Bear Claw took a step forward, but Hannah pulled him back.
“Ms. Thornton, you have not answered my question. We have several reports that you were abdicated by these men, and brought here. By law you were kidnapped, and you shall be returned home,” the officer said.
“She goes nowhere!” Bear Claw said. Never! He was never letting her out of his sight. She belonged to him. He pulled her to him.
“Then we will return with more men and raze your village to the ground. Kill all your women and children,” the man said with a cruel smile.
Hannah gasped. He wouldn’t do that, would he? But the look on his face showed he was capable of such destruction. She had heard of how villages had been destroyed, lineages wiped off the earth because of her people.
“We will defend ourselves from your kind,” Bear Claw said, holding Hannah tighter. They would increase the security, have more men patrol, even move settlement if needed, but Hannah remained with him.
“You have brainwashed her. Blackmailed her. And she fears you. We will not let anyone of us be manipulated by you savages,” the man eyes moved past his men.
He glared at him, ready to run a knife through him. They had come with a small party, and could kill and bury them, without anyone knowing of their whereabouts. He stared questioningly at Hannah as she forcefully removed herself from him.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
She lifted her eyes to him and his heart fell. There were tears in them. “I am sorry,” she whispered.
He shook his head. No! She couldn’t do this to him. “You belong with me!” he said in his language.
“No, I belong with my people,” Hannah said.
He reached for her, but a rifle from one of the white devils was pointed at him. He took a step back.
Hannah had words to say, but she held them back, tears in her eyes. She wanted to hug him one last time. To kiss him goodbye, but the atmosphere was too tense. There was anger in his eyes. Perhaps even hate.
“We will take you home Ms. Thornton away from these savages,” the officer said as he firmly held her hand. He led her to a horse, as both groups, the Indians and her people watched each other warily, their weapons within their reach.
He lifted her on a horse, and just as she sat on it, Bear Claw leapt forward. He groaned as he was struck in the head by the butt of a rifle.
“Bear Claw!” she called out to him, just as the horse moved.
“Hannah!” Bear Claw cried, wincing in pain. He watched her go. He watched his heart ride away from him, and he knew he would never be the same again.
Chapter 13
Hannah had stopped crying. Inside she felt numb. All she could think about was Bear Claw in anguish as she was taken away. She had never been so broken before, a piercing pain in her chest she thought her heart was going to explode.
The men talked and laughed in the group that had come to rescue her. Her stepfather threw her haughty looks, but she ignored him. The man she rode with had asked her several questions. Intruding questions, without any respect for her privacy.
“Did he rape you?” he asked.
“No,” she said. He had never used forced on her.
“So you went to bed with him on your own will?” he asked with disgust.
She said nothing. How could she tell him that the so-called savages were even better than they were? That the people were kind and caring? He would not believe her.
“How many men are in the camp?” the man asked.
“Many,” she shrugged.
“What weapons do they have?”
She went stiff at this. She was not going to give him any information that would destroy the clan.
“How long would it take for us to get to my mother?” Hannah asked.
