Page 93 of The Last Warrior

“What things?” she asked, as she swung her purse over her shoulder.

Without any further delay, they set out for the next town.

Chapter

Twenty-Three

Their rush turned out to be a slower pace than anything Suzette would have imagined, given their circumstances. This was most likely due to her condition, she supposed, with Black Lion still treating her as delicately as he was able.

His thoughtfulness and his care did endear him to her. Still, she worried for him. She had offered to travel faster, stating she thought it would probably not harm the child to do so.

“We will not take the chance,” Black Lion had replied. “The Thunderer knows I come. And we are making this journey as fast as we can.”

Indeed, they had taken to traversing over the Plains by day and night, stopping only long enough to provide their horse with a rest and Suzette with the nutrition needed to keep her healthy. Interestingly, not a single person accosted them. In truth, they met with no one at all.

Perhaps this was partially due to the dark and dreary conditions haunting their travel. Murky clouds lingered overhead, and thunder wailed in the heavens regardless of the hour of the day.

Black Lion was driven, and she was certain that were she not with him, Black Lion would have rushed over the prairie with no regard for himself or his health. Perhaps it were to his advantage that she did accompany him. At least she liked to think this was so, for when the time came for a confrontation with the Thunderer, it would serve him well to be rested.

At present, with her body situated before him in a sidesaddle style, she was essentially sitting in his lap, and thus was spared the jolting influence of the trail. Often she found herself sleeping in Black Lion’s arms, particularly during the evening hours.

Since they were now traveling by horseback, the trip south to Colorado seemed to be much shorter than the journey north. Or maybe her perception was tainted because she feared what they might find at the end of their trip.

“We are almost there,” Black Lion said to her on their third day of travel. He had nudged her awake with a tap on her shoulder and a kiss on her neck.

She opened her eyes to a roll of thunder, which raged through the sky above them. Squirming in her seat, she tried to attain a position of some comfort. However, there was very little to be found.

“Do you know what time of day it is?”

“It is early morning. The sun has yet to make an appearance in the sky.”

“And will it appear?”

“I would like to think it will, but it is doubtful. The farther south we travel, the more desperate the storm clouds appear on the horizon.”

“I suppose it is to be expected, since we are openly defying the one who rules the storms.” She glanced forward. She wondered at herself. Had she now begun to believe that a god could, indeed, take human form? Or was there some other explanation for what she was certain she had experienced? A reason she couldn’t fathom? “When do you think we will come within sight of the show?”

“Perhaps when the sun reaches the high point in the sky.”

She nodded, then translated, “At noon, then.” Scowling, she turned her face toward his. “Besides warning your friends, have you considered what we might say to Mr. Cody about our disappearance?”

Again, he shrugged. “I will tell him the truth, that I left to find my friend and the Song Bird…if he asks.”

“Of course he will ask. I will let him know also how I begged you to go with me, in case he worries that you stole me. I have thought this might be why the scouts were so persistent—they may believe you took me from the show by force. I know that before we left, there was certainly plenty of gossip about us.”

“Perhaps,” he said.

“Do you think the Thunderer has caused any harm to the show yet?”

“I do not believe he has,” said Black Lion as he leaned down to speak in her ear. “If he harmed my friends, I would know it deep in my soul. Because this has not happened, it leads me to believe he waits for me only. Perhaps he manipulates me so he might kill me in a more public place. Or maybe he watches for my arrival before he wreaks his vengeance upon my friends. Either way, it matters not. He awaits me.”

“Us,” she said. “He waits for us.”

Black Lion didn’t answer. But then, she hadn’t expected him to. With another glance at the threatening sky above them, Suzette tightened her arms around Black Lion’s neck and stared off into the horizon.

The day was still overcast, cloudy and cold, though there was no snow on the ground, due perhaps to a winter thaw which promised spring but did not deliver. The air was frigid and stationary, even though overhead the clouds continued to shift. Suzette and Black Lion had come at last to within a few miles of the Wild West Show. They had at present traversed to the bottom of a large rise in the land, beyond which, nestled into an immense valley, was the Wild West Show. Suzette could hear the faint refrains from the Wild West band, as well as the scent of the smoke that always accompanied the show. Wrapped as she was in Black Lion’s arms, the warmth of his body gave her a feeling of security which was, she knew, nonexistent.

Her stomach twisted with dread. What awaited the two of them down there?