Savage Abandon

by Cassie Edwards

  “Let us go,” Jeb cried, tears filling his eyes. “We promise never to come back. We just want to go away from this place and forget we were ever here. It’s a…crazy…place, filled with mystery and things I don’t want even to believe I saw.”

  Wolf Hawk did not respond verbally to what either of them said. Instead he took one rifle at a time and removed the ammunition, tossing the firearms over his shoulder.

  “You must come with me now,” Wolf Hawk then said, beckoning to them with an outstretched hand.

  “Why?” Jeb gasped, unable to control the trembling of his entire body. “What do you want with us?”

  “Do you truly need to ask?” Wolf Hawk said bitterly. “You must know what you are guilty of, or else why did you flee? You should never have returned, yet it was willed by my grandfather that you would.”

  “Your…grandfather…?” Clint asked, his eyes widening.

  “My Shaman grandfather knows all things,” Wolf Hawk said, slowly smiling. “He willed you to return to Winnebago land. When he knew you had arrived, he spoke and the river was filled with rage, the same rage I felt that day when I found my people’s two young braves dead in your claws of death.”

  Wolf Hawk paused, looked slowly from one to the other, then said, “He commanded, too, that the land on each side of the river would break away. How did you ever think that you could come again as though nothing had happened and claim the pelts and take them away?”

  “We meant no one harm; we did not mean to kill those two young braves,” Jeb whined. “It…just…happened.”

  “As it just happened that one of you took the hunting amulet from Little Bull as he lay dead in a pool of his own life’s blood?” Wolf Hawk demanded, gazing intently at the amulet that now hung around Jeb’s neck.

  Wolf Hawk left it there for now, but soon it would be taken back to the mother of its rightful owner.

  First he wanted everyone to see the proof of who these men were. The amulet conclusively proved that these trappers were responsible for the boys’ deaths.

  Clint glared at Jeb. “I told you that you shouldn’t take that amulet,” he growled out.

  Jeb lowered his eyes and swallowed hard, then winced when Wolf Hawk grabbed him by the arm and yanked him from the cabin. Clint walked shakily beside him.

  “Please, oh, please let us go,” Jeb cried. “We truly meant those young men no harm.”

  Wolf Hawk stopped and glared at him. “I am taking you to the mother of the two braves who died in your deadly traps, so that she will see who took her sons’ lives,” he said coldly.

  “Please, no,” Clint cried. “Why cain’t you listen to reason? We didn’t mean for any of that to happen. Please let us go. We promise, oh, Lord, we promise never to come to Winnebago land again. And we won’t tell anyone about you and how you treated us. We promise.”

  Those words only antagonized Wolf Hawk even more. So far, he had not treated the men badly at all.

  “Come,” Wolf Hawk said, shoving first one man, and then the other, out of the cabin. “Your words are wasted on me.”

  He kept shoving them until they finally reached the beached boat.

  “Get in,” Wolf Hawk commanded. “Now!”

  Clint and Jeb fell all over each other as they scrambled to get in the boat. Wolf Hawk made them sit facing the seat he would take.

  After Wolf Hawk got the boat in deeper water, he boarded it, himself. For a moment he just sat there, glaring at the men, wanting them to become as uncomfortable as possible. Then he lifted the paddle and started back in the direction of his village.

  Jeb and Clint sat there, trembling, their eyes transfixed on Wolf Hawk. Both were afraid that he might turn suddenly into a bird or a wolf.

  They had enough common sense left to realize that Wolf Hawk surely wouldn’t allow them to live to tell others of the mystical happenings they had witnessed. They also knew that he was going to make them both pay for the deaths of those two young braves.

  They just wondered how he would choose to take revenge. Would their deaths be slow, or mercifully fast? Either way, they were absolutely terrified.

  Then it came to Jeb just how slowly the two young braves must have died. He was certain now that he and Clint would be made to die just as slowly and painfully.

  “Please, oh, please reconsider,” Jeb cried out. “Let us go!”

