Savage Tempest

The more the woman showed such kindness, the more puzzled Joylynn became.

But she truly was happy for the change.

Could Blanket Woman, in time, be a friend to Joylynn? She desperately needed a friend in this place.

Although Joylynn was mesmerized by High Hawk, she could not let herself show him that she had feelings for him. She must never forget that she was his captive.

She wanted her freedom back, and she would have it, some way, somehow.

She thanked Blanket Woman, then walked to the village alongside her.

When the other women saw Joylynn with the basket of bark, they gave her looks of approval, some even smiling at her. Joylynn felt uncomfortable that she was allowing them to believe she had gathered the bark herself.

But since Blanket Woman had suggested the deceit, Joylynn took the credit that had been granted her.

She watched the women go to their husbands’ corrals and place the bark there for their horses to feed on. Following suit, Joylynn went to High Hawk’s corral and emptied her basket there.

She smiled when Swiftie approached the bark, sniffed, then turned his head away, as though putting his nose in the air over being offered such a thing to eat. He went back to where the grass was thick and nibbled on it.

“That’s my boy,” Joylynn said, going to him and patting his thick neck. “You know what’s best for you, don’t you?”

Swiftie whinnied, gave her a look with his big brown eyes,

then resumed eating as Joylynn walked from the corral and hurried toward High Hawk’s tepee.

She stopped when she saw the women gathering together with their clean clothes and bathing supplies, then walking in a group toward the river.

Knowing she was filthy after her long day of work at the Pawnee village, she hurried after the women.

She looked around for Blanket Woman, and when she didn’t see her, wondered where she was. The day before, she’d joined the others to bathe. Had the old woman overtired herself doing Joylynn’s work? she wondered, feeling guilty.

When they all reached the river, Joylynn again bathed with her dress on, ignoring the curious looks of the other women.

Ignoring them, Joylynn enjoyed her time in the water, making certain her hair got a good soaking, for she did not want to smell of anything but river water when High Hawk entered his lodge for the evening.

Although she did not want to feel anything special for this man, she could not fight off the spiraling need that sometimes overwhelmed her.

He made her feel like a woman in a way no other man had ever done.

And she knew that if he tried to embrace her, she would allow it. She needed to know if her feelings for him were true, or just a figment of her active imagination.

If she did care deeply for him, what was she to do when she found a way to escape him?

Could she flee if it meant never seeing him again?

Her thoughts were so full of High Hawk, she wasn’t even aware that the women were leaving the water until she found that she was alone.

Since they were already on shore, dressing, she lingered in the water for a while longer. She did not want them to see what her wet and clinging dress might reveal.

Only when they had all headed back toward their homes did Joylynn leave the water.

When she reached High Hawk’s tepee, she was glad to see that he wasn’t there. She would have a moment of privacy to change into a dry dress, one that was not revealing.

Once she had on dry clothes, she realized how worn-out she was. Sleep seemed even more important than food, even though her belly was grumbling loudly.

She went back to her bed of blankets, stretched out and was soon fast asleep.

Again she was plagued by the same nightmare that had troubled her almost every night since the rape.