Moonlight and Magic

by Rebecca Paisley

  She became still in his arms; he could not even feel her breath on his chest. Pleasure continued to shimmer through him, stealing his voice. A long moment passed before he recovered it and his strength. “Chimera?”

  She looked up at him and realized she’d been granted more time with him. All the time it took them to find the Apache—it was also time with Sterling. She would take full advantage of it. “How was it possible,” she asked, and laid her hand upon his cheek, “for me to live so many years without you? How did I get through each day, each night without your smile, your arms? I can’t remember being miserable, but surely I was. It must have been disguised. But it was there, an underlying emptiness. It’s like—”

  She sat up. “Like a cake! A plain cake will do. It’s edible. But...it’s just simple cake! But give it icing! Icing would complete it, give it the final touch. Sterling, you are the icing. You’ve covered me completely. You’re spread between my layers, you coat me inside and out, and I am whole because of you. I will never be plain cake again. I have icing now. Sweet, sweet icing.”

  Icing, he mused. Dios mio, what a nut she was. He pulled her back down to him. He was icing. Sweet, sweet icing. The words danced through his tired mind. How enchantingly silly.

  He smiled, his eyes heavy. They drifted closed. He dreamed about a cake. It had five tiers and was topped with fluffy white icing. People were standing around it, eating pieces of it.

  It was a wedding cake.

  It jolted him from sleep; his eyes flew open. She was asleep beside him, a tender smile on her face. He knew she was dreaming and wondered if she was a bride in her dream.

  She’d been a beautiful one in his.

  “I’m tired,” Snug whined, and leaned on Silver Pickles’ neck. “Sterling, please let’s stop to rest.”

  Sterling reined Gus to a halt. They’d been riding all morning, and although he felt fine, he realized Chimera and the children needed to stretch. “All right. But only for a while.” He dismounted and watched as the triplets jumped off their horses. He helped Chimera off Pegasus, then took Venus from her and watched as she joined the boys in a walk through the woods.

  He smiled when Venus waved good-bye to them and then turned the baby toward the mountains. “They’re out there, Venus,” he told her, and pointed to the blue-green distance. “Your people. Could be Cochise is watching us at this very moment. You know, from what I’ve gathered, he was once willing to live in peace with the whites in these mountains.” He nodded at her and sat on the ground.

  “I don’t know a damn thing about the people who made me, but I know a little about the one who made you. It’s important for you to know about your heritage, so let me tell you a story I heard about them.

  “Cochise,” he told her, his breath visible in the frosty morning air, “he’s the chief of the Chiricahua Apache. I heard that he’s married to the daughter of another great chief, Mangas Coloradas. Maybe you’re related to them, Venus. Wouldn’t that be something? Anyway, like I said, Cochise had tried living in harmony with the whites in his range. He’d stopped molesting the Butterfield stagecoaches that had a route in his territory and was even giving fresh firewood to the stage station. And then some farmer’s adopted son was kidnapped. The kid’s name was Felix. The farmer accused Cochise of the dirty deed and got the garrison at Fort Buchanan in on it. Some lieutenant...I think his name was Bascom...he set out to find Cochise.”

  Venus looked at him so intently, he could have sworn she understood his every word. “It wasn’t hard for this Lieutenant Bascom to find Cochise. The chief and some of his relatives came into Bascom’s camp to talk. But while Cochise was denying any knowledge about Felix, the tent was surrounded by Bascom’s men, and Bascom announced to the Indians that they were to be held in custody until Felix was found. Cochise snatched a knife, cut an escape bole out of the tent, and fled. No one could catch him. You come from swift-footed stock, Venus.

  “But Bascom still had Cochise’s relatives. Soon afterward, Cochise, accompanied by some of his warriors, went to the Butterfield stage station. Bascom was there too, and things went all wrong, Venus. Cochise called out the stationmaster, a stage driver, and the man who took care of the stages and teams. I think he thought he’d capture them and hold them until his relatives were released to him. He took the stage driver, but the other two men turned and ran back toward the station. The warriors shot at them, killing one. The soldiers who were inside the station saw the third man running right for them and thought he was Apache. They shot him, and Cochise left.

