Seneca Surrender Read Online Free Page A

be some clue that would tell of her recent history. Perhaps she had broken her neck or back? Gently, he tested the theory, sending his fingertips down over the muscles and bone structure of her neck. Nothing. Nothing substantial to indicate a problem that would claim her life. Turning her lightly onto her side, he felt along her spinal column. Several bones were out of place, but nothing was broken. Her body seemed intact.
    He frowned. Again, he wondered what had happened to her.
    Was it the spirits of the water? The falls? This was a dangerous area. Had the force of the rapids claimed another victim?
    But why would she have been near the falls? A white woman in the woods alone? His jaw clenched. There had to be someone close by. But, glancing up and looking askance again, he realized that the puzzle of her appearance would not be solved here. His examination of her had at least established one fact: She was fit to travel.
    Taking her into his arms, he was more than aware that she felt light in his grasp. Quickly, he stepped down off the rock. Not knowing exactly how she had come to be here, he kept his attention attuned to the environment, listening for a sign of other life … anything to indicate the presence of another in the surroundings. She was a beautiful woman; surely whomever she belonged to would miss her.
    But again, he could sense nothing unusual. Not a thing that would give him a clue as to what had happened.
    Enough. She required care.
    Quickly he rushed toward the security of the woods. If someone were here watching, the trees and bushes offered sanctuary. At least they would hide the direction of his path. But where would he take her? He hadn’t yet constructed his own shelter for the night, and it was already late in the day.
    Perhaps … if his memory served him correctly, there was a cave nearby that might lend itself well for their purposes, provided of course that a bear or other animal hadn’t already laid claim to it. It was a quiet place, if he remembered rightly, away from the all-seeing eyes of the forest. Plus, it was little known by his own and other tribes. Long ago, his grandfather had shown it to him, indicating that it might serve well if ever he were in trouble.
    As White Thunder hurried toward that spot, he gazed down into the pleasing features of the woman, realizing that his curiosity about her hadn’t abated. However, there would be time enough to discover who she was once they were safely sheltered. For now he had best hurry to see if the cave were occupied or vacant.
    Balancing her weight and his musket into more secure positions, he darted through the forest, disappearing into it.
    “ Wah-ha , young beauty,
sleep well into the night.
The Creator shall take pity
so fear thee not.
Wah-ha , young beauty,
sleep well into the night.
The Creator shall take pity
so fear thee not.”
     
    White Thunder’s deep voice echoed off the walls of the cave, giving the song an eerie quality, as though it might have been a ghost, instead of a man, repeating the lyrics. Carefully, White Thunder sprinkled water over the woman’s forehead, enough to keep her fever low but not so much as to kill it altogether.
    White Thunder could almost hear his grandmother speaking to him, as if she were standing at his shoulder now, telling him what to do. What was it she had once said to him? That a fever is not always a thing to fear; if kept to a minimum, a fever had the power to drive away the evil spirits from within the body.
    White Thunder laid his hands on the woman’s forehead, then he moved his touch down slowly to her cheeks, on down to her neck, then one hand down each arm. He repeated the action, once, again, over and over, gently singing the song he had composed.
    “Marisa!” The cry of the woman’s voice was choked, barely a sob.
    He placed a finger over her lips.
    But she squirmed beneath his touch, and rocked her head back and forth. “Marisa! Beware!”
    He understood her words well.