Savage Tempest by Cassie Edwards Page B

him. Never give him cause to believe a woman can look past his twisted back. I don’t want him to be hurt by rejection in the end.”
    â€œI . . . would . . . never do anything to hurt your son,” Joylynn said, yanking her wrist away from Blanket Woman. “I like him as a friend. Surely he realizes that.”
    â€œJust listen to what I say,” Blanket Woman said heatedly. “Heed my words, white woman. You must not talk to Sleeping Wolf, or encourage him, or you will pay dearly for it.”
    Joylynn had never done or said anything to this man that might make him believe she cared for him as anything but just a friend. Stunned by the warning, she stared into Blanket Woman’s eyes.
    When she saw fiery determination there, she knew better than to try to explain anything else about her feelings for Sleeping Wolf. The older woman was so blinded by her need to keep her son safe from a “woman’s clutches,” she did not know the truth when it was right in front of her.
    Sighing, Joylynn resumed placing the bark in the basket, surprised when Blanket Woman began helping her.
    â€œIt is done,” Blanket Woman said, placing her hands at her waist. She was obviously uncomfortablefrom the bending and stooping. “You carry the basket back to the village. There is no need to tell the other women that it was I who peeled the bark, not you.”
    Joylynn looked in amazement at Blanket Woman. Was the woman perhaps trying to make up for her earlier harsh words?
    â€œThe basket,” Blanket Woman said softly, nodding toward it. “Get the basket. The other women should be home by now, finished with their chores for the day.”
    The more the woman showed such kindness, the more puzzled Joylynn became.
    But she truly was happy for the change.
    Could Blanket Woman, in time, be a friend to Joylynn? She desperately needed a friend in this place.
    Although Joylynn was mesmerized by High Hawk, she could not let herself show him that she had feelings for him. She must never forget that she was his captive.
    She wanted her freedom back, and she would have it, some way, somehow.
    She thanked Blanket Woman, then walked to the village alongside her.
    When the other women saw Joylynn with the basket of bark, they gave her looks of approval, some even smiling at her. Joylynn felt uncomfortable that she was allowing them to believe she had gathered the bark herself.
    But since Blanket Woman had suggested the deceit, Joylynn took the credit that had been granted her.
    She watched the women go to their husbands’ corrals and place the bark there for their horses to feed on. Following suit, Joylynn went to High Hawk’s corral and emptied her basket there.
    She smiled when Swiftie approached the bark, sniffed, then turned his head away, as though putting his nose in the air over being offered such a thing to eat. He went back to where the grass was thick and nibbled on it.
    â€œThat’s my boy,” Joylynn said, going to him and patting his thick neck. “You know what’s best for you, don’t you?”
    Swiftie whinnied, gave her a look with his big brown eyes, then resumed eating as Joylynn walked from the corral and hurried toward High Hawk’s tepee.
    She stopped when she saw the women gathering together with their clean clothes and bathing supplies, then walking in a group toward the river.
    Knowing she was filthy after her long day of work at the Pawnee village, she hurried after the women.
    She looked around for Blanket Woman, and when she didn’t see her, wondered where she was. The day before, she’d joined the others to bathe. Had the old woman overtired herself doing Joylynn’s work? she wondered, feeling guilty.
    When they all reached the river, Joylynn again bathed with her dress on, ignoring the curious looks of the other women.
    Ignoring them, Joylynn enjoyed her time in the water, making certain her hair got a good soaking, for she did not want to