Antonio’s gaze fell upon Halle. “Did he… abuse you otherwise?”
Halle understood what he was asking. She shook her head no.
The Colone reached feebly for his pistol in his holster. Halle cried out a warning, but Antonio had already seen. Antonio stormed over to the man and kicked the gun from his grip. Halle watched in horror. She’d never seen Antonio so enraged. Antonio grabbed the man by a hank of hair and forced his face upward. Leaning low he said, “And did you, Colonel Simmons consider the consequences of your actions when you ordered your men to slaughter nearly a dozen innocent women and children?”
The Colonel’s eyes closed. “Is that what this is about? A few dead stinking Indians put out of their misery? Who in the hell cares?”
Halle watched in horror as Antonio drew a knife from his boot. Still holding the man by the hair, he laid the blade against his throat. “My wife and infant daughter were among those ‘stinking Indians’ you murdered. But the blood bath did not end there. Your men went on a killing spree, finishing off the wounded with their swords. My son lost his hand because of you.”
“Kill me now, Whitehorse, or I will pursue you to the end of my days.”
Antonio released the man, stepped back and slid the knife into his boot. “If you survive, Simmons, which you won’t, you make certain that you do come after me. I want to kick your ass straight through the gates of Hell.”
Antonio whisked Halle out the door and across the darkened courtyard and to his waiting mount. “Ride out and don’t look back. Whatever you do, don’t come looking for me. I will find you. ” He lifted her onto the horse then handed her Max, who whimpered. “His leg doesn’t appear to be broken. Keep him warm and comfortable. I will tend to him later.”
Halle fumbled in the dark for the reins, finding none. “I can’t ride. There’s no saddle...no reins.”
“Dinishwo will take care of you.” He fisted her hands into the horse’s mane, then smacked the mount hard on the flanks, sending the animal charging into the night with Halle hanging on for her life.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
They rode hard the next day, northward toward the Chuska mountains, never stopping to take a full meal, but only to fill their canteens and to let the horses drink. Since Antonio’s uncle, Chief Manuelito, had relocated his band safely in the Chuskas for the coming winter, believing all would also be reasonably safe there, Antonio also believed Halle and the children would be safe as well. Knowing soldiers would be on their trail, he ordered a few of the men to ride back toward Dinetah, to lead them off course.
Halle, exhausted from lack of sleep, had shadowed half moons beneath her eyes. He examined her once they made it to safety, finding no signs she’d been physically tortured, other than the slight swelling to her nose where the Colonel struck her, and a severe bruise to her right breast. She maintained that she hadn’t been sexually molested. Max appeared to be on the mend as well, and preferred to keep company with the boys.
They stopped to make camp in late afternoon. Some of the younger men killed three small deer and a few porcupines. Dried beans and corn, confiscated in the raid on the fort were cooked with meat into a tasty, filling soup. The group of more than seventy men, women and children, ate their fill. Antonio learned it was the first decent meal they’d eaten in the week since their capture.
Around a leaping fire, The People relayed stories of how once a day soldiers brought them dirty pans of mush made from worm-infested cornmeal and fouled water. Some of the children and elderly were still experiencing dysentery they’d acquired in the fort’s camp. Lukachukai and Diego were both mildly dehydrated, as was Tani.
Antonio gathered wild bergamot leaves and brewed a restorative tea for all who remained ill. He watched an exhausted Halle keep vigil with the sick children long into the night, sponging their faces and administering the tea at regular intervals.
That night, as a handful of men remained on sentry, a few women attended a breech birth. Antonio offered assistance, but they did not want his help. Instead, Sonny had been called in to perform a traditional sing. Forceps would have made for an easier delivery and would also have increased the survival chances of both mother and child, but it wasn’t The People’s way, nor the family’s wish. Sadly, the baby was stillborn and its mother succumbed soon afterward.
While Antonio respected their beliefs, he now realized his medical knowledge could never aid them. He’d acquired limited supplies from the fort’s apothecary including surgical tools and pain medicines. In the right setting, these implements could be used to heal and save lives. He shook his head at the futility of his situation. It wasn’t him The People didn’t trust, but the white man’s medicine. Perhaps one day when this senseless war was over— if he survived—he could make a fresh start elsewhere as a doctor.
With Halle’s adoptive parents sleeping nearby, Antonio pulled the blanket over Halle, who’d since fallen into a sound, and peaceful sleep.
The next day’s ride seemed longer than the day before but by late afternoon the purple, snow capped Chuska’s came into view. Spirits immediately lifted within the group. Due to the proximity of a clear mountain stream, Sonny directed the group to make camp nearby, and a few of the young men left to hunt. Children ran about squealing and playing games along the creek bed while women busied themselves with making fires to cook the evening meal.
With dozens of men, women and children crowded together, it was impossible for him to spend private time with Halle. But that night after most had fallen asleep, Halle surprised him by sneaking away from her adoptive parents and awakening him with a soft kiss.
