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He couldn’t take the time to escort her to Fort Hope, where he had friendly relations with the colonel. And he did not dare send her away with just one of his warriors, especially since there were still renegades out there who would enjoy getting their hands on a white woman.
She was best kept where there were many warriors to protect her from the threat of any other renegades who might wish to claim a white woman as a prize. Yes, he had to keep her with him and his warriors, at least until he could return her to people of her own skin color.
“White woman, I have no choice but to take you with me for now,” Brave Wolf said, making certain that his voice was friendly and reassuring.
“I am on a quest for my mother,” he said. “I am looking for my brother and I have traveled far in my search. I cannot turn back for your sake. You must travel with me, but I assure you that when I succeed with my quest, I will return you safely to your people.”
He was not surprised when he saw no look of relief upon her face. He guessed that she truly did not expect to come out of this alive. But there was no way to reassure her other than what he had already said. She would learn to trust him in time.
“Please, oh, please take me to Fort Henry,” she begged, overwhelmed by a horrendous sense of powerlessness. “That was where I was headed before . . . before the renegades attacked our wagon train.” She hung her head, then slowly looked at Brave Wolf. “I am so weary . . . so tired.”
“I have promised to return you to your people at my first opportunity,” Brave Wolf softly explained, yet even then he would not take her to Fort Henry. The colonel there was not his ally.
He gazed into her eyes and saw a renewal of defiance. She looked guardedly around her, as though she had it in her mind to attempt an escape.
He sighed heavily. “Seeing that you just might try to escape, I have no choice but to tie your wrists as we travel,” he said.
He nodded to a warrior and told him to bring leather thongs from their travel bag.
“No, please don’t,” Mary Beth pleaded. “I promise not to try to run away. I will cooperate.”
“I do not know you well enough to know whether or not promises mean anything to you, so I must secure your wrists,” he said regretfully. “I am doing this for your own benefit, to assure that you won’t suddenly break free and ride away from me and my warriors. I fear for your safety should you find a way to escape. There are other renegades besides those who abducted you. You are treated as a captive by me now only to keep you safe from harm. In my heart you are anything but a captive.”
Mary Beth’s eyebrows rose at what he had just said.
She had no idea how to feel about her situation now. How should she regard this handsome chief who had come in the middle of the night to save her from the hands of those hideous, murdering renegades?
She was quiet as he tied her wrists, then led her to a horse and lifted her into the saddle. She winced when he tied her ankles to the stirrups.
“You will be riding my best friend’s steed. Two Tails was slain as we rescued you,” Brave Wolf said.
Mary Beth could see torment in his eyes when he mentioned Two Tails. She almost felt as though she should say she was sorry for being the cause of his friend’s death. But no,
she was the one who was owed an apology, not him.
She set her jaw firmly and looked straight ahead, ignoring anything else this redskin savage might say to her.
When Brave Wolf mounted his own steed, he rode close to Mary Beth. He took the reins of her horse, then held them as he rode onward without another word to her. He noticed that as she rode beside him she was giving him occasional angry glances. He ignored them.
Once again he focused on the true reason he was riding so far from his home in the middle of the night: the guest he had undertaken for his mother.
Seeing that giving him angry glances did not seem to move the young chief, Mary Beth looked straight ahead. Her thoughts returned to David. She was far more worried about him than herself.
Where could he be?
And was she being taken farther and farther away from him?
She wished she could tell this Indian about her son’s plight and seek his help. But she couldn’t because she wasn’t even sure what his true plans were for her.
And why would he care about her child? Did he not have his own worries? Was not he searching for his own brother?
She had no choice but to keep her fears to herself and pray that the good Lord above would keep her son safe from harm. She prayed that she would see him again one day, and that they would be reunited.
For now both she and her son were at the mercy of Indians, but not the same ones. If only they could at least be together in their captivity, she might find some peace.
As it was, she felt only hurtful despair deep inside her soul!
Chapter Seven
