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Black Feather smiled, "Everything in your life has a purpose, Hannah. You went through the hard times now you should have nothing but good times. But you must learn from those hard times what you value most. And it is good that you can talk to Lone Wolf, as he will be your life partner and you must always talk, even when you are mad, so that the sun doesn't go down on your anger."
"I cannot imagine being mad at Lone Wolf."
"Even those times come, but the making up afterwards makes your marriage stronger."
"How did you get so wise?"
"I had a very good mother. She taught me much. My father taught me how to survive in the world, my mother taught me the small everyday things that makes a woman happy in life."
Hannah thought about that. Would she be much wiser if she'd had a mother that taught her things, and loved her?
Perhaps she was right, she would learn from those times and go on. It was good to know she could put the bad things behind her and start looking forward to the good.
But when they stopped at an oasis in the desert they had found a creek and the women wanted to bath, so the men went off to hunt.
It was a huge mistake, for three white men came to the creek and found the girls bathing. They were unkempt in appearance, with snaggled teeth and the smell of whiskey.
"Well now, lookie what we have found." The tall one exclaimed.
The other two laughed.
"Go away, we are bathing," Hannah cried.
The tall one reached to pull her up by the hair. "Come on out of there. What's a white woman doing bathing with an Indian squaw? You even got a squaw dress on."
He put his cheek beside hers and snickered. "Ain't she something boys? Lookie here, she's got Indian clothes on. What are you a white squaw?"
"I'll say," one of the others laughed.
Black Feather tried to escape to the othe
r side, but one of the men ran over and helped pull her out. Thank goodness they hadn't taken their clothes off.
The tall one pulled Hannah around and started kissing her. Hannah kicked and scratched and fought him hard. "Leave me alone…"
But suddenly, the tall one released her, his eyes going wild as he fell in the water. Hannah saw an arrow sticking out his back and turned to look to see Lone Wolf not far off.
She ran to him. Deer Runner had shot the one that had Black Feather and he too fell in the water. The other man was stunned when he saw them and raised his hands. "I didn't mean no harm. Honest."
But Lone Wolf shot him too.
Hannah stared, and her mouth fell open.
Lone Wolf saw her confusion and explained, "He would have told everyone we had a white woman with us."
Hannah looked at the man and nodded slowly. It dawned on her that being with the Indians not only was she in danger of being spotted by whites, but they were in danger if they came too close.
This was a price for her freedom, and she shivered against Lone Wolf as he held her close.
Until that moment she hadn't thought about herself as a white woman any longer. But that hadn't changed. She felt sorry for the man that died. But Lone Wolf was right, he would have told about her. She knew this.
Still the fact that he had to kill the man made her understand the importance of no one knowing she was with them. It hadn't been a problem until now. It also told her the price she had to pay for giving up her white world. Being part of Lone Wolf's tribe meant she had to start thinking differently. It was sobering.
That night she couldn't sleep.
"You worry about killing the white man."
She turned to him and cuddled into him. "Am I worth their deaths?"