They stole away from camp, laughing and shushing one another as they tore through the trees. Far from the cries of babies and the smell of wood smoke, they came upon a clearing, illuminated by light of a half moon. Pulling her to the ground, Antonio unlaced the blanket dress and worshipped her body with his hands and mouth. She shivered in the freezing darkness, her teeth chattering. He drew her thick, woolen garment around her shoulders for warmth, then set about the task of gathering a few twigs and brush wood to build a fire.
A few minutes later he returned to her side and quickly undressed. “Are you warm enough?”
She reached for him, drawing him down to her.
“I have missed you so much,” he breathed against her skin, inhaling her sweet scent. He sucked one nipple into his mouth and she arched into him, her fingertips sliding into his hair.
“I’ve missed you, too.”
There were so many questions he needed to ask, but now was not the right time. She was safe, along with the other women and children who’d been taken prisoner. All that mattered was she was here with him in this moment. He covered them with her blanket dress and cradled her in his arms a long while, content to just hold her exhausted body.
“I never thought I’d see you again,” she whispered.
He kissed her forehead, caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “I told you I would return. I always keep my word.”
His fingertips trailed down her throat to her pretty, pert breasts. She shivered, either from the cold, or from his erotic touch, he did not know. He drew the blanket over them again, then pressed her onto her back and eased between her thighs. He entered her in one smooth thrust.
She gasped softly as he drove into her core, thrusting deep and fast. He hadn’t meant to take her roughly but he felt as if he were losing control, as if he had to possess this woman body and soul or he might die.
From her eager response, he knew there was no discomfort. He slowed his movements, pleasured her now with long, teasing strokes, reveling in the spasms that drew him in deeper into her velvet softness.
A cry tore from her throat when she climaxed. She clung to his arms, gasping, as her fingernails clawed into his flesh, as her body continued to spasm around his. She held him tight as he thrust wildly, spiraling toward his own ecstasy.
When she called his name that was all it took to send him over the edge. His seed bu
rst forth and he cried out, his body shuddering violently as he spent himself inside her.
Afterward, they lay side by side, drifting down.
“Antonio?”
“Yes?”
“That was really good, wasn’t it?”
He laid a hand across his eyes, a chuckle escaping. Why should her response surprise him? “Yes. It was very good.”
She rolled onto her side to face him. “Will making love always be like this?”
“I hope.”
He noticed the eastern sky had begun to lighten. Momentarily he heard the stirrings of those at camp who were preparing for the dawn offering. To avoid being caught together, they gathered their clothing quickly and moved farther south down along the banks of the clear mountain stream, bathing together in the fast moving frigid water as the sun rose over the mountains.
“Tell me everything that happened at the fort.” He briskly splashed icy water over his body, pausing to watch her cup handfuls of water and poured it her neck and breasts. He grimaced at the dark bruise on her breast—evidence of the colonel’s brutality.
“Simmons knew we were lovers.” Her lips quivered from the cold. “Soldiers reported seeing us the afternoon of the invasion. Doli must have told them what they wanted to know. She received special treatment and was removed from the holding pen with the other women. I saw her socializing with a few of the officers.”
Doli had been rescued in the raid, but Antonio would not tell Halle of the facial mutilation inflicted by some of the other women who’d learned of her betrayal. Fearing she might be appalled, he refrained from disclosing further details. Disgraced and shunned by The People, Doli returned to the fort, destined to become the men’s whore.
“When the Colonel pressed me for the truth I didn’t lie. I told him I supported your cause.”
“You could have been imprisoned for such talk…or worse.” Noting her shivering, he took her by the hand and led her from the water, dried her briskly with the blanket, then himself. “You said none of the soldiers abused you. Is this the truth? ”
“Yes.” Her teeth chattered as she dressed. “The Colonel was the only one. He was royally pissed that I was involved with you. If you hadn’t arrived when you did, I’m pretty sure they were going to torture me.”
Antonio reached out, pulled her against him, and kissed the top of her damp head. He wished he’d reached her sooner. “From a distance I watched Simmons carry you to your quarters. You were dressed in the blue gown. I wanted to charge the fort at that moment and kill him but Sonny held me back.”
She pulled back to look at him. “Antonio, let’s not talk about this anymore. I have something more important to tell you.”
He combed her damp hair with his fingertips, tucking a few strands behind her ears. “This sounds serious.”
“It is. And no matter how bizarre my story sounds, you have to believe what I’m about to tell you is the truth.”
“I am listening.”
“We’re all in danger here. We have to take Tani , Diego, and Lukachukai to Albuquerque as soon as possible.”
“Albuquerque is out of the question. Why would you suggest such?”
“There’s money—a lot of money—I’ve sewn into the draperies in my room at Elena’s.”
“How much?”
“Five hundred dollars.”
He almost choked. “Where did you get five hundred dollars?”
“Um, there’s something else I haven’t told you“
He had already guessed such. He released her and gathered their clothing. “Tell me everything while we dress.”
She remained silent, which only added to his frustration. What was she withholding? He sighed, impatient, waiting for her to speak. Instead, she bit down on her lip and watched him carefully as if to gage his reaction. Guilt was clearly etched on her face. He tossed her moccasins at her feet. “I am not going to like this story, am I?”
“Probably not, but just promise you’ll hear me out, okay?”
He dragged a weary hand down his face, then buttoned his shirt. “Very well. What have you done now?”
