James looked back at Catherine putting his finger across her lips before turning his attention to the approaching Dog Soldiers. James pulled her down closer but didn’t take his eyes off of the riders. They suddenly slowed just east of the outcrop and circled before stopping. One of them slid off his horse and knelt down touching the ground. He stood looking around then walked a few hundred yards before the others yelled at him impatiently. They were wearing black and white feathers with light face paint which meant they were playing with whoever crossed their path and not on an official hunt.
“ve'ho'e É-amâxéehe”
“James what did he say? He sounds so infuriated. What is he doing?”
“Shhhh….” James pulled back the trigger. “Something about the white man fleeing.”
His companions circled the Dog Soldier chiding him but he stayed on the ground trying to determine the horse prints but fortunately the fleeing men had ridden over James tracks so they didn’t look fresh. As the Dog Soldier responded and pulled himself onto his horse, he turned toward the tree line one more time. James had spent enough years in the area fighting them to know when to sit tight and when to make a move. Catherine put her head against James and closed her eyes. The Dog Soldier let out a blood curtling yell held up his rifle and turned as they headed back south.
Catherine started trembling as James pulled her into his arms. He sat back and put the bincolars to his eyes as they disappeared from sight. James helped her mount before heading back to the lodge. She kept looking back as she worked hard not to cry.
When they reached the lodge, he helped her down and she stood and waited as he tied up the horses. James took Catherine’s hand and walked into the house as Mirisa was putting a fresh loaf of bread on the table. She looked at James knowing the look of fear in Catherine’s expression. James sat her at the bar and poured her a glass of wine putting it in front of her. She was shaking so bad that when she tried to pick up the glass it splashed everywhere. Garnett sat down across from her.
Garnett looked from James to Mirisa then back to Catherine. Mirisa thought it was unique to watch them assess the situation when she wasn’t the center of the concern but there was something underlying what they weren’t saying. She stirred the stew as Charisse came into the kitchen and washed her hands. She turned to Catherine.
“How was your ride?”
Catherine looked up and blinked. She took in her breath. “There…Indians…” Charisse looked at her and started asking if they were friendly. “No. They shot an arrow in some poor man who was trying to get away before they…oh my God, they could have killed us.” Catherine picked up her glass and downed the wine as tears ran down her cheeks. Dominic stopped in the doorway and watched Catherine’s theatrics wondering at what point he should speak to James.
James refilled her glass. “Small band of Dog Soldiers. They were chasing two riders who should be in Denver by now. Have we had problems?”
“Nothing that I have heard about though there are rumors that small bands have been hitting travelers down around the foothills of ‘de Christo. There was also a small band hunting horses right on the southern end.”
“They must be bored.”
Catherine almost knocked over her glass. “Bored? What kind of people are you?”
Mirisa put down the spoon and helped Catherine up the stairs making her lie down. She came back down fixed a cup of tea with an elixir that would sooth her nerves. Charisse poured a glass of wine and sat down next to Garnett.
“James, Catherine didn’t like the ride?”
James started laughing. “This might not bode well for her leaving the house.”
“You could always move to New York.”
“I could but I won’t.”
Charisse was used to their casualness but she had hoped that Catherine would open up her life after such an empty marriage but she tended to shy away from anything that wasn’t familiar.
“I’m sorry I didn’t go with you this morning.”
Garnett smiled. “Then why don’t you change clothes and I’ll take you for a tour of the land.”
Charisse went to her room and changed into her new riding pants and looked in the mirror smiling. She hadn’t felt this alive in a long time. She came out as Meeks looked up at her shaking his head.
“Jack is going to regret sending you out here.”
“More then you realize.”
James looked at her and smiled. “And tell me Charisse, what did Jack think about your tattoo?”
“I haven’t shown it to him.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s my secret little pleasure and he’s not worthy to know about it.”
“Is it a dragon like Mirisa’s?”
“James how in the world would you know what tattoo she has?”
“Meeks told me.”
Charisse looked from her brother to James. “I do believe you are naughty men.”
Garnett came back in the door and walked over to the bar filling his canteen. He looked at Charisse and asked her if she was ready to ride. They all watched as she blushed.
“Which way are you riding?”
“We’re crossing the river and heading north unless of course Charisse wants to engage the Dog Soldiers which I am more than game to do.” He lit his cigar and winked at her. “We’ll be in the eastern foothills where we take Matt.” Garnett reached for his rifle and held the door open for her.
“Garnett do you want to take my rifle?”
He stopped at looked at Mirisa. “Darling, there is a reason I stand behind a woman when she’s holding a gun.”
Mirisa stood up and walked up to him wrapping her arms around his neck and whispered something to him that made him laugh before she handed him a small sack and told them to have a great ride.
They crossed over the river and rode slowly toward the foothills stopping as they came across deer or other wildlife so that she could observe them. The weather became cooler as they made their way into the foothills but Charisse was enjoying the ride and didn’t want to go back. They finally reached an outcrop that looked over the valley where they stopped and sat down on the edge as he handed her the binoculars. Garnett went back to the horses and took his canteen off his horse before he took a small bag of cheese and bread out of his saddlebag.
