As she left the wagons far behind, she felt more alone than she ever had in her life. Moonlight bathed the flats. Loretta turned in a slow circle but saw no one. If Hunter was out here, why didn't he show himself?
The call of the coyote trailed skyward again. Loretta whirled toward the sound and ran toward the rise. As she crested the slope, Hunter loomed up out of the shadows, tall and dark, his hair drifting in the wind. His upper chest and shoulder were crisscrossed with torn strips of cloth. Calico and muslin.
Slowing her footsteps, she walked toward him a ways, then stopped. Did he even want her as his woman now? So much had happened since they last saw each other. So much pain and grief. His face was in shadow, so she could read nothing in his expression.
When Loretta drew to a halt several feet away from him, Hunter's heart skipped a beat, then started racing. Peering at her through the silvery darkness, he saw a woman in clothing, her pale skin and golden hair illuminated by the light of the Comanche moon. Just as the prophecy had foretold, they stood on a high place, she on the land of the , while he, Comanche to his bones, stood on the land of the People. A great distance divided them, a distance much harder to bridge than the few feet between them. Hunter ached with things he longed to say, but none of them seemed enough. He realized then that the great canyon filled with blood wasn't a chasm in the earth but one in their hearts. There was an ache in Loretta's eyes that cut clear through him. He knew the same ache was in his own. His father, Maiden of the Tall Grass, her parents. So many were lost to them.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
Hunter was weak from loss of blood. His shoulder felt as if it had a red-hot coal buried in it. "I am well. You , yes? There is much we must talk about.
The call of the coyote trailed skyward again. Loretta whirled toward the sound and ran toward the rise. As she crested the slope, Hunter loomed up out of the shadows, tall and dark, his hair drifting in the wind. His upper chest and shoulder were crisscrossed with torn strips of cloth. Calico and muslin.
Slowing her footsteps, she walked toward him a ways, then stopped. Did he even want her as his woman now? So much had happened since they last saw each other. So much pain and grief. His face was in shadow, so she could read nothing in his expression.
When Loretta drew to a halt several feet away from him, Hunter's heart skipped a beat, then started racing. Peering at her through the silvery darkness, he saw a woman in clothing, her pale skin and golden hair illuminated by the light of the Comanche moon. Just as the prophecy had foretold, they stood on a high place, she on the land of the , while he, Comanche to his bones, stood on the land of the People. A great distance divided them, a distance much harder to bridge than the few feet between them. Hunter ached with things he longed to say, but none of them seemed enough. He realized then that the great canyon filled with blood wasn't a chasm in the earth but one in their hearts. There was an ache in Loretta's eyes that cut clear through him. He knew the same ache was in his own. His father, Maiden of the Tall Grass, her parents. So many were lost to them.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
Hunter was weak from loss of blood. His shoulder felt as if it had a red-hot coal buried in it. "I am well. You , yes? There is much we must talk about.
( Catherine Anderson )
[ Comanche Moon ]
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