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Shirleen knew that she would have trouble even identifying anyone. Only their clothes gave a clue to each person’s identity, but otherwise, there was no way to know who was who.
Feeling suddenly so beaten at the thought that her daughter might be somewhere in the same sort of shape, Shirleen hung her head and cried.
Blue Thunder saw her despair.
He could even feel it inside his own heart.
He sidled his horse closer to hers. “I am sorry for what you see here today, and for what you are experiencing inside your heart,” he said, reaching over and gently touching her arm. “I believed the menfolk would have returned to bury these bodies. Otherwise I would not have brought you this close to where the massacre happened.”
“We had to come here in order for you to track my daughter,” Shirleen sobbed. “So please do not concern yourself over me. There is only one person now who must have our attention. Megan.”
“I have prayed to Wakonda, who created all things, that your daughter will be put in our path today,” Blue Thunder said. He eased his hand away from her. “If not today, tomorrow. I am as determined as you to see that you and your daughter are reunited.”
He looked slowly in all directions. “That is how it was meant to be,” he said. “Daughters and mothers should never be separated from one another.”
He gazed into her eyes again. “Unless it is death that causes such a separation, as it was for my daughter and her mother,” he said. “My Little Bee lost her mother due to the same insanity that has separated you from your Megan. The same sort of men, those who wish only to murder and steal, are responsible for your loss and mine.”
“I pray to God that I will be reunited with my daughter,” Shirleen said, her voice catching.
“We will begin the search now,” Blue Thunder said, reaching over and touching her cheek, letting his thumb caress her flesh.
Shirleen almost melted into her saddle at the feelings of rapture caused by Blue Thunder’s flesh touching her own. She was thrilled by the way he was caressing her so lovingly.
She understood now that his willingness to search for her daughter was as much for Shirleen’s sake as for Megan’s.
She knew that Blue Thunder felt something special for her.
She felt foolish now for those moments when she had had doubts about him, especially when she had actually run from him and vomited when her imagination had run so out of control!
“I don’t think I will ever be able to repay you for your kindness toward me,” Shirleen murmured as he took his hand away and took up his reins with both hands.
“No payment is needed,” Blue Thunder said. He looked at his warriors, who were waiting for his instructions, and who had been a witness to his feelings for Shirleen.
He knew that they had seen him gently touching and stroking the white woman’s face, and how softly he had spoken to her.
So be it, for there was no denying to anyone how he felt about Shirleen. Fortunately, now that she had let her guard down and was allowing herself to see things as they really were, she was beginning to care for him, too.
“My warriors, spread out in all directions and begin to search in this area, close to where Shirleen’s cabin once stood,” Blue Thunder instructed, looking from one man to the other. “There are many footprints, but all you will look for are small ones. The child is the same age as my Little Bee, so you should be able to judge the size of the tracks. Also, search everywhere a small child might hide. Look behind every bush, tree, boulder, and even search for a cave. If she was not captured, but instead wandered off, she might have gone anywhere; she may have hidden to wait until her mother came for her.”
That possibility brought more sobs from the depths of Shirleen’s throat, for she knew that her daughter could be at this very moment wondering where her mother was.
Today’s emphasis was to be on searching this area. If her daughter wasn’t found, then the hunt for the renegades’ hideout would continue tomorrow.
Shirleen rode alongside Blue Thunder, searching the woods as he looked closely everywhere that he thought a child might try to hide.
She remembered how, as a child, she had played hide and seek with friends in Boston. She knew the art of hiding well, because of those innocent games. She tried to imagine where her daughter might have gone to hide.
But even after hours of searching, no signs of Megan were found.
As the sun crept lower in the sky, Blue Thunder looked over at Shirleen and saw how bone-tired she was. Though the night would soon spread its dark cloak over the land, he decided it was best that they not take the long ride back to the village just yet.
She needed to rest, and then later, if she seemed strong enough, they would make the journey back to his home.
But if not, they would sleep beneath the stars.
He reached over and gently took her reins, stopping her steed as he brought his own to a halt. “It is time to return home, but I do not think it is in your best interest to accompany the others,” he said. “You need to rest, and then we will resume our journey once I see you are able.”
Shirleen was unutterably sad that they had not found Megan, and her body was one big ache. Feeling exhausted from riding so long, she nodded. “Yes, I think what you have decided is best,” she murmured. “I truly don’t think I could go much farther.”
