which was then shaped into balls. The balls would set overnight and then be immersed in water and simmered until the balls had broken down into a gruel-like consistency.

Of course, libations of a more alcoholic nature had been offered by some kinfolk. Kenny Mullins prided himself on the high quality of his corn squeezin’s and home-made persimmon beer. Likewise, Dollie Stockett and Lanie Cumbow made some of the best muscadine, elderberry, and blackberry wines anywhere. Euan had thanked them even while ordering several cases of fine Scottish whiskey and champagne through the Lodge’s usual distributor.

Family members were dropping off food and gifts, helping with preparations including putting up a large rental tent to be heated with several portable wood stoves where the ceremony would take place. There was plenty of laughter and chatter inside and outside the Lodge. Just as one bunch left, another one came, and there was more visiting going on. Euan was introduced to so many people that he gave up trying to keep names and degrees of relation straight. It was easier to just enjoy the company.

Not used to the noise and uncomfortable with the crowd of assorted kinfolk, Callie retreated to the woods for a while.
 
The pack, now up to nine members, accompanied her through the woods as she took a walk down towards the spring. There in the shelter of its small hollow, she sat down on a large flat rock with the pack around her, breathed in the crisp air, and listened to the song of the mountains.

Chilled sunlight streamed down through the bare branches of trees older than most of the local families and squirrels scampered high above, stopping on occasion to scold at the wolves. The wolves, for their part, ignored the squirrels except for an occasional glance. They had made a good kill the night before so they weren’t especially hungry at the moment, but probably wouldn’t pass up an opportunity for a snack should one present itself.

Nightside lay across her feet, and Raze and Smoke sat to either side of Callie as she scratched their ears. Chopper lolled just off to her right, rolling playfully on his back and showing off his teeth in a lupine smile. Mika, still a bit aloof, lay curled up a few feet away, while Snake, Nikki, Hannah, and Midnight basked in the sun as they lay behind their alpha.

Midnight was the least dominant wolf in the pack but very good at staying in the other wolves’ graces. Mika and Hannah had not resolved who was superior to whom between them and still got into fights. The rest of the pack let them squabble as long as it didn’t spill over on them.

Since all of them were neutered there were no breeding rights involved, but the more dominant wolves got the choicer parts of the kills and better sleeping places in the den. The rule most critters tended to follow was if it didn’t involve food, sex, or security, it wasn’t worth the trouble to fool with or fight over.

Only humans thought they could improve on that system.

As Callie sat there, she heard the sound of yet another vehicle coming up the mountain. This one was unfamiliar and she and the pack all took notice of it. Running up to the ridge, they watched for it to become visible. When she saw it, she knew that it had to be a stranger. The SUV was too new, too expensive-looking to be anyone they knew. Surely the coal company wasn’t coming up here to try to buy them out again. How many times did they have to be told “hell no”?

She ran for the lodge. Whoever it was, they were obviously unexpected and mountain folks were normally very suspicious of strangers to start with. The best way to avoid trouble was to be prepared, as the old saying went, and Callie went to give warning.

“Mama, we’ve got strangers coming!” she called out as she hit the flat in front of the lodge.

Darlene was shaking out a rug. She stopped as Callie called and then called to Jim. The Awiaktas stood together on the porch as the vehicle finally arrived a few minutes later. The Cadillac Escalade pulled to a stop among the well-used trucks, cars, and vans parked around the lodge, and idled for a few minutes as the assembled kinfolk eyed it suspiciously.

“Who do ye think it is?” asked Marie.

“Ain’t no one we know,” replied Jolena. “If’n they’uns weren’t up to no good they’d ‘a got out of that fancy ride of theirs by now.”

Euan and the twins came out on the porch to stand beside Callie and her family. Callie picked up Mountain Rose while Euan held Red Wolf, and the children clung to their parents. “Mama,” Mountain Rose whispered, “it’s somebody thinking bad thoughts at us in that truck.”

Red Wolf put his arms around his father’s neck. “Daddy, they know you,” he said. “Who is it?”

That question was answered for Euan and Callie when the driver got out and opened up one of the rear doors. Out stepped a very well-dressed and distinguished-looking man and elegantly attired woman. They looked disdainfully over the mountain folks gathered there, their mouths tight and eyes cold. If they were bothered by the hostile looks going their way, they didn’t show it. Finally they looked up and saw the person they were seeking. Approaching the porch they stopped at the bottom step.

