Just as he reached the brush screen, he heard a cry. "Ayyyyyy!" It was Hooknose.
Falcon raced along the river trail, the girl child bobbing on his shoulder, the boy still tucked under his arm. No time to pick up his spearhe ran fast to save the children and himself.
Footsteps pounded behind him, and Hooknose's angry screams to stop grew louder. Hooknose had to wake Red Jaw with those cries, thought Falcon, and the younger slave catcher would soon join the pursuit. Falcon quickened his pace.
He ran as fast as he could, but the river trail now sloped upward along a cliff. The children were heavy as he ran and they slowed him. He hoped the steep incline slowed Hooknose just as much.
Falcon reached the top of the hill and glanced hurriedly about, searching frantically for a place to hide the children. Ahead of him, the trail followed the high river cliff, up and then down. If he ran that trail, he would soon tire and the weight of the children would slow him until Hooknose caught up.
Suddenly Falcon discerned a narrow deer path leading off from the main trail into a forested area. He veered onto the deer path, the children squirming under his arms.
"You must be very still and quiet," he gasped to the children in as calm a voice as he could manage. "Otherwise the bad men will catch you again."
They quieted instantly.
"Now I am going to hide you under that tree." He gestured with his chin. "You must hide there from the bad men. You must be very strong and very quiet. I will lead them away from you. Later
I will come back and get you, so do not move from here."
He set the children down at the base of a large cottonwood. The thick lower branches would screen them from prying eyes.
He wondered if they understood him. It had been some time since he had spoken with a child.
"You must stay very quiet." He glanced in the direction he had come. Hooknose's yells were becoming louder. "Do you understand?"
The girl answered with a soft "Yes." The boy nodded and Falcon pushed them down under the low branches.
"Keep close to the ground," he advised them. Then he set off at a lope, carelessly breaking branches to attract Hooknose's attention. Knife out, he jogged along the deer trail, farther into the forest.
Hooknose gave a yell when he saw Falcon and barreled up the deer path. "You!" he screamed. "Stop! Stop at once!"
Falcon stood on the trail and faced the oncoming, blundering Hooknose. To amuse himself as he waited, Falcon tossed his obsidian knife back and forth from hand to hand. He smirked when Hooknose slowed, then hesitated.
"What did you do with them?" puffed the slave catcher as he searched for his missing property. "Where are they?"
"Who?" Falcon shrugged.
"Do not try to fool me! You know who I mean. The two children you stole!"
Falcon spun the knife up into the air. It sliced down, blade first, and dug into the ground halfway between Hooknose's two splayed feet. The slave catcher jumped back a pace.
His eyes narrowed. "Do not seek to anger me further, Jaguar man," he spat. "I am not a man to make an enemy of."
"Indeed?" sneered Falcon. "And why would I want a slave catcher for a friend?"
Hooknose put his hands on his fleshy hips and stared at Falcon. "I have heard about you, Jaguar. You are the one that Claw spoke of. The one he said did not care anymore. Not about anyone or anything."
Falcon shrugged. Hooknose stepped back another pace as Falcon yawned and retrieved the knife. He flashed the knife up under the big man's nose.
Hooknose stood his ground, though his sagging face flushed. "I would have use for such a man," he said softly. "A man who no longer cared about anyone or anything."
Falcon smiled and waved the knife under Hooknose's beak.
Hooknose did not flinch. "Tell me where the children are. I will share the wealth with you. I know you planned to steal them from me and trade them to the Fish Eaters on your own, but I know the Fish Eaters' ways. I will get us a much better deal." He swallowed. "What do you say?"
Falcon smiled. "No."
"Half. I will give you half of what we get for them."
"No."
"You cannot want more! Why, I must have my share. It is only fair!"
Falcon laughed. He placed his knife in his twisted waistband. "I will keep the children and I will not share with you at all."
"You cannot do this!" Hooknose's neck veins bulged in his anger. "Those children are mine to trade!"
