“I saw it, too,” Twila said. “Lordie be, I thoughthe’d wet his breeches right on the spot like I’se seen the poh chillen he’s whipped do.”
“We don’t have to worry ’bout that one-eyed scoundrel ever again, Twila,” Joshua said. He reached out and wrapped her in his arms. “I know de young chief will allow you to stay with yore pappy and let you share dis house with me. I knows it, Twila.”
“That would be pure heaven, Pappy,” Twila said, snuggling closer to him. “Now if only we knew Dorey was somewhere safe and that Lavinia would soon be well, we’d have a reason to smile ’gain, Pappy. Wouldn’t we?”
“Yes, chil’, we’ve got plenty to smile about, thanks to de young chief,” Joshua said thickly. He softly rocked Twila in his arms. “He saved my life, and we’ve become fast friends. Now dat I know how my sweet wife died, I want to make Hiram pay for not only that crime, but, oh, so many others. Hiram Price is a man without a heart.”
“When you speak of him now, you don’ call him massa,” Twila said, gazing up into her father’s dark eyes.
“Tha’s cuz he ain’t that no mo’ to either of us, Twila,” Joshua said, gently holding her away from him. He looked her square in the eye. “We’re as free as the birds that fly in the sky, Twila. We’re free!”
Twila began crying again. “If only Mammy could be with us,” she sobbed. “I miss her so much. And Dorey. I’se so afraid for her. There are so many things in the swamp that could kill her.” She visibly shuddered. “The white panther. What if dat whitedevil pounced on our Dorey and…and killed her? So many have said how elusive it is, and surely deadlier than anything else in the Everglades, or any-wheres else, fo’ that matter.”
“Chil’, stop yore cryin’ and frettin’ and thinkin’ such thoughts,” Joshua said. He wiped the tears on her brown cheeks dry with the palms of his hands.
“Pappy, Dorey knew not to go far in her canoe when she went explorin’,” Twila said. She snuggled again in her father’s arms, relishing their strength wrapped around her. “But today mus’ have been different. She went way too far. And now she might’ve died after escapin’ the tree house those mean boys put her in.”
“Darlin’ Twila, the search for Dorey will resume tomorrow, but tonight, the main concern is Lavinia,” he said. “But I trust de shaman will make her well. He has magical powers. I know that as fact, because dat shaman used his powers to get me well. Your pappy was almost on death’s doorstep from the wound made by dat arrow. When Hiram shoved me in de river, my blood turned dat river red. Dat evil man laughed as I floated away down de river, fightin’ off unconsciousness every inch of de way. He truly thought I was a dead man.”
“I’m so glad that you are alright, Pappy,” Twila said as she stretched out on her blankets, and Joshua covered her with another one as her eyes began drifting closed. “Pappy, I’m so tired, and so glad to be with you again.”
“Sweet Twila, if you had not been in dat canoe with Lavinia, I’d have come fo’ you,” Joshua saidsoftly. He stroked her hair. “I’d ’ave nevah left you with dat tyrant for any longer than I had to. Every minute I was away from you was pure torture. One nevah knows from one minute to de next what to expect from dat one-eyed demon. How he murdered yore mammy is proof o’ dat.”
“Mammy, oh, Mammy,” Twila whispered as she fell asleep in her father’s shadow. His eyes gazed at her as she slept.
“You’ll meet your mammy again, sweet chil’, as will your pappy, too,” he whispered as he stroked his fingers through her long, black hair. “When we all go to heaven, Twila. When we all go to heaven.”
Chapter Sixteen
Alas, how love can trifle
With itself!
—William Shakespeare
Lavinia awakened slowly to faint lamplight and the glow of a fire nearby.
She soon realized how feverish she was. Her whole body felt as though it were on fire. Panic filled her at the thought of how ill she was.
Her vision was blurry, yet she could make out two Indian men sitting one on each side of where she lay.
