Wild Thunder

by Cassie Edwards

  When she reached the river, she rode slowly beside it and watched for the stream that forked away from it, where Tiny had placed the dam. The river was carried along on a weak current green with algae. Sometimes rocks and sometimes rich green moss fringed the riverbank. But for the most part, cottonwoods and sycamores held back the banks and probed the sky with their canopies.

  Farther away, the oaks, hickory, and maple trees claimed the higher ground. In their shade grew the inner forest of pawpaws, buckeyes, and occasionally crab apple trees.

  Most of the sunny places were dominated by walls of horseweeds. Some were left with a permanent lean in their growth, a reminder of the spring’s higher water.

  Finally she came to the stream that she was looking for. Slowly she rode beside it, her eyes searching for the dam, hoping she did not find it. If Tiny hadn’t removed it, that would be a blatant show of disobedience of her brother’s orders, which could cause her brother undue stress.

  “I do so hope it’s gone,” she whispered to herself as she edged her horse around a cluster of white birch trees. “Not only for my brother, but also for Strong Wolf. I would hate to think that he might blame my brother if Tiny . . . ?”

  She got distracted for a moment by two groundhogs that were playing and chasing one another. She followed them into the trees and rode within the thick foliage beside the stream, where she could only now barely see the water.

  Suddenly the groundhogs darted into small holes in the ground. Hannah shrugged and turned her horse back in the direction of the water, just in time to see the dam through a break in the trees a short distance away.

  Anger filled her heart in hot splashes. “The damn nitwit,” she whispered to herself. “Tiny didn’t do as Chuck told him. Damn him.”

  Then when she came out of the cover of the trees and she was on the banks of the stream again, something else grabbed her attention. What she saw caused her heart to skip several beats and a cold sweat of fear to cover her.

  She could hear the pounding of her blood in her ears as her eyes looked in jerks at the many sticks of dynamite that she saw positioned in various places in the dam. Then a cry of panic filled her throat when she saw the wick that crawled along the ground like a snake to a thick stand of rock and brush.

  Proud Heart suddenly rose from behind his protective hiding place. He waved frantically at her. “The fuse has been lit!” he shouted. “I cannot stop it! Leave! Ride away quickly!”

  Strong Wolf had rode up one side of the stream and down the other, his eyes watching.

  When he heard Proud Heart shouting, his heart leapt with alarm.

  Someone was dangerously near the dam.

  And it was time for the dynamite to explode!

  Who was near the dam?

  Was it the rancher’s men?

  If so, should he even warn them?

  Wouldn’t it be a welcome loss if they died?

  But not wanting to think such things, even if he did despise the small white man, he nudged his horse’s flanks with the heels of his moccasins and raced along the banks of the creek to warn them.

  When he saw Hannah ahead, seemingly disoriented from fear, his insides grew weak with panic. He had not even thought about the possibilities of her coming this far from the ranch, alone.

  But she had!

  And if he did not reach her in time, if she didn’t regain her senses and ride away, she . . . could . . . be killed!

  He knew the chances were great that even he could be killed if he tried to save Hannah, but nothing would keep him from trying!

  He drove himself onward in desperation, fear having quickened his heartbeat. His flesh crawled at the thought of what might happen to Hannah and himself, if he wasn’t quick enough.

  When he reached her, he swept an arm out for her and grabbed her from her horse.

  Just as he slid her onto his lap and rode away in a fast gallop only a short distance, the explosion erupted behind them. Debris flew everywhere. Hannah’s horse reared and rode away. Strong Wolf held his own horse steady.

  A dislodged rock flew through the air and hit Hannah in the forehead. Knocked unconscious, she grew limp in Strong Wolf’s arms.

  Strong Wolf rode quickly into the thickness of the trees. When he felt that he was safely away from danger, he drew tight rein and slid from his horse, Hannah in his arms.

