Elk Hunter, Elk Dreamer

A Terry Thorne story

(contains explicit adult material)

By Kazlynh

Terry Thorne opened the door of the lodge and stepped outside into the pre-dawn gloom, taking a deep breath of the fresh, morning air. The sky was overcast, but not thick and heavy with unshed snow, as it had been when they had arrived the afternoon before. Despite Dino’s reassurance that it didn’t snow in Wyoming until at least the end of October, the previous evening’s promise of snow had been fulfilled while they slept and the mountains around Pahaska Teepee were now dusted with white…

The perfect Christmas chocolate-box photograph…

Behind him, the door of the adjoining lodge opened. Quirking an eyebrow, Terry turned, giving Dino a flat look and doing an impression of the American, “Don’t worry, buddy! The sun will be shining tomorrow!”

Dino grinned, rubbing his hands together, asking, “What? You’re scared of a little snow?”

“Well, if you’d warned me to bring my snow shoes…” Terry began.

“Snow shoes, smo shoes!” Dino derided, thumping his Australian friend on the shoulder as he surveyed the area. “Hell, but I’d forgotten how beautiful it was here…”

“It’s not bad at all…” Terry agreed, following Dino’s gaze. “So do we have time to grab a bite to eat before your buddy turns up?”

“Nope,” Dino told him, grinning and pointing toward the pick-up pulling into the car park, towing a horsebox. “There he is…”

He took off at a jog across the grass, waving and hollering. Terry shook his head, excitement growing, as he followed Dino.

When the American had first suggested that they meet up with one of his special forces buddies and go elk hunting, Terry had jumped at the chance. He’d spent a good deal of time in the cities and slums of South America, but very little time at all in the States. So a weekend hunting expedition in the Chief Washakie Wilderness area, to the East of Yellowstone, had sounded like a great idea.

Dino was shaking hands with a tall, broad man who was undeniably Native American. Dino turned as Terry reached them, introducing, “Terry, this fine-looking specimen of Cheyenne manhood is Garvin Red Bear… Garve, this is the one and only Terry Thorne…”

Garve grinned, shaking Terry’s hand, “Heard a lot about you, Terry.”

“And you,” Terry grinned.

“All of it bad, knowing this Irishman!” Garve quipped, stabbing a thumb in Dino’s direction.

“Italian!” Dino contradicted. “How many times do I have to tell you, it’s Italian…”

“Yeah!” Terry put in. “Only two thirds of his family are Irish!”

Garve chuckled, a deep, infectious sound that started Terry giggling, much to Dino’s disgust. He rolled his eyes, muttering, “What possessed me to arrange a weekend with you two…?”

“Because you enjoy it, man,” Garve put in. Then he went on, “So are we ready to go?”

Terry nodded, stabbing a thumb in the direction of the lodges as he told him, “Just need to pick up the gear.”

“And the rations from the truck,” Dino added, already turning away. “It’s parked up beside the lodge…”

He took off at a run and Terry rolled his eyes, asking, “Was he like this when you were serving together?”

Garvin Red Bear grinned, telling him, “Nah, man. He’s slowed down in his old age…”

Terry chuckled, shaking his head. “I’ll go get my gear…”

Garve nodded,  “I’ll check the mules and pick up some sodas… Have you had breakfast yet?”

“No,” Terry told him. “Not yet…”

Garve grinned, assuring him, “Good, cause there’s nothing better than a trail breakfast after a few hours hiking…”

Terry and Dino walked in silence ahead of Garve, along a track that led them deeper into the Wilderness. There had been a collection of empty vans and mule-boxes back down at the staging post, so Terry knew that there were other hunters out ahead of them, all of them hoping to bag the prize of an elk.

Garve was leading the mule, his rifle strapped to the pack but easily accessible. If they were lucky enough to get a kill, the elk would be loaded onto the mule so they could carry it out. Getting such a big animal out of the wilderness, Garve assured them, would be almost impossible any other way.

As they climbed through the trees, the heavy clouds began to break up, sunlight catching the top of the mountains ahead of them. Tree squirrels scurried around them and every now and then, when the grassy path broke into mud, they would see the tracks of a coyote nestled between the horseshoe-shaped hoof prints of the mules brought in by the other hunters. The breeze was cool, but not overly cold, just right for a climbing trek through woods…

From high above them, Terry heard the plaintive cry of a hawk. He stopped, a slow grin plastering itself across his face. This place was, Terry decided, almost impossibly beautiful…

Garve grinned at the Australian’s response. “Gets to you, eh?” he acknowledged.

