Dawn's Fire, book 2 of the Dawn Fire trilogy

Chapter 16; Settling In

Chapter 16

Settling In

       After parting with Laughing Bear, Lion Claw walked back over to where Dawn Fire was still sitting patiently, waiting for his return. With relief, Lion Claw caught sight of his mother and sister standing a short distance behind the red haired woman. Now free of his responsibilities for the moment, he walked over to his beloved family and unashamedly gathered both women into his arms. “You were both sorely missed, my mother and my sister.” He planted a kiss on each of the cheeks nearest to him. 

     “As you were deeply missed, my son,” Wind In Trees laid a hand upon her only son’s cheek and searched his face for all there was to see. She was troubled by the new creases of worry over his brow and the darkened shadows under his eyes which spoke of a lack of sleep over a long period of time. From what she saw her mother’s heart knew that much had happened to her child since last she had seen him, and also something had changed. “It looks like we have much to talk about. And you look thin and worn out. What did you get to eat while you were out in the wide open world, river rat stew and fried opossum?”

     “Mother, please.” Swaying Blossom giggled catching his attention. “And you, my little sister, have you been behaving yourself? Did our uncle Gray Cloud hold his promise to chase away all the unworthy young braves who are interested in you while I was away?”

     “Oh Lion Claw, I truly did miss you, my much older brother.” Lion Claw playfully pulled one of his sister’s braids and was rewarded with a bright smile. Though Lion Claw enjoyed teasing his lovely sister about being the younger of the two of them, she was in fact only three years his junior. 

      “Alright, enough you two. Lion Claw, do you not think that you should introduce us to your teepee’s newest addition?”

      “Nooh´ooke´ Sitee,” At the sound of her new name in Arapaho, Dawn Fire began to stand to her feet. But when she was half way up, the muscles in her legs suddenly cramped up after being crossed for so long and abruptly she fell back to the ground again. Without hesitation Lion Claw extended out a hand to the woman who was now his responsibility, as well as his property. 

     Finally Dawn Fire managed to get to her feet and looked expectantly up into Lion Claw’s eyes. He laid a hand upon Wind in Trees’ arm and said, “Neinoo,” while pointing to himself.

    “Your mother?” At Lion Claw’s nod, Dawn Fire continued on with a bow of her head, “I am honored to me you and I hope to be of service to you and your daughter as well as to your son.”  Lion Claw translated for both his mother and sister, both of which smiled kindly back at Dawn Fire. 

     “Come now, both you and Dawn Fire must eat and rest.” Wind In Trees took hold of her son’s and Dawn Fire’s arms and started them off in the direction of her teepee. But then Lion Claw stopped in his tracks.

    “Jeremiah,” surprised at the unexpected call of a white man’s name, Dawn Fire looked eagerly around herself in search of the name’s owner. She hadn’t thought of it until now, but surely there were other captives that had been taken into this Arapaho tribe before her group had arrived. Her eyes caught sight of a tall wiry man striding purposefully towards them and as he drew near her eyes began to widen. 

     It was neither a white man nor a red skinned man walking in their direction, but an African with skin as dark as ebony. He wore the buck skin tunic and leggings decked over by thick fur lined boots typical of Arapaho men in winter, but in addition he had a wide brimmed cow boy hat on too, not at all typical. He smiled politely and inclined his head while raising up his hand in a greeting. Lion Claw returned his greeting and then clasped his hand around the forearm that Jeremiah stretched out to him. “It is good to see you my friend.” Though Dawn Fire did not understand what the two men were saying she could tell unmistakably that the two men were good friends. She snapped shut her mouth which had been hanging open as Jeremiah flashed her a wide grin which showed his full set of startling white teeth.