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“Echohawk, you have given me so much strength, by just loving me.” Mariah murmured. “I never want to disappoint you. I want you to be proud of me always.”
Echohawk did not have the chance to reply. Two of his braves were suddenly there on horseback, approaching them, rifles clutched in their hands, their faces painted with red streaks—the color of warring.
Echohawk jerked his horse to a shuddering halt and awaited their arrival. He eyed them warily as they stopped before him. “What has happened?” he asked. “You do not greet me with a friendly hello. You wear war paint. Why is that, Proud Thunder?”
Mariah drew her horse to a stop beside Echohawk’s, shivering at the sight of the braves, who seemed hell-bent on vengeance.
“Nee-kah!” Proud Thunder said, his eyes narrowing with rage. He thrust his rifle into the air. “She is gone. It is believed to have been the Sioux who are responsible for her abduction. We help Chief Silver Wing search for her. We cannot find her, nor the Sioux camp.”
Echohawk’s face paled. So Yellow Eyes had lied! White Wolf, the renegade Sioux who was responsible for so many of Echohawk’s sadnesses, was alive, and again creating havoc.
But this time White Wolf was taking his vengeance out on Echohawk’s friend Chief Silver Wing. Could White Wolf have done this thing against Chief Silver Wing only because it would draw Echohawk into a confrontation with them?
The terrible news about Nee-kah made Mariah feel faint, and then her shock registered even more sharply when she remembered Nee-kah’s delicate condition.
The baby!
It was due in only a month.
The trauma that Nee-kah was going through, if she were still alive, could cause her to deliver early.
“And where is Chief Silver Wing?” Echohawk said, his voice drawn.
“He and many braves are still searching,” Proud Thunder said, gazing into the distance, through the snow-laden trees of the forest. Then he looked at Echohawk, an apology in his eyes. “Brown Fox and I searched the whole night through. We returned hesitantly, but we feel that further searching is in vain.” He paused, then added, “And we fear the villages being left so unprotected.” He looked guardly at Mariah, then back at Echohawk. “We can never forget raids of the white people. We cannot relax our guard, ever.”
Echohawk nodded. “This is so,” he said, reaching a heavy hand to Proud Thunder’s shoulder. “But I must go and find Silver Wing. Together we will search a while longer for Nee-kah, and if she cannot be found, I must encourage the elder chief to return to his village. He is no longer a young man with the endurance of a bear. But of course I will be delicate in saying so.”
Echohawk then reached his hand to Mariah and placed it gently to her cheek. “No-din, go ahead to the village,” he said. “Brown Fox will take you. You get your rest. When you awaken, hopefully I will be there at your side to give you good news that not only is Chief Silver Wing back in his village, but also Nee-kah.”
“I so badly want to go with you,” Mariah said, sighing deeply. “I love Nee-kah as though she were my own sister.”
“You have been in the cold long enough,” Echohawk said firmly. “It is time for you to be warmed and to get some rest.”
Mariah felt dispirited about having to agree with him, but she did know that she could not go another mile on the horse. She was exhausted. And she would only delay Echohawk’s search.
“Ay-uh, you are right,” she said, again sighing deeply. “I would only get in the way.” She turned and smiled at Brown Fox. “You do not need to travel with me to the village. Go on with Echohawk. He needs you more than I.”
Echohawk edged his horse closer to Mariah’s. He placed a finger to her chin and brought her eyes back around, to meet and hold with his. “There has been one abduction, there is not to be another,” he growled. He nodded at Brown Fox. “Go. See to my woman. Stand guard outside her wigwam. Watch over her for me, for she is my life, Brown Fox.”
Mariah was touched deeply by how Echohawk so openly spoke of his feelings for her to his braves. She would have thought that a powerful Indian chief would not want to express such feelings to his braves—perchance looking weak in their eyes.
Over and over again Echohawk proved his intense love for her, she marveled to herself, and she suspected very strongly today that she just might have a way to repay him. She had missed her monthly weeps. She was feeling nauseated. Just perhaps . . . she was with child! What a gift to give her husband!
“Mah-bee-szhon, come,” Brown Fox said, nodding to Mariah. “Do not fear. I will see to your safety.”
Mariah’s eyes wavered as she gave Echohawk one last look, hoping it would not be the last time she was allowed to. She wanted to believe that he would return to her. Their lives would soon be tranquil. They would wed, and together they would watch her body grow with child.
Sinking her heels into the flanks of her horse, she rode away from Echohawk, a feeling of foreboding hanging over her, as though she were engulfed within a dark cloud. She swallowed back a fast-growing lump in her throat, knowing that this was not the time to lose faith and waver in her courage.
Echohawk gave Mariah a lingering look, concerned for her as she rode away, her shoulders slumped. It seemed the burdens he kept placing on her shoulders were many.
And now?
What of sweet Nee-kah?
Would there ever be cause to celebrate a lasting peace among the Chippewa tribes?
Always there was cause for delay in the laughter and smiles!
