"It is I," he signed. "Go in underbrush. Hide. I go back to fight."
"No! Don't leave me here alone!"
"You are safe here! Now, go in bushes! Wait!"
"I will not do it. Not without you! If you go back to the fight, I will, too!" Had she really signed this? Yes. And, she meant it.
Through the awful paint covering his face, she saw him frown at her. And, although his look might have caused another to beware of him, she was not afraid.
Perhaps it was the desperateness of their situation that accounted for what she was about to say, to do. All she knew was she had to tell him what was in her heart before they were both killed. With her pulse racing as though she had been the one hurtling through the battle, she signed, "I love you!"
Nothing. There was no response from the man. It was as though he had become as wooden as the pine trees surrounding them.
She signed again, "I love you! And, I will not let you go back there without me!"
Still he didn't move; it was though he were momentarily stunned. At last, he signed, "I go back there not to fight, but to provide cover for those engaged in the battle. So the innocent may get away."
"Very well! Let's go, then!"
"You," he signed, his gestures quick and cutting, "will not go back to fight!"
"Watch me! If you leave, I will be right behind you!"
Without warning, there was the sound of running feet and it was headed toward them.
"They come! They have seen our tracks!" He took hold of her, and together they scampered into the brush next to the tree; Strikes Fast entered the growth first, then he pushed her down behind the wild thickets.
They had no more than taken cover when he signed, "Stay here! I will not leave you, but I must brush over our trail or they will find us."
She nodded. "You promise not to leave me?"
"I promise," he signed, and he was gone.
****
How many minutes had gone by since he'd left? Sharon was considering leaving her cover to go and find him. But, a moment before she made up her mind, he returned, and, taking refuge beside her, he said not a single word, nor did he speak with sign language. Instead, he took out a long and skinny bag from around his shoulders and drew out a lengthy, heavily beaded and feather-ornamented pipe. It took him some moments with flint and the tobacco, but at last he lit the pipe.
Still without saying a word, he began to smoke.
She thought, however, to protest and signed, "They will see the smoke and know we are here."
With one hand holding the pipe and his other signing, he said, "Watch!"
He smoked one puff, then another and another, and she trembled. They were going to find them. She was certain of it.
Dear Lord,she prayed,save us. Let us find safety. Please help us. Amen.
Smoke began to fill the air around them, exactly as she had feared it would. But, then she noticed the smoke from his pipe was something different. Not only was the smoke encompassing the air around them, it was everywhere becoming a mist, then it tuned into a fog so thick and opaque she couldn't even see the man who sat beside her.
Reaching out, she touched him, if only to ensure he was still there. It was his bare leg she'd contacted, and she felt his reaction to her hand against him because he shivered.
His hand which was not holding his pipe came down to cover hers as though to comfort her. It was as though he were saying, "If we die here, we die together."
Oddly, it did comfort her. Turning her hand over, she grasped his, and she whispered, "I love you. And, I want you to know I love you as a woman loves her man."
He squeezed her hand and continued to smoke. It seemed to take very little time, for within a matter of minutes, a fog so dense that she could not even see the bushes in front of her covered the land.
At last, it was done. Taking his hand from hers, she felt him put the pipe carefully back into its bag, and, as he placed the bag around his shoulder, he reached out to again take her by the hand, and he whispered, "Píisshelee-k!Follow!"
She didn't know what he'd said, but, taking hold of her by the waist, Strikes Fast pulled her up, she adding to his action by jumping to her feet. And then, reaching out to hold her by the hand once more, Strikes Fast quietly slipped through the enemy line and stole away into the night.
