T'on Ma

by Magnolia Belle

  Mary looked surprised, like that thought had never crossed her mind.

  "Am I not allowed to give it to them?" Lana asked. Again, Mary looked surprised. She had no idea. It just was never done.

  Sighing in frustration, Lana kept back enough food for Liam's supper and then put the rest aside. "If Becca doesn't want this, I know the Army cook will. But I'm not throwing out perfectly good food."

  "I suppose things are different out here in no-man's land," Mary suggested.

  "Very different," Lana agreed. "We can't afford to waste anything, not food, not water, nothing."

  * * *

  The O'Connell's visit lasted a week. After than, Liam's observation that there was little to keep them entertained turned out to be too true. Bored, restless, and already tired of her new officer, Mary pouted and whimpered and made life miserable because she wanted to go home now.

  While things seemed fine on the surface, Lana was ready to help them pack. The uneasy truce between her and her in-laws had been held together only by Liam's firm hand on the situation.

  "I hoped to be here when your furniture arrived," Maeve complained. "But I'll just have to be disappointed."

  "It will be lovely, Mother. You were very thoughtful to send it. I'll write to let you know when we get it." Liam kissed her cheek and then helped her onto the wagon.

  "Goodbye, Lana," Patrick smiled. "I am so glad we got to meet you. You make my son very happy."

  "Thank you," Lana said. "That is very kind of you to say so." He smiled once before he turned to shake Liam's hand.

  "Be careful out there. Come back home as soon as you can. Your family will be waiting."

  "Yes, sir. We will."

  Lana walked around the wagon to Mary. Looking up, she said, "I hope you have a safe trip back. Goodbye."

  "Yes. Goodbye." Mary nodded briefly and then turned to face straight ahead.

  Lana shrugged and walked to the back of the wagon. "I think I'm going to miss you most of all," she whispered to Becca.

  "Me, too." Becca patted Lana's hand. "You're a good child. Take care of my boy for me."

  "I will." Just as Lana said that, the wagon jerked forward and the O'Connells' trip home began.

  Lana stood next to Liam and they waved goodbye until the wagon rolled out of sight. Then Liam put his arm around Lana's shoulders. They walked back to their quarters, shut the door, sat down at the table, and gave a collective sign of relief.

  "Peace at last," Liam said as he surveyed their place. "I don't know what Mother was thinking of, bringing us that china. It will break the first time we move."

  "She was just trying to help," Lana smiled. "She really loves you, you know."

  "Yes, I know. It's just that, sometimes, I wish she didn't love me so much." Liam took her hand and turned to face her.

  "Now that they're gone, I need to tell you something."

  "Oh, really? What?"

  "I'll be on scouting detail starting day after tomorrow."

  "How long will you be gone?"

  "Two weeks at least. Probably longer. You know how far I have to travel."

  "Will you be going by my parents' place?"

  "I don't know. Maybe. It just depends on what we find out there."

  "Find? What are you looking for?"

  "Trouble. The Kiowa are raiding all up and down the Brazos again. Horses, mainly. But that can change quickly."

  "I know you'll be careful, but I'll still worry."

  "I know."

  "I'll write a letter to my folks just in case you do see them. I'll write it tonight."

  "No. Not tonight. Tonight, I have plans for you."

  "Oh, you do?" she asked coyly. "Whatever could they be?"

  "I have to thank you for putting up with my family. And I want to apologize for my family."

  "Honey, you don't have to thank me or apologize."

  "Are you sure?" he said with a wicked gleam in his eye. "Because I had planned on thanking you at least twice."

  "Twice?" She grinned. "Then you'd better get busy, soldier boy."

  "Yes, ma'am." He stood up and took her hand. "But before I get to that, there's something I need your opinion about."

  "My opinion? About what?"

  "Come here." He led her to the living room and sat her down on the sofa. Going into the bedroom, he returned a moment later, holding something in his hand. He sat beside her and picked up her left hand.

  "I need to know which you like better." He kissed her hand and then held it up for her inspection. "Do you like your hand this way?" Opening his hand, he put a diamond wedding ring on her finger. "Or this way?"

