“Better not be hostiles,” Nate muttered.
“I doubt they would knock.”
Nate got up and tugged on his buckskin britches. In his bare feet he padded out into the front room and over to the door.
“Who’s out there?”
“It’s me.”
“Louisa?” Nate quickly threw the bolt and opened the door. She was in a dress and shawl. “What are you doing here at this time of night?”
“May I come in?”
“Of course.” Nate sheepishly moved aside, then peered out. There was just her horse, a few yards away. He thought maybe his son’s cabin had been attacked. “Where’s Zach?”
“That’s what I came to talk to you about.” Louisa bit her lower lip. “I’m a little worried.”
Light flared. Winona, in the blue cotton robe Nate had ordered for her at Bent’s Fort, was lighting a lamp. “Have a seat,” she said in her calm manner, “and tell us what is the matter.”
Nate never ceased to marvel at how well she spoke English. Far better than he spoke Shoshone. She had a knack for languages. He had to struggle.
Louisa lowered the shawl from her head and wearily sank into a chair. “Thank you. I’m sorry to bother you so late.”
“Nonsense,” Winona said. “You’re family. Come to us any time you feel the need.”
“What she said,” Nate said.
“Would you like tea or coffee?” Winona asked.
“Tea would be nice.”
Winona turned toward the counter and glanced at Nate. “You can close the door now, husband, unless you would like the coyotes to join us.”
Nate shut it and threw the bolt. He tucked the pistol into his pants and moved to a chair. Since Lou wasn’t crying or acting upset, he figured the emergency wasn’t life-threatening, which was a relief. “What’s wrong?”
“Zach didn’t come home tonight.”
“Did he go off hunting?” Nate would go on overnight hunts sometimes, but he hated to be away from Winona. He hadn’t liked it any better when he was younger and gone for days at a time working his trap line. Shakespeare McNair always teased him about it, saying he was too sentimental.
“No,” Lou was saying. “He just went for a ride. I took it for granted that he’d be home for supper since he didn’t say he wouldn’t. He’s usually so considerate.”
“He gets that from his father,” Winona said.
Nate was flattered. “I didn’t think you noticed all the nice things I do.”
“How could I not when you always remind me?”
“I guess it’s silly of me to worry,” Louisa said. “But with the baby on the way, and all…”
“It’s perfectly understandable,” Winona said.
“And then there’s that stupid wolf.”
Both Nate and Winona said at the same time, “What?”
“He hasn’t brought the wolf over to show you? He thinks it’s the one he had as a pet years ago, Blaze.”
“I’ll be darned,” Nate said.
“Everywhere he goes, everything he does, that wolf is at his side. He’d even bring it into the bedroom at night, but I put my foot down.”
“Good for you,” Winona said. “Men must be reminded how to behave.”
“Hmmmmph,” Nate said.
“What does that mean?” Winona said.
“Just hmmmmph.”
Lou went on. “The wolf was with him when he rode off, and they never returned.”
“You don’t think this wolf would harm him?” Winona asked.
“It’s a wolf.”
“Wolves don’t attack people that often,” Nate said. He could recall only a few instances. In one, it had been the icy dead of winter and the wolves were starving. In another, a trapper had tried to catch a pair of wolf cubs and the mother had defended her young.
“All it would take is a bite to the neck,” Lou said. “And Zach is always hugging the thing and treating it like a lost friend.”
“If it’s Blaze, it is,” Nate said.
Winona finished filling the teapot with water from a bucket and moved to the stone fireplace. “Blaze and Stalking Coyote were fond of one another.” She often used Zach’s Shoshone name. “I doubt Blaze would harm him.”
“Even so,” Lou said, “I can’t help but worry. Zach would have told me if he aimed to stay out the whole night.”
Nate shrugged. “Maybe his horse went lame. Maybe he shot a big buck and couldn’t finish butchering it before dark. Maybe the wolf ran off and he’s looking for it.”
“I suppose it could be any of those things,” Lou said. “And if the wolf did run off, I hope he doesn’t find it. I don’t want a wolf in our cabin after the baby is born.”
“I never heard of a wolf eating a baby.”
Lou stared at him.
“Well, I haven’t.”
Winona was rekindling the fire. “If Stalking Coyote isn’t back by an hour after sunrise, we’ll go search for him.”
“
“Why just you?”
Louisa said, “I want to go, too.”
“That’s why,” Nate addressed his wife. “In her condition she shouldn’t do a lot of riding.”
“I am right here,” Lou said. “A few hours in the saddle won’t bother me.”
“No, my husband is right,” Winona said. “Zach might show up while we are gone. You should stay in case he does and I should stay in case you need me.”
“I’m perfectly fine, I tell you.”
“Zach isn’t the only hardhead,” Nate said.
“I just hope he’s all right,” Lou said. “There are so many things that can happen to a person in the wilderness.”
“Yes,” Nate had to admit. “There are.”
The women thought they would be pursued, so they kept running, even when they were well out of sight of the trading post. Raven On The Ground in the lead, they went up the first hill and down the other side. They paused to look back and listen, each of them a shadowy shape in the darkness.
“Are they after us?” Lavender asked.
“Not yet,” Flute Girl said.
“But they will be,” Raven On The Ground declared, and ran on, her dress swishing against her legs.
“I wish we had our horses,” Lavender puffed.
So did Raven On The Ground. On horses they were safer from the beasts that prowled at night, the bears and mountain lions and others. The shriek of a big cat lent substance to her fear. Still, she ran.
When Raven On The Ground finally stopped, she had an ache in her side. Bending over, she gulped for breath. They had put three hills between them and the trading post, but it was nowhere near enough.
Lavender dropped to her knees. “I can’t run another step. I’m sorry.”
“We must,” Flute Girl said. She was breathing hard, her body stooped over. “I think the whites are waiting for daylight, and then they will give chase.” Looking around, she asked, “Where is Spotted Fawn?”
Only then did Raven On The Ground realize that she had not seen the youngest of them since they left the
