Page 66 of The Spirit of the Wolf

“Ah. What sort of signal?”

“An animal call is what is usually used, but we could also employ the sound of a cricket.”

“Oh. I understand. In other words, if I see trouble, I will imitate the call of some animal?”

“Hau.”

“What sort of cry will we use, then?”

He smiled at her. “I do not know that yet. We will have to see where your talents lie.”

“Ah, my talents.” She gazed up at him.

Big mistake. Despite being covered from head to toe in mud, he was gazing at her with a half smile that suggested he was very well aware of exactly where her talents lay.

She was not going to rise to the bait, however, and she smiled at him. “If I may suggest it, I have always been told I have a high voice. Perhaps I could yip like a coyote, for their cry is often high-pitched.”

“Sece, maybe.” He returned his attention to the matter at hand. “In the meantime, I have brought something for you. A trophy from the enemy camp.”

A trophy? What sort of prize would this man be likely to bring from an enemy camp?

It came to her, and she cringed. He hadn’t taken a scalp, had he? Somehow the unreality of this, and the possibility of it having occurred, seemed to enforce the fact that she did not, she could not, love this man. They were too different.

But it wasn’t a scalp which he’d brought her, after all.

Instead, he set before her three different bows and four assorted sets of quivers full of arrows, plus a knife sheath.

Weapons? Indeed, these were trophies!

Dear Lord, how had he managed to steal these arms from under the warrior party’s nose?

Shaking her head, she smiled up at him. “This is quite a feat, Mr. Coyote.”

“Mr. Coyote?” He raised an eyebrow. “How have I managed to slip back to being Mr. Coyote?”

“Never you mind,” she replied, but there was humor in her voice. “How were you able to obtain these?”

His look at her became noble, quite grand actually, and he raised his chin. “All my life I have trained as a scout. I am expected to do these feats and more. Besides, these braves are convinced they are safe because they are in a region they, themselves, guard. Therefore, they are not as alert as they might be were they in hostile territory.”

“I see. This is truly a great deed. But I have one question.”

“Hau?”

“Well, since we are determined to save Yellow Swan, and since you were able to steal all these weapons without detection, was it not possible to do something about Yellow Swan as well?”

“This is another good question you ask,” he said. “While it is true the enemy feels secure, making them unaware of their environment, they are not careless with their prisoner. In truth, she is very closely watched. Besides, our rescuing her is not as easy to accomplish during the day as it is in the evening. But come, she is faring well now, and these warriors have made their camp not too far from ours. They are celebrating their victory over some enemy—perhaps the woman’s husband, Scout LaCroix. But, as I have said, they are not at present on their guard, so they are not alert. This is how I was able to take and hide many of their weapons. More than these.”

“Have you really?”

“Hau,” he said. “Their weapons are cached, and the enemy will be embarrassed, indeed, when they reach for their defenses, and none will be there.”

“Well, well.” Marietta grinned at him. “You’re a very tricky gent.” It was odd. Despite his mud-covered appearance, his smile was so handsome, yet so innocent, she found her gaze clinging to him, if only to drink in his splendor. Gradually, she forced herself to look away from him. “What you did is very admirable.”

Casting him several surreptitious glances, she could have sworn he seemed to swell with dignity. However, all he said was, “Come, we must plan our evening well. Let me tell you what I have been able to ascertain.”

“Yes, this would be good.”

He nodded. “There is but one guard on duty. I already know where he will be stationed. It is also lucky for us that the warriors have sent their scouts on ahead to their village, perhaps to announce their homecoming. Their scouts, I fear, would have been harder to fool than the warriors themselves.”