Plenty Proud by Jeanie P Johnson

Author:Jeanie P Johnson [Johnson, Jeanie P]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-07T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

The warm sun filtered its way through the opening of the cave, but it didn’t warm it any. Their clothes had dried overnight, yet Eagle Eye wished it was still raining outside. He didn’t want the nearness of Firelight to fade. He wanted to hold her in his arms even longer. He realized that was not possible. She was not his woman, or intended wife. She was just a slip of a girl, confused and lost without anyone to care for her…except for him, now that Plenty Proud was no long available.

He pushed her unruly hair out of her eyes, and smiled down at her as her green eyes fluttered open. “The storm is over,” he told her, but he realized the storm in his heart was just beginning to rage.

This had been Plenty Proud’s woman, and he had taken advantage of her. He knew he would feel guilty in the end, even a little ashamed. Now he would have to deal with those conflicting emotions. However, there was nothing he could do about it now. Life would go on, and they had to move forward.

“We need to get dressed and see if we can find the canoe,” he told her.

“Yes,” Mackenzie agreed.

He noticed that she could not look him in the eyes, and figured she was feeling guilty as well. Therefore, he gave her the space he felt she needed, and tied on his breechcloth, then went and finished putting the rest of his clothes on, handing her dress to her.

Everything looked washed and clean as he stood gazing out at the river and the land around them. It was time to turn over a new leaf. As much as his heart yearned for her, he vowed not to touch the girl again the way he had last night. It would only be harder to let her go, if he did. He had one purpose, he told himself, and that was to take her home, and then return to his village to face Plenty Proud’s anger.

Mackenzie came and stood beside him, looking out from the cave entrance. The river was calm now, as though nothing had disturbed it overnight. The sun glistened on its surface, looking brighter than it had the day before. Everything appeared bright, only Mackenzie knew her heart would never feel bright again. She had given herself to two different Sioux braves. Worst yet, they were friends. Now she had not only come between Little Bird and Plenty Proud, but had come between Eagle Eye and Plenty Proud too. She had put her happiness first, not weighing the consequences or even seeming to care how much she was disrupting people’s lives.

She thought of how Griz had treated her. She had yearned to escape his selfish use of her. She had longed for the familiarity of home, yet in the back of her mind, she knew nothing would be the same again. If her brother and father had not returned to Missouri, there would be no one to greet her or to share her home with.

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