  "Oh, Liam! It's beautiful! Where did you get it?"

  "I had it sent in from St. Louis. It came in the day after my folks arrived, but I wanted to wait until it was just us before I gave it to you." He looked at the ring for a moment and then looked up at her. "The diamond is circled by sapphires and rubies. Sapphires for my birth month and rubies for yours. Do you like it? If not, I can get something else."

  "I love it! Don't you dare get me anything else." Leaning over, she kissed him provocatively. "Now, who needs to thank who?" she whispered.

  Chapter 39 - Utmost Contempt

  Liam had been gone for several days, Lana's letter to her parents tucked in his saddlebag. The setting sun found Lana in a weird, unsettled frame of mind. She had been all day. Not hungry for supper, instead, she sat outside on the porch by her front door and watched the fort settle down for the night. Sentries changed; horses were brought into the stable and corral. Cooking smells from the officer's quarters and the mess hall wafted across the compound.

  This was the first time that Lana had ever been alone - really alone. She had always lived at home or with Liam. Loneliness was new to her, and she didn't like it. Perhaps that's why she felt so unsettled.

  Her thoughts went back to her first day there at the fort with her family. Nathan's and Christina's wedding had been a happy time for the Cooper family. But, even through all the festivities, Lana had felt a sadness from telling Two Hawks goodbye.

  Then, before she even turned around twice, she got married herself. It all happened so fast! Now, here she sat on her own porch, swatting at mosquitoes, and wondering how she had gotten to this point. Liam loved her and her pa pushed her into Liam's arms. For what she thought were all the right reasons, she agreed to marry him, even though they both knew she didn't love him like he loved her.

  Even in bed, as passionate and fulfilling as that was, she still felt that shade of sadness wrapped around her, almost like a second skin. It completely covered her. Lana felt that, somehow, she was cheating Liam out of what he truly deserved.

  Sighing, she leaned back against the wall and looked up at the first stars twinkling in the eastern sky. Now that she had time to really think, there wasn't that much difference between the ways the Kiowa and the O'Connells lived.

  Slavery, captives. No difference there. One sold slaves in Mexico City, the other on the eastern seaboard. Both did it for commerce.

  Her parents had argued that she would have difficulty being accepted by another culture.

  But, after what she had just been through with her in-laws, Lana doubted that Two Hawks' family could have been any harder or more distant, or their culture more foreign.

  Education? She might not know how to skin a buffalo, but she also didn't know which fork went where on a formal dining table.

  More than one wife? The Kiowa's reasons for doing that made sense to her. In the white world, a widow had to fend for herself any way she could. Remarrying anyone, cruel or otherwise, was one option. Prostitution another. Starvation a third. There weren't many good choices. At least the Kiowa solution was compassionate.

  Women didn't have a say in the government of either society, but the Kiowa had a balance of power. The Kiowa women owned the property and homes. White women rarely owned anything.

  As her thoughts whirled around and around, back and forth, one unsettling realization kept bob
bing to the surface. What if she had rejected Two Hawks for reasons that didn't really matter? Lana had to face those reasons with Liam anyway. If that was the case, and she was afraid it was, then she had married the wrong man.

  How many times had she been in Liam's bed, making love with him, when the thought of Two Hawks haunted her? It happened more and more lately, and they hadn't been married three months yet. This couldn't be good.

  Feeling more unsettled than ever, Lana stood and went inside to escape the ravenous mosquitoes.

  * * *

  Two Hawks, with his band of warriors, had been stealing horses and burning homesteads all along the Brazos. The unusual ferocity of this band created its own storm and, the more they razed the countryside, the more the outcry came pouring into the military. Liam had been sent to deal with the Kiowa band, but he had no idea Two Hawks was with it.

  The cavalry trailed the raiding party for days, finding charred remains of homesteads and fields along the way, but never getting close enough to give chase. That all changed the second week out.

  "Lieutenant," one of the scouts reported back to camp that night. "We've spotted a small band of Kiowa warriors with several horses. There are no women or children with them."