As she slowly came out of the haze and was able to see somewhat better, she noticed that one Indian was younger than the other.
Then her heart seemed to skip several beats. She recognized the younger, more handsome Indian.
She had no doubt that he was the one she had seen resting on a limb of the old oak tree.
Wolf Dancer’s heart had pounded inside his chest when he saw Lavinia first struggling to see. Now she was gazing at him intently.
No doubt she was remembering that she had seen him more than once near her home.
Did she also recall…the white panther?
He would not think about that. All he cared about was knowing that she was on the road to recovery. He wanted her to feel comfortable with her surroundings and the people who were caring for her.
He was glad that he didn’t see fear in her eyes, but instead the same curiosity that had appeared on her face the other times she had seen him watching her. He wanted her to realize that she was most definitely with friends, and soon she would also understand that she was with a man who wanted more than friendship from her.
Yes! He wanted her to be his, so that he could protect her from all future harm.
“What…happened…?” Lavinia asked softly, struggling to remember what had brought her to this time and place…to him.
Although she was able to recall that she’d seen him more than once near her home, she could not recall much more. Everything else seemed to be blocked from her mind.
She suspected her confusion was a result of the fever that was raging inside her body. She had had soaring temperatures before and knew that they sapped not only her strength but also her memory.
Now that she was so near to the Indian, she was even more awed by him than before. Up close he was much more handsome than from a distance, and she saw such kindness, such caring, in his eyes.
For some reason, she felt safer now than ever before in her life, even safer than she had felt with Virgil.
Although Virgil had been a kind and wonderful man, he had had many weaknesses.
She felt guilty for having such thoughts and cast them from her mind when the Indian moved closer to her and placed the palm of his hand gently on her brow, then drew it away.
She was surprised when he began speaking in perfect English to her.
“You have much fever,” Wolf Dancer said gently. “But it should soon be gone. My shaman, who would be called a doctor in your world, sits on your other side. His name is Shining Soul, and he is the one who will make you well and happy again.”
He paused, then said, “I am called by the name Wolf Dancer. I am chief of the Wind Clan of Seminole. You are now on my people’s island, which is named Mystic Island. All that you have to know now is that you are with friends.”
“Mystic Island? Who…brought me here?” Lavinia asked, searching his eyes. “Was it not you?” “Yes, it was I,” Wolf Dancer said. “I found you unconscious in a canoe with your small companion who goes by the name Twila. A snake had dropped down from a tree overhead and bitten you.”
“I…don’t…remember.” Lavinia said, trying hard to recall the events he spoke of. “I don’t seem to remember anything about it. Why was I in a canoe with Twila?”
It frustrated her that she could remember so many things past, yet she could not conjure up even a glimmer of memory concerning a trip in a canoewith Twila. She had never gone canoeing with Twila before, so why would she have…?
Suddenly images came to her in quick flashes, and what she remembered made her wince and want to cry out in despair.
Her daughter! She had left the sanctuary of her bedroom to search for Dorey when her daughter had not returned from canoeing.
She now recalled how dark it had been while she was in the canoe, looking desperately for Dorey. She remembered the anguish of each stroke of the paddle through the black water. Despite her efforts, she had never seemed to get any closer to Dor
ey.
“My Dorey,” she suddenly sobbed, tears flooding her eyes. She turned her eyes away from Wolf Dancer. “Oh, Lord, Dorey.”
And then she looked quickly back at Wolf Dancer. “Surely Twila told you why we were on the river after dark,” she blurted out, trying to see some hopeful sign in the handsome Indian’s eyes as she continued telling him what she remembered about that night.
But when she had finished telling him all that she recalled, and he still gave no indication that Dorey had been found, she wanted to curl up and close her eyes and never wake up again.
Seeing her despair and understanding it, because he had suffered such feelings himself, Wolf Dancer wanted to sweep Lavinia into his arms and hold her close to his heart and comfort her.
But he knew that was not the proper thing to do, especially since they were strangers.
