Warrior Moon Page 23

  “I’ve noticed. She will be a strong woman like you.”

  As she considered his proposal, Vanessa ran her fingers along the rough gray bark of the tree trunk. Her fingers skimmed the ridges as she pondered her future. With time, would Lone Wolf stop grieving and grow to love her?

  He offered marriage when she wanted love. She glanced up at him. He had risked his life for her in riding south to rescue her sisters. Was there a stronger feeling for her than he acknowledged?

  Whether there was or not, she was willing to take the risk that love would come. “Yes, I will marry you,” she answered solemnly, wondering if she were throwing away her future happiness because his world would be so different from the one she had always known.

  He nodded as he studied her. “My grief will end someday, Vanessa.”

  She gazed up at him, wanting his love, yet excited because she would have a part of him and his feelings for her might grow and change with time. And with children. He smiled, touching Vanessa’s cheek with the back of his hand.

  “What will we tell Muaahap?” she asked. “She thinks we’re already married.”

  “I’ll explain to Muaahap, and she will accept it. She will accept anything you do because she likes you.”

  “And I’ll tell Phoebe then also Belva, so she can think about what lies ahead.”

  Lone Wolf drew Vanessa to him, his dark eyes boring into her as he bent his head to kiss her, a lingering kiss that was filled with promise. She raised up on tiptoe and laced her arms around his neck. “I want your love and will try to win it,” she told him, meeting his gaze.

  He kissed her and she wondered if he had no answer and wanted to silence her or merely wanted to kiss her instead of talking.

  Half an hour later they were ready to ride again; and as they moved away, she glanced back, reaching out to pick a small cottonwood leaf that was still yellow, knowing she would always remember where he had asked her to become his wife. She carefully placed the leaf in the saddlebag and looked at Lone Wolf riding ahead, his shoulders squared, his short black hair tangled by the wind, as they headed northwest toward New Mexico Territory.

  That night when they stopped, she noticed Belva helping Lone Wolf as he unsaddled the horses. Several times Vanessa heard Belva’s laughter and glanced at them. After they had eaten a cold dinner of sliced beef, apples, biscuits, and beans, as she cleaned and put away their things, she noticed Belva holding White Bird on her lap while Lone Wolf taught Belva how to tie knots.

  “She likes Lone Wolf,” Phoebe said, walking up behind Vanessa.

  “Yes, she does. And it’ll make things easier.” She turned to face Phoebe. “I wanted to talk to you. Lone Wolf has asked me to marry him.”

  Phoebe’s mouth dropped open. “You won’t consider his proposal, will you?”

  “Yes. I’ve accepted. I want to marry him.”

  “You can’t!” Phoebe exclaimed, her eyes round. “Vanessa, he’s a savage, an Indian! You’ll roam the country—”

  “I love him,” Vanessa said quietly, “and you sound like Papa. There’s been nothing savage about him since he helped you escape from Papa. And I won’t roam the country as much as I did while growing up.”

  Phoebe closed her mouth and stared at Lone Wolf. “I suppose I do sound like Papa. Lone Wolf’s been kind and marvelous to us, and he’s so patient with Belva and White Bird. And Muaahap is kind to Belva, too. She gave Belva a silver bracelet today.”

  “Muaahap loves her jewelry, so it shows how much she cares to give one of her treasures to Belva.”

  “What about Belva? Do you want me to take her to California? I can, you know.”

  Vanessa looked at Phoebe. “I think we should give Belva the choice. Lone Wolf said he will be happy to have her as his daughter.”

  “That’s more than Papa was!” Phoebe said bitterly. “So you’ll tell Belva and let her choose?”

  “I think she’s old enough.” Vanessa looked at Belva as she bent over a rope and Lone Wolf watched her tie it.

  “I think I know what her choice will be,” Phoebe said quietly. “She has always been close to you because you’re really a mother to her. Look at her with him now. She’ll want him for a father. She already adores White Bird and treats her as if she had a new doll.” Phoebe sighed and turned to Vanessa. “Papa smashed Belva’s doll collection.”

  “He what?” Vanessa asked, anger shaking her.

