The Cry of the Wolf Chapter 67

Nothing looked familiar. Adelaide searched her memories and came up blank. She was certain this wasn't the way they had traveled when brought to the Mohawk Valley. Then again, she had been so overwhelmed with grief at the loss of her children, she could be mistaken.

Sighing, she hurried to catch up with the tribe who continued to move eastward, slaughtering any and all Frenchmen they encountered. No captives were taken, only their scalps. Fortunately, Adelaide wasn't required to help scrape the tissue from the skins before stretching them on hoops to dry out.

The men compared the number of scalps they had collected after each raid before preparing them to be displayed on hastily constructed hoops.

Adelaide turned away, nauseated. The soft hair hanging from cleaned skins was a silent reminder Adelaide did not belong to this world. As far as she could see, none of the victims deserved such a fate. Their murder was swift if that was any consolation.

Adelaide knew she should run far and fast, yet also knew she had no chance of surviving should she leave the protection of the tribe. With each step they took heading east, the closer she came to find Gavin. It wasn't her problem what happened between here and there. She shouldn't have been brought to this century anyway. After all, no one has ever been able to change the past.

****

Running, running, yet never able to run fast enough or far enough. Painted warriors were in hot pursuit, hot breath on the nape of her neck. There was nowhere to run and hiding was futile.

Adelaide awoke in a cold sweat, thrashing in the thick darkness, a scream escaping her throat before she was fully awake.

Inadvertently awakening those laying near her, Adelaide struggled to find an explanation for her night terrors. She couldn't exactly tell the truth - the source of her nightmares was the scalps hanging from poles mere feet away.

Adelaide held her knees pressed tightly against her heaving chest as she struggled against the last remnants of her terrifying dream.

"I'm sorry for waking you. It was nothing...really."

Listening to the rustling of the furs as her companions settled down once again to catch a few hours of sleep before dawn, Adelaide took a deep, measured breath. The morning was coming soon. Just a little while longer and she would be reunited with Gavin. Then, this would all be forgotten, or at the very least, a distant dream she wished she could forget.

****

Adelaide barely spoke a word to her companions the following morning. With Torris strapped securely to her back, Adelaide joined the women and children who followed the warriors at a safe distance.

"Please don't let there be any more deaths today," she breathed a prayer to a God she no longer was certain was listening or cared.

Adelaide couldn't bear to have any more blood on her hands.

Thinking of Gavin and their reunion helped to pass the time as they continued walking. It seemed like forever since she had seen the man she had been married to for so long. Would he welcome her home with open arms? What had his reaction been when he came home to an empty house? Had he searched for them? Contacted his parents? Asked for prayer at their church's prayer meeting? She couldn't help but grin at the thought of Gavin decked in buckskin had he joined her.

The image of Gavin and Chief Long Knife standing side by side made her stomach clench uneasily. Gavin would surely know he was not nearly as fine a catch as the muscular chief who would tower over him. There really was no comparison, and Gavin, for all his character flaws was no man's fool. Fortunately, the two would never meet and if it were not for Torris, she would have chosen to keep Chief Long Knife's existence a secret.

A twinge of guilt squeezed her chest for taking Torris so far away from his father. If she was able to find the portal back to the future, Torris would have a greater chance of survival. Wasn't that worth it? The wilderness had proved to be most cruel.

No one needed to ever know the little one was from centuries past. On second thought, was it possible he would vaporize as they passed through time and space? Surely not! No, this was for the best. Both she and her son needed to go home.

****

Chief Red Hawk watched the brunette with a glint in his eye that, if Adelaide didn't know better, looked too much like amusement. Could the chief be testing her? Adelaide didn't have long to wait as he moved closer, the muscles in his sinewy legs constricting with his fluid motion.

"We will reach where the pale faces have set up camp. Tomorrow, you will join the men instead."

"Whatever for?" Adelaide asked before she thought better of it.

Chief Red Hawk ignored her question, his firm mouth twitching in a grin, although, at the moment, the mirth didn't reach his dark brown eyes.

Fear clenched at Adelaide's chest, constricting her throat. Why was she singled out? Had they decided to approach the settlement peacefully, and if so, why was the fate of these people different from those who had been scalped?

Adelaide bit her tongue until she tasted the unfamiliar salty, metallic tang of her own blood.

"Tomorrow may be too soon," an older man on the opposite side of Chief Red Hawk spoke up, gesturing with his hand toward the entrance of their makeshift shelter, "We don't have nearly enough. It will not go well for us if we show up with less than last time. He will think we are slacking off ..."

"You speak words of wisdom," the ruggedly handsome chief briefly acknowledged his companion, his eyes still focused on Adelaide. "Take ten warriors with you. Do not return until you have more than double the amount."

"I will gather the men...." Without another word, he retreated.

"You must rest," the chief spoke at last, his eyes never leaving Adelaide. "Tomorrow you will have no rest. No harm will come to you while you are under my protection. Fear not."