Comanche Sunset

by Rosanne Bittner

  “I know. I feel the same way. It isn’t just because of how he treated you.” She closed her eyes. “Oh, Wade, what if I had never met you? I would never have been strong enough to face all this.”

  “Yes, you would have.” He squeezed her hands lovingly. “You’re a strong, brave woman, Jenny, and that’s what I love about you. I’m so damn sorry it has to be this way, but I’ve got to find out about this Wild Horse. All these men here, they tell me I look enough like him to be his twin. And I understand better now why the man keeps raiding and killing. He turned himself in once. Someone started shooting, and before it was over, his wife and young son were dead. The man must be full of hatred and sorrow, Jenny.”

  “Oh, Wade, how awful!”

  He studied her lovingly, hating to leave her, but unable to resist the chance to find out about his Indian blood. “The Captain says Wild Horse’s mother’s name is Slow Woman, and she’s on a reservation up north of the Red River. I’ve got to go and see her, Jenny. I’ve got to ask her if Wild Horse was a twin. She could be my own mother.”

  Jennifer kept hold of his hands. “I understand. To come this far, to be this close to finding out something about your Comanche blood—I’d never forgive myself if I kept you from knowing the truth, if it’s so important to you. But it scares me. It could mean terrible trouble for you. You might be in great danger.”

  He sighed. “I don’t know. Surely there’s a way to reason with Wild Horse if he truly is my brother. All I know is I’ve heard too much now to be able to just leave this place and never meet the man. But when I promised to go out to him, you and I hadn’t…” He squeezed her hands again, love and near sorrow coming into his eyes. “I’m so damn sorry, Jenny. I had no right doing what I did, not knowing how all this would turn out.”

  Her eyes lit up with love. “I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I love you, Wade. I’ll say it again while I have the chance.”

  “And I love you,” he whispered. He looked back toward the kitchen, then leaned forward and kissed her once more, putting a hand to the back of her neck and lightly running his tongue around her mouth, wanting to savor the taste of her, remember the smell of her.

  He left her mouth reluctantly. “I can’t stay too long or it will look bad,” he told her. “You remember what I said. If I don’t get back, and there’s too much trouble, you wire my father in San Diego. My brothers, at least one of them, will be coming through this way, probably by the end of the month. My father will know how to get hold of them. Maybe they’ll even come here to the fort. They’ll help you if you ask. Don’t be afraid to tell them about you and me. My folks will gladly help you out. But for the next few weeks you’re going to have to stall Enders. You’ve got lots of excuses—your wounds, the shock of what you’ve been through, no preacher—and you’ve got enough money to pay him off.”

  “Thanks to you,” she said lovingly. “Wade, if you…if you don’t come back…” Her eyes teared. “I’ll love you forever. I’ll never forget you, and I’ll never love anybody else the same.”

  “Don’t cry.” He quickly wiped at a tear with his thumb. “You can’t cry, Jenny, at least not right after seeing me.” He smiled for her, wanting to cry himself. “I will be back, Jenny. You just think of it that way. I don’t break promises.”

  She sniffed and breathed deeply, too tired and too frightened and too much in love to have the strength to fight the tears. “Oh, Wade, I’m sorry,” she squeaked, taking more deep breaths and wiping at tears.

  He rose, glancing back toward the kitchen again and then moving to sit on the edge of the bed, taking her face firmly in his hands. “Jenny, it’s going to be all right. I’ll take care of things as fast as I can. Then I’ll find an excuse to come back here and you’ll know I’m all right. When that happens, you pay off Enders and take the next stage out of here. I’ll follow the stage and pick you up after you’re a few miles from the fort. But if I don’t show up here, do what I told you. Wire my father. Don’t get on any stagecoach unless you know I’m out there to watch over you and pick you up.”

  He leaned forward again and lightly kissed her eyes. “We’ll be married and we’ll go to California. You’ll love California, and my parents will love you. You’ll see, Jenny. It’s all going to work out.”

  She grasped his wrists, feeling a soothing strength and comfort with his big, strong hands at her face. “Be careful, Wade,” she sniffed.

