Sweet Bird shivered on a sob. “There will never be another like you, a grand warrior from the days of freedom. I have learned much from you.”
He stroked her hair, breathing deeply to stay in control of his own emotions. “Our young men have to learn other ways of being a warrior, like my son, Hawk. What do you think of him, Sweet Bird?”
She sniffed. “I … I am not sure what you mean.”
He sighed. “You are sure. He is most handsome, don’t you think?”
She wiped at her eyes. “How could he not be? He is your son.”
“And he is the same age as you. He is a successful lawyer, all Indian; yet he knows how to live in the white man’s world. He will be able to take good care of a wife and children. I wonder if he has found a woman yet.”
Sweet Bird scooted back a little, frowning at him. “Are you saying I should go to Hawk? I hardly know him! It is you I love, not your son.”
Wolf’s Blood studied her beautiful face. “I am only saying that I will ask him to care for you and our children until the day comes that you belong to another. Perhaps after a while …” He smiled softly, kissing her. “It is only wishful thinking. If my son were to fall in love with you, it would be almost the same for me as still being with you. I would like that. But at first I will take you to my mother, on the ranch where it is quiet. It would be hard for you to go directly to a place like Denver. We have lived here, far from nowhere, for a very long time. The children will have much adjusting to do. The ranch will be better for them in the beginning, but eventually it is their big brother, Hawk, who should guide them in the right pathways.” He touched her cheek, hating the sight of his swollen knuckles. “Hawk told me once he felt he should marry Indian, but that in his circle there are no Indian women, so he has not taken a woman to his side. And you, my love, being Indian, our children being Indian, you, too, should marry Indian.”
“I do not want to think about any man but you.” Sweet Bird nestled against his chest, causing tears to drip onto his skin. “I do not want to talk about your going away, or what I should do with my life after that.” She kissed his chest.
Wolf’s Blood sighed. “Just tell me one thing, woman. When first you set eyes on my son, before you realized who he was, what was your very first thought? Do not lie to me.”
Sweet Bird smiled through her tears. “You are teasing me.”
He smiled wryly. “I will tell you what you thought. You wondered, for one brief moment, what it must be like to be married to someone young and strong like Hawk. His handsomeness took your breath away for one quick second. You were attracted to him. True?”
She lay there quietly, knowing he would sense it if she lied. “Only for a moment.”
He chuckled, moving a hand over her bare back and hips. “You would not have been a natural woman if you had not noticed him that way. When he visited us, I saw how he looked at you sometimes, and I did not mind. I was proud to call someone so young and beautiful my wife, and he knew that. The way he looked at you, it made me think he could see you as more than his father’s wife. Promise me you will leave that pathway open to him.”
“He may not want to walk down that pathway. Perhaps he has already taken a woman. Perhaps he has lived in the white world so long that now he is not so against taking a white woman, if she will have him.”
Wolf’s Blood stared at the pole beams that supported the cabin’s ceiling. “I have been down that pathway, and so have many of his relatives. His white stepmother was killed because of white men’s hatred of the Indian. He knows the troubles his relatives have gone through by marrying into the white world, knows of the long struggle my mother went through being married to my father. I do not think he will want that for the woman he chooses to love, or for his children to be torn between two worlds. I know that struggle all too well. Hawk is really more Indian by blood than I am, because his mother was a full-blood Apache. In his heart he knows what must be.” He hugged her closer. “I love you, my wife. I will love you to the end of my days and beyond. Please understand what I must do … and why I must do it … and why I speak to you this way about my son.”
She shook with more sobs. “I understand.”
“Zeke, look at this!” Georgeanne carried the latest edition of the Rocky Mountain News into her husband’s study, where the air hung rich with the smell of pipe tobacco. The many petticoats of her taffeta day dress rustled as she approached the desk where Zeke sat studying the latest figures pertaining to his gold mine and the many investments he’d made at Jeremy’s advice. She handed him the paper, pointing to an ad.
