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He knelt there and watched her gently place the bird in the cage. When Georgina saw that she was back inside her home, she leapt up to her main perch and began singing.
Mia sighed. “Isn’t she such a beautiful thing?” she said, slowly closing the door. “Her song is so sweet. My bird is a miracle! How did she survive without her cage? Without me?”
“It is not for us to question,” Wolf Hawk said, reaching over and gently touching Mia’s cheek. “It is good to see how happy your bird makes you. I am glad that I have been able to add to that happiness by bringing her back home to you.”
“I can never thank you enough,” Mia murmured, reaching up and taking his hand from her face, then gently holding it. “You are so kind. Thank you, thank you.”
The feel of her hand in his made Wolf Hawk again realize the depths of his love for this woman.
He knew then what he must do, and he would do it tomorrow. There was a special ritual that was performed by a Winnebago warrior when he was in love. And Wolf Hawk was ready to undertake it.
Tomorrow!
“May I ask something else of you?” Mia questioned, searching his eyes.
“Ask,” Wolf Hawk said, looking intently back at her, their eyes locked. “Ask and it shall be done.”
“Would you bring some fresh water for Georgina’s water well, while I give her food?” Mia asked softly.
“I am happy to see you so happy,” Wolf Hawk said, going to his store of water, which was kept in a long, buckskin bag hanging right inside his lodge.
He watched Mia place food in the bird’s food well, and then take the water well from the cage and handed it to him.
“Fill it half full,” Mia murmured. “That is enough for such a tiny thing.”
When everything was done to make Georgina’s comfort complete, Wolf Hawk took Mia’s hands and held them as he gazed into her eyes again.
“I found something while I was on my way to the fort,” he said soberly. “What I found is in my travel bag. I shall go and get it from my horse. I will show you what I found.”
Mia was all eyes when he left and waited anxiously for him to return to the tepee.
When he did, she gasped softly at the sight of the many cards that he had found on the ground.
He placed them on the mat at their feet, and then reached inside his bag and retrieved the lone shoe…and the strands of hair, which he placed next to the cards.
“Lordie be,” Mia murmured, paling at the sight of the hair and the shoe.
She studied them for only a moment, then gazed again into Wolf Hawk’s eyes. “These things are Tiny’s,” she said. “I know the shoe. I…I…know the hair, and of course, I know whose cards these are. All of them are Tiny’s.”
“I thought so,” Wolf Hawk said, nodding.
“Tiny would never leave his cards behind, for he is a gambler,” she said, swallowing hard. “Surely this means that he has come to a bad end.”
She slowly shook her head back and forth. “I wonder if the trappers killed him?” she asked softly. “I wonder if they are still close by?”
Then she reached out and touched Wolf Hawk on the arm. “I never cared anything at all for Tiny,” she murmured. “But…he might still be alive, and out there, helpless. Do you think that you could go and search for him? While you are doing that, you could also search for those two men again. Perhaps it wasn’t they who stole the scow and fled in it. If they are still somewhere close by, hiding, you might be able to catch them.”
“I can understand why you would want me to search for the murderers, but why would you care for that tiny man who caused you nothing but trouble?” he asked, taking her hand from his arm and holding it.
“I am a Christian, that’s why,” Mia said softly. “I have never truly wished this man harm. He is probably a victim of his upbringing. Perhaps he never had anyone to show him love. I just think it is the right thing to do to see if he is alive out there somewhere, afraid, perhaps hungry.”
“You never cease to amaze me. You always seem to show kindness to others, even those who have wronged you,” Wolf Hawk said thickly. “You are such a giving person.”
“I behave how I was raised to behave,” Mia murmured. “My papa and mama were very loving people. I…I…inherit this all from them.”
“I will go now and gather up some warriors. We will search for the tiny man to see if he is still alive,” Wolf Hawk said softly.
He released her hand reluctantly. He wanted to do much more than hold her hand. He wanted her in his embrace.
