He found Loretta awake when he entered his lodge. She was sitting up in bed, raking her fingers through her tangled hair. When she saw him, she averted her face, still angry, if the glint in her eyes was any indication.
At first Hunter tried ignoring Loretta's glares. After feeding her a breakfast of dried fruit and some of his mother's flat white bread, he took her to visit Amy. After that he retrieved her satchel from Maiden's lodge and escorted her down to the river. Instead of bathing, which would have required the removal of her clothing in his presence, Loretta washed her hair and scrubbed her face. En route back to his lodge, she refused to look at him and didn't respond when he spoke to her.
When she was still treating him to frigid silence long after the midday meal was over, Hunter's patience snapped. They were sitting in his lodge on buffalo robes, she on one side of the room, he on the other, the silence so thick it suffocated him.
"You can make war with your eyes for a moon and win no battles. I grow tired of your anger, Blue Eyes."
She lifted her small nose in the air and refused to look at him. Her hair had dried in a wild tangle of ringlets that wreathed her head in gold. Frustrated, Hunter clenched his teeth. Whether she realized it yet or not, she no longer feared him as she once had. A frightened woman didn't push like this.
"You will tell me of this anger that burns within you, eh?"
"As if you don't know!"
He propped his elbows on his bent knees. He'd never understand them.
At first Hunter tried ignoring Loretta's glares. After feeding her a breakfast of dried fruit and some of his mother's flat white bread, he took her to visit Amy. After that he retrieved her satchel from Maiden's lodge and escorted her down to the river. Instead of bathing, which would have required the removal of her clothing in his presence, Loretta washed her hair and scrubbed her face. En route back to his lodge, she refused to look at him and didn't respond when he spoke to her.
When she was still treating him to frigid silence long after the midday meal was over, Hunter's patience snapped. They were sitting in his lodge on buffalo robes, she on one side of the room, he on the other, the silence so thick it suffocated him.
"You can make war with your eyes for a moon and win no battles. I grow tired of your anger, Blue Eyes."
She lifted her small nose in the air and refused to look at him. Her hair had dried in a wild tangle of ringlets that wreathed her head in gold. Frustrated, Hunter clenched his teeth. Whether she realized it yet or not, she no longer feared him as she once had. A frightened woman didn't push like this.
"You will tell me of this anger that burns within you, eh?"
"As if you don't know!"
He propped his elbows on his bent knees. He'd never understand them.
( Catherine Anderson )
[ Comanche Moon ]
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