Wild Thunder (26 page)

“Son, I . . . am . . . sorry,” Star Flower said, reaching a hand out for him. “I have been filled with hate for White Wolf
and
Strong Wolf's grandfather for so long, it will not be so easy to place it behind me.”

“But you must, Mother,” Hawk said, trying to keep his voice steady.

“I shall try,” Star Flower said softly, lowering her eyes.

“I will take your mother home now,” Buffalo Cloud said, taking a step away from Hawk. “I believe things will be all right now. Please bring Doe Eyes to our village soon. We wish to grow to know her as we would a daughter.”

After Buffalo Cloud and Star Flower were gone, the celebration seemed unable to get back on a solid, merry footing. Everyone disbanded and went their separate ways.

Hannah and Strong Wolf sat down beside their campfire, which was set aside from the rest. Strong Wolf had built them a lean-to up against a stand of thick, young aspens.

As Strong Wolf placed more twigs of willow on the fire just inside the lean-to, Hannah slipped off her doeskin dress and placed a soft robe around her shoulders. She kept reliving the evening, the worst part, where Star Flower had so terribly embarrassed Hawk.

She was still in awe of Hawk, and how he could forgive her so easily. If Hannah had been humiliated in such a way by her mother or father, she was not sure how she could ever forgive them.

She felt thankful that her father and mother had finally accepted her love for an Indian.

If not, she might have faced the same sort of ordeal that Hawk faced tonight.

“My woman is still in deep thought,” Strong Wolf said as he sat down beside her.

“I can't quit thinking about Hawk, and what his mother did to him tonight,” Hannah said. “He is so even-tempered, so compassionate.” She smiled. “Just like someone else I know.”

“Ah, and who might that be?” Strong Wolf said, taking her by the wrists, drawing her onto his lap. He swept the robe away from her shoulders. It fluttered on the pallet of furs beneath her.

His hands cupped her breasts, his eyes roaming over her silken nudity. “My woman, tonight is ours,” he said huskily. “Let us not think or talk anymore of other people's woes. I have waited this long day through to be alone with you.”

As he kissed her, Hannah's eager hands slipped his shirt off, then raised herself up from him just enough, so that she could slip his breeches down away from that part of his anatomy that always gave her such a thrill.

Understanding why she was trying so hard to maneuver his breeches away from him, Strong Wolf placed his hands at her waist and lifted her off him.

He removed his breeches, then reached for her again, placed her on his lap, and gathered her into his arms. His mouth took hers by storm, his palms moving seductively over her, his fingers teasing her sensitive places.

Hannah clung to his shoulders and sucked in wild breaths of pleasure as he began probing with his velvety tight heat where she was open to him. She cried out against his lips as he shoved himself into her rose-red slippery heat and began his rhythmic thrusts.

She gripped his shoulders as his mouth brushed her cheeks and ears lightly in soft kisses. He kissed her eyelids tenderly, then again their lips met in a frenzied kiss.

As frogs croaked along the riverbank and coyotes howled in the distance, Hannah and Strong Wolf became lost in a world that was sweet and filled with passion.

Afterward they sat watching the river. Hannah cuddled close to Strong Wolf beneath a shared blanket. She gasped when overhead the northern lights flickered. It was like wind rustling the tent of the sky as they played their magic across the sky in colors of pale greens, blues, and pinks.

“How beautiful!” Hannah sighed.

“It is an omen,” Strong Wolf said, placing a finger to her chin and turning her eyes to him. “A
good
omen.”

Again he kissed her and lowered her to the ground, where he again made maddening love to her.

“Surely tonight we will have made a child,” Hannah whispered, giggling as he took her to paradise with him again. She felt as though she was a part of the beautiful heavens.

Amidst making love, her mind momentarily strayed to what they were going to do tomorrow. They were going to his village. What if his mother didn't approve of her, a white woman? She shivered at the remembrance of what happened tonight as Hawk's mother had told him that she did not approve of his choice of woman, and
his
choice had been someone of his same skin color.

“My woman, your mind is not on what you are doing,” Strong Wolf said, pausing in his lovemaking. “What are you thinking about?”

A sudden strange look came into Strong Wolf's eyes, one that Hannah quickly noticed.

