Sundancer (Cheyenne Series) by Shirl Henke Read Free Book Online Page A

some English, supplemented by gestures and hand signs. They communicated well enough.
           She learned from Sees Much that she was greatly admired for her bravery. When the warriors captured her she had fought until immobilized without crying out, then stoically endured the long hard ride and fearlessly faced Leather Shirt. Sees Much had told her that she was called Her Back Is Straight around Cheyenne campfires.
           The stranger followed Lark Song into the lodge belonging to Leather Shirt. One of the youths cared for his mount while several others unloaded the packs from the mules. Their contents must have been heavy, for the strong young men strained and sweated depositing them in front of the lodge. Before she could puzzle further, she saw Willow Tree approaching with two baskets. It was time for their daily ritual of gathering roots and tubers for dinner. Perhaps she could glean something about their visitor from the other women.
           As they walked along the winding path into a wooded thicket near the stream, Roxanna persisted with her questions. To her frustration, none of the young women with her would attempt an answer, although she knew they understood what she wished to know. Did this portend something bad? She had an increasingly uneasy feeling about the mysterious half-breed and decided she would find Sees Much upon returning to camp and demand that he explain what was going on.
           After digging roots for several hours, Roxanna felt sweaty and hot in the noonday heat. When the leader of the women set aside her digging stick and well-filled basket, she indicated that it was time for bathing in the stream. Roxanna had been amazed at the cleanliness of this savage people who bathed daily. The warriors, so Sees Much told her, even swam in the creeks in the coldest weather. Considering all the odoriferous whites she had encountered on her journey from St. Louis, she found the comparison between savage and “civilized” unsettling.
           The women quickly stripped away their soft buckskin tunics and leggings, unashamed of their nudity. Roxanna had not yet become as comfortable, especially since her very fair coloring always elicited stares and giggles from the Cheyenne women, who thought nothing of pointing and poking at her most intimate body parts in curiosity. At first, as she stood rigidly, they had unceremoniously pulled off her soiled and torn gown, exclaiming over all the layers of clothing white females wore. Her ruined travel suit and undergarments were consigned to the fire and she was thrown into the cold clear stream. Thankfully, Roxanna knew how to swim, having secretly been taught as a child by her older brother, much to their mother's horror.
           After the first few days they had allowed her privacy for ablutions. Out in this vast trackless wilderness there was nowhere to run on foot. Roxanna had been learning the routine in the village, especially where the large herd of horses was kept at night. As she peeled off the buckskin garments and walked into an isolated stretch of the stream a hundred yards above the other women, she considered her escape plans. Should she wait until she learned what the stranger was here for? Was he some sort of slaver who would take her off and sell her to another tribe, or had he been sent by Jubal MacKenzie?
           As Roxanna considered her alternatives, Cain walked away from the camp, headed to where Sees Much had told him the women were working. He wanted to have a look at old Jubal's granddaughter. If there was a family resemblance, she'd doubtless be homely as hammered mud. When he heard the giggling and splashing, he knew the women had completed their chores and were bathing. Tempting as a peek was, he knew the stern morality of Cheyenne life forbade warriors from spying on maidens. He'd already broken enough tribal rules. There was no sense in jeopardizing his mission just to satisfy prurient