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“My warriors, all of the bull’s meat, and everything you can take from it, is yours,” Brave Wolf said. “Stay behind and take what you can, then return safely home to your families.”
“But you downed it first,” Blue Thunder said. “It is rightfully yours, not ours.”
“It is yours, take it,” Brave Wolf said, then hugged each of the four who had again proved their worth to their chief.
Saying nothing more, Brave Wolf went to his horse, swung himself into the saddle, then rode off with the remaining warriors.
Brave Wolf glanced down at the blood that had spattered on him from the bull as the animal had turned him over as though he were nothing more than a leaf. Today he had cheated death once again.
Chapter Nineteen
If with me you’d fondly stray,
Over the hills and far away.
—Gay
It was a quiet morning. Two days had passed, and the soldiers had not been able to find David.
Feeling so many things
, Mary Beth stood at the back window of the cabin, peering at the stark, tall walls of the fort.
She was glad that no one had tried to accost her again, yet she still didn’t feel safe.
In fact, she felt like a prisoner.
The only time she had any contact with anyone was when food and fresh water were brought to her. Colonel Downing was always the one who came with those things.
She could not help feeling uneasy with him. She could tell that he was motivated by something other than kindness. It was in his eyes as he slowly raked them over her. It was in the husky thickness of his voice when he spoke to her.
She had just been waiting for one move that would prove her right . . . that he was going to try to seduce her.
“I must get out of here,” Mary Beth said, nervously pacing.
She gazed at the doeskin dress that she had laid out on the bed today, with every intention of leaving the fort and returning to the Crow village.
But she just didn’t know how to break that particular news to the colonel.
When he discovered that she was not just a person who had been rescued by Chief Brave Wolf, but a woman who wanted to go to him and live with his people, she was afraid he would be furious.
Especially if he knew her plans to marry Brave Wolf.
She had no idea what his reaction would be.
And she couldn’t just leave the fort without telling anyone. The sentries would see her and report it to the colonel.
Yet for many reasons she no longer had any faith that the soldiers would find David. They hadn’t even found Blackjack Tom.
She shivered when she recalled that evil man’s fingers on her throat. She reached a hand up and slowly, softly rubbed her throat, where bruises still gave evidence of the man’s assault on her.
She was afraid for Brave Wolf to see the bruises.
Who could say what his reaction might be?
She didn’t want to cause him to confront the soldiers on her behalf, when it had only been one of them who had taken advantage of her.
She went to the doeskin dress and picked it up, holding its softness to her cheek. Yes, she wanted to wear this dress . . . not the one with the perfume of a dead woman on it.
