Wild Innocence (28 page)

She knew she was putting her heart at risk by going to Black Hawk, when it was he who should have been coming to see her ... if he cared enough.

What if he still wanted only friendship? The thought made her quiet and reflective as they traveled along the forest trail.

Jack Keller cried out that he saw smoke up ahead. Heart thumping, Rachel became more aware of her surroundings.

We're here,
she thought.

“There's Conner!” Susie cried, and Rachel's heart started to thrum.

Barking Dog, Susie's little Indian friend, ran forward to greet them. With a cry of gladness, he murmured greetings to the adults, before he captured Susie's hand and the two children ran off.

Jane, watching her daughter run away with the young Indian, inhaled sharply.

“It's all right, Jane,” Jack said softly. He wrapped his arm about her shoulders. “Susie will be fine. The village is like a second home to her.”

Jane looked up at Jack trustingly. Jack caught his breath as he gazed into her liquid blue eyes.

“Yes, you're right,” Jane said. “I'm sorry to be so silly.”

“You're not silly, love,” he said, giving her shoulders a little squeeze.

Jane's eyes widened and she stared at him. Rachel, watching the exchange, smiled with understanding as embarrassment colored Jack's expression a bright red.

Jane doesn't seem to mind that you called her love, Jack,
Rachel thought. Jack must have realized it, too, because suddenly he grinned.

“Rach-el!” a soft feminine voice called, drawing her attention from the couple.

Rachel turned to find Spring Blossom on the edge of the village clearing, waving to her.

“Spring Blossom!” she exclaimed, and rushed forward to hug the girl. “It's good to see you.”

“You have come to stay?” the Indian maiden asked.

Rachel shook her head, although she wished that she could. “I've come for a visit ... to see you and your people ... and Black Hawk.”

Spring Blossom frowned. “Black Hawk is not here.”

“He's not?” Rachel felt a sharp flutter of disappointment. “Where is he?”

“He has gone on the hunt with Thunder Oak and Rain-from-Sky.”

The two women entered the village. “Will he be back soon?” Rachel asked. She studied her surroundings with a smile. She had missed this place. She had missed its people.

“Black Hawk will be home as soon as he gathers meat for our village.” Spring Blossom smiled at her friend. “You will wait to see him?”

Rachel searched for sight of her brother-in-law. “If I can.” But the decision wasn't hers. It was Daniel's.

“Dan-yel will stay, so Rach-el can stay, too,” Spring Blossom said as if she'd read Rachel's mind. “We will make him and Tree-That-Will-Not-Bend feel welcome. Man-with-Big-Head will be happy to stay.”

Catching sight of their guests, the Ojibwa people greeted them with smiles, hand waves, and laughter.

Watching her sister and Daniel, Rachel realized that the couple was comfortable in the village. They even had Ojibwa names. She'd stayed at the village for weeks. Why didn't she have an Ojibwa name? She found Spring Blossom studying her strangely. “What is wrong, Rachel?”

Rachel felt silly. “Nothing ... it's just that Amelia and Daniel ... and even Susie have Ojibwa names. But I don't. Why not?”

“You wish Ojibwa name?” Spring Blossom asked, looking pleased.

“Yes,” Rachel said. “I think it would be wonderful.”

The maiden smiled. “We will give you Ojibwa name. I will ask chief. Ask matrons. Maybe ask Woman-with-Hair-of-Fox.”

“I'd like that,” Rachel said. “Thank you.”

Grinning, Spring Blossom raised the door flap and motioned Rachel inside her wigwam.

He woke up in the dark, gasping. Black Hawk sat up and looked around, and reclaimed an awareness of his surroundings. He and his brothers were in their hunting lodge. He was not in the village. He had not seen Rachel.

He sighed as he rose to his feet, then slipped out of the wigwam. Behind him, Thunder Oak and Rain-from-Sky slept on, undisturbed. The sound of their breathing was loud in the silence.

Outside, a gentle rain fell, a fine mist covering the land. Black Hawk stood for a moment with his face turned toward the sky, allowing the rain to cleanse him.

They'd had a good hunt. Black Hawk moved toward a tree to check on the game they'd killed. They had shot two deer and snared five rabbits. Before seeking their sleeping pallets, they had hung the deer high in the tree to keep other animals from eating it. They had gutted and cooked one rabbit; the others they'd stored inside the hunting lodge.

After he was satisfied that the ropes holding the deer would hold, Black Hawk stood on the edge of their camp clearing, staring into the night.

Soon, it would be dawn, he thought. When the sun climbed in the autumn sky, he and his brothers would head back to the village, bringing their game.

Yesterday, after they'd shot and killed the first deer, they had given thanks to the deer's spirit. They had lit an offering of tobacco and sang to the deer spirit and
Gicho-Manidoo.
They had made an offering each time they'd made a kill.

The forest seemed quieter than usual. The mist continued, soaking Black Hawk, but he didn't seek shelter. He stood in the rain, his thoughts wandering to another place ... to Rachel Dempsey. His dream vision returned to him, saddening him, making him wish that his time with Rachel could be recaptured.

Rachel,
he thought. She was gone. Why couldn't he forget her?

The mist clung to his hair, coated his skin, and formed droplets on his eyelashes before dripping down his face.

I love Rachel,
he thought. But it was too late. As he'd seen in his dream vision, Rachel had left Ojibwa land to return to Baltimore with the white man named Jordan.

Rachel, his Rachel, was gone.

“O-dah-ing'-um, ”
Spring Blossom said. “This name we have chosen for you, Rach-el. It means ‘ripple on the water.' ”

“Ripple-on-the-Water,” Rachel murmured, enjoying the title. “Why did you choose that name?”

