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I’ll nevah in my life forget dat lunatic laugh he laughed as I floated down de river.”
“How horrible,” Lavinia said, shuddering as she imagined the events Joshua was describing. Then she looked at him again. “Joshua, what happened after that? You are here now and well. How is that possible?”
“You knows already that Wolf Dancer saved me,” Joshua said, giving Wolf Dancer a grateful smile.
“Yes, I know that, but how…where…did he find you?” Lavinia asked.
“I found a canoe floatin’ in the river, empty,” Joshua said. “I managed to climb into it. I laid myself down on de bottom, with dat arrow still stickin’ outta me. I falls asleep. Den when I wakes up I finds Wolf Dancer there. He had put me in his canoe and was already on his way to his village with me. He took me to the shaman’s home, same as you. It is because of Wolf Dancer and de shaman dat I am here today, able to tell you everythin’.”
“And we have since become fast friends,” Wolf Dancer said, drawing all eyes to him.
“Lavinia, Joshua and I have been making plans about how to make Hiram pay for what he did, but we wanted to first get you and Joshua’s family away from the plantation, as well as any slaves who were not too afraid to leave.”
“But things happened to change your plans, didn’t they?” Lavinia murmured. “You didn’t have to go for me, Dorey, or Twila. It seems we found our way to you, each in a different fashion.”
Wolf Dancer smiled at Lavinia. “One by one you were brought into my life,” he said thickly. “And now all of you, except for Joshua’s wife, are safe here in my village.”
Tears came to Lavinia’s eyes. “Poor Lorna,” she murmured. “Hiram has much to answer for.”
“His days are now numbered on this earth,” Wolf Dancer replied, reaching over and taking one of Lavinia’s hands. “We will make him pay for the crimes committed against your families.”
“But how?” Lavinia asked, looking quickly up at Wolf Dancer, savoring the touch of his hand. “Hiram has a powerful friend in Colonel Cox. If anything happened to Hiram, surely the colonel would retaliate.”
“I wonder if Colonel Cox is really all that friendly with Hiram,” Wolf Dancer said. “I doubt Hiram has any true friends.”
“You are probably right,” Lavinia said, nodding. “I imagine the only reason the colonel puts up with Hiram’s nonsense is because Hiram goes and plays poker with him. From what I have heard, except for a few times, the colonel always cleans him out. That is surely the only reason he allows Hiram anywhere near him…to get his money.”
“I know you are anxious to see that man get his comeuppance, and I am willing to see that it is done, but, Lavinia, you must grow stronger before we take action. You do wish to go with us, do you not?” Wolf Dancer asked.
“Yes, I want to be there,” Lavinia said firmly. “I only wish I had stepped in earlier and stopped hiscruelty, but I truly didn’t realize that he was such an evil man. And…he was my husband’s brother. Virgil tried to make up for all of the wrongs Hiram did to others. But now that his brother is no longer there to stop him, Hiram is showing his true colors.”
Lavinia got up and went to Joshua, who was now standing, preparing to leave the house with Twila. She flung herself into his massive arms and clung to him. “I am so sorry about Lorna and what Hiram did to you,” she sobbed. “I wish I had known the true evil of that man. He would never have been around long enough to kill my husband…and…your beloved wife. I would have sent him away no matter how much my husband argued against my doing it. You see, the main part of our wealth came from my side of the family, not his, but I never spoke of that to my husband. I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable over it. I didn’t want to take his pride away.”
“You’se done right by him, Lavinia,” Joshua reassured her as he stroked her hair with his long, callused fingers. “You’se done right by him.”
Wolf Dancer watched the emotional scene, and saw how deeply Lavinia was being comforted by Joshua. Wolf Dancer ached to have her in his own arms.
He longed to be her protector…the one who made sure no sadness touched her life.
He wanted more than those things.
He wanted her as his wife! He wanted to have children with her.
Chapter Twenty-two
Man is in love and loves what vanishes,
What more is there to say?
—William Butler Yeats
Hiram groaned as he awakened with a fierce headache. He hated even opening his eye, but he knew he had stayed in the house long enough, drinking away his disappointment and anger that Lavinia had disappeared from the plantation.
He didn’t for one minute think she had been forced to leave. He knew how much she despised him.
He was certain that she had taken advantage of his being gone for so long playing poker at the fort. Yet her disappearance was odd, for she had left without even taking any of her clothes. Perhaps she had planned this with someone, a man he had never known about, for she hadn’t ridden off on any of their horses, and the buggy was still in the stable.
He hadn’t checked the canoes, for he doubted she would have chosen that mode of transportation. The Bone River would only take her into the Everglades.
