Nate moved to the cave opening with Laura close behind him. “I’ll go in first and light the lantern.” He ducked in before she could protest.
In the darkness, his fingers found the match case and lantern easily, right where he’d left them. After striking the flame, he sent a glance around before lighting the wick.
Bright Sun stood in the center of the main cavern, as still as stone. He should have expected her to be there, but the sight of her sent his heart into his throat. As he tried to regulate his pulse and his breathing, he lit the lantern, then straightened, offering the girl a smile. Had she heard Laura crying?
Before he could call for her, Laura had already ducked through the cave entrance.
“Bright Sun, how are you?” Her voice held only joy, no hint of the pain and turmoil from minutes before. “I see someone came back for those boxes. Did you see them? Did they bother you?” She strode forward to stand in front of the girl. Limped forward, actually, but her injury didn’t slow her much.
He moved quickly to keep pace with her as he carried the lantern.
“I saw.” The childlike tone of Bright Sun’s voice reminded him once again how young she must be, despite the fact that she held herself with the proud bearing of a woman a dozen years older. “A different man this time. His wagon was empty before he carried these out.”
Nate stopped beside Laura. “Did you see which way he went after leaving here?”
The girl nodded. “I followed him until he turned on the road that way.” She pointed toward the south, maybe a little southwest.
“The road toward Fort Benton?” He turned to Laura. “I asked Lanton if he knew anything about anyone reporting any stolen goods. He didn’t.” That was something he’d meant to tell Laura the evening before, but instead, he’d kissed her and spent the night wishing there was some way he could be good enough for her.
She raised her brows at him, probably agreeing that he should have already told her that tidbit. But she turned back to the child. “He didn’t see you, did he? Please be careful, Bright Sun. There’s no telling how dangerous those men are. You could be hurt really badly if they found you.”
Bright Sun shook her head. “He didn’t see me.” She spoke with certainty. Nate probably wouldn’t have believed any other child her age, but this one could move with the stealth of the wiliest cougar. She probably hadn’t been seen.
Laura moved to Bright Sun and placed a gentle hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Let’s hope so. How’s your grandfather? Can we see him?”
The child didn’t answer, but her solemn expression eased as Laura slid her arm around the girl’s shoulders. Who wouldn’t soften under Laura’s sweet touch?
Bright Sun turned toward the entrance to the hot spring cavern, and they followed her into the darkness.
What must it be like to live in such a place? At least Bright Sun was able to go outside some. Her poor grandfather didn’t seem to have moved much since coming to this cave.
When they reached Eagle Soaring, the girl stood by the cave wall, leaving room for them in front of her grandfather. The man was sitting upright this time.
“You’re looking better.” Laura dropped to her knees in front of him, and the smile in her voice lifted Nate’s spirits.
The older man’s eyes still had a dull, almost lifeless expression—or maybe a lack of expression was a better way to describe it. But the lines at his mouth pulled in the beginning of a smile.
“Let’s see how your wounds are.” Laura eased the buffalo robe off his arm and began her usual process to unwrap the bandage. “I’m afraid I don’t have a clean cloth this time. Have you been applying the salve?” She raised the question to Bright Sun, who nodded.
Laura held the man’s wrist with one hand as she unwrapped the cloth, and he couldn’t help noticing the contrast between her young, fair skin and the wrinkled crepe-like skin of the older man’s arm. The shadows in the cave made him look even tawnier than he probably was, although a lifetime under the sun would darken any man.
As she finished unrolling the bandage, Nate shifted his focus to the wound. As usual, the gruesome sight made his middle churn, but he forced himself to study it for any changes.
Maybe the gash was a little smaller. The murky sheen might be from the medicine. But at least the wound didn’t have that angry, festering appearance that would make the man feverish.
Laura worked with a steady hand, never losing the gentle touch that was surely the reason she’d won the unwavering trust of this pair. Her passion to help and earnest caring shone through every action. Every word she spoke offered steady encouragement.
She’d almost finished re-dressing the man’s leg by the time the thought sprang to him that he should do more than gawk. He turned to Bright Sun, who’d been doing her own staring, albeit while answering Laura’s occasional questions and interpreting her words for Eagle Soaring.
