by Paty Jager
“There will be no sensationalizing the Nez Perce.” Miles slammed his fist into his palm and stalked away.
Wade waited until the officer’s back disappeared out of sight and walked toward Baker. “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation.”
The man smiled ruefully. “I’m sure the whole camp heard us. It hinders my talking with the Nez Perce when Colonel Miles won’t allow me access.”
“I can get you access.” Wade knew it was risky but would bode better if he walked into the Nez Perce camp with the reporter. He’d introduce the man to the people with Sa-qan and then sneak her away for some private moments.
“You’d go against your superior’s orders?” Baker squinted in the growing darkness, staring into Wade’s face.
“Both sides of the story should be told.” He stepped closer to Baker. “Follow me.”
Wade strode with conviction by the men standing guard. The Nez Perce had fashioned makeshift shelters of their belongings and harvested poles from the area. He searched the people huddled around small fires scattered among the shelters.
He noticed Baker falling behind as he scribbled in a book. Wade stopped, waiting for the man to catch up. A tug on his sleeve dropped his gaze to the girl Sa-qan called her niece.
“Sa-qan.” The child said and pulled on his sleeve.
Baker had stopped and conversed with a warrior. With his sympathies lying with the Indians, Wade didn’t believe Baker faced any danger. He smiled down at the girl and motioned for her to lead the way. She smiled and led him to the far side of the encampment.
Guards stood outside the perimeter of the camp. How could he and Sa-qan slip by the guards?
They approached a fire in front of a squat buffalo hide covered structure. His heart skipped. Sa-qan sat wrapped in a blanket by the fire. The man and woman she’d arrived with as well as another couple and three children circled the small pit of flames.
The girl spoke and all turned their gazes on him. Sa-qan’s eyes brightened and she stood.
He ached to pull her into his arms and warm her. The wary glances from the others at the fire kept him a few steps back. Now that he was near Sa-qan, he was unsure how they would speak. He didn’t know who around the fire understood English.
The girl’s mother said something to Sa-qan.
Sa-qan nodded her head and walked toward the shelter. “Come inside,” she said, ducking into the hide covered tent.
Wade scanned the group. The woman who spoke nodded and smiled. He returned the smile and hurried to the structure. He dropped to his knees to enter the small opening and crawled on his hands and knees into the dark interior.
Blankets and more hides covered the floor. Their softness and warmth padded his hands as he groped in the darkness. Finally, his fingers clutched Sa-qan’s small hand. He drew it to his lips, savoring the touch of her flesh.
Her intake of breath sparked his desire like flint to rock. He tugged on her hand drawing her blanket clad body to his.
“I’ve missed you,” he murmured, kissing his way to her lips. He kissed every inch of her face cradled in his palms. “When I saw Miles aiming the cannon at the women and children, I feared for your life and wanted to turn the weapon on him.”
She shuddered. He folded her back against him, trying to provide warmth and comfort.
“I have missed your arms.” Sa-qan snuggled against him.
“We’ll be together soon. I promise. No more of this sneaking around.” He kissed the top of her head. He wanted to shout to the world she was his woman, but he had to wait until he formally resigned from the army. A court marshal or accusations of treason for fraternizing with the enemy wouldn’t get them together, only apart.
“What will happen to my people now?” she leaned back.
The darkness of the structure prevented him from seeing her expressions. “Miles and Howard agreed to keep them at a fort near here through the winter then return them to the reservation near their homes.”
“This is good. Many are sick or wounded. They would not survive the return.” Her palm rested on his jaw. “Will you be at the fort? Is that where we will be together?”
Her gentle touch and soft words addled his thoughts. He tilted his head and kissed her palm. “I’ll meet you there as soon as I can get my letter off to Washington to resign—leave the army.” Her body stiffened. “I can’t just say I’m done being a soldier and walk away. I have to follow protocol—rules, or I’ll end up in prison.” He grasped her chin. Touching nose to nose, he tried to see her eyes in the dark. She had to understand. “If I don’t watch myself around you, they could toss me in prison for treason. That means I have been friends with the enemy—you. And if I just walk away without writing a letter and being let go, I could go to prison for failure to do my duty.”
