Then, in the vortex of whirling motion, everything went still. It was as if a cocoon of silence encased her, and she heard it, the sound of drums, then chanting voices, low at first, then louder. There were fires, along a ledge where warriors danced. She could see their ceremonies, the ancient drawings on the cavern walls. At the end of the tunnel, the water tore through the mountain and plunged into the rocks below.
“Tucker, there’s a waterfall ahead. We have to get to the riverbank or we’ll be swept over the edge.”
The tree was still swirling, bouncing from one wall to the other side, but Tucker could see a definite glow of light from the outside ahead.
At that moment there was a great rumble. The river heaved up, pushing the walls outward, then receded, leaving a strip of earth alongside the water.
“Quick! Everybody let go and jump for the side.” As the tree curved toward the bank, first Benito, then Lucky took a flying leap and landed in the soft sand edging the wall. The tree wasn’t going to turn its trunk to the side. They’d have to let go and swim.
Raven looked up at Tucker, stricken by what he was asking. She’d never learned to swim, only the current had kept her afloat in the beginning. And she’d never seen water like the angry current they were caught up in.
“Don’t be afraid, Raven,” Tucker said. “Trust me, I’ll catch you.”
He let go of the tree, and without a thought, she followed, her head going under, her shoulder scraping a rock as she was flung about the roiling water.
This time she was too cold to kick or keep her head above the water. As she was going under for the second time, she felt Tucker’s hand on hers, holding on, pulling her slowly toward him. Finally, giving out a groan of exhaustion, he pulled himself onto the bank, drawing her alongside Benito and Lucky.
The tree was swept, toward the tunnel of light and upended, disappearing from sight.
Crashing rock and the groans of the mountain forced Tucker to his feet. “Come on, we’ve got to get out of here, fast.”
Moments later they were fighting their way along the wall toward the light. At the opening they stepped out onto the highest ledge Tucker had yet encountered. The river plunged over the ledge onto the rocks far below. Beside the ledge, rocks and mud were being gouged from the earth and began sliding down the mountain. They’d be thrown from their perch if they stayed. But they might be crushed by boulders if they left.
Then, in the valley below, Raven saw them, Yank, Onawa, and Jonah. They were dancing about nervously, uncertain whether to flee or stay.
“Look, Tucker, the horses!”
“They don’t look too happy about the situation,” Tucker observed, noting the movement beneath his feet. He knew the worst of the quake was still to come.
“They know something bad is happening,” Raven said.
Tucker studied the trembling rocks. “Think you could convince Mother Earth to be still long enough for us to get down?”
As if on command, the ground grew still. The air, already hot and heavy, seemed to thicken as they tried to breathe.
“I’m thinking we’d better make tracks,” Lucky said. “This may be the calm before the storm.” He took off, slipping and sliding down the mountain beside the waterfall.
“Si, señor,” Benito agreed, rushing down the mountain with a surer step than Lucky, who’d already lost his footing.
Raven hesitated only for a moment, then followed.
Tucker fell in behind. The treasure was lost. For whatever reason, the spirits didn’t want them to carry the riches away from the sacred mountain. So long as they were alive, Tucker didn’t care. He refused to lose Raven.
All he wanted was to get her to safety. A slower descent would have been safer, but the threat of having the entire mountain come down on top of them precluded that.
At one point the earth gave way beneath them and they slid the rest of the way to the bottom sitting down. Raven’s buckskin dress would never be the same again.
“The horses,” Tucker called out. “Let’s get out of here.”
Tucker mounted Yank, pulling Raven up behind. Lucky rode Onawa, leaving Jonah for Benito. But it was Benito and Jonah who led the way, fleeing the trembling rock now rolling down the mountain behind them. The water was forming a lake as it toppled trees to dig out a shell. Their escape was a ride from hell, but by giving the animals free rein, they were able to ride to safety.
The tremors stopped.
The earth stood still.
They were alive.
