Now he was back. She wanted to run to him and hold him close to her but she was afraid he would be angry if she did so. So she sat, quietly grinding the seeds and listening to the conversation coming from the group of people in front of Two Moon’s lodge. Suddenly she stopped and strained to hear the words spoken by Little Wolf. At once she realized what he had just said to Sleeps Standing. At first she couldn’t believe it and feared her ears had tricked her. But no, he was telling Sleeps Standing that the horses were for her! Her heart seemed to stop beating moments before. Now she could feel it pounding in her bosom. She waited no longer.
While he talked with Sleeps Standing, Little Wolf’s eyes scanned the camp behind his friend in an effort to get a glimpse of Rain Song. He had expected to see her as soon as he rode in but she was nowhere in sight. What if she wasn’t here? The thought triggered a twinge of panic in his brain but he dared not let it show in his face as he exchanged news of the battle with Sleeps Standing. What if she had already married another, thinking that he did not desire her? But Sleeps Standing said nothing of that. In fact, he accepted the horses Little Wolf offered. So she must be in the village. Maybe she was hiding because she changed her mind and no longer wanted him.
“Little Wolf!”
He turned to see Rain Song running to him, tears of joy running freely down her cheeks. His heart took wings and he ran to meet her. She leaped up into his arms and he crushed her to him and spun her around and around while she showered his face with kisses. Their embrace was met with a loud roar of approval from the people of the camp.
“I think you just wasted five good horses,” Squint remarked, laughing. “She’da gone with you for one small muskrat.”
Little Wolf turned to Squint and said, “Now, my friend, we will go to Oregon.”
* * *
The following morning they set out for Oregon but they never actually got that far. After traveling through the mountains for eight days, they came upon a river basin at the foot of a great white wall of mountains, a wall that seemed to rise all the way up into the heavens. The valley before it was green and lush and there were signs of all manner of game everywhere. The river was deep and clear. Just the sight of it held them spellbound. And all at once, Little Wolf remembered. He had been here before, in a vision. It was in his dream, his vision when he was but a boy. This was the place that had appeared to him that night on the mountain when the grizzly watched over him while he slept. This was the place he was meant to find.
So this was where they made their home. It wasn’t Oregon, but Squint didn’t care. Oregon was nothing more than a word to him. Home was any place that suited his fancy. He doubted they would have been able to find any place to beat this valley. The only thing now was to get busy before winter set in. With a little work, this valley would be the perfect place to settle down, away from all the fighting and killing. He was getting too damn old for that kind of foolishness. The next most important thing was to get Little Wolf and Rain Song busy making some babies. He had a feeling he was going to need a lot of little young’uns around to wait on him in his old age.
CHARLES G. WEST is the author of the western adventures Stone Hand and Black Eagle. He lives in North Port, Florida.
Wind River Page 40