True to his word, Swift Hawk had left her alone that night when they had made love and had returned to her in the morning, bringing with him news of Julian. Not only that, Swift Hawk had bore yet another treasure: a dress.
“Where did you find this?” Angelia had asked of Swift Hawk as he had returned to her. Seeing the dress, she could hardly contain her excitement.
Swift Hawk smiled at her. “I found your brother in camp with the rest of the caravan. It was as I had thought. Your brother had become lost, and seeing that he would not succeed in getting to the caravan in time, he found a low spot in which to wait out the storm. He knew that Red Fox and myself would lead the wagons to safety.”
Angelia breathed out deeply. “Good. Good. Then Julian is well?”
“He is very well.”
“But didn’t he ask about me?”
“He did. I told him you were also well, that you had left camp to find him, but that I had found you and secured you in a temporary camp. He is the one who gave me the dress.”
“Ah, I see.” She nodded. “Did anyone else ask about me? Pierre? Mr. Hudson, or the children?”
“I saw no one else. I came upon the caravan in the early morning hours, when darkness is at its deepest. I spoke to no one but your brother and to Red Fox, as well.”
“Then the caravan survived the storm in good shape?”
“It is so.”
She smiled at him, and looking up into his eyes, they fell together as though they were each one a magnetic force for the other.
He said, “I think the wagon train might do without us for another few hours, my wife.”
“Do you now?”
He grinned at her. “I do.”
They had spent the rest of the morning and most of that next day wrapped up in one another’s arms.
That had been yesterday. Today, there within their lean-to, they had showered each other with kisses, each caress as precious as if it might be their last. And then, paying their respects to such a beautiful spot, they had left and ridden out to meet the wagon train. What they would find at the caravan, and how they were to act with one another, they hadn’t discussed. As though by mutual consent, they had decided to discover first what prejudice awaited them.
Angelia feared the worst, but she was ready to survive whatever might be their fate.
“Come,” urged Swift Hawk, interrupting her thoughts. “I must find a place of safety for you while I go into camp and investigate.”
“Into camp? Do you think that’s where the trouble is?”
“I believe it may be so.”
“But if you go alone, that could be dangerous.”
“It will not be dangerous,” he said. “I have been trained for this. I can easily slip into camp without detection and discover why I sense there is trouble.”
“But—”
He frowned at her. “There will be no argument.”
Angelia had learned by now that when it came to Swift Hawk’s idea of her safety, there was no arguing with the man. He would have his way.
But still, she would try one last time. “I don’t understand why you worry. There should be no danger for me in camp, unless there is an Indian attack.”
He gave her a quick glance. “Do you hear an attack?”
“No, but it’s still so far away.”
“Far away, but we are on the prairie. Sound carries easily here. If there were an attack, we would hear it.”
