Brave Heart

Wolf wrapped his other arm around his sister. “Do you feel fear now?“ he asked, his voice laden with emotion over her suffering.

Sighing, Little Swallow shook her head. “With you, I only feel peace and protection, tiblo.” And then she laughed. “But I have always felt that with you. Cante Tinza is fortunate.”

Snorting, Wolf muttered, “Why?”

“Because she has you. When she realizes that you are as gentle as a mother with her newborn foal, she will no longer fight you. She will cease to see that you are a man who might hurt her once again and begin to respond to you on a deeper, more important level—from her heart. I know you are a brave warrior who has counted coup many times, but in your heart you are a gentle man. Cante Tinza will sense that. She is a woman, and her heart will eventually outweigh her fear.”

Wolf wasn’t so sure, but his worry right now was Little Swallow. In the dim firelight he could see how washed out her skin had become. He loved his sister fiercely because she embodied all that was good in a woman. Little Swallow was unselfish and generous with others. Sometimes to her own detriment, he thought. Giving her another affectionate hug, he helped her to her feet.

“Come, I will walk you back to your lodge. Is there anything I can do for you?”

Reaching up, Little Swallow pressed a chaste kiss on his uninjured cheek. “You are a healer by simply holding me, tiblo. I feel better already. And no, do not walk with me. Stay with Cante Tinza. She needs you….”

“I must try and find a way to get her to trust me enough to help her.”

Little Swallow rolled her eyes. “Ho, tiblo, you are a great wapiya, but surely you realize your limitations. Give Deer Woman a chance to help Cante Tinza get used to us and our way of life. Deer Woman is a child not given to envy and jealousy.”

“No, just dreams that will never be,” Wolf muttered unhappily.

Patting his hand, Little Swallow moved toward the entrance. “I saw Deer Woman speaking with Swift Elk earlier. Perhaps he courts her more strongly than ever now that she lives with you. Call me if you need help with Cante Tinza.”

“I hope Deer Woman comes to her senses and marries the brave. If Cante Tinza refuses my help, I will call you,” he promised gloomily.

Little Swallow turned, a wistful expression on her face. “She is like a hurt child, Wolf, this red-haired one of yours. Your greatest gift as a wapiya is placing yourself within another person’s moccasins. Understand her fear and pain.“ Her eyes grew misty with love for him. “If anyone can earn her trust, it is you.”

Wolf wasn’t so sure of Little Swallow’s parting words. Getting up, he carried his parfleche across the tepee to where Serena now slept. Kneeling at her side, he carefully moved several strands of clean red hair away from her right temple. The injury was healing well. White Buffalo Calf Woman had answered his prayers.

But what had he prayed for? As he rested his hands on the hard surface of his thighs, he studied her face. The face of a proud woman. Just the angular shape of her features told him she was a spirited warrioress. Her cleft chin did nothing but confirm that even more. But it was the softness of her parted mouth that drew his attention. Wolf felt the heat within his loins stir as he stared in fascination at her lips. Despite the pallor of her flesh, they were the color of ripe red raspberries in season. The brown spots that dotted her skin across her cheeks and nose made her look childlike.

Pulling the robe down to her waist, Wolf took the risk of waking her. The dressings on the burns that scarred her lovely breasts had to be changed three times daily. Thanks to the comfrey root powder the injuries were making miraculous progress, but they needed constant attention.

Serena lay in a cotton gown that Wolf had traded for years before. His gut tightened as he carefully lifted away the dressings. Wolf laughed at himself. A part of him expected her to draw from sleep and explode into the fury of a cornered cougar again. But she slept deeply, unaware of his cautious ministrations.

Halfway through the changing of dressings, Deer Woman slipped into the tepee.

“Where have you been?“ he demanded in a low voice, not wanting to awaken Cante Tinza.

Deer Woman moved to her pallet, taking Dawn Sky from the cradleboard to check the wetness of the dried moss that was used to soak up the baby’s urine.

“I was out for a walk.”

“Little Swallow says that Swift Elk was with you.”

Shaken by Wolf’s growling demeanor, she reached for the soft, dry cattail mixture and placed it within Dawn Sky’s fawnskin diaper. “I—yes, he wanted to see me. I came back when I heard screams.”

Wolf kept his attention on Serena. He didn’t speak again until he’d completed the dressings and moved back to his pallet. Sitting cross-legged, he watched Deer Woman gently care for his niece.

“The screams came from the one called Cante Tinza. Little Swallow came to help me with her because you weren’t here.”

Deer Woman heard the censure in his voice and chose to ignore it. “She screamed because she is with us?”

Wolf stared down at the altar, which contained a golden eagle feather and a bear fetish carved out of red pipestone. “No,” he muttered, “she is afraid of men. All men.”

Giggling, Deer Woman replaced the coverlet over the baby and began unbraiding her hair. “That is silly.”

Snapping his head in her direction, Wolf nailed her with a blazing look. “Foolish child! How can I count on you to help her if you laugh at her fears?”