  “That same night, Venus, Cochise’s warriors captured a wagon train and took more hostages. After that there were some small skirmishes between the Apache and Bascom’s men. Later, Cochise sent a message to Bascom, offering to trade the stage driver and some government mules for the Apache prisoners. Bascom—in my opinion, he was an idiot—refused. Even after he learned that Cochise had taken other hostages, he wouldn’t cooperate and still kept insisting Cochise had that Felix kid. Not long after that, troops massed at Apache Pass, and it stands to reason that Cochise believed the soldiers had come to start a war against him. I know I would have thought that.

  “Anyway, the solders soon found Cochise’s white prisoners. They’d been executed. The soldiers, in mm, executed the Apache hostages. When Cochise discovered the bodies of his relatives, all hell broke loose. This might not be a tale for your innocent ears, Venus, but it’s the history of your people. The fact of the matter is that Cochise began a rampage that still hasn’t ceased. These mountains, all the roads that crisscross around them...everywhere there runs a river of blood and fear. Cochise’s rage has swept over this land like a tornado.”

  He sighed as he thought of his boyhood friend Antonio, another Apache victim. But the Apaches had been victims too, he knew, and tried in vain to find meaning in it all. “I don’t know what to think of it, Venus. I can’t say I approve of Cochise’s bloody vengeance, but I can’t say as I blame him either. Before the Felix boy incident, many white men thought well of Cochise and said he was fair, honorable, and made many wise decisions. So when he denied kidnapping the boy, it seems to me people should have believed him. He hadn’t lied to them before, and why would he have stolen some kid when everything was going all right for everyone? It doesn’t make sense, and I don’t think he took that boy. If only people would have believed he was telling the truth about it all, Venus, his killing rampage never would have begun. God only knows when and how it will all end.”

  He hugged her tightly and stared out at the mountain peaks that rose above the trees. He and the baby had a lot in common, he mused. They were both on their way to finding acceptance with their real families. Venus’s chance for fulfillment lay in an Apache rancheria. His lay in Tucson.

  He prayed they would both find it.

  Sterling swiped off his hat in frustration and brought Gus to a halt. “Chimera, we haven’t seen a single sign of them in eight days. We’re riding in circles. Has it struck you yet that we’re not going to find them?”

  She nodded slowly.

  “Then has it also struck you that we should return to the cabin and—”

  “No, that hasn’t struck me,” she responded firmly. “We haven’t found the Indians, Sterling...So—Well, what I think we should do now is let them find us. It will be so much easier to do that than—”

  “I have news for you, estrellita. They already know where we are. They don’t miss a thing that goes on in these mountains, and they’ve had their eyes on us from the start. They don’t want us to find them, and as long as they feel that way, we don’t stand a chance in hell of doing it. It’s time to admit defeat, Chimera. It’s time to quit looking.”

  She gazed at the cliffs above and to the side of her, and realized Sterling was right. The Apaches had to know that she, Sterling, and the children were here. Somehow she had to convince the elusive Indians to show themselves. It was the only way.

  She slapped Pegasus’s shoulder with a slim twig and slid off him whe
n he lowered himself to the ground. Holding Venus out straight, as if showing the baby to some admirers, she walked ahead. “Cochise!” she screamed, her shout echoing numerous times before fading. “Cochise, I know you’re around here somewhere, and you better—”

  “Chimera!” Sterling jumped off Gus and raced toward her. “Don’t antagonize him! Don’t tell him what he has to do, for God’s sake! Hasn’t it crossed your mind that he’s been extremely patient with us so far? He’s never attacked us and has left us completely alone since we invaded his territory up here!” He grabbed her shoulders. “Think, woman! Think—”

  “I am thinking! I’m thinking that the Apaches have no idea why we’re here! How could they possibly understand we want to return Venus to them? We have to tell them, Sterling!” She jerked out of his hold on her. “Now, you tell them in Spanish, and I’ll tell them in English. Surely at least one of them will understand one of the two languages.”

