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The warrior swept Brian Brave Walker upon his saddle with him. The Cherokee warrior held him within his powerful arms as he rode away, Brian Brave Walker finally feeling some semblance of peace, and of being protected....
He awakened with a start and rose quickly to a sitting position. His eyes darted around him, his heart pounding.
A dream?
Oh, surely it had not been only a dream.
It had seemed so real.
He could even now feel the strength of that warrior’s arms around his waist. He could feel the protectiveness that those arms had given him. He had belonged on that magnificent white steed with that noble warrior!
Sudden sobs racked Brian Brave Walker’s body. It had been only a dream.
He was still alone.
The night was dark and filled with mystery.
A sudden owl’s call a short distance away was hauntingly real.
He lay back down and pulled himself into a fetal position. Feeling way less brave than what he wished, and more lonesome than be ever thought possible, he sobbed himself to sleep again.
Chapter 26
The bond of nature draws me to my own,
My own in thee, for what thou all is mine.
—JOHN MILTON
The air was crisp and fresh as a sweet breeze swept down over the pine-covered hills. Dancing Cloud led the way up the steep incline on his white stallion, his other horse straying behind on a rope, Lauralee following. They had left the meadowland below them some time ago and had entered the enchantment of cool, green pines where a film of haze hung low over them.
Having entered into an existence that was beyond her wildest imagination, Lauralee clung to her reins as she took everything in. “The Great Smoky Mountains,” she whispered to herself as she continued studying the quiet landscape.
The path led upward, winding through trees and around rushing streams and beautiful waterfalls. She had read books about these mountains and their sheer majestic beauty and mystique. They were a range of the southern Appalachian highlands that stretched from North Carolina into Tennessee.
She was witnessing this grandeur today, the mountainside containing spectacular scenery. The summits and ridges were crowned with giant forests of red spruces.
At the lower elevations Lauralee had seen many flowering dogwood, redbud, and the serviceberry. She had felt that she might have died and gone to heaven when she had ridden past dense stands of mountain laurel, white-blossomed rhododendron and azaleas, which had formed almost impenetrable thickets.
She tensed when through a break in the trees she saw a black bear standing on a ledge far to the right side of where she was traveling. In only the short time she had been riding up the mountainside she had seen much wild life. Not only black bears, but also white-tailed deer, foxes, bobcats, raccoons, ruffed grouse, turkeys, and a variety of beautifully colored songbirds.
Dancing Cloud looked over his shoulder at Lauralee. “Do you not see now what, besides my people, has drawn me back to these mountains?” he asked, his voice echoing into many voices as it spun into the clear, quiet air around them.
The path was wide enough for him to edge over slightly, to give Lauralee room to catch up with him. When she reached him, she sidled her horse beside his.
“Is not my mountain paradise, my o-ge-ye?” he said thickly.
“I’ve never seen anything as beautiful,” Lauralee said softly. “When I was a small girl in Tennessee I could see this stretch of mountains from my bedroom. I often gazed upon the mystical haze that hung over them, wondering what lay beneath it. I always thought that the mountains were smoking. I am so thrilled now to finally know what truly lies here breathlessly beautiful beneath the haze.”
“Your father traveled this path often when you were a child,” Dancing Cloud said. “He was an Indian agent who cared for those he served. That is why, at eight winters of age, I grew so fond of, and so admired, your father. He and my father became as close as any brothers who share their lives.”
“And now both of our fathers are gone,” Lauralee said, a sob catching in her throat. “Wouldn’t it have been wonderful for them to have seen the depths of our love for each other? And to see that their bonding continues on now, even though they have passed on to the other side?”
“They are with us now,” Dancing Cloud said. He reached a hand heavenward, then swung it slowly from one side to the other, encompassing everything around him. “Do you not feel their presence in the breeze and in the warm touch of the sun upon your flesh? Do you not see them in the flowers? Their spirit path will always be ours to follow. They embrace us as we move into our future as one heart and soul, my o-ge-ye.”
“You always have such a beautiful way of expressing yourself,” she said, sighing.
“You bring forth from deeply within me feelings that normally I would not express aloud,” Dancing Cloud said. “With you, I feel such inner peace and happiness.”
