Savage Tempest (20 page)

Blanket Woman covered her mouth with a hand and turned to fall upon Sleeping Wolf's blankets on the travois. She wrapped herself in the blankets, sobbing out Sleeping Wolf's name. “Where are you?” she cried. “Why did you leave me? Why?”

Joylynn clung to High Hawk as everyone stood quiet now. The wailing and praying had stopped after everyone saw Blanket Woman's grief and heard how she felt about the future bride of their chief.

It was apparent that the others in the band did not agree with Blanket Woman, for Joylynn had
proven to them that she was a woman of heart, someone vastly different from any white people they had ever known before her.

Suddenly several bald-headed eagles swept down from the heavens. They flew above High Hawk and his people for a while, then soared away again, soon lost to view behind a fluffy white cloud.

“I feel my brother among them,” High Hawk suddenly said, causing Joylynn to ease from his arms and look into his eyes.

“You felt him among the eagles?” Joylynn asked, searching High Hawk's eyes.

“When eagles come together like that in such a great number, they bring a message from
Tirawahut
,” High Hawk said, searching the sky. He wanted to see the eagles again, but there was no trace of them.

“And that message is?” Joylynn murmured.

“A message of love and reassurance,” High Hawk said thickly. “My brother's love.”

Joylynn was astonished at how High Hawk received such comfort in the mere appearance of eagles. She hoped that in time she could believe as he did, for she saw such peace in his eyes.

She gazed down at his mother. The older woman still wept as she clung to the blankets upon which her eldest son had lain.

Joylynn wanted to go to the elderly woman and pull her into her embrace, but she knew better. Blanket Woman blamed Joylynn for all the recent
misfortunes that had befallen the tribe.

Joylynn wondered how she could ever change Blanket Woman's mind now. She truly doubted that it was possible.

And if not, would Blanket Woman make Joylynn's marriage to High Hawk miserable?

She set her jaw, knowing that she would not allow anyone to stand in the way of her happiness with High Hawk. She had waited a lifetime for a man such as he, and she would never give him up. Never.

A chill coursed through her veins when she found Blanket Woman gazing at her with utter contempt.

She knew now that Blanket Woman would not stop at anything to keep her only remaining son free of this white woman she despised with every fiber of her being!

Having no choice but to resume their journey without Sleeping Wolf, the Pawnee continued on the frighteningly steep path up the mountainside.

Joylynn turned to prayer to find the courage to keep climbing, and to cope with her deep sadness over Sleeping Wolf's death.

Feeling that another tragedy could happen at any moment, especially since the soldiers might be closer than anyone thought, Joylynn had hung the binoculars around her neck in order to take an occasional look far below. She dreaded seeing any movement by men who might be searching for High Hawk and his people.

As Swiftie climbed slowly up the mountain pass, Joylynn clung to the reins with one hand and looked through the binoculars with the other. She slowly scanned the land far below her, able to make out objects despite the distance.

Her heart seemed to leap into her throat when she spotted something. She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw soldiers advancing on the mountain; they had almost reached the foot of it.

Even more astonishing was
who
she saw riding with the soldiers. The cigarillo glow first drew her attention, and then she looked intently at the one who smoked it. It was none other than the man she'd thought had died during the ambush on the outlaws and soldiers.

It . . . was . . . Mole!

“Mole,” she whispered, growing cold at the sight.

But he had been among the casualties on the day of the attack.

“How could it be?” she whispered, trying to see the man more closely as he continued to ride with the cavalry. His size, his bearing, his mannerisms made her certain that it was he.

But how on earth could it be Mole? They had left him for dead! Blood had almost totally covered him as he lay lifeless on the ground among his outlaw friends.

No doubt most of the blood on him had come from men who had died beside him. His own wounds, if any, could not have been fatal.

Lowering the binoculars from her eyes, she looked ahead at High Hawk, who rode in front of her along the narrow path; they had thought it best to ride in single file. She hated having to tell him
that not only had she seen soldiers advancing on the mountain, but the cold-blooded murderer of High Hawk's father had once again cheated death!

