Swift Eagle stood before her in his buckskins, the long rifle resting across his folded arms. His silhouette blocked the light, throwing her features into shadow. Maintaining a blank expression, he tried to speak, but no words would come.  His wounds still pained him, though they were healing nicely, and shifting the weight of the rifle eased the pressure on his shoulder somewhat.

She started to smile, but the curve of her lips stopped short as if she realized he’d come to tell her it was time to go. It tore his heart to see the sad, frightened look in her eyes. Finally, he managed a few words, careful to keep all emotion from his voice. “I have come to tell you something.”

A stricken look passed through her gaze, then disappeared as if she steeled herself for the inevitable.

“It is time to go down the mountain, Jessica. Tomorrow or the next day…we will leave here.” His words were terse, as had been most of his speech with her for the last several weeks. Deep anger boiled in him at having to part from her. It would not be stilled.

She nodded her understanding, hands unmoving on the sock she darned. He could feel her pain. It mingled with his own. He watched the graceful column of her throat as she turned away from him to the window, then he looked away, hiding his emotions beneath a layer of supposed indifference. It hurt too much to look at her, to see her and know she could never be his.

Sensing her gaze on him, he turned back.  She looked fully at him. Moisture filled her eyes and she blinked furiously to hold it back. His heart hurt and he swallowed the words he wanted to say. Only looked at her, hoping she would understand how much he cared for her. How he longed to keep her with him, be a family. He couldn’t say the words, couldn’t allow her to stay. She said nothing as the world around them faded. They were only two.

Taking her silence as a sign that he should leave, he did so. Turning abruptly, he went out the door. The tears in her eyes echoed in his soul, driving deep, hurting more than he thought he could bear. Striding purposefully away from the cabin, he called to Samuel and Freddie to follow him, and went off toward the woods to check his traps.