To herself, she said, "I be comin' to thee, First Rider. Look for me."
She practically fell from her seat when she heard his voice clearly within her mind. He asked, "Where are you?"
Was he talking to her now? Or was she remembering him saying these words?
"I am speaking to you now," came the thought in the form of impressions and words in her mind.
Though she little understood what she was doing, she responded to him and replied, "I be on the prairie above the Big River after climbin' over the buttes and bluffs around Fort Benton this very mornin'. I be comin' to thee, me own soon-to-be-husband."
Again, she heard his voice speak to her in her mind, and he said, "I see you now. You are not far from me. I will leave where I am at once to come to you. Look for me by evening."
"I will," she responded in thought.
The communication ended abruptly, leaving Liliann more than a little startled. She hadn't thought to actually receive an answer from First Rider. But, she didn't doubt that it was he; his presence, his manner and all that made him who he was could not be mistaken for anyone else.
Never had she spoken to another soul in this manner. It was strange…so very strange, yet it was beautiful, too. And, she wondered what else was she about to discover in this mystery land called Indian Country.
Leaning over her pony once more, she said, "Well, Misty Girl, I think we had best set a course forward. We follow the Missouri River, though we will be traveling on this prairie far above it. To the north, all I can see is prairie straight to the horizon. And, before us in the west be more prairie with its high brown grass, and look at it endin' there before the mountains ahead of us. Does thou find it to be beautiful, too?"
Her pony answered with an up-and-down shake of her head. Smiling, Liliann said, "Let us be going now."
With a slight kick of Liliann's heels against her pony's flanks, Misty Girl began to walk forward, and because Liliann was in no hurry to arrive at any particular place, she did little more than face the wind coming at her from the west andbreathe in the fresh scents of river, of prairie, of trees and sagebrush.
And, although she knew it wasn't really true, for now it felt a little like paradise.
****
Contrary to Otahki, First Rider was speeding east over the same prairie, but he was traveling as though he were escaping from a prairie fire at his back. Indeed, he felt certain there was no occasion for a leisurely pace, not during a time of day when war parties might not yet be settled in for the day's rest. And, if an enemy scout should see Otahki…a white woman…alone on the prairie…
Why was she following him? Didn't she know—or at least sense—the danger of what he and his friends were attempting to do? While most scouts were aware enough and skilled enough to move so as to be invisible to those they stalked, there still remained the threat of danger.
And why was she coming to him when what she really required was rest? Perhaps it was this particular question which caused him to reach out to her again and ask, "Why are you not still at Fort Benton, resting and recovering your strength?"
A long stretch of silence ensued after he asked the question, until, at last, she responded in the mind-speak and said, "Something has changed."
He waited. Was there more?
When she didn't continue, he asked, "What is this change?"
Again she didn't answer, but because their minds were open to one another, he sensed her panic and he asked, "What is it you fear?"
"I…I cannot speak of it because I am uncertain me own fear rests upon solid ground."
And then, because one cannot always hide one's thoughts when using the mind-speak to communicate, he knew what her anxiety might be and he said, "You have dreamed, I think."
"I have done so," she answered. "But, it might be nothing more than a bad dream."
He paused before saying in the mind-speak, "We will talk more of this later when night has fallen, the time when we will see one another face-to-face. For now, let us both concentrate on the environment around us. Reach out to me in the mind-speak if you have trouble."
"I will," she replied. "And, thou do the same for me."
"I will."
"First Rider?" she asked, he aware of the panic within her mind.
"I am listening," he replied in mind-speak.
"I love thee. I truly love thee."