  As before, Wolf Hawk ignored his pleadings.

  He just continued paddling onward, his heart set on finally achieving the vengeance demanded by the mother of the two young braves. He was more than happy to do this for Dancing Fire.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Some fears, a soft regret,

  For joys scarce known.

  —Barry Cornwall

  Mia heard a commotion outside of Wolf Hawk’s tepee and then a strange sort of silence.

  She had waited with an anxious heart for what seemed an eternity for Wolf Hawk’s return. Now she wondered if what was happening in the village could be a sign that he had finally arrived.

  Her pulse racing, she rose from where she had sat waiting for the man she loved, on thick pelts before the slow burning embers of the fire. Excitedly she hurried outside.

  She stopped and gasped as she caught sight of Wolf Hawk beaching a boat with two men in it. Their faces were lined with fear as they gaped back at the staring Winnebago people who were gathering together now on the riverbank.

  Mia was startled not only because Wolf Hawk was bringing two white men to the village, but also because he was paddling her family’s longboat, with her very own name painted on both sides.

  A sob lodged in her throat and she placed a hand over her mouth to stifle it when she recalled watching her father painting her name in bold white letters on the side of the boat. It had been a happy day in early spring. The sky had been filled with lovely white, fluffy clouds.

  She had known that her father had already named the longboat after her, but he had taken forever to finally paint it on the boat. That was the way of her father. He had never done anything promptly, just took his time dawdling about his life, the pipe he loved so much usually clamped between his straight, white teeth.

  That was why he had chosen to travel most summers on the river after having worked all winter making boats for other people. While floating idly from place to place on the scow he had no true responsibilities except to keep his family safe, happy, healthy and fed.

  Yes, her father had done all of those things for his family, but Mia had lost her desire to travel on the water long before her father had decided to end their journey because of his health.

  A thought came to her as she watched Wolf Hawk order the two men from the boat. Could these men be the trappers who had gotten away?

  Had he somehow found them? Had they truly been foolish enough to return to the scene of the crime, thinking they could leave unmolested again with the pelts?

  It surely was those two men. After all, they were aboard the longboat that had been stolen along with the scow.

  They had to be the trappers who had brought heartache into the lives of these Winnebago people and then fled on her family’s scow.

  Her jaw tight, her heart pounding, anger flaring in her eyes, she stepped farther from Wolf Hawk’s tepee but did not approach the river. She didn’t want to interfere in what must be done.

  If these were truly the two men who were responsible for Little Bull’s and Eagle Bear’s deaths, surely Wolf Hawk would take the trappers to the braves’ mother, so that she would see they had been captured and would be dealt with.

  Mia stiffened when Wolf Hawk grabbed each of the men by an arm and walked them toward Mia. Why was he bringing them this way, she wondered.

  She hoped the reason she was thinking was not true. Although he had said that he believed her story about the scow having been stolen, and that neither she nor her father had had anything to do with the trappers, it seemed he wanted to confirm her words.

  Wolf Hawk stopped a few feet from her, shoving
the trappers even closer. Was he going to ask them if they knew her?

  A keen disappointment rushed through her to think that might be true. She had thought that she and Wolf Hawk trusted and loved each other.

  But now? She was not all that certain.

  Wolf Hawk turned to the two men. He looked from one to the other. “Do you see this young woman?” he demanded. “Ask her her name.”

  Mia’s eyebrows rose at that question.

  When neither man did as he was told, Wolf Hawk grabbed Clint by the throat. “Ask her,” he said between clenched teeth.

  “Ma’am, what…is…your name?” Clint stammered, trying to swallow as Wolf Hawk’s fingers squeezed into his flesh.

  “My name is Mia,” she said softly.

  “Mia?” Jeb gasped, recalling the name on both sides of the longboat. “The longboat we stole with the scow has the name Mia painted on it. Is that you?”

  “The one and only,” Mia said, her eyes flashing angrily into his. “You…men…are truly the cause of my father’s death. You began it all by stealing the scow that he loved.”