Falcon chuckled. "Not anymore." He glared at Hooknose. "They are mine to trade. Now draw your weapon or leave!" Indeed, Hooknose was becoming tiresome with his useless protests.
Hooknose pushed Falcon. Falcon pushed him back. Harder. Hooknose snarled, "Do not think I will forget this, Jaguar man."
Falcon glowered. "I care little whether you forget your own name, slave catcher."
"A man who walks down a deer path alone had better watch his back for wolves!" said Hooknose.
"Those are wise words," agreed Falcon. "You would do well to heed your own proverb."
Hooknose spat. "I do not walk alone," he boasted. "I have friends!"
"And who do you call friend? Red Jaw?" answered Falcon. "Pah, you were ready to cheat him when you bargained with me for the children. Claw? Pah! You were ready to forget his promised share in your eager offer to me. I think," he added thoughtfully, staring into Hooknose's contorted face, ''that friendship with you is very fleeting. Like a doe that flees before a wolf."
"You twist my words and insult my good name!" roared the slave catcher.
"I do."
Hooknose leapt upon him then and tried to pummel his shoulders. Falcon wrestled the man to the ground and got a choke-hold on his throat. "Understand this, slave catcher," he grunted. "I care nothing for you or your deals. Now, admit you lost the children. And go away."
He dragged the stout slave catcher to his feet, turned him around, and kicked him in the buttocks, sending him sprawling.
Hooknose got to his feet, his furious face a deep shade of red. "I will not forget this!" His breath whistled in and out and he shook his fist at Falcon. "I will remember you, Jaguar. And I will not rest until we are even!"
"Ever the trader, I see," said Falcon dryly.
Hooknose gave one last bellow of impotent rage, then swung around and marched back along the deer path, muttering dire imprecations. Falcon laughed to see him go.
When he was certain that the burly man had truly disappeared, he returned to the cottonwood tree and pulled the children out from under the branches.
They looked cold and frightened. Falcon took off his fur cape and gave it to the girl to wear, then peeled off his falcon design leather shirt and placed it over the boy's shoulders. The garments were too big for either child but at least they kept them warm. He took each child by a hand. Their hands were cold, too.
"Come," he said. "Let us retrieve my spear and return you to your mother."
Chapter Ten
Once Falcon and the children had put a safe distance between themselves and Hooknose, Falcon gave in to their complaints and let them lie down to sleep. They slept so soundly that it was well into the afternoon before he could wake them. Only mention of their mother served to rouse them enough to get them to their feet. They picked late blackberries off a low, prickly plant, and then, stomachs full, let Falcon lead them onward.
Besides knowing their mother's name, Falcon now knew that Crow's husband had been killed and that another hunter who had been courting her had been taken by the slave catchers in the raid. Truly, Falcon knew everything there was to know about Crow, her children, her deceased husband, and her prospective one, because Milky and his sister, Berry, once started, had not stopped talking. They had chattered on and on. In that way, at least, Milky did not remind him of his son... .
Falcon had finally told them that he needed silence so that he could hunt a rabbit or deer to bring to Crow.
Surprisingly, Berry and Milky were quiet and Falcon was able to stalk and kill a small d
oe. But then, while he skinned the animal, they resumed asking questions and offering advice. They talked on as he butchered the carcass and then Berry insisted that they could both help him carry the meat to their camp. Falcon let them each stagger under a load of meat, smiling to himself when Milky told him that one day he, too, would hunt and kill such a huge deer.
Falcon felt awkward returning to the place of the bridal quest. For the Jaguars, it had been successful. For the Badgers, it had been disastrous. And though the camp looked peaceful, with the evening sun lighting the rocky black hills behind the camp and casting a dusty golden glow on the tents scattered across the dried grass, he doubted the inhabitants would act peaceably toward him, a Jaguar.
Smoke from the flickering fires mixed with the scent of roasting vegetables. The desultory conversations of women and children filled the air. Two dogs barked and circled Falcon and the children, sniffing at the raw meat.
