Page 100 of She Captures My Heart

EPILOGUE

It was a peaceful, sunshiny morning when Amelia, Gray Falcon and Strikes Fast stepped back into the tiny encampment situated upon a high ridge overlooking the great Missouri River. The white sand-and-clay cliffs, rising up behind the encampment, looked pink and blue as they reflected the beauty of the sunrise.

The travelers were met by none other than Amelia's father and mother.

"Father!" Amelia exclaimed, catching up to Gray Falcon, who was leading the way. "You are walking, Father! You are well?"

Robert McIntosh's laugh was little more than a gravelly sound. But, at least he was laughing. He shook his head, and his red hair, now streaked with gray, bounced around his well-worn face. He said, "Thanks to God and that son-in-law of mine, I am still here. And better, I've not had a drink of whiskey since I've been here."

"Oh, Father!" Amelia threw down the reins of her horse and, taking a few steps forward, flung herself into her father's arms. She said, "Father, you should know. Calhoun is gone. My husband won back the contract, but even it is gone, too, eaten up in a fire. Daddy, all that evil has gone away. What was once yours, is now still yours."

Robert McIntosh nodded and stepped back, but Amelia did not miss the tears in his eyes as he looked away from her.

Then, gazing at Gray Falcon, who stood beside her, Robert McIntosh offered a hand to him and said, "Good work, son. Welcome to the family."

Molly McIntosh laughed joyfully as Gray Falcon reached out to take his father-in-law's hand into his own. Gray Falcon nodded, his look stoic, but Amelia's husband didn't fool her; there were tears in his eyes, too.

Gradually, Laylah and Eagle Heart, as well as Sweet Woman and Sharon, joined the rest of the group.

There would be a great deal of celebration tonight, for a miracle had happened in this land of the Pikuni people: a disjointed family was, at last, a family once more.

THE END