by Paty Jager
Sa-qan smiled at her two children and yearned to take them to the land she watched over as a spirit. She missed her brother and sister and hated how her people had become more cynical and more distant to one another. They had to return to the land of their fathers and grandfathers to learn to be at peace with one another.
Dust swirled above the oak trees lining the lane. Wade and Toby loped into sight, sliding the horse to a stop by the barn and sending a gagging wall of dust toward the house.
“Cover your mouths, close your eyes,” she told the two younger children.
Hands grasped her arms and pulled her to her feet before she opened her eyes. Wade’s face came into view before his lips landed on hers.
“I-s, mother, they are going home!” Toby’s excited voice filtered through the euphoria brought on by Wade’s kiss.
She leaned her head back and gazed into her husband’s gleaming eyes.
He nodded. “Word came while we were at the village. They’re sending the Nez Perce back to their homes.“
Tears of joy trickled down her cheeks. She knew it would not end the dissension among The People but they would be back in the country of their hearts. All the years she and Wade spent following the Nimiipuu, writing stories about their love of the land, their deaths in a strange hot land, and trips to Washington had finally swayed the so·yá·po leaders.
She hugged Wade, then dropped to her knees and drew her children into her arms. “We are going home.” She thought of Silent Doe, now a widow, and her beautiful daughter Girl of Many Hearts who married. Would they return? For her sister’s sake, Sa-qan hoped the young woman would talk her husband into returning to the land of her mother.
“They’re loading everyone on a train in three days.” Wade knelt down beside her and their children. “Pack our clothes. I’m headed to the train depot to purchase our tickets.”
“Will we be on the train with our cousins?” Gray asked.
“No, they’ll be on a special train just for them. We’ll take a regular passenger train and meet them at the depot when they arrive.” Wade ruffled Gray’s dark curls matching his father’s.
“Yes.” Sa-qan smiled at her husband. “We will be there to greet them.”
A word about the author...
Wife, mother, grandmother, and the one who cleans pens and delivers the hay; award-winning author Paty Jager and her husband currently farm 350 acres when not dashing around visiting their children and grandchildren. She not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.
Paty is a member of RWA, EPIC, and COWG. Romance publisher Wild Rose Press has published nine of her books. She is now venturing into the new world of self-publishing ebooks. She edited for an e-publisher for four and a half years and teaches workshops at conferences, writers meetings, and online.
Her contemporary Western Perfectly Good Nanny won the 2008 Eppie for Best Contemporary Romance, and Spirit of the Mountain, a historical paranormal set among the Nez Perce, garnered 1st place in the paranormal category of the Lories Best Published Book Contest.
You can learn more about her at her blog:
www.patyjager.blogspot.com
her website: http://www.patyjager.net
or on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/paty.jager.
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