Chito clicked his tongue, “You are as stubborn as a mule. You keep running away from your feelings rather than embracing them and resolving them. How long do you intend to live this way?”
“I wonder why I still hear your voice when you should have left by now,” Running Wolf told his friend as he looked up to the sky. The rain was already coming down heavily. He frowned at his friend, “I do not want to have to give you shelter through the rainfall. You should leave now.”
“You are just so stubborn,” Chito scoffed.
Running Wolf opened his mouth to respond when there was a deafening sound in the air. It was closely followed by another.
“Was that a gunshot?” Chito asked.
Running Wolf frowned as he shoved his hand through his slick long hair. “Yes. And that only means one thing, trouble could be in the horizon.”
“So who could it be? The soldiers? Which ones?”
“There is only one way to find out,” Running Wolf said as he grabbed his bow and arrow and slung them over his shoulder. He stalked toward the forest with Chito fast behind him.
The two men saw nothing and they went deeper.
“Maybe it was thunder?” Chito shrugged.
“Think like a true Choctaw,” Running Wolf hissed, “Did that in any way sound like thunder?”
Not waiting for Chito’s response, Running Wolf stalked forward. Softly, he said,
“The gunshot did not come from this side of the forest. I believe it was on the other side.”
“But how did it sound so clear? It seemed like it was right next to us,” Chito frowned.
“It is night and it is raining. Sound travels far in the night,” Running Wolf replied calmly.
Suddenly, he held his hand out, stopping his friend’s movement.
“We are close to the river. Can you hear it?”
“Uh huh,” Chito nodded. “There really is no point going any further then, is there? Whatever is happening, it’s not around here. We can be rest assured that the village is safe.”
“Yes, we can,” Running Wolf said with a slow nod. “Go on ahead. I just need to do a quick run around the river, just to be sure.”
“What do you need to be sure of? We should just head back now and...”
Running Wolf’s head snapped towards his right, “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what? Anyway, you’ve always been one with the sharpest ears and...” Chito’s words were interrupted as Running Wolf dashed to his right, leaping over a broken tree branch.
The whimpering he heard got louder as he got closer to the river. He emerged from the woods and froze in his tracks when he saw the figure in the water. It was dark but for the moon that was casting its shadow over the river.
“I told you there’s nothing but you...” Chito started but he froze as well when he saw what Running Wolf had seen. “Is that... a... A pregnant woman? And she is a pale face!”
“Yes.” Running Wolf blurted out as he approached her cautiously. He crouched beside her, his eyes skimmed over her. She was drenched. The river must have washed her onto the banks. Her wet hair was sticking to her head. Her eyes were shut although her eyelids were fluttering. From her mouth, he could hear the soft whimpers that had reached him from the other side of the woods. Her hands were draped over her stomach protectively.
“What on earth happened to her? Do you think she is linked to the gunshot we heard?”
Running Wolf whose eyes were still glued to the woman’s face softly said, “It’s too much of a coincidence. They just might be.”
“What do we do? The village is not going to like the fact that an outsider was found so close to our territory. She is a pale face!”
“Well, we can’t just leave her here to die, can we? She is in no state to survive.” Running Wolf grunted. He was already lifting her up.
“But... This isn’t going to end well, Running Wolf.”
