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

upright to show he held no
weapon. He nodded to them once and then stood quite still and
waited. The large Indian raised his hand first in greeting and
nodded at John. He touched his eye and pointed to John, then held
his hand out at about knee high. John followed this pantomime and
realised straight away these men were looking for something of that
height, probably a child, and they were asking him if he had seen
one. John shook his head. The Indian, still using sign language,
mimed hunger, rubbing his belly in circles, and he gestured to the
deer carcass. John nodded and drew a line across the haunch of the
animal with his finger, gesturing the Indian forward to cut the leg
for their use.
    It would have
done him no good to have refused their request, John realised. He
was outnumbered three to one.
    Linnett had
spent a better night with her young charge. She had made a bed in
the tin tub for the babe, and he had snuggled down comfortably. She
had slept all through the night, waking at dawn feeling much
refreshed, thanks to her undisturbed slumber. She had only just
finished feeding the child his breakfast when she heard the blowing
and stamping of a horse. Opening the door a crack and peeking out
she saw John dismounting and Linnett was about to run and meet him,
when the child gave an excited cry and called out. He toddled over
to Linnett at the door and grabbed onto her skirts; Linnett swept
him up and into her arms.
    Then Linnett
saw them, the three native males. They sat silently mounted on
their horses, staring at her with an unblinking gaze.
Instinctively, she clutched the child, clasping him to her in a
protective gesture that was not lost on one of the natives watching
her.
    Linnett stood
still frozen to the spot but the child called to the natives in an
excited babble, his small hand reached up and wound itself in
Linnett’s loose hair and he bounced excitedly on her hip. John
watched from the fence where his horse was tied, he was startled to
see his wife emerge from their home carrying a small native child.
John was now terrified for Linnett’s safety but he could only stand
and observe, fearful that any sudden move on his part might trigger
an attack. One of the men rode forward a few paces while the other
two hung back. He stopped and waited. Linnett looked down at the
child’s glowing face he was still bouncing up and down in her arms
oblivious to the tension surrounding him.
    Linnett took a
deep breath and walked up to the native man, who was large and
muscular, golden skinned with black eyes that betrayed nothing of
his inner thoughts, let alone his intentions. His nose was slightly
bent as if it had been broken at some point. Bizarrely, his head
was shaved, save for a middle strip of hair that ran from his
forehead to his neck this was coloured with ochre paste and stood
up stiffly. He wore a necklace of what looked like animal claws
strung around his neck. One ear sported an earring of silver from
which hung three small white feathers.
    He stretched
out his arms to take the child, Linnett searched his face to assess
his intentions but she could read nothing, his face was totally
blank. Linnett realised there was nothing else to do but hand the
child over; she held the child up to the terrifying man before her
but the babe suddenly grabbed her around the neck and snuggled his
face into her, holding on tightly.
    Gently, Linnett
withdrew his arms and kissed his cheeks before she swiftly handed
him up to the native, who smoothed the child’s hair back and spoke
gently to him in a soft deep tone. The child twisted in his arms
and called to Linnett. “Ko si, Ko si, Mi he wi!”
    Linnett held up
her hand to the Indian. “Wait please, wait!” She ran inside quickly
and came out again clutching the carved wooden horse.
    The natives
were in the process of turning their horses to leave and Linnett
had to run alongside them and put a restraining hand on the large
Indian’s leg as she held the carved horse up to