Warrior Moon Page 24

  “I want to stay with you,” she said in a quiet rush.

  Pleased, Vanessa reached out to hug her. “I’m glad you want to stay, and I know Phoebe will understand.” Vanessa gazed gravely at her younger sister. “One thing you should understand. Until we’re with Lone Wolf’s people, there’s a chance that Papa or someone who works for him or wants the reward he’s offering will find us. If so, Lone Wolf won’t be able to protect us from many men or soldiers.”

  “I know. Phoebe told me that, but I want to stay and I’ve told Phoebe.”

  Vanessa hugged her again. “Good.”

  “I told Muaahap last night. She’s glad.”

  “I know White Bird will be happier with you here. Belva, if you ever change your mind, we can contact Phoebe and get you on a stage to California as long as we keep enough money for a ticket.”

  “I thought of that,” Belva said, a smile breaking through her serious expression. “I want to stay here. I like Muaahap and Lone Wolf and White Bird, so I should like his people and wherever we are.”

  Vanessa gave her another reassuring squeeze.

  “I’ll go back now and help with White Bird, but I wanted you to know.”

  “I’m glad, Belva.”

  “I’m happy both of you wanted me,” she said simply, and Vanessa knew she was thinking of their father. “We want you very much,” Vanessa said. “I love you, and Lone Wolf said he would be a father to you.”

  Transformed by a happy glow, Belva paused at the door. “I’ll bring White Bird in as soon as I have her dressed.”

  “Fine,” Vanessa replied, knowing there would be more love in Belva’s life now.

  When Belva returned with White Bird, the child wore the red gingham dress. Vanessa knelt in front of her. “Don’t you look pretty!”

  White Bird’s large dark eyes gazed at Vanessa and she touched the lace on Vanessa’s green dress. “Pretty, ’Nessa.”

  “She looks so sweet, Belva.” Vanessa picked up White Bird, who smelled wonderful from the bath. “I’ll bring her to your room after dinner.”

  Setting White Bird on her feet, Vanessa took her hand and the two of them left to get Lone Wolf. At her knock, he swung open the door to his room. His dark eyes lighted with pleasure when he looked at her. Her hair was hidden beneath a sunbonnet which was far plainer than the wide-brimmed hat and would draw less attention. As she and White Bird entered his room, he shook his head.

  “Everyone in town will notice you,” he said, removing the sunbonnet, his warm fingers brushing her throat.

  “No, they won’t. Besides, I won’t be with my sisters.”

  “We’ll stop at the hotel dining room and have food sent up to them.”

  “Phoebe will take the food in our room and pay for it, and she’ll be alone when they bring the trays to her.”

  “We’ll go now,” he said, taking White Bird’s hand and letting her toddle between them.

  The evening air was cold; Vanessa looked at White Bird, thankful she had made the gingham with long sleeves. “Tomorrow I want to get a coat for her.” Lone Wolf nodded, and she glanced up at him with happiness, feeling like a family.

  They found a squat, adobe house with a sign in front advertising rooms and meals. When they entered, tempting smells of cooking meat and corn assailed them. A woman came forward, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Lone Wolf and White Bird. Her gaze returned to Vanessa, who smiled at her.

  “Evening, ma’am,” the woman said curtly.

  “I’m Hepzibah Grant, and this is my husband Robert. We’re traveling through and would like to eat supper.”

  The woman hesitated and then nodded. “This way.” She led them into a room brightened by large paintings. Strings of red peppers hung on one wall, and a pot with a tall cactus leaned in one corner. Plain wooden tables with ladder-back chairs stood around the room.

  Discreetly seated in a corner, Vanessa and White Bird looked across the table at Lone Wolf. He had removed his hat, and his black hair was combed into a semblance of a part on the right side of his head, but strands had reverted back and hid the part near his wide forehead. Vanessa couldn’t decide when he looked the most handsome—dressed in his native attire or in a white shirt and trousers.

  He sat relaxed, his hand on the stem of the water goblet as he bent his head to study a menu. She watched him, surprised even though he spoke English fluently that he could also read.

  “You learned to read as an army scout?”

  He raised his head. “As a matter of fact, yes. I find books interesting, and army life can be long tedious hours of doing nothing. I had a friend who taught me to read.”

  “Perhaps I shall teach White Bird.”

  He smiled. “I suspect you will, but you’ll be hard pressed to find books.”

  She shrugged. “I might get a few books tomorrow along with the coat before we leave town and while I still have some money.”

  After a few minutes he peered at her over the menu, a mirthful glint lighting his eyes. “Wherever we go, you pay my way and White Bird’s.”

  “I have Papa’s money, and your way of life requires no money, only horses.”