Furthermore, he was an Indian and she was white. Such relationships were forbidden in the white world. If an Indian was known to desire a white woman, he would be hunted down by whites and destroyed, perhaps even tortured before being slain.
He could not allow himself to reveal his feelings to her. Not yet.
At this moment, the most important thing to do was comfort her about her daughter and convince her that he would find her and bring her back safely. “This is what I know…” Wolf Dancer said; then he told her all that he’d learned about Dorey; how she had been abducted, by whom, and how she had disappeared.
“No,” Lavinia cried, tears again flooding her eyes. “My Dorey is out there in the swamp…where…there are so many dangers?”
“The search for your daughter will resume at the break of dawn,” Wolf Dancer said, still longing to take Lavinia in his arms. He had to remind himself that this was not the time to do so.
Yet in time she would allow herself to welcome his embrace, for he knew that she had feelings for him.
He knew even before she knew!
Shining Soul brought her a wooden cup of white liquid. “Drink this,” he said. He held it to her lips with one hand, holding her head up with the other so that she could swallow more easily. “This will ease more than one pain inside you,” he said reassuringly.
“It will take away your worry, and allow you to sleep.”
Lavinia welcomed anything that could help relieve this gnawing pain of loss, even if it meant drinking something unknown to her. It was better than being awake and knowing that her daughter was out in the Everglades all alone, perhaps even… Her eyes drifted slowly closed as Shining Soul handed the half-empty cup to Wolf Dancer, then gently eased Lavinia’s head back down on the pelts. He reached for a blanket and covered her with it, then sat up again, watching her.
“When she awakens, I hope to have her daughter sitting beside her, waiting to be held in her arms,” Wolf Dancer said. “Thank you, Shining Soul, for caring for the woman. She doesn’t deserve all of the pain she has been forced to endure these past days. I hope to alleviate at least some of it by bringing her daughter back to her.”
“If she does not see her daughter again, she herself may not survive, for it seems that the child is her world,” Shining Soul said thickly.
“She deserves far more than she has been given in this world,” Wolf Dancer said, slowly rising. “I must go now and inform her friends that she awakened for a short while. I will assure them again that she will be alright.”
After leaving Shining Soul, Wolf Dancer went to Joshua’s hut and spoke his name outside the closed door. Joshua hurried over and opened it.
He gazed into Wolf Dancer’s eyes, the moon’s glow giving him enough light to see by. “Have you brought me news about Lavinia?” he asked, his voice drawn with anxiety.
“She awakened,” Wolf Dancer said, seeing how that news lit up Joshua’s dark eyes. “But she is asleep again.”
“But she is gonna be alright?” Joshua prodded as Twila awakened and came to stand beside him. She reached out and took one of his hands.
“She spoke to me,” Wolf Dancer said. “Then I explained to her about her daughter. I told her that I would be searching for the child early in the morning. Then she went to sleep.”
He did not tell Joshua and Twila the worst of what had happened, that Lavinia had to be sedated so that she could sleep again.
Sleep was what she needed until better news was brought to her!
“But she is going to be alright?” Twila burst out, searching Wolf Dancer’s eyes as he gazed down at her.
“I assure you, she will be alright,” Wolf Dancer said. He placed a gentle hand on Twila’s shoulder. “I must go now and get some rest, for the morning hours are not far away.”
“I will go with you when you leave in the morning,” Joshua said. “I want to help search for Dorey.” “I want to go, too,” Twila added quickly. “She is my best friend. I want to help find her.”
“We’ll see,” Joshua said, smiling down at her.
“Until tomorrow,” Wolf Dancer said, then turned to walk away.
Joshua and Twila called their thanks after him. He gave them a soft smile over his shoulder, then went on his way toward home.
When he passed Shining Soul’s hut, he wanted to go and spend the night there, but he knew that rest would benefit him more than sitting and gazing at the sleeping woman whom he now knew he loved with all his being.