Terry nodded, trying to put his feelings into words. “There’s a peace about the place…”

“Like the calm before a storm,” Garve confirmed. Then he explained, “My people say that this land sits uneasily with itself…”

“He’s talking about all the seismic activity,” Dino put in. “Old Faithful isn’t far over those hills…” He grinned at Terry, quipping, “Even an Aussie bum like you must have heard of Old Faithful…”

“Yeah,” Terry agreed. “Isn’t she that leggy blond that keeps turning up in your hotel room?”

“Nah,” Garve put in, “That’s his sister!”

“What is this? Get at Dino day?” Dino demanded in mock ire as Terry chuckled and Garve grinned. “And leave my sister out of this!”

Still chuckling, Terry dropped his hand onto Dino’s shoulder, assuring him, “Don’t worry, mate… We won’t tell her we know, if you don’t…”

“Bloody bums!” Dino muttered, scowling at Terry’s back. “I’ll get you! You and your little chuckle buddy, too!”

“Is that me?” Garve asked innocently, “Or Daisy here?” he finished, scratching the mule behind an ear.

Giggling, Terry moved up the path ahead of the other two men, listening to their banter, giggling harder as Dino started cooing at the mule about being the only one who showed any respect in the outfit. Terry was still giggling as he reached a small clearing and stepped into the sunlight.

A steep valley stretched out ahead of him, as far as the eye could see, hemmed in on either side by cloud-topped mountains.  He drank in the sight and, as the breeze died away, he caught the sound of the distant rush of a waterfall. Pulling his binoculars from the case strapped to his belt, he peered through the trees, trying to see the river he knew must run along the bottom of the valley.

Above him, the hawk cried again.

Terry looked up, searching the sky. There was no sign of the bird, but Terry frowned at the ominous darkness in the clouds marching towards the valley from the North. Even as the unease formed in the pit of his stomach, he felt the first flakes of snow beginning to fall against his face…

He turned, starting to warn Dino and Garve of the impending snow shower.

Movement on the far side of the clearing caught his attention, drawing his gaze back toward it. He dropped to his knees, bringing the rifle to bear, wondering if the movement was an elk, his eyes already sorting through the shadows between the trees to find what had drawn his attention back.

He saw the movement again and focused on it, thumbing off the safety catch on the rifle.

A young woman stepped slowly out from the shadows.

Even as instinct prompted him to scream at her about almost being killed, another part of his mind was warning him to stay silent and not to move, just in case he scared her away. He swallowed, watching as she took another step towards him, then another. Her movements were fluid and graceful, almost as if she were floating over the grass rather than stepping on it.

She was dressed in buckskin, the fringes of her dress brushing the top of her moccasin boots. The sun had slid back out from behind the clouds and the beaded decoration on the dress danced and sparkled as she moved. Her hair was loose, hanging in a dark veil across her shoulders and, concealing her upper face, was a mask that looked as if it was made of hide…

Terry blinked, unable to believe his eyes, unable to draw his gaze away from her…

In the trees behind him Dino and Garvin both saw the woman at the same time. Dino quirked an eyebrow, his breath catching in his throat at the sight of her. “What the…?”

Before he could get any further, he was slammed into the ground as the full weight of Garvin Red Bear hit him, sending the rifle tumbling from his grasp.

Instinct kicked in and he started to fight, adrenalin pumping through him from shock and fright. Garve held onto him, hissing in his ear, “Dino, stop! Stay down! Damn it! Stop!”

The soldier’s instinct kicked in and Dino did as he was ordered. He stopped struggling but stayed coiled, ready for action, demanding, “What the hell is it?”

“An Elk Dreamer….”

For a moment, Dino thought he had misheard his friend. “A what?” he demanded.

“An Elk Dreamer…” Garve supplied again. “Keep your voice down!”

“What the hell is an Elk Dreamer?” Dino hissed.

“Shh!” Garve ordered, levering himself up slightly, peering across towards the clearing.

Dino stayed still and shut up, knowing that Garvin knew this wilderness a hell of a lot better than he did. But when he heard Garve swear softly, he turned over, pushing himself up carefully and trying to see what was going on without giving away their position.