  Strong Wolf carried Hannah to an overhang of rock and lay her on a bed of moss beneath it. He knelt over her, inspected her wound, and discovered only a small contusion rising on her forehead, the skin not even broken.

  As he cradled her head on his lap, and had her so close that he could smell the sweet fragrance of her skin and hair, he was suddenly overwhelmed with fears that had been forgotten while he had only watched her from afar.

  But now with her so close, with her unaware that he was able to hold her and study her, the fears that had plagued him always in his past, haunted him again.

  While watching this woman these past days, knowing that destiny had drawn her here for him to love, how could he have forgotten his secret past?

  The secret was so dark, how could he ever think that this woman could be told?

  Surely no woman would understand!

  Because of his ugly secret, Strong Wolf had centered his life around his people. He had made his people the main focus of his life.

  Not women!

  Even now he knew that he should turn his eyes from this woman and never think of her again!

  With this particular woman, it should be even easier to fight off feelings of needing her, for in a sense, she was his enemy. Her very own brother had lied to him! Had betrayed him!

  Weary of allowing himself to remember why he shouldn’t love this woman, or any woman ever, and knowing that the blast would bring the rancher’s foreman, Strong Wolf lifted Hannah into his arms and carried her toward his horse. Before he placed her in the saddle, Proud Heart rode up.

  “Are you well, my brother?” Proud Heart asked anxiously. “Were you injured?”

  Then Proud Heart’s eyes moved to the woman.

  “I am not injured, only she is,” Strong Wolf said, placing her on his horse, swinging himself in the saddle behind her. “But it is only a flesh wound. She will soon awaken.”

  “Then what, my brother?” Proud Heart asked warily. “What will you do with her then? Take her with us? Or return her to her lying brother?”

  “I am not certain just yet what I should do with her,” Strong Wolf said, his insides torn with needs and wants. “Go on to the village without me. The deed is done here. The dam is no more.”

  “You could have been killed because of that woman,” Proud Heart mumbled out as he gazed with contempt at Hannah.

  “But my lungs still draw breath into them, do they not?” Strong Wolf said, glowering at Proud Heart. “My brother, do not allow this woman to come between us. I shall do what I must. It is truly no concern of yours.”

  “Anything or anyone who enters your life is my concern because my friendship to you is forever,” Proud Heart said, then turned and rode away.

  Strong Wolf watched Proud Heart until he could see him no more, then rode in the opposite direction.

  Hannah slowly awakened. She was first aware of the horse’s movements, then opened her eyes and saw that she was not in control of the horse. She was on someone else’s steed, being held there by someone’s muscled arm.

  She turned with a start as she gazed with wide and questioning eyes at Strong Wolf.

  Strong Wolf’s eyes locked with hers, then he drew tight rein and stopped his horse.

  “What happened?” Hannah asked, reaching a hand to her throbbing brow. She didn’t remember how she had gotten on Strong Wolf’s horse with him. The last few minutes seemed altogether blocked from her memory.

  “Strong Wolf, why am I with you?” she asked, stunned by so many things. Why was she there? How had she gotten injured? Why was Strong Wolf so . . . so . . . strangely quiet and withdrawn?

  When h
e helped her from the horse, still he said nothing.

  Hannah tried to steady herself, to stand alone, but her knees buckled beneath her.

  She was surprised when Strong Wolf offered no help and allowed her to fall to the ground. When she gazed up at him, she froze inside, for he no longer seemed friendly. Instead she felt that by the way he was glaring at her so contemptuously, it was as though she were his ardent enemy!

  “Strong Wolf?” she said, reaching a trembling hand toward him. “Please . . . ?”

  But . . . still . . . he ignored her!

  Chapter 7

  Her hair that lay along her back

  Was yellow like ripe corn.

  —DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI

  As Strong Wolf continued to glare at her, Hannah slowly pushed herself up from the ground.

  After she was back on her feet she started to back away from him, their eyes still locked in silent battle.