Zeke looked up at his wife, taking great satisfaction in being able to give her the life she deserved. Their children played in a nursery, where a nanny watched them. The ranch was flourishing, and their home was one of the finest in the Fort Collins area. Its varnished wood floors shone from daily dusting by a cleaning woman, beautifully setting off the bright Oriental rugs that decorated them. He thought how perfectly Georgeanne fit into this home he’d had built for her, and he wished her father could see her now.
“What’s this? More news about my cousin’s case against Denver?”
“Not this time. It’s an ad—land for sale. Read it.” Georgeanne shivered with excitement, sitting down on the leather chair near his desk, waiting.
Zeke did so.
Prime land for sale in eastern Colorado. One hundred thousand acres of rich land for ranching and/or farming, or can be divided into parcels for settlement. Includes a twelve-room mansion with ballroom, built by English royalty. Don’t miss this opportunity to own a valuable Colorado commodity—land! Contact Land Agent Cory Randell, Pueblo, Colorado, or Carson Temple, owner, Temple Ranch and Horse Farms, eastern Colorado.
Zeke rubbed at his chin, setting the paper aside. “Well, well, well. So, your father has decided to give it up.”
“He always talked about how much he missed Georgia. Maybe he’s thinking of going back there. It’s been over thirty years. He has a brother there. Now that he knows I’ll never return to him, he’s apparently decided to leave Colorado.” Georgeanne rose from the chair. “Zeke, this is our chance! We have to buy that land! Just think of it, after what my father did to you. All his land could end up belonging to you, legally! Not by inheritance. All you need to do is send someone there to act as a buyer. Only when that land belongs to you will I go to my father, just to see the look on his face when he learns the truth! We have the money. We can do it!”
Zeke turned to study her. “I’m sorry you’ve never been able to have any kind of relationship with him, Georgie. It isn’t right.”
Her smile faded. “And it isn’t your fault. It’s his. Not even the fact that you are now a rich man has made any difference to him. He still refuses to accept you or to be a grandfather to our children.” She turned and walked to a window. “I’m sure it irks him to know you struck gold on that pitiful piece of land he made fun of, and it must infuriate him to see the fine home you built for your parents back at the ranch. This would be the final insult, Zeke, to buy up all his land!” She faced her husband again. “Let’s do it!”
He grinned and nodded. “I’ll call Jeremy and talk to him about it, see what he thinks it’s worth.” He thought how handy the new telephone service was, all the way to Denver. It was amazing that a piece of wire stretched on poles could carry a man’s voice that far. His next goal was to get a telephone installed at his parents’ ranch.
Georgeanne came closer. “I was hoping my father would try to sell that land before he dies. He still has a lot of years ahead of him. I want him to spend them realizing the man he nearly killed—to keep him away from me—bought him out, lock, stock and barrel.”
Zeke frowned in a rather chastising look, rising and grasping her shoulders. “I swear, woman, you want revenge worse than I do.”
Georgeanne reached up and touched his face. “He took away six years of our lives. I’ll never forgive him for that, nor for putting those scars on your chest and back and nea
rly killing you. I am ashamed to call him my father.”
Zeke pulled her close, crushing her against his chest. “Well, I am very proud to call his daughter my wife.” He leaned down and met her mouth in a kiss of love that led to one of celebration as the reality of it all began to sink into him … he could buy up all the Temple land—own it! What more perfect revenge could there be, other than having the pleasure of killing the man? That was what his grandfather Zeke would have done, but the days of a man taking his own course with another man were over. He would defeat Carson Temple the legal way, by buying his land and home right out from under his nose! He picked up Georgeanne and carried her to the door, kicked it closed, then locked it.
“Zeke, what are you doing?”
He carried her to the leather couch and settled her on it, then pushed her skirts and petticoats up to her waist. “I am celebrating with my woman.”
“Zeke! Here? Someone might come!”
