Snake paused only a few feet away. With a laugh, he brought the rifle up and aimed it at Johnny’s chest. “And now you die, wolf!”
And in that moment, Luci grabbed the barrel and jerked with all her strength. “No!”
The rifle barrel was hot in her hands as she fought for it, determined to stop him. Snake swore and cursed as they fought over the gun, then he struck her.
She went down, her vision a blur of pain, saw his snarling expression and then a sudden warm gurgle of crimson as Johnny’s big knife sang through the air and caught Snake in the throat.
The Cheyenne tried to cry out, tried to bring the rifle up to fire, but that moment she had delayed him had cost him the fight and his life. Even as he tried to pull the trigger, Johnny raced forward, struck him and jerked the rifle from his hands. Snake crashed to the dirt and lay there, his life pumping out into the canyon dust.
Then she was in Johnny’s arms, weeping against his chest while he held her. “It’s all right, Star Eyes! It’s all right now!”
But she couldn’t stop sobbing. “You would have let him kill you, you big, stupid Pawnee!”
“I suppose that’s what I am,” he said softly, rubbing his ear, “but what are you for risking your life to save mine?”
A fool in love with an enemy brave, she thought, burying her face against his chest. A fool because there was no future in it–had never been, and could never be. The chasm between them was still too deep and wide; nothing could bridge it.
The thunder rolled again and a cool drop of rain fell on her face. The noise from the camp had faded to a few shouts, a shot now and then.
Luci sat up suddenly. “Susanna and Maria! My uncle killed them! And Bear Cub–I must see about him!”
He helped her to her feet. “David is looking after the women. I don’t know who Bear Cub is.”
“The crippled herd boy.” She wiped her eyes as Johnny retrieved his weapons. “He’s an artist. I hope David will help him–”
“I’m afraid he’s beyond help, Luci.” His voice was soft and gentle as he mounted, then reached down a hand to her.
A chill seemed to sweep over her as she realized his meaning. “Did you–?”
“I couldn’t. I should have, but at the last minute, I saw his face. Even though he was an enemy who was trying to stop us, all I could think of was that he was a human being. You’ve ruined me as a killing machine, Star Eyes.”
The tears blinded her again, but she said nothing as he lifted her up before him and they rode back to the camp.
The battle was all but over. Here and there tipis burned and a stray horse or two wandered about aimlessly. Many of the women and children had caught horses and escaped, but a few had been taken prisoner.
Dead Dog Soldiers lay everywhere, mute evidence that they had sought valiantly to defend the camp, fighting to the death rather than be captured and returned to the reservation. The group had been almost wiped out, Luci realized. Some would be hunted down and sent back to the Indian Territory. A few would escape to join up with other Cheyenne bands or their friends, the Sioux, and continue their hopeless fight against the white man’s encroachment.
One thing was certain: there was no compromise with the fierce Cheyenne. They could never live peacefully on reservations, no matter how many treaties were signed.
General Carr sat his lathered horse in the center of the camp. “What happened to the chief?”
Almost in answer, Major North and Cody galloped back out of the canyon. “We had to kill him,” Cody said as he reined in and dismounted. “He was determined not to be taken alive!”
“He swore he wouldn’t return to the reservation.” Luci felt only pity for her uncle, nothing else. He had lived and died the only way he knew.
Luci saw David bending over the two women along with Dr. Tesson. Johnny helped her dismount. “Are they all right? Is there anything I can do?”
The doctor looked up at her and she saw raindrops on his weathered face. Or were those tears?
“I just lost the pregnant one,” he said. “I think the other one will live.”
Luci fell to her knees next to Susanna. She looked at peace now, the tired lines gone from her face. “She grieved for her children. I think she wanted to join them.”
Maria made a soft sound and her eyes flickered open. Luci took one of her hands, noting that David already held the other. “It’s all right, Maria, you’re safe now.”
