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He sprinkled some of the tobacco in his left hand and offered it to the heavens.
“Go away!” he cried. “Grandfather, send the lightning and thunder away! Do not allow them to harm us!”
Kaylene was stunned to see that, as if by magic, the storm quickly abated. The clouds rolled away. The sun came out. The only sounds were the rivulets of rain running down the rock at their sides.
Her lips parted, her eyes wide, Kaylene stared at Fire Thunder.
A tremor ran up and down her spine. Was this man she had given her heart to bewitched? He had asked the storm to stop and it had, as though controlled by him.
She felt humble and afraid in his presence as they mounted their horses and rode onward.
Chapter 18
O memory, ope thy mystic door;
O dream of youth return.
—DAVID GRAY
Chilled to the bone, shivering, and aching from being on the galloping horse for longer than her weakened body could stand, Kaylene saw Fire Thunder’s village a short distance away. Her heart lurched when she saw several men on horseback approaching the village on the opposite side from Kaylene and Fire Thunder.
“Do you see those men?” Kaylene shouted at Fire Thunder as he was bent low over his mustang, determination etched on his sculpted face.
“Yes, and I also see the rifles that are in their hands instead of in their gunboots!” Fire Thunder shouted back. His eyes locked with Kaylene’s. “You stay behind. I do not want you to enter the eye of danger.”
“No!” Kaylene cried. “I can’t just stay here and watch your people get attacked. I can fire a gun. I want to help.”
“Look at yourself!” Fire Thunder argued, his jaw tight. “You are wet. You are cold. Surely you are weakened by this hard ride on the horse.”
He held on to the reins with one hand, while with his other he grabbed the blanket from his saddle bag.
He tossed it over to Kaylene.
She caught it clumsily.
“As I ride onward, you stop and stay here,” he flatly ordered. “Warm yourself with this blanket. Only come into the village when you see that those men are gone.”
Before Kaylene could say anything to him, he sank his heels into the flanks of his proud steed and thundered away from her, his rifle drawn.
Kaylene drew a tight rein. Her mare came to a shuddering halt, as she watched Fire Thunder as he drew closer and closer to the village. She then looked at the men as they almost reached the very outskirts of the Kickapoos’ homes, where the Kickapoo thought they were safe from all intruders.
When gunfire broke out, she saw that it was from the assailants, not the Kickapoo. Kaylene’s insides turned cold.
For a moment she watched the men randomly firing their weapons all about as the Kickapoos scattered in all directions away from them.
And then she caught sight of Fire Thunder again as he entered the far side of the village. She gasped when he raised his rifle and fired as he approached the men on horseback, then slid from his saddle and joined his warriors in a stand against the intruders.
Fear of Fire Thunder possibly dying grabbed Kaylene in the pit of her stomach. “I won’t stay her
e and only watch!” she whispered harshly to herself. She tossed the blanket aside. “I must go and do what I can to help!”
She snapped her horse’s reins, sank her heels into its flanks, then rode onward. She had to go to Fire Thunder’s lodge and get a weapon. She felt lucky that, thus far, the main part of the fighting was on the other side of the village away from Fire Thunder’s cabin. She hoped and prayed that Little Sparrow and Midnight would remain safe in the cabin. And Running Fawn! What about her? Her cabin was way too close to the battle scene.
She raised her eyes heavenward and whispered a prayer, asking the good Lord to, above all else, keep Fire Thunder safe!
As she rode into the village, she made a sharp left on the mare and rode only a short distance, then drew a tight rein before Fire Thunder’s cabin.
Kaylene quickly dismounted. Breathing hard, panting, her wet clothes clinging to her flesh like a second skin, she ran into the lodge.
