Page 95 of She Steals My Breath

She sighed. "Did you know sometimes I cry, because, until I met you, I didn't know it was possible to love someone so much."

"Yet," he said in perfect English. "I love you more."

She chuckled. "Impossible."

"Nothing impossible," he said as he took her in his arms and kissed her once, twice, then over and over as though to convince her that, after all, all things were possible.

In the distance, a wolf howled, its voice echoed by another wolf. In a seeming chorus, they howled again.

He said, "Sister wolf...and mate. She say they...well. They our family."

"Indeed, they are," agreed Steals-my-breath. "And I love them so very dearly. Come, my husband. I have need of a back rub...and more." She laughed up at him, and Eagle Heart smiled as he gazed at this woman who, still to this day, stole his breath.

Before he had met this woman, he would never have imagined such happiness could be his. "Come," he said. "Much love we share. I show you."

And, he proceeded to make his words come true, now and forever.

EPILOGUE

"And, so it came to pass what we have always known: that we are brothers to the wolf and to all life."

The old man looked around the circle of children. "Do any of you youngsters have a question you would like to ask me?"

The same little girl who earlier had spoken to him in Blackfeet said, "I do, Grandfather."

"Yes?"

"Did Steals-my-breath come to live with the people and become one of us?"

"She did," answered the elder. "In time, she became a medicine woman for our people, working alongside her husband."

"And, did she and Eagle Heart really love each other all their lives?"

The old man smiled. "They did. They had five children, and some of their great-grandchildren live to this day. Always, they were looked to by our people because their love was so true, so strong and so beautiful, it gave strength to all the people. Always, they will be remembered as the man and his wife who brought joy and happiness to our people."

"I will remember, Grandfather. And, I will tell this story to my grandchildren so that we may all take heart."

The old man smiled. The people would go on. It wasn't really an ending. Indeed, it was a beginning.

THE END