Passions of the Heart - BOOK 2 of PASSION series

Chapter Four - Precautious Measures

Chapter Four

Precautious Measures

Kaitlin retrieved her waterproof basket she was constructing.  Her other one was in constant use to soak the soap roots she used to bathe and clean with daily.  Another finely woven basket to hold water would be welcomed and well-used.

On this night, Spirit Bear took flint pieces to shape into arrow heads.  He’d told Kaitlin he was working on preparing for the buffalo hunt that the tribe usually did before the winter months, but he also was preparing for war.  It was an untimely thing to do before his wedding in about a month, but war never chose well.  The Crow could not be permitted to prowl Sioux lands.  They would be driven forth!

Kaitlin watched him as she prepared her weaving materials.  He seemed so intense on his work.  Usually she could not look at him for but a moment before he turned his stygian eyes upon her.  His power was focused as he shaped the sharp tips for arrows.

She worked on her basket slowly.  It was precise work, and she was more interested in watching her fiancé zero his vast power into such precision as to make the delicate-looking arrowheads.  She admired his sleek and graceful moves.  For such a big man to hold such composure astounded her.

His body was honed to physical perfection.  Even his forearm muscles rippled with unbound strength that he mastered in the art of knapping.  She watched as he struck the flint onto a conical structure in his lap, and another sliver of sharp flaking broke free.

Woniya Mato held the new sliver up to examine.  It was thin and sharp.  When sharpened and shaped onto the end of a light shaft, it would sink deeply into the tough hide of a bison… or a deadly enemy, toka. 

Kaitlin watched the warrior as he began to work on shaping the stone tip.  He had a very thick piece of rawhide in his lap.  He held the flint in place with his thumb while he placed an antler tine onto the spot he wanted to whittle.  Then he placed a stone tool on top of the antler and applied pressure until a sliver from the opposite side broke free.  He repeated this procedure until slowly, and arrow head took shape.

Next, he took a core of obsidian.  He repeated the entire process with the shiny black stone.  When he was finished, two very sharp instruments of death were ready to be united with a light shaft with feather guides.

Light was waning when Kaitlin stood to take her basket weaving supplies back into their home.  Her day had been long, and she was weary.  The chief stayed outside a little longer to clean up his sharp flakes so that none would damage feet or shoes on the needle-like shavings.

When the man she loved entered the tipi, Kaitlin was already asleep.  Spirit Bear stripped and lay down beside her.  He loved to watch her relaxed features.

Her honeyed hair spilled around the top of her head, for she did not like it against her neck while she rested.  Her finely arched brows flitted delicately above her thickly fringed eyes.  Those golden orbs were now resting behind fragile pinkish lids.

Her nose was straight with a hint of being pert.  Her lips were just right.  They could not be called full, but neither were they thin. 

Her cheekbones were fairly high, and shallow hollows underneath them added to her beauty.  Her chin was feminine, and her forehead was of medium height.  He’d never seen a finer specimen of womanhood.

He wished he could break her habit of wearing the robe-garment to bed.  She was so modest!  Slowly, as not to disturb her, he unlaced the braided leather ties and removed the garment from her.  His body would be all the heat she would need this night.