“High Hawk,” Joylynn called, drawing his attention quickly to her. He looked over his shoulder. “I hate to tell you this, but . . . but . . . a number of cavalrymen are advancing quickly on the mountain, and not only that, but . . . Mole . . . is with them.”

She saw the incredulous look that flashed in High Hawk's dark eyes, how his lips parted in a gasp, as the realization of what she had said hit home.

“It cannot be Mole,” he said, carefully turning his horse to face Joylynn's. “He died. We saw him die. We saw the blood. My warriors checked on him to be sure he was dead.”

“I remember that they only rode up to him and gazed down at him, assuming he was dead because of his stillness, and . . . and . . . all of the blood. They did not actually check him for a pulse beat,” Joylynn said. “I, too, thought we were finally rid of that horrible outlaw. But I know that the person I saw through the binoculars, riding with the soldiers, is none other than the man we all hate.”

Moving Swiftie forward cautiously, Joylynn rode up next to High Hawk. She lifted the binocular strap over her head and handed them to High Hawk.

“Place these before your eyes and look through the lenses,” she said tightly. “You, too, will see the soldiers and the one civilian with them. Mole.”

High Hawk lifted the binoculars to his eyes.

Joylynn saw him stiffen when he, too, saw Mole, as well as the soldiers who were advancing on the mountain.

They were out for blood!

The blood of High Hawk's Pawnee people!

“It does seem to be he,” High Hawk said tightly, then lowered the binoculars and handed them back to Joylynn. “That means only one thing.”

“What?” Joylynn asked fearfully as she slipped the leather strap about her neck again so that the binoculars now nestled against her breast.

“We must stop him. We must stop them all,” he said harshly. “Now. Today. We cannot allow them, especially that mole-faced man, to get any closer to where we are traveling. My people deserve peace in their lives, and they cannot have it as long as the pony soldiers and that evil man, pursue us. They have but one goal on their minds . . . the death of the Pawnee.”

His eyes softened. “And you,” he said, reaching over and gently touching her face. “They also want you to die along with us.”

“
Ho
, it does seem so,” Joylynn said softly. “It was not enough for Mole to rape me and try to strangle me; he will not stop until he knows I am dead. He must have seen me with you the day of the attack. He knew then that he would not rest until I was dead.”

She reached for his hand. “But what can you do
now?” she asked, her voice drawn. “We are halfway up the mountain. They are far down below us.”

“They are not far enough away to escape me,” High Hawk said stiffly.

“So what are you going to do?” Joylynn asked, truly afraid to hear his answer. She just wished they could go on and forget the men who were down below them. But she knew that was impossible.

Those soldiers, and Mole especially, would never stop until they found the Wolf band of Pawnee and made certain its members, including her, never walked the face of the earth again.

“We must finish what we started,” High Hawk said with determination. “We must make certain they are stopped.”

Joylynn and High Hawk were too involved in what they were saying and what was happening down below to have noticed High Hawk's mother approaching them to see what was causing the delay.

Blanket Woman was just now stepping up beside High Hawk's horse, drawing his and Joylynn's attention to her.

“What is wrong?” Blanket Woman asked, looking slowly from High Hawk to Joylynn, and then back to High Hawk. “Why have you stopped while the others are going onward? Why did you not send word for everyone to stop?”

High Hawk and Joylynn gave each other questioning glances, and then High Hawk dismounted and placed his hands gently on his mother's shoulders.
“
Ina
, you are very astute,” he commented. “While others have not noticed that I stopped to talk with Joylynn, you did.”

“Are you saying that you wish I had not noticed?” Blanket Woman said, giving Joylynn an ugly glare, then again looking into her son's midnight-dark eyes.

“Everyone will soon know why I have done this,” High Hawk said, sighing. “
Ina
, the soldiers are advancing on the mountain down below. They must be stopped.”