“So this is what you abandon your birthright for, Euan?” sniffed the man.

Euan turned to Jim and Darlene. “Mum and Da,” he said, using the names he had begun calling his in-laws, “meet my parents, Niall and Leona Wallace.”

Except for the rustling of the wind there was absolute silence for about a minute.
 
Niall and Leona Wallace stood stock-still until one of Jasper Lee Stockett’s dogs came to sniff at them and poked his nose up under Leona’s fur coat. “Get this cur away from me!” she fumed as she swung her purse at him. As Mike Cumbow dragged Flea off, she snapped, “Ill-bred dogs, ill-bred people. What else would one expect from a place like this?”

Dave Robertson offered some advice to the Wallaces. “If’n ye don’t like it, feel free to leave. I don’t recall that you’uns was invited up here in the first place,” he said flatly, his dark eyes fixed upon Euan’s mother in warning. Broad of shoulder and stout of build, he was solid as the trunk of an old oak tree and about as unmovable when taking a stand.

Leona glared coldly at him and then turned her face away, mumbling something under her breath. Several other family members, obviously insulted by the Wallaces’ rudeness, stood shoulder to shoulder with arms folded across their chests, forming a human palisade hemming these intruders in. The fancy vehicle and fancy clothes didn’t impress the Robertson clan one bit and the haughty attitudes only pissed them off.

Euan walked forward and looked down at his parents. Their eyes flew between his and Red Wolf’s faces as calculating looks crossed their own. “I see tha’ ye’ve noticed m’ son,” Euan said. “His name is Red Wolf Wallace-Hawken. M’ daughter,” he continued as Callie came to his side, “is named Mountain Rose Wallace-Hawken. And this is m’ wife, Callie Hawken-Wallace.”

He paused with a slight smile that never reached his eyes. “But ye already ken who she is.”
 

Darlene’s dark eyes glittered with wariness and hostility as she gave Euan’s parents a look that would have seared the hide off an elephant. These people were at least partly responsible for some of the grief her daughter had suffered and she was on alert to keep them from doing more harm. She didn’t flinch or look away as their haughty gazes fell upon her and she returned their look of dismissal with one of her own.

Nonetheless, she managed a polite smile. “Welcome to Broken Bone Lodge,” Darlene said in a level voice. “As you can see, we’re having a family get-together. Since you’re now part of the family, you’re welcome to join us. Will you need accommodations for the night?”

At the mention of the word family, the Wallaces looked as if they had just caught wind of something foul. Looking again at Euan, Niall asked sarcastically, “
This
is what you’ve chosen over your own family?”

“Aye, Fathair,” Euan replied. “I’m proud t’ be part o’ this family. They at least ken the meaning o’ the word and hae a sense o’ honor aboot it.”

“Euan!” gasped Leona. “That was uncalled for! I don’t know where you’ve acquired these rude manners but you were raised in better society!”

Before Euan could reply, Callie looked up at him and said, “Perhaps your folks would like to come in out of the cold. I could make them some tea or hot chocolate.”

Euan smiled and said “Excellent idea, wife, but let’s finish proper introductions, shall we?”

Turning to his parents he gestured at Darlene and Jim. “These are m’ in-laws, Jim and Darlene Awiakta,” he said. “They’re the owners an’ proprietors o’ Broken Bone Lodge.”

He next introduced Caleb, Eli, and Layla as well as Papa and Jolena and the rest of those he knew. Euan’s parents looked on stiffly and said nothing. Callie’s siblings nodded respectfully but didn’t offer their hands as they weren’t sure the Wallaces would accept them.

Papa, though, stepped forward and offered his. “Pleased t’ meet ye,” he said. “We’re honored to have Euan in our family.”

“Well, that’s obvious!” Leona snapped. “I cannot say the same, however.”

Papa drew back his hand and looked her dead in the eye. Several moments passed by before Leona finally dropped her gaze and looked away. “There’s no need to be ugly to us even if’n we’uns ain’t the kind of folks yer used to,” Papa said in a firm yet gentle voice. “All stand equal in the Lord’s eyes and in the end His is the only yardstick all folks get measured by.”

With that Papa turned and walked back to tending the
kanutsi
.

