Ride The Wild Wind (Time Travel Historical Romance)

by Ivey , Kimberly

  “I don’t want to get pregnant.”

  He stared. “You don’t want Indian children?”

  She shook her head. “It’s not that. I don’t want to bring babies into this world—specifically, your world where there’s so much uncertainty. I would never put a child through the hell I had to live through. I only wish you could understand where I’m coming from.”

  Where she was ‘coming from?’ What nonsense was she rattling on about now? He blew out a breath of exasperation, and dragged a weary hand down his face. “You are an impossible, selfish woman, Halle.” As an afterthought he added, “or Hope Brannigan or Star Woman or whatever you call yourself!”

  Her eyes narrowed into slits. “Is that so? Well…you’re an impossible, selfish man, Antonio Whitehorse, or outlaw, or damned frigging hero—or whatever the hell you’re calling yourself these days !”

  He kicked a rock with the toe of his boot and sent it soaring. “Very well. Don’t marry me. I hope they choose One Ear for your husband. He has been married more than four times and fathered more than ten children in this camp. He has also been widowed for a while. Try telling the randy old goat you don’t wish to bear his children!”

  She put a hand on her hip. “Yeah? Well, you should return to your psycho ex-wife who imagines she’s carrying your child! The two of you deserve one another!”

  “Perhaps I will return to Doli!” he shouted as he stalked away.

  Her moccasin hit him square between the shoulder blades, stopping him in his tracks. He wheeled around, jaw clenched, resisting the urge to haul her off into the desert like some barbarian and make love to her. He’d make her forget all about her nonsense when he was driving deep into her tight softness. And she would be damned satisfied when he finished with her, too!

  “Well, aren’t you at least going to wish One Ear and me a happy marriage?”

  He refused to let her know how her threats affected him. “May you and One Ear have ten ugly children—all with one ear!”

  A hint of a smile began to form at her lips, but faded quickly. “Thanks! I intend to name my firstborn son, Van Gogh! And by the way, I hope you and your psycho ex-wife have a freaking wonderful life together!” she hollered back. “Maybe all your children will inherit her charming personality!”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The following week, Halle and One Ear went on their first date. Antonio’s cousin, Tani accompanied as a chaperone. One Ear wasn’t an unpleasant man, nor was he ugly for his age. He reminded Halle of a junkyard dog—scarred on the outside and toughened by life’s cruelties, but just one great big puppy on the inside.

  She, Max, and One Ear went out on precisely two dates the following week. She didn’t speak Navajo and One Ear didn’t speak English so their communication consisted of a few grunts, nods, and a lively game of charades.

  On the first date, he brought two beaded necklaces made of white shell, bits of turquoise and hammered copper, along with a hide pouch filled with sun-dried berries and some strips of jerked meat for her adoptive parents. On the second date, he showed up with a basket of dried corn and more jerked meat—a separate bundle for Max. A far cry from roses and chocolates but Max enjoyed the jerky snacks.

  Between dates with One Ear and adapting to Navajo life, she immersed herself with chores hoping it might help her forget Antonio, as well as give her time to plot an escape. Of course she had no intention of marrying the one-eared man, but the jealous looks she received from Antonio in passing were priceless. She hoped it was eating him alive to know she’d been dating.

  On the warm autumn days, she and Max tagged along with Diego, Tani and Antonio’s young son, Lukachukai, to collect flower blooms and clay pigments to make dye for the weaver’s blankets. Lukachukai liked to draw with the colored bits of clay on flat stones. While talented, the subject of his drawings worried her. Guns and knives. People with wide, frightened eyes, their mouths open as if screaming. She could only imagine what the child had witnessed in his young life. But it was the amputated limb he kept hidden beneath a blanket which broke her heart. He was such a cute little boy. How would he ever adapt and become a warrior like his peers? Would they shun him as he grew older? She suspected they already had and that’s why he’d withdrawn from the world. Other than Tani and Diego, he didn’t interact with the other children in the encampment. How well she identified with his emotional pain.