Terry was half way across the clearing, heading towards the far trees.

“What the hell is he doing?” Dino demanded in a stage whisper.

“What every man in his position has to do…” Garve supplied, cryptically.

“Which is?” Dino demanded softly, starting to lose his cool with the big Cheyenne man.

As they both watched, Terry reached the trees, disappearing into their shadowed depths. Garve sighed and turned over to sit up, cross-legged. Dino looked at him, eyes narrowing. “Damn it, soldier,” he began, his voice dangerously quiet, “Tell me what the hell is going on before I beat it out of you!”

Garvin Red Bear looked at him. “The woman we saw was an Elk Dreamer.”

“You said that before!” Dino accused sarcastically, sitting up.

“Elk Dreamers have powerful medicine. They live apart from the People,” Garvin explained. “They come down to celebrations, at night, when the People are dancing. They will seduce the unsuspecting and spirit them away…”

“That woman,” Dino demanded, not quite believing what he was hearing, “was a Cheyenne bogey-man?”

A small smile tugged at the edge of Garve’s mouth, “Not exactly…”

“Then what, exactly?” Dino insisted. “If Terry’s in trouble we need to get him out of there!”

“Oh,” Garve told him, “He’s in trouble alright… but not the kind you might think…”

“Damn it, Garvin!” Dino shot back, “If you’ll damn well tell me what the hell you were talking about, then I’ll damn well know what to think!”

Garve looked at him.  “Promiscuity is frowned upon by my people,” he explained. “Chastity is held in high regard. Except for Elk Dreamers… or those touched by Elk medicine. And like I said, it’s powerful stuff…”

Dino blinked, looking back at him. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it again as the Cheyenne man went on, “If an Elk Dreamer came down to dance at the fires, the People would hide behind their lodges and watch from there, to keep themselves safe from being seduced by Elk Medicine…”

Dino sat for a moment, trying to take it all in, not quite believing what he was hearing. Then he took a deep breath and pointed in the direction in which Terry had disappeared. “Are you trying to tell me…” he began, “Are you trying to tell me that Terry Thorne has been seduced by some sort of faerie-tale spirit who is going to screw his brains out?”

Garve considered for a moment, then nodded, “Pretty much…” He looked Dino in the eye, continuing, “Except that it’s no faerie tale… Elk Dreamers are real. You saw her… You were caught by her too…”

Dino swallowed, looking away, unable to deny his reaction to seeing the woman. He sat for a moment, then looked back at Garvin, asking, “So what the hell do we do?”

Garve grinned, pushing himself to his feet, “We get some food cooking and we wait… If there’s an Elk Dreamer here, there won’t be any elk to be caught so we might as well make ourselves comfortable…”

Terry followed the woman as she wove her way delicately through the undergrowth, heading down the slope towards the river. Every now and then she would look back, as if to make sure that he was still following, smiling at him as she did. He smiled back, opening his mouth to ask where they were going, but by the time the thought had formed in his head, she had already turned away. So he followed her silently…

She reached the bank of the river and turned south, her moccasins making shallow indentations on the solid, dark mud of the riverbank.  Terry kept his head down, watching his footing as he picked his way after her, the snow beginning to fall in earnest, slowly turning the banks of the river, and the surrounding trees, white.

He had lost all track of time, but finally the smell of wood smoke caught his attention and he lifted his head.

The sight pulled him up short and he gasped. It was a scene from no Western he could ever remember watching.

Ahead of them, on a curve of the river, a single tipi sat at the edge of a small break in the trees. It was beautifully decorated in earthy autumnal tones; the stylised images of what could have been an elk running round it. The top flaps were open and a small trail of smoke wisped up through the poles into the morning sky. In front of the tipi, two malamutes lifted their heads, ears twitching. They rose to their feet, but stayed beside the tipi until she called to them, a low ululation that sent them bounding towards her.

Centuries slipped away…

Terry swallowed, not moving as she laughed and dropped to her knees, fussing over the two dogs. She spoke to them, a quiet murmur that Terry couldn’t quite pick up. Then the dogs were bounding past her, running up to where Terry stood transfixed. Their playfulness broke the spell and Terry laughed, bending to let them lick his hands before scratching them behind the ears.

