by Jenna Kernan
Major Reilly gnawed the end of his mustache until it was as wet as a muskrat’s tail, before he finally consented. “But I’ll be coming to check on Eagle Dancer’s recovery and the progress of their investigation. I’ll have no more whites attacked and murdered in my territory. Not on my watch, no, sir, I will not. The guilty will be punished. Do you understand?”
Lucie spent the next hour with the doctor as he prepared various tinctures and rolled pills from his medicinal supply.
“I could give you the laudanum. It is excellent for suppressing coughs, but very dear and I can’t give our supplies to Indians.”
Sky drew his saddlebag off his shoulder and retrieved a pouch which he tossed at the doctor. The man missed and the pouch clanked to the floor, spilling silver dollars in a fountain of wealth.
“Maybe you can sell it to me, then,” said Sky.
Lucie held her breath. She realized that Sky had not said the doctor might sell it to a white man, but rather just “to me,” which only Lucie knew that Sky did not consider himself to be white.
The physician hesitated, then lifted the purse. “I’m only taking what they cost to replace. You understand.”
Sky nodded and the doctor scooped up the coins, removed three and returned the rest. “I’ll make up a cough syrup then, shall I?”
Lucie nodded, pleased that this physician, at least, seemed more concerned with the welfare of the sick than the rules that were forced upon him.
Sky left her to rent a wagon for Eagle Dancer. They would take a ferry up the Missouri, stopping first five miles north at the Cheyenne River Reservation, the southern reservation and then continuing north. Eagle Dancer’s home was far up river in the Standing Rock Reservation.
By the time the mules were harnessed and ready, day had given over to dusk. Iron Bear and Joy Cat helped Eagle Dancer walk from the cell to the wagon. It was not until they were lifting him onto the buffalo robe that lined the wagon that Joy Cat glanced up to recognize Sky.
“You!” he said in Lakota.
Sky froze, his eyes growing huge. Lucie tensed as the two men faced off. Joy Cat looked murderous with fury as he glared at Sky and Lucie prepared to throw herself on the head man if he took another step.
Eagle Dancer clasped her wrist as he called to the other head man.
“Brother,” he said to Joy Cat, “I spoke about this one. Do you recall? He is interested in marrying your daughters.”
Joy Cat’s breathing came in fast angry bursts. “First he takes my son. Now he would have my daughters, as well?”
Lucie glanced to see Sky’s reaction. He stood still and pale as a condemned man.
Chapter Twelve
Eagle Dancer still held Lucie’s wrist as he grasped the arm of Joy Cat. Sky could not meet her eyes. His pain spilled out before him, like the innards of a gutted fish. All his adult life, he had longed for and dreaded this meeting.
Sky braced himself to face Joy Cat’s wrath. He longed to receive the punishment denied him by his flight. Eagle Dancer had tried to save him, but he had not foreseen the burden Sky carried as a result. So the guilt had rotted his insides like a cancer as he had searched vainly for a way to make amends for the life he had taken.
Now that he stood here, he could not even lift his head to meet Joy Cat’s gaze.
He was prepared for whatever the head man would do, knowing that no payment was enough to compensate a man for his son. Sky waited and finally lifted his gaze to the father of his friend.
Joy Cat’s eyes glistened with pain and sorrow. “I want to know what he has to say for himself, this coward who runs in the night.”
Again Eagle Dancer intervened on his behalf. “This one was also a boy, only fifteen winters.”
Sky did not want Eagle Dancer to shield him any longer. Many times he had imagined he had stayed, taken responsibility and then fought for and regained his place.
Joy Cat snorted like an angry buffalo. “Old enough to shoot my son and flee like a rabbit.”
Sweat ran down Eagle Dancer’s face. Only then did Sky understand what this negotiation was costing his mentor. “You were mad with grief. What justice would he have found in your heart?”
Joy Cat clamped his lips together. So Eagle Dancer had been right about Joy Cat’s urge for his blood. Well, let him have it.