  “Dios mio, what does it take to get through to you? We’re not going to find—”

  “Cochise!” she yelled, effectively cutting Sterling off. “Apache warriors! We’re here with one of your daughters! We’ve brought her back to you! Her mother died, and we’ve taken care of her all these months! Look how healthy she is!” She held Venus up higher. “She refuses a cup, but she drinks six socks a day and eats a lot of solids too! Of course, she won’t eat beans, but I guess it’s just as well since they give her...well, you know.”

  “She stinks when she eats beans!” Sterling shouted impatiently, and shook his head. He gave the triplets permission to dismount and then ambled over to a large rock to sit down. From there, he watched Chimera exhibit Venus to the Indians, whom he was sure were completely baffled. “Why don’t you tell them about her napping schedule too, Chimera?” he suggested wearily. “About how she doesn’t need her morning nap anymore, but still takes one in the afternoon. Surely they need to know that before they decide to show themselves.”

  She looked at him and nodded seriously. “She won’t sleep in the mornings anymore, but naps for almost three hours in the afternoons! We’ve really tried our very best with her, Apaches! And look! She still wears the amulet her mother gave her! We only take it off when she sleeps, and that’s only so the cord won’t strangle her! See? See the talisman?”

  She stopped talking and listened for any kind of response, but there was no sound but the cold wind as it blew through the trees. “Golly darn! Listen to me, you stubborn Indians! One of you might be the father of this darling little girl! She’s your daughter! And in the words of the great Euripides, ‘To an old father, nothing is more sweet than a daughter! Boys are more spirited, but their ways are not so tender’! Do you want to grow old without a tender daughter to fuss over you? And Euripides also wrote, ‘How delicate the skin, how sweet the breath of children’! How is it possible for you Apaches to stay hidden up there when one of your own children, her breath so sweet, her skin so soft, is down her waiting to join you!”

  “Yeah, you darn Indians!” Sterling shouted. He got up from his rock and shook a finger at the cliffs. “Don’t any of you have enough sense to abide by the wisdom of Euripides? What the hell’s the matter with you?”

  Chimera ignored his sarcasm. “‘It is a wise father who knows his own child’! Shakespeare!”

  “You hear that, Apaches?” Sterling continued loudly. “Shakespeare! You know—Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet—” He stopped and in a dramatic gesture put one hand on his chest and held the other toward the mountain side. “O Apaches, Apaches, wherefore art thou, Apaches?”

  Chimera glared at him. “I’m glad you think this is so amusing.”

  “Amusing? Chimera, it goes far beyond amusing. It’s ridiculous! You’re standing out here in the middle of God only knows where, spouting off quotes of wisdom to Apache Indians!”

  “You—”

  “Sterling!” the triplets screamed as they emerged from a cave.

  “Sweet heaven, Sterling, look!” Chimera shouted hysterically.

  Sterling turned toward where she pointed and saw the triplets tearing out of a cave, a huge, golden cat chasing them. He snatched out his Colts and took careful aim.

  But before he could get a shot off, the terrified boys ran straight into him, knocking him to the ground. His pistols slid down a rocky slope.

  “Sterling!” Chimera screamed. “Oh, dear God!” She watched in horror as the cougar sprang directly toward Sterling and the triplets.

  Sterling watched the cat sail through the air and threw all three of the clinging boys as far away as possible. There was no time to retrieve his guns; the cat was almost upon him. In desperation, he reached out for the animal, realizing he would have to fight the beast with his bare hands.

  But before the cougar reached him, while it was still in the air, he saw its body twist, heard it scream, and watched it fall. It twitched for a moment. And then it was still, an arrow protruding from its chest.

  Sterling’s gaze, slowly and hesitantly, went from the dead cat to the mountain cliff. What he saw made his chest constrict. A brace of Indians stared down at him. Their faces were painted. They held clubs and lances. It was an Apache war party.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chimera had handed Venus to Sterling and was scrambling up the cliff before he could stop her. “Chimera, come back!” With his free hand, he clawed for his revolvers.