“Yes, safe,” David whispered, and he leaned over and brushed the long blond hair from the girl’s forehead. Her blue eyes sought his face. The strength and serenity she seemed to seek was in his eyes, Luci thought.
David said, “Does she have anyone? Anyone at all?”
Luci shook her head. “She’s an immigrant. She only speaks the little English I taught her. With her husband dead, she has no one.”
“You’re wrong,” the medic said with conviction. “She’s got me. I’ll look after her.” He reached over and took her other hand from Luci’s so that he clasped them both.
Maria smiled at him and then dropped off into a peaceful sleep.
The doctor said, “We’ve got to get her under cover. I think the sky is finally going to break open and we’ll get that storm.”
A storm. Thunder from the north. There was only one thing missing. And somehow, suddenly she knew. She stood up and faced Johnny Ace. “Our shaman saw a vision. What does Asataka mean?”
His somber gaze swept her face. “Somehow, I think you know already.”
“Come then, White Horse. I must find my little friend.” The wind whipped strands of ebony hair about her face, the thunder rolled again, and the rain began in earnest. Bear Cub. She must find Bear Cub.
Behind her as she ran, she heard General Carr shouting orders, “Get everyone under cover! Looks like this will be a bad one! We’ll camp here until morning!”
She ran up the slope toward the hilltop, the rain pelting her so hard, it stung her skin. She found the precious ledger book first, grabbed it up, and protected it against her body. “Bear Cub?”
A crash of lightning drowned out her voice. But she thought she heard someone whisper her name. “Bear Cub?”
She saw him then, all crumpled and bloody, almost hidden by the wind-whipped grass. “Oh, Bear Cub!”
She knelt, weeping, as she gathered him into her arms. Blood ran out his mouth and he reached up one feeble hand to touch her face. “Don’t cry, Morning Star . . . don’t cry for me. I’m going up the Ekutsihimmiyo, the Hanging Road to the Sky, to Seyan, the Land of the Spirits.”
“Oh, Bear Cub, I can’t stand to lose you!” She held him close as if the warmth of her body could keep life in his, even though she could feel the flame of his life flickering in her grasp.
“I–I won’t have to go back to the reservation now,” he whispered “I’ll be free . . . free . . . . Maybe in the Spirit Land, I’ll have two good legs like the other warriors . . . my drawings . . .”
“I have them, Bear Cub.” She held the ledger up before his failing sight. “I’ll see that they’re not lost, that others see them, and know our history. And you are braver than any warrior, giving your life to try to warn our people.”
“Will I–will I be remembered?”
She wept openly now, hugging him to her. “Always!” she promised. “A hundred years from now, the Cheyenne will still tell medicine tales of the brave boy who gave his life to save his people!”
“No one can ask for more than that.” He sighed and then he smiled and looked off in the distance as if those he had lost at Sand Creek were beckoning to him. “I–I’m coming!” he said, and then he was gone.
“Bear Cub! Don’t go! Don’t leave me!” She held on to him and the sketch book, rocking back and forth in an agony of grief as the rain pelted down and the lightning cracked.
“Luci?”
She looked up. Johnny Ace stood there. “You’ve got to get out of this storm.”
“No, I can’t leave him here!”
He dragged her to her feet and spread a poncho over the small body. “You’re gonna get hit by lightning if you don’t get under cover! Come on! I’ll help you give him a proper warrior’s burial in the morning.”
Holding on to the sketch book, she felt too numb to do anything but let Johnny swing her up in his arms and carry her through the storm back to camp.
Everyone had taken shelter. Johnny dragged her into an army tent that had been set up. She stood there, wet and shivering, looking up at him as the rain poured down outside. “The victor always gets the loser’s women,” she said softly. “Where do you want me?”
For a moment, he glared at her and a nerve twitched in his jaw. In that instant, she saw a terrible fury in his face and thought he would strike her. Then very slowly, he opened his arms to her. “Here,” he whispered, and she saw moisture in his dark eyes, “I want you right here.”
