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But she could see that Lee-Lee was very uneasy. She could see fear in her daughter’s eyes, in the way she kept looking over her shoulder as though expecting to get caught.
“Daughter, we are safe,” Jade said reassuringly.
“I am so afraid of Reginald, and I am also afraid of . . . of . . . the cave and . . . what might be in there,” Lee-Lee murmured.
“Sweet daughter, you have to learn never to be afraid again, of anything,” Jade said. “It is a cruel, complicated world, but we will make a new beginning. You shall see. Only goodness lies ahead for us both.” She swallowed hard. “I should not have waited so long to do this.”
Lee-Lee gave Jade a faint, quivering smile.
Chapter Twenty-three
Panting and wheezing, and mopping his brow with his handkerchief, Reginald walked onward. He had left his horse and buggy a mile back. He was trying a different tactic today. He was trying to elude all the sentries so that he could get into the village.
He was determined to get the young chief’s attention. Surely Thunder Horse would take pity on him once he heard about the horrible nights that Reginald was having.
Surely the Sioux chief would have mercy. He had had enough nightmares already to last him a lifetime.
Reginald had watched carefully as he walked, keeping an eye out for sentries who would surely stop him. Thus far he had managed to stay hidden among the trees.
He wheezed and coughed into his handkerchief, hoping that he could stifle the sounds as he drew near the village. Only moments ago he had caught a glimpse of tepees, and even now he smelled the smoke from the lodge fires, so he knew that he had almost succeeded with his plan.
But he was ungodly tired. He wasn’t used to walking this far. His legs were feeling rubbery and weak.
He wasn’t certain he could make it back to his horse and buggy. Again he hoped the savages would have some mercy and take him back to the buggy on horseback instead of making him walk all the way.
His lungs ached as if they were on fire from the effort it took to place one foot and then the other forward.
Again he wiped the sweat that was pouring from his brow. His hair was wet with perspiration, dripping onto his expensive suit jacket.
“You damn savages,” he whispered as he doubled a hand at his side in anger and humiliation. No one had ever seen him as disheveled as he must look now.
But he had only a short way to go before he would finally step into the village. He had succeeded in tricking them into receiving him.
Now if only they would let him talk. If only they would listen to reason.
He even had his pockets filled with coins. Money spoke volumes to poor people. And he saw the Sioux as poor. How else could anyone see a people who lived in tepees and who cooked over open fires inside small lo
dges?
Yes, coins might be the answer today where words had not worked. And today he would surely be able to talk to the chief.
Panting, and wiping more sweat from his face, hoping to look as presentable as possible, he stepped up to the very edge of the village. He was stunned that even now no one noticed him there.
He stopped and gazed slowly around him. The women were busy preparing meat. The children were laughing and playing games. The elders were sitting around an outside fire, smoking their long pipes and talking.
And then something else caught his eye, someone who made his heart skip a beat. It was Jessie! She had just stepped inside a tepee not far from where he stood, and she was dressed as a squaw, her hair hanging down her back in one long braid.
Stunned at the sight of her, for he had never thought in a thousand years to look for her in an Indian village, Reginald could not stop a sudden bout of terribly loud wheezing. He began coughing so hard, he felt as though he might strangle.
He grabbed at his throat, the handkerchief falling to the ground at his feet.
Finally he got some control of his coughing. He bent and started to retrieve his handkerchief from the ground. Just as he did, he saw moccasins step up before him and knew that his coughing had caught someone’s attention.
Almost afraid to straighten his back and see who was there, Reginald breathed hard and stayed bent for a moment longer, just staring at the moccasins.
But when a hand fell upon his shoulder and a voice spoke, telling him to stand up, he knew that he had no choice but to look upon the face of whoever had discovered him standing there.
Breathing hard, his heart thumping wildly, Reginald straightened his back and found himself gazing up into the dark, stern eyes of none other than the young chief.
