He looked slowly over his shoulder, then gasped and grew pale when he saw Sam Partain reach a thick grouping of birch trees. Several men on horses came out of the shadows to join him.
Jeremiah scarcely breathed as he waited to see in which direction those men would ride.
When the men headed away from Hope, Jeremiah sighed with relief. Then he put his heels to the flanks of his horse and rode more hurriedly toward the town, Aaron following him.
After arriving in the town, and explaining to everyone the possible danger, Jeremiah had one more thing to say to them. “Be wary of this man who came today. He walks in sheep’s clothing, but is in truth a man of Satan!” he shouted, as the men began scattering in many directions, their hands now clasped tight on their rifles.
Wanting to see about his own family before going to take a guard post himself, Jeremiah went and gathered his wives and children around him and ushered them back to their house.
He bent on a knee as he held the children close while his wives looked on, their eyes filled with tears of fear.
“That man of Satan asked about that nice lady who rode the stagecoach with us,” Jeremiah explained softly. “No one knows where she is, or if she is even still alive. I pray that those men don’t find her. They do not have anything good planned for her—that is certain.”
To himself he was thinking that he hoped Nicole was still alive and that he could find her someday. But not now. It was too dangerous to think about searching for her again.
He still wanted to have Nicole as his third wife. She could give him beautiful, strong sons, he was sure.
His two wives would not want him to take another wife, yet they knew better than to argue. His word was law in his household.
But…where could Nicole have gone? Would those men find her before Jeremiah felt it was safe enough to go and look for her again, himself?
He just could not get her out of his mind, or blood, no matter how hard he had tried. If she was still alive, he wanted her, and…he…would have her.
But only if that group of bloodthirsty men didn’t find her first!
Chapter Fourteen
As Eagle Wolf entered his village, he felt a wonderful sense of homecoming. When everyone saw that it was he, they came running toward him.
He had always known the love his people felt for him, but the proof of it touched his heart. It was in everyone’s eyes, their outstretched arms, their shouts of happiness. They were overjoyed at his return and that he had survived.
As he rode slowly onward, he saw that a new tepee had been built close by the spot where his home had sat before he had set fire to it.
He smiled a quiet thank-you to his people, then went onward. When he reached his newly erected tepee, his brother stepped suddenly from the lodge.
Eagle Wolf dismounted and stepped toward Spirit Wolf, to embrace him. But his brother walked past him without a greeting, without a smile, his head hanging low.
It ate into Eagle Wolf’s heart to know from his brother’s sulking attitude just how much he had hoped Eagle Wolf would not come back.
With Eagle Wolf’s return came the end of Spirit Wolf’s own temporary reign as chief. It was oh, so obvious that Spirit Wolf had wanted to remain his people’s chief forever.
He had surely even prayed that Eagle Wolf would not return.
Their people now also witnessed the behavior of one brother toward the other. Some gasped in horror as they watched Spirit Wolf disappear into his own lodge without speaking a single word to his brother.
Wanting to break the awkward silence, Eagle Wolf handed his reins to a young brave, who took his steed away. Eagle Wolf faced his people, who stood there with love for him in their eyes and smiles.
“My people, it is good to be among you again,” Eagle Wolf said, taking the hand of a small child, a young boy of five winters who gazed lovingly up at him. “The disease that made me so ill, and killed my wife, was not smallpox, but instead a white man’s disease called measles. I survived. I am well. I will now resume my duties as your chief.”
“What is this thing called measles?” one of his warriors asked as he stepped closer to Eagle Wolf. His eyes moved slowly over his chief, taking in the fading red spots on his body. “How do you know of it?”
“A woman found me when I was feverish and stopped to care for me,” Eagle Wolf said, purposely not telling them that this woman was white, or that she had found her way inside his heart. “She explained to me that the red spots were measles, not smallpox.”
“What woman?” another warrior asked. “Where is she now?”
Although it was not his habit to ignore questions asked him by his people, Eagle Wolf did not want to talk about Nicole Tyler. He did not want to reveal to his people that she was white.
“Is it not enough that I am with you again, and that I am well?” Eagle Wolf asked.