She didn’t think, she reacted. With a cry of grief and pain, she went into his arms and let him crush her against his massive chest. There was no future for them, so tomorrow didn’t matter. All they had was tonight in an army tent on a rain-soaked battleground. She wouldn’t ask for more.
Her arms went up around his neck and she let him hold her wet, trembling body against his powerful, warm one. She turned her face up to his.
“No”–he shook his head–“not that way, Luci. Not if you don’t want me–”
And then her mouth cut off his words as she molded herself against him. “Tonight is all we’ve got,” she said. “I don’t even want to think about tomorrow.”
His hands were hot as coals on her body through her wet clothes. “Take those things off. You’ll catch pneumonia.”
She stripped and turned back to him in the dim light, shivering slightly. “Warm me.”
He seemed to need no urging. With a groan, he gathered her against him, his hands and mouth and body burning into hers. She lay down on a pile of captured buffalo robes, the fur silky against her bare skin. “Warm me,” she said again.
He began taking off his clothes, but his gaze never left her face. “Nothing can come of this, because tomorrow . . . ” He broke off, stood over her, trembling as if holding himself back.
Because why? He didn’t love her? He had decided to go back to that Pawnee girl? Whatever the reason, at least he was being honest. “It–it doesn’t matter.” She held out her arms to him. “Can’t we have tonight?”
With a moan, he fell to his knees and gathered her into his arms as if trying to pull her inside himself. She hadn’t realized how cold she was until the hot iron bar of his maleness drove deep into her and his kisses covered her face. This was all the time they would ever have. But they had until dawn, she thought, returning his passion. Like it or not, that would have to be enough.
Chapter Twenty-four
The next morning, the cavalry surveyed the battle scene. Fifty-two Dog Soldiers lay dead; the rest were scattered to the four winds and would never again be an organized threat. Many of the women and children had fled; others would be gathered up and sent back to their reservation. Piles of supplies and confiscated weapons were heaped up and burned. Several hundred dollars taken in raids were found in tipis and General Carr instructed that this be given to Maria Weichell so she would have a little to live on until she decided what to do.
Johnny helped Luci give Bear Cub a warrior’s funeral. They wrapped him in a fine buffalo robe and placed him on a burial platform high on a rolling hill. The cavalry buried Susanna Alderdice and made ready to ride out. Because Maria needed medical attention, General Carr gave orders that the Fifth would head for the nearest fort, Sedgewick.
Johnny had lain sleepless through most of the rainy night, holding Luci against his heart, wrestling with the decision that was his to make. But with the dawn, he knew what he must do. True, he might be able to take Luci away with him and maybe she would never discover that her rich father had wanted to claim her. But if he did that, Johnny would always live with the fear that someday she would find out and he would lose her anyway. Besides, it wasn’t fair not to tell her when he knew how she had hungered to find her father.
“Luci,” he said when they had a few minutes alone before the cavalry began their march back, “I–I’ve got something I need to tell you.”
She looked up at him with those bright blue eyes and he weakened, almost changing his mind. He loved her so!
“Luci, if you could have any wish answered, what would it be?”
She hesitated a long moment, then looked away. “I suppose it would be to finally find my father.”
Had he expected anything else?
“Sit down a minute.” He sighed. “There’s a lot to tell, but your wish has been granted!”
It was a dream come true, Luci thought, almost in a daze as she rode with the Fifth Cavalry to Fort Sedgewick. Just like in the fairy tales, her real father had finally appeared to take her away from her miserable existence. And yet . . .
Up ahead of her at the front of the column rode Johnny Ace with Will Cody. She couldn’t stop herself from watching him, thinking about him, even though in a couple of days, she would be saying good-bye to this life forever. What if Manning Starrett had not turned up–what choices would she have made then?
What difference did that make now? She chided herself and shifted her weight in the creaking saddle. Even though the major and Johnny had both hinted that her father was a difficult person, she was determined to love him, to make him gradually love her. And now she would have a last name: Starrett. Luci Starrett. In Colorado Territory, the money and power that went with that name would change her life to one of luxury and privilege.
