The decision had been an easy one, especially after she had seen how upset Cree had gotten when Sloan had told him that Wintra had been abducted. It was then she understood that he would not return home until he found her, and while she was confident that he would be successful in his quest, it was how long it would take that worried her.
She wanted him there with her as his child grew inside her. He would keep them safe and he would help assuage her fears that the child might be born voiceless like her. It was her greatest fear that she would pass her affliction onto their child. She prayed every day that the child would scream loudly when he slipped out of her. If not?
She shook her head, not wanting to think about it. She wanted Cree with her when the time came, as well as now as his child grew within her. There were many willing and eager to help her, especially her best friend Lila and Elsa, Cree’s healer, who had assisted Lila in birthing young Thomas. Dorrie, once a foe, now a friend and Flanna, who had turned out to be more a friend than Dawn could have imagined, were also eager to do their part. The list went on, and she was grateful to have so many friends willing to do most anything for her, even if it meant facing Cree’s wrath, but she would not ask that of them.
Old Mary’s words had also made her decision that much easier. She trusted the old woman who had been a constant in her life, and her ability to see things that were yet to come. So when the old woman had suddenly appeared out of the shadows as she had walked to Lila’s, she had paid heed and listened. Old Mary had warned her that Cree would not find his sister so easily and when she was found, secrets long kept would be revealed.
Dawn had decided to keep her decision to herself. This was for her and her alone to do. She had not spent the night sleeping as all believed. She had made use of the time to gather what she needed and had hid her bundle by the kitchen water barrels, which was where she was headed now. She would change into garments that more suited a young lad than a woman, wrap her legs in the fur strips the warriors wore against the winter cold and twist her long hair up to tuck under a helmet that she had borrowed. Lastly, she would wrap the Carrick plaid around her, finishing her disguise.
Dawn felt her excitement build as she made her way out of the keep without being detected and in no time switched to her disguise. She caught the tail end of the troop as it left the keep and blended in with the other lads who tended the warriors’ horses and weapons, keeping her head down against the swirling snow just as they did.
Four hours later with the snow falling more heavily and the cold biting at her, she wondered if her plan had been a foolish one. She had not given enough thought to the weather and how difficult it was to travel in snow. Hadn’t she learned her lesson that time she had gone in the snow to save Old Mary? A snowstorm was not something to take lightly, but Cree being gone for several months wasn’t something she could take lightly either.
Dawn wrapped her plaid higher up around her face and kept walking. Sooner or later they would stop, and then she could rest.
Hours passed and still they didn’t stop, and the snow now pelted them as if it would never end. Dawn worried the snow would swallow them whole, or so it felt that way. The endless walking kept her somewhat warm, but there were parts of her that kept getting nipped by the cold until she could barely feel them.
She continued to tell herself that they would stop soon and she would not waste a moment. She would go find Cree and let him know that she was here. She tried to convince herself that he would be pleased. After all he had told her that he would miss her, so why wouldn’t he be pleased to see her?
Minutes suddenly began to feel like hours and too often she feared she wouldn’t be able to take another step. She admonished herself for not giving her sudden plan more forethought. It wasn’t wise of her to rush off, but the thought of days and nights without Cree had spurred her into action.
She would brave a winter storm to be with her husband and that was the end of that. She kept pace, or at least she thought she was keeping pace, until she raised her head and saw that the troop was several feet ahead of her.