“You will become my wife?” Wolf Dancer repeated, placing a hand beneath her chin and directing her eyes to his. “I want to protect not only you but also your daughter. I want to love you forever.” Lavinia suddenly became aware that they were sitting among others. She realized that the Spirit Talker was beginning his first tale of the evening.
She looked quickly around to see if anyone had heard Wolf Dancer’s proposal of marriage. When she saw that he had spoken so quietly that only she had heard, she turned and smiled into his eyes.
“I will gladly become your wife,” she said softly. “Although we have only known one another a short time, I knew right away that I had fallen in love with you. I think it happened the first time I saw you resting in the tree near my house. I dreamed of you often after that.”
She didn’t mention the white panther, and doubted she would ever question him about it. The creature was too mysterious to talk about, and she felt that if there was some association between him and the panther, he might rather not speak of it.
If he ever wished to talk to her about these mysteries, she wanted him to know that he could tell her anything. Even if he revealed something she could never understand, she would not love him less for it. “We will marry soon,” Wolf Dancer said, still holding her hand as they turned their attention to the tale being told.
Lavinia at first found it hard to concentrate on anything but what they had just agreed upon.
But the more she listened to the Spirit Talker, the more engrossed she became. He made his story so interesting, she couldn’t help listening intently, and marveled at his ability.
After a short while, the Spirit Talker drew the first story to a close and started another one. It was about a grandmother spider who stole the sun.
Lavinia settled in more closely to Wolf Dancer. Both now snuggled under the same blanket as they listened together to the words of the elderly storyteller.
“When the world was young, there was blackness on one side,” the Spirit Talker said as his eyes moved from child to child. “Nobody on that side of the world could see beyond the nose on his face. One day Mother spider suggested that their new world needed light. Possum said he would go to the other side, where there was light, and steal some, because those people there were too selfish to share it with the world. Fox said he would go. His tail was thick enough to hide some of that light and bring it home to everyone on this side of the world. Possum frowned at Fox. He wanted to be the one to go and get the sun, and so he tried. When he got to the other side, he found the sun high up in a tree. Possum climbed up and grabbed a piece of the sun, which he quickly hid in his tail. But he soon discovered that the light was very hot. It burned all the fur off his tail. From that time on, the possum’s tail has been bare. He went home with his burned tail and without the light. Mother spider said that she would go and get the light. She grabbed a pot and then, carrying the pot, spun a web that reached to the other side of the world. Then she crawled on that web until she was able to grab some of the light and put it in her pot. Then she carried it home along the path of her web. Everyone celebrated, for their side of the world finally had light!”
The children applauded and asked for more, but Spirit Talker said that was enough stories until the next time. Then he left and returned to his home.
Dorey ran over to Lavinia. “Mama, did you hear the story?” she asked excitedly. “Wasn’t it interesting?” “Yes, dear, I found it quite fascinating,” Lavinia murmured, smoothing a lock of her daughter’s hair back from her eyes.
“Mama, Twila wants me to stay the night with her,” Dorey blurted out. “May I? Joshua said it was alright.”
“I see nothing wrong with that,” Lavinia said, smiling at her daughter’s excitement. “Enjoy yourself, Dorey.”
“I shall, Mama,” Dorey said, her eyes bright. “Thank you.”
Lavinia watched Dorey run over and take Twila by the hand. Then the two girls skipped toward Joshua’s is and Twila’s hut.
“I think you need to go to bed,” Wolf Dancer said, removing the blanket from around their shoulders. He gazed into her weary eyes. “Did you do too much in one day?”
“It was a wonderful day,” Lavinia said as she slowly rose to her feet. “One I shall remember forever.” “I want each and every day to be that unforgettable for you,” Wolf Dancer replied. He placed an arm around her waist and walked her toward their home, others behind them collecting their own blankets and dispersing, too.
“If I am with you, they shall be,” Lavinia said with a shy smile.
She accompanied him to his hut, and was soon asleep in her bed of blankets and pelts. Wolf Dancer sat beside her, marveling at how the world had become a better place since he had met this woman.
She was all sweetness.
When she smiled or laughed, her joy reached right inside his soul, warming it as nothing had ever before been able to.
But there was still a problem: a certain man that Wolf Dancer knew must be dealt with to assure the continuing contentment of this…his…woman. He knew that if Hiram Price ever discovered where she was, he would find his way to Mystic Island, and perhaps bring the whole United States cavalry with him. Wolf Dancer could not allow that to happen.
As soon as Lavinia had the strength, he and she would do what they must to ensure her happiness on Mystic Island, and her safety.
“That man will not be a danger to anyone much longer,” he whispered. “And soon, my woman, we will make love. How I need you, and I feel that your needs match my own. Perhaps even tomorrow…?”
Chapter Twenty-seven
When love could teach a monarch to be wise,
And gospel-light first dawn’d from
Bullen’s eyes.
—Thomas Gray