Blanket Woman's eyes widened and her lips parted in a soft gasp. “How can you do that?” she asked, her voice trembling. “We are so far into our journey to our new home. If you stop and battle with the white-eyed pony soldiers, will that not threaten everything you had planned for your people? My son, why do you not just forget about those soldiers? They will never find us.”

“But there is one man with them who will not rest until he does find us,” High Hawk said, easing his hands from his mother's shoulders. “That man is the one who killed your husband.”

“But you said he was dead,” Blanket Woman gasped, her old eyes filled with a sudden uneasy fear.

“We thought he was, because he managed to fool us into thinking he was dead,” High Hawk said as Joylynn dismounted and stood at his side.

“
Ina
, you are to go on with the rest of our people to our new home while I and some warriors will
backtrack and do what we must to stop the soldiers,” High Hawk said, searching his mother's eyes when he heard her gasp again with fear.

“
Ina
, this is the only way it can be done,” High Hawk continued, still trying to make her understand how it must be. He was chief. His word was final. “As I was telling Joylynn, I will take some warriors with me and backtrack until we come to a place where we can shoot down at the soldiers. You and the rest of our people will move quickly onward toward our new home. It will be a safe haven, where no soldiers will be able to find you.”

Blanket Woman's eyes filled with tears. She grabbed High Hawk's hands, desperately holding them. “No,” she cried. “You cannot do this. You cannot go and draw fire on yourself. You will not return to your mother and your people alive. My son, you . . . will . . . die.”

“
Ina
, I must go,” High Hawk said firmly. “There is no other way. And I am skilled in ways of eluding those who hunt our people. Trust me. Go now with the rest of the Wolf band. I will join you all again soon.”

“I must go with you and your warriors,” Joylynn blurted out, drawing High Hawk's eyes as well as his mother's.

“No!” Blanket Woman shouted. “You will be the cause of my son's demise. You cannot be allowed to ride with High Hawk and the warriors. You will be in the way, and . . . it . . . is taboo.”

Blanket Woman broke into tears. She sobbed into her hands, her body trembling from crying so hard. “I have already lost one son on this treacherous journey,” she said. “I . . . cannot . . . lose another.”

High Hawk swept his mother into his arms in an effort to comfort her. “
Ina
, I am my people's leader,” he said softly. “It is up to me to guard them against all harm. That is what I am doing today. If I do not do this thing, I will be forced to step down as chief, for I would be a coward not to do what I can to protect them.”

“I know you believe what you are going to do is right, and I will no longer argue against it,” Blanket Woman said, easing from his arms and gazing up into his eyes. “But, High Hawk, please do not allow that woman to go with you. She has brought ill fortune into our lives. Why can you not see that?”

Ignoring what his mother said about Joylynn, knowing she spoke out of jealousy, High Hawk looked slowly at Joylynn. He knew that it would be all but impossible to keep her from going with him. He could see the determination in her eyes.

And he liked that about her.

Her determination.

Her pride.

Her courage.

He gazed into his mother's eyes again. “I cannot deny this woman the chance to best that man whose face is ugly with moles,” he said tightly. “He harmed Joylynn in the worst way. He raped her.
And he survived the recent ambush. He cannot be allowed to bring doom to my people, for it is he,
Ina
, not Joylynn, who has brought so much heartache and pain into our lives.”

Blanket Woman walked away from High Hawk and Joylynn without another word. She stretched out on the travois where she was riding, pulled a blanket completely over herself, and hid her face.

Joylynn and High Hawk saw her do this, then gazed into each other's eyes.

“She will soon realize it is too hot to keep the blanket over her face, as she will realize one day that what I must do now is the right thing for our people,” High Hawk said, taking Joylynn's hands in his. “Are you truly certain you wish to accompany me?”

“I am truly certain,” Joylynn said, squaring her shoulders. “I could not stay behind, afraid of what might be happening to you. I must be at your side and know, firsthand. Thank you for allowing it.”

He hugged her, then walked away and, with Three Bears accompanying him, managed to go to everyone and explain what must be done. Fear was evident in his people's eyes, yet, knowing that their chief was a great leader, they trusted his decisions.