Savage Tempest
Page 23
“And I adore the new name that you have chosen for me,” Joylynn murmured. “Pretty Moon, after that first night we met one another. Oh, was not the moon so brilliantly bright and large that night?”
“My wife, it led me to you,” High Hawk said. Then his eyes widened when he saw someone running toward them, shouting excitedly.
“It is Three Bears,” High Hawk said, raising an eyebrow. “I wonder what brings such excitement into his voice?”
“His wife,” Joylynn said, her eyes widening. “She has surely given birth. She has gone far past the time when she should have had her child.”
Panting hard, Three Bears stopped when he reached them. “Two babies at almost the same time have been born into our Wolf band of Pawnee,” he said when he finally caught his breath. “My wife gave birth to a son, and Andy’s wife gave birth to a daughter!”
“Both?” Joylynn exclaimed.
Then she reached a hand to Three Bears’s arm. “Are they all doing well?” she asked, then took a step away from him. “Rose was caring for Moonbeam. Who is there with Moonbeam now?”
“She is in good hands, for Yellow Blossom came to care for her,” Three Bears said, smiling. “And, ho, all is well. The newborn children are healthy, and the mothers and fathers are well, happy and proud.”
“As we are happy and proud for you, my friend,” High Hawk said, placing a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “Today our people have much to rejoice over. Let us return to the village and celebrate together.”
Three Bears flung himself into High Hawk’s arms and hugged him fiercely, then stepped away from him, gave Joylynn an affectionate hug and ran on ahead of them toward the village.
“As I was saying . . . all is well,” High Hawk said, smiling at Joylynn. “All is very well.”
She returned the smile, so content she felt she might burst from happiness. She would not ever linger on the sadness of her past, only the goodness of today, and the future, which she would always share with the man she adored . . . her Pawnee chieftain husband, High Hawk!