Swift Horse

Then she crept into his arms again and found peace and love within them, her cheek pressed against his powerful chest so comforting to her.

Chapter 31

O, let me once more rest

My soul upon that dazzling breast.

—John Keats

The day was gray, with low-hanging clouds and a smell of rain in the air, as Marsha rode with Swift Horse and several of his warriors toward the waterfall. She hated that perhaps her happy memories of this place were going to be clouded by something sinister, for if Swift Horse’s dream, or vision, was true, nothing about the waterfall would ever be beautiful again.

She was dressed today in her leather riding skirt, a leather jacket, and butter-soft boots and gloves, to ward off the chill of the morning. Her hair was drawn back from her face with a yellow bow, to keep her hair from blowing in her eyes on this windy day.

As they rode onward, they could hear the splash of the waterfall through the trees up ahead. A chill rippled along Marsha’s flesh.

They had arrived at the waterfall.

On this day, when everything was ugly and gray, the waterfall still held its beauty. As it splashed downward, many rainbows were created, the colors so beautiful it almost made Marsha forget the ugliness that could come into one’s life at the hands of a madman!

“I will investigate first,” Swift Horse said, quickly dismounting his steed.

He tied the reins to a low limb, gazed solemnly at Marsha as he came to help her from her horse, then held her in his arms and gaz

ed into her eyes.

“Soon this will all be over,” he said. “If I find the proof of One Eye’s crime, we shall take the trunk to Fort Hill.”

“And then who will be responsible for making the one-eyed man—for making One Eye—pay for his crimes?” Marsha said, almost chokingly as she returned Swift Horse’s steady gaze. “He must pay dearly, you know.”

“Yes, I know, and he will,” Swift Horse said tightly.

“One Eye will pay,” she softly corrected. “Not just ‘he’ or not just the ‘one-eyed man.’ Swift Horse, One Eye is the one who is guilty of these terrible things. Soon you will see.”

“I already know it is he,” Swift Horse said, his voice drawn. “I just need this proof before confronting him.”

“Darling, there is already enough proof and you know it,” Marsha said, searching his eyes now. She could see how hard he was struggling with this, and she understood, yet it was time for his struggles to end and for him to openly say what the reality was. But she would not force the issue.

Swift Horse brushed a soft kiss across her brow, then turned and trotted to the falls. He began to inch along a small outcropping of rock to investigate behind the falls.

When his moccasined foot slipped on the wet rock, Marsha gasped and covered her mouth with a hand. Her heart resumed its normal beats when she saw that he had grabbed on to a large, thick tree root that was growing from out of the wall of rock. He steadied himself, then took only two more steps and stopped.

His heart stopped for a moment when he did see an opening ahead, an opening that surely did lead into a cave.

“It is here!” he shouted. “There is a cave!”

Marsha’s pulse raced as the other warriors ran toward the ledge from which Swift Horse had stepped and was now coming back. When he reached Marsha, he placed his hands on her shoulders.

“It is too dangerous for you to go there. There is not much room for one to walk, and the rocky ledge is wet. I would rather you stay—”

She slipped a quick hand over his mouth. “No, I can’t stay here by myself and you know why,” she blurted out. “Who is to say that One Eye is not watching even now? If I am left alone . . .”

He reached for her hand and removed it from his face and nodded. “I was foolish even to think about leaving you alone,” he said, turning and seeing that the warriors, who were surely already inside the cave, were no longer in sight, leaving no one to stay with Marsha. He gazed into her eyes again. “I will keep you safe,” he said softly. “Come. You walk ahead of me along the ledge. I will keep hold of you.”

Marsha swallowed hard and nodded, then went with him to the ledge. Only now did she truly see and feel the danger of what she was doing with Swift Horse. The soles of her boots were smooth and each step she took on the wet ledge was a true challenge. But she continued onward, the feel of Swift Horse’s arm around her waist giving her the courage to make that final step into the cave.

She was filled with wonder when she saw many torches lighted along the walls of the cave, splashing their wavering, golden light along the ceiling, floor, and walls. She gave Swift Horse a questioning look.

“He must have been here recently, or how else would the torches have been lit?” he said, eyeing the long row of burning torches. “I doubt they would last for long, not with the wind and the dampness blowing into the cave.”