  When he reached out and grabbed her by a wrist, stopping her, Hannah gasped and paled. “Please tell me what’s wrong,” she said, her voice tremulous. “Why are you treating me like this?”

  In small flashes her memory was returning. She recalled why she had left the ranch; to see if the dam had been destroyed. She recalled now having seen the dynamite planted in strategic places in the dam, and then . . .

  “Your brother deceived me,” Strong Wolf finally said, interrupting Hannah’s train of thought; her remembrances of what had brought her to this moment in life.

  “My brother deceived you?” Hannah said, her eyebrows forking. “How?”

  She reached her free hand to her brow, where she felt a slight swelling of the skin. It was just now beginning to throb.

  The blast!

  She now recalled the blast!

  Shortly afterward, it was as though a black veil had been drawn over her eyes when she had been knocked into unconsciousness.

  “Your brother played the role of a friend and then the role of one who speaks with two tongues,” Strong Wolf said, confusing Hannah even worse by how he explained his feelings.

  Then it came to her.

  The dam!

  Strong Wolf surely thought that Chuck had gone back on his word and had allowed the dam to stay in place across the stream, after all.

  “If you are speaking of the dam, you are wrong to accuse my brother of being responsible for it having not been removed,” Hannah said, pleading at him with her eyes. “It’s apparent to me that his foreman blatantly ignored his orders.”

  She flinched when he tightened his grip on her wrist, paining her.

  “And why should I believe you?” he grumbled. “You can lie as easily as your brother. Do you not share the same blood in your veins? You could share the same ease at lying!”

  “My brother and I are both honest people,” Hannah said, firming her chin. “Neither of us make a habit of lying, especially about something like this. It was obvious to me yesterday when you and Chuck were together that he deeply admires and respects you. I could tell that you felt the same about him. He would do nothing to jeopardize the friendship. I am sure that you wouldn’t, either.”

  She paused, then said—“You wouldn’t, would you?” she breathed guardedly across her lips.

  “I have often been forced to place friendships behind me,” Strong Wolf said, then released her wrist. “Always my people’s welfare comes before anyone else’s.”

  Hannah rubbed her wrists. She gazed at him questionably, not knowing if she had gained ground with him, or if he still wished not to believe her or Chuck.

  She then looked from side to side and asked, “Where’s my horse?”

  “The blast of dynamite frightened it away,” Strong Wolf said, torn with what to believe. He wished to think that this woman whose very nearness made his heart do strange flip-flops could be trusted.

  Yet he could not allow a woman to be the cause of his defenses weakening. Many Potawatomis people were responsible for him keeping his sense of logic. They had to remain the main focus in his life. He could not allow himself to trust too easily, even when it was a woman he wished to be free to love.

  “Using dynamite was an irresponsible thing to do,” Hannah suddenly snapped, placing her fists on her hips. “Not only could I have been killed, but also you.” She moved her fingers to the lump on her brow. “I’m lucky this bump is all I have to show for your . . . your . . . negligence.”

  “I warned your brother about the dam,” Strong Wolf said stiffly. “He did not listen. I chose the quickest way possible to rid the land of it.”

  “I still say that was the wrong way to handle the situation,” Hannah said, then glared at him. “And I told you that my brother isn’t responsible for the dam not having been removed. Why can’t you believe me? Tiny was supposed to remove it. He didn’t.”

  “If what you say is true, then your brother must find a way to make sure that what he commands done from now on, is done,” Strong Wolf said.

  “Then you believe me?” Hannah asked, her eyes wavering into his.

  “Perhaps a little,” Strong Wolf said, folding his arms across his chest.

  “Either you do, or you don’t,” Hannah said, frustrated.

  He said nothing back to her.

  “Well, I know one thing for certain,” Hannah said, turning to walk away. “I’m going to find my horse. I’m going home. I’m tired of bantering with you. I don’t know how else I can convince you that my brother is innocent of that which you accuse him.”

