Free Wolf’s Glory by Maddy Barone Page A

others" slow staggering, she walked with swinging hips and head held high. Their eyes met and Glory"s mouth fell open. She watched the redhead pass her and turned to Jill.
    “Did you see her?” she demanded. “Was that—?”
    Jill scratched her ear. “It"s been fifty years for me, Glory. Who do you think she is?”
    “Heather Mikkelson!”
    “The bitch who treated you like crap in junior high and high school? Hmm.” Jill nodded.
    “Let"s go join the ladies, and I"ll take a look at her.”
    When they got to the area where the stew pot was, the redhead was sitting in Jill"s chair while the other women were on the ground. Stands Tall and Tara were scooping the thinned-down stew into bowls and passing them around. Jill paused to stare at the redhead. She gripped Glory"s arm.
    “You"re right. That"s Heather Mikkelson, for sure. She didn"t used to be a redhead, but she still thinks she"s a princess, doesn"t she? Why don"t you go and help with the stew. I"ll have a few words with Ms. Mikkelson.”
    Glory didn"t want to miss it, so she hurried to take a bowl of stew from Tara and bring it towards Heather. She was in time to hear Jill tell the woman to please vacate her chair.
    Heather did, apologizing in a sulky voice that turned quickly sweet when one of the handsome young Clan men walked up.
    “Grandmother, there are four lodges empty for the plane women,” he said. “We might need more, though. There are still another twelve or fifteen to come when their wounds allow it.”
    Heather spoke up in a husky purr. “Thank you so much for doing this for us.” She turned from Jill to lay her hand on the bulging bicep of the handsome man. “You"ve saved our lives.”
    The Lakota man"s black eyes fell on her cleavage, revealed by the low neck of her tight sweater. He flushed and backed hurriedly away. Heather"s smile curved her plump lips as she watched him go.
    Jill observed tartly, “Our young men aren"t accustomed to women who dress like you do.” She ran a critical eye over Heather"s tight jeans and sweater, and then her heavily made-up face. “Or act like you do. Heather, isn"t it?”
    The redhead stiffened. Her eyes fell on Glory and narrowed. “Well, Glori- an a, you recognized me? I"m not Heather anymore. I"m Desiree Diamond now.”
    Glory shoved the stew at her. She hated the way Heather pronounced her name in a
    mocking sneer. “Sounds like a porn star. Here. Have something to eat.”
    “It"s good money, sweetie.” Heather smirked. “More money than a blimp like you would ever make. Even if you ever bothered to comb your hair.”
    Glory considered throwing the stew in her face. “Doesn"t matter here. They don"t have movies anymore. I guess you"ll have to find something else to do to make money. Hmm …
    Let me see. What profession are you qualified for? Oh, I know! The oldest one.”
    Heather"s face wasn"t really pretty, especially with that expression on it. “I"m not staying here. Is this the best you could do in the help department? A historical reenactment group pretending to be Indians? You"re useless. Honestly. I"m heading back to California as soon as I can.”
    Glory laughed. “Good luck with that, considering it fell into the Pacific fifty years ago.
    Feel free to go, though. Please.”
    Heather"s surgically plumped lips flattened unattractively. “And you"re crazy, too.”
    Glory got right up in her face, using her taller frame and greater bulk to push Heather back. “You got a problem with that, bitch?” Glory almost tripped over one of the big dogs who had started growling and trying to shove between them.
    Jill pushed the dog back and stepped between them. “That"s enough, Running Wolf,” she told the dog. “Glory, calm down. Heather, take the stew and go sit down and eat. This isn"t junior high.”
    Glory watched Heather saunter away. Her figure was damn near perfect, and her face hardly showed that she was closing in on thirty. Probably made that way by drugs and surgery. Glory felt a