“If we haven’t found out anything by then, we won’t, and I won’t place us in jeopardy.”
Burke didn’t respond, though he would have liked to tell her that he intended to stay longer if it meant it would help him find his brother. But that was his impatience gnawing at him. Storm was right, and he’d defer to her orders—this time.
The people cast suspicious glances at them when they entered the village. Some even stood guard over what little crop was left to harvest in their gardens. Lack of food was obvious in their gaunt faces, and hopelessness weighed heavy on slumped shoulders.
Burke was reminded of a similar scene, when one especially hard winter had hit the Dakota Territory and crops were slow in harvesting if they harvested at all. He had ridden with his tracker friend who had been raised in the white world but whose mother had been full-blooded Sioux to see how the village had fared.
It hadn’t, and much work was needed to help the people recover, and to make certain they didn’t suffer again.
“You need food?” a stout woman asked, walking over to Storm.
“We would be grateful for any you could spare,” Storm said softly, her head bowed.
“I have bread and mead to share,” the woman offered. “Follow me.”
“Accept the mead, not the bread, “Storm murmured to Burke before entering the small cottage the woman took them to.
Tears pooled in the woman’s green eyes. “You are safe, Storm, thank God. We had heard you had been captured.”
Storm laughed and gave her a hug. “Please, Hannah, you insult me.”
Hannah giggled. “I told John you would never be caught. The heavens protect you.”
“Where is that husband of yours?” Storm asked, casting a quick glance around the single, sparse room.
Hannah brushed at her falling tears. “Taking his life in his hands so that we do not starve.” She shook her head. “The fool is hunting on the earl’s property.”
“Tanin,” Storm said, though the tall man was already at the door.
“What direction did he go in?”
Hannah blessed Tanin after telling him where to find her husband, and Storm told him to meet her in the woods when he finished.
Burke waited silently. Storm obviously knew what she was doing and it would not do him any good to interfere. Besides, he marveled at her compassion and understanding.
He had been furious the day he rode into the Sioux camp and found people starving, no food to be found. The little food he had brought with him had still been offered to him first, for it would have been rude for them not to share what little they had, just as Hannah did now.
He wished he had money with him so that he could give her enough to flee this wasteful life and start new in America, on his ranch if necessary.
“I need your help,” Storm said, taking Hannah’s hand and sitting at the table with her.
“Whatever I can do for you,” Hannah obliged, and filled two tankards with mead from the pitcher on the table.
“I search for a man,” Storm said, handing a tankard to Burke. “His name is Cullen Longton.”
Burke stood beside Storm, since there were only two chairs.
“I was told he may have passed through here, and there may be a bounty on him.”
Hannah’s eyes widened. “There was a man accused of poaching on Dunwith land, but he was taken to Glencurry.”
“Why?” Storm asked.
Burke didn’t like the tone of her “why.” Something was wrong.
Hannah shook her head. “None understood why. If he poached on Dunwith land, then here is where he should be tried and convicted, but he was whisked away.”
Burke took a step forward, but Storm’s hand shot out and jabbed at his thigh. He heeded her warning and stood still, fighting the urge to question the woman.
