the very tone wove a fragile web around her groggy state, holding her, comforting her.
She struggled to awaken, to pull from the darkness holding her captive. There was light in his song, and more important, her heart revolved toward him, toward the gentle, soothing tones. Gradually Serena became aware of her fingers. She flexed first one, and then another, realizing she was still alive. Flashes of the miners attacking the women and children surfaced. Each time a flash of memory hit her, her stomach knotted in unadulterated fear. And then she would cling wildly to the chanting song, finding a haven of calm within the melody.
Wolf smiled down at his three-month-old niece as he placed her into the beautifully beaded cradleboard. Softening the lullaby he sang to Dawn Sky, he watched as the baby’s eyes drooped until they closed. The darkness within the tepee was alleviated by a small fire in the center. Smoke rose in lazy wisps toward the opening at the top of the huge lodge. Something prompted Wolf to look across the expanse to where Cante Tinza lay beneath the buffalo robe.
Rising silently, he covered Dawn Sky with a small deerskin blanket and made his way to the red-haired one’s side. Four days she’d been unconscious. Would she awaken, or die soon? He wasn’t sure. Placing his broad palm against her cheek, he noticed her brow was marred with a frown. Easing the frown from her flesh with his fingers, he lightly caressed the rich crown of her copper and gold hair.
“Come back, Cante Tinza,” he called softly in his own language. Picking up one of Dawn Sky’s deer rattles, he shook it gently. He moved it from the top of her head slowly toward her feet. Although a child’s toy, it was also used to heal a baby or an adult from grievous emotional wounds. Black Wolf placed his palm inches above the region of her heart and felt heat. That meant she carried terrible wounds to her emotional spirit, which had to be healed in order to make her want to live and not walk across the Rainbow Bridge.
The flickering fire bathed her face in shadow and light. Wolf brought the rattle full circle over her, singing a chant that invited her broken spirit back to this realm. The song came from his heart, and he allowed all his tightly suppressed emotions for his dead family to surface. Closing his eyes, he visualized himself pulling Cante Tinza back from the Rainbow Bridge, pleading with her to return to the here and now.
Serena focused on the man’s voice, which wrapped itself around her heart and soul. The emotion wrenched at her, and she felt herself moving toward some indistinct golden light that seemed so far away to her. The chant was filled with hope, and she felt her heart burst open, spilling out all of its deeply hidden misery. She felt her eyes fill with the warmth and life of tears, which then spilled silently down her cheeks. Serena struggled, fighting to surface, to pull away from the darkness.
“Ah, so you hear me, Cante Tinza.“ Wolf placed the rattle aside and touched the tears that shimmered like molten silver down her waxen cheeks. Smoothing them away beneath his thumbs, he smiled for the first time. This was a good sign. His heart told him she lay between light and darkness now. That she wanted to return to the land of the living but was not ready to cross the Rainbow Bridge yet. Her face was tense and small beads of sweat formed on her brow.
“Don’t struggle so much, my Brave Heart,” he coaxed, taking a cloth and dipping it in a wooden bowl filled with fresh river water. “You will come back to me. I will sing you songs filled with hope and strength—a beacon in your darkness.“ Daubing her brow, he smiled as he saw the corners of her mouth begin to ease, the stress disappearing with each ministration to her forehead. The deer rattle had worked its magic, allowing Cante Tinza to begin to release her hurt and fear.
There was a scratch on the tepee. Wolf placed the cloth on her forehead and moved to the opening. It was late at night, and he wondered who it might be. Pulling the skin aside, he motioned for the visitor to step inside.
Deer Woman blushed deeply as she entered. “Black Wolf, I have come to offer my services to you,” she stammered softly, clasping her hands nervously in front of her.
Wolf sat back on his haunches, knowing that this confrontation had been long in coming. The morning he’d ridden into the village with Cante Tinza in his arms, Deer Woman had covered her mouth with a cry and fled to sob her heart out somewhere in the surrounding forest. He’d felt badly, but there was nothing he could do. If only Deer Woman would realize that he didn’t love her, that she must walk her path with another man.
“Sit,” he invited, gesturing toward a nearby buffalo robe.
Unobtrusively, Deer Woman sat, her eyes downcast. “I did not mean to disturb you, Black Wolf, but so many have needed your help in the past five days, I wanted to wait.”
Sighing, Wolf pulled up one leg, encircling it with both arms. At this time of night, he was dressed only in a breechclout. “I thank you for your sensitivity, Deer Woman. Now, what is it you wished to see me about?”
Her rounded face was softened by the firelight as she raised her black lashes and studied him nervously. “How is the red-haired one? I hear so much gossip. Is it true? Is she dying?”
Wolf shook his head. “There are signs she is ready to awaken any time now.”
It was true, rumors about Cante Tinza had abounded like wildfire. The reaction within the village had been sharp and divided. A number of warriors and wives had come to him directly, telling him that a wasicun was evil and bad luck to all of them. And quietly, as was his demeanor, Wolf acknowledged their concerns and then tried to convince them that Cante Tinza was not a threat. They’d leave, shaking their heads, still in disagreement with him but powerless to make him change his mind.
“Oh…“ Deer Woman unclasped her hands, resting them on the thighs of her deerskin dress. “Well, then, I come to offer you help.”
Surprised, Wolf ruthlessly assessed her. “What kind of help?”
“When Redwing was alive, she and her daughter lived with you. She cared for your needs while you supplied her with food and shelter.“ She motioned to the baby. “Now, you must raise and tend a baby daily without a woman’s help. And this red-haired one demands equal attention, plus our people look to you daily for healing. I can care for your niece as well as tend to this wasicun.” Eagerly, she leaned forward, her topaz eyes wide and begging. “I can cook and sew for you. I can ease the many burdens you must carry, Black Wolf. And before you say no, I have already gone to your sisters, Evening Star and Little Swallow. Neither can help you because of their own families and responsibilities, even though they may want to.”
Scowling, Wolf realized the wisdom of her words. “Deer Woman, if I accept your services, understand that it does not mean you become my wife.“ He bored a look into her golden eyes. She lived in a world of fantasy and hope, too young and unwilling to see the reality that he did not love her.
A hesitant, hopeful smile touched her bowlike lips. “I—yes, of course, I understand that. But the Lakota way is to aid those in need of help. My mother does not require me, and my hands are idle. Dawn Sky’s needs are many. Although my breasts do not carry milk, I can become her mother in all other ways. I know that Dove That Flies nourishes her along with her own child. I would gladly take over Redwing’s duties for you.“ Her voice trailed off and she looked longingly at Wolf’s set features.
Glancing at Cante Tinza, Wolf knew Deer Woman was right. The baby demanded full-time care. She had stood back and assessed the situation, showing him that she was capable of common sense. For that, Wolf was grateful. “Very well,” he said gruffly. He pointed to the buffalo robe that had been Redwing’s pallet. “You will stay with me until I ask you to leave. Until then, you will tend Dawn Sky and cook and sew for all of us.“ He made a point of gesturing to Cante Tinza. “For her, too.”
Deer
