Her eyes widened when she saw the effect her hands were having. His manhood was actually growing right before her eyes and she could hear him breathing heavily.
His plea sure was evident as she gazed into his eyes. She saw there a sort of haziness that seemed to come with sexual excitement.
Unable to take much more without spilling his seed right into her palm, Wolf Hawk took her hand away from him.
He rolled her beneath him, wrapped her within his muscled arms and again pushed himself into her waiting folds. He lifted her legs up around him so that he could fill her more deeply, and they came together in a passionately hot kiss.
Mia was surprised that it was possible to make love a second time so soon. But already ecstasy was building in her again with bone-weakening intensity.
With a moan of ecstasy she clung to him as he kissed her and thrust eagerly inside her over and over again. This time it did not take as long for them to reach the peak of plea sure.
Paradise reached, their bodies became still, and suddenly again, as earlier, the earth seemed to move and rock beneath them. Mia knew it had nothing to do with what they had just shared a second time this morning.
Wolf Hawk eased away from her.
He reached for her.
They both quickly dressed themselves, yet the ground beneath the floor mats was quiet and calm again.
“What does it mean?” Mia asked, searching his eyes as she combed her fingers through her hair.
“It seems that Earthmaker is angry at someone,” Wolf Hawk said.
He reached a hand out for Mia, taking it and walking with her to the closed entrance flap.
He untied the thongs that had held the flap shut so that they had privacy, then grabbed Mia when the earth shook again, this time, more fiercely.
“I’m afraid,” Mia said, clutching him.
“When you are with me, you never need to be afraid. I will protect you, always, from harm,” Wolf Hawk said in his deep voice, but he knew that something was truly awry.
He wondered if his grandfather had anything to do with it? He knew that Talking Bird could cause many things to happen if he were angry about something.
But if it was his grandfather who was willing this to happen, he knew that all would be well for his people. Talking Bird would never do anything that could bring harm to their Bird Clan.
Wolf Hawk and Mia walked outside together. They looked all around them.
Several women had come from their lodges, clutching their children’s hands. But there was no obvious wreckage among the lodges of the village.
Several people came to Wolf Hawk, their eyes wide with wonder.
“All is well,” he said, gently placing a hand on a small girl’s head. “You women may resume your daily chores. The children may go back to their play.”
He looked over at several of his elders who were sitting beside a large outdoor fire. They did not seem perturbed by nature’s teasing.
These elders were the wisest of all of his Bird Clan except for his Shaman grandfather. Wolf Hawk noticed that several of them seemed to be watching the river.
Mia’s eyes followed Wolf Hawk’s. He was looking with concern toward Shadow Island, which was hidden from sight by the same low-hanging fog that Mia saw there so often.
She gazed up at Wolf Hawk, but said nothing, only waited…
Chapter Twenty-five
I will have my revenge,
I will have it if I die
The moment after.
—Spanish Curate
A small longboat was making its way down the Rush River. The name MIA painted on both sides of the boat revealed who the true owner was, yet it was two men who eagerly drew their paddles through the water.
“We cain’t be all that far away now, Jeb,” Clint said as he squinted against the sun and looked along the shore for the first signs of the rocky beach that fronted the dilapidated fort.
“I think it was asinine coming back here so soon,” Jeb growled out. “And what the hell is going on? Did you see those waves that came out of nowhere a short while ago? Did you see some of the trees swaying on shore? If I didn’t know better, I’d think we just experienced an earthquake. If so, we’re damn lucky.”
“Yeah, it’s kinda spooky, if you ask me,” Clint said. He looked over his shoulder and then straight ahead.
“I think we should turn around and go back to St. Louis,” Jeb said nervously. “We were almost there and then you get the stupid idea of comin’ back for the pelts before I know we should. I’m afraid what we just experienced, the water shaking and all, is a warning of some sort from those two young braves’ spirits.”
