Love'S Journey

Kristie Hart

Description

Choosing to leave their family and friends in the Ohio Valley and settle in the Kentucky Mountains had not been an easy decision for the newlyweds Maggie and Samuel. Returning to the wagon-train and finding that her husband and everyone else had been killed by Indians, Maggie, who was just barely sixteen, collapsed to the ground. Had she not fallen asleep after bathing at the falls, she would have heard the horrible screams that rang through the Kentucky hills earlier that afternoon. She too would have been killed.Returning to his tribe after a month of spiritual growth in the Dark Hills, the young Indian chief, Brave Eagle, had just stopped to water his horse when he heard the whimpering in the brush. Discovering the filthy, bloody girl hysterically biting her lips and tugging at her hair he tied her hands and took her back to his village. It was during that first month of being held captive in the village that Maggie learned she was going to have Samuels baby. As she finally had a reason to live, she prayed to God for strength and guidance. In the beginning, she hated the chief who brought her back to his village and left her with his grandmother, but as time passed Maggie found herself thinking more and more about him because his gentle touch to an old ones arm or kind smile when he talked with a child made her wonder what kind of man he really was.

Sujets

• Historical romance

Informations

• Publié par: Inspiring Voices
• Date de parution: 18 janvier 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781462400522
• Langue: English

Extrait

Love’s Journey
 
 
Kristie Hart
 
 


 
Copyright © 2012 Kristie Hart
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
Inspiring Voices books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:
 
Inspiring Voices
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.inspiringvoices.com
1-[phone]
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
 
ISBN: 978-1-4624-0052-2 (e)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-0051-5 (sc)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011946195
 
Printed in the United States of America
 
Inspiring Voices rev. date: 1/13/2012
 
Contents
Chapter 1  
Chapter 2  
Chapter 3  
Chapter 4  
Chapter 5  
Chapter 6  
Chapter 7  
Chapter 8  
Chapter 9  
Chapter 10  
Chapter 11  
Chapter 12  
Chapter 13  
Chapter 14  
Chapter 15  
Chapter 16  
Chapter 17  
Chapter 18  
Chapter 19  
Chapter 20  
Chapter 21  
Chapter 22  
Chapter 23  
Chapter 24  
Chapter 25  
Chapter 26  
Chapter 27  
Chapter 28  
Chapter 29  
Chapter 30  
Chapter 31  
Chapter 32  
Chapter 33  
Chapter 34  
Chapter 35  
Chapter 36  
Chapter 37  
Chapter 38  
Chapter 39  
Chapter 40  
Chapter 41  
Chapter 42  
Chapter 43  
Chapter 44  
Chapter 45  
Chapter 46  
Chapter 47  
Chapter 48  
Chapter 49  
Chapter 50  
Chapter 51  
Chapter 52  
Chapter 53  
Chapter 54  
Chapter 55  
Chapter 56  
Chapter 57  
Chapter 58  
Chapter 59  
Chapter 60  
Chapter 61  
Chapter 62  
Chapter 63  
Chapter 64  
Chapter 65  
Chapter 66  
Chapter 67  
Chapter 68  
Chapter 69  
Chapter 70  
Chapter 71  
Chapter 72  
Chapter 73  
Chapter 74  
Chapter 75  
Chapter 76  
Chapter 77  
Chapter 78  
Chapter 79  
Chapter 80  
Chapter 81  
Chapter 82  
Chapter 83  
Chapter 84  
Chapter 85  
Chapter 86  
Chapter 87  
Chapter 88  
Chapter 89  
Chapter 90  
Chapter 91  
Chapter 92  
Chapter 93  
Chapter 94  
Chapter 95  
Chapter 96  
Chapter 97  
Chapter 98  
Chapter 99  
Chapter 100  
Chapter 101  
Chapter 102  
Chapter 103  
Chapter 104  
Chapter 105  
Chapter 106  
Chapter 107  
Chapter 108  
Chapter 109  
Chapter 110  
Chapter 111  
Chapter 112  
Chapter 113  
Chapter 114  
Chapter 115  
Chapter 116  
Chapter 117  
Chapter 118  
Chapter 119  
Chapter 120  
Chapter 121  
Chapter 122  
Chapter 123  
Chapter 124  
Chapter 125  
Chapter 126  
Chapter 127  
Chapter 128  
Chapter 129  
Chapter 130  
 