  “When he heard you had run away, he went into a rage and said he couldn’t wait for me to marry Major Thompkins and he would make arrangements for Belva to go to boarding school in Philadelphia the afternoon after my wedding. She could see me wed and then she would be sent away. She started crying and that made him angrier. You know how he hates it if we cry. He pushed her dolls to the floor and stomped on them.”

  “Oh, Phoebe, he’s never been that cruel!”

  “He was cruel to you when he gave the dog away that Mama let you have.”

  “Yes, but it seems worse with Belva. Now I’m doubly glad she’s with us.”

  “Yes.” Phoebe turned to Vanessa and hugged her. “And I’m happy for you because Lone Wolf is kind and brave and so handsome, Vanessa!”

  “Thank you,” Vanessa said quietly, not wanting to tell Phoebe that he still mourned the loss of his first wife.

  “Have you told Muaahap?”

  “Muaahap already thinks we’re married. When the Comanche found us, Lone Wolf was wounded and near death. He told them I was his wife and White Bird his daughter so we would be safe. I’ve never told her otherwise. Lone Wolf said he would talk to her.”

  “It won’t matter to her. She loves you and White Bird and Belva.”

  Later, before Belva went to sleep, Vanessa sat down beside her and brushed her hair. The long strands were wavy from being braided, and Vanessa lifted the thick, brown locks to brush them carefully. “Belva, I need to talk to you.”

  She turned to look up at Vanessa and twisted her arm in front of her. “Look what Muaahap gave me!” Moonlight glinted on the silver bracelet that circled her slender arm.

  “It’s one of her pretty bracelets. I hope you remembered to say thank you.”

  “I did, and I gave her the locket that I wore to church. She liked it. I like Muaahap.”

  “I’m glad. Belva, Lone Wolf has asked me to marry him.”

  “Land sakes! That’s wonderful! You’ll be with him always.”

  “Yes, I will.”

  “Papa wouldn’t ever approve.”

  “He may never know. I want to ask you—do you want to live with us? We both want you. Or do you want to go to California with Phoebe? She will be glad to take you.”

  Belva glanced at Phoebe and looked at White Bird, and then her gaze shifted to Lone Wolf.

  Vanessa placed her hand on Belva’s knee. “You don’t have to decide now. You think about it. No decision has to be made until we reach Tucumcari and buy the tickets to California.”

  “I want to be with all of you as we are now! Can’t we talk Phoebe into staying, too?”

  “No, we can’t. I asked her, and she said she wanted to go to California.”

  “I don’t want us to be separated,” Belva said fiercely, and Vanessa stroked her head.

  “I don’t either, but Phoebe wants to try to get into the opera. She thinks she can, and I have some of Papa’s money so she can go to California. She has a friend there who will help her. We have to let her have her chance, Belva.”

  She saw tears fill Belva’s eyes before Belva threw her arms around Vanessa’s neck. “I want to be with both of you and with White Bird and Muaahap and Lone Wolf!”

  Letting her cry, Vanessa stroked Belva’s back and hugged her thin body. She saw Muaahap watching them without a change in her expression.

  Belva wiped her eyes, looking at Vanessa as more tears spilled down her cheeks. “Vanessa, Papa smashed my dolls!”

  “I’m sorry, Belva. Phoebe told me, and I’m sorry.”

  Belva pulled open the drawstrings of th
e dainty beaded silk reticule she carried. “Look. He missed Delphinia, and I keep her with me all the time,” she said, pulling out a china doll with a green organdy dress and black slippers on its tiny china feet.

  “Oh, I’m so glad!” Vanessa said, looking at one of her old dolls that their mother had given her and she had passed on to Belva.

  “Some time, Vanessa, may I have a dress like the one you’re wearing? White Bird has one, and Muaahap has one.”

  “Yes, you may,” Vanessa answered, although she knew that if Belva decided to go to California with Phoebe, she wouldn’t be able to wear a buckskin dress.

  Belva snuggled down on a hide and pulled a soft buffalo robe up to her chin. “I love you, Vanessa. Thank you for coming back to get us.”