She opened her mouth as if to speak, but hesitated.
“Halle, you test my patience.”
“Molly and I were blackmailing a man named Franklin Cole.” Her words tumbled out in a rush of breath.
The look of shock on his face must have stopped her from continuing for she clamped her mouth shut. Frightened eyes held his. He clenched his jaw, biting back a response. Of all the foolish things she could have done! Did she not realize the danger she’d put herself in? A wave of nausea hit him in the pit of his stomach as both fear and shock mingled with anger. Once his initial anger began to cool, he asked, “How in the hell did you get mixed up with Cole? And why would you do such a foolish thing?” She recoiled at his harsh tone, but the fear he noted in her eyes told him she already regretted her actions.
“I sent anonymous letters to Cole telling him that I was a witness to Hope Brannigan’s murder, the girl on the reward poster whom I resemble. I kept a post office box at Union City, then paid the postmaster extra money on the side to keep quiet and to have him forward the mail to me at Elena’s. I threatened to go to the authorities if Cole didn’t send more.”
Antonio’s mind went into a whirl as he paced. True, she’d done a dangerous thing, but if there was money… He rubbed the grit from his eyes and tried to think. “Now I understand why Cole came looking for you. But why would you do this on your own? Do you not realize the danger you were in? The danger you placed Molly in?”
“I was desperate to escape the brothel. Do you have any idea what it’s like living with Elena? It’s pure hell, Antonio. Molly didn’t want to work there anymore, not after one of the men abused her. She was ready to move on and become a respectable woman again, but Elena wouldn’t let her go. She punished her.”
He flinched. “Punished her? How?”
“She’d lock her in a room without food and water for days. When one of the ladies didn’t obey Elena’s work orders, she did the same to them. I never saw any bruises on any of the ladies, but Molly said Elena had beaten her more than once.”
He grimaced at the thought of Elena holding women hostage, abusing them. He knew his former mistress could be cruel, but had no idea she had enslaved women. He shook his head in disgust. This was worse than he could have ever realized. He motioned with his hand, not certain he wanted to hear the rest of Halle’s story, but knowing he must. “Continue.”
“Molly and I were going to split the money we blackmailed from Cole, then strike out on our own. Together we planned to open a clothing boutique and hair salon.”
He chewed his lip, pondering the possibility the money was still there. “Molly has probably already taken the money and run.”
“No.” She touched his arm lightly. “She doesn’t know where my half is hidden at Elena’s. She thinks it’s in a bank. Just think. We could buy a wagon and fill it with food and supplies and bring it back to everyone here.”
“No. We can never return to Albuquerque. It is too risky.”
“Elena will hide us. She’ll help us get the supplies we need.”
“Elena cannot be trusted! She will deliver you to Cole.”
“But I’m not his niece, Antonio. He’ll know it when he sees me. Hope Brannigan is white.” Her eyes went wide, as if she had divulged a secret she didn’t want revealed. She glanced away, but said nothing
“And you are not white?”
She hesitated, dared a glance at him. “Half.”
He had suspected as much, even from the first moment he found her, but her admission now confirmed what he’d always known in his heart. “You are ashamed of who you are.” It wasn’t a question.
She started to speak, then paused as if struggling to find the words. “I’m not…ashamed of being black.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper, but laced with some other emotion he could not determine.
“Then why have you not mentioned this detail before
?”
Her gaze lifted to his. “Okay, it’s true…or at least it was. All my life I’ve hated my darker skin, my hair and eyes…my full lips. I think it was one of the reasons I was never adopted. No one wanted a bi-racial child.”
His mind reeled at her stunning revelation. “Your parents are deceased? How long?”
She shrugged. “My father died when I was two, and my mother followed a couple of years later.”
“You have never mentioned your family before now.”
She shrugged. “That’s because I don’t ever remember having one.”
The impact of her confession weighed heavily on his heart. For a Navajo, one of the worse things was to not have roots. To even tell someone they behaved as if they had no family was an insult. But now it all began to make sense…why she’d beamed with pride over the hogan he built for her…the way she rallied around the children, playing games and telling them stories. Even her mothering of that silly little dog, making certain he had food to eat, even if she went without. “We have never spoken of this before now. Why didn’t you tell me you are a mulatto?”
She grimaced as if he had said something distasteful. “Well since you didn’t ask, I didn’t think it mattered.”
“It matters not at all to me what you are, but to an opportunist like Elena Costanza, a beautiful, exotic woman such as yourself brings a tempting price.”
“Look, I know Elena was a cruel bitch to her ladies, but I still don’t want to believe she’d betray me. I was her only friend. She took care of me, much better than any of the other women there. She treated me like a princess. I had my own room—the best food and plenty of it. I ate in the dining room on china plates, not in the kitchen with the workers. She confided in me—told me things that she probably didn’t tell anyone.”
He gave an exasperated sigh. What could he do to convince her Elena was not her friend? The woman was incapable of loyalty to anyone but herself. Halle simply could not accept that Elena hadn’t cared for her, that she had used her for her own selfish whims.
Ride The Wild Wind (Time Travel Historical Romance) Page 28