Chapter 1  
Brave Eagle
Consumed with sadness and fear the heartbroken man stood empty and alone wrestling with the reality that his loving memories of his wife would be all that he would have to keep him warm that night.
His beautiful young wife, with her long silky, red curls spiraling down to her tiny little waist and her bright, sparkling eyes the color of the soft green grass would not be with him.
No, his precious Soft Wind would not be there to share the stories of his day’s hunt or to sit nestled warmly within his strong, loving arms. His only companion that night would be loneliness as the drifting smoke from his cooking fire faded slowly into the dark starless sky.
Quickly, jerking his head back, and tossing his long, thick hair over his left shoulder, the tall, muscular, copper skinned man fought back the warm tears that were repeatedly filling not only his eyes but his heart.
Watching, from a dense tree covered cliff hidden high above the trail below, the man’s dark, haunting eyes followed the floating dust from the distant wagons as it slowly made its way up to the heavens. Even though he had only just bid his young family goodbye the man known as Brave Eagle already ached for their return.
His tortured mind was twisting and turning like wild prairie tumbleweed on a cold, blustery day. Would he ever again see his young son, the boy he had given the name of Running Wolf? The boy, who from the moment he took his first breath, had stolen both the man’s heart and soul. He trusted the soft spoken white woman, who for the past 5 years had been his loving wife and devoted companion, yet the man known as Brave Eagle was filled with fear. What if her people in the white man’s land of Ohio keep her captive? What if she herself made the decision not to return to him and their home in the Kentucky Mountains?
Both the steaming heat from the powerful noonday sun and the terribly, loud pounding in his aching head made him unable to think. The faint, soft breeze, which earlier in the day had been only warm, was now hot and the soft floating clouds which were hovering overhead promising an afternoon rainstorm had given way to the bright penetrating sunshine.
His aching heart was throbbing with the stabbing pains of loneliness, and his body was sticky, from his own dripping sweat. His clothes were drenched and he was miserable.
Not looking away from the small group of disappearing wagons Brave Eagle slowly removed a thin, worn, leather band from his left wrist and pulled his thick, tangled hair back tying it tightly at the crop of his neck. The long, loose strands flying wildly around his face and into his eyes made him nervous and he was in no mood for the taunting annoyance.
Finally, after the last of the Ohio bound wagons had quietly slipped into the plush green tree covered horizon, the young Shawnee Chief slowly turned and began his ride back up the lonely mountain trail to his home.
Chapter 2  
Brave Eagle
Following the same thick, green, grassy trails that he and his family traveled, only the day before, the young chief’s thoughts quickly returned to the wonderful time they had together. He, his wife Soft Wind and their young son Running Wolf laughing with joy as the warm soft breeze pushed them to run faster and faster over the mountain paths, chasing each other around giant oak trees and through cool mountains streams.
The fact that Running Wolf did not have Shawnee Indian blood running through his veins had never mattered to the Chief Brave Eagle, for he had always treated the white boy as his own flesh and blood. There was no way he could have ever loved the boy more.
Had he not just the week before taken his son Running Wolf high into the hidden mountains for his first tribal hunting trip. Not only did he enjoy being with the boy, he also wanted there to be no doubt in Running Wolf’s mind that his father, the great Chief Brave Eagle, was proud to call him son.
Chapter 3  
Brave Eagle
The day of the father and son’s hunting trip started early with the young boy proudly holding his head high in anticipation of his father applying the tribal hunting paint to both of their faces. Then after lovingly bidding his mother and grandmother goodbye Running Wolf smiled with joy as he sat tall and strong on Man of Fire the beautiful black horse that his father had given to him on his fifth birthday. Normally boys of such a young age were not allowed to travel to the high hunting grounds but it was important to his father that they go together before Running Wolf and his mother left for the white man’s land of Ohio.
Riding ahead of his father, the young boy shouted with excitement as he raced Man of Fire, faster, and faster up the steep winding path toward the roaring falls above. Following the circling trail that was taking them higher and higher into the towering green trees they could hear the loud splashing of the fierce white water before it actually came into sight. Reaching the bottom of a steep cliff Running Wolf laughed out loud as he hurriedly jumped from his horse and began his climb to the top of the falls. Strategically pulling, himself, upward, from one jagged rock to another he shouted with joy when he finally reached the narrow ledge far above where he could clearly see the water as it pounded hard against the giant rocks beneath him. Triumphantly beating his clinched fists on his chest in anticipation of his father catching up with him, Running Wolf called out loudly. “I am too fast for you Father, you cannot catch me, I am too fast for you.”
With, his heart full of pride, and amusement Brave Eagle took great joy in his son’s accomplishments. Quickly catching up with the boy, the Indian father pulled his son into his strong, loving arms, making them both laugh out loud as together they fell into the deep water below.
Crashing hard into the cold water Brave Eagle hel