  "That's probably who we're after, then." Liam stood and signaled for his sergeant and the scout to follow him. They stepped to the fringe of camp for a private strategy meeting.

  "Should we wait until morning to move in?" the sergeant asked.

  "No. We'll take them tonight, while it's dark. If we're this close to their camp, they don't know we're here," Liam reasoned.

  "Surprise 'em," the scout nodded in agreement.

  "Exactly. Now, what's the land like around their camp?" the lieutenant asked.

  The scout gave as detailed a report as he could, squatting down and drawing in the dirt. Within the hour, Liam had an attack mapped out and the sergeant organized the men.

  Under cover of darkness, Liam sent four of his men toward the Kiowas guarding the horses. The rest quietly encircled the sleeping camp, being careful not to arouse anyone until the last minute.

  When the soldiers were in position, Liam gave his silent signal by raising and then quickly lowering his saber. The Kiowa guards were killed while the rest of the soldiers galloped into the camp, quickly capturing the warriors.

  Two Hawks leapt to his feet at the first sound of trouble, but, before he could reach his rifle, there was another pointed directly at his chest by a mounted soldier. Two Hawks backed up one step, his hands raised in defeat. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that his entire band was either staring down the barrel of a gun or lying dead.

  Liam slowly rode in a wide circle around the captured Kiowa. When he saw Two Hawks, he stopped, looking down at the defiant young warrior. The two men stared at each other for a long moment and then, with the utmost contempt on his face, Two Hawks spit on the ground in front of Liam.

  Without saying anything to Two Hawks, Liam turned to his sergeant. "Secure them for the night. We'll leave at first light."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Set double watch as well."

  "Yes, sir."

  * * *

  It took five days of hard travel for the patrol to reach the fort with their captives. During that time, Liam and Two Hawks rarely came into direct contact with each other, though they were each acutely aware of the other's presence. Liam worried about bringing Two Hawks so close to Lana, about what the warrior would do if he saw her. Liam didn't know if the Kiowa still wanted Lana, or if he had moved on with someone else. Liam fervently hoped for the latter.

  * * *

  Two Hawks watched Liam, also wondering about the soldier's wife. Had Nathan told him the truth? Were T'on Ma and this soldier really married? Two Hawks couldn't keep his thoughts away from the last time he'd seen her. That early spring morning had been one of the worst days of his life. One minute, she was lying in his arms, covering him with her kisses and soft words, their whole future bright before them, and the next, she was telling him they couldn't be together - ever.

  Two Hawks' spirit still reverberated from his cry of denial and pain that day. Her words had shaken him, left him faithless. Then, to hear of her marriage so soon after filled him with a rage that he made felt all along the Brazos. Anyone doubting that could ask the survivors of his raids. They could point to charred, gutted homes and sad graves as evidence of his wrath.

  As the days passed and Ft. Worth grew closer, Two Hawks' anger became more focused. Instead of being angry at the world, he was now angry with the bluecoat, O'Connell. If he could have gotten free, Two Hawks would have ripped out Liam's beating heart! But he couldn't get free. The restraints were iron, not rope. They held his wrists during the day, and his wrists and ankles at night. During the day, the Kiowas' horses were tied together in one long line while a guard rode beside each prisoner.

  In his angry rebellion, Two Hawks refused the soldiers' food. Every morning, they offered him hardtack. Every evening, a soldier held out jerky and hot coffee. And every morning, every evening, Two Hawks refused the meal by an arrogant turn of his head.

  "Still no food?" Liam asked his sergeant on their last night out.

  "No, sir." The sergeant scratched his head. "Do you think he's trying to starve himself?"

  "I don't know. I wouldn't put it past him, though." Liam stood up and stretched. "Let me go talk to him."

  "You speak Kiowa, sir?"

  "No. He speaks English." Not waiting to explain to the surprised sergeant, Liam approached Two Hawks, who sat on the ground with his warriors.

  "Are you not eating because you're ill?" Liam began.

  Two Hawks glared up at Liam with feral, hate-filled eyes, and then looked straight ahead.

