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“Then we will stay here and let my warriors go,” Blue Thunder said.
He rode away from her and went to explain their next course of action to his warriors.
Some gave him a strange sort of questioning look, while others nodded and accepted that whatever their chief decided was right for all concerned.
Blue Thunder watched them ride away, then returned to Shirleen, who was already out of her saddle and leaning against a tree, her eyes half closed.
Blue Thunder dismounted and went to her. “I will tether our steeds,” he said. “I see a place that will be good for us to make camp and rest.”
The realization that he had said they would make camp, which surely meant he was readying a campsite for a full night instead of only a little while, made Shirleen’s heart skip a beat.
She looked at him, studying his expression as he secured the horses, and hoped that her trust in him was warranted. She had never been alone with an Indian before, except for those moments when Blue Thunder had sat with her in her tepee.
But this was different.
They were completely alone.
And she knew that he had feelings for her. There was no hiding his feelings now. They were evident in the way he looked at her; the gentleness with which he treated her. Both attested to the fact that he had fallen in love with her. And she now knew she felt the same for him.
She just could not believe that a man such as he would force himself on any woman.
Being so tired, and knowing she had no other choice but to do as he asked tonight, she went willingly with him to make camp beside a meandering stream.
She was glad that the moon was out tonight in all its glory. The countryside was lit up almost as bright as day.
She sat down on blankets that Blue Thunder had spread out for her, then watched him prepare a fire.
When the flames were sending off soft light all around them and the smoke was spiraling into the sky, Blue Thunder came and knelt down before Shirleen.
“I will be away for a short time,” he said softly.
“Where are you going?” Shirleen asked, her eyes widening in fear.
“I am going to scare a couple of rabbits from their burrow,” he said. He smiled softly at her. “We will have a nice meal. Then we will rest beside the fire. When you are
ready to ride again, all you have to do is tell me.”
Again seeing how foolish she had been to doubt him for even one moment, Shirleen smiled and nodded. Then she stretched out on the blanket while he departed for his brief hunt.
He came back a short time later, carrying two skinned animals. Shirleen had not heard the sound of a gunshot, and she sat up and questioned him with her eyes.
“A knife makes a quiet, quick kill,” he said, already placing one of the animals on a spit that he prepared over the fire, and then securing the second one beside it.
Shirleen saw that this was a good time to go and wash the day’s dirt off her face and hands before they settled beside the fire to eat. She was looking forward to some nourishing meat.
Blue Thunder watched her go to the stream. He didn’t accompany her, for he felt that she needed privacy to attend to her needs.
When she momentarily slipped behind some bushes, he knew that she would relieve herself of one of her discomforts.
As she came from behind the bushes and looked his way, she was blushing so pink he could even see it beneath the light of the moon. He had not anticipated this timid side of her that she was revealing to him.
He smiled and nodded and watched as she knelt beside the stream and washed her face, and then dipped her hair into the water and washed it.
When she stood, with the moon glowing on her wet hair and face, it was hard for Blue Thunder to just sit there looking at her, when everything within him wanted to go and draw her into his arms and kiss her.
All of those thoughts were quickly erased when Shirleen suddenly screamed and grabbed at her head. As she collapsed to the ground, moaning and holding her face in her hands, Blue Thunder could not get to her quickly enough.
When he reached her, he swept her up into his arms and carried her to the blankets, where he gently laid her down.
