by Paty Jager
Sa-qan stared at Wade’s stooped shoulders as the soldier took him toward a large building. Why had he not told her the truth? Worry for him and for herself and Toby ripped up her back. He had ended his duty to come to her to help her people.
She spun and faced the smirking colonel. “Why have you done this? You do not need him to chase us anymore.”
“He signed an oath to serve this country. Until his release orders relieve him of that oath he can’t gallivant around pretending he isn’t a cavalry man.” He glared at her. “That’s the Whiteman’s law. He’s a Whiteman and he has to live by his laws.”
He stood in the agent’s house. She swallowed hard. Did the agent and the spiteful colonel share a friendship?
Darrin. Sa-qan pivoted and hurried to the wagon. She untied the horse, placed the cradleboard on the floorboards, and climbed up. The reins smacked the horses’ rumps harder than she had planned. They leaped forward. Toby gave a startled cry when the cradleboard bounced. Sa-qan grabbed her son and placed the cradleboard between her feet, driving the horses out of the fort.
The horses loped into town. Pulling back hard on the straps, she managed to stop them one building beyond the newspaper office. Darrin and several store owners poked their heads out to see why a wagon had entered town so fast.
“Darrin!” she called, dropping the reins and gathering the cradleboard. He ran to the side of the wagon and reached up to take Toby.
“What’s wrong?”
She jumped down and clutched her child to her chest. “They took Wade away.”
“Who?” Darrin led her into the newspaper office.
She started trembling. “The soldiers. We went to the agent’s house to ask for more help for my people. So many are sick. An officer, Abernathy is what Wade called him, who did not like when Wade and I talked after the surrender, was at the agent’s. He said Wade still belonged to the soldiers.” Tears burned at the back of her eyes. “I thought he was free from the soldiers. Wade said the papers had not come.”
Darrin took out a paper and writing stick. “Do you know the names of the officers and the fort where Wade served?”
“Gibbon I think.” She shook her head. “I do not know the name of the fort.”
He wrote then tapped the stick on the paper. “I better go talk to Wade and get all the information before I send telegraphs.”
She grasped his hand. “I will go with you.”
He peeled her fingers from his sleeve. “I don’t know if they’ll allow either of us in to see him.”
“We must try.” She led the way out of the office.
****
Wade stalked the small cell. Damn, he should have waited for the papers to come through, but he couldn’t let Sa-qan be alone that long. She would have had the baby without his help in that death infested camp. He shook his head. How long would he sit in here waiting? Not knowing if the damn papers would ever show up. He should have contacted Gibbon but had let keeping his family fed and the Nez Perce healthy override his worries about his papers.
“You have visitors,” the guard said, opening the large wooden door leading to the outside.
Sa-qan walked in with Toby and Baker. She put her hand through the bars trying to touch Wade. He walked close and took her hand.
“You and Toby shouldn’t be here. Go home.”
“I have brought Darrin. He will help us.” Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. The sorrow drawing her pink lips into a frown twisted his gut.
“Who was your commanding officer and what fort were you attached to?” Baker poised a pencil over his small pad of paper.
“Colonel Gibbon at Fort Shaw.” He clutched Sa-qan’s hand. “Take Toby home and promise you won’t ride out to the camp alone.”
“Why?”
“I don’t trust Abernathy. Promise me.” She had to listen and not be so independent and stubborn.
“Abernathy? The man who tossed you in here?” Baker asked, scribbling the name down.
Wade nodded. “He’s had it out for me from the beginning of the campaign when I told one of his men to stand down and not shoot Sa-qan and her niece.”
Sa-qan gasped. “The soldier who shot Silent Doe and was after Girl of Many Hearts was ordered by the mean colonel?”
Wade nodded. He’d kept this knowledge from her so she wouldn’t say or do something to rile Abernathy further.
He saw her anger rise up her neck and darken her cheeks. Wade clutched her hand tighter when she pulled back. “Don’t do anything or say anything. He’ll only make our life hell.”
