Hesitantly, she watched as the wolf slowly paced toward her. Using her cane for balance, Laylah came down onto her knees to show the wolf she wasn't a threat.
Her voice was almost a whisper when she asked, "Were you one of the wolves who, many days ago, came to help me? If you were, let me tell you how much I appreciate what you did that day."
The wolf bent down to rest its paws in front of it, its back legs sitting upon the ground as though it were ready to spring up and retreat in an instant.
"I wish I had something to give you, wolf, but I don't. I came here without food. I don't know really how I can properly thank you. I wish I could speak to you in the mind-to-mind talk like Eagle Heart can, but I can't."
The wolf looked her directly in the eyes before it came up onto its feet and turned around, trotting back in the direction it had come. However, before it went too far, the animal turned around and asked in distinct mind speak, "Where is the human boy?"
"The human boy?" Laylah asked uncertainly, also using the mind-to-mind form of talking. Was she really speaking with a wolf?
"Your mate," answered the wolf.
"My mate? Oh, you mean Eagle Heart?"
"Yes."
"I don't know where he is. He is gone from here. I was hoping he would be here, but he is not."
The wolf didn't answer. Instead, it turned away and trotted off again. In the distance, Laylah could see another wolf waiting for the one who had approached her. The first wolf had been a female, she realized, because the one she had talked to was smaller than the bigger wolf lingering in the shadows.
Laylah watched them both as they trotted away, though the female paused once and turned her head back to take another look. Briefly, Laylah brought her good hand up in the sign of a goodbye, and it was some minutes before she realized she had spoken to a wolf as though this were an everyday occurrence and as easy to do as speaking with another human being.
What else was she going to learn in this wild land?
No wonder she now understood she could no longer marry Thomas. She had forever changed.
***
YOU WERE WITHhim,weren't you?"
"No, Father, I was not with Eagle Heart, if that is who you mean. I simply went out for a ride."
"After declining to ride with your fiancé! Do you think he didn't notice?"
Laylah did not answer. Instead, she tried to take a step around her father, who stood in the way of her exit from the livery. He reached out to stop her.
"You do realize," he accused, "you have created more gossip about you than is good for our family. Because you were lost with that Injun for well over a week, it is now said he had his way with you."
"That's ridiculous, Father. Nothing like that happened. He did nothing to me. He promised me he wouldn't, and he didn't."
"Hush your mouth, now. How you defend him, as though he is your husband-to-be instead of Thomas."
"I am not defending him. I am telling you the truth. You do realize I would have died if he hadn't found me, don't you? I almost died, Father. Eagle Heart sat up with me through the night, caring for me. I am here now only because he found me and came to my aid. But, if I am defending him, then so be it. You have noticed, haven't you, that Thomas would have let me die?"
"That's enough of your sass, girl. I won't hear any more from you. Better you would have died than to be with the Injun for a week."
She gasped. "Father, you can't mean that!"
He didn't answer. "Now, you listen here, young lady. You are going to marry Thomas, and you are going to marry him tonight. I want no more backtalk from you about this. There is a priest here, a man of the cloth we know as Father Pierre, who is making his way west. He has come to stay with us for a while. I have already spoken to him about marrying you and Thomas."
"No, Father, I don't want to—"
"So, that Injun did have his way with you, did he?"
"He did not, Father. I am telling you the truth about this."
"I will make up my own mind about that. Now you listen up, ya hear? Therewillbe a marriage between you and Thomas...and tonight. I am tired of you wavering back and forth about this marriage. I am stopping these rumors about you, and I'm stopping them now. I will not have my daughter talked about as though she has lain with every dirty Injun within the fort. Now, go to your room, where your mother and your sister await you. They will prepare you for your wedding. Do not think to go elsewhere. If you leave, I will follow you and will bring you back here. Do you realize the task I've had convincing Thomas to still marry you? He was ready to wash his hands of you."
