The camp fire burned low. Across the way the women were silent and still. Pierce poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Gray Eagle, who had come back from a quick perimeter check of their campsite. “Are the women asleep?”
“The little one too.”
Shaking his head, Pierce took a sip from his own cup. He’d rather fight a skirmish than try to quiet a newborn. The odds for success were better. “What are we going to do about the baby?”
“She needs nourishment. The mother’s milk does not please.”
“So, where do we find a wet nurse in these parts?”
Sitting down cross-legged, Gray Eagle studied the flames. “I have not been here for many years, but when I was a child there was an encampment not far from here.”
“Are you sure they would welcome us?” The conflict had settled down many years ago, but resentment toward the white man and his ways still blossomed. Pierce didn’t want a war party on his hands with three women and a child to protect.
“They are my people,” Gray Eagle confirmed with a nod. “These are their summer grounds. At first light I will ride ahead to see if the camp still exists. If so, I am certain nursing mothers will be there who can feed Trella’s child.”
“I suppose that is best, though I don’t like the thought of further delaying our return home,” Pierce said with a sigh.
He longed for sight of his land and the opportunity to make peace with his father. He could taste his mother’s blueberry pies—thick and rich with a crust so light it melted on his tongue. He smiled as a wave of homesickness swept over him.
Gray Eagle turned his cup in his hands. “The one called Beth? She is talking to you now?”
“Not if she doesn’t have to.” Pierce’s grin widened. “She doesn’t favor men.”
The scout’s black eyes danced with merriment. “She is very silent around you.”
“You noticed? Can’t imagine why. I go out of my way not to step on her bustle.” He paused. “She doesn’t speak often, but she is spirited.” Spirited. That was a kind characterization. “And ornery as a spiteful mule.”
“Is there a woman waiting for you when you return?”
Shrugging, Pierce said, “There was a girl when I left home five years ago. She was pretty young—fifteen. She said she’d wait for me, but I don’t know…I hope not.” He flashed a grin. “I was telling Preach earlier that I can’t even recall her name.”
“You do not love her?”
“Love?” Pierce chuckled. “My friend, I was nineteen at the time. I loved all the women.” He sobered. “If she’s waited all these years I suppose I’ll have to give serious thought to settling down and maybe starting a family. It would please my parents greatly to have grandchildren.” In ways, he wished there was someone waiting for him. A pretty young thing who would share his life and grow old with him. “But what about you? Got a woman waiting for you somewhere?”
Gray Eagle shook his head. “I am like the wind. I blow here and then there. I have no woman waiting for me.”
Pierce winked. “I bet many a young maiden has had her eye on you.”
“Many women do not think clearly.”
Conversation ebbed as each took a sip of his coffee. Pierce glanced at the sleeping women again and then turned back to his friend. “You have said that your mother was a captive.”
“Yes. That happened many years ago when the wars still raged between my people and the white man. She was a missionary’s daughter. Her family was massacred during a raid. She was taken to the chief and he married her. She was young with a privileged background. She taught me to read and write. She wanted me to be like the white man, but she couldn’t change the color of my skin or the love in my heart for my father.”
“Is your father still alive?”
“He was killed during a buffalo hunt.”
Pierce nodded, remembering Gray Eagle speaking of how his young father was trampled to death when he was caught up in a buffalo stampede. Shortly afterward, the new chief offered Gray Eagle’s mother her freedom as a condolence gift. She declined and lived among the tribe until her death seven years ago.
Tossing the remains of his coffee into the fire, Pierce noted, “We’ll have an early start in the morning. We’d best get some shut-eye.”
Nodding, Gray Eagle set his cup aside. “I will leave at dawn and return when I have located the site of the Indian summer camp. They may or may not be there. The war had destroyed most of this land and displaced many.”
“While you are doing that, we’ll keeping moving forward toward the next town—wherever that may be. You shouldn’t have a hard time finding us on the road.”
For Pierce, either the next settlement or the Cherokee camp couldn’t be close enough. He’d rather fight a war than face a hungry infant…or women dressed in nuns’ clothing throwing rocks at him.
Wearily, he settled on the hard ground and pulled the brim of his hat over his eyes.
The fire cracked and sizzled. Overhead stars as numerous as Abraham’s descendants twinkled.
Rolling to his left side, he focused on Beth. Her eyes were closed, and he could just make out her long lashes brushing her freckled cheeks. Warmth spread through him at the sight. He flicked the irritating reaction aside. But an annoying thought kept him awake. What if a woman like Beth had waited for him? Would his kids have those feisty wrinkles across the bridge of their noses or her thick hair and sparkling eyes? He rolled onto his back. A man could do worse.
Suddenly his future wasn’t as clear as he’d assumed a few days earlier.