“I agree. Let’s keep inquiries between us,” Baker added.
The guard moved away from the door and down the aisle between the two cells. “You have to leave.”
Sa-qan drew Wade’s hand through the bars and kissed his knuckles. A warm tear dropped where she’d kissed him.
“My heart and bed will be cold until you return.”
He’d failed her. He’d promised her she would never sleep alone.
He slipped his hand from hers and stepped back.
Baker took her by the elbow and led her away.
****
Sa-qan visited Wade every morning and with each visit he drew farther away from her in body and spirit.
“What are you not telling me?” she asked, gripping the bars.
“They’ve scheduled a court-martial for next week. If I’m found a deserter they’ll either make me serve out the time I’ve been gone or set me loose. But if the treason charges Abernathy has drummed up against me stick, I’ll go to prison for five years.”
The defeat on his face worried her. “What is treason?”
“Consorting with the enemy.” A crooked smile lifted one side of his mustache.
“What does consorting mean?” She would not let him give up on her, their family, or her people.
“It means our times together during the war and the baby we made.” His eyes softened. “Knowing you and making Toby are worth spending five years in prison.”
“It was not treason. We were working to end the fighting. We did not care who won only to save lives.” She clung to the bars wishing he would step closer, could hold her in his strong arms and she could will her strength into him.
“They don’t see it that way.” He finally stepped to the bars and covered her hands with his. “If they put me in prison, tell your stories to Baker; he’ll see they get published and you get paid. Don’t move in with your people—stay free, so you can help them. I’ll come for you when I get out.”
She shook her head. He would not go to prison, but if he did she must stay with her people. “I must go where my people go.”
“Please, it would help me knowing you’re safe.” He leaned to the bars and touched her lips.
Tears trickled through her tightly-scrunched eyes.
“Think of your people. The conditions they live in. You can help them by living apart, staying healthy, and giving voice to their plight. They will need you more than me.”
The guard walked toward them. “Time to go.”
Sa-qan picked up the cradleboard, turned her sleeping son to his father for a kiss, and followed the guard out of the building. She blinked at the brilliant sun and took several deep breaths to ease the tightness in her chest.
“We’ve got orders to move them Indians over to the Quapaw Agency.” She heard a voice say. Sa-qan scanned the area and found the source. Abernathy. She had made certain she never encountered the man, but today, she had to know more details.
She slipped the cradleboard on her back and boldly walked up to the officer.
“Why are the Nimiipuu being moved?” she asked, catching Abernathy’s attention.
“Because they’re all getting sick here and they need to be moved to a proper reservation.” His gaze scanned her body, leveling on her breasts full of milk.
The hair on her arms prickled. It took all of her courage to stand in front of the man. But she did it for her people and to show him she was not scared of hi
m.
“Is the reservation near their home?”
The man sneered. “No. Farther away.”
Anger bubbled in her chest. His eyes gloated knowing the Nimiipuu would be herded farther from the land that sung to their hearts. The farther her people moved from their home the more their spirits weakened.
“Why? They have done nothing to be treated so poorly.” Her hands fisted at her sides.
“Because they made the cavalry look like fools. We’ll show them who the real fools are now.”
Sa-qan pivoted before she said or did something that would be harmful to her and Toby. She stalked to the wagon and climbed to the seat. Slapping the reins, she put the horses in motion and headed for the camp. At the edge of the Nimiipuu camp she pulled up the reins and stared. Wade told her to remain on the outside of the camp, but would she remain free to help her people if he were sent to jail? What if the mean Abernathy forced her and Toby to live with the Nimiipuu? The sickness could take Toby and then she would have no one. No husband and no child. Panic squeezed her throat and shook her hands.
