Savage Spring Read Online Free Page B

mother it is safe for her to return,” he said, chuckling to himself.
    Joanna watched her husband walk away, loving the way he carried himself so tall and proud. “Stop by Farley’s tipi and tell him he is welcome to come tonight if he wishes,” she called after him.
    Joanna went to the cook-fire and turned the deer roast that was cooking there. She smiled to herself, thinking how much Farley loved to be included in the family gatherings. The old trapper, Farley, was especially dear to her. There was a time when Windhawk had allowed him to live in the village only because she wanted Farley to be near her. The old man was now accepted by everyone, and Joanna was glad. She loved that dear old man, and he brightened up her life with his colorful speech and wise sayings.
    Tonight Joanna would have those about her whom she loved most in the world, and that made her extremely happy. She hummed softly to herself as she bent over Sky Dancer’s cradle and lifted the baby into her arms. Joanna looked into the blue eyes of the child, thinking her life was perfect. There was nothing more she wanted out of life, except the happiness of those she loved.
    It was snowing outside the big lodge where the chief of the Blackfoot and his family resided, but it was warm and cheerful on the inside. The lodge was unlike any other in the village, since Joanna had brought many of the white man’s comforts into it. There were bearskin rugs on the floor, and a brass bed, which was covered with luxurious furs. Brass kettles and pots hung from one of the lodgepoles, and Windhawk’s weapons hung from the others. There was a feeling of warmth and togetherness among the people who sat upon the bearskin rugs after enjoying a good meal.
    Tag studied the faces of everyone present. There was Morning Song, his wife, whose face glowed with happiness. With her, he had become a man. She was the only woman he had ever taken to his body, and the only one he had ever wanted.On their wedding night, their love had been so beautiful and innocent because it had been the first time for them both. Morning Song had been his wife for two years now, and soon she would make him a father.
    His eyes then traveled to Sun Woman, his mother-in-law. She was somewhere in her fifties and still a very attractive woman. Her family was her whole life, and she was always doing special little things for those she loved. He remembered the time she had made him a buckskin shirt and trimmed it with dyed porcupine quills. Her joy had been apparent when he had shown his pleasure over the gift. Althought she was forbidden by Blackfoot custom to speak directly to him as her son-in-law, she showed her love for him in the way her eyes would light up when she smiled at him.
    His eyes moved to the small bed at the back of the lodge where his nephew, Little Hawk, now slept, then to the cradle where Joanna’s newborn daughter lay. He was delighted with his niece and nephew and looked forward to the time when his own child would be born.
    His eyes next went to Windhawk. There wasn’t a man living whom Tag respected and admired as much as the chief of the Blood Blackfoot. Windhawk had been his guide and his teacher ever since he had first come to the Blackfoot village to live. Tag watched as Windhawk’s dark eyes went to his sister, Joanna, and caressed her face. One had but to look at Windhawk to know that he loved her deeply.
    Last of all, Tag looked at his sister. Joanna had always been there for him. She had been his strength as a child, and he thought she still might be. He remembered how she had always made him read his books and do his lessons when he was a boy. She had badgered him into learning all he could. She had versed him in the ways of being a gentleman, telling him he would one day return to Philadelphia to claim what, by rights, belonged to him. Joanna had been wrong—he would never return to Phildelphia. His life was here with Morning Song.
    He felt Joanna’s eyes on him, and