Oh, how on earth was she going to manage to do this embarrassing thing without the world knowing and watching? She despaired as she waited to see if Little Sparrow had understood her.
Little Sparrow giggled, took Kaylene’s hand, and walked toward the thick stand of oak trees beside the meandering creek a short distance away.
Hearing the patter of feet moving away made Fire Thunder turn with a start. His eyebrows lifted when he saw his sister leading Kaylene to the stand of trees.
He started to go after them, then smiled slowly when suddenly it came to him what Kaylene had not wanted to tell him, yet confided freely in his sister.
He went to his horse and waited as the others mounted and gave him questioning stares. “Go on,” he said, gesturing with his hand toward the mountain pass. “Black Hair and I will catch up to you later.”
The horses’ hooves thundered off, leaving Fire Thunder and Black Hair alone as they waited for Kaylene and Little Sparrow to return.
“You are still determined to keep her?” Black Hair asked, fidgeting nervously with his reins as he waited on horseback.
“Forever,” Fire Thunder said.
Fire Thunder’s insides warmed at the sight of Kaylene as she walked toward him alongside Little Sparrow. Even with a wounded shoulder, she walked with such dignity, with such beautiful grace and ease.
Her raven-black hair fluttered around her face and shoulders in the breeze. Her face reflected the color of the rising sun in her cheeks. In her eyes, he saw a lessening of defiance.
Yet he feared that was just for the moment. He did not know what to expect from her in the coming hours or the coming days.
“I see that you are ready to travel now,” Fire Thunder said as Kaylene stopped and stood before him. His eyes danced before hers. “Have you decided whether or not you wish to travel by horse? Or by foot?” he teased.
Kaylene’s eyes narrowed and her jaw tightened as she glared at him.
He saw that his jesting had gone awry. It had brought out the antagonism in her again.
Shrugging slightly, he placed his hands at her waist and lifted her into his saddle.
He then went to Little Sparrow and lifted her up for Black Hair to put her in his saddle before him.
Fire Thunder swung himself up behind Kaylene. He grabbed the reins with one hand and slid his free arm around Kaylene’s waist, feeling her stiffening against his hold.
“Your ride will be much more comfortable if you will relax,” Fire Thunder said as he snapped the reins and rode off beside Black Hair.
“How am I to relax while I am still some crazed chief’s captive?” Kaylene spat out.
She gave him a venomous stare over her shoulder.
When she saw an angry fire leap into his eyes, she smiled smugly, then turned her eyes away from him and decided to make this easier on herself.
She inhaled a deep breath and forced herself to relax against his hard, powerful body. In time, when she was stronger, she would show him just how stubborn she could be.
She would escape. She would go back to where her father had been left tied to stakes. She would give him a proper burial.
She hoped that Midnight would stay close by so that she could escape with him. They both would return to the carnival. She would talk her mother into disbanding it to go and try and find some sort of semblance of a normal life elsewhere.
Roots. Kaylene longed for roots.
She gave Fire Thunder a sly glance. Her heart throbbed. While he was not aware of it, she was attracted to his handsomeness again. She could have loved him so much had he not proved to be such a fiend! She would have willingly lived with him in his lodge. She could have made such a perfect, contented wife for him. Even the thought of one day possibly having his children thrilled her clean to the very core of her being.
Lowering her eyes, and sighing with regret, she looked away from him, for that dream was no longer possible. Even if she did love him deep down, he could never know it, for that would mean that she condoned what he had done to her father.
Not wanting to think about such things any longer, Kaylene tried to focus her thoughts on the scene around her. Except for the rough travel up the mountainside on a bone-rattling dirt road, everything was beautiful in the early morning. They rode past a tangle of mountain streams, a vivid carpet of purple verbena, and yellow globe mallow, which snaked its way up the hillside.
She admired the prickly pear plants. They looked to her like they were going to devour their own flower, their brilliant yellow blooms like pieces of sunshine.
Kaylene smiled as the horse traveled up the mountainside, feeling strangely serene, and at peace with her surroundings.