“Anna, honey, it is not a big deal. I just don’t want you to run out of supplies while I am gone and it could be a few days or even a couple of weeks.”
“Weeks? You could be gone for weeks? Colton, you can’t leave me alone. I don’t know what I would do without you. Is it dangerous? What or who are you tracking?”
“Just a lone man and it isn’t anything that I can’t handle, honey. I am going to ask Mark if he would like to go with me.”
“But Nada is still weak.”
He pushed a stray clump of hair behind her ear. “Well, of course, he could say no. If he doesn’t, I can easily do this alone. I have done many like this alone. A man just came up on the posters so he might not even know he is on them yet. That is the best time to come up on a person when they don’t think you are looking for them.” He reached down and kissed her again, “Besides, you have all of this company. You will be fine.”
Colton spent more time reassuring his wife that this was not a big deal and that she would be safe.
“I will offer that he stays with his family. That way, there would be a man near if it makes you feel safer.”
“What? You think he would make it safer than being with just Pia and Kaku? No, no one would be safer than with those two women unless it was with you. They know things, just like you, and I don’t think anything could happen that they don’t have some kind of idea about before it happens. I have heard of women’s intuition but this is so much more.”
Colton spoke cautiously. “You’re right; they do know things, often. It is different from intuition. They are positive that they know. It is a powerful thing to the Indian. It is a gift. That is why you feel extra safe with them. You feel safe because they have shown you that they can understand a situation and interpret the meanings. They know what to do because they understand the underlying causes.”
He pulled her to the head of the bed with him and drew her into his lap. He laid her head on his shoulder so that they could relax and talk.
“But how do they know?”
“The Indian believes that all things have spirits and that spirits can change shapes, can speak to people, can influence the outcome of life. It is these strong spirits that speak to Pia and Kaku.”
“And you.”
“Yes and no. As a boy, I believed all people had those understandings. As I grew and learned that was not the case, then I figured it was a just a strong gut feeling. Then I was on a quest to know who I was. It was as all young men do in his own way, only to the Indian, it is for your spirit protector. The fox found me. I thought he was my protector. He is cunning, smart, tracks well, and then, the next night the wolf found me. He is loyal and intuitive but also fierce when challenged. Later still, when I found that I could understand and know things about some people more than others, I found it works best when it is about something or someone important to me. Tracking is one of those things I care about that makes it easy to track.”
He looked down and kissed his wife. “And you are the someone I care most about and I can know things about you most times. For instance, I found you at the creek when you took off. I knew where you were when you went on your first day here.”
“And you knew Mark would tell you his name.” She perked up and added.
“Yes, because it was about your safety. If it is about you, I can sense things.” He took a breath. “You are the only one that I have ever loved like this. You are the one I can understand and know the best. Never could I see into another’s heart as I can with you.” He tapped and kissed her nose. “Except when you are very emotional and you are so chaotic inside. It is so much harder to know your thoughts and feelings then.”
“Why?” Anna snuggled into his shoulder again.
“It is like the river when it is running quickly. When the water is calm, you can see right through to the rocky and sandy bottom. When it is rushing or churning, you cannot.”
“And I used to think I had two protectors because I had two cultures. The fox was the red-man, and the wolf, the white. Then I found you, and I am positive the red is your hair and another foretelling of my future.”
“Oh.” They had snuggled a few more moments before Colton spoke again.
“Anna, baby, I need to tell you about one last thing before we go into the other room.” He shifted a bit uneasily.
“What? You are stiff.”
“I need to talk to you about if I don’t return.”
“What? No, I will not hear it. You said you knew things, you said you would come back, you said –”
“—it was going to be an easy track. It is. However, we never know what will happen in this world. We don’t.” He pulled her back into him. Colton hated that he needed to say it but he did. “I have everything written down in my strong box. Look it is under the slats here.” He got up to move the iron bed enough to show her where it was and described what was in it.
After a little more talking and reassuring, Colton said, “Come on, my little wife, I need to show you how to pack for me to go on my trip into the wilderness.”
He led her into the kitchen and they prepared the things he needed together, Colt explaining why he needed hardtack and pemmican, smudge pot and stick, herbs, salt, and coffee. He had a small coffee pot and cooking pan. They gathered beans, both dried and cooked. If he were out, he could soak and cook the beans overnight on the fire and if Colton needed to eat quickly, he would have the other foods. He would go into town, as he was able and stay in a hotel if there was one.
All through dinner, sorting and packing his surprisingly meager gear, Colton allowed Texanna to ask anything she wanted and suggest anything she wanted to suggest. Finally, he was packed, he had reviewed his information that he took with him as well as the wanted poster. Colt also had walked over before dinner to ask if Mark wanted to go with him and was surprised that he had just returned from some bounty hunting. When Colton asked why he didn’t say anything, Mark said it was mostly an information-gathering trip and he didn’t gather enough to go out searching for the fellow.
