Then just as quickly, she reached her other hand out to him and a grateful sob lodged in her throat as she smiled throug
h tearful eyes up at him.
"I am going to pull you up slowly," Spotted Eagle said throatily.
Spotted Eagle's heart was filled with gratitude that Old Man, the chief god of the Blackfoot, had heard his silent pleas and had answered them. He now knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was his and Jolena's destiny to be together, to share life as though one soul and one heartbeat.
Today was proof enough to him that they were meant for one another, for otherwise, she would have not been given back to him, as though a gift from the gods!
Jolena scarcely breathed as Spotted Eagle slowly drew her up the side of the cliff. She could hear the roar of the waterfall on one side of her, almost deafening, and the crash of the water below, where she would have surely fallen to her death.
Tears rushed from her eyes again as she gazed up at Spotted Eagle who had risked his life to save hers. She wanted to be held in the protective cocoon of his arms, never to part from him again!
She wanted to find ways to thank him, for she would always be in his debt.
"Soon you will be safe," Spotted Eagle said, as he worked hard at keeping hold of her. Although she was slight in build, his shoulder and arm muscles were straining as he struggled to pull her up in this awkward way.
Jolena saw that she was almost able to reach up with her knees, to help place herself on solid land. She leaned against the side of the cliff, the sharp edges of the rocks piercing her blouse and cutting into her breasts as she was pulled up to safety. Her knees gave her that last boost she needed as she pushed herself up and fell down limply beside Spotted Eagle.
He drew her fiercely into his arms and held her close, his face burrowed in the depths of her black hair. "My woman," he whispered, easing her away from the edge of the cliff as he held her tightly within his aching arms. "You are safe now, my woman." Jolena sobbed as she clung to him. "If not for you, I would have died," she cried, her tears soaking his buckskin shirt as she pressed her cheek hard against his chest. "Thank you. My darling, thank you."
So glad to have his woman safe in his arms, Spotted Eagle was speechless. He held on to her, yet looked past her shoulder at Two Ridges and Kirk, glowering at them because of their cowardice. He could understand the white man's failure to save his woman, for he was too lacking in muscle to have dragged her up to safety.
But Two Ridges? He was a noble Blackfoot whose bravery and courage had never faltered, especially when a woman's life was at stake!
As Spotted Eagle's eyes locked with Two Ridges, he saw something more than shame. It was as though Two Ridges was hiding a seething anger within his eyes, and this puzzled Spotted Eagle.
Spotted Eagle was the one who had cause to be angry at his brother Blackfoot! Two Ridges should be bending his head in shame, not defying his friend with a steady, angry stare, his jaw tight, his lips pursed tightly together.
Not understanding his friend's strange attitude, Spotted Eagle wrenched his eyes away, instead focusing his full attention on his woman. Placing his hands on each side of her face, he lifted her gaze to his.
"Let us return to the camp," he said. He glanced down at her torn clothes, wincing when he saw the bloodstains on her skirt. His gaze moved slowly upward, stopping where her blouse was torn, partially exposing her breasts. He sucked in a wild gulp of air when he discovered blood oozing from a would on one of her breasts, the blood spreading along the white fabric of her blouse.
Without further thought, and ignoring Kirk's angry stare, Spotted Eagle whisked Jolena quickly up into his arms and began carrying her down the side of the hill. He held her near, his fingers gripping her as gently as possible as she leaned against him, her cheek pressed against his chest.
''I love you," Jolena said, twining her arm around his neck, pulling herself up so that she could brush a soft kiss across his lips. "I shall always cherish you."
"No more than I, you," Spotted Eagle said, gazing down at her with heavy eyelids. "Should you have died…"
Jolena placed a finger softly to his lips, silencing his further words. "Darling, I didn't," she murmured. "But only because of you. I don't understand why Kirk and Two Ridges…"
Spotted Eagle was the one this time to place finger to lips. He sealed hers with his finger, not wanting her to waste her breath worrying about things that should have been.
This was now. She was alive. She was safely with him. They were in love.
He did not want to take the time and effort to cast blame.
He would now be there, always, for her. If ever he were called to his village for true reasons, he would take her with him!
No one would get the chance to trick him again!
This time such foolishness had almost cost his woman her life. If he had ventured on to his village, Jolena would most certainly have died!
The thought made an ache circle his heart, so he cast the thought aside and centered all of his attention on making Jolena comfortable after her terrifying experience of only moments ago.
When they arrived at the camp and everyone circled around Jolena and Spotted Eagle with frenzied questions after seeing Jolena's condition, Spotted Eagle answered their questions quickly, then pitched Jolena's tent and they sought refuge within, alone, away from everyone and everything but themselves as night fell in its purple and black shadows over the land.
"Remove your blouse and skirt," Spotted Eagle said as he wrung out a cloth in a basin of water that sat on the floor of the tent. "Let me bathe your wounds while you tell me how you happened to fall over the cliff."