"Don't want...leave. Want...do more. But...must go. How ankle feel?"
"Much better," she signed. And I think, my husband, this is a very good way to cause the swelling in my ankle to go down. But, I am concerned, Eagle Heart, for you have not yet sought the same kind of pleasure. Shouldn't you? Isn't that part of love? If it is, there is time to do it."
"Saa,it is true what you say, but must not do yet."
"Why must you not?"
"Danger. Fight...maybe. Forbidden make love...before war. Take strength away."
"But, we are not at war."
"We at war...until we...at safe place. Want to love...bad. Cannot."
"Well, my husband, if this is the way it is, the sooner we get to the ‘safe place’ you speak of, the better."
He sighed, saying in English, "It...so. Must go now. Do not...wish to go. Will leave...food...for you, but we...no stay...here. Must go to...Miistáksoomahkihki nan,Big Horn Mountains. There we stay. Safe there."
"How long will you be away, then, cutting our trail?"
"Much time," he continued, speaking in English. "Go back over trail. You eat... drink water. Sleep."
"And, what about you? When will you sleep?"
"Soon. This one...not sleep...until no...harm from enemies. We go...valley,Miistáksoomahkihki nan. It safe. No trail...there. People there... sometimes tricky...but friendly. Will work through... day. Return...nighttime. Then we leave. You know...we fleeing?"
"I suppose I have noticed that we are on the run," she signed. "But, why is it necessary to flee? No one will find us here."
"Not true. Easy...to find...for scout. If scout come, we not safe from my enemies...and...yours."
"I have no enemies in this country."
"Now...do." As he drew her skirt back down around her legs and settled his own clothing, he continued to speak, but now in sign, and said, "As soon as you came to me and became my woman, you have made enemies. Your father is one. Curly Mustache is another. And, when they cannot find us, they might hire Crow scouts to come after us. I fear they may already be on our trail. Therefore, we must hurry, but we must also be careful. This is why I go to confuse the path we have made. Stay within this lodge and rest. If you must leave, there is a place on the side of this shelter where there is good drainage. I will be back here when it is dark. This one"—he pointed to himself—"loves you."
And, with this said, he came up to his feet, then ducked under the entrance to their shelter and was gone.
****
ON THE SECOND EVENING, it began to rain, and it was not a simple torrent. The rain came flooding down cold and heavy. Nor did it pause for even a moment, so continuous was the downpour. Because they were riding as fast as their ponies could travel, it sometimes seemed to Laylah as though the water droplets slapped her face. But, since it didn't let up, she had become accustomed to it.
She had also grown to be used to her hair hanging wet around her neck and down her back. At present, she wore the buckskin robe Eagle Heart had given her, the one that had been her only clothing during the height of the blizzard. This robe she had placed over her dress, and it did, indeed, do much to keep her warm.
Now and again, she heard a peal of thunder behind them, and she shivered, remembering the result of another lightning storm. As though it might protect her against the thunder and lightning, she had long ago drawn the robe over her head and shoulders, letting the length of it drape down over her pony.
They made a procession of five—two human beings and three ponies—as they hurried over the prairie, skirting the hills and bluffs. It was she who kept hold of his pack pony, for it pulled up their rear. She was next forward in their line, and she was following Eagle Heart, who, despite the rain, kept them all going at a fast pace. Now and again, she looked up to ensure he was still visible, for the rain was so unremitting and hard. And, it was comforting to see he never ran his pony so fast as to be out of her sight.
Sometime in the night, they reached the Tongue River, their path now taking them south and west. Long ago, she had stopped riding the same horse as Eagle Heart; apparently, they were so deeply within Crow country, it was not now safe for the two of them to share the same mount.
It was in the middle of the third night when they began their ascent into the mountains. Their path was now an unmarked trail beneath the great pine and cedar trees of the forest. The rain was less here, if only because the trees acted much as an umbrella, keeping the full force of the storm away from them. Yet, their pace continued to be quick, even though they were now riding within the mountains and their way tended ever upward. Now and again, they would come to an open and natural clearing within the forest; however, Eagle Heart never led them into or through these open places. Instead, he guided their horses around the dells, keeping themselves well-hidden and within the forest.
It was with some relief when they at last came to look upon a narrow and long stretch of a valley, situated as it was between two mountain peaks. Here they paused, looking out upon the land that seemed to go on without end. The early morning gray skies were slowly giving way to a little sunlight; here and there could be seen a glistening light shining down from the sky and touching upon one living creature after another, both animal and plant.
The vegetation in this part of the valley seemed to be mostly sunflowers, blue and pink lupines and others; in truth, the vision before her was as colorful as a rainbow. And, the profusion of their multicolored flowers and their green stems, their leaves and the sweetness of their blooms combined to fragrance the air with a pleasant, natural perfume.
Perhaps even more unusual than the bright colors, however, was the height of these blooms. Truly, some of the flowers stood as tall as her pony's back.
Perhaps it was the lack of oxygen in this high place, but the flowers seemed to be scented more intensely here. It was a strong, yet a pleasingly sweet aroma. And, it caused her to imagine these plants were welcoming her and Eagle Heart to this sweet, expansive valley.
There was, however, no clear path through the wild growth. Cedar and pine trees predominated here, and they covered the smaller foothills which nestled in close to the mountains. The air felt clean and fresh in her lungs, but perhaps there was not as much of it up here, being so highly situated within these Big Horn Mountains.
