There were a few moments of strained silence. This request seemed to be an unusual one, for Strong Wolf’s eyes had lit up with surprise as the colonel had spoken it. Strong Wolf rose from the chair and stared a moment longer into the fire.
Then he turned and gazed at the colonel as Patrick rose slowly from his chair. Strong Wolf placed a hand on the colonel’s shoulder. “My friend, many deer will lie at your doorstep this very day, before the moon chases the sun from the sky.”
Heaving a great sigh, Colonel Deshong smiled broadly. “You are a true friend,” he said. “I will repay you, somehow, for your help.”
“Payment comes in continued friendships and freedom of councils between two friends,” Strong Wolf said, then walked the colonel to the door and opened it. “You will have deer meat on your table soon.”
“Thank you,” Patrick said, giving Strong Wolf an affectionate hug.
Colonel Deshong then left the lodge and rode away with his companions.
Strong Wolf went back to Hannah and took her hands in his as she rose from the chair. “And you will come on the hunt with me and my warriors?” he asked, surprising Hannah.
“I’d love to,” Hannah said. “But is it all right? Are women allowed on the hunt?”
“You are allowed because I am the voice of my people,” Strong Wolf said thickly. “Also, this hunt today is not for my people’s cooking pot. It is for the white man’s. So I see no taboo in having you join the hunt.”
“Strong Wolf, I’m amazed at your generosity toward the colonel,” Hannah said as they stepped outside together. “First you gave permission for a road to pass through your property. Now you have agreed to send your warriors out on a hunt for meat for the soldiers.”
“What one gives, comes back twofold,” Strong Wolf said, chuckling.
Then he turned her to face him. He placed his hands at her waist, his eyes raking over her, again looking at how she was dressed.
“A woman in man’s clothes?” he said, his lips tugging into an amused smile. He gazed into her eyes. “How is it that you wear such clothes?”
“A whim of mine, I guess,” Hannah said, softly shrugging as she smiled devilishly at him.
“Whim?” Strong Wolf questioned, forking an eyebrow. “What is this thing called ‘whim’?”
“A notion, a sudden desire,” Hannah said, finding his innocence in these sorts of things so refreshing. “Like it was a whim on your part to allow me on the hunt.”
They both laughed, then she stood back and watched as Strong Wolf gathered enough of his warriors to make a successful hunt, Proud Heart among them.
Then Hannah was in awe when Strong Wolf came to her and placed protective leggings over her denim breeches, made by tying a piece of animal skin around them.
“These are worn to protect against prickly bushes in the forest,” he said as he and his men placed the same protective coverings around their legs.
As a young brave went for Strong Wolf’s and Hannah’s horses, Strong Wolf went inside his lodge and grabbed up his bow and quiver of arrows.
When they left the village on horseback, Hannah was honored to be with Strong Wolf, and glad that none of his warriors appeared to resent her presence. Proud Heart was riding on Strong Wolf’s right side, she the left.
She sidled her horse closer to Strong Wolf’s. “Thank you for letting me come,” she said softly. “Will you also allow me to kill a deer, myself? I am skilled with firearms. As a child, my father taught me well the art of shooting.”
“We shall see first how many deer offer themselves to us today,” Strong Wolf said. “You see, my woman, we are like our brothers the wolves. We hunt the deer, but we do not kill them all. But we do take what we are allowed to take, because if there are too many deer left alive to fend for themselves, they will starve. We only thin out the deer population with our hunt, so that the Deer People will be stronger and their children’s children will survive to support our own future children.”
“You speak of things with such depth and knowledge,” Hannah said, in awe of how he saw things and the rules by which he lived. “I would have never thought about what is best for the deer population. And I doubt that many white people do. They should learn from you, Strong Wolf, your people, the true knowledge of the hunt.”
“A deer is not just an animal,” Strong Wolf further explained. “All things have a living spirit within. Everything, even animals, have guardian spirits of their own.”
“You have to be so much more aware of things for the welfare of your people,” Hannah said, thinking about how easy things were for the white people. “I so admire you and your people.”
“It has been this way since the beginning of time for the red man,” Strong Wolf said. “And when the white man came and took the forest animals in such numbers, it became even harder for my people.”
She became aware that even while he had been talking, his eyes were on the ground, as were his warriors’. “Are you tracking a deer?” she asked, trying to see what they saw among the dried, rotted leaves on the forest floor.
“Yes,” Strong Wolf said, without looking her way. “Our quarry is a buck with several antlers and much meat on it. He will be the first kill for my friend, the colonel. Hopefully the buck will lead us to more like him.”
Hannah followed alongside Strong Wolf as the trail led to a high ridge. And then they swung to the east, away from the wind, so that the wind would not carry their scent toward the deer.