  “How could that…” Clint began, but Wolf Hawk yanked him around and now walked him and Clint away from Mia.

  Mia watched his people separate and make space for him to walk toward Dancing Fire, who stood stiffly just outside her lodge, listening and watching.

  When Wolf Hawk finally got there, he gave both men a shove toward her. “This is the mother of the two braves your traps killed,” he said.

  The men tried to back away from Dancing Fire, whose accusing eyes were filled with angry tears. Her gaze immediately fixed on the hunting amulet that still hung around Jeb’s neck. She gasped at the horror of seeing a white man, a murderer, wearing what had been so dear to her son Little Bull.

  Wolf Hawk yanked it from Jeb’s neck and handed it to Dancing Fire. He watched her fingers close around it. Then he stepped closer to her. “Dancing Fire, these are the two men who set the deadly traps,” he said thickly. “They have today fallen into a trap of their own. They returned for the pelts that were no longer at the old fort. They are the guilty ones. They will now be made to pay for their crimes.”

  Wolf Hawk reached out and gently took one of Dancing Fire’s hands in his. “Dancing Fire, how would you like to see justice served on these two men?” he asked softly. “What should be done to them?”

  Dancing Fire said nothing, only sobbed.

  He understood why she would not commit to saying how the men should pay for their crimes. Nothing could compensate her for the loss of her sons.

  Wolf Hawk grabbed each man by an arm and again walked them toward Mia.

  “Mia, how would you like to see these men pay for their crimes?” he asked thickly.

  Mia’s eyes wavered. She swallowed hard, then looked into Wolf Hawk’s eyes. “It is not for me to say,” she murmured. “Please do not leave it up to me. I’m just so glad that you found them. It ate away at my heart to know that those men who stole so much from me and your people were still out there, perhaps bringing more grief to someone else.”

  “I did not believe you would name a punishment, but I wanted to give you a chance,” Wolf Hawk said quietly.

  He turned to the men and looked from one to the other as they cowered beneath his angry stare.

  “You came to this land to steal pelts?” he said. “You want pelts? I will take you now to where there will be many, but only from one type of animal. Wolves. You hid the pelts you claimed were yours at the old fort. We will go there again.”

  “Why…?” Jeb managed to say, his voice thick with fear.

  “You will soon see,” Wolf Hawk said tightly. “As you will soon know your final fate.”

  Wolf Hawk turned to Mia and embraced her. “I will not be long,” he said.

  Mia nodded, then trembled as she watched Wolf Hawk shove both men in the direction of the river. She continued watching as he forced them into the longboat, then boarded it himself. Soon they were headed again toward the fort.

  A chill rode her spine as she wondered what truly lay ahead for those two men.

  Surely whatever Wolf Hawk had in mind would be merciful, for he was a man of peace, of love. Yet these men had wronged him and his people, as they had wronged Mia and her father.

  Swallowing hard, Mia returned to Wolf Hawk’s tepee. The people of the village resumed their daily activities, as though nothing had happened. Even Dancing Fire had returned to her own lodge, the amulet still clutched in one hand.

  “Wolf Hawk, please, oh, please hurry back,” Mia whispered as she settled again on the pelts beside the fire. She sighed and drew a blanket around her shoulders.

  She looked occasionally toward the entrance flap as the wind rustled it. Then she turned her eyes again toward the fire, and watched the dancing flames, seeing in them all sorts of ghostly images.

  Even Georgina sat quietly on her perch, her eyes watching Mia.

  Chapter Thirty

  Under the arch of life…I saw

  Beauty enthroned; and though her gaze struck

  awe,

  I drew it in as simply as my breath…

  —Rossetti

  Mia looked toward the entrance flap, her heart skipping a beat when Wolf Hawk stepped inside. She got quickly to her feet and met him as he walked to her.

  “You could not have gotten to the fort and still had time enough to come back to the village,” Mia said, searching his eyes. “Why…have…you returned?”