They barked at him then took off, running past the woman, back towards the tipi. Terry shook his head, chuckling softly, his gaze finally coming to rest on the woman. She smiled at him, holding out her hand. Swallowing, caught in her gaze, Terry walked towards her, taking her hand.

Her skin was warm and soft.

She rubbed her thumb gently across the back of his hand, holding his eyes for a moment. Terry swallowed, his stomach doing flips of expectancy, his body already beginning to respond to the intoxicating aura of her presence. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and find out if her lips were as soft as her hands but he was too frightened to move, in case he spooked her and she disappeared into the forest as magically as she had appeared.

Almost as if she had been reading his thoughts, she turned, leading him along the riverbank towards the tipi. She drew him across the grass, letting go of his hand and bending down to release the bottom of the door flap. She pulled it to the side then disappeared inside, holding her hand out through the open door.

Terry bent down, taking her hand and ducking through the flap, going into the tipi.

He wasn’t sure what he had expected to find inside, but the almost sumptuous luxury astounded him…

A fire burned warmly in the small pit in the middle of the tipi, giving off a welcoming heat. The floor was covered with soft skins that some sixth-sense told him were buffalo. A liner ran around the inside, as beautifully decorated as the outside of the tipi, covering the poles. Against the liner lay brightly coloured packages that he somehow knew contained clothes and provisions.

The woman had moved to the fire. Using tongs bound from two lengths of wood, she lifted a stone from the centre of the flames. She turned, dropping the stone into a bag that hung from a tripod beside the fire. The stone hissed as it hit liquid and, over the smell of wood smoke, Terry caught the aroma of cooking meat.

The woman turned, looking up at him, speaking to him for the first time. “Sit…” she offered. “You have walked far…”

The sound of her voice startled him. He sank to the floor, idly wondering if she was speaking English or if, by some magic, he was able to understand her language. Even as the thought formed, though, it seemed unimportant. All that was important was that he was here with her…

He put the rifle down at his side, “Thank you…”

She smiled, nodding at him and moved back to secure the door flap. “You are hungry…” she commented as Terry’s stomach growled loudly.

He grinned back at her, admitting, “You could say that. We didn’t have any breakfast…”

We…

He’d left Dino and Garvin…

Almost as if she sensed his thoughts she assured him, “They will wait for you. Your Cheyenne brother knows who I am.”

She moved toward him, kneeling in front of him, reaching out to unzip his jacket. He watched her, captivated by her, his body responding to her closeness again. He lifted his hands, resting them on hers, wanting to feel their warm softness.

She smiled at him, dropping her eyes almost shyly.

Terry swallowed hard, clearing his throat and asking, “Who are you?”

She lifted her head, looking at him again. “I am of the people you know as Sioux…”

An image flashed into his head, a photograph he had once seen of a proud man with two braids and the most expressive eyes he had ever seen. “Sitting Bull…”

She gave him a wide smile, obviously pleased that he knew Sitting Bull. “Yes,” she told him, “Tatanka Iyotanka was of the Sioux nation…”

Caught in her eyes, Terry tried to repeat the name. “Tatanka…?” he began.

“Iyotanka,” she finished for him, reaching up to brush the back of her fingers across his cheek.

Terry sighed softly, reaching up to catch her hand but his stomach betrayed him, growling loudly, and she chuckled softly as he rolled his eyes. “The stew should be warmed by now,” she told him, rising gracefully to her feet and moving back to the tripod. She picked up a wooden bowl and ladled the stew into it, then returned to kneel in front of Terry, offering him the bowl and a spoon. “Eat…”

Mouth watering, Terry took the steaming bowl and spoon, savouring the aroma for a moment before tucking in. He groaned softly at the taste, closing his eyes in pleasure. She smiled at him, standing up and moving away to pour some stew for herself.

“Buffalo?” he asked, opening his eyes. “Tatanka?”

She nodded, “Tatanka…”

Terry wolfed down the thick, warm and filling stew. Food always tasted better when it was cooked outside, but he had never tasted anything quite like this…

He wondered, as he finished the stew, if it would be polite to lick the bowl, but she was already kneeling in front of him, taking the bowl from him, offering, “More?”

Shaking his head, he told her, “No… Thank you… but it was wonderful… Filling…”

“The earth provides for us…” she acknowledged softly. “Everything we need is in or of the land… the earth…”

“Everything?” Terry asked.

