Chapter 2: Awakenings

When Jesse woke up the next morning, he was surprised how good he felt. The aches and pains he had been feeling from the stampede, seemed to have magically disappeared. Climbing off the pallet, the teen wandered outside, hoping to talk to the old man again. During the night, strange dreams kept him from sleeping as peacefully as he would have liked.

"Hi," said a quiet voice behind him, startling him from his thoughts. Whirling around, Jesse saw Laughing Willow standing only a few feet behind him. The teen couldn't help wondering how he had missed seeing her.

"Hi, yourself. I was looking for Soaring Eagle, have you seen him?" Jesse asked, his eyes quickly darting over the young girls body.

"Hmmm, let me see... older man... graying hair... brown eyes? Yes, I've seen him, he is, after all, my father," she replied, unable to hide her grin.

"Okay, okay, I guess I deserved that. Have you seen your father this morning? I wanted to talk to him about something he told me yesterday," Jesse told her, averting his eyes in embarrassment.

"You mean you want to discuss your medicine with him?" she asked softly, not wanting to make the young man uncomfortable.

"How did you... Never mind. Yeah, I was curious about something he said. It was like he knew exactly what I was going through," Jesse told her, his embarrassment fading.

"I knew he had talked to you about your medicine. He told me we would need to make several bowls to keep up with you," her smile taking the sting from her words. Rather than take offense, Jesse laughed, remembering the medicine man's words as he was leaving the day before. The teen had never been able to talk to girls before, always being tongue-tied in their presence.

"I hope we don't need too many more bowls," he told her, feeling more comfortable with the young girl. He couldn't help comparing the beautiful girl with the giggling girls he saw every time they went into town. After talking a little while with Laughing Willow, he couldn't help thinking how much younger the other girls seemed. This girl would be someone he could see spending the rest of his days, and even more, his nights, with.

"I'm going back to our lodge. I will tell father you wish to speak with him," the girl told him, the mirth in her eyes telling him she had a pretty good idea what he was thinking and not minding in the least.

"I think I will go back to my uh... lodge and wait for him there," Jesse told her. As the girl walked toward her lodge, Jesse couldn't help watching her lithe figure, enjoying the swaying of her hips. He could have watched her forever, if she hadn't looked back at him, a wide smile playing across her lips. Turning quickly, Jesse headed back to his temporary home, to try to get his mind off Laughing Willow and back on his plans to get back home.

Once he got inside, Jesse couldn't help remembering the twinkle in Laughing Willow's eyes. The teen didn't think he would ever get tired of looking into her sparkling brown eyes. They reminded him of a fawn on a bright clear summer's morning. Lost in thought, the boy didn't hear the wizened old shaman enter his lodge.

"My daughter told me you were looking for me," Soaring Eagle said, startling the young man.

"Yes, sir, I wanted to ask you a few more questions about my er... uh ability," Jesse told him.

"I will be glad to help you, if I can. What would you like to know?" Soaring Eagle asked, his eyes holding the same humor in them that Jesse had seen in the pretty, young teen's earlier.