Hands frozen on her braid, Deer Woman stared hurtfully across the way at him. “Why do you chide me, Black Wolf? Are you angry that I left the tepee for a while? I have been stuck in here all day without rest. I have cooked and sewn. And then I picked up and folded the robes and cleaned the tepee. After all that, I went down to the bank to gather willows for new baskets that you need. Am I not allowed a few moments of rest?”

Grimly, Wolf shook his head. His gut instinct had been correct: Deer Woman could not deal with Cante Tinza. She wasn’t envious or jealous of the wasicun, but simply lacked the experience or skills necessary to deal with her wild, fluctuating emotions. Further, a woman took pride in the work she had to do around a tepee and for others. Little Swallow or Evening Star would never complain over such tasks. Deer Woman was a spoiled and lazy girl, little more. Exhaling forcefully, Wolf lay down and jerked the buffalo robe across him.

“From now on,” he muttered, “you are to care for Dawn Sky only. I will tend to Cante Tinza.”

Blinking, Deer Woman began once again to unbraid her hair. “Well, of course, if that’s what you want, Black Wolf.”

She knew he was angry at her. Why? Was he jealous now that she had told him that Swift Elk had met with her? Hope mushroomed within her heart once again. Spirits lifting, Deer Woman began to hum a lullaby. This was the first inkling she had had that Wolf really cared for her. And what of Serena? Well, he was the wapiya, so naturally, he would want to care for her himself.

* * *

The next time Serena awoke, her vision cleared immediately. She saw sunlight lancing through the opening in the hides of the lodge where she lay. Hearing the gurgle and laughter of a baby, she moved her aching head to the left. Her eyes widened immediately. There he was, the same Indian man. This time, he was dressed in buckskin leggings; his powerful chest was bare except for a claw necklace that hung from his thickly corded neck.

It hurt to breathe as Serena forced herself to watch him. He was playing with the baby once again, his face not harsh but gentle this time. She recalled the anger and hardness in his features after she’d slashed at him. As he turned his face, she saw four deep scratches on his cheek. They were welted, and the side of his face was swollen. And yet he hadn’t beat her as Blackjack had done for the same thing. Why?

How could a man who played so lovingly with a baby hurt her? Serena’s heart asked. But her head was screaming another message. She lay very still, barely breathing because she didn’t want to be discovered awake by him. What of the woman she had seen? Little Swallow? Was that her name? Or was it all a dream fabricated by her fear of him?

Wolf sensed Cante Tinza was awake. He was careful not to let her know that. Instead, he played with Dawn Sky, nuzzling the baby affectionately, listening to her delighted laughter. Taking one of the baby’s tiny hands, he marveled at the beauty of how a woman could create such perfect life within her body. Surely, there was nothing more sacred than a woman.

Wolf feared Cante Tinza’s revulsion from him once again, which caused his heart to beat harder inside his chest. Trying to remember Little Swallow’s observations, he searched for ways to get her to relax with him present in the tepee. He gathered up Dawn Sky, who fit easily within his large hands. Softly, he began to sing her a lullaby. Perhaps his singing, which all in the tribe had said was wonderful to hear, would help Cante Tinza relax.

The deep, slow chant moved through Serena. She closed her eyes, remembering that voice from some lost part of her memory. It was his voice that had given her refuge in the turbulent state of her violent emotions. But he was a man. And capable of hurting her any time he chose. She was now a prisoner of the Sioux. Yet each time a new fear arose, it was neutralized by his chanting.

Unable to fight all her fears, Serena succumbed to the tone of his voice, allowing it to wash across her and cleanse away the tension making her rigid.

Wolf finished the chant, smiling down into the baby’s round features. Dawn Sky broke into a delightful laugh and he chuckled.

The rumbling laughter that filled the tepee made Serena tense. Her eyes flew open and her gaze locked on his.

Wolf was wildly aware that Cante Tinza’s green eyes were upon him. It was one of the few times in his life that he didn’t know what to do, so he followed his heart, his unerring guide. Tucking Dawn Sky in the crook of his right arm, he carefully broke contact with the wasicun’s frightened gaze and returned to caring for his niece.

Throat constricted, Serena gulped. The man was aware of her, but he made no move to attack her or even approach her. Sweat bathed her and she lay there, soaking in her own fear. Taking several gulps of air, Serena lay tensely, waiting. When nothing happened for several minutes, she pried open her eyes, forcing herself to look at him.

“Now, little one,” he told Dawn Sky, drawing the cradleboard to him and placing her into it. “If we can find Deer Woman, perhaps she will take you to the river with her to gather willow for the basket she plans to weave.”

Wolf avoided looking at Cante Tinza as he rose slowly, not wanting to alarm her. One did not move quickly around a wild horse, and that was how he was going to treat her. Slipping out of the tepee, he carried his niece toward the central fires where the cooking for the village was undertaken. The morning was warm, and the sky was a blinding blue color. Birds were singing melodically, telling Wolf that no enemy stalked their camp.

Little Swallow was skinning a rabbit caught by her husband earlier when she saw Wolf approach her tepee.

“Tiblo?”