“The door is locked.” He pulled her drawers down over her high-button shoes and moved between her legs.
“Zeke Brown! We can’t do this!” She teasingly pushed at him as he unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his pants.
“Oh, we’ve done this hundreds of times.”
“Zeke!”
He smothered her protests with a kiss. Grasping her bare bottom and pressing himself against her teasingly, he invaded her mouth with his tongue, drawing breathless desire from deep within her. When he broke off the kiss, her face was flushed, her eyes liquid with passion. “You still protesting?”
“Don’t tease me one second longer,” she whispered.
Zeke grinned, reaching down and guiding himself into her. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath, arching up to greet him, glad she had dared to marry this man who gave her so much pleasure, both physically and emotionally, this man who had given her a life far beyond their wildest dreams, and with whom she had produced two beautiful sons. This was one of the things she loved about him, his spontaneity, the way he had of making her feel so desirable, the manliness that made her want him so easily.
What a wonderful way to celebrate, by mating with this man whose love her father tried to destroy! Nothing could destroy true love. Zeke’s grandmother had told her that once, and she’d been right.
* * *
Outside the winter winds howled, yet the courtroom was packed. The case of Mrs. Edward Ralston v. the City of Denver had dragged for months, the City Council stalling for one reason and another, determined they should not be responsible for paying one dime to Mrs. Ralston “for whom we have the deepest sympathy,” as they had publicly stated. “But we cannot be responsible for every crime committed in our city; no city is free of crime.”
“That is not the point,” Hawk Monroe had argued in the courts and in the newspapers. “The point is that Denver has too long ignored its poor and desperate, people with no work who have children to feed and who often turn to crime. We cannot allow Dr. Ralston’s death be in vain by not devising ways to help the poor, nor can we allow his wife and child to become as destitute as those very people.”
The case had been the topic of discussion and political moves since the trial had begun, and today, in spite of bad weather, people had turned out in too great numbers for all of them to fit into the courtroom. Today a Supreme Court judge for the State of Colorado would hand down his decision in the matter.
Hawk waited with a pounding heart, as did the attorneys for the law firm for which he worked, who to his relief continued to back him in this matter. Jeremy and Mary were here, as were Iris and Raphael, Joshua and LeeAnn. LeeAnn’s son Matthew was with them, twenty-one now, home from college in Illinois. Hawk knew his grandmother would dearly love to be here, if it were not that the winter weather compelled her to stay at the ranch. Still, she was with him in spirit, as was his grandfather Zeke. This city held some bad memories for his grandparents, and a victory today would in a sense be a victory for them also, their grandson going against Denver’s most powerful and winning!
Power. That was what his father had told him he could attain with his education, and the man was right. He had handled this case like a true warrior. This was the new way of fighting battles his father had told him about, and there was not one person he wanted here more than Wolf’s Blood. But that could not be.
He moved through the general summary statements, listening first to the attorney for the City, then once more presenting his own plea. Through it all he kept glancing at Arianne whenever he referred to her plight, realizing he loved her but not so sure anymore how she felt about him. They had grown close throughout this lawsuit, but she seemed still to be lost in mourning and was giving most of her attention to her daughter. She was rather aloof and distant to him most of the time, in spite of being grateful for what he was doing. The initial warmth and desire he’d sensed when first they’d seen each other again, when he’d come to her house to talk about suing the city, did not seem to be there now, and he was puzzled.
He sat down, and the courtroom quieted as people in the back and in the balcony above strained to hear Judge Henry Worth speak.
“I have weighed this case heavily for many weeks,” the man finally said, glancing at Hawk over the top of his spectacles, then at the opposing counsel. “Both sides have presented their case well, which only makes more of a dilemma for the judge.”
A few people snickered, and the city attorney grinned, a smug look on his face. “I agree that no city can be responsible for every crime committed within its boundaries.”
Hawk’s hopes began to sink.
“However …”
The city attorney lost his smile, and Hawk’s hopes rose.