Falcon scared the dogs away. Milky and Berry had fallen silent at the sight of their home camp. Then Berry, laden with meat, trotted toward a tent that Falcon guessed was Crow's. Milky lumbered after her.
"Mama! Mama!" Their cries alerted the other Badgers. Women looked up from where they cooked roots by their fires.
Falcon followed, a deer haunch across one shoulder. He halted when a black-haired woman, drawn by the dogs' barking and the children's shrill cries, crawled out of the flap.
She got to her feet, peering around for the source of the noise. When she spied Milky and Berry, she hesitated.
Uncertainly, she started toward them, dragging her injured leg. After several steps she halted, staring, mouth open. Disbelief, then joy, flickered on her face. Arms outstretched, she started forward again, limping as fast as she could go. "My babies! My babies!" she screamed.
The dusty, tired, meat-bloodied children ran into her embrace. When she started crying and laughing and talking all at once, Falcon had to turn away. He could not bear to see such joy, such hope, such love on a parent's face. It reminded him too much of his own sonStop! he ordered himself. No more of this!
Stiffly, he set the meat down beside a tent and started back the way he had come. He had gone several steps when he heard shouts behind him. He glanced over his shoulder. Milky and Berry were pointing and calling out to him.
With a sigh, Falcon swung around to face them. The two children came running to him, their mother limping slowly behind. When she was abreast of him, she regarded him out of sparkling dark eyes. "Thank you," she murmured, tears streaking the dust on her face. "Thank you for my children!"
He nodded once in acknowledgment, then walked away again.
She limped after him. "Wait! Can I give you a meal? A gift? I want to thank you... ."
"No need," he said gruffly. "I expect no gifts."
"Yes, but I want"
"No." His harshness cut her off and he watched her shrink away a little. Then Berry planted herself in front of him. "My mother wants you to eat with us. Come and eat with us!" She took his hand.
Reluctantly, Falcon let the little girl lead him back to Crow's tent. He sat down beside the fire and Crow bustled about while Berry helped prepare the deer. They left Falcon to his own thoughts. He saw that Crow chattered as much as her children. He smiled to himself. He had probably done Hooknose a favor, saving him from the incessant noise.
Word of Falcon's arrival had spread through the Badger camp and some of the other women came to gape at him. One of them was Star's mother. He saw her watching him out of angry eyes, but her mouth stayed clamped shut in a silent, tense line and she did not approach him. Crow invited them all to stay, and the meal became almost festive, a subdued celebration of Milky and Berry's return. After the meal, the women returned to their own fires.
Falcon rose and thanked Crow. When she pressed him to stay, he murmured, "I must leave this night." Memories of Star made him anxious to rejoin the Jaguars, who were on the trail back to their main camp.
He trotted through the Badger camp, and had just reached the edge of the forest when a loud hissing halted him. He swung around to see a bulky older woman running after himStar's mother. Wary, he halted and waited.
"Where is my daughter?" she puffed.
"Why would I know that?" he answered. He shifted his spear, anxious to be gone.
"You were with the people who stole her. I know it. My friends recognized you. So do I."
She squinted, coming closer. "You are the one who took her!"
He waited, frowning at her.
"You must give her back! Return Star to me!"
He shrugged.
"You returned Milky and Berry to their mother. Bring my daughter back!"
He looked into dark eyes so like Star's. "I cannot do that."
The old woman wrung her hands. "You took her! You gave no gifts for her! You had no right to take her!"
He shifted, uncomfortable at her accusations. Then he glared at her and shouted, "No!"
Her face was agonized as she stared at him. "It is within your power"
"I said no!"
She took a step closer. "If I were a man, I would kill you for this!"
He laughed. "If you were a man, you would be one of the captured Badgers on your way to the Fish Eaters by now."
"No," she said. "I would be stomping on your dead body."
He smirked. "Go back home, woman," he advised. "Go back to your hearth where you are safe."
