A Love Forbidden by Kathleen Morgan Read Free Book Online Page A

paused in front of the Agency office door, “and I don’t think it’s going to be the Indians.”

     
    “So, here’s what I want you to do.” Nathan Meeker glanced directly at Shiloh. “Beginning tomorrow, visit all the Ute camps on this reservation—which, for starters, includes Chief Douglas’s, Chief Johnson’s, and Captain Jack’s—meet with each set of parents of school-age children, and procure their commitment to enrolling their children in your school.”
    He paused to glance down at a calendar. “I’ll give you until the end of April. That should be more than sufficient time to get the children enrolled and everything set up to start lessons on May first.”
    A little over a month, Shiloh thought. Meeker must be feeling a lot of pressure from his superiors to spare so little time. But then, Josie had been trying since her arrival last summer with no appreciable results. And another summer would soon be upon them.
    “I’ll do my best, sir,” she said. “It might take awhile, though, for the Utes to get to know and trust me, much less accept my reasons for why they should send their children to school.”
    “Unfortunately, Miss Wainwright,” the agent said with a sigh, “I don’t have awhile. And neither do the Utes. I’ve been very patient with them, tried to be a benevolent father and bend over backward to accommodate them. Yet, for the most part, all I get in return is an avid interest in procuring all the government annuity supplies they can get their hands on and then going their merry way. It never seems to enter their childlike brains that to continue to receive, they must also give.”
    “They don’t have a lot of choice, do they, sir, when the government requires they remain within the confines of the reservation? They can’t find much game or gather much food that way, and so need the annuity supplies to survive.”
    Nathan Meeker’s head jerked up from a note he was making on his calendar, and his glance turned to Josie, then Shiloh. “I see my daughter’s already been filling your head with her thoughts on the treatment of the Utes.”
    “No, actually, sir,” Shiloh replied, “I’ve been of that opinion for a while now. It’s pretty much common knowledge amongst those who care to look past the white man’s needs to those of the other inhabitants of this state.”
    He arched a graying brow. “Indeed, Miss Wainwright?”
    She could tell by the angry glint in his eyes that she needed to tread carefully here. Nathan Meeker meant well. It was evident, though, that he was deeply frustrated. Whatever his initial plans had been for the Utes, things hadn’t gone as he’d first envisioned. He seemed a man near the end of his resources and patience. He needed help, or the next steps he took might lead to very unpleasant consequences. Unpleasant not only for the Utes but the Agency employees as well.
    “Indeed, sir.” She paused, trying to choose her next words with all the tact she possessed. “From your letters to me when I was first seeking employment here, I was most impressed with your vision for the Agency and the Ute Indians. That you would lead them from sin to a new life of Christian virtues. That you would teach them to once again become self-sufficient within the confines of their reservation by learning how to farm, raise cows and other livestock, and settle into warm, snug, permanent homes. It might not be the old way of things for them, but it’s the only way. And they get to remain in their beloved mountains.”
    His angry look now mellowing to one of consideration, Meeker rested his chin in his hand. For several long, tortuous seconds, Shiloh watched him, wondering, fearing that she may have just talked herself out of a job. But she had told the truth. There wasn’t more she could say. Either they shared the same vision or she couldn’t remain here anyway.
    Finally, the Indian agent lowered his hand and nodded. “As much as I’d like to give you more time