  Wolf Hawk took her hands in his. “Because of you,” he said thickly. “I realized that you should go to the fort with me and the two trappers. I want you to witness what will happen.”

  “Truly?” Mia said, her eyes widening uncertainly. She looked past him, then into his eyes again. “Where are the trappers?”

  “They are in the boat being guarded by one of my trusted warriors,” Wolf Hawk said, now reaching a gentle hand out and taking one of hers. “Come with me now.” He stopped and turned toward her. “But you must know that you will witness things that might frighten you. I ask that you do not let the things you see change your feelings toward me. Always remember that I am who I am, no matter what you might see.”

  “I…can’t help being confused…and a little afraid,” Mia murmured.

  He drew her into his embrace. “Just know this, my woman,” Wolf Hawk said softly. “I will always protect you and love you. Just remember my promises to you about how things are between us and always will be.”

  Now recalling the time when she had seen him materializing from that strange mist, Mia wondered if she would be seeing something similar again.

  She squared her shoulders and tightened her jaw, for she would have to be strong. Was she going to discover that this man she loved with all of her heart was even more mystical than his Shaman grandfather?

  No matter what happened, she could never love him less.

  “I shall remember,” Mia murmured, smiling at him, then hurrying outside the tepee.

  They were soon at the longboat where the two trappers were sat, their eyes filled with terror.

  Wolf Hawk helped Mia into the boat, to sit beside him. The trappers stayed where they were, facing her and Wolf Hawk.

  Mia could see how shaken the men were as Wolf Hawk shoved the boat out into deeper water, then boarded it and grabbed up the paddle. Again he headed the boat toward the fort.

  As they rounded a bend in the river, Mia gasped at what she saw. The earthquake had loosened the land all around the fort, and that whole section of shoreline was close to breaking away, which would take the fort with it.

  She looked quickly to where she had buried her father. She sighed with relief to see that the grave lay untouched beneath the shade of the trees.

  “Lord, oh, Lord, don’t take us back to the fort,” Jeb suddenly cried out, causing Wolf Hawk to glare at him. “The land is just barely clinging to the shore, and the fort is on that piece of ground that has loosened. Please don’t take us there. Have mercy. Oh, please
have mercy on our souls.”

  Wolf Hawk looked away from him and continued paddling toward the fort. When he reached that stretch of land that led to the gates of the fort, he beached the boat. He stepped from it and helped Mia to the ground.

  Then he nodded at the trappers. “Come with me,” he said hoarsely. “Now.”

  The men reluctantly walked toward the open gate of the fort.

  Mia stepped aside when they reached the gate, and Wolf Hawk shoved them both inside.

  Mia sheepishly followed. She grew pale when she saw where Wolf Hawk was taking the men. It was to a dark, dank cabin, where chains hung from the walls.

  She knew this must have been where prisoners were once kept.

  She saw how the two trappers cowered, then cried out in pain, as Wolf Hawk fastened them to the wall with the chains.

  Suddenly a lone wolf entered the tiny space. The men cowered and grew even paler at the sight of the wolf pacing back and forth in front of them, its eyes never leaving them.

  Even Mia was afraid, for she knew that the wolf could kill them in an instant. She tried to tell herself she was safe because she was with Wolf Hawk.

  A moment later he stepped outside and let out a strange sort of howl, to call more wolves there. Goose bumps sprang up on Mia’s flesh. She was stunned, yet she fought off her fear, for she knew that Wolf Hawk would never do anything to harm her.

  Yet she trembled and stepped as far away from the men as possible when several more wolves appeared and entered the dungeonlike room. The beautiful animals ignored Mia, pacing back and forth in front of the two trembling trappers.

  Another wolf came into the room and stopped at Mia’s side. She swallowed hard and forced herself not to be afraid when that wolf suddenly transformed itself back into Wolf Hawk.

  He turned to her. He saw the look of wonder in her eyes and was so glad there was no longer any fear there. She now knew his secret, and had found a way to accept it.