The Indian maiden smiled. “It was Woman-with-Hair-of-Fox who said it. She said that a calm lake was a pretty thing to see, but a ripple on the water made the lake a breathtaking sight.”

If she hadn't liked the name before, Rachel thought, she would have after hearing the explanation.

She smiled. “I like it.
O-da
... ” She frowned, unable to recall the whole phrase.

“O-dah-ing'-um, ”
Spring Blossom repeated.

Rachel said the name, her mouth finding the pronunciation a bit awkward. “I won't know when to answer,” she admitted with a laugh.

“We will call you Ripple-on-the-Water,” Black Hawk's sister said, “and you will know that it is your name.”

The white woman grinned. “Thank you.”

Spring Blossom had found Rachel in the forest, gathering fresh pine boughs to line the floor of the wigwam. Rachel bent to lift some branches from her newly acquired pile. Spring Blossom helped her by picking up the remainder of the boughs.

“Gray Squirrel, He-Who-Comes-from-Far-Away, and some of our warriors have returned with deer and beaver. Black Hawk still hasn't come,” Spring Blossom said.

Rachel had been present when Gray Squirrel and his hunting band had returned last evening. Her heart had leapt when she'd heard the Ojibwa people's welcoming cries, until she'd learned that Black Hawk and his brother were not among the returning hunters.

“Do you think they've been hurt?” she asked.

“Gaawiin.
” Spring Blossom smiled. “I think they are well and will come soon.”

How soon?
Rachel wondered. It had already been three days since her arrival. They'd been gone for a week before that. How much longer would her family wait?

If the hunting party didn't return soon, then she would have to leave without seeing Black Hawk.

Come home, Black Hawk,
she thought.
Please come home soon.

Daniel came to her later that afternoon. He seemed troubled as he approached her. “Rachel, we have to go home. Your sister isn't feeling well.”

“Is she all right?” Rachel was instantly concerned. “What's wrong?”

“I don't know. She said her stomach has been hurting her. I know she probably shouldn't travel, but I'd like your father to take a look at her.”

Rachel knew she couldn't be selfish. “When do you want to leave?”

“Tomorrow morning?”

She nodded. “I'll be ready. Is there anything I can do?”

“Will you talk with her? She says she's fine, but she seems frightened. She's in our wigwam.”

Daniel and Amelia had been given a wigwam of their own. The lodge belonged to an Ojibwa woman who had gone to visit clan members in another village.

“Of course I will,” Rachel said, and she hurried to see her sister.

 

 

“I'm sorry, Rachel,” Amelia said.

Rachel studied her sister with concern. Amelia looked pale as she sat on her sleeping pallet. “You have nothing to apologize for, Amelia. We've been here long enough. You need to see Father. You must take care of your babe.

“But what about Black Hawk?” she whispered miserably. “I know you want to see him.”

She should have known she couldn't fool Amelia. “You know, don't you? You know why I came.”

“Of course, Rachel. I know you. You're my sister.” She gestured for Rachel to sit. “You care for Black Hawk.”

Rachel blushed. “Is it that obvious?”

Amelia gave her a gentle smile. “No. Only to those who know and love you.” She extended her hand toward her sister.

Rachel grabbed her sister's fingers and sat down on the pallet beside her. “I love him, Amelia,” she said. “I love him so much it hurts inside.”

Tears filled her eyes as a sad smile touched her lips. “Can you believe it?” Rachel said. “Me, the one who became horrified if I wasn't dressed properly for a party? I'm in love with an Ojibwa war chief, and my one thought in coming here was to see him one more time.”

“How does he feel about you?” Amelia asked.

Rachel dashed away tears. “I don't know,” she admitted. “Sometimes it seems as if he loves me, while other times ...”

Amelia squeezed her hand, and Rachel smiled through her tears.

“He wanted to find his father's murderer,” Rachel said. “It's all he's thought about since he was a boy.” She released her sister's hand and stood. “Well, he found him, and he's back. I wanted to see for myself that he was all right.”

She wiped her eyes. “Black Hawk is back, but he hasn't come to see me. Why not, Amelia? Why didn't he come?”

“What did he say before he left?” Amelia asked. She rubbed her stomach as if the area pained her.

“He didn't say anything,” Rachel said. “We didn't get to talk. Jordan was there and ...” She frowned as she noticed her sister rubbing her pregnant belly. “We never said good-bye to each other. He just left when ...”

“He saw you with Jordan Sinclair.” Amelia smiled.

“Yes,” Rachel said. She recalled Jordan's enthusiastic greeting and her less-than-happy response. Had Black Hawk seen her push Jordan away?

“But what if he didn't?” she murmured.

“Didn't what?” Amelia asked.

“What if Black Hawk saw Jordan kissing me, but he didn't see me push him away?” Rachel looked at her sister with a glimmer of hope. “What if he became angry? Or hurt?”

Amelia continued to rub her stomach. “You've got to wait for him, Rachel.”

“No. Tomorrow, we leave for home—all of us,” Rachel said firmly. “You're not feeling well, and I'm going with you. You're my sister and I love you. You've always been there for me when I needed you. It's my turn to be there for you.”

“But—”

Rachel narrowed her gaze. “No buts, Amelia. It's home tomorrow to see Father. I told Black Hawk once that I loved him. Perhaps he needs time to think about it, to understand that I know how I feel. How he feels.”

The next morning, the Traherns, Rachel, Jane, Jack, and little Susie Milton headed toward home. Black Hawk and his brothers had not returned to the village. As they'd left, Rachel had looked longingly at the village one last time, then forced her thoughts to new concerns ... her sister's health and how she was going to get through life without the man she loved.