He visibly shuddered. “I can feel ’em even now, all around me,” he said. “I’ll never forget the look on their faces and their death stares as we came upon them in the traps.
“We should’ve took ’em outta those traps and carried them far away and hid ’em, or just dropped their bodies in the river where no one’d ever find them,” Jeb grumbled. “But no. We left ’em there for their people to find. Surely even now revenge lies heavy on those people’s hearts. If they catch us comin’ back here to get those pelts, it’ll be our scalps that’ll be hangin’ on scalp poles.”
“Oh, shut up,” Clint snapped, his eyes narrowing with anger. “Just keep that paddle goin’. We’ll get those pelts and head back to St. Louis. No one’ll ever be the wiser that we came here again. Those Injuns don’t have eyes in the backs of their heads and they sure enough had no idea the pelts were hidden at the fort.”
“I’d just feel better if we’d stayed headed for St. Louis, not here,” Jeb said. “But now that we are almost at the fort, let’s get it done and over with. Work harder with that paddle, Clint.”
“The dumb savages,” Clint said, laughing throatily. “They had a treasure so close at hand and never knew it.”
“My one regret is abandoning that scow,” Jeb mumbled. “Once we reached St. Louis we could’ve got a pretty penny for that thing. Now? It’s just sitting there where we left it onshore for anyone to come and take, free and clear of any cost.”
“Just stop your bitchin’,” Clint said. “Sometimes I think I’ve got a woman as my companion, not a man. Bitch, bitch, bitch. That’s all you do anymore.”
“Look!” Jeb said, stopping and using his paddle to point out a part of the land that he recognized. “See that? Don’t you recognize that huge pile of rock? I remember it sits close to the fort. I figure some Englishman and Frenchman built that as a marker to those who might be trying to find the fort.”
“Yep, I see it, we’re almost there,” Clint said. “I’m just about droolin’ when I think on all of those pelts we’re gonna rescue and take to St. Louie. Think of the money, Jeb. Jist think of the money we’re gonna get from those pelts.”
Suddenly Jeb cried out with fear, his eyes widened when the water began to thrash, tossing the boat from side to side.
“Lord, Jeb, what’s happening?” Clint cried as he dropped the paddle to the bottom of the boat so that he could cling to the sides with all his might.
He gazed heavenward and gasped when he saw geese screeching overhead and scattering in all directions. Then he cried out in fear as he watched the riverbanks quiver and shake. Fish leapt from the heaving water.
“We’re gonna die!” Jeb screamed as the riverbanks began to crumble and cave in, tumbling into the water.
Then suddenly everything became strangely still.
All of the crazed movements ceased.
Clint and Jeb, whose hearts were pounding wildly in their chests, watched as whole chunks of the banks along the river now tumbled into the water. The splash was so fierce on both sides of the river, both Clint and Jeb became afraid that the boat might capsize.
“Look yonder, Jeb,” Clint cried as a slow mist rose heavenward, revealing an island not far away from where they sat totally terrified. “It’s like the good Lord above placed it there for us to find safety from what might happen next. It seems unto
uched by the earthquake.”
“Let’s go,” Jeb said, already paddling toward it. Reluctantly, Clint began helping him. He recalled having seen this strange mist before and wondering what might be hiding beneath it.
Now that he saw the island, a chill rode his spine. He had the strangest feeling that there was something mystical about how the mist had just suddenly opened up to him and Jeb, revealing an island that they’d had no idea was there.
“Why now?” he whispered to himself.
Then he shrugged.
Surely the earthquake had caused the mist to lift away from the ground. What else could it truly be?
But there was one thing that still troubled him.
He knew that this mist he had seen before was not far from the Winnebago village.
“I don’t think we should go there,” Clint suddenly said, lifting his paddle from the water. “Come on, Jeb. Let’s get the boat turned around and hightail it outta here while we have the chance. I don’t trust what’s happened here today. None of it. Maybe those Winnebago Injuns have strange mystical powers white people don’t.”
