“I trust you,” he said, looking from one to the other. “I depend on your being here when I return.” Wide-eyed, fear in the depths of their dark eyes, they all nodded.
“Don’t disappoint me,” Hiram said over his shoulder as he hurried to the stable. “You’ll get good food, more’n you’ve ever seen before, once this harvest is completed. You won’t regret being loyal to Hiram Price.”
He went inside the stable, prepared his white mare for riding, then swung himself into the saddle and rode away from the plantation.
“I’m going to find myself a lady!” he cried to the heavens. “And to hell with Lavinia!”
Chapter Twenty-six
Thou shalt love and be loved by me, forever;
A hand like this hand shall throw open
The gates of new life to thee!
—Robert Browning
Although exhausted from her first full day of activity, Lavinia sat beside Wolf Dancer beneath a beautiful sky bright with a dazzling array of stars and a full moon.
The night air had become chilly, so Lavinia held a blanket snugly around her shoulders, while Wolf Dancer was wrapped in his own.
The fire burned brightly in the center of the village. Beside it sat many mothers and fathers as they watched their children at play while they awaited Spirit Talker’s arrival.
Food had been shared by the fire, and much talk and laughter. The children had played all afternoon and into the early evening.
Lavinia was glad that Dorey and Twila fit in with the Seminole children so well. They had forgiven the two young braves for what they’d done to Dorey, and the four were fast friends now.
Lavinia watched the children playing a game with sticks.
“That is called a whirl and catch game,” Wolf Dancer said as he leaned closer to Lavinia.
He was filled with love for this woman, far more than he had ever thought possible.
They had shared a wonderful day today. The basket of shells they had collected sat in his house waiting to be made into necklaces.
They had shared more than one kiss before returning to the village, but they had not made love, although his body ached to have her.
But he felt it was best to wait until she was stronger before making love. And he wanted to be certain that she felt the same way as he.
As difficult as it might be, he would not initiate lovemaking tonight after the stories had been told. Just by looking into her eyes, he could see how tired she was from all the activities of the day.
She was only sitting beside him now for her daughter’s sake. More than once since he and Lavinia had returned from their outing, Dorey had voiced her eagerness to hear the stories with the other children tonight.
Once the stories were told, Wolf Dancer would take Lavinia to his home and tuck her snugly in her bed. He expected her to be asleep before he left the room to go to his own bed.
One day soon he hoped they would share the same bed as man and wife.
“It looks like such a simple game the children are playing, but they seem to be enjoying it,” Lavinia said. She smiled at Wolf Dancer. “Will you explainit to me? I want to understand it in case Dorey talks to me about it later.”
“Whirl and catch is a favorite game with the boys and girls,” Wolf Dancer said, watching the children as Lavinia listened to his explanation. “It is played with ten short sticks. As you see, the sticks are thrown in the air, one at a time, and each child tries to catch them. The person who catches the most wins the game.”
Lavinia mentally counted how many Dorey had already caught and noticed that her daughter was disappointed when at the end of the game, she had only two sticks.
Wolf Dancer had also seen how few Dorey had caught. “She will learn to be faster and catch more sticks,” he said. He now watched Twila, who had caught four of the sticks and was giggling because she had outdone her friend.
Wolf Dancer was glad when Dorey laughed good-naturedly, accepting that she was not as fast as the others, not even Twila.
This demonstrated her unselfish nature to him. It was a trait loved and admired by all.