From the book, SHE PAINTS MY SOUL
By
Karen Kay
Karen Kay here. I had wished to interview Strikes Fast myself since I am the author of the book, SHE PAINTS MY SOUL. However, Strikes Fast, the hero of the story would not permit any woman except his wife to interview him. So, I hope you will permit me to allow his wife, Sharon Wells, to conduct this interview.
Sharon: “Hello, my darling husband. Are you prepared for me to ask you some questions?”
Strikes Fast: Shrugs his shoulders.
Sharon: “Well, good. Let’s start with your name. How did you get the name, Strikes Fast?”
Strikes Fast: “A man does not speak his name to others.”
Sharon: “Oh? Why not?”
Strikes Fast: “It is considered bad manners and perhaps boasting.”
Sharon: “But, I promise you, we won’t think you are ill-mannered or boasting. Won’t you tell us how you came to be called, Strikes Fast?”
Strikes Fast: “Humph!”
Sharon: “Did you win the name in a fight?”
Strikes Fast: “Áa, yes.”
Sharon: “Please tell me about it.”
Strikes Fast: “Very well, I will, but only because you ask it of me. I was young, perhaps fifteen snows old. One day while hunting, my father was attacked by a grizzly bear. He had only his knife to defend himself against the bear because his bow and arrows were on his back and he could not reach around to get them. You see, his arms were trying to ward off the claws of the grizzly. I ran to the bear and attacked the creature from behind with my war club, wounding the huge animal and causing him to let my father go. The grizzly turned on me, but I was young and strong—and I have never been a coward—and, instead of running away, I attacked the bear again, over and over, allowing my father to regain his bow and his arrows. He then shot the grizzly in the eye, causing the bear to stop his attack on me and to run away. From then on I was known as Strikes Fast.”
Sharon: “I did not know this, my husband. I wish I had asked you about this sooner. No wonder you became my hero.”
Strikes Fast: “Humph!”
Sharon: “Well, very good. Will you tell me about the first time you saw me?”
Strikes Fast: “I do not wish to embarrass you.”
Sharon: “Please?”
Strikes Fast: Deep sigh.
Sharon: “Please?”
Strikes Fast: “How could I not notice you? You, a white woman, who dared to come into and be a part of the Pikuni people.”
Sharon: “For those who don’t know, the Pikuni people are the Blackfeet tribe. So, tell me more.”
Strikes Fast: “From the first moment I saw you, I could not take my eyes off you. You, with your beautiful hair that is the color of a newborn fawn. You, with your white man’s style of clothing that showed off your womanly figure to perfection. Of course I noticed you.”
Sharon: “I didn’t know that.”
Strikes Fast: “I know you did not. A true man learns to look at a woman without being seen doing it. You were, however, off limits to me. You were under the care and protection of my friends, Eagle Heart and Gray Falcon and I wasn’t certain if you were married to The-white-man-who-paints because you were always with him. But, I noticed you from the very start and I looked at you, long and hard.”
Sharon: “I never knew this. For my part, I admit I didn’t really become aware of you until you rescued me from the charging buffalo that day on the prairie. Only then did I look at you, really seeing you. After that, however, I discovered more about you: for instance, where you pitched your lodge within the camp. I was confused when I never did see a woman waiting for you there. And, I did look because I was curious about the woman whom my hero would have married. What would she be like? How would the two of you act together? But, there was never a woman to be seen there.”
Strikes Fast: “Humph! I was not worthy of taking a wife then. And, I would never have asked a Pikuni woman to be my wife. How could I? Especially after a Pikuni war party killed my entire family, except for me, my sister and her baby. I am Crow and the Pikuni tribe is a deadly enemy of the Crow people.”
Sharon: “But wait! If you are Crow and the Pikuni are deadly enemies of your tribe, why did I find you there within the Pikuni camp?”
Strikes Fast: “Because I owed my allegiance to Eagle Heart, his brother, Chief Chases-the-enemy, and to Gray Falcon, who together rescued my sister and her baby from a fearsome creature. In truth, I was hoping to discover a way to repay my friends for their acts on behalf of my remaining family. When I first rescued you, I was wishing for the feat of saving your life to be such a deed.”
Sharon: “Really? I didn’t know this. So, if you had already committed an act that would repay your debt to your friends, why did you rescue me again only weeks later? After all, it was a terrible magician who had captured me, and he was a man who might have taken your life.”
Strikes Fast: Smiling, Strikes Fast takes a moment before answering. But, at last, he explains and says, “Because your kind heart and your beauty enchanted me. I think I fell in love with you on the day when I saved you from the mad buffalo, but I didn’t know it. After the danger from the magician was behind us and we left his camp, I wished to know you better. But I could not approach you or even talk to you because I thought you might be married to The-white-man-who-paints.
Sharon: “But I wasn’t.”
Strikes Fast: “I know it now. But I didn’t then and I dared not present my feelings to you until the day when you told me you were not yet the wife of The-white-man-who-paints. How happy I was when I discovered I might still have a chance to win your heart.”
Sharon: “What beautiful words these are that you are saying to me. I admit I was a little afraid of you, but even still, after our first encounter, I couldn’t get you off my mind.”
Strikes Fast: Smiling. “I know. But remember: I am a patient man.”
Sharon: “Well, you won my heart, my darling husband.”
Strikes Fast: Reaching out to take Sharon’s hand in his own, Strikes Fast brings his wife’s hand up to his lips and gently kisses her fingers, the palm of her hand and the precious point on her wrist where even now, her heartbeat is racing. Then gazing up into her eyes, he says, “With all my heart, I love you. Now and forever. I will always carry your image within my heart and my soul.”
Sharon: “As I will always love you. And now, my darling husband, our interview is at an end. I thank you very much for consenting to the interview, but, I think our lodge awaits us.”
Strikes Fast: “So it does. Come closer my wife and let us go there at once. I am glad the interview is over. I have much more pleasant ideas of how we might spend the rest of the night together….”
END OF INTERVIEW
Author note: I guess this concludes Sharon’s discussion with her husband, Strikes Fast. It is my hope this brief glimpse into their lives will give you a greater insight into this daring hero, Strikes Fast, and his big-hearted woman, Sharon Wells.
The book is on sale. Priced regularly at $4.99, it is on sale for 20% off at $3.99. It is also free on Kindle Unlimited.
Karen Kay’s Website | Get your Copy on sale or via Kindle Unlimited
The Medicine Man Series:
 |
 |
 |
- About the Author
- Posts in the Past
Under the pen names of Karen Kay and Gen Bailey, Karen has authored seventeen historical romances. All concern the Native Americans. Karen is honored to be able to write about the Native Americans, and if possible to tell a different side of the story of what the early politicians called the “Indian problem.”
Karen/Gen believes firmly that there are always two sides to a story, and before one passes judgment or forms an opinion on a matter, one should hear both sides.
“After reading and studying much history, I’ve come to the conclusion that much of what we’re told is historical “fact” is simply one party’s justification for taking action that harms another. All people have their own tales to tell. This is so much the case, that I believe that if we simply listened to one another, the world might be a better and perhaps a safer place in which to live.”
Thank you so much, Karenne and the Coffee Time Romance crew!