Sa-qan huffed, her warm breath fluttered over his skin. “So·yá·po have many rules. The Nimiipuu do not need to keep their own people prisoners.”
“Believe me. I want to be with you. Now and forever. But I would always be looking over my shoulder should I take off from the army without the proper protocol.”
A woman’s hushed whisper sounded at the entrance to the structure.
Sa-qan grabbed his face in a talon-like grip. “The angry soldier approaches.”
Le’éptit wax `oymátat
(28)
Sa-qan’s heart raced. Wade had to leave but not through the opening. Silent Doe had whispered the angry soldier from earlier approached.
“You must go out the back,” she whispered, pulling on his hand.
“If I stay here he’ll go away.” Wade wrapped his arms around her.
If only she could be as confident as he. Her instincts said the soldier came to find Wade. The soldier knew Wade hid in the tent with her.
She pushed at his arms. “No. He has come to find you here.” Her harsh whisper loosened his arms.
“What? How do you know?” he whispered back, gripping her arms.
“He does not like you. I saw it in his eyes earlier today when you left. He knows you and I feel much for one another. I cannot always hide my feelings. He watched me as you walked away and he saw.”
“Damn.”
She knew he rubbed his mustache even if she could not see. His actions were carved in her memory.
If he stayed and stood up to the man, she would stand firmly behind him. Though she no longer had spirit traits her belief in her convictions still held her solid and strong. She and Wade must be together to benefit the Nimiipuu.
She heard more than one so·yá·po voice outside the dwelling. “Shhh.” She led Wade to the opening to listen.
“Where’s that white-haired squaw that was with you earlier?” the angry man asked. Wade’s grip on her hand tightened. She squeaked and he loosened his hold.
“Sorry,” he whispered, his lips touching her ear. “That man has had it in for me since the beginning of the campaign. I don’t want to cause you any trouble. If he’d just reprimand me I’d show myself, but he’d take it out on you.” He kissed her cheek. “I won’t let that happen. I’ll find a way to see you tomorrow night.”
His hand slipped from hers before she could say or do anything. The dwelling would move when he crawled under the back. She placed her hand on the opening, waiting for the quiver of the hides from his exit before she grasped the blanket covering and shook the structure as she stepped out.
The angry soldier stood between the fire and the dwelling. His fists clenched and unclenched. A gleam in his eyes sent a shiver down her back.
“What were you doing in there?” he asked, taking a step toward her.
“Sleeping until I heard the squawking of an angry black bird.”
The soldier brushed her comment away like a fly, but Silent Doe snickered.
“Were you sleeping alone?” The ugly way the man’s lip lifted left her stomach sour.
“The rest of my family is sitting by the fire.” She made eye contact with each person who watched her and Wade enter the
tent. They had not given away her guest.
The man continued to stare at her. “Private, take a look in there.” He pointed to the dwelling behind her. A soldier, carrying a light, walked past her, flopped the blanket up on the opening, and shone the light inside.
“Nothing, sir,” the soldier said, pulling out of the dwelling.
Sa-qan did not want to make the officer angrier, but she could not hold back the smile of triumph tickling the corners of her lips.
Abernathy, as Wade had called him, stepped close, glaring down into her face. She caught a movement and put up her hand to stop the warriors at the fire from intervening. Her love for Wade could not endanger other Nimiipuu. She would suffer the consequences but not her people.
“I know you and Lieutenant Watts are up to something. I don’t know what, but when I discover his treason, you’ll both be sorry for consorting with the enemy.”