Sky cleared his throat and prepared to speak.
“I carry him with me each day and I think of the life that I took from him. I wonder if he would have been a great leader, like his father, if he would now have a wife and children of his own. In tribute to him, I have taken no wife, sired no children and tried each day to live a life that would honor his memory.”
Joy Cat’s eyes grew glassy and he looked away.
“I would gladly give my life to bring him back. So I accept any punishment you choose, for no amount of punishment is enough to settle this debt.”
Some of Joy Cat’s rage ebbed. He looked baffled now.
Iron Bear spoke into the void. Sky recognized the deep voice of the head man and third hostage. The old war chief did not speak often so when he did it was best to pay close attention. “It is good that the hoop has spun and brought you two together. We will talk some more and see what is to be done.”
Joy Cat nodded stiffly and then walked to the front of the wagon, climbing aboard. Sky tied Ceta to the back and then assisted Lucie up to the bed. She looked as if she wanted to say something but Eagle Dancer was now sagged back in the wagon, exhausted. Lucie took her place beside him and Sky felt a squeezing sorrow in his heart.
She glanced back at him with wide eyes. Was she still afraid of Eagle Dancer, of returning to the Sioux? Perhaps she still thought the head man could hold her against her will. But only because she had not seen the way they were forced to live now. When she had left, the Sioux were at the peak of their strength and numbers. War had taken so many good men and disease and starvation had cut down the rest. Standing Rock comprised fewer than two hundred families and Cheyenne River had fewer than that, according to the officer he had spoken to while Lucie reunited with her husband.
Sky walked to the front of the wagon to find Iron Bear regarding him with a strange look. Iron Bear had taken the middle place between him and the father of his best friend. He glanced back to find Lucie sitting on the buffalo robe directly behind his seat with one hand on her husband’s brow and her face drawn in an expression of concern.
Sky took up the reins and released the brake. On the ride to the river, Iron Bear peppered him with questions about his time away from the People. Sky spoke of the Mormon and their school and how they had beaten him for his beliefs about the Great Spirit and the earth that sat on the back of a turtle. And how the Mormons believed that only their way was right and all others evil, and that there was but one road to the Spirit World and it was not the way of the People. He told them how Falcon had saved his life, by stomping a rattle snake that was coiled to strike him, and how he caught wild mustangs, in order to save them from the bluecoats and the passengers on the iron horse who thought it good sport to shoot the ponies out the windows of the moving train.
At last he had no more words. Iron Bear nodded and remarked, “It is good you come back to those who understand you. You are a stranger among them. Like us, you find their habits and beliefs perplexing.”
“That is true. They are as unlike me as a bluebird from a fox.”
“It is why I send my son to their school, so he can understand them better,” said Iron Bear.
Sky hesitated before speaking. Iron Bear noticed him glance toward him and then away.
“What, brother? Speak.”
“Be careful that he does not learn their ways so well that he forgets ours.”
“You have seen the school?”
Sky nodded and met Iron Bear’s eyes. “Bring him home if you can.”
Iron Bear pulled his blanket across his back and said no more. They reached the Missouri and boarded a steamship heading upriver. Sky bought their passage as Eagle D
ancer was carried aboard. They waited on deck as black smoke billowed from the twin stacks and then the engine engaged, making the deck vibrate. Joy Cat took his leave at the first stop, a trading post and whiskey camp across from the Cheyenne Reservation.
Because they were traveling with Indians, they could not secure a place below decks, so Lucie bundled Eagle Dancer in blankets and carefully administered her husband’s pills, finding the laudanum caused him to sleep. Iron Bear moved himself closer to the rail, so he could see the stars past the black smoke belching from the stacks. This left Sky and Lucie alone for the first time since they reached the fort.
“I’m sorry your brother did not come to say goodbye to you,” said Sky.
Lucie nodded. “He is very angry at me.”
“He is a little boy. A man would have looked past his needs to see yours.”
