2018.08.06

It's Monday.

Ma’s voice and the fiddle’s music softly died away. And Laura asked Ma where the voice of Alfarata had gone. Ma said goodness and asked Laura if she wasn’t asleep yet. Laura said that she was going to sleep but she asked Ma to tell her where the voice of Alfarata had gone. Ma answered that she supposed that she had gone west and that was what the Indians did. Laura asked why they did that, why they went west. Ma said that they had to. Laura asked why they had to. Pa said that the government made them and asked Laura to go to sleep now. He played the fiddle softly for a while. Then Laura asked Pa if she could ask just one more question. Ma said if she might. Laura began again to asked Pa if she might. Pa asked what it was. It was not polite for little girls to interrupt, but of course Pa could do it. She asked if the government would make these Indians go west. Pa said yes and when white settlers came into a country, the Indians had to move on, and the government was going to move these Indians farther west, any time now, and that was why they were here, and white people were going to settle all this country, and they got the best land because they got here first and took their pick. And he asked if Laura understood. Laura answered yes but she said to Pa that she had thought this had been Indian Territory and asked if it wouldn’t make the Indians mad to have to. Pa said firmly to stop Laura’s question and asked her to go to sleep.