Savage Tempest

She saw the incredulous look that flashed in High Hawk’s dark eyes, how his lips parted in a gasp, as the realization of what she had said hit home.

“It cannot be Mole,” he said, carefully turning his horse to face Joylynn’s. “He died. We saw him die. We saw the blood. My warriors checked on him to be sure he was dead.”

“I remember that they only rode up to him and gazed down at him, assuming he was dead because of his stillness, and . . . and . . . all of the blood. They did not actually check him for a pulse beat,” Joylynn said. “I, too, thought we were finally rid of that horrible outlaw. But I know that the person I saw through the binoculars, riding with the soldiers, is none other than the man we all hate.”

Moving Swiftie forward cautiously, Joylynn rode up next to High Hawk. She lifted the binocular strap over her head and handed them to High Hawk.

“Place these before your eyes and look through the lenses,” she said tightly. “You, too, will see the soldiers and the one civilian with them. Mole.”

High Hawk lifted the binoculars to his eyes.

Joylynn saw him stiffen when he, too, saw Mole, as well as the soldiers who were advancing on the mountain.

They were out for blood!

The blood of High Hawk’s Pawnee people!

“It does seem to be he,” High Hawk said tightly, then lowered the binoculars and handed them back to Joylynn. “That means only one thing.”

“What?” Joylynn asked fearfully as she slipped the leather strap about her neck again so that the binoculars now nestled against her breast.

“We must stop him. We must stop them all,” he said harshly. “Now. Today. We cannot allow them, especially that mole-faced man, to get any closer to where we are traveling. My people deserve peace in their lives, and they cannot have it as long as the pony soldiers and that evil man, pursue us. They have but one goal on their minds . . . the death of the Pawnee.”

His eyes softened. “And you,” he said, reaching over and gently touching her face. “They also want you to die along with us.”

“Ho, it does seem so,” Joylynn said softly. “It was not enough for Mole to rape me and try to strangle me; he will not stop until he knows I am dead. He must have seen me with you the day of the attack. He knew then that he would not rest until I was dead.”

She reached for his hand. “But what can you do now?” she asked, her voice drawn. “We are halfway up the mountain. They are far down below us.”

“They are not far enough away to escape me,” High Hawk said stiffly.

“So what are you going to do?” Joylynn asked, truly afraid to hear his answer. She just wished they could go on and forget the men who were down below them. But she knew that was impossible.

Those soldiers, and Mole especially, would never stop until they found the Wolf band of Pawnee and made certain its members, including her, never walked the face of the earth again.

“We must finish what we started,” High Hawk said with determination. “We must make certain they are stopped.”

Joylynn and High Hawk were too involved in what they were saying and what was happening down below to have noticed High Hawk’s mother approaching them to see what was causing the delay.

Blanket Woman was just now stepping up beside High Hawk’s horse, drawing his and Joylynn’s attention to her.

“What is wrong?” Blanket Woman asked, looking slowly from

High Hawk to Joylynn, and then back to High Hawk. “Why have you stopped while the others are going onward? Why did you not send word for everyone to stop?”

High Hawk and Joylynn gave each other questioning glances, and then High Hawk dismounted and placed his hands gently on his mother’s shoulders. “Ina, you are very astute,” he commented. “While others have not noticed that I stopped to talk with Joylynn, you did.”

“Are you saying that you wish I had not noticed?” Blanket Woman said, giving Joylynn an ugly glare, then again looking into her son’s midnight-dark eyes.

“Everyone will soon know why I have done this,” High Hawk said, sighing. “Ina, the soldiers are advancing on the mountain down below. They must be stopped.”

Blanket Woman’s eyes widened and her lips parted in a soft gasp. “How can you do that?” she asked, her voice trembling. “We are so far into our journey to our new home. If you stop and battle with the white-eyed pony soldiers, will that not threaten everything you had planned for your people? My son, why do you not just forget about those soldiers? They will never find us.”

“But there is one man with them who will not rest until he does find us,” High Hawk said, easing his hands from his mother’s shoulders. “That man is the one who killed your husband.”

“But you said he was dead,” Blanket Woman gasped, her old eyes filled with a sudden uneasy fear.

“We thought he was, because he managed to fool us into thinking he was dead,” High Hawk said as Joylynn dismounted and stood at his side.