Savage Flames by Cassie Edwards

Author:Cassie Edwards [Cassie Edwards]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
Published: 2008-01-29T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-one

She was a phantom of delight

When first she gleamed upon

My sight.

—William Wordsworth

The next day Lavinia was enjoying the morning meal with everyone she loved, sharing hominy corn cakes and a variety of fish.

It seemed unreal to her that Wolf Dancer should be sitting with her and her friends, talking casually with them, even though he was a powerful Seminole chief.

But he had opened his lodge to her and her friends. He had never behaved as though he were better than anyone else, not even Joshua or Twila, whom most whites would look down on.

Yes, Wolf Dancer was someone very special, kind and caring toward all he knew.

The more Lavinia learned about him, the more she loved him.

She had never thought such a love was possible, or that she would meet such a man as Wolf Dancer.

She felt that he cared deeply for her as well. Sometimes she would catch him looking at her withsuch intensity, and he always treated her with great gentleness.

He was more gentle than her father had been, and he had been everything to Lavinia when she was a child.

Now? If only she knew for certain how Wolf Dancer felt about her! Did he love her too, even though they met so recently? She felt this was a man she would be happy to share her life with forever.

“Joshua, I believe it is time for you to tell Lavinia all that you told me about her husband’s death, how he truly died…by whose hand,” Wolf Dancer said thickly as he gazed at Joshua. “She is strong enough now to hear the truth.”

Lavinia’s hand clutched a wooden cup in her hand, which held a drink called cazina, a bitter-tasting infusion made from a weed that the Wind Clan gathered on the island.

Wolf Dancer had told everyone as he handed them cups of cazina that this was a very healthy brew for all who drank it. Lavinia found that despite its bitterness, she thought it was delicious.

“Joshua, what do you know that you have not told me?” Lavinia asked, setting her half-empty cup aside. “I…I…want to know.”

She gazed at him intently as he lowered his eyes, seemingly avoiding not only her question but also her eyes.

“Joshua, please?” she begged in a tone Joshua knew well, a voice of such sweetness that he could not help responding to it.

He slowly lifted his eyes and returned her steady gaze. “It ain’t a nice thing to tell, nor to hear, Lavinia,” he said, his voice drawn. “But you mus’ know, and it is time for you to be told. I’se the one to tell you, Lavinia, for I witnessed it all firsthand.” “Witnessed what?” Lavinia asked, realizing that the lodge had grown stone quiet, except for the popping and crackling of the fire. Everyone’s eyes were on Joshua.

“I saw Hiram murder your husband,” Joshua finally blurted out. “Lavinia, I seen it with mine own two eyes. Hiram drew back a bowstring with an arrow in it, and then shot Massa Virgil in the chest.

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