20
Lucky was the first to dismount. He slid to the ground and looked around. “It’s stopped.”
Raven, with her arms around Tucker’s waist, was dazed. She finally stopped shaking, lifted her head, and glanced around. It was a miracle. They were in a familiar place, a place she’d never expected to see again.
“Luce’s pool,” Raven whispered, her voice filled with wonder. “We made it back.”
Tucker let out a long breath.
After all the devastation they’d seen, she’d never expected to find anything still the same. But it was. The water still cut through the rock and fell in a musical stream into the pool below.
Jonah let out a squeal of delight and began to drink as though they hadn’t almost drowned. Raven dropped her arms and slipped to the ground. Tucker followed.
She looked around at the place where she’d shared the first waking dream with Tucker. “I can’t believe that we’re still alive and back here. It seems so long ago.” She made her way to the boulder she’d hidden behind while he shaved.
She sat down, leaning against the rock, grateful to feel the rough surface against her. Looking at Tucker, she felt the pain of reality begin to filter back. They were all the worse for wear now.
With a stubble of a beard, he was still a magnificent-looking man, proud and wild. His clothing was torn, as was Lucky’s and Benito’s.
They were alive.
But she’d failed.
As if she were a sleepwalker coming awake, she leaned her head back. Her eyes were open and filled with anguish. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she made no attempt to wipe them away.
“We found the treasure,” she said, “but we left it behind. My people will have to go to the reservation.”
“Reservation?” Lucky questioned. “Is that what all this was about?”
“I was to find the treasure and use it to save the remaining Arapaho. I found it, but it’s still inside the sacred mountain.”
“Not all of it.” Tucker came to stand beside her. “There’s this. I don’t know what kept it from being washed away, but it wasn’t.” He lifted the jeweled comb that still clung tenaciously to her braid. “And the golden chain.”
The delicate, jewel-encrusted chain still hung around her waist, where she’d playfully hung it when they’d first entered the cavern.
“But that isn’t enough,” she said sorrowfully. “It’s just a reminder of what is forever lost. Not only did we not bring it back, now it’s at the bottom of a river in the middle of a mountain.”
Tucker dropped to the ground beside her. “Maybe Mother Earth gave us only what she wanted us to have.”
“I don’t think the comb and the chain will buy land for the Arapaho and a ranch for you in Oregon. I’m sorry, Tucker.”
“You’re wrong.” Lucky made his way toward Raven. “In all the excitement, I forgot about all these. They happened to make their way into my pockets. I wanted to be able to prove that we found it,” he said sheepishly.
He put his hands in his pockets and began removing loose jewels: rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and pearls. He dropped them into her lap. “You don’t think I angered the mountain, do you?”
“I don’t think so, Lucky. Without you the jewels would be lost. Thank you.”
Benito, standing beside them wide-eyed, gathered a handful of the precious gems in his gnarled fingers. “This was what Luce did, stand guard over the treasure of the sacred mountain.”
By the
time Lucky finished emptying his trousers and his jacket, Raven’s lap was filled with jewels. “Oh, and there’s this.” He reached inside his shirt for his notebook.
“Your notebook?” Raven asked, puzzled. “How did it survive the water?”
“It was wrapped in oilcloth. But it isn’t the notebook. Look what’s inside.” He opened it to reveal a slender statue of a butterfly, carved from a sheet of solid gold, its wings encrusted with tiny slivers of black stones.
She began to smile. “My mother’s butterfly.”
“Raven’s wings,” Tucker said. “Lucky, it’s worth a bloody king’s ransom. How could you forget about it?”
“Didn’t seem nearly as exciting as what was happening. Do you realize that we’ve had an adventure that most people only read about in fiction?”
“I guess we did,” Tucker admitted, his eyes filled with the sight of Raven, her lap heaped with jewels, her eyes filled with tears.
Lucky beamed. “What I’m wondering, is how on earth did that enormous bronze statue get inside the mountain?”