She gave him a coy smile, setting the bowl down, telling him, “We are also of the earth…”

Terry groaned softly, reaching for her, drawing her towards him. She sank against him, her hands brushing across his shoulders as she lifted her head slightly. He looked at her for a moment, captivated by her, by the gold flecks in her dark eyes…

Then he dipped his head kissing her gently.

She responded, running her hands down across his shoulders and back.

All he had wanted to do since he had first laid eyes on her was to hold her like this and claim the softness of her lips… but now that it came to it, he found himself drawing back, wondering if there was some custom he should follow or some taboo he should know about…

As if sensing his unease, she pulled back, looking into his eyes, reaching out to brush her fingers down his cheek. She smiled at him, “You have a good heart…”

She traced his lips with her finger, assuring him, “There is nothing you need worry about. All that matters is the two of us, the here and now…”

“The here and now…” Terry repeated and she smiled, leaning back in, kissing him deeply, pushing him back, down onto the soft furs.

Terry moaned, running his hands across her back, his body responding to her closeness as he returned the kiss. Moving position, she straddled him, breaking the kiss gently and sitting up. She grinned down at him and he swallowed, licking his lips.

Slowly, she unbuttoned his jacket from the neck to the waist then drew down the zip.

Groaning, Terry sat up, shrugging the jacket off his shoulders and pulling his arms out before drawing his sweater over his head.

She watched him, a small smile on her lips. The hide mask hid the expression on her face, but she made a small sound of appreciation, reaching out to run her fingertips gently down the muscles of his bare arms before tugging his vest out of his fatigue pants, drawing it up and over his head in one fluid movement. He lifted his arms to let her pull it off completely. Grinning, she discarded it beside his jacket and sweater, brushing a hand down across his chest.

Kneeling up, she reached down, slowly pulling the buckskin dress up across her thighs. Terry licked his lips, gently brushing his hands across hers, grasping the hem of her dress and pulling it up. She lifted her arms, bending down and leaning back, letting the dress slip off her body.

Terry gazed at her, dropping the dress at her side, his eyes roaming up across the curve of her hips to the swell of her breast, the dark areola peaking out from beneath the blue-black veil of her hair.

He reached up, brushing his thumbs across the hard buds of her nipples, smiling as she gasped. Moving her hair away, he leaned forward, running his tongue around her nipple before sucking it into his mouth, teasing it with his tongue as he teased the other with his fingers.

She moaned softly, biting her lip, arching her back and pushing against him.

Breathing in the smoky scent of her skin, he caught her nipple between his teeth, biting gently. She gasped, running her hands down his back, caressing his skin and grinding her hips against the hard swell of his groin.

Grunting in anticipation, Terry wrapped one arm round her, bracing his weight on the other, rolling them both, laying her gently down on the pelts. Slowly breaking the kiss, he pushed himself away from her, holding himself above her, looking down at her. She looked back at him, running her tongue across her lips.

Her hands moved to the waistband of his fatigue pants, her fingers deftly undoing the button and zipper. He groaned softly as she slid her hands into the waistband and lifted his hips, letting her push both the fatigues and underwear down over his butt, the hard length of his manhood springing free between their bodies.

She grinned, lifting her head to look at him, tracing patterns on his bare backside with her fingers, drawing her foot up his leg.

Grunting softly, Terry guided himself between her legs, watching her bite her lip, hearing her breath catch in her throat as his tip slid down to the lips of her sex. She wrapped her legs round him and, slowly, Terry pushed himself in to the hilt. She tilted her hips to take him deeper, closing her eyes and moaning softly.

Terry dropped his head, covering her neck with soft kisses, moving up along her jaw to claim her mouth. She responded, kissing him deeply, her tongue dueling with his and plundering his mouth. Her hands drifted down his back to knead the soft roundness of his butt and, as slowly as he had buried himself in her, Terry began to move, drawing himself almost fully out before pushing back, burying himself deep inside of her only to draw out again.

She moaned again, moving with him, lifting her hips to meet his as he pushed back in, dragging her fingernails down the skin of his back. Terry made a small sound, almost like a growl, deep in the back of his throat. Breaking the kiss, he lifted his head and looked down at her.