  He wiped at more tears with his thumbs. “You know I will. I’m not exactly inexperienced at survival or at Indian fighting, you know.” He gave her his most reassuring smile, and she thought how handsome that smile was. “Bye, Jenny,” he said softly. He kissed her once more, lightly, lovingly. “I’ll be back.”

  She just watched him, wanting to remember every feature, drinking in the handsome blue eyes and the fine nose and perfectly-etched lips, the high cheekbones and the proud look of him. How strange that there was another man who looked just like this one, but who was so drastically different, wild and vicious, a man who plundered and raped and murdered. Was there a gentle side to the one called Wild Horse? She prayed there was, for Wade’s sake.

  “I wish I could just hold you forever,” she said softly.

  She saw the pain in his eyes as he took his hands away from her face and rose. “For your sake, I can’t stay any longer.” Their eyes held for a few more seconds, each having so much more they wanted to say, each longing to be held by the other. Would the day ever really come that they could go to California together, settle together, have children? Oh, how she loved him! His Indian blood meant nothing to her. How strange that she could feel this way, after what the Comanche renegades had done to her.

  “I’ll pray for you,” she told him. “Do any of the soldiers know what you’re going to do?”

  “No, but I think the captain suspects. I’m heading due west when I leave. I’ll veer north after I’m sure no one is trailing me. Enders and Captain Howell would both like to get the capture of Wild Horse under their belts. I don’t intend to be responsible for that. I’m not here to judge or capture the man—just to find out if he’s my brother.”

  He sighed deeply, looking suddenly like a little boy having to be taken from his mother for the first time. “Damn, I hate to leave you, Jenny,” he said in a near whisper.

  The door to the kitchen squeaked open then and he backed farther away while Jennifer quickly wiped away more tears and put on a smile. “Good-bye, Mr. Morrow,” she said then, “and good luck to you. I hope you make it safely to California.”

  He nodded. “Good-bye, Miss Andrews. I hope things turn out well with you and Sergeant Enders.” She saw the flash of jealous protection move through his eyes at the words.

  “I’m sure they will,” Jennifer answered, telling him with her eyes that Anthony Enders would never touch her.

  Alice came into the room, and Wade glanced at her as he headed for the door. “Thank you for allowing me into your home,” he told the woman. He took some money from a deerskin pouch tied to his gunbelt. “Here is fifty dollars for your trouble.”

  The woman stared at the money wide-eyed, then looked at Jennifer and up to Wade. “Is it true then—you were raised by a white man, a wealthy man in the freighting business?”

  Wade grinned. “It’s true.”

  Jennifer’s heart swelled with love when he cast Alice a smile that Jennifer knew was winning the woman over. He had a warmth about him that belied his appearance. Alice looked at the money again and slowly took it. “Jennifer says you went to college, back East?”

  “Yes, ma’am—the University of Pennsylvania.”

  Alice shook her head. “Strangest thing I’ve ever seen—a Comanche Indian talking English good as any white man, throwing money around.” She looked down at the money and back to Wade. “It’s Sergeant Enders’s place to do this, although I never would have asked. In fact, this is too much.”

  “It’s not too much if you promise to take as good care of Miss Andrews as possible, and to give
her the womanly friendship she needs. She doesn’t know anyone here, and she’s been through a lot. As far as Sergeant Enders, I don’t want her to be any more in debt to him than necessary. She’s a fine lady. If she marries Enders, it should be by choice, not out of obligation.”

  Jennifer noticed a hint of a smile on Alice’s lips. “Well, I have to agree with you there, seeing as how I’m not real fond of Sergeant Enders. I sure never thought I’d let a man like you into my house, but the way you talk and all—” She shook her head. “Sure is strange. Good-bye, Mr. Morrow, and thank you for the money. Lord knows a laundress in a place like this makes hardly enough to stay alive. I only stay on here because I want to be near my husband’s grave. I just wonder what he’d say about somebody like you.”