  “I love you, too,” Vanessa said, leaning down to kiss Belva and stroke her brown hair away from her face. “I’m thankful Lone Wolf and I were able to get you and Phoebe, but the danger isn’t over yet, so we have to be careful.”

  “I know. Lone Wolf told me if I see a soldier or hear anything strange to tell him or tell you.”

  “That’s right.”

  “I don’t want to go back.”

  “None of us do.”

  Belva closed her eyes and Vanessa stood up, moving to the hide where she would sleep. Lone Wolf sat close, his legs crossed, and he looked as if he had been waiting for her.

  “Belva is having difficulty?”

  “First she cried because I told her you and I would marry and she would have to choose whether to stay with us or go to California with Phoebe. I told her to think it over.”

  “And why did she cry later?”

  “Because she remembered that Papa had smashed all her dolls except one.”

  “Why would he do that?” Lone Wolf asked fiercely.

  “Because he was furious about my running away.”

  “She had nothing to do with you.” Lone Wolf stared beyond her. “It is best if our paths never cross, Vanessa. It was all I could do to leave your father alone at the churchyard.”

  “I understand,” she said quietly, placing her hand on his. “He’s my father, though.” Lone Wolf gazed at her and she felt his warm hand beneath her fingers.

  “I have told Muaahap that we are not man and wife. I have told her why we said we were and all about your past—as well as Muaahap and I communicate,” he added with a chuckle.

  “And you told her you will marry me when we get to your camp?”

  “Yes, Vanessa,” he said, lacing her fingers in his. The touch sent fiery tingles throughout her body. Longing filled her, and she wished she could marry him soon.

  She gazed into his eyes, barely able to discern him in the dark night, and wondered how long it would be until they were man and wife. “Do you think your people will be in the same place as they were when you left the battle?”

  “No. They’ll have moved. There’s a canyon about fifty miles south of the battle site—I think that’s where they’ll be. They had a winter camp by an old fort, Fort Adobe. The Comanche and the Kiowa were camping there when the New Mexico Volunteers attacked. Our tipis were burned, and many of my people were killed. The soldiers had cannons; but by the end of the day, they were driven back. They had started a retreat when I rode after White Bird. We’d never had an attack under cannon fire.”

  They were silent while she thought about the violence that could come so swiftly on the plains.

  “Does that make you want to change your mind about marriage?” he asked finally.

  “No,” she said. “I was aware of the dangers when I said yes. It is just as dangerous in many other places. The farm women on the frontier, the women caught in the war-torn states all face danger daily. I’ll take my chances,” she said quietly, knowing she was taking the biggest chance in risking her heart.

  “You’re brave and I like that. You’re also independent, and I don’t know that I like that!”

  “I’ve done what you’ve asked.”

  “Vanessa, because of you, I am now traveling with five females. I am a warrior who has traveled alone much of the time, and now we’re a band ourselves. Because of you, I had to risk my life and yours to get your sisters. Because of you, I spend my day getting jabbed in the back with a stick by old Muaahap and have to do her bidding.” He leaned closer as he talked, his deep voice quiet, almost a whisper, making her pulse drum when his face stopped only inches from hers. “Because of you, I am learning to braid a little girl’s hair and lie awake nights worrying about the women in my care. You have ruined my peace, and I’ll take my revenge.”

  She ached with longing, wanting him to move the last bit of distance and kiss her, wanting his arms around her. “You wouldn’t respect me as much otherwise. If I were docile and submissive, you would have left me long ago.”

  “No, I would have kept you with me because of your green eyes and your sunburst of red hair and your body that makes mine as hard as these rocks. No, I would respect you and I would have had more peace. I will teach you, Vanessa, to be submissive.”

  “I think I want you to teach me,” she replied softly, her pulse pounding. “And now, I think I’d better move away from you before we do something we shouldn’t.” She turned and shifted on the hides, lying down and pulling a buffalo robe over her.

  The next day they rode hard again until Muaahap jabbed Lone Wolf and they finally stopped. The land had changed as they’d headed northwest, the rolling hills leveling out, the grass thinning. The mesquite was no longer thick, and the oaks had disappeared from the landscape. Occasionally Vanessa saw a lizard scamper across the barren ground, and once she saw wild horses in the distance.