The heat from the gazes of the assembled members of the Robertson clan fell upon the Wallaces and even they were astute enough to realize that they had crossed a line. Euan’s eyes narrowed as he looked at his parents and he shook his head ever so slightly. He turned and apologized to Jim and Darlene for his parents’ rudeness before going inside to get his children out of the cold and away from the unpleasantness.

Callie handed Mountain Rose to Euan and turned to face the Wallaces.

“That was some rather ill-bred behavior you just engaged in yourselves,” she stated. “As poor and humble as we are around here, even we know better than to act like that. My grandfather is a man of some importance in these parts and not someone you want as an enemy. When you insulted him, you pretty much insulted the rest of us and we rarely take insults lying down. Nonetheless, we are gracious enough to overlook your indiscretion and invite you into our home anyway. Your choices are to accept it or go on your way.” With that she went into the lodge to join her husband and children.

Faced with a hostile crowd and rather cold weather, the Wallaces decided to go inside. Followed by Jim and Darlene, they entered the lodge. Jim took their coats as Darlene ushered them to sit by the fireplace to warm up. There was a good fire going and the room was comfortable. The potpourri pot was hanging on its hook, simmering with a mixture of pine essence and sandalwood.

“Callie will bring out refreshments in a few minutes,” she said to their uninvited guests. “If you need to freshen up a bit, the restroom is on the right hand side in the hallway just past the stairs. If you need accommodations, I’ll need time to set up your room. Will your driver be staying?”

Niall looked at Darlene as if she was from another planet. “Our driver?” he asked. “Oh, yes, the driver. We hadn’t planned on staying. We only came to get our son.”

Darlene smiled tightly. “I believe Euan has a say in the matter, doesn’t he? And I doubt he’ll want to leave his wife and children.”

Leona spoke up. “Well, Euan has always been rebellious,” she said. “Always one to push the envelope and chase after will-o-the-wisps. He’s thirty years old and it’s time he grew up and managed his obligations to his family.”

Darlene cocked an eyebrow. “Strange, I thought that’s what he’s been doing.”

“Well, he, uh…I mean to say that of course the children should come home with him,” Niall said. “If they
are
his children then they belong with us.”

“And who made ye the judge on tha’?” Euan asked as he crossed the room. “Ye’re right, I
am
thirty, which means I’m a grown mon and nae a child sae ye ha’ nae say in it anymore. I’m free t’ go where I want an’ live where I want, and choose m’ ain path in life. I’ve made m’ choice an’ its tae be right here wi’ m’ wife an’ oor bairns. If ye canna or willna accept m’ choices, tha’s your problem an’ nae mine. An’ what’s this aboot takin’ the children wi’oot their mathair? Ye’ll do nae suich a thing!”

“Euan, why must you be so obstinate?” Leona asked. “You could at least speak proper English!”

“I’m a Scotsman, Mathair, an’ I prefer tae speak m’ ain language,” Euan retorted. “An’ its nae me who’s bein’ obstinate. It’s the
twa
o’ ye who refuse t’ see reason.”

Niall spoke. “You just never could get the chit out of your system, could you? All of the proper young ladies of your own class and you choose a… a…”

“Backwoods mixed-blood?” offered Callie as she brought in a tray with several cups of hot cocoa and shortbread cookies. Setting the tray down on the coffee table in front of the Wallaces, she politely handed them each a cup.

As the twins bounced into the living room, she went to Euan and motioned to the children to come to them. Jim and Darlene took up their seats in the rocking chairs near the fireplace and set a steady gaze upon Euan’s parents.

Remembering the driver, Euan brought the man inside to warm up in the kitchen and asked Jolena if she would please attend to him.

Returning to the living room in, he sat down with his wife and children at the opposite end of the sectional sofa from his parents. “Now then, let’s get this settled, shall we?” he asked, using proper English just to needle his parents.

Several uncomfortable moments passed as Euan and his parents stared each other down. Niall and Leona sipped at their cocoa and Leona actually complimented “the chef” on the creamy brew. Callie accepted the compliment graciously and advised the woman that she had baked the shortbread as well. Leona looked as if she were uncertain she wanted to even touch one, let alone try it.

Red Wolf and Mountain Rose studied the Wallaces. “So these are our other grandparents?” Mountain Rose asked, her blue-gray eyes scanning the couple.

“Aye, lass,” replied Euan. “These are m’ parents.”

