OUT OF THE DARKNESS (THE PRESCOTT SERIES) Read Free Page A

face an uncertain fate.
    Her eyes, wide with fear, focused on his. Her breath came in shallow pants as if she had forgotten how to take air. He reached down, never taking his finger from her lips. He took the pouch his wife had presented to him the day they married and placed it in Flame’s chilled hand, curling her fingers around the wet leather. Inside was the food he always carried.
    She had done well with her hiding place. Thre e Feathers silently praised her. He had no doubt she would find her way out of the forest and join her people.
    A ranch lay in the direction Flame had taken, and he knew the owner was a good man. Several times the rancher had sat astride his horse, on top of a rise, and watched Three Feathers and his warriors cut cattle from his herd. The man had thrown up his hand, fingers splayed wide. Three Feathers had looked at the cattle, then back at the rancher, his hand still in the air. Three Feathers turned back two head, the man lowered his hand and Three Feathers had never taken more than five head each fall.
    With a prayer to the Great Spirit that her journey be short, h e dove beneath the tree’s branches and swiftly stroked his way back to join the other warriors. After a much-heated argument, and Black Hawk casting suspicious glances at Flame’s sanctuary, he convinced them to continue the search upstream.
    Two days after abandoning the hunt, he entered his sleeping hut and sat beside his wife and new son. Her eyes held the question he only dared to whisper the answer. “Flame is safe,” he murmured against her ear. “But, I will need another marriage pouch. She needed mine for her journey.”
    ~~~
    Jade let out the breath she hadn’t realized she held. Her gaze lowered to Three Feathers’ pouch, and marveled at his gesture. In the months she had been with his clan, she’d never seen him without it. She assumed he held it in great regard. Why had he given it to her? Slowly she opened the pouch. When she saw the food, she nearly cried out in joy.
    Jade slippe d the pouch onto the belt of her stolen buckskin dress. Sinking beneath the branches, she wormed her way back into the stream. If Black Hawk and his companions went upstream, she was definitely going downstream. She rolled onto her back and let the current carry her until she felt safe enough to wade ashore.
    She was going home . But where was home? She didn’t have the slightest clue in what direction home lay. Vague memories of selling the home where she’d grown up crowded her mind. The harder she tried to remember the more her head throbbed.
    The rumbling of wagons roared, blocking out the sounds of the forest and left only screams of terror. Trembling, she put her hands over her ears to stop the horrible cries of death. She stumbled. Dazed, she glanced down at the rock she’d overturned. Leaning over, she carefully replaced the rock in its original position, dirt down. If Black Hawk returned, she wanted no signs left for him to follow.
    S he rubbed her temples and concentrated on finding a way out of the woods. People, just as animals, needed water. She imagined it would be wisest to follow the stream. Keep it in sight, but not crowd its banks. The village had camped near a stream, but at a safe distance. She would follow their example.
    Bird Song had taught her how to survive on berries and nuts. For food, she’d gather hickory nuts and dried berries left on the vines. Watercress grew in the shallows of the creek she followed. Its green leaves clustered among the rocks were easily gathered. The pungent taste was bitter to swallow, but it would give nourishment to her starved body.
    W orried if she spent a great deal of time foraging for food, she might not put enough distance between herself and her enemy, she debated. Food or distance? Which was more important? Food. She’d need nourishment for strength and the coming winter had left little for her to scavenge.
    All day, the storm returned to plague her. The air was