She smiled, reaching up, tracing his mouth with her fingers before slipping her hand back behind his head, leaning up to kiss him again.

He grinned, responding, sucking her tongue into his mouth as he began to move against her again, slowly building momentum. She moved with him, rocking against him, her hands caressing his back as she moaned against his mouth.

She ran her foot back up his leg, matching his movements, digging her fingers into his shoulder as she felt the pressure begin to build deep inside.

Terry grunted softly, lifting his head, pushing himself up on his arms, looking down at her as he moved faster, thrusting deep and hard, his hips grinding against hers. She closed her eyes, arching against him. Dropping her hands onto the pelts, she curled her fists into them, gasping, writhing beneath him.

He pounded against her, losing himself in the feel of her, in the scent of her skin and the growing pressure deep in his groin… Time seemed to stop, slowing into an eternity of sensation that grew and built until it threatened to rip him apart.

Beneath him, the woman cried out, her body shuddering against his as she came, her muscles milking him, rippling along his length. He cried out, teetering on the brink for a long moment before dropping into the abyss of pleasure, cumming in long, deep spurts before shuddering to a stop inside her. Gasping for breath, moaning softly, he opened his eyes to look down at her.

Her skin glistened with sweat and a small smile of pleasure played across her lips. He leant down, kissing her gently before rolling onto his side, bringing her with him. She snuggled against him, the rough hide of her mask a complete opposite to the soft smoothness of her skin as he caressed it.

“What are you?” he asked softly, fingers tracing the edge of her mask.

She moved her head, looking up at him, telling him, “I am an Elk Dreamer…”

He frowned, confused. “A what?”

She turned slightly, reaching for a buffalo robe and pulling at across the both of them before answering, “We take pleasure and give pleasure… The power is given to you in a dream…”

“The power?” Terry asked.

“To beguile and to seduce,” she smiled. “Among my people,” she continued, answering the question he opened his mouth to ask, “chastity is held in high regard. Promiscuity is frowned upon. Those who are found in extra-marital affair will be shunned. They may even be brought in front of the council and punished. Except for those who are visited by Elk in their dreams…”

“Is…” Terry began, “Is that why you’re here on your own?”

She nodded, telling him, “Elk Dreamers live apart from the people. We return to them during festivals and celebrations, dancing around the fires as they do or beguiling with song or perhaps the flute...”

She smiled, “The people will hide behind their lodges to watch, to try to protect themselves from the Elk Medicine…”

“And if that doesn’t work?” Terry asked. “I mean, if you manage to seduce someone?”

“Then we draw them to our lodge, we take our pleasure and give pleasure then return them to their families. No harm befalls them. Nor will any harm befall us once the Elk Medicine leaves us. It is why we wear the masks, so that no one will know us…”

Terry thought about that for a long moment, his fingers straying down to her lips, “So you cast a spell on me?”

She grinned up at him, “That is what it would be called among your people…”

He chuckled softly, “Dino’s never going to let me forget this… He’ll be begging Garvin to bring him back to see if he can find an Elk Dreamer…”

“Then when he returns,” she told him, her voice light and amused, “I, or perhaps another, may be waiting for him…”

Terry grinned, a small stab of jealousy pushing at him. He gathered her into his arms, telling her, “Another… You are all mine…”

She smiled and snuggled against him, fingers tracing patterns on his chest. Terry sighed, smiling contentedly, closing his eyes. He breathed in the deep, smoky smell of her hair and skin. Beside them, the fire crackled and burned, sending a trail of smoke up through the flap into the sky above.

Her fingers trailed down his chest across his belly and he chuckled softly, kissing her hair. Then he moaned, his breath catching in his throat as she traced her hand further down, brushing the tip of his manhood. She grinned at him, watching his face for a moment before sliding down his body. She trailed a line if kisses down his chest and belly, following the track of her fingers before claiming him in her mouth, working him back to full splendour.

Then she crawled back up his body, giggling as he grabbed her and rolled her over, sinking himself back into her. He kissed her neck, up along her jaw, finally brushing his lips against hers, accusing, “You’re driving me crazy…”

”I know,” she whispered to him, dragging her nails up the length of his back.

Hours later, totally exhausted, they lay in a tangled heap beside the glowing embers of the fire. Night had fallen: Terry could see the stars glowing in the dark sky overhead.

