“Then maybe Kantalan won’t be gone after all. Not as long as it exists here.” Dominic touched the center of her forehead with a gentle fingertip. “And here.” His hand brushed her left breast lightly.

“Perhaps.” Her lips were tremulous as she smiled at him.

“I think we’d better find Patrick and Rising Star and make camp. We need to build a fire and dry out.” He continued in a deliberate, matter-of-fact tone. “It may turn cool when the sun goes down.”

It didn’t feel cool now, she thought. A suffocating heat pervaded the air and there was a haze of smoke even here on the other side of the mountain. Still, it was important that they locate Patrick and Rising Star. Her boots were squishing uncomfortably as she shifted from foot to foot. “I’d imagine they would stay near until they knew we were safe. Shall we-”

Patrick burst through the underbrush at the side of the bank. “Come quick.” His hair was water darkened to deep brown and formed a spiky helmet around his pale face. “Rising Star’s horse fell in the pass. I think she’s going to have the child right away.”

Rising Star did not have the child right away.

She underwent nearly eighteen hours of agonizing labor before her son struggled from her tortured body. He was immediately followed by a tiny girl child.

“Twins.” Rising Star laughed huskily as Elspeth put the second tiny blanket-swathed baby in the curve of her arm. “The Delaneys wouldn’t do things in the ordinary way, of course.” She looked at Patrick over Elspeth’s shoulder. “I suppose I should have expected it. Twins run in the Delaney family. You and Brianne…” She trailed off, her eyes closing. “I did not do this well. Indian women are supposed to be much better at having babies. I may have become too much of a white woman.”

“You’ve done splendidly.” Elspeth brushed the sweat-dampened hair from Rising Star’s forehead with a cool cloth. “You have a fine strong son and a beautiful little girl.”

A faint smile touched Rising Star’s lips. “I shall call the boy Kevin, a white man’s name, but the girl I will keep for myself. I will call her Ko-Do, the firefly.”

“They’re both fine names,” Dominic said gently.

“Yes.” Rising Star was almost asleep. “Fine names…”

Dominic’s hand clasped Elspeth’s shoulder. “You need to rest too. Patrick and I will watch over her.”

Elspeth shook her head. “You haven’t had any sleep either. I’ll go change my clothes and wash up. Perhaps she’ll wake again and can take a little nourishment. She seems very weak.”

Patrick was staring down at Rising Star, his features drawn with fear. “She’s going to be fine now.”

Elspeth stood up and turned to walk away.

“She’s going to be fine,” Patrick repeated sharply. “It wouldn’t make any sense for her to suffer like this and not get well. No woman should have to go through what she has.”

“None of us is a doctor,” Dominic said wearily as he rubbed his stubbled cheek. “We can only do our best, then pray. She seems to be sleeping well now. After what she’s gone through it’s probably the best medicine for her. Why don’t you make some coffee? We need it.”

“You make it,” Patrick said jerkily, falling to his knees beside Rising Star. “I’m staying here.”

Dominic hesitated, his gaze on the boy’s tense face. Then he nodded and turned away. “I’ll make the coffee.”

Two hours later the tiny girl child, Ko-Do, died peacefully in her sleep. First she was there, life burning brightly, then she was gone like the firefly after which she was named.

“What the hell are we going to do?” Patrick asked, looking down at the child. “We can’t tell Rising Star it’s all been for nothing. What if the boy dies too?” His hand clenched into a fist of impotent rage. “What can we tell her?”

“Nothing.” Dominic took the baby girl gently away from Rising Star. “For now. If we have to lie to her, we will. The boy seems healthy enough.”

“Seems,” Patrick echoed. “He’s got to be all right.”

Rising Star began to hemorrhage an hour later. They all worked frantically to staunch the flow, but the bleeding would not stop. By nightfall even Patrick realized they couldn’t save her. All he could do was hold her hand and stare desperately at her still face.

She woke only once. Her lids opened heavily and her great dark eyes searched Patrick’s face above her. “So White Buffalo was right.” Her voice was a mere breath of sound. “There is no choice.” Her gaze wandered down to where the baby girl had slept within the curve of her arm. “Ko-Do?”

Patrick opened his lips to speak but couldn’t force the words through the tightness of his throat.

He didn’t have to speak. He could see by her expression that she knew. “Poor little Firefly.” She shook her head. “And poor Patrick.” Her lids shut again. “Don’t be sad. Maybe I’ll be able to find my shadow… and Ko-Do. It won’t be so lonely with Ko-Do there.” She was silent and at first he thought she was unconscious. “Silver… help her, Patrick.”

“I will. I promise you.”

“And my son. Don’t let them steal his shadow… Don’t let them…”

The words drifted away, and a few minutes later Patrick knew that Rising Star was no longer with them.

Dominic and Patrick built a coffin large enough to accommodate both Rising Star and Ko-Do. The two were wrapped securely in Elspeth’s plaid and buried that night in a grassy glade several yards from the lake. There were no words spoken over the grave. None were needed. Their silence as they stood there was eloquent with sorrow.

Patrick turned away and stalked back to the camp-fire. Dominic and Elspeth followed more slowly.

Patrick was already saddling his horse when they came into the circle of the campfire. “The baby has to be fed,” he said jerkily. “He’ll die if he doesn’t get milk. He’s not going to die. Where’s the nearest village?”

“No village. Probably Indino’s camp is the closest thing to it. It’s about a day’s hard ride into the hills.” Dominic knelt and drew a rough map in the dirt with a stick. “Tell him I sent you.”

“I’ll fill a canteen with broth.” Elspeth ran her fingers wearily through her hair as she turned away. “I hope it won’t make him sick. It’s the only thing I can think to do. I only wish I knew more about babies.”

Ten minutes later Patrick swung up into the saddle and Elspeth handed him the canteen and the small bundle containing Rising Star’s son. Patrick scarcely looked at Elspeth and Dominic as he wheeled and rode out.

Elspeth shivered and drew a step nearer to Dominic, her gaze following Patrick’s rapidly moving figure. “He looks ten years older.”

“And probably feels over a hundred.”

“What do we do now?” Elspeth felt empty.

“We try to sleep for a few hours and then we break camp and start for Killara.” He rubbed the back of his neck to ease the tension knotting it.

“Rising Star…” She could feel the tears rise to her eyes. “Patrick is right. Its not fair.”

“No.” His arms went around her and he held her tight, pressing her cheek to his chest. “No, it’s not fair.”

“She was so beautiful and gentle.” The tears were running down her cheeks, dampening his shirt. “She was-”

“Shh, I know.” His voice was husky, and Elspeth suddenly felt a warm dampness on her temple. He stood there rocking her, sharing her pain and his own, until the fire burned low and the darkness began to be lightened by the first streaks of dawn.

25

After several hours’ sleep, Dominic and Elspeth started their journey back to Killara. The pace was slower due to the heavily burdened pack animals, and the mood was subdued and dispirited. Dominic deliberately kept them on the trail until well after dark to make sure they would both be too weary to think of anything but sleep.