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He leaned even harder on Mia. “That’s all we can do,” he said, his face flushed. “We have no other recourse except to hope someone comin’ on that river will have mercy on us.”
“But…” Tiny began. He stopped when Harry glared at him.
“Go and watch for someone to come by,” Harry ordered flatly. “When you see anyone, Tiny, anyone, flag ’em down. Or else we are here to stay. With the few provisions we have, we won’t last long, and I’m not able to walk farther than this gate.”
“I guess you know that we are at the mercy of any Indian who might happen along, too,” Tiny said, nervously picking at his whiskers.
“That’s another reason we should be certain to find someone who will have mercy on us as soon as we can, someone who will offer us a ride on their boat,” Mia said, already turning her father to walk back to the cabin.
She looked over her shoulder at Tiny. “Tiny, please keep a close watch for a boat…and any signs of Indians,” she said. “For now we’ve no choice but to stay put and hope for the best.”
“I’m hungry,” Tiny growled.
“I’ll fix us some breakfast, some oats from what’s left of the supply we took off the boat, but you’ll have to eat it without sugar, for I left that canister on the scow, not thinking someone would steal our boat and everything on it,” Mia said.
She went on through the gate with her father as Tiny meandered down to the riverbank.
Cursing, Tiny kicked at the rocks along the shore, then nervously looked over his shoulder into the dark shadows of the forest.
He knew that they were sitting ducks if any Indians should come along.
He gazed up at the smoke spiraling from inside the fort’s walls, knowing that Mia had put more wood on the fire so that she could prepare the oats.
If an Indian got wind of that smoke…
Suddenly he felt too afraid to stay out there by himself. He sneaked back inside the walls of the fort, but made certain not to let Mia or her father see him. If he heard any noise down by the river, such as a boat might make as it passed, he would hurry out there and flag it down.
Otherwise, he would protect his own hide. He wouldn’t be a sitting duck like Mia’s mother had been on the scow, downed by an Indian’s deadly arrow!
Chapter Eleven
Heart, are you great enough
For a love that never tires?
O, heart, are you great
Enough for love?
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Wolf Hawk had left his tepee before dawn and had gone from lodge to lodge to awaken his warriors.
He had slept hardly at all through the night and had decided during those waking hours that he could not truly rest until he found the ones who had caused the deaths of the Bird Clan’s innocent young braves.
Although his earlier search had led him to a standstill at the river, he would not give up so quickly.
Traveling on horse back, Wolf Hawk and his warriors set out again through the forest. They would take the entire day to search for the trappers, and if they were not found today, perhaps tomorrow!
One day he would have his vengeance.
Somehow, some day, he would come face-to-face with the two white men and he would make them pay for their crimes against the fallen youths.
It was now just past daybreak.
The early, soft rays of the sun streamed through the foliage of the trees overhead as Wolf Hawk traveled onward.
Robins warbled and sang their songs throughout the forest, making everything seem serene and peaceful, but Wolf Hawk was far from serene.
