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“I will soon remedy that,” Sage said. “Soon you will have your own saddle, one that will fit your every contour.”
“I appreciate the thought, darling, but I hope I never need to ride a horse ever again.”
“Horses are also rode for pleasure,” Sage said, smiling down at her.
Leonida flinched when another wave of nausea swam through her. Cold perspiration covered her arms and face as she fought back the urge to retch again. Now she was almost certain that she was pregnant. She smiled sheepishly up at Sage; she had not yet told him.
She was going to tell him tonight.
“There it was again,” Sage growled, gently gripping her shoulders with his fingers. “For a moment you looked ill again. You should not work with the women. You must rest.”
Leonida placed a hand on her abdomen, thinking that perhaps he was right. She had seen death claim two of her best friends. Her mother had suffered two miscarriages. Leonida did not want to experience the same loss. She wanted this baby. She wanted to share this child with Sage and Runner. They would be such a happy family.
“All right,” Leonida said. “I won’t help build the hogans. But I will help prepare the food for everyone. I am certainly strong enough to cook.”
Her willingness to give up the fight to help with the manual labor so easily surprised Sage. He raised an eyebrow as he lowered his hands from her and lifted her chin up so that she was forced to look him square in the eye.
“Do you have anything to tell me?” he asked.
“Like what?” Leonida said, her eyes innocently wide, yet wondering if he suspected already the miraculous changes happening within her body.
“You backed away from an argument too easily,” Sage said. “That is not like you. Tell me why. Is it because you are more ill than you allow me to see? I must know if you are. I will have the singer sing over you, to make you well.”
Leonida stiffened at the thought of being “sung” over, having seen how little it had helped Pure Blossom. The thought of her possibly ever needing a true doctor filled her with foreboding. And when she started with her labor pains, what if a doctor was needed to help with the birthing? That, as well as her worry about losing the child, frightened her.
“Darling, I’m fine,” Leonida reassured. She was thankful for Runner’s interference when he began tugging on her skirt, gazing up at her with that sweet pleading that she had grown to know so well.
“What is it, sweetie?” Leonida asked, giving Sage a sidewise glance as he turned and walked away, headed for his Navaho warriors, who were already busy chopping and digging, many of the women working alongside them.
“Can I make a cage for my animal?” Runner asked, hugging the little chipmunk to his chest. “I’m afraid he’ll run away.”
Leonida knelt down on a knee before him. “Runner, let’s not put him in a cage,” she murmured. “That would be cruel.” She placed a gentle hand to his smooth cheek. “You’ve seen how the Navaho have been threatened by imprisonment at a reservation, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” Runner said, tilting his head to one side.
“And you’ve seen how they have fled to a new land, to keep from having to go to live on the reservation?” Leonida continued.
“Yes . . .” Runner murmured.
“
Well, darling, it’s almost the same with this tiny animal,” Leonida said, gazing down at the chipmunk that sat trustingly in Runner’s hand. “He would not want to be caged any more than the Navaho do.”
“But if I let him go, he’ll run away,” Runner whined.
“If that’s what he wants, then you should let him,” Leonida said, patting Runner on the head. “If he wants to be a friend to you, he won’t go far.”
Runner gazed down at the chipmunk, then at his Navaho friends skipping and playing, and then down again at his animal friend.
Leonida saw that Runner was being torn with choices; she knew he wanted to join his friends at play, yet he feared losing his animal friend if he set it free.
“Runner, you know what’s best,” she said.
“Yes, I know,” Runner mumbled, then opened his arms and hands and allowed the chipmunk to scamper free. “He didn’t want to be friends after all.”
Leonida pulled Runner into her arms and gave him a gentle hug. “Go and play with your human friends,” she teased, playfully smacking his little bottom. “Perhaps your chipmunk will return soon.”
Runner nodded and rushed away, quickly joining his friends. Leonida watched, proud of this young man who was being raised as her son. She knew that Carole would be just as proud.
