He sensed a strange danger. Sensed a warning in the call of the night birds. Felt it burn within his blood.
But he couldn’t see it.
The hours passed. The night was uneventful. Morning came, and they prepared to ride again.
Though they traveled light, it took them two days of riding in a southeasterly direction to reach the agreed-upon site for the conference.
The morning before the meeting was to take place, they came upon a temporary camp for some of the white commissioners, army personnel, journalists, and the sutlers who were bound to follow such a group.
Before they neared the white camp, Ice Raven and Blade departed. Skylar wanted to thank them, perhaps hug them goodbye. But the Sioux were not demonstrative, and she had learned that wives were seldom direct with the male relatives of their husbands, and so she simply said goodbye and thank you, and waved when the two of them left.
“Hawk! Major! Willow!” A soldier called as they neared the camp. He hurried out to meet them, a young man with red hair, freckles, and a lieutenant’s insignia upon his uniform. He wore a broad grin. “Why, you two look more like redskins than redskins!” he exclaimed. “And Willow, well…”
“Well, I’m Willow, eh?” Willow said.
Skylar was surprised that neither her husband, Willow, nor Sloan seemed to take offense. Sloan looked at Hawk. Hawk shrugged.
“It’s the boy’s red hair,” Hawk said. “He wishes he had the skin to match it.”
“Irish,” Sloan said sadly with a shake of his head.
“Irish is just fine,” Hawk said, “if you can mix it with Sioux.”
“An Irish Sioux!”
“It’s happened upon occasion,” Sloan warned.
The young man grinned, but then his grin froze as he gazed at Skylar. “Oh, my God! Is this gorgeous creature such a mixed blood? I’d have never imagined?—”
“Danby, this is my wife, Lady Douglas, recently come west from Baltimore,” Hawk said.
His jaw dropped. “Oh, God! Now I’ve sworn—I’m sorry, Hawk, I?—”
“Skylar, meet Lieutenant Danby Dixon. Danby, Lady Douglas,” Sloan interrupted.
“Skylar, please,” she told the lieutenant, smiling down at him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. And thank you very much for finding me gorgeous.”
The lieutenant smiled sheepishly up at Skylar, “Good day to you, Lady Douglas—Skylar!” He gaped at her a second longer, then seemed to come to his senses. He lowered his voice quickly. “Hawk, Major, Willow, I think it’s a hard time to be Sioux, indeed. Why, it seems to me folks in Washington must be blind. They can’t keep a promise to save a life, and that’s a sad fact. They’re tense as rabbits about this conference. The general is just about gnawing on his own hat, awaiting your report, Major. Though what anyone is meeting about, I don’t know. The folks from Washington want the Black Hills burst wide open. And it’s happening!”
They neared a cluster of tents where Skylar saw officials in civilian dress, military men in uniform, and Indian scouts in their mixture of Plains dress and army issue. Suddenly a young woman with long pigtails came hurrying forward. “Bless me!” she exclaimed, staring at Skylar. She pressed her hand to her heart. “Bless me!” she repeated.
“Minister’s wife, Sarah,” Danby said, making the introduction as if it were a warning.
Skylar realized that it was her doeskin dress the woman was staring at in horror. She had forgotten her apparel until now.How foolish. There weren’t many women at the camp, but those she saw were respectably dressed, in petticoats and skirts that had been somewhat modified for prairie conditions, but they were all quite feminine and fashionable, nonetheless.
“You poor, poor dear!” she exclaimed. “Lord Douglas, has this darling creature been a prisoner among the Sioux? Have you brought her back to the bosom of her own people? Does she speak English?”
“Quite well, Sarah. This is my wife, Skylar.”
Sarah’s jaw dropped, much as Danby’s had done. “There was a rumor from up your way that you had married, Hawk, but—oh, God, I am sorry. Lady Douglas. Er, Lady Douglas…” she broke off, extremely uncomfortable. “Lady Douglas, the sutler has some lovely gowns, if you’re interested.”
Skylar glanced at Hawk, amused.
He smiled in return. “I imagine my wife is quite interested. Skylar, I assure you, you’ll be fairly safe in Sarah’s company.”
“Lord Douglas, you can be very bad!” Sarah chastised him.
“Bad can be good upon occasion, Sarah,” Sloan assured her.
