Wild Embrace

She paused, then added, “My darling, in no way will I endanger your life. If I am cornered by the sheriff, I will lie to save your life. In my eyes, you are innocent of any crime. I will not be the one to cause you to pay for a deed that even I see as being right.”

Strong Heart took her elbow and they walked away from the workers to the edge of the forest. He drew her into his embrace, his eyes burning down into hers. “My la-daila, I do not want you to be forced to lie for me, ever. And I do not want you to leave me, ever. Once you see your father and reveal to him that you are alive, I want you to return with me to my village and become my wife. Share my blankets with me forever, Elizabeth. My people are impressed with your gentleness, intelligence, and beauty. They would accept you as my wife.”

Elizabeth was not surprised by his proposal. She was thrilled, yet wondered how this could be arranged. “Strong Heart, I want nothing more than to say yes to your proposal. But how can I? If my father knows about you, he will also have to know how I happened to know you. It could prove dangerous.”

He dipped his head and smelled the sweetness of her hair. “If your father loves you,” he whispered, “truly loves you, he will do nothing to endanger your life. Bringing the sheriff to arrest Strong Heart would threaten your life. No, I do not think a father would do this to a daughter.”

And then he paused, remembering that through all of the confusion of these past days, he had not thought to ask her about her father—why he had come to the Pacific Northwest in his great ship, and what he was building on the shores of Puget Sound.

He quickly asked her now.

Elizabeth paled, not wanting to reveal the full truth to her beloved, fearing that it would cause a confrontation between her father and the man she loved. Strong Heart could not afford an argument with any white man now that he was a fugitive.

“My father?” she said, easing from his arms. She turned her back to him and plucked a leaf from a tree. Nervously, she began shredding it into tiny pieces. “My father came to Seattle because he was no longer planning to travel the seas with his ship. He found the Pacific Northwest a perfect place to enjoy fishing.”

She turned quickly to him and looked innocently up into his eyes. “Yes,” she said, her voice lilting. “That’s why he came to Seattle. To enjoy fishing.”

Strong Heart lifted an eyebrow as he regarded her, feeling that she was not being altogether truthful. But he did not want to think that she would lie to him.

“I will help you search for your grandfather, and then go alone to speak with my father,” she said. “Perhaps it . . . it would be best for you to come back to the village alone, just in case my father doesn’t react favorably to the news. I will come to you later, when I am certain that it is safe.”

Strong Heart did not respond quickly. He mulled it over, then said, “That is not the way I want it to be, but if you feel that is best for you, then I will agree.”

“Strong Heart, you have searched for your grandfather before and did not find him,” Elizabeth said, as he placed an arm around her waist, walking her back toward the village. She gazed up at him. “What if you still cannot find him?”

Strong Heart frowned down at her. “Perhaps I will not be able to find him this time, but I will find him some day,” he vowed. “It seems that my grandfather has learned the art of being invisible. Strong Heart hopes to find out why, and how.”

In Elizabeth’s mind, she was recalling the times that she had seen his grandfather, and how quickly he had faded from sight. And the mere fact that he had chosen to return to the grounds of his ancestors, gave her cause to be afraid for her father. What if the old man decided to set a torch to the house to finish what his ancestors had not been able to?

What then not only of her father, but of Frannie and Maysie?

Maysie, she thought suddenly. Elizabeth wondered if Maysie had stayed on at the house, or had been forced to leave. Perhaps to return to a life of sin again—or to die in the Sound?

Yes, Elizabeth decided. It was best that she return home, to tie up some very loose ends.

Chapter 16

Love’s wing moults when caged and captured,

Only free, he soars enraptured!

—THOMAS CAMPBELL

As the sun was setting beyond the ever purple ridges of the distant bluffs, the crackling fire of lightning forked across the heavens above Elizabeth and Strong Heart as they dismounted. They looked warily at the display.

Elizabeth moved to Strong Heart’s side and jumped with alarm as the cannon roar of the thunder reverberated all around her, the ground shaking ominously beneath her feet. “I have never seen such weather as I have found in this country,” she said, shuddering. The heavens darkened to an inky blackness as the storm clouds moved in rapidly. “On our way to your village we were almost drowned by rains, and now, on our way back to Seattle, it storms again?”

She turned her green eyes up at Strong Heart. “Is the weather always this temperamental, Strong Heart? Or am I just worrying too much?”

Strong Heart placed a comforting arm around her waist, and gazed at Mount Rainier in the distance as lightning danced and played around its peak. “Rain is a natural thing in our land of trees, mountains, and rivers,” he said, his voice hushed. “But thunder and lightning do not always accompany the rain. You have cause to be alarmed over the repeated storms. It is the spirits of the mountains that cause storms. They are angered. The spirits of the mountains speak of this anger tonight.”

He paused and turned his eyes back to Elizabeth. “When there is lightning and thunder around Mount Rainier, my people say it is the Thunderbird’s doing. We picture the storm as a giant bird with flashing eyes and fierce spirit. Its flapping wings cause the sound of thunder as it swoops from the clouds around the mountaintop.”

“I have heard about the Thunderbird. I have read about it. Thank you for sharing this with me, Strong Heart. I want to know everything about your culture, about your beliefs. It will make my being with you as your wife more complete.”

The sky seemed to open up as rain began to fall in torrents, quickly drenching them.

Strong Heart grabbed a blanket from his saddlebags and held it over Elizabeth. He turned and searched quickly around him for a place to go for shelter.