The girl met his eyes, and a hint of guardedness crept over her face. If only he could break through that barrier the way Laura had.
He offered a smile. “Have you enough food? I can bring more venison in the morning. I’ll leave it near the lantern at the cave entrance.” He hated the way his gut clenched when he offered up his own food stores, but everything he gave away meant he’d have to take more time to hunt, instead of working on his cabin and fulfilling his responsibilities with Aaron.
“Ingrid has some food set aside, too.” Laura glanced at him. “Perhaps you can get it from the clinic this evening.”
Good. With the combined offering, hopefully there would be enough to see these two for another week. Hopefully.
He turned back to the girl. “Have you heard from your people? Do you know when they might come?” They could plan better if they knew how much longer it would be before these two would be reunited with their tribe.
A flash of uncertainty crossed her face. Because she didn’t know the timing? Or because she wasn’t sure anyone would be coming for them?
His stomach plunged. Surely the latter wasn’t true. Without Laura and him continuing to provide food, these two may not survive all winter on their own.
“Do you know where your people are?” Laura’s words pulled him back from his spinning thoughts. She’d focused her sweet smile on the child, and Bright Sun seemed to be struggling over how to answer.
At last, the child’s voice came out in a tentative murmur. “I don’t know. We fell behind when the others were seeking a winter camp. I thought someone would look for us, maybe Sees All or Three Elk. But they haven’t.” For the first time since he’d known her, the girl’s eyes glistened with tears, and her voice cracked.
“Oh, honey.” Laura pushed up to her feet and pulled Bright Sun into an embrace, much like a mother comforting her child. He couldn’t ever remember feeling a hug like that, yet instinctively he knew how wonderful it must have felt. Even with her future looking so uncertain, did Bright Sun know how fortunate she was to have Laura Hannon as a friend?
Tiny sobs hiccupped from the girl as Laura cradled her. This had to be healing for the child who worked so hard to be strong—much like Laura herself. He backed away a little to give them space. More than one female crying on him within a single hour might be more than he could handle.
Laura’s soothing was clearly more effective than his had been, for only a few minutes passed before the child’s sniffles faded. She backed away, wiping a sleeve across her face and straightening her shoulders. It was such a picture of Laura’s own recovery a half hour earlier that he had to fight back a smile.
Staying low so she was eye level with the girl, Laura brushed hair from the child’s face. “Don’t worry, Bright Sun. Nate and I will make sure you and your grandfather have everything you need until your people come back. We’re going to take care of you. I promise.” She sent a glance to Nate and he nodded. She’d said it so much more eloquently than he could have.
But there was one more thing she wouldn’t know to add. Or rather, to ask.
He stepped closer and dropped to one knee so he was a little lower than the girl. “How would you feel if I came to sleep nights here in the cave with you and your grandfather? I can help make sure you always have firewood and fresh meat, and I can protect you if anyone comes who you don’t know.”
The weight of Laura’s stare pressed on him, but he kept his focus on the girl. The child’s gaze gave away nothing as she studied him.
Then her little brow furrowed as she looked at Laura, then back to him. “You not stay with her?”
Heat surged up his neck as he realized what the girl was asking. What she must have thought. “No.”
His tongue fumbled the word as he rushed to get it out. “I mean . . . Laura and I aren’t . . .” He stopped long enough to gather a full, coherent sentence. “Miss Hannon and I are friends, but we don’t live together.” Another wave of flame seared up to burn his ears. The picture his words had painted wasn’t at all what he’d meant. “I mean . . . I don’t have a home. I live in the woods. In a tent.”
Pistols and rifles, he’d bungled that. His gaze darted to Laura before he could stop it. If he didn’t know better, he would say she was trying to cover a smile. Either that or she was doing a better job than him at hiding a blush.
He turned back to Bright Sun and took in a steadying breath. “What I mean to say is, I need a warm place to stay this winter. And if we all pitch in together, the three of us can get by easier, at least until your people come back for you. What do you think?”
Little by little, a light entered her eyes. She didn’t speak but offered only a single nod.
The relief washing through his chest felt like three layers of worry fell away with that simple motion. He didn’t even try to hold back his grin. “Good.”