“We are no longer enemies. My people have surrendered.” She held her chin high and glared at him with all the disdain she held for evil mortals. The power surging through her when he took a step back tingled her insides and gave realization to the fact even though she was no longer a spirit, she did have mortal powers and strength. The revelation brought her a deeper core strength. One she had missed since becoming mortal.
“We will always be enemies until your people stop their heathen ways.” Abernathy spun on his heel and stalked away.
Girl of Many Hearts shot to her feet and captured Sa-qan’s hand. “Did you use magic to make your man disappear?”
Awe brightening the child’s face filled Sa-qan with her newfound authority.
“No. He crawled out under the back of the dwelling. I do not have magic anymore.” Until this moment, she had not realized she grieved her lack of txiyak. Her grieving had ended. She now possessed mortal powers. Conviction and truth. These would do her well her remaining mortal years.
Silent Doe motioned to the dwelling. They entered and the woman did not give Sa-qan time to get comfortable before questioning her.
“What did your man want?”
Sa-qan smiled. “He has a name. It is Wade.”
“What did Wade want?” The excitement in Silent Doe’s voice brought joy to Sa-qan’s heart.
“He wished to tell me he missed me and as soon as we are at the fort he will work to get out of the army.” She frowned. It is a strange world when a person must ask permission to live his life as he wishes.
“We are going to a fort? What of our homes?”
“We will stay through the cold at the fort and travel to the reservation near our homes when it is warm. Our sick and wounded would not survive the trip home now.”
“This is true. I find it hard to believe the soldiers are this kind.”
The uncertainty in her friend’s words dredged up her doubts once again. “Not all the soldiers are mean like Abernathy, the officer searching for Wade. There are those who wish us well.”
“Like your man, Wade.” Silent Doe teased.
Sa-qan’s heart expanded and ached with happiness. “Yes, like my man, Wade.”
The dwelling stirred. Girl of Many Hearts along with Lightning Wolf entered. Time to sleep. Tomorrow would bring another day. One with food for their bellies and no more fighting.
****
After leaving Sa-qan, Wade joined in a game of cards with his men. Abernathy found him there a short time later. The scowl on the man’s face proved he didn’t condone fraternizing with the enlisted men any more than he condoned fraternizing with the Indians. But Wade knew his men would tell the colonel he’d been with them all night. They were loyal to him and didn’t like Abernathy. The man had made a spectacle out of punishing enlisted men to receive any cooperation from the lower ranks.
Having lost two hands in a row, Wade returned to the tent he shared with other officers. The cold seeped through his clothes as the temperatures descended. He thought of the warm buffalo robes on the floor of the dwelling. Did they keep Sa-qan warm? Wade reclined on his cot and wished he could wrap his arms around Sa-qan, keeping her and their child warm. When they reached Fort Keogh, he’d head for Ft. Shaw, send a letter and back pay to Sergeant Cooper’s family, and then submit his resignation. He hoped it didn’t take too long for the papers to get to General Sherman and be on his way back to Ft. Keogh and Sa-qan.
****
The following day soldiers and their captives stayed busy preparing for the trip to the fort. Wade spent the better part of the day overseeing the gathering of branches and dried grass to cushion the wagon beds where the wounded soldiers would ride. He’d spotted warriors cutting poles and lashing them together for travois to carry the Nez Perce wounded and their supplies.
After the camp settled for the night, Wade left the tent he occupied with other officers and meandered toward the area designated as the privy. To know Sa-qan was so close and being unable to converse with her had plagued his thoughts all day. He wanted to make sure she was fed well and the soldiers didn’t mistreat the captives.
He walked past the privy area and into the darkness outside the camp’s small fires. The snow on the ground would leave his footprints, but he doubted with the activity of pulling up camp in the morning anyone would worry over the prints.
He yanked the collar of his coat up around his ears and hunkered deeper into the wool garment. He didn’t like the idea of the women and children being exposed to this cold while on the march to the fort. But he had little say over the ordeal.