“You spoke of making a child tonight,” Strong Wolf said, searching her face and eyes for answers. “Is that what has caused you not to enjoy our lovemaking as much? You are worried about our child possibly inheriting the dark side of my character?”

Hannah gasped and paled. “No!” she quickly answered. “I've never thought once about . . . that. Darling, I love you so much. Will you please quit worrying about that?”

“Tomorrow I face my mother with a wife,” Strong Wolf said. “Is that what you were thinking about?”

“Well, yes . . .” Hannah said, not sure if she should admit to such a truth.

“Then worry no more,” Strong Wolf said. “She will love you as I love you. She is nothing like Star Flower. Just like you, my mother is everything sweet in this world.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he rolled her over onto her back and plunged inside her again. “My wife,” he uttered softly.

He kissed her gently, his hands caressing her breasts as he rhythmically rocked back and forth inside her.

“My husband,” Hannah whispered against his lips. “My dear, wonderful husband.”

They rocked and clung and whispered and melted.

The red rose whispers of passion.
And the white rose breathes of love.

—J
OHN
O'R
EILLY

 

 

 

Strong Wolf's village was some distance downriver from the Chippewa village. He relished the feel of his mother in his arms while the Potawatomis people came from their lodges, their eyes eager and bright when they discovered Strong Wolf was there.

Hannah was standing at his side. She smiled at the people as they came and gathered around. Then she watched Strong Wolf and his mother. She remembered Strong Wolf telling her how beautiful his mother was.

And she was beautiful and looked younger than her age. She had hardly any wrinkles on her tiny, sculpted face. Her hair was still as black as charcoal. And her shape was one of a youthful woman.

Hannah was surprised that Swallow Song had not married again, yet when she thought about it, she understood possibly why. If everyone knew about her having seizures, that could cause men to look away from her.

Then a thought came to Hannah. Just perhaps Swallow Song had not married again because it was
her
choice not to. Perhaps her love for her husband had been too strong for her ever to love again.

Hannah knew that should anything happen to Strong Wolf,
she
could never love again. She would even want to die with him, for life without him would be torment!

Hannah was saddened over Strong Wolf's chieftain grandfather's passing, yet proud now that Strong Wolf was a great chief.

How proud she would be to show him off to her family as a powerful chief of his people!

“My son,” Swallow Song murmured, clinging to Strong Wolf. “How good it is that you are here. I have often wished that Father had never asked you to go and find our people a new home. Time is so precious, so
fleeting
. I did not want to grow any older without you.”

She swallowed hard. “And when Father died, it was hard to endure without you being here to help me,” she then said.

“I shall visit his grave and say a prayer,” Strong Wolf said. “Hannah, my wife, will join me at the grave. She will also say a prayer. My grandfather will hear her. He will know her.”

Swallow Song reached her hands out for Hannah. “Come to me,” she murmured. “Let me hug you, Hannah.”

Hannah welcomed Swallow Song's arms as she hugged her.

“It is so wonderful to finally get to know you,” Hannah murmured, returning the embrace. “Strong Wolf has told me so much about you. And now I know why he is so proud when he speaks of you.”

Swallow Song stepped away from Hannah. “Thank you,” she said in her sweet, soft voice. She smiled at Hannah. “And I wish to know your mother well.”

“You will get the opportunity when you return with Strong Wolf and me to the Kansas Territory,” Hannah said. She stepped back to Strong Wolf's side.

She loved the protective way he always slipped his arm around her waist. “As soon as we return home, I will send a wire to my parents about your arrival,” she said as she gave Swallow Song another smile. “They will come from Saint Louis. We can have a celebration.”

“And also you will meet her sister and brother,” Strong Wolf said, smiling down at Hannah as she gave him a quick, appreciative glance. “They live close to our Potawatomis village. Like Hannah, they are good people. It is refreshing to have found white eyes who can be friends. Hannah's sister, Clara, lives among our people at the village. She is teaching our children ways of white children.”

His voice trailed off as his thoughts momentarily strayed to Claude Odum.
He
had been different from other whites. And he was now dead!