Wewukiye, I need your help. She lowered her face into her hands and wept. Her people were only a short walk away yet loneliness consumed her. Her duty was to remain with the Nimiipuu and continue to fight for them, but how would she do that without Wade and her mobility as a so·yá·po wife? But how could she live if they sent her husband to prison? He told her Darrin would continue writing her stories and she would be paid but how did one pick up and move to a new place when you were an outsider? Wade’s love for her showed the so·yá·po to treat her with respect—how could she gain their respect with him in prison and if she was alone?
She sat in the wagon frozen. Fear she would make the wrong decision held her in place. She did not want to be her father and hurt her people by being selfish. Her heart ached already for the loss of Wade, but her duty had to be to her people. To stay with them and help.
Silent Doe walked out to the wagon. “What is wrong, my sister? Your boy has strong lungs.”
Sa-qan shook out of her fearful musings and realized her son cried for food. Her milk soaked the front of her dress.
“Come.” Silent Doe led the horses into the camp. Lightning Wolf took care of the horses while Silent Doe held Toby as Sa-qan climbed from the wagon.
Silent Doe walked to their dwelling and entered. Sa-qan followed the older woman, who handed her son to her, and Sa-qan bared her breast. Her son suckled hungrily. The sensation of feeding her child brought tears to her eyes. Her indecision had caused him hunger. She had to shake her apprehension and push on.
“What troubles you?” Silent Doe asked.
In a torrent of tears, Sa-qan told Silent Doe all her troubles as her son emptied one breast and started on the other. She finished her story, wiped the tears away, and felt drained—void of happiness, joy, or even sadness. Hollow—as she had lived so many seasons as a spirit.
“You and your man must work together to help our people. You cannot leave him. You must fight to get him free then you will join our people where they send us.” Silent Doe stated what deep down Sa-qan knew but had fought, fearing it made her like her father. Loving Wade did not make her selfish. Their love fulfilled her duty to the Nimiipuu.
Freedom washed over her. She no longer feared her father’s curse. She could never be selfish and greedy at the cost of Nimiipuu lives. Toby had fallen asleep with her nipple in his mouth. She kissed his forehead, popped the nipple from his puckered lips, and buttoned her dress.
“I must go home and change. Darrin and I must do more to set my husband free.” She kissed her son’s head and stood.
“May you find the wisdom needed to free your man.” Silent Doe hugged her and motioned for her to leave.
Sa-qan hurried back to the wagon, to her house to change out of her milk-soaked dress, and headed to the newspaper office. Between her and Darrin they would get Wade free. She knew it with all her heart.
Mita áptit wax pí-lept
(34)
Loneliness seeped deep and cold into Wade’s bones. After Sa-qan said she would stay with her people, she hadn’t been by to see him. The loss ate at his growing fear for her and Toby. Abernathy made a point of telling him the Nez Perce had been shipped to Baxter, Kansas. Sa-qan went with them. That was why she hadn’t been back to see him. The disease that killed so many here could easily take his family from him.
He’d been a fool to not argue with her. He knew her duty to help her people overrode all else. It was her conviction to her people that first attracted him and later won his heart. He also knew he came second to the Nimiipuu, but he still damned himself for not giving voice to his misgivings of her living among them.
Baker arrived earlier in the day with a uniform for the court-martial to take place later this morning. He’d smiled and told Wade not to worry when he asked about Sa-qan and Toby. Baker was still looking for a good story. His court-martial provided good fodder for the newspaper man. No wonder he was in a jovial mood.
Wade stood at the cell door dressed in a lieutenant’s uniform, waiting for the guard to escort him to the trial.
The outside door creaked opened and the guarded entered, strolling down the aisle between the other three cells. He stopped at the cell, jingled the keys unlocking the door, and swung it open. Wade had spent a month in the stockade waiting for word of his trial. Drunk soldiers had come and gone through the large wooden door to the outside world, but he’d remained imprisoned. Now the day had finally arrived for him to walk out that door, he wasn’t ready. His court-martial would begin and he dreaded the verdict.