She opened her mouth to speak, then clamped it shut. "You enjoy your power, I see." She paused, assessing him through narrowed eyes. Then carefully, she said, "Please help me. She ... she is my only child. I have no other. She is everything to me. My life. My"
"No." He did not care that his voice sounded harsh.
She grabbed his arm.
Affronted, he pulled back.
"Oh," she exclaimed. "I did not mean" She peered at him, interpreting the look on his face as disgust. "I see that I have offended you. Well, I am an old woman and I am no good at begging. I only want my daughter back. You can help me. You know where she isyou can find her"
"I cannot help you," he answered coldly.
"But she is in danger! She"
"No! I cannot help you."
She glared at him. "Will not help me, you mean."
He refused to answer.
Frustration showed on her lined face. "Very well. You know where she is. You have stolen her and yet you choose not to help me." She glanced back at the Badger camp, then swung to face him once more. "I do not know why you brought back the two children"
He clenched his teeth until he could feel a tic in his jaw.
"but you did." She spat. "There must be some good in your heart, but I think it is hidden very deep. I certainly cannot find it!" She glared at him. "You tell my daughter when you see her"
"I will not see her." Surprising how little the lie bothered him.
"When you see her you tell her that I love her!"
He frowned at her in consternation. Why would the woman not believe him?
She rocked onto her tiptoes as if trying to intimidate him. "You tell her that I love her. You understand that? Love?"
Irritated, he shrugged and turned away.
"I see that you do not." Her words followed after him like wasps, annoying him and flying around his head.
He left her then. When he last glanced at her from the safety of the forest, she was standing on the trail, hands clenched on hips as she glared after him.
Chapter Eleven
"Where have you been?" demanded Claw.
Falcon ignored him. He scanned the camp, his eyes seeking his Badger captive. When he saw her, relief slid through him. He nodded at her. She swiftly glanced away.
"I said, where have you been? You told me you were going hunting and now I see you return with nothing."
Falcon glanced at Claw. "Not every hunter is fortunate enough to find game."
Claw snorted. "Not every hunter, true. But we speak of you. You get game whenever you want." He eyed Falc
on suspiciously. "You have been up to something," he muttered. "I want to know what!"
Falcon tossed his words aside. "How was my Badger captive? Give you any trouble?"
Claw swung his head to glare at Star. "Oh, you have a fine Badger woman there, let me tell you! First she led the other brides in an escape attempt. Then, when we separated her from the other women, she started an argument between Lance and Red Hawk. Lance wants her for his wife. So does Red Hawk. I had to break up their fight!''
"I returned just in time." Falcon was surprised at the ire he felt rising. Neither Lance nor Red Hawk would have her.
"Yes. You claim she is yours. Very well, you keep the other men from fighting over her. I am tired of doing so!"
Falcon smiled and patted Claw's shoulders. "My thanks for keeping watch over her." Truly, he thought, if Claw had not stopped the fight between Lance and Red Hawk, my captive might have been injured!
He sauntered over to where she sat by herself at the fire.
"Escape attempts? Fights? You have been a busy little Badger."
She glared at him and he was suddenly struck by the beauty of her eyes. They were wide and dark and framed with lush, long lashes. As he stared into their depths, he felt himself falling. He shook his head and glanced at her full lips to distract himself. But when she licked her dry lips with her pink tongue, he had to close his eyes and swallow. Oh, what had he done?
It was a mistake to capture a woman this beautiful, he thought. Even now his loins were calling out to him to mate with her. Tearing his eyes away from her, he forced himself to walk past her and sit down on a rock across the fire from her. Her nearness jumbled his thoughts and his senses.
He could feel her eyes upon him but he stared into the fire until he had regained an unaffected mien. When he finally allowed himself to meet her eyes, he felt a jolt run through him. Her eyes mirrored the orange flames, and he watched, fascinated, as tiny fires appeared to dance in her black eyes. "Where do you come from?" he asked in wonder, scarcely aware that he was speaking aloud.
"From the Badger People. You know that," she answered. "You are the one who took me from my people."
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