That being the case, Mark declined the offer to go with Colt. The bounty was only $500 dollars and it was really a one-man bounty. Colton said his goodbyes and asked Mark to not take off unless he had no choice during the time he was gone. It would be more helpful for him to keep the firewood up and the outdoor chores and make sure they had fresh meat. Mark agreed and said there wasn’t anything he needed to do anyway. He would keep them supplied with meat and firewood.
“This is only a small bounty so if I can’t find him in a week, I will turn around and come home so don’t worry about me being gone long, the time will go by fast.”
Colt spent the evening and night loving his wife. The next morning, he was gone.
Good as his word, Mark came by every morning and every evening to see that things were going okay. He kept the wood chopped and the water barrel full. On day three, he brought some venison and Kaku was thrilled to have fresh meat, even though she had not been without it for more than two days. They typically dried or made jerky with it.
Chapter Sixteen
Fisk had been in the same small community that it was reported he was in and it was ridiculously easy to scoop him up. While he denied being the man that Colt was looking for, his identity was given away by his own family. As Colt was transporting him to the nearest town jail to wire his whereabouts and the place he was being held, a kid called out to Dingler by name. When Colt inquired, the boy said it was his cousin, Dingler Fisk. That was all Colton needed for positive identification. He dropped the prisoner off, signed the reward form, wired the information to the judge and went on his way home.
It was night and Colton was out of sorts. He was nauseous as if he had eaten bad food. His head started pounding and his stomach rolled with discomfort. Fearing he was going to be sick, he stayed in the next town to try to sleep it off but he couldn’t sleep. He kept hearing screaming. The voice sounded familiar. Texanna! God, it was his Texanna and she was screaming, screa
ming for him. He vomited bile. The fear he could feel to the depths of his soul forced him to get his gear but he was too dizzy to stand for long. He prayed to his animal protectors, the fox and the wolf. He smudged and chanted.
It was some time later that he could hear Texanna calling to him as if a chant. Ignoring his head that was thankfully pounding less and his still violent stomach, he knew she was in danger. He grabbed his gear and went for his horse. He hoped his stallion had had enough rest because there would be no more rest until Colton had his wife safe in his arms.
Oblivious to anything but what he needed to do; Colton mounted his horse and began to go home the quickest route. He was about thirty miles away and if his horse got enough rest, they could make it in half a day. If not, then longer but Colt was not going to take any longer than necessary to get home.
As he began riding, his head started to clear and his stomach settled down. Colt had no doubt that he was so connected to his wife, that he could hear her mental anguish all these miles away. As he rode and got closer, the calling had stopped and that scared Colton more than the screaming because silence was uninterpretable. He tried to allow his mind to take over his being and to find the thoughts of his woman but all he got was silence. He rode harder.
***
Pia and Kaku looked at each other and Pia walked over to open the door to Nada and the children.
“Pia, Kaku, my spirit is restless. It won’t calm. What is wrong?”
Kaku shooed the three older children into a back room as Pia gathered Nada to her. “Our daughter is in danger. We must call on Colton’s spirit protectors, Fox, and Wolf. We must pray and call on the four winds and the four elements to unite in saving her. Fire possesses her but Water is her power.”
Kaku and Pia gathered their smudge pot and cedar, sweet grass, lavender, and sage creating a smudging stick with some of it. After purifying themselves and the room, they began the chant. Texanna was in danger, mortal danger, they knew it.
Except for Nada, who stopped to nurse her son, the women chanted continuously. “She is fearful,” said Kaku. She changed the chant.
“She is hurt.” They changed the chant. “Evil surrounds her,” said Pia as they burned grasses and herbs, smudged, and chanted. They chanted and prayed calling on all the protectors to give assistance.
“Husband, father, uncles, warriors from the other side, protect our daughter, protect our bloodline. Give protection and strength.” Kaku called upon their ancestors for help.
“My son hears me. I will direct his path. Show him the way.” Pia’s chant became low and intense. It had been a long time since her medicine was needed so urgently. It felt right.
“The one called upon to come and protect is also near.” Kaku resumed her throaty trill.
Nada resumed another smudging to clear all evil and allow the good in.
***
When he stopped to give his horse a break and to water about ten miles from home, Colton heard chanting in his head. Kiowa chanting, Comanche chanting, and he tried hard to understand it unobstructed by his thinking mind, only guided by his spirit. In the chanting, he heard his mother say go to the river where the four winds meet. They had not spoken of it in a while but he knew she had sent Anna there the first day. He tried to listen for Texanna again but she was still silent.
He rode again straight to the place his mother had called the four winds. It was at a natural crossroads in the land, where the center held a hidden crack in the earth, the heat was always coming from it. Pia said it was a hot spring but he didn’t see the water. Colton hoped it wasn’t the door to hell. There was a large hill, the river, the heat from Pia’s springs and the land leading up to it was the four elements, earth, sky, fire, water. The four winds met at the center. He didn’t remember all of why she thought it was a perfect place to be but if that is where she wanted him, where he knew his Texanna needed him, he would not question it.
The closer he rode, the more relaxed his nerves were and the more alert his mind became. He could see the place he was heading in front of him and Colton needed to be cautious. His instincts told him he might have already been spotted. His skin was crawling with the essence of evil. He had experienced it before. He knew the interpretation of that feeling. It was a spirit born of hatred. His own inner spirit was girding him for battle.
