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Anxious to see if Melanie was there, Shane slowly shoved the entrance flap aside and stepped into the wigwam. His eyes widened and his heart melted when he saw Melanie stretched out asleep on one side of the fire on a layer of mats, while Gray Falcon and Blue Blossom slept on the other. Gray Falcon had not harmed Melanie and it was obvious that he had no intention of doing so. He still slept with Blue Blossom.
Feeling much calmer, Shane went to Melanie and knelt down over her. He looked at her for a moment before awakening her, at this moment understanding just how much he loved her. It was a love that knew no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust. This sort of love would still stand, when all else had fallen. Shane would be half a man without her. He understood at this moment that he was ready and happy to place all of his past behind him for her sake.
Reaching a hand to Melanie's hair, he stroked his long, lean fingers through it. When she awakened and looked up at him, no words were spoken, nor were they needed. Her happiness was in her eyes, and in her smile. She moved into his arms and hugged him tightly.
Shane looked at Gray Falcon and did not hate him as much at this moment as he had thought he would when gazing upon the man who had stolen his woman!
Yet Shane had to let Gray Falcon know that he
had been here! That Shane was the one who had taken Melanie away from him!
When Shane saw Gray Falcon's hand lying at his side, palm side up, an idea struck him. There was one sure way that Gray Falcon would know that it was Shane! And it was the best proof of all, because it would say more than that! Gray Falcon would see proof of Shane's having given up all claim to a part of the Chippewa world! Shane would leave that which was most sacred to all Indiansthe long locks of his hair! When he parted with his hair, he would be saying a final farewell not only to Gray Falcon, but to the old chief and his old life.
Shane slipped slowly away from Melanie. He stared down at his
knife and his heart pounded, for since he had been a part of the Indian culture, he had learned to take pride in the length of his hair. It meant strength to the Indians. It was a cause for great pride.
Melanie paled as she looked from the knife to Shane. She started to reach for the hand that held the knife, to stop whatever he was considering, but she was too late. While he gritted his teeth and his eyes showed a strange sort of torment, he began cutting his hair.
Placing a hand over her mouth to muffle a gasp, Melanie watched until Shane had his hair cut clear around, from one side to the other, until its length was that which would lie just above the collar line of a shirt when he wore one.
Tears streamed down her face as Shane took the locks of hair and placed them gently in Gray
Falcon's outstretched hand. She did not know the meaning of the gesture, but she could tell that this ceremony Shane had chosen to do was very important to him. He hesitated before backing away from Gray Falcon, reaching a hand back to the hair, as though he was almost reconsidering leaving the hair.
Then Shane turned his eyes to Melanie. He went to her and placed a bear pelt around her shoulders and over her head and led her out into the rain. Lifting her up into his arms, he ran with her from the village. The rain was blinding in its force and cold in its sting, but he carried her through it to the forest and his horse. Placing her in the saddle, he mounted behind her and they rode off into the darkness.
Lightning continued to tear the heavens apart with its white heat. Thunder echoed through the forest. When lightning hit a tree and split it in half just ahead, and it fell with a loud thud in the stallion's path, the horse reared and whinnied, throwing Melanie and Shane to the ground.
Melanie cried out with pain, grasping hard onto consciousness. She reached for Shane, who lay too still in the mud.
Slowly her hand dropped to the ground and she too drifted into the black void of unconsciousness.
Chapter Twenty-five
There was now only distant, muffled thunder. The air was sweet with after-rain; the leaves of the trees were heavy with crystal droplets. Melanie awakened slowly to a sense of something warm stroking her cheek.
As she became more aware, she felt strong arms encompassing her. In flashes, the last moments before unconsciousness claimed her came to her. The flight from the Indian village. The pounding rain. The terrible thunder. The lightning! The horse rearing, tossing her and Shane from the saddle!
"Shane!" she gasped, tensing her body. She sighed heavily and relaxed when she looked up into the crystal blue eyes gazing lovingly down at
her. She snuggled more closely into his embrace. ''You're all right. God, you're all right."
"And you?" Shane asked, weaving his fingers through the wet tendrils of her hair.
"Just a bit achy," Melanie said, shivering as the damp night air reminded her that her clothes were wet and clinging. "I'm mainly cold."
She looked around her. Thank goodness the rain had stopped. Shane's handsome stallion was calm now, resting beneath a tree, nibbling the wet grass. Then she became aware of a strange sort of roof over her and questioned Shane with her eyes.
"This is a lean-to," Shane said, smiling his understanding down at her. "I built it quickly, to get you out of the rain."
"How long was I unconscious?" Melanie asked, easing away from Shane. She stretched her arms over her head, then smoothed a hand across both of her ankles. Despite the aching, she seemed to be in one piece. "How long were you?"
"Not long," Shane said. "The fall just stunned us."
He cupped her face between his hands and leaned closer. "Now that you are awake and I know that you are going to be all right, I would like to leave you long enough to build us a fire to ward off the night chill," he said. "We will stay long enough for you to get warmed, and then we must get you back to your home."
"Yes, Terrance will be sending out a posse for me, I'm sure," Melanie said, frowning. "If he even realizes I am missing. He stays drunk for the most
