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Strong Wolf went to a grove of silver birches just outside of his village, where he could be alone with his thoughts. As lightning zigzagged across the darkening heavens in lurid, vivid flashes, he talked to the tree spirits, the wild thunder echoing Strong Wolf’s heartbeat as he sat there so filled with tumultuous emotions.
It was awhile before the rain set in, enough time, he hoped, for Hannah to get safely home.
Then when the rain began to fall, he lifted his eyes to the heavens and let himself be cleansed of hatred against the white men who had gone against him and his people.
Chapter 28
I will share with thee my sorrows,
And thou thy joys with me.
—CHARLES JEFFERYS
Chilled to the bone from the rain, Hannah returned home. Soaking wet, she stood on the porch and stared up at the play of lightning in the sky. Listening to the thunder, she didn’t hear Chuck come to the door, telling her to come in out of the rain.
She was filled with many emotions. She had never truly known just how deeply resentments lay against the red man, until now. It was heartbreaking to witness, especially when that red man was the man she loved with her very soul!
“Hannah!” Chuck said, grabbing her arm. “Come inside! Do you want to get a death of cold?”
Hannah came suddenly out of her reverie. She looked quickly over at Chuck.
He held her close, then went with her back inside the house. “Tell me what happened,” he said as he shut the door behind them.
“He is free,” Hannah said, slipping her boots off. “But Lord, although free, think of the scars left inside him over this horrible mistake!”
“He’s strong,” Chuck reassured. “He will come out of this, unscathed. You will see, Hannah. He’s a fighter. He will never let anything take away his courage, his fight, his pride.”
Then he reached out and touched her hair, then her clothes. “Sis, you’ve got to get out of those wet clothes,” he said.
She nodded and fled to her bedroom.
As she stripped herself nude, she couldn’t get Strong Wolf off her mind. He seemed so quick to send her away today, she thought to herself.
She could not help but wonder if his one night of confinement might have given him time to think over this notion of marrying a white woman.
Had he only pretended to be happy to see her, when deep down inside he resented her along with the rest of the white community?
She bit her lower lip, the thought of possibly losing him almost too much to bear.
Chapter 29
I want you when in dreams I still remember,
The ling’ring of your kiss.
—ARTHUR GILLOM
Because of the dangers that always threatened travelers these days, Strong Wolf had decided that he didn’t want Hannah to ride alone anymore. He was on his way to her house now, to escort her back to the village.
When a loud whistle reverberated through the air, Strong Wolf drew a tight rein and wheeled his horse to a quick stop. He gazed in the direction of the Kansas River, then he heard the whistle again.
The whistle continued this time, shrieking over and over again. It sounded as though the riverboat might be in some sort of trouble.
Then Strong Wolf remembered what Colonel Deshong had said about the riverboats not getting through because of cholera. Did the boat’s presence in the river today mean that the fear of the disease was now over?
He thought about Patrick and the men under his command at Fort Leavenworth. It was best for them that the boats were getting through again with supplies. Strong Wolf would never again send his men out on the hunt for them. He had been humiliated for the last time by white men.
He had decided that except for his love for Hannah and his association with her family, there would be few alliances with white people. When Claude Odum had died, Strong Wolf realized that the Potawatomis would be blamed for what, in fact, white men did to themselves.
