Judith E French by Moonfeather Page B

looked around the snug wigwam. The house seemed larger tonight with only the four of them inside. Her cousins were playing the bone game with some of their friends, and Tahmee and her children had gone to their own wigwam for the night.
    Alex switched to his native tongue. “’Tis a serious accusation ye make again’ Matiassu. If he’s guilty, it could mean loss of his station wi’ the tribe. ’Twill cause great strife among us. Clan weel stand against clan. I’ve seen tribes break apart for less cause.”
    Leah brushed a lock of hair from Kitate’s face. “Aye, so I’ve said to myself. It pains me that such a man has come to this because of wanting me as wife.” She left her son’s side and moved close to her aunt. “’Tis why I didna go to the council. ’Tis why I broke the Seneca arrow and buried it in the forest.”
    “While the matter remains hidden, there may be a way to mend the pot before the stew is lost,” Amookas said. “Your sky-eyed husband must go far from this place. If he is gone, and you say nothing of Matiassu’s shame, it will be forgotten. If anyone learns what has happened, Matiassu will have to kill the Englishman to save his own honor.”
    “So I have thought, sister of my mother,” Leah replied. “Brandon must go, and he must go at once. If there is a scandal, he will never be permitted to become adopted. And . . .” She took the older woman’s worn hand and squeezed it tightly. “And he will die.”
    Amookas peered into Leah’s face. “You have allowed yourself to care for this foreigner. I can see it plainly.”
    “Aye,” Alex agreed. “She has. And she speaks true. Matiassu will not rest until he lifts her mon’s hair, that’s certain.”
    “You know that if the captive is caught trying to escape, the council will put him to death.” Amookas’s kindly features creased with concern. “You could be in danger too, daughter. Matiassu may try and kill you both.”
    “I mean to take him away tonight, while the young men still search for Seneca . . . before Matiassu returns to camp,” Leah said. “Brandon would be as helpless as a newborn elk calf in the forest. I’ll have to guide him back to the white settlements. I need to know that my wee son will be safe wi’ ye while I go, and I need your blessing.”
    “Aiyee,” Amookas cried softly. She rocked back and forth and moaned. “I see great danger for you. Would it not be better to wait until the men relax their vigil?”
    “Nay,” Alex said. “The lass be cunning as an old fox. The warriors watch for those who would sneak up on the camp, nay those who’d flee fra’ it. She kens the woods as well as any mon. If any can get the Englishman free, ’twill be she.” He set the stock aside and massaged the stump of his bad leg. “If I stood on two pegs instead o’ one, I’d see t’ the matter myself. But I canna. Sech be life, Amookas mine. Dinna fash yourself, wife. Nay harm weel coom to her. She wears her luck aroond her neck.” He nodded. “Aye, ’tis a good plan, lass. Dinna worry aboot your bairn. He’ll be safe wi’ us, or we’ll all be in heaven together.”
    “The Englishman knows the risk he takes, if he tries to escape?” Amookas asked. “You’re certain his wounds won’t slow him down?”
    Leah looked up into her aunt’s eyes. “The wounds are painful, nothing more. And he knows the penalty if we’re caught.”
    “Go then, with our blessing,” Amookas said. “You’ll listen to my warnings no more than you did before, no more than your mother listened when I told her not to wed your father.”
    Leah embraced them both, kissed her sleeping son, and turned toward the door. “I’ll be a few weeks on the trail, a moon at most. Keep Kitate safe for me.”
    “Inu-msi-ila-fe-wanu protect you,” her aunt whispered.
    “God go wi’ ye, lass,” Alex murmured.
    Eyes clouding with tears, Leah ducked out of her aunt’s wigwam and hurried toward her own house where Brandon waited