She stared at him in silence then. He could see the questions in her eyes and wondered if she still hated him for what they had done.
“What do you think Joy Cat will do?”
“He has the right to see me outcast, though I am outcast already.”
“You are a white man. He has no power to punish you.”
Sky spoke more sharply than he intended. “I am not white!”
He glanced down at Eagle Dancer to see if his outburst had disturbed him, but his old friend did not stir. Was Iron Bear right about the wheel spinning back around? He was tired of this half life, tired of his joyless existence. He lifted his gaze and looked into the open concern written on Lucie’s beautiful face.
Sky motioned toward the rail of the steamer and she followed. There he could see the dark water of the Missouri and the golden light from the steamer, rippling across the boat’s wake.
He stared down at her earnest face. Was the Mormon right? Was he damned for all eternity for what he had done? Sky clenched the rail and stared sightlessly across the water as the murmur of other passengers mingled with the sound of the engine and the slap of water on the ship’s bow.
“Sky?”
He lifted his brow in response.
“What did you mean when you told Joy Cat about siring no children?”
Sky gazed at Lucie and knew she was remembering their night together and how it had ended.
“I decided long ago that I would not seek what he could never have.”
Her mouth pinched into a frown. “Yet you will marry his sisters.”
“If Joy Cat agrees.”
“If he does, what will you do?”
“Marry.”
“Out of duty to your friend, or for the land grant?”
He was so surprised at her words he made no effort to defend himself.
“Is that what you think?”
“I think you have found a way to ease your conscience, continue to be miserable and gain a horse ranch all at the same time.” With that she turned her back on him and walked away. He followed her with his eyes, wishing he were free to pursue Lucie and seek the happiness he did not deserve.
The journey upriver took much of the night. Eagle Dancer slept until they loaded him into the wagon and then he roused only briefly. They stopped at the home of the agent from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Sky presented him with the letter from Major Reilly giving them passage to the reservation. The agent, called Livingston, seemed diligent enough.
“Have to check the wagon for whiskey,” he said. “They set up a new camp right across the river. We run them off and set up somewhere else. Devil’s own time keeping them out.”
Sky set the break as the man checked the flatbed, finding only Lucie and Eagle Dancer. Sky heard him speak to her in English.
“Miss? You white?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What’s your business here, then?”
Sky was about to present the paper again but Lucie intervened.
“I’m listed in the letter. Lucie West, Eagle Dancer’s wife.”
He pulled himself upright and stared at her as if her words made no sense. “Married?” She nodded.
“That’s a switch, I’ll say. Lots of men are marrying squaws, for land grants. But never seen it the other way around.”
Lucie glared at Sky.
“You staying?” asked Livingston. Silence stretched.
“Ma’am?”
“I’m here to care for my husband. He’s got pneumonia.”
“All right, then. I’ll check on you in a few days, make sure you’re all right. Not supposed to be anyone here but Indians. Not sure you can stay for long. Indians only, you understand?” He glanced back at Sky and his companions. “This your own choice, Mrs. West?”
Lucie did not answer. Livingston was now regarding Lucie intently as he rubbed his chin.
Sky cut in, certain that the pause raised suspicions. “She’s answered that already.”
“I’m not asking you. Now hush up.” He turned back to Lucie, his voice changing from irritation to a gentle hum.
“Ma’am?”
“Yes, my choice.”
“See you shortly, then.” He stepped away and waved them on. Sky lifted the reins. They rolled past.
Eagle Dancer had lay quietly until they reached his cabin, but had another coughing fit as he left the wagon and bloodied another handkerchief on the way into his house. When he could speak he turned to Lucie.
“You see? I have a fine white man’s house now. You don’t have to tan hides or move this tipi. It is like your parents’ house—yes?”
Sky saw Lucie look away. Lucie’s father was a very successful man, according to Mr. Bloom at the trading post, who had heard that from Mrs. Fetterer, who had quizzed Father Dumax about her background, and Lucie had mentioned that President Hayes knew her father. If it was true, surely her home put this one to shame. Sky found himself holding his breath as he waited for Lucie’s reply.
