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“Drink this,” he said, handing it to Lavinia. “You should drink a lot of water in order to make your body completely well and strong again.”
“It’s only water?” Lavinia asked, easing her hand from Dorey’s and leaning on an elbow. “I remember something Shining Soul gave me that made me sle
ep.”
“That was only because you needed sleep at the time,” Wolf Dancer said. “Now you want to stay awake and spend time with those you love.”
Lavinia smiled sweetly at him, took the cup, and swallowed the water, enjoying its cold sweetness.
Then she handed the empty cup back to Wolf Dancer. “Thank you so much for all that you have done for me and my loved ones,” she murmured.
“You do not have to keep thanking me for something I did from the heart,” Wolf Dancer said, setting the empty cup aside. He sat down beside Dorey. “Now do you feel like talking, or do you think you should rest?” he asked Lavinia.
“At this moment I am very much awake, for I feel more alive now than I ever have in my life,” Lavinia said, smiling into his eyes. She felt so much for him now, it almost frightened her.
She knew it was forbidden for a white woman to care for a man with red skin. She had heard of women being murdered after falling in love with Indians.
But she truly didn’t care about going back to life as she had known it. She was finding everything about the Seminole village fascinating. And she could never fall in love with anyone else, because she now knew she loved this handsome, wonderful Seminole chief.
“Mama, do you think those two boys will try to bother me while I stay here?” Dorey blurted out.
Wolf Dancer responded to that question before Lavinia had a chance. “They will never cause you trouble again,” he vowed. “They know better.”
“You can trust Wolf Dancer’s word, Dorey,” Lavinia said. “You have nothing to fear while you are here in the Seminole village. You are even safer here than back at the plantation. As long as Hiram has breath in his lungs, he will not stop wantingeverything for himself, and that includes me. We will not give him the chance to hurt us, Dorey.”
“But what if he finds out where we are and comes for us?” Dorey asked.
“He doesn’t have the courage to stand face-to-face with any Seminole warrior, especially Wolf Dancer, their chief,” Lavinia said, then sighed. “I am much more tired than I thought.”
“Then you should sleep,” Wolf Dancer said. He reached a hand out for Dorey. “Come. Sit beside the fire with your friends.”
Dorey leaned over and kissed her mother’s brow, then went and sat beside Twila and began chattering about all that each had experienced, while Wolf Dancer remained beside Lavinia until he saw she was asleep.
He could not take his eyes off her.
She was his world now.
Chapter Twenty-one
She was a phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon
My sight.
—William Wordsworth
The next day Lavinia was enjoying the morning meal with everyone she loved, sharing hominy corn cakes and a variety of fish.
It seemed unreal to her that Wolf Dancer should be sitting with her and her friends, talking casually with them, even though he was a powerful Seminole chief.
But he had opened his lodge to her and her friends. He had never behaved as though he were better than anyone else, not even Joshua or Twila, whom most whites would look down on.
Yes, Wolf Dancer was someone very special, kind and caring toward all he knew.
The more Lavinia learned about him, the more she loved him.
She had never thought such a love was possible, or that she would meet such a man as Wolf Dancer.
