Looking downcast, Russell shook his head. “Naw, better ta stay put than ta chance it.”
“Hear me on this. If you do not try to go there now, any death or destruction that comes to this train will haunt your dreams. Think wisely. If you can weather your own nightmares, stay here. If not, get this caravan moving.”
Kit Russell shook his head, but not with as much gusto as before. Glancing toward the west and back up at Swift Hawk, he capitulated. “Maybe you’re right. Guess we’ll have to try.” Russell hastily jammed his hat back on his head. “Well, there ain’t no time ta lose. I’ll alert the folks here in the front of the caravan, Injun, and you go to the back and get them people there movin’.”
The words were wasted on Swift Hawk. He had already whipped his pony into a run, making for the rear of the caravan.Shewould be there.
Swift Hawk shouted as he rode, “The Wind Spirit is roused. He comes this way. All are to seek shelter at once. Over that ridge, north and east, there is a coulee. Make for it at all possible speed.”
His cry was almost unnecessary. Somehow word of the twister had traveled more quickly than the storm itself, and what had seemed a deserted assemblage of wagons, canvas and mules only moments ago, was now coming alive with action.
“Hep, hep, there, get on there!”
“Fall in!”
“Hep, hep!”
The cries came from all around him.
Talk, shouting, the trampling of hard leather on the ground, the cracking reports of the whips in the air, even the creaks of a few wheels began to be heard over the screamingwail of the winds and the roar of the thunder.
Swift Hawk raced along, pulling rein at Angelia’s wagon. Already, Pierre stood out in front of the mules, attempting to drag one of them in the direction of the coulee. Angelia was out in front with Pierre, trying to help. Her bonnet had slid back on her head, and her silvery-blonde hair was blowing in all directions. Even her skirts were hiking upward beneath the pressure of the gales, giving Swift Hawk a quick glimpse of tiny ankles and lace-trimmed drawers.
Swift Hawk barely had time to appreciate her beauty or her undergarments before he hit the ground at a run. Summing up the situation—mules refusing to move—he took hold of the mule not being pulled and tugged with all his might. But even that animal refused to budge.
“If the lead mule won’t go, the other three will not go, either!” cried Angelia over the gales of the wind. “We’ve been trying everything we know—I’m afraid we don’t have anything else to do except to somehow drag the lead mule.”
Letting go of the one mule, Swift Hawk slowly approached Pierre and the stubborn lead animal, and reaching out a hand, Swift Hawk petted the mule’s nose.
Swift Hawk said, “He is frightened of the storm. Perhaps if we could all pull him together. He might go then.”
“We have tried.”
Swift Hawk nodded. “He might follow my pony, as horses are prone to do with a mare, and I ride a mare today.”
“You do?” Angelia’s face brightened, and seeing it, an answering gladness filled Swift Hawk’s being.Saaaa, it was indeed true that this woman had attained a place of honor, here within his heart. “Do you think you can tie your pony to the team?”
“I think so.”
Whistling, Swift Hawk brought his mare forward and, tying her in front of the mule team, took hold of her reins and led her forward. Like magic, the mules followed her lead, and off theyset, across the prairie, toward the coulee.
“Oui, oui, merci, merci.”
While Swift Hawk led his pony, Angelia followed close behind, and gazing off behind him, Swift Hawk witnessed her attempts to pull her bonnet back on her head and tie it. But the winds were too furious, and she eventually gave up trying. The rush of the gales was again kicking her skirts up high, and she placed her hands over the layers of petticoats that she wore.
Despite himself, Swift Hawk smiled at her attempts.
She called from behind, “Where is Julian?”
Though not missing a step, Swift Hawk damped down his grin, which quickly turned to a frown. He hesitated. Somehow, he didn’t think that now was the time to tell her, though he knew that eventually Julian’s disappearance must be related.
But she would not be put off, and she called again, “Swift Hawk? Where is Julian?”
At last, Swift Hawk looked over his shoulder. “I do not know where he is.”
“You don’t know?”
He shook his head. “Earlier, I sent him here. He was to warn the caravan of the approaching storm, and tell you that you were all to seek shelter. But he has not yet arrived.”