  “I’m sure I would have been proud to know him, ma’am. You take good care of Miss Andrews now. I just might check back with you some day to see how things turned out.” He gave her a wink, and Jennifer realized he knew it was possible either he or Jennifer might need the woman’s friendship later on. He was doing his best to win her over. Jennifer loved him for it, and for the moment his efforts at erasing the woman’s prejudiced image of him helped her bear the thought of his leaving.

  Now Alice smiled fully. “Well, she’ll be took good care of, all right. She’s just about the age my own daughter was when she—” Her smile faded. “When she died. It warms my heart to have Jenny here. A woman gets pretty lonely out here.”

  “I imagine so.” Wade nodded to her, then turned to Jennifer, holding her eyes for a moment. He did not have to say a word for her to know what he was thinking. “Good-bye again, Miss Andrews.”

  “Good-bye, Mr. Morrow. Godspeed.”

  He forced a smile, glancing at Alice once more before leaving. The woman watched after him for a moment before closing the door. She turned to Jennifer. “If that isn’t the strangest thing—talking to a Comanche man like he was just like anybody else.”

  “He is just like anybody else,” Jennifer answered, reminding herself not to sound too melancholy when she talked about Wade. “In fact, he’s a better man than some I know. I will be forever indebted to him, Alice, Indian or not.”

  Alice looked down at the money, shaking her head again. Jennifer heard the sound of a horse riding off, and her heart tightened. “I’m awfully tired,” she said then, unable to look at Alice for fear the woman would see her misty eyes.

  She turned to her side, and Alice left the room. Jennifer finally released the tears of terror and loneliness that wanted to come. Wade! She might never see him again. It was all like some strange dream, but then she moved a hand to her belly, where a dull ache remained from giving herself to Wade Morrow in passion and wild desire. No, it was not a dream at all. It was very, very real, and it seemed at the moment that if Wade didn’t come back, there would be nothing left to live for.

  Enders entered the command post, in response to Lieutenant Brown’s message that the captain wanted to see him. He was irritated by the command, always hating having to answer to others. His most satisfactory moments were when he was in the field, when he was the one in charge with no one standing over him.

  His irritation was only enhanced by the frustration of still not being able to see Jennifer Andrews. What right did the woman have to keep turning him away? “Still not feeling well,” Alice kept telling him every time he came to the door. He hated that old biddy anyway, and he suspected she was deliberately keeping him away, maybe trying to convince Jennifer that she shouldn’t marry him. It had been three frustrating days now since Jennifer came to the fort, and all he had seen of her was the frazzled, wounded young woman who had come here on a travois. Why did she keep putting him off? Whatever the reason, he was going to see her this afternoon if he had to barge in and break down Alice’s door.

  He entered the Captain’s quarters and saluted, then took a chair when the Captain told him, “At ease. Have a seat, Enders.”

  Tony removed his hat and ran a hand through his thinning, but dark and wavy hair. “What did you want, Sir?”

  Howell handed out a piece of paper. “I got a telegram today—from a John Andrews in St. Louis. Took it a couple of days to get here through all the relay stations.

  Enders took the telegram and read it.

  “MY NIECE, JENNIFER ANDREWS, HEADED FOR YOUR FORT TO MARRY A SGT. ANTHONY ENDERS. NO PERMISSION. SHE IS MY CHARGE. PLEASE ESCORT HER TO NEAREST SAFE STAGE STATION AND HIRE SOMEONE TO BRING HER BACK. MONEY NO OBJECT. IF SHE HAS ALREADY MARRIED MR. ENDERS, INFORM ENDERS I WILL PAY WHATEVER HE ASKS TO ANNUL THE MARRIAGE AND SEND MY NIECE BACK TO ME.”

  The message followed with a name and address. Enders frowned. “No wonder it took so long to get here. The man must have money to send a telegraph this length.”

  “What do you think,” Howell asked the man. “I don’t feel this is my business, Enders. I’m in charge of you men when it comes to army matters, not your personal lives. The woman is of age. I can’t forbid you to marry her, if it works out that way. I just wanted you to know it’s your decision. You ought to have a talk with her, though—find out what this is all about.”