  "Because, if you're ill," Liam continued, "we'll get you a doctor."

  "I am not ill," Two Hawks stated flatly.

  "All right. I guess you just don't like Army food," Liam chuckled. "You wouldn't be the first."

  Two Hawks remained motionless.

  Liam stood over him for a few silent moments. "You and I have come a long way since I pulled that arrow out of your back. I was glad you lived. I was surprised, though, when I saw you with the Apaches stealing those women, especially after you had just rescued Lana from those same men." He waited, looking for a reaction, needing to know how Two Hawks felt about her. Seeing none, he continued. "Maybe I shouldn't say Lana. Maybe I should call her by the name you gave her. T'on Ma."

  "Don't say her name!" Two Hawks growled. "It is bad to speak of the dead."

  "She isn't dead."

  "She is to me!"

  * * *

  When they arrived in the middle of the afternoon, the Kiowa were pulled off their horses and led to the stockade. It hadn't been designed for comfort or privacy. The stockade was one large rectangle, the bottom half consisting of rough-hewn logs lying horizontally on each other, the top half, closely spaced vertical steel bars. The jail only had one door, and it faced the compound. Prisoners were on view at all times. All eight of the Kiowa prisoners were in irons. Once safely at the fort, their wrists were unchained as they were placed, one at a time, into the stockade.

  Their arrival caused quite a commotion throughout the fort, and even Lana, on the outskirts, heard the news. Stepping to her porch to watch, she shielded her eyes from the sun and stared at the knot of cavalry and Kiowa and horses and dust. At first, it looked like organized confusion to her. But, as the irons were removed, a soldier jerked one of the Kiowa forward and turned him around so that he faced her. Lana stopped breathing. Two Hawks! If he saw her, he didn't show it.

  Flushed and excited, Lana hurried back inside. Knowing Liam would come in at any second, she tried to calm down. Liam couldn't know what an effect Two Hawks had on her. Having something to do might help. With that idea, she made a fresh pot of coffee. Just as she set it on the stove, the door opened and Liam came in, hot, dirty, and wanting her.

  "Hello, beautiful," he smiled, holding his arms out to her.r />
  "You're home!" She jumped into his embrace and laughed as he covered her in kisses.

  "I'm home for just a minute. I still have to file my report with the commander. Then I'll be home for good."

  "All right." Lana smiled up into his eyes. "I'll fix us a really nice dinner. What would you like?"

  "Let's see," Liam smacked his lips, trying to decide. "What would I like? Hmmm. Truthfully, all I want is you. Tell you what. Instead of fixing dinner, why don't you fix me a hot bath and then help me take it?" He nuzzled her hair suggestively. "Does that sound good to you?"

  "You're not back for five minutes," she played like she was fussing at him.

  "Five? I'm moving too slow, then." He laughed and then leaned down to kiss her, long and slow, moving his hands across her, enjoying the feel of her. Sighing, he stepped back. "I'd better go now, or I won't leave."

  Once he was gone, Lana dutifully heated up water for her husband's bath. But her thoughts wandered to the stockade. Was Two Hawks hurt? Or hungry? Did he know she was here?

  Liam came back within the hour. Stripping out of his trail-dirty clothes, he sat in the large washtub in front of the stove while Lana poured a pitcher of warm water over his head.

  "Ah," he sighed. "This feels so good. I hope I can scrub off the worst of it." Reaching for a bar of soap, he began washing his hair and face.

  "Did you get to see Pa?" she asked anxiously.

  "Oh, honey, I'm sorry, but no. There simply wasn't enough time." Seeing the disappointment on her face, he reassured her. "As soon as another patrol goes out that direction, I'll send your letter with them. All right?"

  "All right. I guess that's all we can do. I miss them so much, though."

  "I know you do, sweetheart. I know."

  "I saw you brought back some prisoners," Lana broached the touchy subject. "Kiowa?"

  "Yep. The very ones we were looking for."

  "Were any of them hurt?"

  "No. We had to kill a few when we took their camp, but none of the others are hurt."