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Within a few moments, her mother’s head peeked into the wagon. “Come now, Ella. You can wash in the creek and I’ll fix us some bread and jam for breakfast. Papa says we will be off within the hour.”
Ella slumped her shoulders and crawled out of the wagon.
Her mother sat on a crate, lighting a fire over some stray twigs. “That way.”
She followed her mother’s gesture to a babbling creek about two hundred yards away. Her skin prickled. She didn’t know her father at all, really. In a mere day, he’d become a stranger to her. What had happened to the man who had tossed her in the air when she was a child? Who had laughed with her when she was happy, embraced her when she was sad? Her eyes misted with unshed tears.
Where was he now? This stranger who was her father. She looked over her shoulder. If he was gone, taking care of his morning ablutions, perhaps she could…
“Quickly, Ella.” His voice came from behind her. Had he appeared out of thin air? “We need to move on soon.”
She turned, nodded curtly to him, and then sat down at the creek bank and rubbed her hands and face with the sandy grit. A few birds chirped in the trees above, and the rustling of wildlife whispered across the morning air.
Yet quiet consumed Ella.
What was different? What was missing?
As she splashed the cool water over her face, she knew.
The drums had silenced.
* * *
“I have found her, Father. The mate of my spirit.”
Standing Elk’s eyes raked over Raven, and not for the first time, he felt as though his father could see inside his soul.
“Your brother told me. It is she who kept you from us the past days.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me then, Silver Raven, why is she not with you now?”
Raven took the plate of food his mother offered to him and nodded his thanks. He had walked during the night to return to his camp. His leg stung, his body was weary, but his mind raced. His heart cried for his mate. “Her father found us together last night. He threatened to kill me. She asked me to leave so he would not harm me.”
“And you did.”
“Yes. I would do anything she asked of me.”
Standing Elk’s lined face tightened, his black eyes burned. “And you plan to make this white woman your wife?”
“She is already my wife.”
The older man looked above Raven’s head. “I see.”
“Bear and I will go for her. Tonight.”
Standing Elk nodded, and Raven pursed his lips into a line. There was nothing more to be said.
* * *
Raven jumped onto Golden Feather and let go with his war cry, the shrill vibration tightening his vocal cords. Next to him, Bear echoed the call. They kicked their horses and galloped from the camp. A knife of possessive lust speared through Raven as he led Bear down the creek. The moon, now waning, shone above them lighting their path. His heart ached with emptiness. Soon she would be with him again.
When they reached Ella’s cabin, the hour of midnight had passed. They hobbled their horses near the soddy and walked quietly to the house.
“Keep watch,” Raven said in Lakota. “I will return with her.”
“Be careful, brother,” Bear said. “If what you say happened is true, this man will not let her go without a fight.”