She moaned softly and moved reluctantly, leaning over to put more logs in the fire pit before turning back and snuggling against him. The wood hissed, the fire crackling back into life.
The sound, the closeness and warmth of her body beside him beneath the furs, coupled with the exhaustion of their lovemaking, lulled him slowly into a contented, replete sleep.

Dino grunted, rubbing his chin on his shoulder, drifting awake. A foot crunched in snow and he sat up, unzipping the sleeping bag and rubbing the sleep away from his face. The smell of fresh coffee reached him and he pulled his feet from the bag, knocking his boots free of any lurking creepie-crawlies before pulling them on and lacing them.

He reached for his coat, dragging it on before unzipping the tent and climbing out.

Garve Red Bear turned, grinning at him, “Well, hello there, sleeping beauty!”

Dino drew him a look and Garve laughed, pouring him a mug of coffee. “I forgot you were an unsociable bum before you had your first caffeine kick of the morning.”

Dino climbed to his feet, rubbing his hands before taking the offered mug, quipping, “Wonder if that lucky Aussie bastard will get coffee this morning…”

Garve laughed again, commenting, “He might get more than just coffee…”

“Yeah, yeah!” Dino groused. “Rub it in, why don’t you, Bear man! And next time you ‘save’ me, at least find out if she has a sister, before I have to share a tent with you while Thorne shares his blanket with a beautiful woman!”

“You never know, maybe she snored as loud as you…” Garve quipped

“Don’t even start with me!” Dino shot back.

“Knowing your luck, she’d be Crow…”

“And what the hell is wrong with the Crow?” Dino demanded.

Garve grinned at him, opening his mouth to begin, but another voice called, “Bloody good job you two noisy gits don’t have anyone tracking you!”

Dino and Garve both turned, looking up the hill as Terry Thorne went on, “You can hear you two miles off!”

The Elk Dreamer was with him, her light laughter washing down the hill towards him. Dino took a step forward, then stopped, glancing at Red Bear. The big Cheyenne was gazing up at the couple above them, coffee mug still held in his hand, totally relaxed.

“Don’t blame me,” Garve called back, “It’s this Irish bum…”

Terry Thorne chuckled as his redheaded friend started to protest his Italian descent again.

“Are they always like this?” the Elk Dreamer asked.

Terry turned to her, nodding, telling her, “Pretty much…”

“They are funny,” she told him, looking back down the hill, “And good brothers to you…”

“Dino and I have been through a few things together,” Terry admitted.   “Garve I only just met…”

She nodded then told him softly, “You should always hunt together, work together. Then you will succeed in many things…”

Terry looked at her, nodding, telling her, “I’ll take care of that.”

Smiling, she stepped towards him, her soft lips gently kissing his. Then she stepped back, telling him, “You must go…”

She looked up at the sky briefly before looking back at him, “The snow will soon be falling heavily. If you do not leave now, you may be stuck here…” She smiled, gently, “And I must also leave now, to be closer to my people through the winter…”

Terry looked at her, drinking in the sight of her, asking softly, “I’m never going to see you again, am I?”

She grasped his hand, squeezing it, “No one knows where the Great Spirit will guide us. Perhaps our paths will cross again.”

“I’d like that,” he told her. “I’d like that very much…”

She smiled, lifting her head, kissing him deeply and passionately. He responded, holding her close, relishing the feel of her and the smoky scent of her skin. Too soon, she pulled away, glancing down the hill at the two men who were watching. Neither of them made any pretence of looking away and she grinned, reaching up to undo the bone choker around her neck.

“This,” she told him, “is for you.”

She reached up, putting it round his neck, tying it at the back.

“He touched it, asking softly, “Elk Medicine?”

She laughed coyly, shrugging her shoulders, saying only, “Perhaps…”

Then she turned, climbing back up the path. She turned at the top briefly, raising her hand in goodbye to all three men before disappearing into the trees.

Sighing, feeling her loss, Terry picked his way through the snow towards his two friends.

Garve simply quirked an eyebrow at him, Dino fixed him with a flat look and demanded,   “Well?”

“That,” Terry told him, “is for me to know…”

“And me to find out!” Dino shot back.

Terry chuckled, clapping Dino on the shoulder, telling both men, “We should move out. There’s more snow on the way and we’re going to get snowed in if we don’t leave now.”

