Maybe he hadn’t wanted to leave his village after all. Since Eagle Eye was no longer there for him to be jealous of when he was with her. Now that the situation had changed, there was no real reason for Plenty Proud to leave his village any longer. It had been her request to leave so her father couldn’t find her and force her to return. Once again she had found a way to come between Plenty Proud and someone he loved, only this time it was his parents, his friends, and the village he was leaving behind.
Mackenzie slowed her horse until it was merely standing there. Plenty Proud turned to see what the problem was.
“We can go back if you would rather not leave your parents and village,” she mumbled. “I know you promised Eagle Eye you would watch over me and Brave Eyes. Only I won’t force you to leave all you enjoy in order to protect me.”
“Why are you saying this?” Plenty Proud asked, looking puzzled.
“You don’t seem happy to be with me. You begged me to leave my husband and come with you, yet now, you seem to regret having to leave your village to save me from having to go back to my own people. I don’t have to stay if you have changed your mind about wanting to be with me. I will take Brave Eyes and go back to Missouri. The main reason I came back was I could not leave my child behind. Only, at the same time, I didn’t want to take Brave Eyes away from Eagle Eye. I thought you wanted me, so I was willing to leave my family to be with you again even if I had to give up Brave Eyes to do it. What kind of mother am I to be willing to leave my child for my own happiness?
“It was not fair to Eagle Eye because he loved me just as much as I thought you did. Only everything has changed. Eagle Eye is gone, and you seem distant and unhappy. I think we both realize how selfish we were being.”
“Yet you were thinking of Eagle Eye, allowing him to keep your son if you left with me.”
“While being cruel to my son by abandoning him. The problem is I couldn’t have you both, and you both couldn’t have me.”
Plenty Proud got down from his horse, and walked over to Mackenzie, pulling her down from her horse too. “You are right. After my wife died, nothing I could think of could resolve anything. I wanted you so badly I was willing to betray my friend to have you. When I rode out on the raid, I felt ashamed. I told Eagle Eye that when we returned from the raid I was going to leave the village. I knew it was better to leave A Little Hope with you because she needed a mother more than a father, and Eagle Eye would make her a good father.
“Eagle Eye knew that I was leaving because of my deep love for you, and that he had you and I didn’t. He apologized for betraying me when he took you while you were in the cave together, making it impossible to know if your son belonged to him or me. I believe Eagle Eye gave up his life on purpose to make my choice easier.
“Only, when I returned to the village, it seemed wasted because you were gone. It had been an empty sacrifice. I regretted telling Eagle Eye about my feelings, but then it was too late. Fate had played a bitter trick on all of us. When you came back, I did not feel worthy of you, only I had promised Eagle Eye I would protect you, so I have followed your wishes.”
“If we part, Eagle Eye would have died in vain,” Mackenzie choked.
“He should never have given his life for my happiness.”
“You would have done the same for him.”
“No, I was eager to take you from him,” Plenty Proud admitted. “His love was more pure than mine.”
“I should have waited for you to come back from your vision quest and let you take me down the river. We all made the wrong choices at the wrong time, only now we have a chance to change it all. We have two children who need us and our love. How can they learn to love if they do not see the example made by us to love each other? If you can’t love me now, I will understand. Only then I will leave and take my son with me.”
Plenty Proud stood looking down at Mackenzie, his eyes searched hers. She could see the tears starting to well up in his eyes, and was afraid he was going to tell her to leave him. He reached out his hand and cupped her cheek in his strong palm.
“If you leave, I shall have no purpose in life. My heart could never be filled by another. I would mourn the loss of you forevermore. You can’t leave me, Firelight. I need your love. I need to honor you and prove myself to you. Say you will become my wife.”
Mackenzie felt her heart burst with joy at his words. “Do you still love me?” she asked in a trembling voice.
“You know I do,” he murmured.
“Then my answer is yes,” she whispered.’
With that, Plenty Proud crushed her too him, and buried his face in her fire-hair. “I will love you forevermore,” he promised.
“Should we go back to your village? I think I would be willing to take my chances if my father returns. No one can force me to go back if I choose to stay. It is not against the law to marry an Indian.”
Plenty Proud picked her up in his arms and swung her in circles. The children giggled as they watched on.
“Then let’s return home to our village,” he suggested, “so we can be tied together and I can show you what a loving husband I can be.”
Plenty Proud, took the rein of her horse, and led it over to his own horse, tying the rein onto the side of the travois. “I wish you to ride with me, the way it was when I first found you,” he whispered in Mackenzie’s ear, and then he was lifting her up on his horse and swinging up behind her.
Plenty Proud wrapped his arms around her waist, and held her firmly against him as she leaned her head back against his strong shoulder. It was where she belonged, they both thought, as Plenty Proud turned Fly Away around and headed back in the other direction.
THE END
Plenty Proud Page 24