  Strong Wolf watched her walk away for a moment, then something came to him so quickly: a plan that he felt was necessary. He did not have the time to think it through before he went and grabbed her by a wrist again, stopping her.

  Their eyes met in silent combat, and he was reminded of so long ago, when it was the practice of the Potawatomis to take captives. Despite the momentary terror of such abduction, victims—especially women—were generally welcomed as new members of the community to which they were taken, sometimes hundreds of miles away.

  Most captives accepted their new roles, replacing the tribe members who had been lost to disease, nature, or battle.

  But this was now, and this was a white woman. This was a spirited, stubborn white woman. She would not accept such fate as easily.

  “You are not going anywhere until I am ready to allow it,” he said thickly, their eyes in silent combat again as she stared in disbelief at him.

  “Are you saying that I . . . am . . . a captive?” Hannah said, paling.

  “If I must hold you as ransom, to get assurances from your brother that are true, yes, for now you are my captive,” Strong Wolf said, disbelieving that he had actually said that.

  Never before had he done this.

  But never before had he felt the need to. He was afraid that if he did nothing to make the rancher realize the true importance of keeping the water running free, then another dam would appear across the stream before there was another sunrise.

  Hannah stared up at him for a moment, seeing in him so much that made her insides melt. Even though he was treating her wrong today, she could still feel something special flow between them.

  It was in his eyes that his words betrayed his heart!

  He wanted her. She could tell it. She could feel it.

  And, oh, she so badly wanted him. It would be heaven to be held by him. His muscled arms could make her feel so protected, so loved!

  But at this moment, they were enemies. And she would fight for her freedom!

  Wrenching her wrist free, Hannah turned and ran. “My father imprisoned me at the convent!” she shouted over her shoulder. “No one will imprison me ever again!”

  Strong Wolf was again in awe of Hannah’s spirit, of her will to fight for her rights! He admired this in her, and he wanted her even more than before. She would be a challenge for any man. And he had always enjoyed challenges of all kinds!

  He ran after her.

  When he caught up with her, he swung an arm around her waist and wrestl
ed her to the ground until she lay flat on her back. Straddling her, holding her wrists to the ground over her head, he watched her breasts heaving beneath the thin fabric of her cotton dress, then looked into her eyes that were filled with the fire of defiance.

  “You are even more beautiful when you are angry,” he said, then crushed her lips beneath his as he gave her a frenzied, passion-filled kiss.

  His loins flamed.

  Her head spun.

  Both were startled by the intensity of their feelings for one another.

  Her heart pounding, dizzied by the rapturous, heady sensations whirling within her, Hannah wrenched her lips free.

  “Please don’t,” she whispered, her eyes pleading with his. “I . . .”

  Before she could say any more, Strong Wolf was on his feet. His one hand still on one of her wrists, he yanked her up from the ground.

  His jaw tight, Strong Wolf forced Hannah to walk toward his horse. When they reached his steed, he placed his hands at her waist and lifted her into the saddle. He then swung himself into the saddle behind her and held her in place as he locked an arm firmly around her waist.

  “You can’t do this!” Hannah cried, trying to pull his arm away from her waist as he urged his horse into a fast gallop. “Let . . . me . . . go!”

  Strong Wolf ignored her as best he could, all the while still feeling the taste of her on his lips and seeing the heaving of her well-rounded breasts.

  If he continued this plan of taking her captive, she might end up hating him forever. He could not force her to love him. Those things had to come naturally, from true feelings.

  As she had returned his kiss, he knew that she had not yet grown to hate him. There had been feelings in the kiss. Passion had been exchanged between them. He did not want it to be short-lived, yet he would look the fool now if he released her.

  And he would not let himself look less a man to her, ever!

  Yes, he had started something that he would have to finish, no matter the end result. He had lived without her until now. So could he the rest of his life, if forced to.