Free White Shadows by Susan Edwards

how to get her way. A few tears, a trembling lip and a soft, bewitching voice wrapped him around her tiny pink finger. He tried to put her off one last time.
    “I have a lot to do before we leave.”
    Eyes that were neither green nor brown filled with tears.
    “Please.” Jenny drew the word out.
    Clay tossed the trap he was repairing into a pile of others, all ready to be sold. Handling his father’s traps, knowing the two of them would never trap together again, was suddenly too much. He grabbed on to the excuse to stop the painful chore for even a few minutes.
    He sent Jenny a mock growl.
    “What shall we play?” He lifted both hands high, crooking his fingers as though they were long, sharp claws.
    Squealing with glee, Jenny turned and ran between two trees.
    “Bear, bear,” she shrieked.
    In one long-legged jump, Clay snagged Jenny around the waist and tossed her high. “I’ve got you.”
    He allowed her to wiggle free. When she ran into the woods surrounding their tipi, he gave chase. Playing chase was her favorite game.
    But only he could be the bear.
    “The bear’s after me,” she yelled. Her laughter made him giggle and took away the overwhelming grief of losing his father. If his father had been there, he’d have stopped whatever he was doing to play with his youngest daughter. Even Pa hadn’t been able to resist Jenny’s pleas.
    Jenny’s giggles filled his dreams. He smiled in his sleep—until the first report of a shotgun tore the smile from his face.
    Laughter turned to screams.
    And Jenny…
    “No, Jenny! No! Come back!”
    Then came blinding pain and more screaming. And blood. He whimpered. Too much blood.
    Too much death.
    Everyone was dead.
    And Jenny? Where was she?
     
    He struggled against the gripping horrors of his past. “Jenny!” His shout turned to a plea. “Where are you, Jenny?”
    “Clay?”
    Night Shadow fought the darkness that held him like a spider’s web. A voice lured him out of the darkness. “Jenny?”
    “Clay, wake up!”
    “Jenny.” Night Shadow opened his eyes. She was here. She’d answered. His body, drenched in sweat, tensed as he glanced around wildly.
    “Clay? Are you all right?”
    Night Shadow blinked, focused, then stared in confusion into Winona’s wide, dark gaze. A dream. Another dream. He dropped his head into his hands. “Jenny,” he whispered again. “I’ll find you. I promise.”
    “Who is Jenny, Clay?”
    He couldn’t answer. He felt awkward, humiliated that he’d revealed so much while he slept.
    “Clay. You dreamed.”
    Winona’s soft voice wrapped around him, offering comfort that he’d long been without. A gray mist coated the air. Across from him, Winona watched. She didn’t move, didn’t say anything else, just watched, which unnerved him more than if he’d woken to find her standing over him with a knife poised at his heart.
    “Not a dream,” he bit out. “Hell. My own personal hell.” He jumped to his feet and strode past Winona. He couldn’t bear the pity in her eyes; nor did he want the comfort her warm gaze offered—it mattered not that he could not see it in the darkness. He knew it was there and it drove him away.
    Only one person could release him from his tortured night dreams: Jenny. His baby sister. Only by finding her could he be granted peace.
    Staring at the land spread out before him, Night Shadow struggled to regain control. Night Shadow the warrior wouldn’t have cared if the woman had seen or heard his tormented cries, but right then he was Clay, a man tortured by the past and vulnerable to a pair of soft, wide eyes that had witnessed his suffering.
    He clenched his hands. He had to remain strong, tough. Focused. Allowing any softening within—or toward his captive—would only jeopardize his hopes of finding Jenny. Nothing mattered but Jenny. He’d give his own life to find her and know she was safe and happy.
    Clay concentrated on slowing his heart by taking slow, deep breaths, releasing them just