Chief Long Knife wasn't anticipating seeing his children huddled in a canoe or his wife half-hanging out of the second, features ashen as she reached into the water. Immediately he knew something was wrong.
A second later, Falcon howled, leaping off his canoe, before sinking beneath the waves. A few minutes longer and Falcon would have been a widower instead of a bridegroom.
Thunder Cloud remained in the canoe with Brebeuf as Chief Long Knife launched out of his canoe and into Adelaide's with his long legs, alighting behind Adelaide with the agility of a deer. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her to shore while reaching for the children's canoe with his free hand.
Joshua didn't have to be ordered, jumping out of the canoe before reaching for his sisters, hanging his head as he stood beside the chief. He needn't have worried, Chief Long Knife recognizing this escape attempt wasn't his doing.