  Halle also learned that Lukachukai hadn’t spoken to anyone since the attack at a fort two years before which left him disfigured. Not even to his father. If the child had lived in the twenty-first century, he’d likely have a robotic hand and manage as a normal youngster. A few sessions of psychotherapy might even break him out of his self-imposed cocoon.

  One late mild autumn afternoon she and the children left camp to gather baskets of pine needles for patching the hogan’s roofs. She learned they wouldn’t be migrating south to the warmer valley for winter for The People feared soldiers might return there. Instead, they’d repair holes in their existing homes and remain in their canyon stronghold until spring. Dry Ponderosa pine needles, Tani explained, would be packed on to the roof and chinked with mud between logs to keep the snow and biting winter wind out.

  When the boys wandered away with Max, Tani turned to Halle and made a startling statement.

  “I heard that you will be marrying One Ear in a few days.”

  Halle eyed Tani. “Excuse me? I’m not marrying One Ear. I’m not marrying anyone. Who’s flapping their tongues now?”

  “Everyone knows,” Tani said with a shrug. “I just thought you just did not want to tell me yet.”

  “No, no, no. It’s sooo not happening girlfriend. I’m not marrying him.”

  “Do you think One Ear has a pleasing backside?”

  Halle’s jaw dropped. Never did she believe the shy teen would say such a thing. “Tani!”

  Tani giggled. “I think he does. Have you not noticed?”

  “Trust me. I never looked.”

  “Has he kissed you?” Tani’s eyes lit up in anticipation.

  “Ewww, no. He’s way too old for me.”

  The girl lowered her voice and leaned in close. “He is older, but I hear he has a large penis and knows how to make a woman happy.”

  Halle gave her companion a playful punch in the arm. “You’re only sixteen! What do you know about that stuff?”

  Tani gave a sly smile. “I know only what I hear from the women. Sometimes they talk when they wash clothes or cook.”

  “Then maybe you should consider marrying him.”

  Tani shook her head. “He wants you for his wife.”

  “He only likes my hair. Probably dreams of the day when this camp is filled with little crazy haired children like me.”

  Tani’s nose wrinkled. “Do you think they would have red and black hair? I have never seen such a color before you came. Lukachukai’s hair is dark like mine, but in the light it shines with gold like his father’s.”

  “The red came from a bottle of dye, Tani. The rest is what has grown out.”

  Tani nodded in apparent understanding.

  “Don’t worry, girlfriend. I won’t steal the object of your wicked fantasies. I have no intention of marrying One Ear—big linguini or not.”

  “Because you still love Antonio?”

  Halle’s throat tightened. Yeah, she still loved the rat bastard. God, she was so pathetic. She looked away so as not to give her emotions away. “It doesn’t matter how I feel about Antonio. Besides, the jerk has taken up with his ex-wife again. It’s over between us.”

  “Then you do know of Doli’s visit his first night back?”

  Fire shot through her veins at the remembrance of spying him outside the hogan with the evil witch. “Everyone knows about that night. Doli wasn’t exactly quiet.”

  “I awoke to voices, but pretended to be asleep,” Tani said. “It was wrong of me to listen to their private conversation, but Antonio was angry. I thought there was trouble. He told Doli to leave, tha
t she could not be there.”

  Halle hesitated, uncertain whether or not she wanted to know the truth. “Did Antonio sleep with her?”

  Tani shrugged. “I do not know. I only awoke to Antonio’s angry voice. Doli was not in the hogan when I went to sleep. She must have snuck in during the night. I do know Antonio was angry. You should go talk to him. He is hurting.”

  “He’s hurting?”

  “My cousin has a deep wound in the heart which blinds him to truth at times. But I know he loves you. I have seen the way he looks at you.”

  “He only wants me in bed.”

  “He has taken you to his bed yet?”

  “No. Well, we haven’t really done anything important yet.”

  “Then why do you say such?”

  “I won’t share him with other women.”

  Tani touched her shoulder and Halle’s gaze met her friend’s. “No. You misunderstand. My cousin is honorable. When he is with a woman, he takes no other.”

