Page 49 of The Spirit of the Wolf

His brow narrowed, but he remained silent.

“Don’t you see?” she asked. “For the first time in years, I have an opportunity to set the past straight. Something which has always been mine is awaiting me. I have only to reach out and take it. But the chance to do so is fleeting. I must act quickly, and I must act now.”

He stirred uneasily.

“So, Mr. Coyote, if you truly understand what is happening with me, and you mean what you say with all your heart, then you will know why I must now insist that, Mother Nature aside, you must use the wood which is here for your arrows. As far as I am concerned, your need has become very great indeed.”

Grey Coyote didn’t respond. Never did the gap between them seem wider.

In his own mind, he tried to understand why she was upset. Although he had explained it to her earlier, he realized she did not share his viewpoints about life, or about the earth and the care which a man must show Nature. For if his wife did comprehend this fully, she would know what she asked of him was a sacrilege.

Little Sunset continued to speak. “To my way of thinking, you have two choices. The first being this: Use the material here to make your arrows and then take me to the trading post; the second would be to leave the wood here for Nature to use, but bring back the horses so we can journey to your woods in a timely manner.”

He swallowed hard, knowing what he must say. “I can do neither.”

She spun away from him, presenting him with the loveliest of profiles, which he did admire, but…

“Of course,” she pressed on, “there’s always the third possibility.”

“A third? And what is this third possibility?”

Crossing both arms over her chest, she glanced at him over her shoulder. “Get the horses back and then take me once again to the Minnetaree village. It must be only a short distance from here, isn’t it? Perhaps Mr. LaCroix is still there, and if he is, maybe I could convince him to proceed as we had originally planned. In this way I will only have lost a few days—wonderful days,” she added, “but only a few.”

Grey Coyote shook his head. Again she did not understand. He could not go back; he could only go forward. “If there is one thing of which I am certain, it is that Scout LaCroix will be gone.”

“Gone?” She turned to face him. “But we’ve only been here a short while. What if he were delayed? What if he arranged to play another game in the hopes of earning back what he’d lost?”

“Because his presence was not welcome there in the village. He has, in trade, cheated those people. It was my host, alone, who would bear his company, and my host, once he saw that Scout LaCroix was cheating at the game of Cos-soo, was not happy. No, Scout LaCroix will be gone.”

“Then I could hire someone else.”

“You might be able to accomplish it,” said Grey Coyote. “But there is a problem.”

“Oh? And that is?”

“I cannot take you there.”

She grimaced up at him. “But it would only put you out of your way by a few days, wouldn’t it?”

He shook his head slightly. “I cannot go back.”

“Of course you could.”

“Hiya,” he said. “I, too, must act quickly. I, too, have little time left. And there is reason for me to believe the means to the end of my duty is near. Therefore, I must move ahead.”

“Oh, I see.” She frowned, sighed, and said, as though to herself, “Then there’s only one action left for me to do. I don’t like it, I might perish in the undertaking, but…” She took another deep breath then glanced up at him. “I must go. If not with you”—she spoke softly—“then on my own.”

He stared at her hard. “You are right. You might perish if you do this.”

Her response was odd, for she smiled at him, although her look held little happiness. “But, Mr. Coyote, the decision is up to me to make.”

“This is true…”

“Good.”

“Usually. But because you are my wife, I cannot let you do this. I am responsible for you.”

“No,” she said. “No, you are not.” When he was about to say more, she held up her hand. “I know that in these past few days, we have considered ourselves married. You have thought it, as I have too. And I have enjoyed it, very much.”