  Late in the afternoon, she rode beside Lone Wolf. “Do you think my father will follow us this far?”

  “No. No one is following us; and if he had picked up the trail, he would have been behind us long before now. Remember, there are flyers of you posted all over this part of the country, so he can spread the word to watch for us by telegraph and by the military. Even if he hasn’t increased the reward, it was large enough that many men will be watching for you. You’re a noticeable woman,” he said in a lower voice.

  She saw the desire burning in his dark eyes. She grew warm as her gaze dropped to his mouth. She missed their moments alone, the intimacy of talking to him at night. Right now, they needed to keep moving as quickly as possible.

  He turned his head, flicking the reins to the bay to move ahead. His hair was already a fraction longer and he wore buckskins again. They made him look strong and forbidding, yet she knew how gentle he could be and how kind. She also knew how tough and unyielding he was, and she prayed he did not cross paths with her father.

  Soon, she would be Lone Wolf’s wife. The thought stirred a fluttery excitement in her every time she contemplated her future with him. And their children would be half-breeds. Her father would never accept them. Nor would some others if she went back to her world. But she didn’t expect to return to it, and she would love her children as much as a mother could. Her gaze shifted to White Bird, and she felt another rush of pleasure. Now she wouldn’t have to part with White Bird, and the little girl would grow up accepting Vanessa as her mother.

  For another day, they continued at a fast pace, and then Lone Wolf slowed. Water was becoming scarcer as the land sloped gradually upward in a wide plateau. They emerged onto the staked plains, and later she saw the bluffs of the llano estacado and the stretches of barren land that shimmered in the distance.

  They rode into Tucumcari in the evening, entering on a wide, dirt highway. Adobe buildings lined the thoroughfares, and soldiers stood in front of doorways or strode down the street. Vanessa observed the uniforms and her blood ran cold because the danger was so much greater to all of them, and especially to Lone Wolf. Three whites and three Indians. One man with five females. They were conspicuous, and men would remember seeing them.

  They drew stares as they rode toward the hotel. She saw a flyer fluttering on a post and longed to get down and
read and see if it held her picture or if there were now a flyer out with all three sisters’ pictures. Her hair was braided, looped, and pinned on her head, tucked beneath a sunbonnet. Phoebe wore hers the same way while Belva had one long braid down her back.

  They reined in at the hotel and as she entered the warm anteroom, she wondered if they would have an argument from the clerk because of Lone Wolf, Muaahap, and White Bird. A soldier crossed the lobby, his gaze sweeping boldly over Vanessa, and a chill ran down her spine as she looked away from him, hoping the flyers fluttering outside did not hold her picture. She glanced back to see the soldier was gone and Lone Wolf stood at the desk talking to the clerk.

  Eighteen

  While they waited in the lobby, Vanessa watched Lone Wolf argue with the clerk. Finally he finished and returned to her side. “I took three rooms.” He touched her collar lightly. “I wish you could be in my room. The clerk told me there’s a rooming house where we can eat supper a block away from here.”

  “The soldiers worry me.”

  “We’ll be safer if only you and I go to dinner and take White Bird. We’ll have food sent to the others. Muaahap won’t be disappointed, but your sisters—”

  “They’ll be happy to avoid the risk.”

  As they followed him down a long, narrow hall, Vanessa remembered the last hotel and the bed she had shared with Lone Wolf and wished she could do so again tonight. The rooms were clean and simple with iron beds and pine washstands and chests. She and Phoebe took one room while Muaahap, White Bird, and Belva shared another.

  When Phoebe was through bathing and had gone to help Muaahap, Vanessa bathed in a tin tub and changed to the green-muslin dress. As she brushed her hair, Belva entered. One long braid hung down her back and her skin had darkened with the days in the sun. She looked more certain of herself.

  “I’ve bathed and now Muaahap is bathing White Bird,” she announced. “Vanessa, I’ve decided what I’ll do.”

  Hearing the solemn note in her voice and knowing the choice was difficult, Vanessa gave Belva her full attention.