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But thus far she had not been the cause of any misfortune to his village, instead she had brought good, since she had found a way to make an old man feel young again before he had become lost in his silent world.
Blue Thunder could not fault Speckled Fawn, for anything; she had fit in well enough with his people. He no longer worried about her being in the village.
“You do not speak yet as to why you are here, taking up the important time of your chief,” Blue Thunder said, placing his hands on his knees as he crossed his legs at his ankles. “Speak up, woman. You must have a reason for being here. Tell me what it is.”
“Last night I visited the white woman,” Speckled Fawn said softly. “I brought her some of the clothes taken by the renegades. When she saw them, she reacted strongly to the sight of a child’s dress. I believe that dress belonged to her own child, a girl of perhaps four winters according to the size of the clothes. My chief, I saw the woman clinging to the dress and crying. I wonder where the child is, since she was not among those you rescued.”
Blue Thunder’s eyes narrowed as he continued to gaze at Speckled Fawn. “Do you really believe this woman is the mother of a small girl child?” he asked.
“Truly I do,” Speckled Fawn murmured. “And although I introduced myself to her, and even asked her name, she did not offer it to me.”
“Her name is Shirleen,” Blue Thunder said, in his mind’s eye seeing the beautiful, petite woman clinging to a tiny child’s dress. He was touched to know that she might be a mother.
But that had to mean she also had a husband. Perhaps he had been away from home when the massacre had occurred.
Knowing that the woman surely had both a child and a husband aroused jealousy in Blue Thunder’s heart that he did not want to feel.
Although Shirleen had spoken to his heart with her lovely sweetness and vulnerabilty, it would be better if he could deny his attraction to her. Her presence among his Wind Band might draw unwelcome white people to his village. Among them could be a husband, brother, or father, or even the cavalry searching for those who had been taken from their homes by the renegades.
Ho, all of this could happen, and it would be bad for his people. When white and red men’s lives collided, only trouble came from it.
But the possibility that this woman had a child who had been stolen from her touched his heart. He, too, had a daughter whom he loved dearly. How could he ignore a parent’s sadness over the loss of a daughter?
“Blue Thunder, if Shirleen has been separated from her child, does this change your feelings about her?” Speckled Fawn dared to ask.
“The child might be with her ahte, her father,” Blue Thunder suggested, even though he did not truly believe she was. Why would an ahte take a child to the trading post and not ask his mitawin, his wife, to accompany him?
No, it did not seem logical.
“I doubt that,” Speckled Fawn said. “A man has no time to coddle a daughter while hunting, or bargaining at a trading post. And surely the woman’s husband was hunting or getting supplies when the ambush happened at his home.”
Seeing the logic in what she said, Blue Thunder nodded.
“Blue Thunder, please send out warriors to search for the child,” Speckled Fawn begged.
She had alw
ays tried not to antagonize Blue Thunder in any way, wanting to keep peace between herself and this powerful young chief.
But now things were different. If she needed to press her point about searching for the missing child, then so be it.
“Blue Thunder, if the child wandered away on her own, and is now all alone out there somewhere, it isn’t fair to leave her at the mercy of two or four-legged creatures that might happen along and find her,” Speckled Fawn said, this time more forcefully.
She knew the chief had a kind, caring heart, especially where children were concerned. He had a daughter of his own and would never allow any harm to come to her. So she was sure she had reached him and that he would not ignore her pleadings.
“Speckled Fawn, leave me now,” Blue Thunder said tightly.
“What are you going to do?” she blurted out, not caring that he might grow angry at her insistence.
“Speckled Fawn, you have said what you came to say,” Blue Thunder replied. He rose to his feet and gently took her by the elbow to help her to her feet. “Go. I have listened. You are free now to sit with your husband.”
Speckled Fawn walked with him to the entrance flap, allowing him to usher her from his lodge. She knew that she had been heard, and for her that was enough.
Now it was out of her hands. It was up to the chief to do what he knew was right.
Once outside, beneath a cloudy sky, Speckled Fawn turned and gave Blue Thunder a soft smile as he released his hold on her elbow.
“Pila-maye, thank you for listening,” she murmured, then walked slowly away from him toward her own lodge, where she did plan to go and spend the rest of the morning with her husband.
