The smell of food cooking over lodge fires made Joylynn’s stomach growl even though she had recently eaten High Hawk’s kind offering of what he had called wasn
a.
It had been satisfying to the taste, and had eased her hunger. Her belly now seemed always in need of nourishment, and she knew why.
The child.
She was now eating for two!
She sighed heavily because she was not only hungry, but also bone-weary and sleepy. She hoped that she could stay awake and alert long enough to ascertain whether or not she would be safe here with High Hawk.
She looked quickly at him as he stopped before one of the larger lodges of the village, while his warriors took the stolen horses to one of his corrals.
It was now only herself and High Hawk, and she could not help being afraid, even though he had been nothing but gentle toward her up until now.
She flinched when a small boy came from a nearby tepee and hurried to High Hawk. When he dismounted he gave his reins to the young brave.
High Hawk came to Joylynn and gently lifted her from her horse, then handed her reins to the young brave as well. The boy hurried around the tepee, to a small corral that Joylynn had seen earlier.
She wondered how many horses High Hawk owned. Was he one of the richest men in this village?
Wondering about his riches and power made her give him a sideways glance as he took her elbow and led her into the huge tepee.
It was obvious tonight that he had been in charge of the warriors who rode with him, for it was he who had given the commands.
But surely he was not their chief, for no one had addressed him as such, nor had he told her that he was a chief.
So she assumed that his riches made him a leader of sorts, and tonight he had become a richer man by the number of horses he had captured.
Had he gained even more wealth in the eyes of the Pawnee people because he had captured a white woman? She didn’t see how capturing a woman could make any man look rich, or any way at all except cowardly!
“This is my home,” High Hawk said, dropping his hand from her elbow. He leaned his rifle against the outside cover of his lodge, close to the door, then turned to Joylynn. “Do not be afraid. I mean you no harm.”
“You mean me no harm, yet . . . yet . . . you take me from my home?”
She placed her fists on her hips. “Let me tell you something. I have come face to face with more danger in my life than you could imagine, and I have survived it all just fine. I shall survive your abduction, too.”
Of course she knew she had just told him a lie, for she had not come out of the rape just fine. But she had to look strong and courageous in the eyes of this red man; perhaps then he would respect her.
But when she glanced up at him, she was uncertain how he had reacted to her statement.
It was hard to read this man. He seemed practiced at keeping his feelings to himself.
Her clenched jaw softened and her eyes wavered when he turned away from her and made no reply. Instead, he gestured toward soft pelts that were spread beside a slowly burning fire in the center of the tepee.
“Sit,” High Hawk said, smiling to himself at the way this woman continually proved that she was not just any woman. Her fiery spirit fascinated High Hawk.
Ho, his mother was filled with much fire. She was in control of herself and all things around her.
But this white woman was different from his mother in ways that he liked.
He was going to enjoy having her with him!
Knowing she had no other choice but to do as he said, at least until she found a way to escape his clutches, Joylynn sat down on the pelts while he added wood to the fire.
He removed the binoculars from around his neck and set them aside, then sat down beside her.
Between them lay a beautiful rush mat with a variety of food in bowls and platters spread upon it. No doubt it had been brought there by someone when the approach of the horses was heard.