A Whisper In The Wind (25 page)

Epilogue

They sat together on the hillside, watching the sun set in a glorious blaze of pinks and lavenders tinged with crimson.

A baby girl slept peacefully on a Morning Star blanket beside Elayna, a two-year-old boy tumbled head over heels in the grass, squealing with delight as a spotted puppy licked his bare feet.

Elayna smiled at the boy, her heart swelling with love for her son and daughter, and especially for the man beside her.

They had a
good life, a full life. Michael taught school at the reservation, but he taught more than reading and writing. He taught the Cheyenne children to have pride in their heritage, to respect the ancient traditions of their forefathers, to honor the old ways even as they learned new ones.

Elayna had visited his class one afternoon and watched with a deep sense of pride as Michael and old Two Bulls performed the Eagle Dance for Michael’s class. The dance portrayed the strength and power of the eagle, but it was Michael’s strength and power that tugged at her heart and brought tears of joy to her eyes.

“The eagle hears our songs and our prayers,” Michael had explained to the class later. “They help to carry our innermost thoughts to
Heammawihio.”

He gestured at the drummer who had accompanied them. “The drum is the heartbeat of our people. It calls us to dance, it calls us to war. The drum speaks to us as we pray and sing and dance. If we listen, it tells us who we are.”

Now, sitting beside him, she experienced a deep surge of gratitude for Michael Wolf, for the heritage that made him the man he was, for the love they shared—a love as strong as the eagle that soared overhead, as enduring as the sweet summer wind that whispered through the tall pines.

“Ohinniyan, wastelakapi,”
the wind seemed to say. “Forever, beloved.”

Dear Reader:

I was totally out of ideas and wondering where my next plot would come from when my oldest son suggested I write about a modern-day Indian who goes back in time.

I immediately fell in love with the idea and
A WHISPER IN THE WIND
was born. I only had one real problem with the book, and that was finding the right ending. I wrote it four times.

Originally, Michael stayed in the past, but I didn’t like that. (Would he die, and be born again?)

In the second ending, Michael returned to his own time and met Elayna’s great grand-daughter, but I wasn’t happy with that either. (I wanted Michael to be with Elayna.)

The third draft reunited Michael and Elayna, but I didn’t specify whether they were in his time or hers, letting the reader decide. (That didn’t work, either. I hate endings like that.)

And so I came up with the existing ending.

Did I make the right choice? I hope you’ll write and let me know.

Madeline Baker

About Madeline Baker

Madeline Baker started writing simply for the fun of it. Now she is the award-winning author of more than thirty historical romances and one of the most popular writers of Native American romance. She lives in California, where she was born and raised.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

A Whisper in the
Wind
Copyright © 1991, 2012, 2016 Madeline Baker

Published by Butterfly Kisses Press

Cover design by Cindy Lucas