Strong Wolf suddenly felt an urgency to return to the Kansas Territory, not only to make sure his people were protected, but also Hannah's brother and sister. Although Hannah had not mentioned worrying about it,
he
knew that Chuck and Clara were vulnerable because of their kind nature.

No one knew where Tiny had disappeared to. He was a menace. He was capable of doing anything underhanded!

And some white people in the area resented Clara teaching the Potawatomis children. Prejudices ran strong about a white woman teaching Indian children when there were scarce teachers for the white community.

Yes, he would return to the Kansas Territory as soon as he could gather his people together here at the Wisconsin village and get them ready for the journey to their newly established home.

“Oh?” Swallow Song said softly as she gazed at Hannah. “Your sister is skilled at teaching?”

“Yes, she attended college, purposely to become a teacher,” Hannah said, wondering about Strong Wolf's sudden strange silence and faraway, worried look. “I am so pleased that she chose to use her skills at the Potawatomis village.”

“She is a woman of good heart,” Swallow Song said, nodding. “I will enjoy meeting her. And perhaps she could teach me things I have always longed to know about your culture? Perhaps I could attend your sister's school?”

Hannah's lips parted in a soft, surprised gasp. “Why, yes, Clara would be glad to have you there,” she murmured.

“I have shied away from too many things in my life,” Swallow Song said, her voice thick with melancholy. Her eyes wavered as she gazed at Hannah. “My son has explained that part of our lives, his and mine, that plagues us?”

Unsure of how to answer her, yet almost certain about what she was referring to, Hannah gave Strong Wolf a quick glance.

“Yes, Mother,” he said, his eyes looking at Hannah in a silent understanding. “She knows. And she accepts.”

“That is good,” Swallow Song said. “
That
is why I have kept so much to myself. But I have not been plagued with the terrible seizures for many moons now. I wish to open my life to new things, new adventures, new
people
. This journey to our new home will give me that opportunity.”

Strong Wolf went to his mother and swept her into his embrace. “I hope to make everything possible for you in your new world,” he said.

“And how did you find White Wolf and Dawnmarie?” Swallow Song said, easing from his arms. “And Proud Heart? Has he returned to stay with his people?”

“White Wolf and Dawnmarie are well, and, yes, Proud Heart has returned to stay with his people,” Strong Wolf said, already missing his friend. “Someday soon White Wolf and Dawnmarie will be leaving to seek Dawnmarie's true people in Mexico. White Wolf will step down from being chief. Proud Heart will then be the leader of their people.”

“I fear I will never see Dawnmarie again,” Swallow Song said, her voice quivering with emotion.

“Yes, Mother, you will,” Strong Wolf reassured. “Dawnmarie and White Wolf promised that they would come through our village on their way to Mexico. We shall greet them with much feasting and celebrating.”

“I so look forward to that,” Swallow Song said. “Dawnmarie and I have shared so much in our lives.”

She smiled over her shoulder at the gathering behind her, then smiled up at Strong Wolf as she took one of his hands. “My son, it is time now for you to greet your people as their chief,” she murmured, tears silver in her eyes. “And we will soon have our own feast and celebration, a celebration of my chieftain
son
and his wife.”

Strong Wolf smiled as he looked slowly around him, seeing the eagerness of his people to greet him. He gave his mother one last assuring hug, then stepped away from her.

As the sun lowered in the sky, Strong Wolf hugged every one of his people, from the smallest child, to the most elderly.

Then after Strong Wolf and Hannah visited his grandfather's grave, and returned to the excitement that was building among Strong Wolf's people over the journey that lay before them, the celebration began.

Hannah had enjoyed the feast and celebration at the Chippewa village, but here, among Strong Wolf's people, it seemed filled with much more exuberance, much more passion!

Beside a great outdoor fire, which cast a golden glow high into the heavens, with food cooking in huge pots over burning coals, Hannah relaxed in the fun of it all, laughing, smiling, loving. It was strange how quickly she was accepted and made to feel she belonged.

Huge bouquets of wildflowers were thrust into her arms.

The children danced and sang around her.

By the time it was all over, her jaws ached from having smiled so much.

And although it was a fun evening, she was glad to finally be alone with her husband.

