Adam rubbed a hand across his jaw. He couldn’t deny that Olivia intrigued him, garbed as she was in an Indian dress. But she was proving to be quite a handful with her insistence on finding the Indians.
His eyes surreptitiously roamed her face. Although her face was covered in dirt and her appearance was shabby, he registered she had lovely features.
He was tempted to offer her some water to wash her face so he could see just how lovely she was.
Pushing away his errant thoughts, he wondered what he would say to convince her that coming with him to Ruby Rock was in her best interest.
He was certain that the Indian village she was referring to was the one he sought. He itched to ask her about the raid and her presence in the forests. However, he could see that she was exhausted.
He would have to keep his questions for later. Right now, he had to convince her to come with me.
“Look here, missy, you and I know that you’re not fit for a journey that might take days. Your best bet is to come with me to Ruby Rock. When you’ve gotten yourself back, then we can venture into the forests to look for your Indian tribe.”
Something hard slammed against Adam’s chest as he watched as her face fell and she chewed on her bottom lip. He didn’t like seeing women cry. It always left him gutted, especially if he couldn’t do anything about it.
He reckoned that she had cried a lot in the past days. Streaks of tear marks ran from her eyes to her chin on her dirty face.
Adam ran his fingers through his hair as he waited for her response. If she agreed to come with him, he would have to take her to his foster parents’ home.
He would have preferred taking her to his brother’s house where he also resided, but he didn’t want to bother Annie, his brother’s wife who was heavily pregnant.
Adam knew he had to say something as she sat there with her head bent.
“Look, I know you want to be reunited with your Indian family, but you must realize that you need to recuperate first. From what you have said, I’ve inferred that you have been without food or water for some days and have also walked that long.
“Your body cannot take another stressful journey. I promise you that as soon as you’re fit, we’ll go and look for them. In the meantime, I’ll ask around to know where they migrated to.”
Adam let out a frustrated sigh when Olivia still didn’t say a word to him. It was upon squatting beside her and staring intently at her that he registered that her lips were moving.
Annoyed that all the while he had been talking, she had been praying, he abruptly rose to his feet. Was this what he had to look forward to during their journey back to the town?
I don’t know if I’ll be able to stand it.
He avoided Christians like the plague. His foster parents, his brother, and his sister-in-law knew better than to talk to him about God. They were all aware of how losing his parents, who were preachers, had hurt him so much, he had decided Christianity wasn’t worth it. He had never wept and prayed the way he did on that fateful day, yet his parents had died. If God truly existed, shouldn’t He have saved His children? Yet everywhere he went, Christians tried to make him think otherwise.
Olivia lifted her head several minutes later and offered him a warm smile.
“I’m sorry. I had to ask my Father if it was His will for me to go with you.”
Adam merely grunted.
“Please pardon me for not responding earlier. You see, I always ask for the Lord’s advice in difficult times. I hold on strongly to His word that says, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean on not your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.’ They have helped me through thick and thin.”
Adam wondered if it would be rude if he asked her to stop talking on the matter.Is this what I’m going to face on the journey back to town?
He reckoned that she should be about eighteen years old or thereabouts. But she spoke as if she was much older. Perhaps she just looked younger than her age.
Adam cleared his throat and thought of something appropriate to say. He had once made the mistake of telling his housekeeper that he didn’t believe in God. She had taken it upon herself to try to convert him and show him the error of his ways. He hadn’t wanted to sack her and had so endured her constant sermons until her family moved away from the area.
He didn’t intend to make that mistake ever again and so he said, “That’s nice. Best we get going.”
He reached a hand out to her and helped her up. He was a little surprised at how soft her hand was. He had expected it to be callused because of her stay with the Indians. Maybe she hadn’t joined them in weaving baskets, tanning hides, making metal works, and farming.
Pursing his lips from asking her how she came to live with the Cheyenne, he stepped back from her. He led the way to his horse that was grazing a short distance away.
He didn’t bother asking her if she knew how to ride. Cheyenne Indians were horse people. Heck, he didn’t know any Indian who didn’t know how to ride a horse.
“This is Dark Knight.”
