Out of breath after racing up the bank from the river, Nate searched frantically in the dim light of the log-built trading post. Then in a blur, Rose flew to him and threw her arms about his neck.
“You’re alive! You’re actually alive! Thank God!”
Wrapping his arms around her soft form, he hugged her tight. “So are you. When we got word that Eustice had died, I was so worried, I—”
An ear-piercing wail came from farther back in the store.
Going rigid, Nate pushed Rose to one side and went for his hunting knife.
The wail turned into sobs. He moved toward what sounded very much like a very unhappy little one. He couldn’t believe his eyes. There, walled in by a few crates and sacks, sat a baby. A blond, blue-eyed, squalling baby.
He felt the blood drain from his face as he wheeled back to Rose. “You—you never told me you were with child.”
“Me?” Rose’s expression was one of shock. Then she burst into laughter. “I’m not her mother,” she sputtered between giggles. “But she is mine to care for until I’m able to deliver her to her grandparents.” She reached down and picked up the towhead, who stopped crying almost immediately. “Nate Kinyon, I’d like to introduce Jenny Ann Wright. Her mother, unfortunately, died after suffering grievous wounds while running the gauntlet. She asked me to look after her little one.”
His brow furrowed. “That’s really regrettable…but not unheard of.”
Clinging to Rose, the child peered at him from rounded blue eyes as if taking his measure, then reached out a tentative little hand, still moist from her mouth.
Nate took hold of the slimy fingers, and the little curly-top gifted him with a darling, two-tooth grin. The little one was every bit as irresistible as the woman holding her.
“Robert Bloom is with you, is he not?” Rose searched his face.
“Aye. He’s seeing that everything’s unloaded. He’s brought back quite the surprise. Wait’ll you see.” Nate chuckled then sobered. “It’s true, then? Smith’s dead? You were left here by yourself?” Concerned over her sad situation, he drew her and the baby close to him, burying his face in Rose’s hair, breathing in her unique scent. She felt so good in his arms. He made a solemn vow not to let her out of his sight before he had her safely away from here.
After a long-spun moment, she leaned her head back and gazed up into his eyes with such warmth he thought he’d melt. “I feared you were dead. Whatever took you so long?”
The store’s flap flung wide again, and Robert Bloom strode in, all smiles, with his arm around a slip of an Indian lass. A thick hat of rabbit fur hid most of her raven hair but not the perfect oval of her olive face with its huge, dark-chocolate eyes. Wrapped in a soft fur robe, she looked small and shy beside Robert’s lean form as she lowered her lashes with a faint smile.
Robert drew the girl along as he came forward and took Rose’s hand. “Rose, I’m so glad you’re alive an’ well. If you hadn’t been, I reckon I would’a had to shoot Nate for leavin’ you here in the first place.”
Pleased they’d both finally returned, yet still surprised, Rose glanced from the Indian girl to Nate, who offered a sheepish shrug.
“And this must be the baby Red Hawk was telling me about down at the river.” Robert reached over and ruffled Jenny’s hair with his free hand. “Cute little thing.” His gaze met Rose’s again. “Praise the good Lord you were here for that little gal.”
Rose nodded. “I feel the same way. I’ve no doubt Jenny Ann is the reason God allowed me to be brought here. He knew she’d be in dire need of someone to care for her.”
“Aye. He does work in mysterious ways. Speakin’ of that, look what the Lord gave me.” He gazed lovingly down at the girl at his side. “This here is Swims with Otters, but I can’t help myself…. I call her Shining Star ’cause I can’t seem to take my eyes off her.”
Smiling at his words, Rose lifted the willowy girl’s hand, drawing her liquid brown eyes up to her. “I’m very pleased to meet you, Shining Star.” She motioned toward the back of the store. “Would you like to take a seat by the fire? I’ve water heating for tea.” She smiled at the men, including them in the invitation.
Robert quickly translated what Rose had said, and they all moved to the warmth of the back of the store, removing their outer clothing along the way. Without her hat, Swims with Otters’s glossy braids, entwined with thin strips of leather, hung to the middle of her back. She brushed a few stray strands from her eyes.
Rose noticed the girl also wore an intricately beaded headband, which complemented her beaded doeskin Indian dress and calf-high deerskin moccasins. “While I prepare the tea,” Rose said, “you men will have to tell me why you were gone so long. And Robert, how you happened to bring along this lovely girl.”
“It’s a pretty sad story,” Bob said, taking a sip of steaming tea as the four settled on grain sacks they’d pulled close to the fire.
Nate peered over the top of his cup and cut his friend a pointed look, a warning not to let the reason for their delayed return slip out. No sense frightening Rose any more than necessary.
Bob reached beside himself and squeezed the Indian maiden’s hand. “You see, Rose, Shining Star’s part of the Miami nation. She lived in a village not far from Mascouten territory, an’ them two tribes’ve been feudin’ back an’ forth for some time. I reckon it got pretty bad, ’cause the Miami women outnumber the men a good four or five to one these days.”
“Mercy.” Rose hugged Jenny close. “How dreadful, all those widows and orphans.” She gazed down at her own little orphan.
Nate chimed in, hoping to ease her mind. “The men take on more wives. That helps some.”
Rose tucked her chin and arched her brows. “Surely you don’t mean plural marriage. That’s a rather pathetic solution to such a problem.”
“Anyway,” Bob said, “Shining Star’s pa was killed in a raid last spring. Then when her brother never came back from huntin’…” He shrugged a shoulder. “What men are left already have more wives an’ daughters than they can hunt for an’ feed. So her mother came to me.”
Looking from him to the Indian lass and back, Rose met Bob’s gaze. “To ask you to marry her daughter.”
He slid an uncertain glance to Nate before responding. “More like she wanted to sell Star to me.” At Rose’s gasp, he rushed on. “You see, if the widow had trade goods, she could bargain with the village hunters for meat now an’ again…to see her an’ her other little ones through the hard winter.”
“So you bought her? You actually bought her?” Rose rolled her eyes and grimaced.
Nate could see this was not going well for his partner. Not well at all.
Bob offered a weak smile. “No, not at first. But her ma kept comin’ back to me with her, pleadin’. An’ I felt so sorry for my shy little girl, I gave in.” He lifted his chin a notch. “But rest assured, Miss Rose, I won’t be beddin’ or weddin’ her till she comes to know the Lord as her Savior.”
Rose arched her brows. “Don’t you mean, if?” she challenged.
Watching her reaction, Nate shifted uncomfortably on his seat. Rose Harwood was one stiff-necked woman, especially when it came to religion. A body would think she was one of them Puritans.
But Bob didn’t seem the least put off by her remarks. “I already thought about that. A lot. I figger if she don’t become a believer, then I’ll look for a suitable husband for her among the other tribes.”
Nate was pretty sure he discerned a hint of triumph in the smile that played across Rose’s lips. “In that case, I shall make room for the girl in the wigwam with Jenny and me.”
Looking from her to Bob, Nate released a tired breath. He couldn’t believe he’d just risked life and limb for such a hardheaded woman. But he had to admit he was as besotted as Bob. No doubt about it.