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.” She paused.“Except I would miss my mother and father, and Fire Wolf.”His arms slid around her, drawing her close.“Sadly, we will be leaving in two days.I fear I have already lingered too long.For a week now, I have seen frost on the plants and trees.”“I suppose the winters are too harsh to remain here through the season?”He closed his eyes, loving her in the very depths of his heart.“You will want your mother when it is time for the baby to be born.”Her eyes widening, Rain Song was amazed.“A baby?”Smiling at her innocence in the ways of the world, he bent to kiss her slightly swollen stomach.“Have you not noticed you have had only one blood flow since we came to the mountains?”“I…did not think it meant anything.” Her eyes widened in amazement, and a feeling so sweet and strong hit her, it stole her breath.She was going to have Wind Warrior’s baby.“I planted my seed in you,” he said past the lump in his throat.“You are with child.”He laid his cheek against her thundering heart and closed his eyes.“Are you happy about what we have created out of our love?” he asked, not knowing how she felt about having a child.He raised his head and watched closely for her reaction.“Are you?”The wonder of having Wind Warrior’s child washed through Rain Song, and she laid her hand on her stomach.“A child,” she whispered.When she looked at him, there were tears in her eyes.“My husband, my heart cannot contain my joy,” she admitted brokenly.Wind Warrior held her to his heart.He had a sudden fear that he could not hold on to such happiness.It now filled his being, but would it one day slip through his fingers like sifting sand?Were his thoughts a dire premonition? he wondered.I do not know.Nothing lasts forever.Chapter Twenty-nineWind Warrior was fighting his way out of a thick fog, his heart beating, his throat dry.He caught glimpses of fire, destruction—women, bloody and dying, children crying out in pain.For a moment he thought he was glimpsing the great prairie fire.But no, the horror that was unfolding before him was happening in the Blackfoot village along the Milk River.His eyes snapped open and he lay gasping for breath.He had been dreaming, and yet it was more than a dream—it was very real.Danger!Rain Song still slept beside him.Not wanting to disturb her, he eased away from her body and stood.With his heart pounding, he made his way to the edge of the stream, splashing water in his face.Standing, he made his way to the edge of the cliff and stared down below.Something was stirring in his mind, something terrible.Panic rose inside him and he had the strongest feeling he had to get back to the tribe as quickly as possible.He had to warn his people about approaching devastation.Hearing a noise, he turned to find Rain Song behind him, a troubled look in her eyes.“What is wrong, my husband?”He took both her hands in his and gazed deeply into her eyes, trying to rid himself of the horrible vision that had come upon him.“Wind Warrior?”“What I say to you now is nothing I can prove; I can only feel.”Rain Song was confused.“I do not understand.”He slid his arms around her.“Of course you do not, when I do not understand myself.Sometimes dreams come to me.I cannot see the future: as some believe.But when I have a vision, I must act.”“Tell me,” she urged, sensing the unrest in him.Explaining his vision to her, Wind Warrior wondered if she would dismiss it as merely a dream.He needed her to believe in him, for he knew what he saw was something that would come to pass if he did not act quickly.“I must go to warn our people, and I must go alone.”“What is it you think you must do?”“I must get to the village as soon as possible.”She frowned, taking his trembling hand in hers, wishing she could comfort him.“Then you must go at once and you must go alone.I would only slow you down,” she said with a catch in her voice.He closed his eyes so she would not see the pain he was experiencing at the thought of leaving her.“I must.”“Then I will help gather supplies.”In that moment he loved her more than he’d thought possible.She did not question his need to save their people, even if it meant she had to stay in the mountains alone.She trusted him to keep their people safe…to keep her and their child safe.“I cannot leave you here.Winter will sweep over this land before I can return.I must take you to a lower elevation, the cave we stayed in on our way up the mountain.There are supplies there, and I will make certain you have everything you will need until I return.” Wind Warrior laid his face against hers.“You will have Chinook to protect you,” he said, as if he were trying to convince himself.“I would not leave you if there was any other way.”Rain Song was frightened at the thought of being left alone in the mountains, but she knew this was the time to be brave for her husband’s sake, and for their people
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