Savage Courage

“I shall always love you,” she whispered against his lips as he paused before taking them both over the edge into paradise again.

“As I will you,” he whispered back. The howl of a distant wolf suddenly split the night air outside the lodge.

And then . . . there was the screech of a panther.

Shoshana and Storm both heard it but pretended they hadn’t. They clung to one another and continued making love.

Chapter Twenty-eight

Dreams of the summer night!

Tell her, her lover keeps watch!

—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Several days had passed. Birds were settling in their nests for the night in the cottonwoods beside a slow, meandering stream.

A slow fire blazed in a camp that only a short while ago had been set up after a full day of capturing wild horses.

Storm’s people had felt the need for more horses before they left for Canada. They needed more for the grueling journey, and in case there were no wild horses in Canada to keep replenishing their already powerful herd.

As Shoshana had watched, Storm had captured many beautiful horses. There were mares and stallions of all colors and all sizes. They were all handsome and well muscled. There were buckskins, sorrels, pintos, bays, and chestnuts.

Storm had especially rounded up a snow-white stallion just for his wife . . . his Shoshana.

All the captured horses were now penned in a nearby canyon, contentedly grazing.

Although Shoshana was not happy about it, her sister-in-law had accompanied Shoshana and the warriors on the horse roundup. Storm had told her earlier that Dancing Willow loved the chase and would be riding with them as she always did.

It still hadn’t made Shoshana happy, for she knew that Dancing Willow continued to resent her and probably always would. It was hard to be civil to the Seer knowing that every time the woman looked at her, she did so with quiet jealousy in the dark depths of her eyes.

At this very moment, Shoshana had to pretend to be pleasant to Dancing Willow as they bathed together in a deep pool of water fed by the shallower stream. They were far enough from the camp so that they had total privacy for their bath.

Had Shoshana not felt so grimy and dirty from the long day on her horse, and were she not anxious to be with Storm tonight amid their blankets far from the others, she would have just let herself stink instead of bathing with Dancing Willow alone.

She felt she needed to keep an eye on every move that Dancing Willow made. After the spider incident, how could she trust Storm’s sister?

Although Dancing Willow had apologized, Shoshana knew deep in her heart that it was an apology laced with a lie!

“The water is not too cold, is it?” Dancing Willow asked as she splashed herself. “After a day on a horse, does it not feel good to have the water soothe your aches and pains?”

Shoshana wanted to strike back at Dancing Willow and say she was surprised that the Seer would admit to having aches and pains from riding. She would have expected Dancing Willow never to confess to anything that migh

t make her look less strong in Shoshana’s eyes.

But again Shoshana felt deceit in Dancing Willow’s sudden friendliness. The other woman had hardly spoken to her all day.

Shoshana glanced where she had left her rifle at the edge of the pool. Storm had told her to take it with her because the panther was still a threat in the area.

But Shoshana felt she needed it more for protection from Dancing Willow. If the Seer wanted Shoshana done away with, was this not the perfect place and time, when they were totally alone?

“Shoshana, you do not hear me?” Dancing Willow said, drawing Shoshana around to gaze at her. “You are so quiet. Why? Is it the panther that makes you so afraid? For you are afraid. I see it in your eyes. I sense it in everything about you.”

“Yes, it’s the panther,” Shoshana said, not really lying. She did worry about that large, sleek cat.

“To escape your fear, think of something else,” Dancing Willow said, running her fingers through her long black hair, then wringing water from it as she started walking toward shore. She gave Shoshana a look over her shoulder. “Come. Let us dress and get back to the camp, for I see that nothing I say takes the fear from your eyes.”

Angry at herself for allowing this woman to see her fear, Shoshana left the water and was glad when she was dried and dressed again in full buckskin attire, which included leggings that her husband had given to her for the long day on horseback.