A Promise of Thunder

shiny black hair, dark fathomless eyes, and a muscular build. He wore stained buckskins that had seen better days.
    “I—who are you?”
    “I am called Soars-Like-An-Eagle. Who are you?”
    “I am Storm Stryker.”
    “Storm Stryker,” the young brave repeated. Suddenly his face lit up. “You are Storm, wife of Thunder. Where is my friend Thunder? I would like to greet him.”
    “He didn’t come.”
    Soars-Like-An-Eagle looked puzzled. “Jumping Buffalo was supposed to bring Laughing Brook back with him. Where is she?”
    “Laughing Brook couldn’t come. I came in her stead.”
    “White customs are strange indeed,” Soars-Like-An-Eagle said, shaking his head. “Why would you leave Laughing Brook with Thunder and travel to the reservation in her place?”
    “It’s a long story. I have come to care for Sweet Grass.”
    “I was expecting Laughing Brook,” Soars-Like-An-Eagle said sourly. “It is time she returned to her people. I have offered many horses for the honor of marrying Laughing Brook, and her father has promised to intercede for me.”
    “You want to marry Laughing Brook?” Storm asked, surprised that Laughing Brook would refuse this handsome young man.
    “Many men want Laughing Brook, but she is stubborn and refuses to marry any of us. I suspect she is waiting for Thunder to claim her. That’s why I was overjoyed when Thunder returned for Little Buffalo and told us he had married. But I was not pleased that Laughing Brook went to Oklahoma with Thunder. I expected her to return long before now.”
    Before Storm could form an answer, the tepee flap opened and a grim-faced Jumping Buffalo stepped out, followed by an ancient crone whose lined face dissolved into deeply plowed furrows.
    “I have explained to Sweet Grass that Storm, wife of Thunder, will be caring for her. Though she doesn’t understand why Laughing Brook could not come, she welcomes you. Come, I will take you inside now so that Crooked Nose can go home and rest.”
    Both Crooked Nose and Soars-Like-An-Eagle melted away as Storm bent low to enter the tepee, uncertain what she would find.
    Sweet Grass’s wasted form lay on a bed of furs. Despite the stifling heat inside the tepee, she was covered with a blanket. Her eyes were open, and despite the woman’s debilitating illness Storm thought she had never seen eyes so gentle or uncomplaining. The thought struck her that Summer Sky must have taken after her mother if she was as sweet and compliant as Grady indicated.
    “Welcome, wife of Thunder,” Sweet Grass rasped. “It is good of you to come.”
    “Since Laughing Brook is unable to come I thought it fitting that I should take her place,” Storm said. “Besides, I wanted to come.” It came as a shock to Storm that she actually meant what she said. She
did
want to come with Jumping Buffalo, and she was glad to be of some service to Sweet Grass, for Grady held both Sweet Grass and Jumping Buffalo in high esteem.
    Sweet Grass smiled sweetly, then closed her eyes. She slept a great deal during her illness, which worried Jumping Buffalo.
    Taking Jumping Buffalo aside, Storm asked, “What is wrong with her? Has the doctor seen her?”
    “Sweet Grass took a fever during the winter, seemed to get better with the coming of warm weather, then suddenly grew worse. As for the doctor, I cannot abide the man the government sends to treat our sick. He is dirty and nearly always drunk. Crooked Nose has been treating Sweet Grass with medicine concoctedfrom herbs and bark. It is better than anything the doctor can give her.”
    “I know nothing of medicine,” Storm said.
    “I ask only that you follow Crooked Nose’s instructions. She is old and cannot be here all the time, for there are others who need her services. Everyone on the reservation has sick family members; that is why I had great need of Laughing Brook. It is a daughter’s place to care for her mother.”
    “I will do my utmost to care for Sweet Grass,” Storm said earnestly. “I pray it will be enough.”
    “It will be enough, wife of Thunder,” Jumping Buffalo said solemnly.

Chapter Sixteen
     
    “Thunder, it is late. Please come inside. I’ve kept your supper warm.”
    Grady paused in his work, reluctant to go inside the cabin, where memories of Storm were so strong. The curtains she had hung at the windows, the furnishings they had purchased together, even the scent that lingered on the air in their bedroom combined to make his life empty and