Play@YSDC

Posted: **Mon Sep 18, 2023 4:09 am**

"First off, I guess, how long has it been since you got your land taken away?" Lawrence inquires.

Posted: **Mon Sep 18, 2023 11:49 pm**

”Many, many years,” replied Nashoba, sombrely. ”My ancestors fought the Spanish Conquistadors. They could beat the men but could not defeat the diseases that they brought with them. More recently, my people fought the whites, but we were beaten by your bullets and your treaties, treaties written in a language we did not understand and which were not honoured anyway. Our lands were taken from us. Good land, land that would sustain us, was taken in exchange for reservation land, where our crops could not grow and our people starved.”

Posted: **Tue Sep 19, 2023 4:36 am**

"Has anyone stood up for your people?" asks William.

Posted: **Wed Sep 20, 2023 11:21 pm**

Nashoba laughed bitterly. ”No one, no one at all. No,I tell a lie, there was one man - an Indian Agent whose name I now forget. He stood up for us, but he is long gone. Now there is just me and my family. The poison brought by the oil has driven everyone away, but I must stay. If we do not venerate our ancestors, we lose our faith, our connection to the old ways. Without that, we are no better than the whites, destroying nature rather than living with it in harmony.”

He looked at William and Lawrence and he shook his head. ”But what would you know of those? You are whites also, the same as those who despoil our lands in their greed for money.”

Posted: **Thu Sep 21, 2023 4:55 am**

"We are whites," says William, "but we are not like the ones who despoil your land. Not all white people are the same. I'd like to help you if I can. I've always had a thirst for justice. That's why I became a lawyer. While I'm not licensed to practice law in Louisiana, I can certainly advise you. That oil is on your land, and therefore the oil belongs to your people by right. But oil companies are big, powerful, and wealthy. That's a huge problem with the legal system. They can pretty much buy a favorable court ruling, and nobody has enough money to compete with the Rockefellers and their ilk. It's an uphill battle, but sometimes a small victory can be won."

Posted: **Thu Sep 21, 2023 5:55 am**

"I can't say I'm better than any man, white or otherwise, but I know more of anything than I would ever want to know, and even that isn't much. The world's a horrible place." Lawrence says, speaking with terrible clarity. "But what have you done in your own defense? I don't imagine you just sat here with your hands in your pockets while your burial ground got forcibly moved."

Posted: **Thu Sep 21, 2023 9:41 pm**

”We protested. We wrote to our Congressman. We even went to the State Senate in Baton Rouge. They make the right noises, but at the end of the day, money talks, and noise is all it is,” said Nashoba. ”It made no difference and my people lost heart. The youngsters moved away first, then their parents. There are but a handful of us left to continue the fight.”

Posted: **Fri Sep 22, 2023 4:30 am**

"How are you continuing the fight?" asks William.

Posted: **Sat Sep 23, 2023 2:41 pm**

Nashoba gave William a sly look and tapped the side of his nose. ”You’ll have to wait and see.”

Posted: **Sat Sep 23, 2023 8:50 pm**

"Is there anything we can do to help?" asks William, curious about just what Nashoba means.

Posted: **Sat Sep 23, 2023 11:48 pm**

Nashoba shook his head. ”Don’t need no help. You’ll see soon enough - then everyone will be talking about the damage they’re doing!” He smiled to himself and refused to be drawn any further on the subject.

Posted: **Sun Sep 24, 2023 4:02 am**

"I guess we'll wait and see, then," says William.

Posted: **Sun Sep 24, 2023 11:30 pm**

”I guess you will,” said Nashoba with a nod, ”But thanks for breakfast. I appreciate it.””

Posted: **Mon Sep 25, 2023 12:50 am**

"You're welcome," says William, who had thought it was lunch. "Could you please give us a hint, at least? How long will we have to wait?"

Posted: **Tue Sep 26, 2023 12:08 am**

Nashoba looked furtive but leaned in closer to William. ”Wait ’til it gets dark,” he said. ”Now I’ve got things to do.” And with that he pushed back his chair, stood and headed out the door.

Posted: **Tue Sep 26, 2023 12:52 am**

"He has a cunning plan, and he's very happy with it," says William to Lawrence after Nashoba has gone, "but that's the most he'll tell us about it."

Posted: **Tue Sep 26, 2023 5:44 am**

"We ought to keep an eye on him. I don't know if he's a snake-handler or not, but this whole thing seems awfully familiar, if you ask me." Lawrence quietly remarks, watching Nashoba in the distance.
"I think I'm gonna follow him. If you have a problem with the idea, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Posted: **Tue Sep 26, 2023 11:48 pm**

Posted: **Wed Sep 27, 2023 5:19 am**

"If you're sure you can do it without him seeing you," says William. "We don't want to alienate him, especially if he is one of them. I'm not very stealthy, but what I can do is follow you while keeping far enough away that he can't see me. I won't be able to see him either, but as long as I keep you in sight, it should be fine."

Posted: **Wed Sep 27, 2023 7:12 pm**

Outside, the figure of Nashoba could be seen retreating into the distance, shuffling along the road past Mrs Hebert’s house and further up the road.

Play@YSDC

Ch.16b Exploring the Village (Lawrence & William)

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Re: Ch.16b Exploring the Village (Lawrence & William)

Re: Ch.16b Exploring the Village (Lawrence & William)