"Believe me. If I didn't feel I had to, I wouldn't."
Amelia nodded. "I will help you. I promise I will help you."
"Then, you will stay here and tell the truth about me to the family? To Strikes Fast?"
"Of course, I will. But, I think you should be the one to tell Strikes Fast. He will miss you."
"I know," said Sharon. "And, I will miss him. But, honestly, I cannot think of another way around this without hurting or bringing shame to my new family."
"I understand. I will do what I can. I will also talk to my husband about this."
"Please, no. Please let this be between only the two of us. Except, perhaps you might do what you can to paint David as he would like to color me and tell the truth: that he is the one who betrayed his promise to me?"
"Yes," said Amelia. "I will do what I can to defend your honor, if the need arises, but I should tell you I think it will not be needed."
"Perhaps," said Sharon. "But, knowing you are here will bring me a certain amount of relief."
"I understand," said Amelia.
At last, Sharon found she was able to breathe outwardly with a feeling of liberation, and, glancing upward, she said a brief prayer of thanks to the Lord. Indeed, Pastor James would be proud of her; she had, after all, resisted the temptation to submit to David's wishes, although she was certain her reputation would now suffer because of it.
****
"My husband, you must accompany my friend Sharon back to Fort McKenzie. She is determined to turn around and go there, and once she is there, she plans to hire a keelboat to take her east to Fort Union."
"I cannot do as you ask me to do," Gray Falcon said simply.
"Why can you not?"
Gray Falcon, who, with knife in hand, was whittling away at a piece of wood, said, "My wife, hear me. A man is not required to explain, even to his most beloved woman, his every reason for doing or not doing a task."
"Oh? Am I to be treated to a story tonight instead of an answer, then?"
He belly laughed and shook his head. "I wonder," he said, "if I will ever tire of being surprised by you. Very well, I will tell you. I am needed in a council tonight. There are several of our winter camps close to the mountain range where we are planning to winter. Scouts will be needed to go out from us in the day following this one. They will then determine which camp is best."
"But, my husband, you are not a scout."
"I could be. I have been trained to do the task if it is needed."
"But, you won't," said Amelia. "I know you won't because you are a medicine man and are needed here. Please, help me with this. Sharon is determined to take this journey on her own, and nothing I have said to her will keep her here. Please, I must ensure she is safely returned to Fort McKenzie."
Still without looking up at her, Gray Falcon said, "I give you permission to go with her."
Amelia frowned at this handsome man, her husband. There he sat in their temporary lodge, whittling away at a rather large piece of cottonwood, appearing to be calmer than she thought he should.
She said, "I doubt you would truly let me go with her and without you. Besides, it is an empty promise you give me, because I cannot go with her."
"Cannot?" he asked.
"She made me vow to stay here. But, my husband, you could go. Please. I will do anything you ask of me if you will please accompany her."
Gray Falcon looked up, paused, then set knife and wood aside, and, over the small fire burning between them, he gazed at her. One of his eyebrows was cocked upward as he asked, "Anything?"
"Well, almost anything."
"Humph!" he said, picking up knife and wood and commencing his whittling.
Amelia rose up and paced slowly toward his side of the lodge, wiggling her hips as best she could before coming down onto her knees beside him. Reaching out toward him, she began to massage his arms, his back, his head and lastly his chest. "I could be quite willing to do most anything," she purred, "if you will only say you will accompany her."
