"I am well. I wonder if my thoughts and my tongue might always feel as though they are tied when I am with you. I must concentrate on my passage over the prairie now. Again, you have only to reach out to me if you need me."
"I will."
The communication between them dropped again then, as it had to. A man might be able to take his attention away from his path now and again, but, in order to remain safe, a man did have to pay attention to the environment around him. He was, after all, in enemy territory.
****
LAYLAH HAD EXCHANGEDher white gown for a clear, navy-hued day dress with large gigot sleeves and a tiny waist that fell into a "V" in front. The skirt of the dress was full and was not embellished, yet the material was elegant, made of blue satin, and it felt like silk beneath her fingertips. Her shawl was an off-white color, and, although it looked flimsy, it was made of cashmere and so was warm. Black boots completed the outfit. Hopefully, the boots would allow her more ease in walking.
She had no hat, even though a proper young lady should, but it couldn't be helped; the hats this season were large and so could not be easily packed. Perhaps, if she tied a ribbon through her long hair, it might suffice for the head gear she lacked. Reaching into the bag she had placed next to her, she found a blue ribbon and proceeded to thread it through her locks.
She was happy with her choice in the navy dress; she no longer felt like a sitting target for any predator, having been dressed all in white, and here within the darkened night. She smiled. Indeed, the navy dress gave her more of a feeling of security. It was then she realized she had nothing to give Eagle Heart as a wedding gift. He wouldn't expect one, of course, and he wouldn't ask for one. But, she intended to give him one anyway.
Perhaps the blanket she was knitting could be completed as she awaited Eagle Heart's arrival here. Had her mother included this particular coverlet and several different spools of yarn?
Coming up to her knees, she bent over to search through her bag and found what she was looking for underneath many articles of clothing. Her mother had often commented on the beauty of the colors she had chosen for the quilt; perhaps this was why she had included it.
Bringing out the knitting needles, the yarn and the unfinished blanket, she set the covering on her lap and the yarn at her side. Even though she was encumbered with a broken arm, she happily set to work. The colors in the blanket were a deep blue and white, for these were the pigments of the sky, which, for her, represented the tranquility of nature. They also signified her feeling of gradual independence from the tight confines of her society.
As she set to work, she took a deep breath, enjoying the sweet aroma of the oxygen-filled, dry prairie air. She smiled.
She couldn't remember ever feeling so happy.
Hurry, Eagle Heart!
She had said the words to herself, forgetting her thoughts might be heard by him.
"I am," he responded.
She sighed and set to work over the blanket, intent on finishing it before he arrived.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
––––––––
THE INTENSE, DEEP BLACKof night covered the land in these early morning hours. Dawn would follow shortly, though there were currently no gray or silver shades of color in the sky to announce the coming sunrise. Not yet.
Because Eagle Heart was in a hurry to get to her, he rode his Appaloosa pony into the coulee instead of walking him down the ravine's northern entrance. Behind him, and on a rope, trotted the Nokota, his packhorse.
He knew where Steals-my-breath was. Hadn't he seen her beneath the willow tree? As he trotted his pony along the creek, he kept his path within the tree line as he expanded his sight out toward the horizons on each side of him.
Although he could not detect any current hostile presence, he realized again the unfriendly environment that surrounded this place. Her father, as well as others from Fort Union, could discover them here all too easily. And, besides this, there could be a fight if a Crow or an Assiniboine war party came upon him unawares. No, he and Steals-my-breath would not be able to linger here.
Quickly, before approaching Steals-my-breath, he slipped off his pony and dipped into the water, washing himself with clean sand from the bottom of the creek. He washed his mouth and hair, also, remembering how important cleanliness was in tribal life...and perhaps to one's new wife, as well.
He intended to make love to this woman and soon, although the right place for this was not here. He knew a location only a few days’ ride from the coulee; it was one where they could be hidden and secure. Hidden away in a valley between two mountain peaks in the Big Horn Mountains, the vale was known by the Crow as No Man's Trail.
There could be other problems from the locals there, but the populace in that part of the country was rarely hostile. At least he and Steals-my-breath would be out of reach of his enemies. Plus, her father and his search party would then have to conduct a grand search for them, since they would expect him to make a wedding shelter closer to the fort.
Being secure was important. They should enjoy their first days together as a married couple without fear from some unknown hostile source. Reaching down, he untied his breechcloth and pulled it off, replacing it with a different tan-colored one. This white breechcloth—the one he usually wore—would be his first gift to her.
****
SHE JUMPED. WHAT WASthis? She'd been so intent on finishing the blanket, she had lost track of what was happening around her.
But, something had fallen into her lap. Fearfully, she picked up the object and stared at it. It was a long piece of white buckskin. It was wet, as though it had only recently been washed, and was sewn with porcupine quills and beads, and...
Why, this was... With pure joy, she burst out laughing.