“Luce always said there was a treasure,” Benito said solemnly, “but we never believed him. He was told that the treasure belonged to the Spanish who sailed across the ocean. They came to Mexico, stole the ancient statue and the jewels from the people who lived there, and moved it north into the land where my people once rode. Then the intruders found gold and silver which they stole from the earth that belonged to the Ancient Ones.”
“But how’d it get up here?” Tucker asked.
“The Spanish started to transport the gold and jewels back to the Gulf by burros.”
“So they wouldn’t have to sail around South America,” Tucker said. “But your people might not have known that.”
“No, my people, angry that their lands had been usurped, stole the treasures from the Spanish and hid it in the mountain. But that statue? I don’t know.”
Tucker picked up the butterfly and examined it. “So the Arapaho people were the holders of all this wealth, and yet they were starving.”
“Money never meant anything to an Arapaho,” Raven said. “It was the land that mattered. Besides, that was nearly two hundred years ago. Only Flying Cloud and Luce knew there was a treasure. But Flying Cloud didn’t know what it was.”
Lucky’s eyes were wide. “Why not?”
Benito continued the story. “During the Spanish reign, half the Arapaho moved to the north. The others, my people, stayed behind. They began to marry into the Mexican families nearby. Only Luce knew the truth. He learned it from his father, who learned it from his.”
“And,” Raven went on, filling in the only part of the story she knew, “it was tradition that a member of the tribe left in the south be charged with guarding the sacred mountain. Those in the north were to pass on the secret of the treasure to one member of each generation. Flying Cloud was the holder of the secret. Luce was the guardian of the mountain.”
Lucky was scribbling madly in his notebook. “And now, Mrs. Farrell, you’re both the guardian of the mountain and the holder of secret.”
“No, not me. I’ve completed my mission. Benito must be the keeper of the mountain now. And Swift Hand will keep the knowledge alive. He knows where the valley is. He knows about the treasure. If the spirits want it found again, it will be Swift Hand who will be shown the way.”
“But I thought that he was less than honorable,” Lucky argued. He remembered the shock of the Indian when he’d appeared before him covered with white mud. “And he certainly isn’t very brave.”
“Swift Hand could have harmed us and he didn’t. In my heart I know he was only doing what he thought was best for our people.”
Tucker refrained from arguing with her. Whatever was left in the valley had been buried by nature’s shovel. It would take Mother Earth to reveal its location. He didn’t believe that Swift Hand would be chosen as the messenger, but he might well pass the secret to one who was. Tucker could say with certainty, if not full understanding, that the future was up to the spirits.
Tucker looked around. They’d done it. They’d found the treasure and survived an earthquake. The bandits had been defeated. Only Swift Hand was still out there, standing between Raven and the completion of her mission. Raven might think that the Indian had undergone a change, but Tucker wasn’t at all certain. He wouldn’t rest easy until they were back in Denver with the jewels.
The hot sun beat down on the rocks. A strange hush had settled over the pool, and the air grew heavy and oppressive.
“I think we’d better go, Raven,” Tucker said. “I feel something wrong about this place now. We no longer belong here.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “The jewels must be packed so that they won’t be seen.”
“Jonah,” Lucky said.
“No,” Tucker corrected, “he will return to the village with Benito.”
“No,” Benito protested. “You will need the burro to carry the treasure. I will return to my village on foot. I must go. My wife will believe that I am dead.”
Raven rose and, cradling the jewels in her dress, walked over to the old man. “You must have some of the jewels, Benito. Your people need so many things.”
Benito fell to his knees, crossing himself in awe. “It is with deep humility I accept these jewels. I will give them to Father Francis, who will use them wisely. Now that the bandit leader is dead, his men will leave us alone.”
“Look after the mountain, Benito,” Raven said, “I don’t think that even you could locate the treasure now, but we’ll always know it is there.”
