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—Shakespeare
Mary Beth was just working up the nerve to ask Brave Wolf how soon he could send warriors out to look for her son when he began to speak himself.
“I had not known that my warriors so adamantly opposed my brother being here in the village,” he said in a worried tone. “Now that I do, I must go into council and explain further my decision to allow Night Horse to stay, at least until he can fend for himself. Otherwise, I will most surely be sending my brother to his death.”
“But those who rode with you did not question your decision or your authority.” Mary Beth said, wanting to direct his attention elsewhere . . . to David.
And she still didn’t know if he was married or not. She wasn’t sure how to ask, for she didn’t want to appear brazen. Anyone who knew her well knew she was anything but that.
But she had never before met anyone like Brave Wolf; nor had she found any other man who made her want him so much.
“Those who are questioning my brother’s presence are the warriors who stayed behind, hoping that Night Horse would not be found. Now that he is among our people, they find it hard to accept. And I understand. My brother turned his back on our people. He betrayed the Crow by riding with Custer.
But my brother must not be judged by us. The First Maker, who made the world, and who presides over it even now, will hand down his final sentencing. Until then, I will stand behind my promise to my mother. I will see that Night Horse is well enough to fend for himself again, and then I will ask him to leave.”
“I’m sorry things have to be so difficult,” she murmured. She watched as he turned and moved slowly toward the entrance flap. “I admire your dedication to your brother despite the wrong he has done. A brother’s love must be special.”
Brave Wolf turned and gazed at her. “It was . . . it is,” he said thickly. “Surely no two other bro
thers have ever grown up so close. Thoughts came to us at the same time. Often we had no need even to speak, for our thoughts . . . our feelings . . . were shared. I had always thought that nothing could separate us from each other. When we rode our steeds, our shadows merged in the moonlight. Our hearts beat to the same drum.”
He raked his fingers through his long, thick hair in frustration. “I never knew when, or why, my brother’s shadow separated from mine, or when our heartbeats changed their rhythm,” he said tightly. “Suddenly one day he was a stranger to me and to our people. Why? I am not certain I will ever know the true cause.”
He sighed. “I must hurry now to those who wait for me,” he said softly.
“Will you be long in council?” Mary Beth asked, knowing now that she had no choice but to wait.
When Brave Wolf heard the softness in Mary Beth’s voice, he knew that they had arrived at a different level of friendship. She was no longer a woman of defiance. She was a woman who trusted . . . who possibly even cared more than she was saying.
It was in her eyes that she saw him as a desirable man.
But now was not the time to consider what could be between them. For now, he must concentrate on making things right in his village.
His people came first. That was why he was chief.
But one day soon he must make room for a woman in his life. If at all possible, it would be the white woman with the caring heart and pretty eyes!
“I will be gone for as long as it takes to calm my warriors’ anger. And then I will also take time to go speak with the parents of Two Tails, the one who died as we were rescuing you,” Brave Wolf said, wishing he could take Mary Beth into his arms and tell her that he cared for her and that he still planned to hunt for her child. But he did not dare to be so openly affectionate with her just yet.
He hoped that soon he would feel free to do so . . . when she showed that she wanted it from him.
His gaze swept slowly over her, noting that she still wore the clothes that were far too big for her, and yet she had not complained.
That, too, he liked about her. With one more smile for her, he left his lodge.
Again Mary Beth realized she’d been left alone. How easy it would be to flee if she wished to.
But the very thought of being out there on wild land, where wild savages roamed, made her tremble with fear. Instead of leaving, she sat down on the wondrously soft pelts beside the fire and waited for Brave Wolf to return.
Then she would beg Brave Wolf to send a search party out for her son. Surely his men knew all the local hiding places, since they had lived in the area all their lives.
Yes, back in Kentucky, she knew every nook and cranny on the land that surrounded her home. She smiled as she recalled a monstrous cave that she and Lloyd had found when she was ten and he was twelve. It was a mammoth place of caverns and stalagmites. It had been like entering another world . . . a place of fantasy.
Again shame filled her as she recalled what had brought her to this land in the first place. A divorce from a man she had been best friends with since his parents had bought the farm adjoining her parents’ land, when she was five and he was seven. Now . . . he . . . was dead!
Mary Beth brushed tears from her eyes just as she heard a movement behind her.
Thinking that Brave Wolf had returned, she turned her head quickly. She was surprised to see Brave Wolf’s elderly mother coming into the tepee, a dress draped over her arms.
