Page 29 of Red Hawk's Woman

A golden sort of light was spreading through the fog from the east, there against the opposite shoreline. Was it her imagination? Could a person feel the earth coming alive? Enchanted, she watched as a moose surveyed her from a safe distance across the water.

“Won’t you join me?” she asked it.

When it snorted and shook its head as if in answer, Effie laughed, then plunged into the current once more. Moments later, she surfaced, executed a few turns beneath the water and tarried yet again. Ah, such pleasure.

But time was wearing on, and she knew she would have to come back to the world as it was. She hadn’t made this trek for pure enjoyment.

A few well-placed strokes in the stream brought her to a spot where her feet would touch bottom yet the water would cover her completely, and she stood up. Bending, she grabbed hold of some sand on the river’s bottom and commenced using it to scrub herself.

Glancing around to ensure she was still alone, she opened the front of her dress to wash her chest and underarms. Next, reaching up under her skirt, she bent to cleanse her stomach, thighs and legs.

So far, so good. There was no problem.

However, when she left the water, would there be visible traces of the satchels that were still tied to her waist?

She’d never know by simply standing here contemplating. Carefully, she rose from the water and waded to the shore. So intent was she in measuring the fullness of her hips—to ensure that the satchels were not visible—she didn’t at first see him.

When he said, “’Tis good you are not as round as a bull. Why do you wear clothes that make you appear so?” Effie gasped, her muscles tensing as she glanced to her right, then to her left. But the man was reclining on the shore, directly in front of her.

“You!”

He nodded. He seemed about to say something of import to her, but the words appeared to freeze up in his throat.

She waited, watching as his Adam’s apple bobbed. Twice he attempted to speak, but the words didn’t come.

At last, she ventured to say, “Do you too have some negative comment about the way I dress?”

He shook his head. “No, but I did fear that by the way you now attire yourself you had grown overly big since we last met. Not that it would matter to me if you had.”

“Since we last met?”

He drew in a deep, shaky breath. “Do you not remember me?”

She looked at him blankly.

“And here am I having never forgotten you.” He pulled at something around his neck, producing a gold chain for her perusal. She recognized it at once.

“Then it was you yesterday…and all those years ago. No wonder,” she mumbled, speaking the last to herself.

She took one step forward and extracted her necklace, which rarely left its place between her breasts. Holding it up so he could see it, she voiced, “Does this look as though I had forgotten you, Mr. Hawk?”

Effie thought she might have witnessed a smile appear upon the man’s handsome face, but the light at this time of day was not great, and the shadows concealed much.

They stared at one another for some moments, neither making an effort at conversation. Time and place seemed to distort. There were only the two of them, here together, alone at last. Her spirits lifted.

Finally, he said, “My heart is happy to see you again. In these many years that have passed since we first met, you have been in my thoughts often.”

“Yes.” It was the only thing she could think to say.

“I would ask what it is that you seek.”

The question caught her by surprise, perhaps because she wasn’t prepared for it. Indeed, so shocked was she in the fact that he was here, now, before her—when she had never expected to see him again—she felt as though she were jolted back to the present. Her head reeled.

However, by the grace of God, she was alert enough to respond in a somewhat intelligent fashion. “And why would you be asking me, Mr. Hawk?”

He veered his head to the left, giving it a slight jerk. “As your guide, I would ensure the safety of your party. Therefore, I would know what trouble awaits us.”

“Trouble? You expect trouble?”