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Hannah sat beside Strong Wolf on a raised platform that was covered with rich pelts. From the moment she had arrived at the Chippewa village, she had been comfortable with the surroundings, and the people.
She had been introduced to everyone right away. She glanced over at White Wolf, who sat on a platform next to the one on which she and Strong Wolf sat. His wife, Dawnmarie, sat beside him. A loose robe hung in folds over White Wolf’s right shoulder. Dawnmarie was dressed in a white doeskin robe.
White Wolf, of the Lac du Flambeau clan of Chippewa, was Proud Heart’s father and the chief of this village. From first glance, Hannah had seen that he was a chief with much power, a man with charisma.
Hannah had been told that White Wolf’s name was always spoken when old men sat around talking about proud feats of valor.
Old women praised White Wolf for his kindness toward them.
Young women held him up as an idol to their sweethearts, for although he had reached the age of sixty, he was still steel-muscled, quick of movement, and breathtakingly handsome.
His eyes proved his gentle, peace-loving nature.
As he smiled over at her now, Hannah’s insides melted, so much that she sought Strong Wolf’s hand quickly, to make her remember that she was married to a man who was just as handsome, whose charm matched White Wolf’s.
And Hannah had been taken quickly with his wife, Dawnmarie. Not only was she sweet and friendly, a half-breed who bridged two worlds of white and red people with her Kickapoo heritage, she was beautiful, with violet eyes.
Dawnmarie’s hair was gray, yet lovely in how it swirled around her delicately featured face. Onty a few traces of wrinkles creased her brow, and around her eyes and mouth. Usually those wrinkles were hidden in her deep, friendly smile.
Hannah’s eyes shifted, and she looked around Strong Wolf at an elderly lady who sat at Dawnmarie’s right side on a platform next to the one on which Hannah and Strong Wolf sat. This elderly lady, who had reached and passed her hundredth birthday, was shriveled up and tiny, her wrinkled skin tautly drawn across her bones.
Her head bobbed uncontrollably as she sat with her hunched back, a huge knot at the base of her neck. Her old eyes seemed sightless, yet she proved even now that she was alert as she watched the dancers performing around the council house central fire.
Dressed in a loose-fitting buckskin dress, adorned with various colorful beads, her long and flowing gray hair reaching the floor behind her; the woman kept time with the music as she patted a fan of feathers against one of her knees, her legs crossed beneath her.
Hannah smiled as she thought of this woman as young and beautiful, and perhaps someone who had been quite skilled at dancing. Surely that was how she got the name Woman Dancing!
Then Hannah looked elsewhere. Her eyes stopped on Proud Heart and his wife, Singing Wind, who sat on a platform at White Wolf and Dawnmarie’s right side. It was obvious that Proud Heart was happy to be home. He was all smiles as he watched the dancers, one hand linked with his wife’s. They had only moments ago revealed to Proud Heart’s parents that Singing Wind was going to have a child.
Hannah glanced over at Dawnmarie again and how she beamed with the news that she was going to be a grandmother.
White Wolf sat just as proudly smiling over the news.
The only drawback was that White Wolf and Dawnmarie were soon to depart from this village. Dawnmarie was going to search for her true people, the Kickapoo, in Mexico. Proud Heart would then be chief of this village. By leaving, White Wolf and Dawnmarie would not have the opportunity to watch their grandchild growing up.
But Dawnmarie explained to Hannah that she had waited a lifetime to finally search for her people. She explained that her mother, Doe Eyes, for whom Dawnmarie’s own daughter had been named, had been abducted from her Kickapoo village long ago. She had been forced to marry a white trader, Dawnmarie
’s father. Her mother had always wished to join her true people again, but death had claimed her before she had been given the opportunity. Dawnmarie had promised that she would go there herself when their son, Proud Heart, became old enough to take over her husband’s chieftain duties.
Now was the time. Proud Heart would not be returning with Strong Wolf to the Potawatomis village in the Kansas Territory. He would stay behind, in his rightful place, with his own people.
Hannah shifted her eyes to Doe Eyes, who sat with Hawk, on a platform next to Proud Heart’s. It had been evident that White Wolf and Dawnmarie had disapproved of their daughter’s choice in men. Although White Wolf saw Hawk’s father as a friend, his mother—whose Sioux brother Slow Running had been an ardent enemy of White Wolf—was anything but friendly. She had carried her hate for White Wolf deep inside her heart ever since her brother had died fighting with White Wolf and his warriors.
She had always blamed White Wolf for his death, overlooking the fact that her brother was a demon on two feet while he had lived!
Slow Running no longer posed a threat, but when White Wolf looked at Hawk, he seemed to be looking at Slow Running; Hawk had taken on his uncle’s appearance, as though he was the reincarnation of Slow Running.
Doe Eyes had talked with Hannah earlier in the evening, speaking about Hawk’s mother. Doe Eyes dreaded facing Star Flower with the news that Hawk had not slain Strong Wolf and Proud Heart, as ordered, and with the news that Hawk and Doe Eyes would soon be married. She expected Star Flower to go into a fit of anger! Oh, how she dreaded that moment!
Strong Wolf leaned closer to Hannah. “We will leave for my people’s village tomorrow,” he whispered. “But it is good to be here with such friends as White Wolf and Dawnmarie. Are you enjoying yourself? You seem so quiet. So studious.”
“Yes, I’m truly enjoying myself,” Hannah whispered back, giving Strong Wolf a soft smile. She reached for one of his hands and twined her fingers through his. “I guess I got caught up in thinking about White Wolf and his family. They are all so kind, aren’t they?”
“As far back as I can remember, my grandfather traded and had council with White Wolf often,” Strong Wolf said, glancing over at White Wolf. He was amazed at how the last thirty years had hardly aged him. And he had seen how Hannah had been taken by his noble presence.
For a moment Strong Wolf had been jealous!
“And your mother?” Hannah asked, drawing Strong Wolf’s eyes back to her. “Did she come often also and visit with Dawnmarie?”