“What did you say their names are?” asked Niall, pointing at the children.

“Red Wolf and Mountain Rose,” Euan reiterated.

“Why have they no proper names?” Leona asked. “Those sound like characters from some movie about the American West.”

“They
are
proper names, Mrs. Wallace,” Callie replied testily. “My family
is
Native, you know.”

“But not proper at all for people in our circles,” Niall chided.

“We aren’t in your circle, Mr. Wallace,” Jim said. His obsidian eyes were lit with a cold fire. Where the hell did these people get off having this kind of attitude? First they show up uninvited, then they insult the family patriarch as well as everyone else within earshot, then they claim that they had come to take Euan
and
the kids? The Wallaces were lucky that their hosts were a hell of a lot more civilized than they apparently were.

Euan’s voice rumbled in warning. “There’s nae a thin’ wrong wi’ m’ bairns’ names. I’ll nae change them.”

“What’s wrong with my name?” asked Mountain Rose. “My name is pretty!”

Niall and Leona studied the child, who boldly returned their perusal. Callie didn’t like what she saw in the Wallaces’ eyes. Too calculating. Too greedy.

“Well, dear,” Leona wheedled. “Wouldn’t you like to be called Elizabeth or Christina or something a little more, er,
conventional
?”

“What’s that mean?” the child asked, looking at her mother.

Callie answered, “It means usual, like everyone else.”

“Heck, no!” Mountain Rose answered. “I’m the
only
Mountain Rose! I like it that way!”

“And I like my name, too,” Red Wolf said. “It’s who I am.”

He studied his paternal grandparents, taking in far more than they could ever guess a child that small could know. When they met his gaze they could only look for a short time before they had to look away. Red Wolf knew that they were not to be trusted and whispered as much into his father’s ear.

“I ken tha’, lad,” Euan whispered back. “See tha’ ye an’ yer sister doona be alone wi’ ‘em for any reason. Ye stay wi’ yer mathair an’ me at all times.”

“Yes, sir,” the boy said softly, nodding. He then whispered, “Grandpa knows how to fix a car so it won’t start. Maybe he should do that if they stay the night.”

Euan spoke again to his parents. “Ye can go oon back to Scotland. My life is here wi’ Callie and our bairns. She’s m’ lawful wife, ye ken, and she’s pregnant wi’ another set of bairns-”

“So you said,” Leona interrupted. “How far along is she? You’ve been here only a month and a half! That’s certainly not enough time to tell that there are twins or if they’re even yours.”

Euan’s eyes narrowed. “They’re mine, Mathair!” he growled. “An’ I ken it
ootthrou!
Noo if ye doona mind, I’ll thank ye t’ nae be impugnin’ m’ wife’s honor!”

Jim stood up. “And I’ll thank you to get out of my house!” he ordered. “Nobody comes in here and insults my family like this!”

“Well, how rude!” snapped Leona. “You have no idea who it is you are dealing with! We can crush you under heel like insects!”

Euan decided to play an ace he had up his sleeve. “An’ I have certain information on some dealings ye hae been long involved in tha’ the Securities Ministry might not look upon too favorably,” he said levelly. “Including some things ye should hae reported an’ paid taxes on.”

Apprising their shocked looks, he added, “I’m nae as ignorant aboot the family dealings as ye might ken. Joost because I doona want t’ participate in it doesna mean I doona ken what’s goin’ oon.”

He got up and walked over to look down upon his parents, arms crossed over his chest. “If ye try tae undermine m’ in-laws or interfere in m’ family here in
any
way, especially as concerns m’ bairns, said information will be delivered post-haste tae Securities. If anythin’ happens tae me an’ Callie an’ yer thinkin’ tae take our bairns away from our appointed legal guardians, who would be their maternal grandparents, said information will be delivered tae Securities. An’ if ye try tae block m’ wife’s spousal resident permit tae the UK, said information will be delivered. D’ ye ken me?”

Euan’s face was hard and his eyes murderously cold. The Wallaces were taken aback at this unfamiliar persona their younger son had taken on; in the space of a few weeks he had evolved from rebellious son to fully mature and completely independent alpha male. No longer on their leash or under their control, he was presenting himself as a force to be reckoned with and that did not sit well with his parents at all. “How dare you?” Leona hissed. “How
dare
you threaten us?”