From Here to Paternity by Jill Churchill Read Free Book Online

of to justify eating again.
    Ten minutes later, and not very much farther up the hill, Jane decided that walking halfway up would probably be enough to earn a good lunch. In fact, a third of the way would almost certainly be sufficient.

Chapter 5

    Jane was back at the restaurant at noon, feeling pleasantly tired and very, very hungry. The thin, deliciously cold mountain air was very appetite-provoking. Although the restaurant was starting to fill up with the lunch crowd, there was no sign of Shelley yet. Jane took a table near the windows and ordered a cup of coffee to sip while she waited. The demonstration was over, and the only people out front now were skiers coming in for a midday break. Jane recognized a few of them from the bunny slope.
    She glanced around the dining room again and was surprised to discover that HawkHunter and several of the tribe were among the diners. Strange that they’d feel comfortable on “enemy turf.“ But maybe not. HawkHunter could very well be a guest here. And the tribe, having always been on good terms with the owner, probably felt quite at home in the dining room. There were two young men, one very old one, and a woman at his table, all speaking intently.
    HawkHunter was at the natural center of the group’s attention. Jane vaguely remembered the picture of him on the dust jacket of his best-selling book. He had looked young and gawky then, as if he hadn’t grown into his teeth yet. But that was fifteen years ago or more. Now he was an extremely handsome man in a very rugged way. And Jane was beginning to sense, even from this distance, what Linda Moosefoot had meant about meeting him and forming her own impression. Even from across the room, he exuded genuine, undistilled charisma. His gestures, a tad “actorish“ were controlled but effective; his gaze was direct and penetrating, his body language subtle but macho.
    Jane’s eye was also drawn to the woman with them. She was quite as striking in her own way as he was. She was an Indian woman dressed in what Jane took to be authentic garb—or, more accurately, a stylish interpretation of authentic garb—a beautifully beaded taupe suede dress, high laced leggings/boots, and long midnight-black, glossy braids with beads and feathers woven in. She sat very still and straight, with the group but aloof from it at the same time. Jane guessed she was in her forties, but she could well be much younger or much older. Her features were classically Indian. She wasn’t as pretty as Linda Moosefoot, but only because she didn’t look as pleasant and happy. This was a woman who didn’t look like she had an ounce of humor in her whole body. Her straight, dark eyebrows were drawn into a frown. As Jane watched, the woman said something, then got up to leave. The men at the table instantly rose to their feet.
    Jane found this fascinating. It was her understanding that courtesies such as this were a very Western, almost chivalrous or Victorian, tradition. She remembered from HawkHunter’s book that although he showed enormous respect for certain women who were his ancestors, there wasn’t any sense of his treating women as if they were somehow fragile and due ostentatious courtesy. In fact, the feeling she had from his book was that women were generally regarded as a fairly likable subspecies of humans. She’d have to get a copy of his book and reread it. Perhaps she wasn’t remembering it accurately. Still, in the back of her mind she felt sure there had been something about a medicine woman who was treated with great deference. Perhaps this woman was one such person.
    While she was idly speculating, she had failed to notice the approach of a woman who could be none other than Doris Schmidtheiser.
    “Hello, there,“ a gravelly voice said.
    “Oh!“ Jane said, surprised.
    “I didn’t mean to startle you. Are you one of our attendees?“
    “I don’t believe so. You’re with the Holnagrad Society?“
    “Yes. May I join you for a