“I can see why you have all fallen in love with Colorado. How did you decide to move here?”
“We were stationed out here when we served in the Army.”
“Meeks rarely kept in touch once he left New York so I never knew if he was alive or happy.”
Garnett smiled and listened to her talk about the hectic life of living in New York and raising children with a husband who was too busy to even make it home for dinner most nights. He talked to her about Catherine and decided that much of Catherine’s ‘life” was created to fit in with society and she was using Charisse to gain a foothold into the inner circle. Charisse took off her jacket and picked up the binoculars. He pointed toward the river and the lodge.
“Oh, it so beautiful from up here. My brother continues to surprise me.”
“Charisse, what are you looking for this summer?”
She looked at him and smiled. “Adventure though I am afraid that this is far more intoxicating than anything I could have imagined.”
Garnett pulled her back and kissed her deeply. She looked at him and before he could respond Charisse ran her hand down his leg causing an incredibly fast response from him as she took in her breath.
Garnett undressed her slowly and took his time allowing her to soak in the attention before he gave her the best sex she had ever had in her life and without tainting her stellar reputation in her inner circle of the rich and famous. She came to Colorado to fulfill some fantasy that probably had been rolling around in her mind for a while. Garnett found her to be totally insatiable so he allowed her to take the lead because he thought everyone should be able to at least have one great adventure and Garnett knew Charisse was well aware that
Jack was anything except discreet.
When they broke out of the foothills into the pastures, Garnett kicked into a gallop and Mirisa’s horse automatically picked up the pace as they flew across the countryside. He finally slowed to a fast walk so that she could take in the beauty of the ride as the stars started to emerge.
As they walked into the lodge, Charisse was laughing at something Garnett had said and the smell of roast ducks was coming off the porch where everyone was sitting with the children who were watching the stars.
Mirisa looked up. “Hope you two are hungry.”
Charisse took off her jacket and stretched. “Mirisa I want to thank you so much for inviting us out this summer and for letting me use your horse. This place is so incredibly wonderful and I may decide to never go home.”
Meeks looked at Garnett who just smiled and addressed his sister. “We’re glad you accepted the invitation.”
She smiled and went back into the house as Mirisa went into the kitchen and set the table. Meeks went down to the wine cellar and brought up four bottles of wine uncorking one and pouring Mirisa a glass. Charisse came back out from her room still in her jeans but with a fresh blouse, her hair loose and no face paint. She looked so happy that Meeks thought she was far prettier than he had ever seen her. He poured her a glass of wine as she sat at the bar. James turned from the stove as Meeks poured a glass for Catherine who seemed so uncomfortable compared to Charisse.
“James do you always cook?”
“I do most of the cooking and Mirisa does all of the baking. The rest of them just drink and get in the way.”
“Where is Dominic?”
“He had business in town.”
Charisse nodded. “I don’t think I remember the last time I cooked. In fact, come to think of it I don’t think I know how to cook.”
After dinner, James broke out a board game and they spent the evening drinking and playing as Meeks and Mirisa said good night and headed up to bed enjoying a few hours alone.
Dominic and Garnett set up the camp about a mile east of the lodge and built a campfire between the tents. James pulled out the fishing poles and handed Jonathan the can of worms. He looked at them as they started to climb up and over the edge of the can. He took one between his fingers and held it up looking at it squirm before he dropped it back in the can. The boys all caught small fish so Garnett showed them how to filet them as James put the cast iron skillet on the fire. After swimming, they all sat around the fire pit and ate fish with their fingers while listening to Dominic tell them ghost stories. They fell asleep as soon as they crawled in their bedrolls.
“Remember all the nights we camped out when we were young?”
“Yeah, but we were never supervised and somehow survived but I think that is more because we didn’t have mothers to fuss over us.”
“And the ghost stories were real.”
They returned with the boys after three days to find the girls in the midst of complete makeovers by their mothers. Maggie ran to Garnett and kissed him all over as he held her leaving little lip prints on his cheek. She started laughing and told him to put her down because she needed more lip paint. Maggie ran back to Mirisa who reapplied her lips making her pat them before she put her hand on her hip and batted her eyes.
James laughed. “Mirisa, I think you need to stick to boys.”
“But I make such beautiful daughters.”
“You do but I don’t know if the world is capable of handling them.” It didn’t get past any of them that Catherine was not in the room.
A strong summer storm came up from the south with the most impressive light show that framed the mountains with a regal presence. The rain continued for two days causing the river to overflow in front of the lodge with the rapids running dangerously fast. The rain finally tapered off in the early afternoon allowing Dominic and Garnett to return to the lodge hoping for at least a home cooked meal.
The boys were restless playing indoors and asked if they could play outside while it wasn’t raining. Mirisa told them that they had to stay close to the house until she could get the girls down for their nap. She picked up her cup to go in when Jonathan’s panicked voice reverberated in her head and she turned as he slipped off the large boulder into the raging river. Time stopped and Mirisa felt frozen in place as her cup fell slowly out of her grip onto the porch and she screamed as she ran toward the river diving in without hesitation.