“Clint, stop your whinin’ and remember what we just went through,” Jeb grumbled. “If the earthquake happens again and we’re still in the river, we’re doomed. Do you hear? Doomed.”
“I just don’t know,” Clint said.
“Put that damn paddle back in the water and row, damn it,” Jeb snarled. He gave Clint a look that went right through him. “Let’s get on dry land. I’ll feel way safer there than on the water. Another earthquake could capsize our boat quicker than you can blink your eyes.”
“Oh, alright,” Clint said, sliding his paddle back into the water and taking up the same rhythm as Jeb.
“Everything is too quiet,” Jeb said, looking cautiously at the island as they got closer to it. “I hear no birds singing. Nothin’. It’s like everything is dead.”
“Just like we’ll be if we stay in this water for much longer,” Jeb said.
He leapt from the boat when he realized that he could stand on the bottom of the river, and grunted as he began dragging the boat closer to shore.
“Get outta there and lend me a hand, Clint,” Jeb snapped. “Now. Do you hear? Now!”
Clint looked guardedly past Jeb, at the thick vegetation of the island. He recognized a clump of wolf willows, which he had never known existed until they had come to this part of Minnesota.
Yep, he knew for certain that he and Jeb were much too close to Injun territory, for he had seen wolf willows before when they were trying to escape through the forest. He now associated those trees with the Winnebago, and…trouble!
Finally onshore, both Jeb and Clint hauled the boat up on a rock that would keep it from floating away.
“This certainly ain’t what I figured we’d be doin’ about now,” Clint growled out as he stood with Jeb, gazing with troubled eyes toward the thickness of the trees that lay before them.
“Bein’ here is askin’ for trouble.” Clint grumbled. “ We’re the same as givin’ the Injuns an invite to come and take us back to their village. I’ve heard it said that they tie their prisoners to stakes, even light fires and let their captives die slowly in the flames.”
“Just shut up, Clint,” Jeb said. “We have no choice but to seek shelter here for a while. Once we know the river is safe to travel on, we’ll leave. Then we’ll find a good place to hide. The Injuns won’t know the difference.”
“We should’ve hid the boat,” Clint said, looking over his shoulder toward where they had left the boat beached. “That’s all we need…Injuns seein’ the boat. They’ll find us. For sure they’ll find us.”
Jeb stopped dead in his tracks. “You’re right,” he suddenly said. “It seems there is no more threat of an earthquake.” He looked slowly around him. “See how things seem to have calmed? Even the birds are singing again.”
“Then let’s get the hell outta here,” Clint said. “I don’t know what we were thinkin’. Even before we beached the canoe, the water had become calm. Hurry. Let’s get back to the boat, go to the fort, and get the hell away from this spooky place.”
They broke into a mad run and soon reached the boat. Panting hard, they shoved it back in the water.
They boarded it, grabbed up the paddles, and huffing and puffing hard, they rowed as quickly as possible toward the pile of rocks that marked the fort.
They could almost feel the plushness of the furs against their fingers.
“Oh, Lordie, no, not again!” Jeb cried, dropping the paddle to the bottom of the boat and clinging to the sides for dear life as sudden waves began thrashing the boat from side to side.
They again saw trees swaying on the shore, and sections of shoreline breaking away and settling in the water.
“The island!” Clint screamed as he rowed back in its direction. “Jeb, we’ve got to get back to the island or die in this damn river.”
They beached the boat again and this time didn’t hesitate to run straight into the wolf willows!
Chapter Twenty-six
No soul can ever clearly see
Another highest, noblest part,
Save through the sweet philosophy,
And loving wisdom of the heart.
—Phoebe Cary
Mia stood as though in shock as she looked past the village tepees and into the forest just beyond. She saw several fallen trees and even some cracks in the land.
This latest quake, which had occurred only moments ago, had frightened her so much she couldn’t move or even cry out.