  “Tani, tell me the truth about Diego. Is he the son of a woman named Elena Costanza?”

  She nodded.

  “Is he also Antonio’s son?”

  “No. Lukachukai is Antonio’s only…” Tani hesitated. “He is the only living child.”

  Halle’d almost forgotten that Antonio briefly mentioned another. “He has a child who died, too, right?”

  Tani nodded solemnly, then looked away. “A daughter—two summers.”

  From the expression on Tani’s face, Halle realized this was too painful a subject so she decided to change the topic, hoping her friend might open up later. “What really happened to Lukachukai’s hand? Why doesn’t he talk?”

  “I cannot speak of it. Antonio would be angry. Besides, Diego and Lukachukai are coming. Perhaps you should ask Antonio.”

  They spent the next few hours collecting baskets of pine needles, then trudged slowly back toward camp with heavy loads. They walked behind the boys as they ran ahead, engaging Max in a game of fetch. Tani explained how soldiers had invaded the neighboring valleys in recent months, destroying homes, burning the Navajo’s centuries’ old peach orchards, and confiscating or killing most all of their livestock. There would be little food for winter since their stores of harvested summer crops had also been burned.

  “That’s why Antonio led the raid on that fort other night – to get back as much of your livestock as possible?” Halle inquired.

  Tani nodded. “Without sheep for meat and milk, we will starve this winter. Antonio is our only hope.”

  Halle paused at Tani’s chilling words, recalling what Antonio said about saving the women and children and elders at any cost, even at the risk of sacrificing his life. What compelled a man to do such a thing?

  Tani stopped walking. “Is something wrong?”

  Halle’s mind raced with a dozen questions. Yeah, there was definitely something wrong—a missing piece of this puzzle. And she intended to find out while she had an opportunity. “Why did Antonio leave The People? You said he left Lukachukai and his mother, then returned, but from where? California? You told me that’s where his Spanish family lived. Is that where Antonio went?”

  “You must ask Antonio.”

  “But I’m asking you, Tani. Please. I’m trying to understand why he behaves as he does. He won’t talk to me anymore.”

  With a sigh, Tani set her heaped basket down and dusted a spot on the rocks to sit. “It is a very long and sad story. I cannot speak in front of Lukachukai.” Tani asked Diego to take Lukachukai and Max to play some distance away.

  Halle took a seat next to Tani once the boys had gone.

  “Antonio will be angry that I told. I do not wish to make him angry.”

  “I promise to never tell him about our conversation.”

  Tani drew a deep breath, hesitating. “Antonio left The People five summers ago—leaving behind—” Tani hesitated. “I should not speak aloud the names of the dead for it is forbidden.”

  “You can tell me. It’s all right. I’m not Navajo. And I promise to never tell a soul.”

  Tani nodded, then swallowed hard before she began: “Antonio had gone away many times before, but this was the longest. He and his wife, Ooljee were no longer happy together, so he returned to the place they call California, to the home of his Spanish grandfather. They called themselves De los Santos. They had much livestock—cows and horses. A rancho, Antonio said. Many years before, Antonio’s mother had been captured in a raid by Mexican slavers. Antonio’s father found her at the market. He bought her and took her as his wife, but she was unhappy with her new home among the De Los Santos family so he brought her here to Dinetah where they lived together many years before their deaths.”

  Halle allowed a moment for this information to sink in. She knew Antonio was only half Navajo, but he’d never told her about his wealthy family in California. “Tell me more.”

  With a sigh, Tani continued. “His grandfather was a white man’s doctor. During the years Antonio spent with him, he taught Antonio to be a doctor, too. He learned many things that are much different from The People’s ways. It was Antonio’s wish to build what he called a hospital, to honor his grandfather.”

  Halle had no idea Antonio was a doctor, or that he’d secretly desired to build a hospital. She knew he possessed a few medical skills, but he’d never mentioned his training. But it did explain how he knew so much about treating injuries and brewing medicinal teas. “So Antonio and his wife divorced before he left for California?”

  Tani shook her head no. “They had not divorced, as she had not moved his belongings out of the hogan, but they were not living together anymore. Still, it was understood by all that their marriage had ended.”