She tried to concentrate on her future, how happy she should be that things would change for her. But on the long ride back, she often grieved for Bear Cub, Susanna, and the few friends she had made among the Cheyenne. The Dog Soldiers had been almost completely destroyed in the attack on Summit Springs. Now the Cheyenne would have no choice but to return to the reservations. A few stubborn ones might join up with the Sioux and continue this hopeless fight.
Who were the victims and who the villains? She thought about it a lot on the long ride to the fort. Both sides had killed and taken losses. As in most wars, women and children took a big brunt of the suffering.
The Indians were caught in a vain attempt to turn back the clock to the way things had been long ago. They did not want to change their way of life. But could she fault starving immigrants and residents of crowded ghettos in Eastern cities who also wanted to live, to make a better life for their own children by farming land the Indians only roamed and ran buffalo on?
The two cultures could not live peacefully side by side, no matter how good their intentions, no matter how many treaties were signed. Plains warriors were trained for war and hunting, and would not sit idly on reservations. But farmers could not grow crops with the braves stealing their livestock and attacking their settlements for the glory of war. When Luci tried to think about who was right and who was wrong, she realized there was no black and white to it, no easy answers.
On the last night on the trail before they would reach the fort, she approached the Pawnee at the picket line as he brushed his horse.
“Johnny, when I go to Denver, will you–will you ever come see me?”
He paused, brush in hand, his dark face impassive. “What is it you want from me, Luci? I doubt I’ll have much reason to be in Denver and the society you’ll be moving in wouldn’t welcome an Indian scout.”
She bit her lip, staring at him in the moonlight –big and wide-shouldered in his buckskin shirt, moccasins and cavalry pants. No, he wouldn’t fit into Denver society. Would she?
A panic arose in her that must have shown in her face, because Johnny gave her a gentle, encouraging, smile. “Don’t worry, Luci, you’ll do fine. With your natural beauty, plus your father’s money to dress you and hire a tutor to teach you which fork to use, and the latest dances, you’ll take Denver by storm.”
�
��And what are you going to do? Stay with the cavalry?”
He shook his head, patting Katis’s neck. “I’m weary of killing. Maybe it’s your Cheyenne influence. Even the enemy are beginning to look like human beings to me. I noticed at Summit Springs, I hesitated each time I pulled the trigger. That could get a man killed.”
“You didn’t hesitate when Snake–”
“Your life was in danger then, Star Eyes. I wouldn’t hesitate where you were involved.”
She felt her face burn, watching him curry his horse. “You were a big hero; everyone says so.”
He shrugged. “Who needs it? Traveling Bear was a big hero. Major North will probably see he gets a Congressional Medal of Honor. I’m weary to the bone of all this.”
She wanted to ask him a thousand things that they had never talked about; she wanted to know him deeply. But all she had ever done was argue with him. And make passionate love to him. “So what will you do now?”
“My enlistment is up. I have a little money saved. I had some loco idea about my own spread–I even had a brand designed–but I’ll have to make some changes in it now.”
“Can an Indian own land?”
He laughed. “I don’t even know. Maybe if his wife was part white, he could. I may just become an illegal squatter. With millions of acres, how would the government know where I was? Cattlemen have done it for years.”
The vision came again. It would be sundown. Johnny would ride Katis into the corral and she would be waiting on the porch of the ranch house. Behind her, there’d be a fire in the fireplace and . . .
“Have you had supper?” Johnny said.
Luci started, realizing he had stopped with brush in hand and stood looking at her as she stared vacantly into space. “No, I–I’ll go get something.”
She struggled against a terrible urge to reach out, put her hand on his arm, and ask if he had ever dreamed a dream like hers. Then she shrugged. What difference did it make? He had never asked for any kind of lasting commitment from her, even when he was making love to her. His idea of a little private Eden somewhere in the wilderness didn’t seem to include her.
Cheyenne Caress Page 36
