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Wolf Hawk paused, looked slowly from one to the other, then said, “He commanded, too, that the land on each side of the river would break away. How did you ever think that you could come again as though nothing had happened and claim the pelts and take them away?”
“We meant no one harm; we did not mean to kill those two young braves,” Jeb whined. “It…just…happened.”
“As it just happened that one of you took the hunting amulet from Little Bull as he lay dead in a pool of his own life’s blood?” Wolf Hawk demanded, gazing intently at the amulet that now hung around Jeb’s neck.
Wolf Hawk left it there for now, but soon it would be taken back to the mother of its rightful owner.
First he wanted everyone to see the proof of who these men were. The amulet conclusively proved that these trappers were responsible for the boys’ deaths.
Clint glared at Jeb. “I told you that you shouldn’t take that amulet,” he growled out.
Jeb lowered his eyes and swallowed hard, then winced when Wolf Hawk grabbed him by the arm and yanked him from the cabin. Clint walked shakily beside him.
“Please, oh, please let us go,” Jeb cried. “We truly meant those young men no harm.”
Wolf Hawk stopped and glared at him. “I am taking you to the mother of the two braves who died in your deadly traps, so that she will see who took her sons’ lives,” he said coldly.
“Please, no,” Clint cried. “Why cain’t you listen to reason? We didn’t mean for any of that to happen. Please let us go. We promise, oh, Lord, we promise never to come to Winnebago land again. And we won’t tell anyone about you and how you treated us. We promise.”
Those words only antagonized Wolf Hawk even more. So far, he had not treated the men badly at all.
“Come,” Wolf Hawk said, shoving first one man, and then the other, out of the cabin. “Your words are wasted on me.”
He kept shoving them until they finally reached the beached boat.
“Get in,” Wolf Hawk commanded. “Now!”
Clint and Jeb fell all over each other as they scrambled to get in the boat. Wolf Hawk made them sit facing the seat he would take.
After Wolf Hawk got the boat in deeper water, he boarded it, himself. For a moment he just sat there, glaring at the men, wanting them to become as uncomfortable as possible. Then he lifted the paddle and started back in the direction of his village.
Jeb and Clint sat there, trembling, their eyes transfixed on Wolf Hawk. Both were afraid that he might turn suddenly into a bird or a wolf.
They had enough common sense left to realize that Wolf Hawk surely wouldn’t allow them to live to tell others of the mystical happenings they had witnessed. They also knew that he was going to make them both pay for the deaths of those two young braves.
They just wondered how he would choose to take revenge. Would their deaths be slow, or mercifully fast? Either way, they were absolutely terrified.
Then it came to Jeb just how slowly the two young braves must have died. He was certain now that he and Clint would be made to die just as slowly and painfully.
“Please, oh, please reconsider,” Jeb cried out. “Let us go!”
As before, Wolf Hawk ignored his pleadings.
He just continued paddling onward, his heart set on finally achieving the vengeance demanded by the mother of the two young braves. He was more than happy to do this for Dancing Fire.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Some fears, a soft regret,
For joys scarce known.
—Barry Cornwall
Mia heard a commotion outside of Wolf Hawk’s tepee and then a strange sort of silence.
She had waited with an anxious heart for what seemed an eternity for Wolf Hawk’s return. Now she wondered if what was happening in the village could be a sign that he had finally arrived.
Her pulse racing, she rose from where she had sat waiting for the man she loved, on thick pelts before the slow burning embers of the fire. Excitedly she hurried outside.
