Cedar Woman (91 page)

She
he
a
rd him
sa
y
,

“
Co
n
gra
t
ulati
o
ns,”
he
a
r
d Vi
c
k
i
’
s h
a
ppy
r
e
pl
y
, “
W
o
p
ila,”

and he
m
oved o
n
.

There was a
slight release
of
t
ension,
b
u
t
she c
o
u
l
d
feel
t
h
at he
was still looking at
her,
his gaze
f
o
cus
e
d
upon
her and
her alone.

She
c
ou
l
d
n
’t
b
reathe!
As
so
on
as
t
h
e
W
o
p
il
a
was
o
v
e
r,
Lena wa
l
k
e
d
r
a
p
i
d
l
y
from
t
h
e
are
n
a
and
m
ade
her
way
t
o
c
o
ve
r
,
li
k
e
a
rabbit

sea
r
c
h
i
n
g
f
o
r a
b
u
r
r
o
w
i
n w
h
ic
h
t
o
h
i
d
e.

The
sc
e
n
e
of
o
n
ly
a
f
e
w
h
ou
rs
be
f
o
re played
out
b
e
f
o
re
hi
m
: ap
pr
oach
i
n
g
h
er
c
a
utiousl
y
,
sto
p
pi
n
g
besi
d
e
h
e
r,
an
d
bei
n
g
u
n
s
u
re
o
f what
t
o
do,
h
i
s
nervous
s
m
ile
freez
i
ng
as
she
looked
up,
m
eeting
his gaze,
giv
i
ng
him
full view
of
her
m
agnificent
eyes.

Mic
h
ael
Spirit
o
f
t
h
e Grass Young
Bear
sat cros
s
-legg
e
d
on
a patch of
l
a
w
n
i
n
fr
o
n
t
of
h
i
s
c
o
us
i
n
S
o
nn
y’
s
ti
p
i
.
To
s
ay
t
h
at
he
was
i
n
a
s
t
ate of
sh
o
c
k
wo
uld be
an
un
d
ers
t
ate
m
ent.
In
f
a
ct,
Michael
w
a
s
sh
a
k
e
n
to
t
h
e very
c
o
re
o
f h
i
s
be
i
n
g
.

He
k
n
e
w
t
h
at
s
h
e
was
i
n
t
h
e
t
i
pi
acro
s
s
f
rom S
o
nn
y’
s.
He
had
s
een
h
er
fly
i
n
to
t
h
e
e
n
tra
n
ce of
t
h
e
lo
dg
e
li
k
e
a ra
bb
it
r
u
n
n
ing
fr
o
m a pr
e
d
ator.

Did
s
h
e
feel
t
h
e
s
a
me
t
h
ing
I
d
id
t
h
ere
in
t
h
e
a
ren
a
?
h
e
wo
nd
e
r
e
d
to hi
m
self.

U
po
n
a
p
pr
oa
c
h
i
n
g
t
h
e
f
a
m
ily
standi
n
g
beh
i
nd
t
h
e g
i
ft-str
e
w
n
b
lan
k
et,
with
t
h
e
m
ere
i
n
te
nt
i
o
n
of
co
n
g
ra
t
u
lati
n
g
t
h
em
o
n
t
h
e
ad
op
tion