“When the sun shines warm and the fledglings are taking to the air.”
“So pretty.”
“Not as pretty as you.”
“What?” she asked.
“We should pick up the speed,” Mahpee said quickly.
Hinto frowned. There was nothing else for it. Mahpee was going to have to learn to share Brave Flower. Hinto had no intention of letting his friend stake the claim, just because he’d been out on watch that night. How could that be fair? How could that be his fate?
“Oh…” She knew what Hinto had said about her being pretty. The flush on her cheeks gave it away.
Yas shook his head and pointed at Brave Flower. His mouth turned down.
“She will ride well.” Mahpee set his shoulders back. “I know she will.”
“Oh but…I am new to this way of riding.” She appeared apprehensive.
Hinto studied her. The way she sat was natural, her hips moving with the horse’s rhythmic paces and her arms and legs relaxed. She had a good mare, too, responsive yet considerate. He was sure she’d be fine if they increased the pace.
“I will ride alongside her,” Hinto said. “And watch closely.”
Yas nodded.
Mahpee hesitated then. “Yes, but don’t let Nata race.”
“I have control of my horse.” Hinto frowned, not liking the implication that he didn’t have expertize. He’d controlled whatever horse he’d been on since he was a young boy. Riding was second nature. It came as easily as breathing, as eating as…mating.
“Thank you,” Brave Flower said to him.
“You do not have to say thank you.” Hinto smiled, hoping to give her some reassurance. “Just do what Mahpee said earlier, relax, feel your horse’s movements.”
“I’ll try.”
“And do not spend long in…what do you call it…trotting. A faster run is a smoother run.”
“I guess.”
Yas clicked his fingers, then dug his heels into the flanks of his horse. He took off, covering the last few meters of the butterfly meadow in seconds.
Mahpee followed, looking behind himself as he missed out any trot and went straight to a fast canter.
“God help me,” Brave Flower muttered, gripping the reins.
“I will help you. Now remember, relax, do not try and right yourself, the horse’s pace will keep you where you need to be.”
She nodded.
“Go on then, speed up.”
She swallowed, dragged in a deep breath, then kicked Faith on. The mare was keen to go, and like Ouray, went straight to a canter.
“Oh!” Brave Flower gasped.
Hinto was alongside her, Nata’s legs swishing through the tall grass. “That is it. You are doing it.”
She didn’t answer. Concentration etched on her petite features.
“Let your body move in time with the pace.”
She was already doing that, and Hinto was inexplicably proud of her. Pale faces always used saddles, and here she was boldly riding without one.
Yas and Mahpee disappeared into the forest, heading for the track that would lead them back to camp.
He kept Nata close to Faith. Her mare was a steady ride and surefooted. He was glad of that.
And with each of the few strides that passed, Brave Flower was becoming more confident. Her hands relaxed on the reins, and the lines bracketing her downturned mouth disappeared.
“You are good at this,” he called to her.
“I…I think so.” She flashed him a smile, then an excited laugh that caught on the wind.
“Head down!” Hinto shouted. “Now!”
A low branch was fast approaching. Luckily, she’d seen it, and together they ducked and went safely under. The horses didn’t appear to notice it, for them it was high and no concern.
The tunneled track grew darker, and still they kept moving. Soon they’d be a safe distance from the cabin. Hinto doubted Old Conner would come searching for Brave Flower today, he’d be laid up with his wound, but he’d seen in the greedy man’s eyes that he was stubborn as well as evil.
Faith stumbled in a dip.
Brave Flower lurched forward, then to the right.
Hinto gasped, a surge of fear rushing through his limbs, tightening the muscles.
But then she righted herself, and her safe rhythm resumed. She flashed him a smile again.
He nodded but didn’t smile back. It had frightened him to think of her falling and hurting herself. The sooner they got to camp the better.
Yas led the way out of the forest, and for a while they took to a ridgeway, steep drops on either side.
Again Hinto fought the fear—fear of having to watch Brave Flower fall and tumble down and down.
Mahpee must have thought it, too, for he glanced back over his shoulder several times, anxiety furrowing his brow.
Brave Flower kept her focus ahead, moving in time with Faith and being careful not to tense, because that would shake her off.
Eventually, the land flattened, and after crossing a shallow section of creek, the camp came into view between tall pine trunks.
Yas slowed, bringing his horse, Tsula, to a walk. He drew up beside Brave Flower and signed.
“I am good, thank you.” She smiled, understanding his simple question. “And thank you for not going too fast, Yas.”
He nodded and straightened the eagle claw hanging from a leather lace around his neck.
Hinto was impressed that she’d guessed what Yas was asking. Learning to speak the language of the white man had been hard for Hinto, and taken many months of practice with Henry Butterleigh. It seemed Brave Flower was already picking up what Yas was conveying with his hands. She was clever as well as beautiful.
“This place is…wow, I never…I never thought it would be so…” She gazed around.
“What?” Mahpee asked.
“Well, it’s pretty, I mean those tepees, isn’t that what you call them?”
“It is the name they have been given,” Mahpee said.
“They’re so white, and big, and the neat patterns on them, the colors are vibrant.” Her eyes were wide as she studied the place Hinto called home, for this season at least. “And there are so many of them.”
“We have nearly one hundred people here, plus children,” Mahpee said. “Each family has one main tepee or wikiup, and a few have extra, for ‘overspill’ Henry used to call it.”
“Oh, I see. Which one is yours?”
Hinto, along with Mahpee and Yas, pointed to a tepee set to the right, on the edge of the camp and near the start of the forest.
“You all…share?” she asked.
“Yes,” Hinto said. “We are too old to live with younger family members.”
Yas stuck his finger in his ear and screwed up his face.
She grinned. “Babies are noisy, huh?”
Yas nodded.
“And as we are all unmarried warriors,” Hinto went on, “we prefer to have our own home. It gives us privacy from our mothers, sisters, and aunts.”
“I can see why you would want that.” She hesitated, then directed at Mahpee. “So where will I stay?”
“With us,” he said, his mouth set in a dead straight line, the way it did when he wouldn’t be dissuaded from a decision he’d made.
“With all three of you?” She glanced at Hinto, then Yas.