Lucie nodded. “It’s very nice.”
Eagle Dancer turned to Iron Bear. “Call my nephew and tell him it is safe to come.”
Iron Bear went to the door and gave a high piercing whistle. A few minutes later the boy appeared.
Sky watched him as his gaze scanned the room, noting surprise at seeing Iron Bear, then a smile when he noted Eagle Dancer being helped to bed by Lucie and then their eyes met. No Moccasins’s smile vanished. Next came a quick shifting of his eyes as he looked to Eagle Dancer again, but seemed to find no answers there. Back to Sky now. Was that alarm because Sky had witnessed his humiliation or guilt because No Moccasins had killed the truant officer?
Sky was certain he recognized an expression of shame, having lived so closely with the emotion for so long himself. What had No Moccasins done after Sky had left him?
“Your uncle is home,” said Iron Bear. “Send word to the elders and bring White Bull. Tell him that Eagle Dancer has a fever.”
No Moccasins left without a word and with a speed that struck Sky as unseemly. He had not even greeted his uncle.
With help, Lucie made Eagle Dancer comfortable on a pallet near the fire. She doled out the cough medicine. His face was flushed and his eyes stared up at her with a glassy glow.
“Do you see this house I have built you?” he asked again.
“Yes. It’s a lovely house. Rest now.”
His eyelids drooped and he dozed.
Not long after this, White Bull, the medicine man, arrived with a tea that helped lower Eagle Dancer’s fever. He breathed more easily now. Gradually, his flushed face grew pale. Only then did Lucie leave his side to inventory supplies. Sky tried not to flinch at the twinge of jealousy he felt. What would he give to have such a woman care for him this way—his life?
But even that was not enough. Why couldn’t he have died that day?
Lucie gave a gasp as she stared into the last empty parfleche, seeming horrified by the lack of food.
“No rations while he has been in the white man’s fort,” said White Bull. “His nephew has lived like a widow, on handouts and scraps.” He gave Lucie instructions on the tea and promised to come to
morrow with a rub for his chest and to pray for Eagle Dancer’s recovery.
Iron Bear departed, promising to return the following morning.
Lucie and Sky stood side by side in the doorway as head man departed on foot. Lucie hesitated in the entrance and Sky thought she might say something. But Eagle Dancer’s cough caused Lucie to glance back to find him resting with eyes closed.
Sky stepped out into the dusk. He glanced back to see Lucie’s worried face, trying to commit her features to memory, knowing he would never succeed in picturing such loveliness.
Lucie stopped him. “Where are you going?”
“Mexico.”
She rushed out to him. “You can’t, not now.”
“Why not? I’ve delivered you to your husband, as I promised. My duty here is done.”
She stiffened, as the panic made her heart buck like one of his wild horses. She knew without question that if she let him go, she would never see him again. And although she was still furious for the way he had treated her, she did not want that.
“You have not heard Joy Cat’s answer?”
“I will stop at Cheyenne River before I leave. If he agrees, I will take the sisters with me.”
Jealousy spurted through her, straightening her spine.
“Sky, please. Don’t.”
Sky softened his voice. “You said you wanted me to go.”
“That was my anger talking.”
He nodded. “And now it is your fear. I don’t need you, Lucie. He does.” Sky motioned to Eagle Dancer.
“And here I am. But this isn’t about him and you know it. This is about your proposal, one hundred and sixty-eight acres, and it is about your terrible tribute. Is that really what you think Sacred Cloud would want, for his sisters to marry a stranger who doesn’t want them, so you can ease your conscience?”
“Don’t speak his name.”
“He wouldn’t want this. No one would ask that.”
“He didn’t ask for his death, either.”
“Convenient, isn’t it? This shield of duty you hide behind. It keeps you from having to face me and what happened between us.”