  An arrow stopped him in mid-action. It landed at the tip of his longest finger, its side touching his nail, then its point was buried deeply in the rock-peppered dirt.

  He forced himself to remain calm. The Indians had never attacked them—not at the cabin and not since leaving it. And they had killed the cougar. Whatever the reason was for their clemency, he prayed it would remain a valid one. He rose, motioned for the boys to come to him, and stared defiantly at the braves, who were now watching Chimera draw closer. She was only a few yards away from where they stood when one of them barked a command at her. Sterling’s stomach pitched. “Chimera, stop! He doesn’t want you to come any closer!”

  She frowned at the warrior, then turned to scowl at Sterling. “How do you know that’s what he said? You don’t speak Apache.”

  Dios mio, what the hell was he supposed to do? If he went after her, he’d risk an arrow in his chest, and his death would leave Chimera and the children completely alone. But if he remained a spectator, Chimera would surely antagonize them far beyond their limits.

  “Chimera, I don’t have to speak Apache to understand that warrior isn’t pleased with you! People, no matter what language they speak, don’t shout angrily at other people unless they’re upset. Now, come down!”

  She turned back to the Indians, but did not advance. “I want to talk to your leader. Take me to Cochise right now. It’s said that one of his strongholds is up here in the Dragoons. Now, is he at the one here, or—”

  The brave snapped at her again, raising his lance.

  Chimera felt fear prick at her slightly but refused to give in to it. Her mission was too important. “Look, sir. I realize you’re not in the best of moods right now, but we’ve brought one of your children back to you. See? She’s right down there.” She turned. “Sterling, hold Venus up so they can see her amulet.”

  Sterling growled a strong curse and lifted Venus above his head. The baby laughed and waved her arms.

  “Now,” Chimera said to the warrior, “see how healthy she is? If we were really your enemies, would we have taken such care of one of your babies?” She took a step forward.

  The Indians backed away from her. Sterling watched their odd behavior in absolute amazement. He saw Chimera take another step toward them and saw them back away again.

  It looked like the Apaches were afraid of her! If the situation weren’t so serious, he might have laughed. To think that four Apache warriors, who had more than likely participated in countless battles, had such groundless fear of Chimera...the idea was preposterous!

  “Don’t you dare leave!” Chimera yelle
d at them, and hurried the rest of the way up the rocky slope. “Cochise! Take...me...to...Cochise!”

  The Indians continued to retreat until they backed into a huge boulder. They stared at her intently before one of them yelled something in the Apache language.

  At the shout, another Apache, his waist-length hair streaked with silver, appeared at the next highest ledge, numerous pouches hanging from the waistband of his pants. He, too, stared at Chimera before raising his arms and beginning a chant that was half-sung, half-spoken.

  “Dios mio, I think that one’s praying,” Sterling whispered to the children. He almost felt sorry for the man. Prayers would get him nowhere. How many times had he prayed for aid in dealing with Chimera? He’d never received it from his God, and had no reason to believe the Apaches would receive it from theirs either.

  The lone Apache on the highest cliff lowered his arms and spoke sharply to the four warriors who stood with Chimera. They immediately encircled her.

  “Dammit!” Sterling gave Venus to Snig and started for the bottom of the cliff, having every intention of climbing it and snatching Chimera away from the warriors before she irritated them into full-blown anger.

  But before he reached it, more warriors appeared from behind rocks and bushes. Sterling counted ten in all and knew very well that more could still be hiding. He watched as one of the braves pushed Chimera toward the edge of the cliff with the blunt end of his lance and gasped when she stumbled. But she righted herself and began the descent. Sterling took tight hold of her wrist when she reached him.

  The warriors climbed down and made a half circle around them. Sterling stared directly into their black eyes, his arm looped tightly around Chimera’s waist. He had no idea if they’d understood what she’d told them. Spanish was the only means of communication left to him, and in his native language he quickly explained about Venus.