From his visit the night before, Wade knew Sa-qan’s tepee sat on the edge of the captives’ encampment. He kept to the shadows of the structures and stood at the opening of her teepee, glancing around to see if anyone else remained awake. Darkness shrouded the camp but for coals glowing in fires sprinkled around the compound.
How did one knock on a hide-covered structure? He stood at the opening contemplating the best way to let the inhabitants know he stood outside. The blanket moved. He stepped back so as not to startle whoever emerged. To his delight a blonde head poked out, followed by the delightful body of Sa-qan.
She glanced up and stifled a cry of alarm as he wrapped his arms around her.
“How did you know I was here?” he whispered in her ear, savoring her curves in his arms.
“I grew restless wondering why you had not come to see me. I worried the mean soldier had detained you.” Her soft whisper unwound the coiled apprehension in his gut.
“My work today kept me busy and after dinner Abernathy’s aide kept a keen eye on me.” He kissed the top of her head and drew her toward the shadows of the teepee.
“I know we can both suffer to be seen together but I also suffer when we are apart.” She drew the blanket tighter around her body.
Wade wrapped his arms around her, enjoying her body next to his even if many layers buffered the effect. “I feel the same.” He sat in the shadow next to the structure and drew her down on his lap, wrapping his arms around her to help stave off the cold. She snuggled against his chest. The action warmed his body from his toes to the tips of his ears.
“I’ll be with the soldiers escorting you to the fort. After you’re settled, I’ll return to Fort Shaw and send out my resignation. I don’t know how long it will take for the release orders to arrive, but I promise the minute they do I’ll be on my way to you.” He smoothed her hair from her face. “Will you be all right with Silent Doe’s family? Will they allow you to stay with them until I return?” He didn’t want to think of her all alone until he returned.
“They have accepted me into their family. Silent Doe has been like a sister to me.”
“Have you spoke to Wewukiye or Dove since the surrender?” He wondered what the two would do now that there was peace.
“Now my fear is not so strong, he has entered my thoughts. The Creator asked them to look after the Nimiipuu who escaped. They must find the free people and keep them safe.”
The yearning in her voice tugged at Wade’s conscience. “Do you wish you were free to be
an eagle once more to help?”
She tipped her head to peer at him, her golden eyes glistened in the darkness. “No. I wish to be your woman in all ways, but I do wish more Nimiipuu had escaped. I fear your white leaders will not keep their promises. They have broken them so many times.”
He, too, hoped this once the promises made to these people were kept. The moon crept higher in the sky. They couldn’t sit here all night as much as he wished he could. Holding Sa-qan, talking about her people, and working together for their future was how he planned to spend the rest of his life.
She shivered as a cloud covered the slip of moon, throwing everything into darkness. The stillness of the night didn’t surprise him given the light blanket of snow covering the ground and the people huddling under cover.
“As much as I hate to let you go, you need sleep and warmth I’m not providing.” He tipped her chin up and touched her lips with his. How he’d waited this long to kiss her stunned him as warmth radiated through his body at the contact. She responded with a moan and pressed her body tighter against his, sealing every inch of her to him as the kiss deepened. He sought the sweetness of her mouth, encountering her tongue tentatively tasting him. The sensation of tongue to tongue shot another round of fire through his body.
How was he to exist without his sweet angel until his orders came through? As if the same thoughts echoed in her head, her arms wound around his neck, clinging to him.
He lingered over the kiss, wishing it didn’t have to end and he didn’t have to walk away from her.
A sound registered.
They weren’t alone.
Anger flashed hot and bright and their interrupted moment quickly spun dead cold at the sight of Abernathy standing not ten feet away.
“Sa-qan, go back to bed,” Wade whispered against her mouth. “Now.” He set her on her feet. He knew the minute she spied the colonel standing in the darkness. She spun back toward him. “Go,” he said firmly, willing her to obey and not get tangled up in his dispute with the officer.