Miracle of miracles, nothing in the village had been damaged. She saw some women clinging to their children’s hands while others ran to their warrior husbands. It was obvious that they were no less afraid than she.
She looked up at Wolf Hawk. “Wolf Hawk, I don’t understand,” Mia managed to say, her voice quavering. “There was an earthquake beyond the village, but not here. How can that happen?”
She looked toward the river. She had seen the water splashing violently. She had even seen chunks of earth breaking away from the shoreline and falling into it.
Now she looked into the middle of the river and saw Shadow Island clearly for the first time. The usual mist that hung over it had lifted.
She looked quickly up at Wolf Hawk again and saw that his own eyes were on the island.
“Do you think your grandfather was harmed?” Mia asked, remembering her time with Talking Bird.
Such a kind man.
Oh, but surely his Earthmaker wouldn’t have allowed anything to happen to him. He was on this earth for a purpose…a good one.
Wolf Hawk knew for certain that his elderly grandfather had not been harmed, for it surely had been Talking Bird who had willed the earthquake to happen.
But Wolf Hawk could not imagine why he had done so. His grandfather rarely used his magic in such a forceful way, unless…
He took Mia’s hands. “I must go and see how he is,” he said thickly.
“Can I go with you?” Mia asked, searching his eyes.
“No, you stay,” Wolf Hawk said. He reached a gentle hand to her cheek. “I shall not be long.”
She nodded, yet leaned into his hand the brief moment it was there.
“All is well, my people,” he said, looking from one to the other. “Again, as before when the earth has shaken and the river has foamed up from the turmoil of a quake, we have been spared. Go on about your work. I am going to check on my grandfather.” He nodded at one warrior and then another. “Go into the forest and gather wood from those trees that were felled by nature’s wrath,” he said. “Fill the gaps in the ground with some of the fallen debris. We do not want such things left unattended.” He looked from child to child. “You stay with your mothers,” he said lovingly. “Do not stray beyond our village, for danger lies there until your fathers correct it.”
The children seemed to nod in unison, their eyes wide as they gazed back at their chief, who was even more respected than even their fathers
or mothers. Chief Wolf Hawk was everything to this Winnebago clan.
“I will leave now,” Wolf Hawk said. “Go. You all have your own duties to tend to.”
At that, the people disbanded.
Wolf Hawk watched several warriors leave the village, then he turned to Mia again. “I will not be long,” he said. “Go inside my lodge. The fear you felt will soon dissipate, like the earthquake, itself.”
“I will,” Mia murmured. “I hope you find your grandfather well.”
“He is a strong man who has overcome many obstacles that stood in his way during his lifetime,” Wolf Hawk said. “So shall he survive this.”
He ached to draw Mia into his arms and hold her, but knew that until he announced their upcoming marriage, he must practice restraint in front of his people.
But soon?
Ho, soon they would be able to reveal their love for each other to all.
He knew that some would doubt his sanity for having chosen a white woman over one of his own skin color. But he believed that, in time, even those people would see the goodness in Mia, just as Wolf Hawk had seen it.
“I truly must go now,” he said, then turned and ran toward the river.
Mia watched him for a while longer, then went inside his tepee. She sat down beside the slow burning embers of the fire and became lost in thought.
She hoped that Wolf Hawk would return soon with good news about Talking Bird.
Because of the way he had helped her, she had developed a strange sort of attachment to the old shaman. She had told Wolf Hawk as much.
He had smiled and said that was the way of Talking Bird; everyone trusted and loved him.
Her eyebrows rose as her thoughts returned to Wolf Hawk. As she had watched him run toward the river, he had disappeared from view when he’d reached a small stand of trees.
From thereon she hadn’t seen him, not even when she would have thought that he would be in the river in a canoe, headed for the island. He just seemed suddenly gone!
She felt a slight shiver ride her spine at that thought.
Savage Abandon Page 17
