Home by Morning by Kaki Warner Page B

everything would be fine.
    â€œCome along then,” she said, hurrying their pace. “We can have an early supper at the hotel before we leave for our last gospel meeting.”
    *   *   *
    Thomas chewed thoughtfully, his gaze drawn to the people and wagons moving past the dining room window. The noise they made filled his head, drowning out everything else. Closing his eyes for a moment, he tried to remember the trill of birdsong, the whisper of wind over buffalo grass, the burble of water in a cold mountain stream. Instead, he heard only the rattle of wheels, people calling to one another, the clatter of plates and glasses. The music of his mountains was distant now, and that worried him.
    Laughter broke into his thoughts. He opened his eyes and saw Prudence cutting meat into tiny bites for Lillian. As he watched them, another troubling thought arose. Like the people rushing past outside,
Eho’nehevehohtse
had a purpose. Something to do. Somewhere to be. Reasons to keep putting him off.
    But what was
his
purpose?
    Forking up another bite of stew, he thought about that.
    Throughout his youth, his purpose had been to become a warrior and bring honor to his tribe. When his chief sent him away, his task had been to learn the ways of the whites so he would know how to defeat them. But after his tribe was herded into the government camps, his only duty had been to protect his wife and son. But he had failed at that, too. And in the dark time after he sang their death songs, vengeance had been his purpose and alcohol had fed his rage . . . until Declan Brodie locked him in a cell. After the demons left his spirit, he put aside his Indian ways. He took work as a deputy sheriff and lived among the whites. He sought peace, not war, and he learned that not all whites were without honor.
    But he still did not belong.
    Then Prudence Lincoln came. He knew from the moment he saw her sitting in Declan Brodie’s wagon that she would bethe one to give him new purpose and bring joy back into his heart. She taught him letters and numbers and words. She showed him how to fill the darkness of his spirit with books. And for the first time in many years, he had felt he had a place in this troubling world.
    But now she was leaving him, too. She had not said it yet, but he knew.
    Panic filled his chest. An unfamiliar feeling. One that left him confused and off balance. Yet he could find no other word for what he felt: fear. He could already sense he was spiraling back into the dark despair of a man who had no sons to follow in his steps, no tribe. No purpose.
    He did not want to go back to that place. He did not know if he could crawl out of it again. Or if he would want to without Prudence Lincoln.
    â€œMay we join you?”
    Startled, Thomas looked up to see the preaching man and Marsh standing beside the table. He sat back, surprised that he had not heard them approach, but comforted by the feel of his knife resting against the small of his back.
    â€œOf course.” Prudence smiled as she spoke, but Thomas saw the fear in her eyes, and in the blank stare of
Katse’e
, too.
    â€œI have good news,” Marsh said, after he and the reverend had ordered food.
    â€œAbout what?” Prudence asked.
    â€œYour initiative.” Marsh took his time shaking out his napkin and spreading it over his knees. After smoothing it flat with his soft hands, he looked up with that false smile. “I spoke with several people attending the fund-raiser tomorrow, and they’re quite interested in your idea of having the federal government oversee the schooling of ex-slaves.”
    Prudence smiled at the reverend. “That is good news, isn’t it, Brother?”
    â€œCertainly is.”
    â€œThere’s more.” With a smug expression, Marsh glanced at Brother Sampson. “Shall I tell her now? Or wait until after the gospel meeting tonight?”
    â€œTell me what?”
    A prickle of