“Yeah!” Dino groused, “Change the subject, why don’t you!” He turned, though, draining his coffee mug before starting to dismantle the tent.

Terry lay on the bed, dozing after a warm shower, half listening to the music on the TV. They had packed and made it back down to the road before the snow had started. Then they had driven to Cody, stopping at a motel, intending to drive up to Montana the next day.

A rap on the door pulled him to full wakefulness and he rolled off the bed, padding across the floor to open the door.

Dino grinned at him, then pulled a face as he realised his Aussie buddy was only wearing a towel, telling him, “For god’s sake, soldier, put some pants on! I’m no Elk Dreamer!”

Terry laughed, turning and heading toward his holdall, pulling out some jeans.

“I brought Scotch,” Dino went on, waving a bottle as he came in and closed the door behind him, “Garve will be here soon. He’s on the phone to his girl. And you were right about the snow. Have you heard the news?”

Terry shook his head, “No… What?”

“Bear Tooth Pass and the Pahaska roads are both closed. We only just made it out…”

“Wasn’t me,” Terry told him, zipping and buttoning the jeans. “It was her… She warned me…”

Dino dropped onto one of the beds, unscrewing the bottle top. “Quite something, was she?” he asked as he poured two whiskies.

“Yeah,” Terry told him with a soft smile. “She was…”

“Good!” Dino put in, kicking off his shoes and swinging his legs up onto the bed. “If it’ll get that blond Bowman number off your mind! And,” he went on as Terry opened his mouth to protest, “don’t dare deny it! She messed with your mind…”

“I got the job done,” Terry defended, anger flaring at the reminder of his indiscretion.

“Didn’t say you didn’t,” Dino replied.

Terry sighed, the anger fading as quickly as it had flared. He shrugged, shooting Dina a grin, “Truce?”

Dino rolled his eyes, nodding, holding the glass of whisky out to him, “Truce! Now shut up and smack your lips round this!”

Terry walked over, swiping the glass from him and dropping onto the other bed. “She said something else,” he began.

“Who did? The dreamer?”

Terry nodded, “Yeah. About you and Garve…”

Dino grinned, quirking an eyebrow, licking his lips suggestively. Terry rolled his eyes, telling him, “Go get yourself a hooker if you’re that desperate, mate!”

Dino chuckled, shaking his head, jiggling the whisky glass and telling him, “I’m okay with this fine Scottish lady… So, what did your Elk Dreamer say?”

“She said that you, me and Garve should hunt together, that if we worked together we would succeed in many things…”

Dino looked at him, “You want to bring him on board?”

Terry shrugged, “What do you think?”

“I think he’s a damned good man to have at your back. He’s a quick study and a damned good shot, which,” he continued, taking another opportunity to rib his friend, “you’d have seen if you hadn’t gone swaning off with your Dream woman.”

Terry rolled his eyes, lobbing a pillow at the redhead. Dino caught it, grinning and hugging it to him, adding, “And, besides, I trust him to look at my money…”

Terry chuckled, shaking his head, taking another swipe at Dino’s heritage before asking, “So… We bring him in?”

Dino nodded, grinning, “We bring him in.”

Terry leaned over, holding out his glass. Dino chinked his with Terry’s, then commented softly, “I meant it, man, about the Bowman woman…”

Terry nodded, telling him, “I know, mate. And I appreciate the concern. But I’m okay…”

“As long as you’re sure…”

Terry smiled, nodding, assuring him, “Yeah…”

For the first time in a long time, he knew he was speaking truthfully. There hadn’t been that usual tug at his heart when Dino had mentioned Alice.

“Maybe it’s the Elk Medicine,” Dino commented, gazing into his whisky. “Garve says that it’s powerful stuff…”

Terry smiled softly, thinking of the dark-haired woman who had found him in the wilderness… and of the bone necklace nestled in the bottom of his holdall. “Yeah,” he commented again, taking a sip of the whisky, letting the amber liquid warm his mouth before swallowing it down.

“So…” Dino ventured, “What happened out there… in the snow… under the stars…?”

Terry laughed then drained his whisky, sitting up and opening the bottle. “That,” he told Dino, pouring whisky into both their glasses, “is for me to know…”

“And,” Dino interrupted, giving his Aussie friend a wide, wicked grin, “for me to find out!”

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