  “Go on.”

  “There were pony races at Fort Darcy one day. Ooljee, Lukachukai and Mariposa traveled far with other women and children to sell blankets and beads and baskets. The men went to have races. Bets were made on Navajo ponies and soldier’s horses. Much money was involved. It was said that a soldier cut the reins on one of our men’s fastest ponies, causing him to lose. They demanded a new race, but soldiers said no and became scared when our people would not leave the fort. Soldiers shot their guns into the air to frighten people away but something went wrong. Everyone panicked. More guns were fired. Fighting broke out on both sides. There were women and children caught in the middle. Ooljee was trying to get Mariposa and Lukachukai to safety when she and the baby were killed. They say she was shot, but Lukachukai’s hand was cut off by a soldier. He almost died from fever.”

  Tani stopped speaking as her round, tanned face drained of color.

  “Tani? What—” Halle didn’t have to finish her question. She knew the answer, felt it even before Tani spoke again.

  “I was there,” Tani whispered.

  Halle drew in a calming breath as she willed her stomach to cease its flip-flopping. She couldn’t imagine the horrors Lukachukai endured, or the grief Antonio must have felt at the loss of his wife and baby. And poor Tani, witnessing the mayhem. She placed a gentle hand over Tani’s. The girl bit down on her lower lip and looked away. Now it all made perfect sense—Antonio’s fierce determination to fight to the death. “That’s why Antonio feels guilt for what happened to Lukachukai?”

  Tani nodded, but did not look at her. “He was in the place called California when it happened. He was not there to save his family from the attack. I think he hates the California place now. It reminds him of the saddest days in his life. He has not returned there since their deaths. He has been angry. I think, most of all, he is angry at himself.”

  “None of this was Antonio’s fault. He couldn’t have known what was coming.”

  Tani glanced toward the boys, then turned back to her. “No, but it is a parent’s duty to protect their children. He believes his medicine could have saved Lukachukai’s hand if he’d been here. Perhaps little Mariposa’s life, too.”

  Tears filled Halle’s eyes. Poor Antonio! She couldn’t imagine the depth of grief
he’d suffered, or the guilt he felt not only as a father, but as a doctor. Still, he’d had no control over circumstances. Now she fully realized the meaning of the sheaf of drawings she’d once found in his bag. He’d been designing a prosthetic hand for his son, and sketching diagrams for the hospital he hoped one day to build.

  Diego let out a whoop, breaking into Hallie’s thoughts. The boys chased a feisty, cranked up Max toward her and Tani. The dog’s eyes bulged and sparkled with mischief, his large ears flattened against his head. He panted harshly, his long tongue hanging from one side of his open mouth as he ran in crazy circles. Lukachukai bent down and motioned for the dog to come to him.

  Max jerked if he’d been goosed by an unseen force, then dashed toward Lukachukai, shooting straight between the boy’s legs.

  Tani burst into giggles. “Is Max not the funniest dog!”

  Lukachukai got down on all fours and began chasing Max again, setting everyone off in a round of laughter.

  “Is everyone having fun?” Antonio’s voice came from direction of the trail.

  Halle jerked. Tani, too. Rising to her feet, Halle swallowed hard at the realization he might have overheard their conversation. Quickly, she flicked away a residual tear from the corner of her eye. Tani grabbed her basket, then stood, staring down at her feet like a naughty child. Lukachukai slunk in behind her, a wildly panting Max snug beneath his arm. A panicked expression on his face, Diego lifted two heavy baskets and took off running toward the village.

  Antonio addressed Tani, but did not look directly at her. “Why have you wandered from camp with the boys? You area fully aware of the dangers.”

  “I was not thinking,” Tani offered quietly.

  “Perhaps I should punish you so in the future you will consider the consequences of your behavior.”

  “I am sorry.”

  Antonio then turned to glare at Halle. “It is because of you that my cousin has done a foolish thing.”

  Tani lifted her head. “No, it is my fault, Antonio. I knew of the dangers but I did not realize we had traveled too far.”