Wild Thunder

Hannah wrenched her eyes from him. She was so sad for him, yet her thoughts drifted now to Strong Wolf.

She was so glad that Colonel Deshong had trusted Strong Wolf. And because of his trust, Strong Wolf was free.

Chapter 11

Smiles, that with motion of their own,

Do spread and sink and rise,

Oh! Might I kiss the mountain rains

That sparkle on her cheek.

—WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Strong Wolf rode beneath a shadow of trees toward his village, glad that he had chosen not to abduct Hannah, after all. Now they might have a future together . . . if he would allow himself to love a woman.

Always when he thought that he might, his past came to him in flashes. The ugly secret that he carried around with him, to haunt his every waking hour, might still keep him from this woman whose very presence caused his senses to swim with passion.

“I must have her,” he whispered, then drew a sudden light rein when he spied something up ahead beside the road that sank dread into his very soul.

He was stunned at the sight for a moment longer, then sank his heels into the flanks of his horse and rode onward in a hard gallop.

When he drew light rein again, he hurriedly slid from his saddle and knelt on one knee beside the silent, bloody form of a Potawatomis brave from his village.

“Bird in Ground,” Strong Wolf whispered, lifting the brave’s face from the ground. He leaned low over his brave, and placed his cheek against his mouth, glad to feel the hot breath of Bird in Ground on his flesh.

“He is alive, but ah, just look at him!” he cried aloud, causing birds to stir in the trees overhead and fly away.

“Bird in Ground,” he said, trying to arouse him. “You must awaken and tell me who did this to you.”

Bird in Ground did not stir.

Strong Wolf looked around for the brave’s horse. He saw no steed, but caught the shine from the barrel of the brave’s rifle as it lay just partially exposed from a thick bed of grass about a foot away.

Then his eyes jerked around when he heard many horses approaching in the distance. Through the dust he saw soldiers on horseback riding his way. Were they headed for his village to arrest him for having stolen the dynamite and for having destroyed the dam?

Wanting to protect his brave from any more harm, and wanting to get to his village quickly, Strong Wolf lifted Bird in Ground into his arms and carried him to his horse.

After getting the brave positioned in his saddle, Strong Wolf mounted the horse behind him and held Bird in Ground in place as he twined a muscled arm around the injured brave’s waist. He started to ride away but stopped when the soldiers made a sudden turn in a different direction away from his village.

Strong Wolf breathed more easily when he realized that they were not after him, after all.

Wanting to get Bird in Ground to the village for medical treatment, Strong Wolf did not take the time to search for his horse. He rode away, with Bird in Ground still unconscious in his arms, wondering who did this.

And when he found the guilty party, he vowed to make him pay in blood. When he got through with him, he would leave him way more bloodied than Bird in Ground!

Strong Wolf spied the log cabins of his village a short distance away, among the birches. He nudged his horse’s sides with his knees and rode onward.

There was much wailing and crying when Strong Wolf entered his village with Bird in Ground. Strong Wolf drew tight rein before Bird in Ground’s lodge, where his wife and children waited for him, desperation and fear etched on their faces.

“Who did this?” Proud Heart said as he ran up to Strong Wolf to help him take Bird in Ground from the saddle.

“He cannot speak now,” Strong Wolf grumbled as he gently handed Bird in Ground to Proud Heart.

Strong Wolf then dismounted and went with Proud Heart and Bird in Ground’s family into the lodge. “But when we find the one who is responsible for this fiendish act against one of our own, pity him!”

“My husband,” Sweet Wind cried as she knelt beside Bird in Ground.