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She started to mention David, then thought better of it. There might be a danger in alerting another warrior that she had a son, and that she sorely feared for his life.
Wasn’t one Indian as bad as the next? How was she to know what any of them might have in mind for a child David’s age?
And . . . was David even still alive?
She hung her head so that the tears she was fighting couldn’t be seen by Brave Wolf. She wanted to look courageous and strong.
“I promised you fire—you have fire,” Brave Wolf said, motioning toward it. “Go. Stand beside it. Warm yourself.”
She did not have to be asked twice. Longing for the warmth against her trembling flesh, Mary Beth hurried to the fire and stretched her hands to the heat.
Never in her life had the warmth of a fire felt as delicious as now. Every part of her was cold.
Brave Wolf was glad to see that she had followed at least one of his orders.
He went to his horse and removed his travel bag and saddle, then hobbled his horse with the others as his warriors made themselves comfortable around the fire opposite from where Mary Beth stood.
Brave Wolf turned and gazed at length at the woman, again taken by her loveliness. Even wet and shivering from the cold, she was beautiful.
He hoped to gain her trust soon, for he would like to talk with her and hear why she was in this area, and about her family.
Was she married? Did she have children somewhere? Had she heard about what had happened at the Battle of the Little Big Horn?
Was that why she hated him so much? Did she believe that he had had a role in the killings?
He gazed down at his bag, then back at Mary Beth. There was usually one way to break through a barrier of silence. Food.
Surely she was hungry. She might not have eaten for many hours now.
He carried only pemmican on jaunts like this. When someone was hungry, pemmican was very welcome.
He bent down and got a stick of pemmican from his bag, then went to Mary Beth and held it out for her. “If you are hungry, this pemmican will fill at least some of the empty space in your belly,” he said. He flinched when she turned quickly and glared at him again.
Instead of accepting his offer of food, she spat at his feet as she had before.
“I don’t want that disgusting-looking mess,” she said, but in truth she badly wanted to eat it. She was so hungry she felt weak, yet she could not accept anything from this Indian . . . except her freedom! “Take it away. Do you hear? Take . . . it . . . away!”
Finding her insulting, Brave Wolf gazed at her for a moment, then slowly turned and walked away from her.
Yes, she was insulting, yet beautiful and spirited. He smiled, for he enjoyed seeing spirit in a woman.
Hating to behave like a spoiled child, Mary Beth almost regretted her words as Brave Wolf walked away from her.
But how could she behave any other way than angry and spiteful? She was cold, wet, miserable, and she missed her David so much she could no longer keep from crying.
Ignoring the warriors who sat opposite her on blankets, Mary Beth crumpled to the wet ground and held her face in her hands, sobbing.
Brave Wolf stopped and turned to gaze at Mary Beth. He was now seeing her soft side. His heart went out to her, for surely she felt lost and alone without any of her family . . . without any of her people anywhere near for her to flee to. He felt much for her at this moment, mostly compassion.
He opened one of his travel bags and took a blanket from it. Hurrying back to Mary Beth, he bent to his knees beside her.
He gently wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, surprised when she flinched as though she had been shot and grabbed the blanket away from herself. She gave him a cold, defiant look as she tossed it into his face.
Mary Beth badly wished to keep the blanket, but she wasn’t sure what it represented. Had he offered it to her because he planned to use it with her?
Did he plan to take her into this blanket with him, forcing her to sleep with him?
Not giving up so easily, Brave Wolf placed the blanket around her shoulders again. “This blanket is for your comfort,” he said softly. “Do not be too stubborn to take it. I mean you only good.”
