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Her eyes stopped, startled, at the sight of her panther with Little Sparrow. “Midnight!” she gasped out.
The sound of Kaylene’s voice made Midnight leap away from Little Sparrow. He went and stood before Fire Thunder, his green eyes gleaming as he gazed up at Kaylene.
“Midnight, oh, Midnight,” Kaylene said, as Fire Thunder slowly eased her feet on the floor. “What are you doing here? You just don’t know the danger of being here, do you?”
She knelt and drew Midnight into her arms. She hugged him as he cuddled close to her.
Fire Thunder stepped gingerly away from Kaylene and Midnight and went to take Little Sparrow’s hand. He urged her slowly to her feet.
Little Sparrow yanked on his hand to draw his attention.
In sign language she told him that she and the panther had made a fast, lasting friendship. She told Fire Thunder that she and the panther knew how to communicate. Midnight had told her that he was worried about Kaylene. He had come to be with her. Little Sparrow begged her brother to allow Midnight to stay.
Fire Thunder turned and watched Kaylene and the panther, absorbing what Little Sparrow had said to him.
When Kaylene looked up at him with a soft pleading in her eyes, he was lost to her and to what she wished. He saw no choice but to allow the panther to stay. It was apparent that it would mean a lot to both Kaylene and Little Sparrow.
He had always tried to find ways to make his sister’s life more pleasant, more sweet. Now he wished to do the same for Kaylene.
“The panther can stay as long as it poses no threat to anyone,” he said to Kaylene. Then he turned to Little Sparrow and told her the same in sign language.
His heart warmed when Little Sparrow flung herself into his arms and hugged him as Kaylene looked up at him, tears shining in her eyes.
“Thank you,” Kaylene murmured. “And you will see what little bother Midnight is. He is as gentle as a baby bird, unless given cause to be otherwise.”
Little Sparrow went to the panther and hugged him. Fire Thunder lifted Kaylene into his arms again and carried her to his bed and covered her to her chin with a soft blanket.
Little Sparrow and Midnight came into the room. Midnight leaped on the bed and snuggled next to Kaylene. Little Sparrow crawled onto the bed and snuggled next to the panther.
Fire Thunder listened to the panther purr contentedly as though it were no more than a mere house cat. He saw the love the panther had for Kaylene, and understood why. When Fire Thunder wasn’t fighting his decision to keep Kaylene there with him against her will, she was everything sweet in this world. She had stolen his heart.
And Fire Thunder could tell by the way he found Kaylene looking at him even now, just how she felt about him.
He did not think there was one ounce of her heart now that loathed him!
Chapter 12
My steps are nightly driven,
By the fever in my breast,
To hear from thy lattice breathed
The word that shall give me rest.
—BAYARD TAYLOR
Kaylene sat around the hearth of the fireplace on a blanket with Fire Thunder and Little Sparrow, eating a hearty breakfast of eggs and coffee, accompanied by tortillas.
But she was unnerved by what was going to happen today. She was going to be participating in the curing ceremony called the Buffalo Dance.
“Please, tell me what will happen today during the ceremony?” Kaylene asked as she gazed over at Fire Thunder, who seemed unusually withdrawn this morning.
She had to believe that his mood was more because of the burial rites for Good Bear than it had to do with her.
She placed her empty coffee mug on the floor beside her. “What will I be required to do?” she dared to ask.
Kaylene’s panther was stretched out beside her, his head resting on her lap, asleep. “What of my panther while I am participating in the ceremony?” she asked. “I fear the reaction of your people when they see Midnight.”