“This is the lodge of my childhood,” Strong Wolf said, gesturing with a hand around him at the inside of the cabin. His mother was asleep in the loft overhead, worn out by the day's activities. A fire roared in the great stone fireplace. “When I dream of my childhood days, I dream of being here, sitting by the fire, popping corn with my grandfather and mother. The memories are sweet, those sort that a child enjoys carrying with him into adulthood.”

“I think that's wonderful,” Hannah said, sitting down on a pallet of furs before the fire with Strong Wolf. “It is good to have pleasant memories of the past.”

She moved to her knees before him and twined her arms around his neck. “I shall always remember today,” she said, then giggled softly. “Darling husband, my stomach is so full of honey, bear meat, popcorn, persimmon bread, and ash-lye hominy. As my plate emptied, it was filled again.”

She laughed again. “Do your people see me as frail, so in need of food, that they tried to fatten me up like a little pig in one evening?”

Strong Wolf held his head back in a fit of laughter, then placed his hands to her waist and drew her onto his lap. “They did not even notice how much food they were forcing upon you,” he said, his eyes dancing into hers. “It was just their way of welcoming you, the wife of their
chief
. When much food is available, that is cause in itself to celebrate. My people are fortunate. They never lack for food, for the Potawatomis braves are skilled, valiant hunters, and the women are skilled in ways of gardening and storage of the food gathered from their gardens.”

“Then, I doubt our child will ever be hungry,” Hannah said, watching his expression, to see if he understood the true meaning behind what she said.

“Not as long as I have breath in my lungs will the child born of our love ever be hungry,” Strong Wolf said, drawing her into his embrace, gently hugging her.

“Strong Wolf, even tonight our child was nourished by the food of your people,” Hannah said, scarcely breathing as she listened for him to grasp onto the truth of what she was saying, for she was certain that she was with child! She had missed her menstrual period by a week and it was not ordinary for her to be late.

“What . . . did . . . you say . . . ?” Strong Wolf said. He gripped her shoulders and leaned her away from him so that he could look her square in the eye.

His heart pounded with hope that he had heard her correctly.

“I truly believe that I am with child!” Hannah said, her eyes filled with the excitement of the moment. “
Our
child, Strong Wolf.” She ran a forefinger slowly across his parted lips. “Yours . . . and . . . mine, sweet husband. Tell me that you are happy with the news. I am ever so blissfully happy myself!”

Strong Wolf was so taken off guard by the news, for a moment he was at a loss for words. Then when it truly sank into his consciousness that, yes, he was going to be a father, all doubts, all fears, were swept away in his pride and joy of the moment.

“My woman,” he said, yanking her into his arms, giving her a tight, warm hug. “You have given me so much already, and now you are going to give me a child.”

He placed a finger beneath her chin and lifted her eyes to his. “You have filled my life with a hope I hardly ever felt possible as a child after . . . after . . . that day with Doe Eyes,” he said. “And now this?” He laughed softly, again pulling her into his arms, gently holding her against his chest. “And . . . now . . . this!”

He swept her into his arms and carried her outside beneath the moon and the stars. He carried her down to the riverbank. He nodded toward the heavens. “Legend says that the Milky Way is a place of happy and endless hunting,” he said in his rich, soft voice. “Legend says that bright stars are wise old warriors. Legend says that the small, dim stars are handsome braves.”

“And what do your legends say about the women?” Hannah asked, watching the play of the stars overhead, so perfectly content as she clung around Strong Wolf's neck. She had never realized that anything in this world could feel so perfectly sweet and wonderful as it felt to be married to Strong Wolf, and now to be carrying his child.

“What do they say?” Strong Wolf said, drawing her eyes to his. “They say that I am the luckiest man of them all, for I have
you
.”

He kissed her with a passion all consuming.

She returned the kiss, her soul melting into his, as though they were one person, one heartbeat.

She smiled to herself, for there was another heartbeat now, one that lay amid the cocoon of her womb, and she could hardly wait until she could lie with Strong Wolf in their house in Kansas and hear the breathing of their baby as it lay in a crib beside their bed. Oh, how her world was so quickly changing; to something magical and sweet!

Yet there were fears that lay just at the surface of her happiness . . . the long journey back to the Kansas Territory. Would it be too hard on her now that she was pregnant? If anything happened to the child, she would then feel only half a woman.