She smiled bashfully at her son. "Yes…"
"Me too!" He said with a big grin. "I like him. He taught me a lot of things."
"I know darling, but I doubt we'll see him again."
"Oh no, we will…" Matthew confirmed it.
"How do you know?" She laughed.
"He told me."
"When?" She stopped combing her hair and looked at him seriously.
"The morning he left. I got up early to say goodbye. He told me he would be back in a month or so, not to worry. He asked me to take good care of you. I think he likes you a lot Ma."
Eve blushed. "We're…friends."
"I think he likes you because you are a girl. I think he is lonely."
"Now what on earth gave you that idea?"
"The way he looks at you. I mean…he really looks." Matthew said with a smile. "It's okay with me, Ma. I just wanted you to know."
"It is?"
"Yes, and I won't tell nobody. Nobody here seems to like the Indians. They don't know them. Do they?"
"No darling, they don't." She smiled and picked up one of Jane Ann's balls and threw it at him. He caught it and tossed it to Jane Ann. She clapped and they played for several minutes.
"At least here you can go to school." Eve said aloud.
"Yeah, it's hard right now. I forgot a lot of stuff since I went."
"Well, I'll help you all I can."
"Thanks. Can I go play now? Freddie is going to show me a new game."
"Sure go ahead." She smiled. She enjoyed the fact that Matthew had friends here to play with and that he seemed to learn a lot now. Jane Ann was mostly with her.
Jane Ann and her had a tea-party and it almost seemed like normal. Almost. She missed Hawk though. However, she still worried that she might be pregnant.
Every time she bathed in the creek, she checked herself closely to see if her breasts were getting bigger or her stomach. Neither was but it was too soon to tell.
Every Saturday night that there was no drilling going on, they had a dance and Eve attended. Several of the soldiers escorted her and she danced every dance.
The women invited her to their sewing circle and continued to quiz her on her capture. However, as time went on she was more vague than ever about it. She hoped she had put their curiosity to rest.
Colonel Mackenzie continued to bring in women and children from his raids. They had built a huge stockade outside for them. When he didn't bring any in, she worried that he might have killed them all. Nevertheless, she was careful not to quiz anyone of his raids. It wasn't her concern, she told herself, but still her heart went out to them. She saw how lean they all looked, how dirty and she wished she could do something to help them. However, that would make her a traitor in the eyes of the whites here.
She needed to be very careful how she acted while she was here.
It was nearly two months since she'd seen Hawk, and she hadn't had her monthly. She was worried he wouldn't come back and she would be pregnant. Her worry alone could have caused her to be late though, she admitted.
Finally, one day, she saw him; he was coming through the gates. She started to rush up to him, but she realized she couldn't do that. She stared at him.
A young soldier spotted her and came up to talk to her. She tried to keep an eye out for Hawk, but he had disappeared.
He'd barely glanced at her as he came through.