“In this situation, I have come to the conclusion that the City of Denver has too long put off facing its problems with jobless and homeless citizens. It could take a lesson from programs already in place in New York, Chicago and other Eastern cities, and it could also learn a lesson from some of the women of this city who have taken it upon themselves to do something for the poor.”
Hawk wished his grandmother were present to hear the judge’s words. The man had obviously done his homework, studying programs in other cities, learning what had already been done in Denver.
“Considering how vigorously the City has fought this case, it only tells me that if they should win it, they will simply continue to put off programs for the poor and will continue trying to ride their unwanted citizens out of town with a suit of clothes and a ticket to nowhere. Such tactics must be stopped, and the only way to do that is to begin making the City pay for its failure to give as much attention to such matters as it gives to new water and sewer projects. I therefore have decided in favor of Mrs. Ralston in the amount of thirty thousand dollars, to be deposited in a bank of Mrs. Ralston’s choice no later than seven days from today. The City will also be responsible for attorney’s fees.” He banged his gavel. “Case closed!”
Cheers went up from the indigents seated at the back of the room. They jumped up and down, hugging each other, and instantly Joshua and Jeremy and LeeAnn and Hawk’s other relatives who were present were hugging him and shaking his hand. Hawk felt as though he were in a daze, hardly realizing whose hand he was shaking, who was congratulating him next. His fellow attorneys beamed, slapping him on the back. Even those in the courtroom from Denver’s upper class cheered, wanting better laws and programs to protect their persons and property. Joshua scribbled frantically in his notebook, excusing himself quickly to go and get the story ready for the front page of the next day’s Rocky Mountain News.
“You’ve got the charm, Hawk Monroe, to get yourself into Congress!” Jeremy was telling him. “You just plain outtalked your opponents!”
Through it all Hawk could think only of his father and of the grandfather he barely remembered. If only they could be here! No one here understood the real reason this victory meant so much. He’d mastered the game of law, and now he could use it to be like the warriors his father and grandfather had been—in a
new way—to help the Sioux and Cheyenne. Fame and fortune and city life were not for him, not ultimately. He knew now he could use his knowledge at the U.S. Supreme Court level to fight for Indian rights. It was time to begin thinking about using his services as an attorney for Indian tribes. The best way to do that was to move to one of the Sioux reservations or perhaps to Indian Territory. It would mean a great cut in pay compared to working for a Denver law firm, but he would be pursuing his ultimate goal.
No one among those who surrounded him now truly understood what he wanted to do with his education. But Wolf’s Blood would understand. He had to talk to his father again before he made his final decision. In the meantime, he would bask in victory. He stood still for a picture. The powder flashed, then Arianne was hugging him, thanking him.
Arianne. That was another matter that had to be settled. He’d left it alone while the case was tried, not wanting to become personally involved with his client; but his heart already was hers. Now they were free to talk about such things. He escorted her out of the courtroom, followed by a throng of people who continued to congratulate him and ask questions. Jeremy called for a public carriage for Arianne, who wanted only to go home to her little girl, to get away from the crowd. One of those surrounding her rudely asked if there was something more between her and her attorney than a lawsuit.
“Of course not!” she answered, a little too quickly, Hawk thought. He helped her into the carriage, and she looked at him with tears in her eyes. “What can I say, Hawk? How can I ever thank you?”
“My thanks is winning,” he answered. “I’ll come by tomorrow and we’ll talk about where you want the money deposited. We have other things to talk about, too.”
She nodded. “I know.”
Their eyes held in mutual understanding, and hers seemed to be telling him she was sorry about something, but there was no time to discuss that. The driver whisked her away, shouting at people to get out of the way, and Hawk was left to answer hundreds of questions. Jeremy managed to get his own carriage driver to maneuver through the crowd to the front of the courthouse, and he and Hawk, LeeAnn and Mary climbed inside. Matthew had hurried off to the newspaper office with Joshua.
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