"He left me there to die, Father! And, I would have done so if not for Eagle Heart."
"Why, you little tramp. Defending the Injun yet again. You, girl, disappoint me. All I can say is youbetter still be a virgin. If you are not, I will seek out that Injun, and I will have my revenge. Do ya hear? Now, go!"
Laylah wanted to speak out again, but realized it was pointless. Her father rarely worked himself up into such a rage. But, when he did, it was best not to cross him.
She bit her lip and, stepping with a limp around her father, paced as fast as she could from the livery, heading straight toward the gate. But, it appeared her father had issued orders about her, for the gate closed before she could even come close to it.
Realizing she didn't have a choice in the matter, she turned around and headed in the direction of the main house. Her room was in the southern part of the house, and, as she stepped toward it now, she wondered if she were destined to live the same kind of life as her grandmother, after all.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
––––––––
"YOU LOOK SO PRETTY," complimented Molly McIntosh, Laylah's mother, who stood off to Laylah's right and slightly behind her. "Are you happy now?"
Laylah didn't answer. Instead, she looked away from her mother as well as the reflection of her image in the mirror. She was seated in front of the vanity in her own and Amelia's room; her sister was standing in back of her and Amelia's hand stopped mid-brushstroke as she admonished, "Mother!"
"What?" asked Mrs. McIntosh. "What did I say that is wrong?"
"Please, how can you ask Laylah a question like this? Can't you see she is very unhappy?"
"I...I..."
"Personally," Amelia interrupted, "I think she should run away and marry Mr. Eagle Heart. After all, he saved her. No one else did. You do love him, don't you, Laylah?"
"I...yes, I mean, I..." What did she say to her sister's question? Of course she loved him. Worse, she missed him. Indeed, she was now convinced she'd made a terrible mistake by not going with him. "I do love him," she admitted simply. "Indeed, who would not? I have never known anyone like him. He is a man of honor; he is a man who entertained me with games and a glimpse of his gentle humor as we awaited the end of the blizzard. He made a shelter for us so we would be warm; he took care of the horses as well as me. He kept the fire burning in our little hut, and he kept me warm and well fed. I am alive now only because he possesses more courage than any other man in this fort. I have told you all the truth when I tell you that, had he not come to find me, I would have died there. I do not exaggerate. I am telling you the truth."
"Do you see now, Mother? She loveshim.Not Thomas. She loves Eagle Heart, and, personally, instead of helping her into these wedding clothes so she might marry Thomas, I think our efforts would be better spent if we were to help her escape all of this. She should not have to marry someone she doesn't love."
Their mother cleared her throat, as though in disapproval.
"Do not say anything in the negative against my words, Mother. You know I speak the truth. I think we should try to help Laylah leave here. You know Father has given the order that she is not to be able to go out of the fort."
"I know this," said Mrs. McIntosh. "I was there when he issued the order. Now, before you accuse me of anything else unsatisfactory, Millie, let me say that I think we should help her to leave, too."
Both girls turned toward their mother. Both girls gasped.
"Do you think I didn't see the way Laylah looked athim? I saw the way he looked at her, too. And, I knew then what I was trying hard not to see, and what I now know is true: they are in love. You realize, Laylah, that if you do go to him and marry him, your way, as well as his, may be filled with hardship and prejudice. We don't even know what all their beliefs are. You might come to hate the Indian life."
"I know this. I have thought of little else since I realized I made a mistake in leaving him. He wanted me to stay. He asked me to marry him, to be his woman, as he says it. But, I couldn’t. After all, I knew nothing of his life or his tribe, and I was also engaged to marry Thomas. In truth, I still know very little of his life or his tribe or what my role would be as his wife. There is something else you should both know: if I leave to go to him, I might never see either of you again, for Father has threatened to seek revenge on him."
"You could visit us now and again, couldn't you?" Amelia asked.
"I...I would think I might. But, I don't know this with certainty, and I am thinking my reception here would not be very welcoming were I to return after marrying him. Perhaps, if I do go with him and we came back here to visit, Eagle Heart might be harmed because he dared to take me—a white woman—as his wife. Do not think I have not considered these possibilities."
"Yet, you still want to go to him?"
"I do, even though I don't know where he is. But, yes, I do want to be with him. Others may condemn and gossip about me and Eagle Heart, but I am speaking the truth when I say he did not violate me. He saved my life, told me stories, played games with me and was a gentle companion. And, always he treated me with respect...and perhaps with affection. At least I like to think so."
"I daresay he felt a great deal of affection for you if he asked you to stay with him," observed Mrs. McIntosh.
"Yes."
Molly McIntosh sighed deeply before admitting, "Now, Laylah, my beautiful daughter, please let me tell you this: I do not think you would be very happy here, married to Thomas. Personally, I was not pleased to observe he did not do more to try to find you. Your father accomplished a great deal more, mustering together some men and leaving the fort in an effort to find you every day. Thomas helped, yes, but he was never an organizer of these groups. And then, Amelia left the fort to seek out an Indian to help her try to find you."
"Mother! You know about that?"
"Of course I knew about it. Your father does not think I am sensible enough to see what is going on beneath my own nose. But, I am aware of what happens here. I witness many things. And, I was disappointed in Thomas, and now I am disenchanted with your father, also. Mark my words, Laylah, I think it would be a mistake for you to marry Thomas."