  Enders nodded. “Yes, sir, I will. She ought to be well enough today for a visit. I don’t know anything about her past or why she answered my letter in the first place. I’ll, uh, I’ll try to do what’s right.”

  “Fine. I don’t want any part of it. Just don’t let her run around here a free woman too long, Enders. Creates too much unrest among the men. She’s a pretty woman.”

  Tony grinned. “She is pretty, all right. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this.” He rose and saluted and the captain dismissed him. Tony hurried out, his mind racing. “Money no object,” Jennifer’s uncle had said. He also said he would pay whatever Enders asked for an annulment. It would obviously be more profitable to marry Jennifer, then contact the man. He could rake it in on both ends—have the pleasure of bedding Jennifer Andrews, then make a bundle of money divorcing her and sending her back to her uncle.

  He folded the telegram and rammed it into his pocket. He would talk to her, try to find out her background. But he would not tell her about the telegram. Why should he? It would only make her suspicious of his intentions in marrying her. She was better off not knowing.

  He grinned. Placing that ad could be the smartest thing he’d ever done, and the most profitable. He hurried back to his quarters to bathe and shave. He would visit Miss Andrews today, whether she and Alice liked it or not. After all, the woman had come here to marry him, hadn’t she? It was time they got to know each other.

  Jennifer lay listening to the sounds of camp. Men were drilling and horses trotted back and forth. Sabers clanked as a patrol made its way past Alice’s cabin to ride out and check on settlements that bordered the Comanche Trace. She hoped Sergeant Enders would be among them, which would give her more time to put off seeing him, but then she heard booted footsteps on the wooden porch of the cabin. Her heart sank when someone knocked.

  She knew who it would be, and she also knew she couldn’t say no again. She didn’t like the idea of lying in bed while she talked to a stranger, but she figured that if she remained bedridden, he would better believe her story about not being healed enough yet to go walking. And, after all, her leg really wasn’t healed yet. Walking to the privy out back with Alice’s help was about all she could do. The pain seemed to come and go, and she realized that while she was with Wade, just his presence had made her feel better.

  Alice came in from the kitchen and glanced at her as the knock came again. “I imagine it’s Sergeant Enders. Should I let him in this time?” the woman asked Jennifer.

  Jennifer looked down at herself, making sure her robe was wrapped appropriately around her. Alice had helped her wash and had brushed out her hair this morning. “I suppose I should talk to him,” she answered, touching the sides of her hair to be sure no strands had fallen from the combs that held it away from her face. “Do I look presentable?”

  Alice smiled. “You look beau
tiful.” She leaned over the foot of the bed. “You just do what you feel is right. Go ahead and get to know Sergeant Enders, but then you do what’s best. And you take all the time you need. He can’t force you into anything, and I enjoy having you with me.”

  Jennifer smiled. She had quickly grown to like Alice, discovering that under her crusty surface lay a woman of warmth and love, a very lonely and sometimes bitter woman to whom life had dealt some hard blows, but whose kind and generous spirit would not allow her to be as mean as she sometimes pretended to be.

  The woman opened the door, and Jennifer heard Enders again announce himself and ask if he could see Jennifer.

  “She’s some better today. She says she’ll see you,” Alice answered.

  Jennifer’s heart pounded with dread as the man entered. He wore a clean uniform and was clean-shaven, his hair plastered to the sides of his head with some kind of sweet-smelling oil. He smiled, his teeth slightly yellow, and Jennifer suspected he didn’t think to take much care of his mouth. She thought of Wade again, and how he liked to clean his teeth with baking soda and always kept peppermint in his supplies. When he kissed her, his breath was always sweet, but Sergeant Enders did not look like the kind of man who had sweet breath, although he was relatively handsome for his thirty-five years. She guessed he would be even more handsome if he knew how to properly groom himself. Her immediate impression was that he had done a quick job of “surface cleaning” for her sake.

  His eyes lit up as he came closer, still grinning. He carried a bouquet of wildflowers in his hand, then handed them out to her. “These are for you, Jennifer. Lots of them grow out back of the officers’ barracks.”