White Fire

“No, no name was said!” she cried. “It was a man wearing dirty clothes. He wore no shoes! His hair was black. His eyes were gray and cold!”

Disappointed that he couldn’t get a better description of Flame’s abductor, knowing that could fit any criminal in the area, White Fire sighed and looked away from the child.

Dancing Star flung herself into his arms again. “I was so afraid!” she cried. “But the man did not take me! He only wanted Flame!”

White Fire again held her away from him and gazed into her eyes. “When the man came to the cabin, did Flame seem to know him?” he asked slowly. “Or did he seem to be a stranger to her?”

“When she opened the door, she gasped and took quick steps away from him,” Dancing Star said, her sobs subsiding. “It was as though she knew him, yet the man tied something about her mouth too fast for her to be able to speak.”

Stunned, finding it hard to think of who might come with the sole purpose of taking Flame away, White Fire rose slowly to his feet.

Michael came to him and tugged on his arm.

White Fire gazed down at him and saw that he was staring at Dancing Star.

White Fire made quick introductions. Then before they turned to go inside the cabin, a soldier from Fort Snelling rode up.

Lieutenant Green dismounted and walked stiffly to White Fire. “I have come for two reasons,” he said. He took an envelope from the inner pocket of his blue uniform and handed it to White Fire. “A wire arrived at the fort today for you.”

Forking an eyebrow, White Fire took the envelope, then he nodded. “Yes, I am certain it is from my mother,” he said, recalling having sent her a letter not all that long ago. “Why else are you here?” he said, slowly taking the wire from the envelope.

“I have some disturbing news,” Lieutenant Green said, clasping his hands tightly behind him.

“What sort?” White Fire asked, gazing into the lieutenant’s eyes.

“Colonel Edwards sent word to us at Fort Snelling that Colonel Russell has escaped,” he said blandly. “Colonel Edwards says to tell you a search party did not find him.”

The blood rushed from White Fire’s face. “Colonel Russell escaped?” he gasped out. Like a blow to his gut, he now realized who might have abducted Flame. Her crazed father. The black hair. The gray eyes. The anger.

Yes, more than likely she had been abducted by her very own father!

“I was told that whoever left Colonel Russell after he took him food did not lock the cell well enough when he left,” Lieutenant Green said dryly. “Colonel Russell left the cell, knocked a guard in the head and killed him. I don’t know how he managed to get across the wide courtyard without being spied, but he did. He seems to have waited and hid behind supplies left just inside the fort walls. While Colonel Edwards’s men were busy taking in more supplies from St. Louis” Colonel Russell slipped away into the forest. He wasn’t missed until the next meal was taken to him. So he had a good head start before it was noticed he was gone.”

“And you say a search party has been sent out?”

“Sent out, and all but now given up.”

“Colonel Edwards gave up that easily on finding him?”

“He’ll show up in time. There aren’t many places a man can go, barefoot and dressed in prison clothes, without someone recognizing him as an escaped prisoner. Someone’ll turn him in.”

“In the meantime he is left free to wreak his havoc?” White Fire said, his voice rising in pitch as his anger toward Colonel Edwards grew.

“What can Russell do?” the lieutenant asked, idly scratching his brow. “He’s barefoot, penniless, and weaponless.”

“He stole his daughter, that’s what!” White Fire shouted, his face beet red from anger.

“He did what?” the soldier asked, paling.

White Fire set his jaw. “You go back to the fort and tell Colonel Edwards that he gave up his manhunt too soon,” he said. “You tell him that Flame—Reshelle—is out there somewhere in the wilderness at the mercy of her crazed father!”

“Yes, sir, I’ll go and tell him,” the lieutenant said, nervously shuffling his feet. “I’ll go and tell him right away, sir.”

“You just do that,” White Fire said, his eyes narrowing.

As the lieutenant rode off, White Fire’s thoughts scrambled as to how he could go about finding Flame, himself.

His gaze fell on the gray feather on the table.