Read Online Savage Hero by Cassie Edwards - Free Book Online

village?”
    â€œWhen I find my brother, I must return him to my village as quickly as possible so that my mother will know that he is alive and well,” Brave Wolf said. “Then I will escort you to a fort. Only then.”
    â€œThat could take days,” Mary Beth said, tears springing up in her eyes. “I so badly want to be among my own people.”
    She still had not told him about David. She was wondering if that had been a good decision. If she did tell him about her lost son, surely he would sympathize with her and listen to reason.
    Yet, no. She saw his determination to continue onward to find his brother. She would wait for another time to tell him about her son.
    Again she admired him for being so dutiful to his mother, yet Mary Beth had her own rights. Brave Wolf’s decision to keep her with him was wrong. If he would let her go today, while it was daylight, she could travel far before it got dark.
    Perhaps she could even reach the fort. She knew it was not far from where the wagon train had been attacked.
    But could she truly find her way to the fort alone? Something told her that wasn’t a wise move to make, for this was not safe country for a lone female traveler.
    â€œI have wasted much valuable time by allowing you to sleep,” Brave Wolf said, his jaw tight. “I amwasting time even now as I wait for you to do as you are told. Go. Change into these clothes. I will put some of the food in a bag for you to eat as we travel. I do not have time for you to sit and have a leisurely meal.”
    â€œHa! Leisurely?” Mary Beth said, yanking the clothes from him. “Nothing about this experience with you is leisurely.”
    Then she recalled that she had been allowed to sleep and regretted being sarcastic when she saw the hurt in his eyes.
    It seemed strange that this man could have any feelings for her, yet she knew that he did.
    When she said something hurtful to him, he did not react angrily. Instead, he looked as though he was stung by her anger and sarcasm.
    Was it possible that he cared for her? The fact that he had allowed her to sleep was proof he did.
    â€œWhy must I change?” she asked. She gazed at the clothes, then unrolled the breeches and grimaced when she saw how large they were. She gave Brave Wolf a perplexed look. “Why, I shall be swallowed whole by these clothes.”
    â€œI will help you adjust them to a smaller size,” he said, relieved that at least she had seemed to accept the necessity of changing her clothes.
    â€œOh, alright,” Mary Beth said, then turned and stomped away toward a thick stand of trees, where she could have some privacy to change her clothes, and attend to other matters that needed to be done out of sight of the warriors.
    She had found it embarrassing to seek ways torelieve herself while in the company of these men. But thus far, she had managed it.
    She hurried out of her dress, then worked herself into the other clothes. She sighed heavily when she saw just how big they were on her.
    She shook her head slowly as she rolled the sleeves up so that at least her hands were visible. She then bent over and rolled up the pants legs until she felt she could at least walk in them without tripping.
    But when she stood up and the breeches fell instantly to the ground, she again sighed heavily. This wasn’t going to work. But she had to give it a try, for she understood that it wasn’t safe to be seen with these Indians during the daylight hours in her own clothes.
    She gathered the waist of the breeches up into a tight bunch at her left side and walked dispiritedly back to where Brave Wolf waited for her.
    She saw a look of quiet amusement enter his eyes when he caught sight of her.
    He went to his travel bag and removed a long buckskin thong, then tied it around her waist so that she would no longer have to hold the pants up.
    â€œThat should do it,” Brave Wolf said. He stepped back and eyed her again.