“Come on, it’s a nice day.” The guard motioned for him to walk on ahead.
A nice day to learn you’ll spend the next five years in prison. And quite possibly have no family to return to.
Sunlight bright and blinding stopped him at the doorway. A small body lunged at him and clung tightly. He blinked and stared down at shimmering white hair. Sa-qan! His heart hammered in his chest. She couldn’t be here. He grasped her arms, holding her away from him. Yes, it was his beautiful angel.
“What are you doing here? I thought...” Exhilaration spun his insides. She was here, not in some reservation far away. The light and joy glowing in her eyes wrapped around his heart. She’d stayed with him. Put him first. Her love for him was as strong as her love of her people.
“That I was far away?” She smiled and his world tilted, chasing away his fears.
“Yes.” He hugged her tight and realized more people stood around. Wade scanned the military and non-military men standing in a line in front of him.
“I don’t understand. Colonel Gibbon, what are you doing here?” He saluted his superior officer while clutching his wife to his side.
“When a newspaper correspondent starts asking me why one of my men who I’d given leave and signed off on his resignation was being held as a deserter, I followed the path of the papers and brought them here myself, to vouch for the fact you were not a deserter but following the orders I gave you.”
Wade smiled at Baker. “I knew you were tenacious about a story.”
“I called in a favor at the insistence of your wife.” Baker said, winking at Sa-qan.
“But the other matter—treason.” Wade found the word hard to spit out.
“According to your wife and statements by Sergeants Murphy and Marks you didn’t do anything that jeopardized the army.”
“So I’m free of all charges? And discharged from the military?” He couldn’t believe all the charges were dropped. He was free to love his wife and son and carry on advocating for the Nez Perce.
“Yes. All charges are dropped.” Colonel Gibbon stepped forward. “I’m sorry for the mix up, and I congratulate you on an excellent choice of a wife.” He smiled at Sa-qan.
“Sir.” Wade extended his hand. The colonel took it and shook. “Thank you. For everything.”
“You’re welcome, son.” The colonel motioned to the others present and they walked toward
headquarters.
Baker stepped forward. Wade slapped him on the back. “I owe you, too.”
“Just keep giving me good stories about the Nez Perce. I had to get one of my best informants out of jail.” Baker shook his hand. “Your wife has you packed up and ready to head out to the reservation near Baxter, Kansas. Enjoy tonight, I have a feeling she’ll have you on the road early in the morning.” He walked away, leaving them alone for the first time in a month.
“You have us packed?” He captured her hand and started walking to the gate.
“Yes. We must catch up to my people and make sure they are taken care of.” She stretched her stride to keep up with his long legs.
“Where are we staying tonight? And where’s Toby?” He stopped outside the fort gate and drew her into his arms. He’d missed her soft lips and sweet mouth. He gazed into her sparkling eyes.
“The hotel. We have the same room near the bathing closet.” Her eyes sparkled with desire.
“Toby?”
“Darrin is paying a woman to stay with Toby in the room next door for the night.”
She stood on her tiptoes, and he couldn’t refuse the offered kiss. Not after a month of missing her in his arms. Wade wrapped his arms around his wife and lowered his lips to hers. The spark of their bodies connecting no longer surprised him, he merely delved deeper and received everything her body gave him.
Sa-qan pressed against her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck as he lifted her off the ground, deepening the kiss and fusing their bodies as one. She had found her mate for all eternity.
Epilogue
May 1885
Sa-qan sat in the shade of the large post oak in the front yard. She studied the house she and Wade and their three children lived in a mile from the Quapaw reservation. The government finally stopped moving the Nimiipuu. They’d remained here for seven years. Seven-year-old Toby had ridden into town with his father. Five-year-old Grayson, known as Gray, kept guard over the squirrel he had caught in a snare and now had in a small cage. Their three year-old sister, Merry, played with a doll Girl of Many Hearts made for her from buckskin.
