When they entered the village, they discovered two Mexican soldiers escorting two people into the village on horseback.
One was a man. The other was a woman.
With Kaylene trailing behind him, her hand on Midnight, Fire Thunder went and met the strangers’ approach. He stopped and waited for the man and woman to dismount.
White Wolf helped Dawnmarie from her horse, then slipped an arm around her waist and went to Fire Thunder, his gaze moving quickly to Kaylene, a white woman, as she stood beside Fire Thunder.
“I am White Wolf of the Fon du Lac band of Chippewa. I have traveled far with my wife from Wisconsin to find her true people, the Kickapoo,” White Wolf said thickly. “General Rocendo appointed two of his soldiers to escort us here. He said that you are Kickapoo. Are you Chief Fire Thunder?”
“Yes, I am Chief Fire Thunder,” Fire Thunder said, easing a hand of friendship out toward White Wolf. “You are welcome to my village.” He cast a troubled glance over his shoulder. “You will have to overlook the condition of my people upon your first arrival here. We have just gone through an attack from white men.”
“An attack?” Dawnmarie said, paling. She now recalled the men who had rode past her and White Wolf and the Mexican escorts. Some had been wounded.
“Yes, but let that not worry you,” Fire Thunder reassured her. “They are now gone. The threat is over.”
Fire Thunder reached a hand out for Dawnmarie. “And you are of Kickapoo descent?” he said, her hand soft as she twined her fingers through his in a handshake of friendship.
“Yes, in part, I am Kickapoo. My mother, Doe Eyes, was Kickapoo,” Dawnmarie said softly. “My father was white. Long ago my mother told me the importance of making peace with my Kickapoo people. It is necessary for my afterlife. It is good to have finally found you.”
“Many moons ago my mother and father lived in Wisconsin,” Fire Thunder offered. “I was born there, but they moved often, sometimes to Illinois, sometimes to Indiana, wherever they could find peace with the white people. It was I who grew tired of broken treaties. That is why, upon the death of my chieftain father, I brought my people here.”
He frowned. “Tonight was the first time my people have been attacked while on this mountain,” he grumbled. “And it will b
e the last.”
“My mother, Doe Eyes, was born among your people, and she was abducted by my father who was a trapper,” Dawnmarie said softly. “She married the trapper. I was born. She was a devoted wife and mother. But all of her life she longed to be with her people. She died in sadness.”
Suddenly Moon Glow came walking toward Dawnmarie, her many cats trailing behind her. She stepped up to Dawnmarie and looked at her through her squinting, aged eyes. “I knew a woman named Doe Eyes,” she said huskily. “When we were both young and beautiful. It must be your mother I knew. She was dear to me. We . . . were . . . the best of friends.”
A sudden strained silence fell on those who had gathered to see the woman who claimed to be, in part, Kickapoo.
Chapter 20
They spoke as chords do from the string,
And blood burnt round my heart.
—JOHN CLARE
Dawnmarie gazed with parted lips at the woman. She was so unkempt and wretched, so haggard. But that didn’t matter. Miracle of miracles! Dawnmarie had found someone who remembered her beloved mother. This woman who knew her mother was absolute proof that Dawnmarie had found her true people!
Moon Glow moved closer to Dawnmarie. She placed a bony hand on Dawnmarie’s arm and leaned close to her ear. “My name is Moon Glow,” she said in a soft whisper, because she knew not to speak her name aloud. It was forbidden now that she had been labeled a “Trotter,” as well as the village witch. “I gave your mother a friendship bag many years ago, and then the very next day Doe Eyes disappeared.”
Recalling the beautifully beaded friendship bag, the very one that Dawnmarie’s mother had given to her, for her to give to a friend in turn, Dawnmarie choked up with emotion. This was bringing her so close to her mother. It was as though she were there with Dawnmarie, instead of in a dark, dank grave back in Wisconsin.
“You were her very best friend,” Dawnmarie said, embracing Moon Glow, drawing gasps from the crowd who were gathered around them. “It is good to be with you. If only Mother could be here, as well.”
“Your mother is now among our ancestors in the afterworld?” Moon Glow asked, easing from Dawnmarie’s arms.
“Yes, and I am sure her spirit is here with us, feeling finally at peace because I have found my people, and her special friend,” Dawnmarie said, wiping tears from her eyes.
Kaylene watched the emotional scene, of this woman of mixed blood meeting her people for the first time. Tears stung her eyes, to know that she herself had people out there somewhere whom she had never known, and more than likely never would.
But it looked as though Dawnmarie’s persistence had worked.
Perhaps Kaylene would be even as persistent in searching for her parents.
Yet, she was not truly sure if that was wise. She had found a home here with Fire Thunder. Should she dare place it in jeopardy by leaving him, to search for answers that she would probably never find?