Colton knew he was seeing with his inner eye and turning his thoughts over to his pure medicine, his white spirit, and driven by the rhythmic beating of his heart, he could feel Texanna’s heart beating as one with his. Texanna, Colton’s woman, was still alive. The sound of her life, her very breath invaded his being. His mother was from a deeply connected people and his father from ancient Celtic clans tied by blood. He was the child of such a heritage and those things would bring him to where he needed to be if he only allowed them.
***
On day eight, Anna was too restless to stay in and the sun had come out so she got up and busied herself doing all the things she normally did, and then saddled her mare and took a fishing pole to the creek.
Kaku was napping and Pia advised against it but as Anna was insistent, she asked her exactly where she was going. Anna already had a favorite place and she had taken Pia before it was too cold, right after she and Colton had married. Pia told her to not leave that spot unless she was returning home. Texanna though it was odd that Pia made her bundle up extra warm and made sure there was a woolen hat, scarf and gloves on her before she left.
The fishing was not as good as Texanna had hoped and it was getting dark so she decided to wrap it up for the day. At least, she had been able to spend some time near the water, in the clean air, and she had been able to clear out some of the anxieties that had been left over from all of the past couple of months. Texanna was happy in her new life and pleased that her new friends were settling in. Happy for her child in her belly and looked forward to Colton coming home soon.
All gathered and packed up, Anna climbed up on her mare and began to amble back. About half way there, a dog she had never seen before came rushing out of the woods and started barking at rider and horse, surprising both. Texanna grabbed the reins tightly and the change in hold along with the fright of the barking and growling animal sent the mare’s front hooves in the air. It happened so fast, Texanna was unable to process how to right the situation before she was on the ground and the mare racing home without her. Stunned and the wind knocked out of her, she didn’t move for a few moments and when it appeared as though she could move better, and went to do so a voice she was familiar with, called her name.
“Texanna, are you all right?” The voice belonged to Mark.
“Oh, yes, thank you.” Mark helped her up. “There was a dog that spooked my horse and she reared. Colton will want to retrain her, now. What are you doing out here? Did Pia send you after me?”
“No, but I did stop by to see if there was anything that I could do and was told that you were out fishing. So when I had my chores done, I thought I would check on you since the mare was still out of her stall.”
“Well, she is probably in it now,” laughed Texanna. Mark joined her in laughing at her plight. “I am going to start going back now. I don’t think I’m hurt, just shaken up and a little bruised.” She looked around for his horse. “Didn’t you ride out here?”
He shrugged. “I thought you would be closer to the house. Then I was too far to go back.”
Anna dusted off her pants that she wore for occasions such as these and grabbed her woolen hat from the ground, replacing it on her head. Anna noticed it was getting darker and she needed to get moving if she was to make it home before full darkness fell. She and Mark began the mile or so trek when someone stepped out from the forest to her left and stood right in front of her.
“Hello, Texanna, Marshal McFadden’s wife, stepdaughter to Judge Jackson, discarded fake daughter of Horace Grant, do you remember me?” The voice held the sneer that was on the face of the evilest looking man Texanna had ever seen. Her husband had said t
hat it was the man called Adder. She panicked.
The screaming would not stop, who was that screaming? Texanna did not realize it was coming from her until a hard slap to her face knocked her to the ground. Her head swam with the intensity of the hit. Her thoughts were confused and she didn’t know how to put this all together. She saw Mark. Thank God for Mark.
The next words chilled her to the bone and beyond. “Texanna McFadden is that anyway for you to greet my friend, Henry?” the speaker was Mark Trenton.
“What are you saying? Mark? This is Adder.” Her heart was pounding and her mind racing almost too fast to catch a thought. She wiped the blood flowing from her nose.
“Yes, I know. Now shut up or I’ll make your other ear ring.” He reached down and jerked her off the ground. “Walk.”
Adder laughed, Mark pushed and Texanna prayed. She called to her husband just as she would pray. She screamed in her head as she was pushed along the river’s edge. There was the other man ahead of them. He had come out of the woods when they began walking further from home.
Mark must have been the third, untraceable man. She stopped. Mark ran into her. “It was you. You are the third man no one seems to know about.”
He pushed her forward, hard. “Good work. You figured it out. It’s too bad that you won’t be able to tell anyone about it. Now shut up and walk.” He pulled out a Colt revolver. It looked like the one she had seen Colton clean.
Her mind was trying to make landmarks where there were few to see. They walked for what seemed like miles. She was tired. “Can’t we stop? Colton is on his way home by now. And Pia…”
“What?” asked Adder.
She did not want to put the women in danger. She shook her head and felt the pounding get stronger. “Nothing. I am having a hard time thinking.” She wanted to make them think she was less aware than she was. She recalled what her husband had said to her about chaos in her mind caused him difficulties in finding her. She needed to keep her thoughts controlled. But, at the moment, she was fighting off the panic that was coming in waves.
Taming Texanna Page 25
