Free Savage Skies by Cassie Edwards

“Do you really believe this woman is the mother of a small girl child?” he asked.
    â€œTruly I do,” Speckled Fawn murmured. “And although I introduced myself to her, and even asked her name, she did not offer it to me.”
    â€œHer name is Shirleen,” Blue Thunder said, in his mind’s eye seeing the beautiful, petite woman clinging to a tiny child’s dress. He was touched to know that she might be a mother.
    But that had to mean she also had a husband. Perhaps he had been away from home when the massacre had occurred.
    Knowing that the woman surely had both a child and a husband aroused jealousy in Blue Thunder’s heart that he did not want to feel.
    Although Shirleen had spoken to his heart with her lovely sweetness and vulnerabilty, it would be better if he could deny his attractionto her. Her presence among his Wind Band might draw unwelcome white people to his village. Among them could be a husband, brother, or father, or even the cavalry searching for those who had been taken from their homes by the renegades.
    Ho
, all of this could happen, and it would be bad for his people. When white and red men’s lives collided, only trouble came from it.
    But the possibility that this woman had a child who had been stolen from her touched his heart. He, too, had a daughter whom he loved dearly. How could he ignore a parent’s sadness over the loss of a daughter?
    â€œBlue Thunder, if Shirleen has been separated from her child, does this change your feelings about her?” Speckled Fawn dared to ask.
    â€œThe child might be with her
ahte
, her father,” Blue Thunder suggested, even though he did not truly believe she was. Why would an
ahte
take a child to the trading post and not ask his
mitawin
, his wife, to accompany him?
    No, it did not seem logical.
    â€œI doubt that,” Speckled Fawn said. “A man has no time to coddle a daughter while hunting, or bargaining at a trading post. And surely the woman’s husband was hunting or getting supplies when the ambush happened at his home.”
    Seeing the logic in what she said, Blue Thunder nodded.
    â€œBlue Thunder, please send out warriors to search for the child,” Speckled Fawn begged.
    She had always tried not to antagonize BlueThunder in any way, wanting to keep peace between herself and this powerful young chief.
    But now things were different. If she needed to press her point about searching for the missing child, then so be it.
    â€œBlue Thunder, if the child wandered away on her own, and is now all alone out there somewhere, it isn’t fair to leave her at the mercy of two or four-legged creatures that might happen along and find her,” Speckled Fawn said, this time more forcefully.
    She knew the chief had a kind, caring heart, especially where children were concerned. He had a daughter of his own and would never allow any harm to come to her. So she was sure she had reached him and that he would not ignore her pleadings.
    â€œSpeckled Fawn, leave me now,” Blue Thunder said tightly.
    â€œWhat are you going to do?” she blurted out, not caring that he might grow angry at her insistence.
    â€œSpeckled Fawn, you have said what you came to say,” Blue Thunder replied. He rose to his feet and gently took her by the elbow to help her to her feet. “Go. I have listened. You are free now to sit with your husband.”
    Speckled Fawn walked with him to the entrance flap, allowing him to usher her from his lodge. She knew that she had been heard, and for her that was enough.
    Now it was out of her hands. It was up to the chief to do what he knew was right.
    Once outside, beneath a cloudy sky, Speckled Fawn turned and gave Blue Thunder a soft smile as he released his hold on her elbow.
    â€œ
Pila-maye
, thank you for listening,” she murmured, then walked slowly away from him toward her own lodge, where she did plan to go and spend the rest of the morning with her