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Kaylene rode beside Fire Thunder up a gradual rise of land that led them farther up the mountainside away from his village. She could no longer look over her shoulder and see the valley below, where the longhorns grazed.
Now, whenever she took the time to look, all that she saw were jutting rocks and seas of pine trees standing below like columns, on both sides of her.
Occasionally she would hear and see long-tailed magpies.
But for the most part, she was alone with nature, and the man she could not help but love.
“How much farther?” Kaylene asked, giving Fire Thunder a questioning stare.
“We are almost there,” he said, then gave her an easy smile. “You ride a horse well.” His gaze swept slowly over her. Her back straight, she sat on the saddle of the mare as though she belonged there. She gripped the reins with ease with one hand, resting her other hand on her lap so that she could ease her injured shoulder.
His gaze slipped down to where her skirt was hiked up almost to her knees. He longed to place a hand between the angel-soft skin of her thighs.
His heart thumped erratically at the thought of what lay at the juncture of her thighs. He could feel it even now against the flesh of his palm, the soft tendrils of hair that led into the valley where the heat of her passion lay.
“I learned at a young age how to ride not only horses, but burros, as well,” Kaylene said softly, blushing when she cast him a glance and caught him staring at her legs.
A thrill coursed through her when she recalled how it felt to have his hands there, stroking, petting, awakening her body to all sorts of new feelings.
She could never not love him.
She desired him so much, it made her insides ache.
“And your panther?” Fire Thunder said, now looking into her eyes, smiling. “Although I have never seen you on the panther, I can envision it. I can imagine how those who came and saw you felt. What a sight it must have been.”
“I love Midnight so much,” Kaylene said, sighing as she went back in time, to when she had found him, so small and motherless, wandering alone at the foot of a mountain. She had fallen instantly in love with him, and he with her.
“I never approved of training him to be a sideshow for the carnival,” she went on. “Yet he accepted everything I did as though it was natural. I truly don’t believe he ever felt the humiliation that I felt for him while we performed.”
“Many animals are taboo for my people,” Fire Thunder said, his eyes again forward, as they approached the place where he would collect the Solomon’s seal plant. “Among them are the mountain lion, coyote and prairie dog. Such animals must not be killed, except under certain special circumstances. No snake may be killed, and neither may the horned lizard. And as you know already, the spider is taboo, as well as bumblebees.”
He gave her a quick glance. “If the panther were a taboo animal to my people,” he said, his voice drawn, “I would say to you that riding Midnight was sacrilegious.”
“And I would not argue that,” Kaylene said solemnly. “I will never get on the back of my proud pet again.” She swallowed hard at the thought of her father. “There is no one now to force my beautiful Midnight into performing. I don’t even wish to talk about it. Please tell me more about how your people feel about animals. I am in awe of your beliefs.”
“We Kickapoo are observant of animals and their activities,” Fire Thunder said softly, touched to know that she was being drawn more and more into the mystique of his people.
He must make her hunger for even more knowledge. When she sat at his side as his wife, he wanted his people to appreciate her for more than just being the wife of their chief. He wanted them to admire how much she knew about their culture.
“Back in Wisconsin, the arrival of geese announced cold weather. When the cranes flew over the river, we knew to expect rain. The arrival of the starlings and swallows announced the approach of warm weather.”
He cast her a quick glance. “The cry of a fox means misfortune,” he added solemnly.
Then he smiled and became lig
hthearted again. “When toads are seen in large numbers, it is a sign of rain,” he said. “When rattlers climb trees, it is a forecast of heavy rains. And when an owl hoots, it tells us a witch is nearby.”
He gave her a slow smile. “And let me tell you about the coyote,” he said, his eyes dancing. “Besides his ability to pull down cornstalks, it is believed that the coyote is able to wipe off the thorns of the prickly pear fruit with his tail before eating it.”
Unsure of whether he was being serious or not, Kaylene returned his smile and did not question whether or not he was jesting. Speaking of animals had catapulted her mind back to Moon Glow’s wigwam. Kaylene had never seen so many cats in one place.
“Please tell me about cats,” she murmured. “I still can’t get over how many there were at Moon Glow’s lodge.”
When he didn’t respond right away, Kaylene looked guardedly at Fire Thunder. She was not sure whether or not he would want to talk about the elderly lady, especially since he thought her a witch. Even now he carried bits of Solomon’s seal in a small bundle of white cloth tied with a green ribbon in his pocket to ward off the evil of such witches.
“Cats are good scavengers,” Fire Thunder finally said. “They keep mice and rats, the carriers of typhoid fever, away from our village. But cats are also feared. Let me tell you a story. There was once a woman who had a prize laying hen, but every time a chick hatched, her cat ate it. Finally, the woman could think of nothing to do but kill the cat. Then her best friend said to her, “If you kill the cat, its spirit may return to harm you.” So the woman did not kill the cat, and it lived always with her and had many kittens.”
He frowned over at her. “The woman in my story was Moon Glow,” he said solemnly. “And not only does she not kill her cats, no one else dares to. No one wishes to have their spirits live with them.”
