His Defiant Wife, the Adventures of Linnett Wainwright, Book 2 by Vanessa Brooks Page A

with
tiredness.
    Linnett stroked
his forehead and wondered where on earth he had come from. Hans had
told them that there were no native settlements close by. John had
told her not to fear the tribes since they were only interested in
trade. It was impossible for a child this age to crawl and toddle
any distance. He must have been brought here by someone, but who?
They could be outside now, Linnett realised. Hastily she went over
and barred the door. She closed the shutters and barred those as
well. “Oh how I wish John was here!” she whispered aloud.
    Linnett set
about making preparations for the morning. She made some more dough
and set it to rise overnight, then, exhausted by the day’s events,
she fell into bed next to the child, promptly falling asleep.
    Linnett woke at
dawn with a small fist lying across her face, she still felt
absolutely exhausted. The child was sleeping like a small crucified
being, spread out so that Linnett was forced to cling to the edge
of the large bed. Sleeping with a small child was worse, she
decided, than sleeping with a man. They both broke wind as
frequently and, true, a man snored but a child seemed to take up
the entire bed, moving about continuously all night long.
    Linnett spent
the entire day clearing up after the child. As she struggled back
up to the stream with the washing, the little child toddled at her
side slowing up the process considerably. She pegged up the clothes
on the washing line that John had rigged up for her use earlier
that week. The child hung onto her skirts as she moved about the
business of her daily chores. By the end of the day Linnett was
physically exhausted but surprisingly happy. She found to her
amazement that she enjoyed the household tasks. Looking after a
small demanding tyrant was a joy in itself. Linnett found herself
hoping the parents of the child would not come looking for their
child just yet.
    For the first
time since her marriage, she seriously considered what the arrival
of children might mean to her marriage- all the hard work and the
lack of privacy, the constant demand of her time and attention. She
wondered if John liked children, she assumed that he must want a
son. Linnett knew that however demanding looking after a child
might be, she wanted a baby of her own.
    Linnett had
given the baby the small wooden horse that Han’s had carved for
her. He was delighted with it and crooned lovingly at it. The boy
seemed to have a name for it too, for he always made the same sound
to the toy. “Ko si. Ko si.”
    Linnett taught
him the word “horse,” and he dutifully repeated it and then
promptly returned to “Ko si.” The little boy was now garbed in his
original clothes, which Linnett had carefully washed and dried. She
marvelled at the intricate bead work and meticulously sewn quills
and little feathers that decorated his tunic. Whoever this child
belonged to must love him very much to have spent so much time
decorating his clothes in this way, she mused.
     
     

CHAPTER 5

    John was having
a very successful hunting trip; he had stalked and shot a young
male deer on which there was plenty of meat to last them at least
for a while. He was completely unaware that his movements were
being tracked. Breaking his camp in a clearing of the forest, John
packed up and prepared to leave. He tightened the girth on the
horse and turned to collect his bedroll, but when he straightened
up he sucked in his breath sharply, realizing he was surrounded by
three Indian braves.
    They were each
similarly dressed in deerskin leggings, all of them bare-chested
except one, who had a breast plate made of some sort of thin bone
or quills. The middle Indian was an exceptionally tall and
well-built man. He sported a necklace of what John guessed were
bear claws. All had shaved heads with a line of hair running from
the front to the back of their heads, the hair standing upright
like the feathers of crested birds.
    John held out
both hands at waist height, palms