Savage Spring Read Free Page A

not been aware that Morning Song sensed his troubled thoughts. He should have known he could hide nothing from her.
    “I will never leave you. One day I will come to terms with what my uncle did to me and Joanna. Bear with me until that day, Morning Song.”
    “Tag, you have never told me what your uncle did to you and Joanna. I have never asked because I thought if you wanted to talk about it, you would come to me.”
    “It is not that I was trying to keep anything from you, Morning Song. I did not want to trouble you with my problems, and I never wanted the ugliness to touch my life with you.”
    “Do you not know by now that your troubles are my troubles, Tag? Share this thing with me so you will not have to carry it alone.”
    He sat up and looked toward the tipi opening. “It is not a pretty story, Morning Song.”
    “More the reason you should not carry it alone,” she said, laying her head in his lap and clasping his hand in hers.
    He looked down at her, and Morning Song could see thepain in the depth of his blue eyes. “Yes, perhaps if I share it with you, it will help.” His eyes took on a faraway look as if he were remembering.
    “Morning Song, Joanna and I were born in a place called England. It is a very long way from here…across the big waters.”
    “I know about England—Joanna showed me a picture in one of your books. The United States once belonged to England.”
    “Yes, that is right,” Tag said, smiling at how well Joanna had taught Morning Song her history. Joanna had also taught her to read and write, an accomplishment of which his little wife was very proud.
    “Joanna and I sailed to America with our mother and father when we were but children. My father was a successful shipbuilder, and he had moved his headquarters to this country,” Tag said, slipping from the Blackfoot language into English without even realizing it.
    “For a time, we were happy, even though my father was hardly ever home, as his business took him all over the world. When I was but twelve, my mother died. Her death came at a time when my father was away. Little did Joanna and I know at that time that our father would soon be dead also and our fate would be in the hands of our unscrupulous Uncle Howard.”
    “What does unscrupulous mean, Tag?”
    “It means a man who has no qualms about what is right and wrong. My uncle wanted my family’s fortune. You see, my father was a very wealthy man, and as his heir, I would inherit all that had belonged to him.”
    “I know that your uncle once captured Joanna and tried to take her back to the white world, but Windhawk saved her.”
    “Yes, that’s right. Uncle Howard would do anything to get his hands on me and Joanna. You see, he cannot have what, by rights, belongs to me. He can only be in charge of the estate until I return to reclaim it.”
    Morning Song’s eyes seemed to cloud over. “If you wentback, you would live in one of the grand houses that Joanna showed me in a picture book. I can see why you are often troubled.”
    “That isn’t what troubles me, Morning Song. It’s the fact that my uncle stole from me and Joanna. That is very hard for me to accept. At times, I feel this anger inside that such a man is living in my home.” Unconsciously, his hand drifted down to rest against Morning Song’s swollen stomach. “By robbing me of my birthright, my uncle has also stolen our child’s birthright.”
    Morning Song laid her face against his hand. “I am so sorry that this thing was done to you and Joanna. It is not right for a man to steal from another. It is very bad that such a man should not be punished.”
    He smiled down at her. “Feel no sadness for me, Morning Song. I am happy here with you. I would not want to give up my life with you to return to the white world.”
    Morning Song was wise enough to look into her husband’s heart. She knew she had made him happy, but there were times, like now, that he seemed to be pulled in two directions. She