Chapter Seventeen
There are two things to aim at in life;
First, to get what you want;
And after that, to enjoy it!
—Logan Smith
After placing his horse in the stable, Hiram stumbled through the dark until he found the steps to his front porch.
He had drunk from his flask of whiskey all the way home from his poker game. He had already imbibed a great deal while playing, and when the flask was empty, he found himself too drunk to continue on. He’d slid off his horse, passed out, and awoke who knew how many hours later.
Now he stumbled on the bottom step, fell, laughed throatily, got up and made it to the second step, then fell again. He was still drunk.
Dizzy, his legs like rubber, he sat down on the step and lowered his face into his hands, then started and opened his eyes quickly when he heard the growl of thunder in the distance.
Hating storms, he rose shakily to his feet and stumbled up the steps and inside the house to the foyer.
Teetering, he glanced up the winding staircase, thinking it would be quite a feat to tackle in his condition.
But wanting to sleep on a mattress, not a sofa, he grabbed hold of the banister, steadied himself, and began the slow climb.
The wax candles sputtered in the sconces along the staircase wall; the candles had almost burned down.
Still stumbling and now cursing beneath his breath, Hiram continued up the stairs until he finally reached the second-floor landing.
He suddenly recalled what his plans had been before he loaded up on whiskey and passed out.
He had planned to go to Lavinia’s bedroom, awaken her, then tell her she had been wrong to avoid him for so long. It was time for her to face up to Virgil’s death and consider taking on another husband…him!
He was so drunk he wasn’t thinking clearly; without stopping to consider how Lavinia would react were he to awaken her almost at daybreak, Hiram wiped the sweat from his brow, then ran both hands up and down the front of his breeches so the sweat would be absorbed there. He had seen Lavinia wince when he touched her with his sweaty hands.
Tonight would be different in many ways. He had decided not only to awaken her, but also to have his way with her. Surely she was as hungry to have a man in her bed as he was for the feel of a woman’s soft flesh against his own.
He had often watched as Lavinia went hand in hand to her bedroom with her husband, closing thedoor and shutting out the world beyond it, which included Hiram Price.
He had closed his one eye and allowed himself to envision what they were doing behind that closed door.
His brother’s loud groans of pleasure had
reached Hiram, making his hunger for Lavinia almost unbearable.
But he had never heard any sounds coming from Lavinia.
He had assumed that her husband had not been man enough to give her the sort of pleasure she wanted.
Perhaps even tonight she had gone to bed with unfulfilled needs.
“I’ll show you what you missed when your husband was alive,” Hiram said beneath his breath, stumbling toward Lavinia’s closed bedroom door.
The candles along this corridor were also sputtering, the wicks now floating in what was left of what had been tall, stately candles. Reaching Lavinia’s door, Hiram stopped, attempting to balancing himself while his head began spinning again.
He grabbed for the door frame and held tightly to it to keep from falling. This was the worst time of all to be this drunk, when he was ready to make a beautiful woman his.
He was becoming sober enough to realize that he’d begun sweating again. He growled as he wiped the wetness from his face, and then ran his hands desperately up and down the legs of his breeches to dry the sweat that he despised even more than Lavinia did.
He had to live with it day in and day out, while she had only to look at it when she was with him.
But even knowing her distaste for the sweat, and perhaps even the man who was cursed with it, nothing would dissuade Hiram from going into her bedroom and letting her know who was boss.
If she didn’t cooperate, by gum, he’d go for his whip.
Surely one look at that whip would make her change her mind. She would recognize that a man’s loving was preferable to a whipping that might leave scars on her lovely flesh for the rest of her life. He smiled wickedly as he recalled the many scars he had left on the brown-skinned slaves at the plantation.
And by gum, he planned to add more and more. He’d do whatever it took to show the slaves that he was their master.
His heart began to pound as he placed a hand on the doorknob. Just being this close to Lavinia awakened that part of him that had been denied a woman’s touch for far too long.
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