“Si,” Benito agreed. “And if the Ancient Ones mean for us to find it again, it will be so.”
They watched as the old man stuffed the gems inside his shoulder pack. He solemnly shook hands with Tucker and Lucky, then bowed his head to Raven and left, walking slowly back the way they’d come.
They packed the jewels in Yank’s saddlebags. And Onawa’s held the butterfly. Eager to leave now, they chose the trail north, toward Albuquerque, leaving all that had happened behind.
Lucky climbed back on a calm and obedient Jonah, Raven on Onawa, and Tucker on Yank.
They camped by the river at nightfall, at the spot where they’d first discovered Luce. When a light rain started to fall, Raven walked down the canyon and removed her dress, allowing her body to be sluiced free of the evidence of their journey. Her dress was ruined, but with one of the nuggets, she could buy a new one for her trip back.
She wondered about the valley of the butterflies. Had the earthquake destroyed it? What about the treasure that hadn’t fallen into the river? Was it waiting for another seeker?
Now, standing nude in the soft, warm rain, Raven felt life and hope return to her body. They hadn’t needed all the treasure. What they’d found was more than enough. Their lives had been in danger, but Tucker had saved them.
Over and over, she’d put her life in his hands and he’d protected her. It came to her that love was trust, the giving and accepting of it. If she really loved Tucker, she’d ask him to stay with her.
But that would be selfish. And she’d spent her life being selfish, for Flying Cloud and the Arapaho. No, she’d let him go to Oregon and start his ranch. Even if her heart would break, there would still be enough money for her to return to her people in Colorado. She’d buy land enough for all. They would be free to live and die on their own land.
Lucky would write a story that the world would want to read, and his family would be forced to see him in a different light.
Everything was settled. Why then was she so despondent?
As the rain continued to fall she made her way toward the cliff and sought the shelter of an overhang. As she sat she began to feel an odd prickling energy settle around her. There was an alien flutter of wings in the night air, and in the distance she heard the cry of a mountain lion.
Through the rain she could feel him, the essence of the man she’d called her mountain lion. There was a warmth in the coolness. It brushed a
gainst her at first, teasing, then more boldly painting her with heat.
Since the beginning she’d been able to reach out to Tucker, connect with him and share his thoughts. But this was different. This was a conscious effort to meld with him. Her need was deep and desperate, not to join with him so much as to become a part of him.
The energy around her became a delicious reminder of Tucker’s kisses, an urging that grew as she sat in the darkness. In her mind she brought him into view, tall and beautiful, not in darkness but in the light. Tucker belonged in the sun just as she belonged in the darkness. He smelled male. He tasted male. Every nuance of his presence swept over her like hot fog.
He was leaving, soon. She understood that. This might be their last night together. Distance would weaken the connection, eventually killing it. Tonight might be all they’d have.
Tucker, my protector, my cougar, I love you.
Down the river Tucker felt a stab of need in his gut. He’d washed himself and stood out in the open, letting the salty moisture from his eyes be rinsed away with the rain. The adventure was ending. Tomorrow they’d reach Albuquerque, and once their jewels had been banked, Raven would go one direction and he’d go the other.
This was their last night together. Lucky was already sleeping. The horses were bedded down and Raven had left the camp.
She was taking his heart with her, and he didn’t know how to stop her from going. Even entertaining the idea of keeping her was selfish. Grand things were in store for Raven. She might not understand yet, but he did. Swift Hand might take over the tribe, but Raven was its heart, and without her they’d wither and die.
The pain in his gut intensified; his head throbbed. The backs of his knees tingled and his heart beat faster. Every part of him trembled as if he were standing at the edge of a cliff, staring down, knowing that at any minute he would fall.
And then he felt her, through the soft rain, through the night. Tentatively at first, then stronger, her spirit was reaching out to him. I love you. There was a curious uncertainty in her words, an asking that he couldn’t comprehend.
Raven and the Cowboy: A Loveswept Historical Romance Page 25
