The Soul Survivors Series Boxed Set by Vella Munn

Author:Vella Munn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ePublishing Works!
Published: 2017-02-22T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Spring had begun to arrive, chasing snow from the mountains and waking small animals from their winter's sleep. Luash's days were no longer filled with trying to keep herself and others warm.

Life returned to the winter gray sage and turned it into a pale blue cloud that took her back to her childhood. If she sat without moving, a shy sage grouse might slip out from under the cloud-plant to eat sagebrush buds and leaves. She had already pushed aside the woody old growth to study the delicate flowering vegetation that grew underneath, but if those tiny shoots had any aroma, they were overpowered by the sheltering sage. When there was little breeze, she could hear quail calling to each other as if delighted to be free to move about again. The bucks were growing new antlers.

Yesterday she'd ventured away from the stronghold and picked a couple of bitterbrush flowers, the first she'd seen this season. She'd given one to Whe-cha, who had tearfully confided that she'd once again begun her monthly bleeding and despaired of ever carrying Kientpoos's child. Maybe, Whe-cha had said, constant war talk had taken away her husband's ability to place his seed inside her.

War talk! It never ended!

Why, Luash wondered, was it so easy for the world to keep pace with the seasons when man continued to argue as if time meant nothing? More than two full moons had come and gone since she'd last spoken with Jed. Yes, they'd seen each other since then but because there were always others around, they'd done nothing except look at each other with eyes that didn't say nearly enough, that didn't trust.

The peace commission! How she'd come to hate those words that meant little more than gatherings without end or resolution. She hated even more feeling as if she was a prisoner in land she used to love. Although she prayed to him daily, Eagle did not always come to her, and his absence chilled her soul. Maybe, she forced herself to admit, Eagle disapproved of Jed's hold on her thoughts and emotions. And maybe Eagle's message went far deeper.

Needing distraction, she walked over to the rocks the sentries had piled up as fortification against stray army bullets. Because the sky was' as clear as a fast-moving creek, she easily saw where army men had moved over the past few days. Some were now so close that she could make out their wagons and horses, saw that the army too had piled up rocks as protection.

Although the main camp remained where it had always been, small groups were coming closer, shifting from one place to another, always moving and making her feel choked. Frightening her.

They made endless demands upon Kientpoos, and no matter what he requested of the white peace commission members, they said no. Why couldn't they return to Lost River, their home, Kientpoos kept asking. But the white man's president and his advisors wanted the Modocs sent elsewhere—only where that might be kept changing.

These

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.