The scream stopped everyone in mid sentence as Dominic headed for the door yelling for her to stop. He removed his boots and followed her as Matthew ran up onto the porch yelling that Jonathan fell in the river trying to catch a frog. Garnett immediately sprinted for his horse as James mounted Dominic’s and they headed east hoping to get to Jonathan before they reached the rapids. The water was boiling between the rocks bringing up debris and sand from the bottom as the sound drowned out everything.
Mirisa could see Jonathan as he fought against the water gasping for air and going under again. She finally reached him and pulled him up against her as she quit fighting the current and looked for something to latch onto but the water kept washing over them without relenting. Mirisa finally reached out and grabbed a large tree root but her hand slipped along the slimy tendrils until she wrapped it around her hand holding on despite the biting pain as the water tore at her. Jonathan held on for his life and buried his face against her as the drums rose to an urgent tempo and began to enter into a lulling tone.
Dominic was only moments behind them as he grabbed onto the root and pulled her up against him putting Jonathan between them but it caused the water to rush up putting more water in their face so he turned until his back was pushing the water away from them. Meeks reached them from the bank as Garnett dismounted removing his rope. The bank was slippery from the rain which made it difficult to get down to Dominic. Garnett tied the rope around the nearest tree pulling it tight before he threw it to Dominic.
“Mirisa, grab the rope.”
She looked at the rope and back at Dominic. Her left hand was wrapped in the root and the other tightly around her son.
“Mirisa, I have you both. Let go of the tree and reach for the rope.” She let go of the root as Dominic pulled her in closer. She reached for the rope which was just at her fingertips. She finally grabbed the root and pulled herself closer to the edge of the bank and stretched until she could wrap it around her hand pulling it toward her.
“I want you to wrap it around Jonathan and tie a knot.”
The water continued to come up hitting her face causing her to close her eyes and gag as it rushed up her nose. She finally got it around her son and tied the knot. She kissed her son’s forehead and told him she loved him and he needed to let go of her neck so Garnett could pull him out of the water. Jonathan slowly let go as Dominic pulled Mirisa to the side allowing them to pull Jonathan up through the mud until he was on higher ground. They untied him and James picked him up and removed as much of the mud from his face as he could. James talked to him and he just kept nodding and coughing up water until he finally threw up all the water he had swallowed.
Garnett threw the rope back to Dominic. He looked at Mirisa who was showing signs of fatigue as she held onto him with what little strength she had.
“Mirisa, hold onto my neck tighter so I can reach for the rope.” She didn’t respond and didn’t change the tension on her arms. “Garnett, you need to tie off and come get her. I’m starting to lose her.”
Garnett tied the rope around his waist as Meeks rolled up the slack allowing him to work down the bank. Garnett laid down on the bank and reached for her unwrapping her arms from around Dominic and pulling her slowly over the tree roots making sure she stayed on her back to prevent any pressure on her stomach. Mirisa wrapped her hands around his forearms until he could reach under her arms. He got up on his knees pulling her further up as Meeks started pulling the rope allowing Garnett to stand. He reached under her knees and picked her up making his way up to the solid ground where he l
aid her down. The sky suddenly opened up with a clap of thunder.
Garnett walked over to Dominic’s horse and took off his rope tying it around the tree and throwing it toward Dominic. He untied his which was covered in the slippery orange mud. Dominic pulled himself out of the river and carefully worked toward the tree as the sky opened up with torrential rain. Meeks bent over Mirisa and talked to her. She wrapped her fingers around his hand as he cradled her. James walked over and turned her on her side as she started coughing until she went into spasms expelling as much water as she could.
Jonathan sat watching his mother and closed his eyes reaching out for Matthew who was sitting on the porch with his eyes closed. The drums increased in volume until they could hear nothing else. Charisse walked back and forth on the porch wringing her hands and leaning over looking for anyone to appear. Dominic mounted his horse with Jonathan heading back to the house as they handed Mirisa up to Garnett while James and Meeks headed back through the woods.
Catherine was standing in the doorway when Dominic came through with his son taking him into the nursery where Jasmine had already prepared a warm bath. She lowered him into the tub and gently washed all the mud off of him. She refilled the tub with warmer water and slowly rinsed him until he quit shaking. She talked to him in Choctaw assuring him of his place in the world.
Dominic went out as Garnett lowered Mirisa down to him. James told Meeks they needed to get the mud off of her. Catherine watched as they took her upstairs and she thought it was unusual that they didn’t ask for help. Charisse came out of the nursery and followed them. She shooed them out of the room as she helped Mirisa bath and put her in a nightgown helping her into bed. Meeks came in thanking his sister who just kissed his forehead and closed the door as she went back downstairs.
James checked on Jonathan who had finally fallen asleep with Jasmine sitting next to him singing peacefully with her hand on his chest. He stopped and talked to Catherine before heading upstairs to clean up. James went down and told Meeks to go clean up as he sat down with Mirisa. She was sleeping so he folded back the blanket and put his hands on both sides of her stomach. He was frowning as he moved his hands until he felt a small movement. This was such a small child but she was at least six weeks away from delivering. Catherine walked in and sat on the end of the bed.
The Visitor - New York 1871-1873 Page 20
