Touched to the very core of her being, Shirleen reached up and placed her fingers on the necklace that now hung so beautifully around her neck. Blue Thunder came around and stood before her to admire it.
He gently touched her cheek. “It is rightfully yours,” he said thickly. “A beautiful necklace for a beautiful woman.”
“I shall proudly wear it,” Shirleen said, smiling into his eyes. “When you are called away from our home for some reason, the necklace will make me feel as though you are still with me.”
Their lips met in a long, sweet kiss.
“I love you so,” she whispered against his mouth.
Chapter Twenty-nine
And I will make thee a bed of roses,
And a thousand fragrant posies.
—Marlowe
Blue Thunder awakened with a start when a voice spoke from outside his tepee.
He looked at Shirleen and saw that she still slept, so he rose as quietly as possible from their bed of blankets and pelts.
He had worn a breechclout to bed so he was able to go directly to the entrance flap, but he stopped just before opening it. He had remembered there was someone else in his lodge now besides himself and Shirleen.
He crept over to where he had hung the privacy blanket and pulled a corner of it aside. Megan was asleep on her side, a blanket snuggled in her arms.
A love he had felt the instant he had first seen Megan swept through his heart again as he looked at her.
Her father had put her through a lot.
Blue Thunder vowed he would make all of that up to her.
Not wanting to keep his scout waiting any longer, especially since he was anxious to hear what Proud Horse had to report about the riverboat’s arrival and departure, he stepped lightly to the entrance flap. There was no way he was going to allow that heartless demon leave the area. Earl Mingus must pay for his evil ways, and Blue Thunder was going to make certain he did!
He stepped quickly outside, to find that the sky had cleared and a half moon hung low in the sky where a short while ago lightning had flashed from cloud to cloud.
He could still smell rain in the air. Ever
ything was dripping wet with it, which meant that the downpour had stopped only a short while ago.
“My chief, I bring news of the riverboat,” Proud Horse said.
“Tell me what you found out,” Blue Thunder said, placing a gentle hand on his scout’s shoulder. His fringed buckskin jacket was still damp, proving that he had traveled through the rain in order to get back to his chief quickly with the news.
“The river has risen quite high,” Proud Horse said. “It is impossible for the riverboat to go as close to the fort as it usually does. Word is that it will go just so far, then stop and wait for the passengers to walk to it. That will give us more time to get to the riverboat.”
“That is good news for more than one reason,” Blue Thunder said, smiling. “It will make it much easier to grab Earl Mingus than if we had to take him captive so close to the fort.”
“But we must leave soon, because the riverboat is not far downriver from where it will stop to wait for its passengers,” Proud Horse said, his eyes eager. “If you wish, my chief, I will go now and awaken the warriors who will ride with us.”
“Do it quickly as I ready myself for travel,” Blue Thunder said. “I want to be certain we are there waiting in the darkness of the forest when Earl Mingus takes his walk to the riverboat. While others are not watching, we will grab him and take him away.”
“You will kill him?” Proud Horse asked.
“We will get far enough away from the fort, then do what we must to the man who has made my woman suffer in the worst ways possible. I have learned that he is also the one responsible for my beautiful wife’s death,” Blue Thunder ground out. “His death will not come soon enough for me, but first . . . he must be made to suffer before he takes his last breath of life.”
He looked over his shoulder at his tepee, where his woman and her child still innocently slept, then turned back and spoke quietly to Proud Horse. “Tell my warriors that we must leave with as much silence as possible,” he urged. “I do not wish to disturb my woman before we leave. I would rather she sleep as long as she can before finding me gone. The killing of this evil man must also be done in silence. Tell the warriors to arm themselves with powerful bows and arrows, but also take their rifles in case they are needed.”
He kneaded his chin as he again gazed over his shoulder at the closed flap. “On second thought, I think I will awaken Shirleen,” he said, slowly nodding. “But I will not tell her the true reason we are riding from the village. I would rather she not be aware of what we are doing. It would fill her heart with dread. If she does not know where we are going, she will be free to have a wonderful day with her daughter.”