  “Actually, Vanessa, as an army scout I earned money. I had little use for most of it, so it’s in a bank in Denver City, Colorado. If we’re ever where I can get to it, I can repay you.”

  “It won’t be necessary. Enjoy Abbot Sutherland’s gold,” she remarked dryly.

  With a flash of white teeth, Lone Wolf laughed, and her pulse jumped because he looked so handsome. “As a prospective bridegroom, I should take gifts and horses to your family. But I’m sorry, my love, I wouldn’t if I could.”

  “And Papa would not want your horses.” She grinned, refusing to worry about her father.

  They ordered tamales and chili for themselves and baked chicken for White Bird. As they ate, Vanessa relaxed, enjoying Lone Wolf’s company. Lone Wolf’s dark gaze was on her constantly and she sat with her back to the room knowing he could see the door and everyone who entered and left.

  “Has Belva given you an answer yet?” he asked.

  “Yes, she is staying.”

  He reached across the table and touched her cheek, drawing his index finger down to her jaw. “You Sutherland women like life in the wild. She is giving up more than you, Vanessa. Her education isn’t complete; she’s young and impressionable.”

  “But she also has traveled a great deal. We’ve been sheltered in many ways, particularly where men are concerned; but in some ways we’ve had a more varied life than others our age. We lived in many cities and at many forts. We’ve traveled over a good part of the land. She knows what she wants to do. She’s torn between going with Phoebe or staying with us because she and Phoebe are so close.”

  “If she stays with us and changes her mind, we can always send her to California later. But if she goes now and wants to come back later, she won’t be able to find us.”

  “Is there any way I can get letters from Phoebe?”

  He studied her. “Our lives are so different, Vanessa. You’ll turn your back on all you have to go with me?”

  She gazed into the inky depths of his eyes, feeling drawn to him, knowing the love she felt for him was binding and strong and far more important than where she lived. “Yes. What am I losing?”

  “Your whole way of life.”

  “Which hasn’t brought me great happiness. It is my choice to stay.”

  “I’m sure of that,” he said, one corner of his mouth twitching upward. She concentrated on his full sensuous underlip, remembering the feel of it on her mouth.

  “Did you like being a scout?”

  He shrugged. “I learned what my father wanted me to learn. I did a job. There were men I liked and men I didn’t like. But it’s the white man’s war, and I wanted to return to my people. When this war is over, all our lives will change.”

  “Did you grow up knowing Eyes That Smile?”

  “She was from a different band of Kiowas. We gather together every
year when the cottonwood flies for a sun dance, and in her eighteenth year I took her for my wife. Now I’m twenty-four. I was a scout the first two years of the war and in the second year I quit and came back and married Eyes That Smile. She was killed a little over a year ago.”

  “A little over a year ago we lived in Kansas,” Vanessa mused. “The year before that we were in Shreveport, Louisiana. All I can remember is moving.”

  Their dinners were served, and Vanessa helped White Bird eat. As Vanessa ate, she relished the hot tamales, yet she was far more interested in the man across from her than in the food. He moved as easily in her world as his own, and she wondered about their lives together. Her gaze drifted down across his broad shoulders to his strong hands. She looked up to find him watching her intently and she gazed back at him, feeling a longing that was overpowering. “When we marry, will we share a tipi with Muaahap and White Bird and Belva?” she asked.

  “Eventually, because they’re our family, but for the first few weeks, I’ll arrange for them to stay elsewhere so we will be completely alone,” he said in a deep voice. He reached out to touch her hand as she held her water glass. He rubbed his fingers over her knuckles, a light touch that made her ache for more. Her appetite for her dinner dwindled and she turned her hand to hold his.

  He stopped eating, gazing at her with a fathomless stare that held her enthralled until White Bird wiggled against her.

  “Shall we go back to the hotel?” he asked, his voice husky. She stood up and he came around the table to take her arm. He looked down at her as they stood close together. “I want you with me tonight.”

  Wanting the same thing, Vanessa drew a deep breath. He picked up White Bird and they stepped outside into the cold night air. Darkness had fallen; and during the short walk back to the hotel, Lone Wolf pulled a flyer from a post and tucked it beneath his shirt.

  They passed the open doors of the livery stable; a bright lantern glowed on a post in front. When they returned to their rooms, she took White Bird to Muaahap, holding the little girl close for a moment to kiss her good night. Closing the door quietly behind her, she went back to ask Lone Wolf about the flyer.

  As she entered his room, he turned. “Are you having second thoughts about staying behind,” he asked her quietly.

  “No,” she said, turning to look at him, her pulse jumping. He was incredibly handsome and she would never have second thoughts. Without having all his love, though, she felt a shyness and hesitation with him that would not have existed otherwise. He removed the flyer and unfolded it.

  “He’s changed the notice, Vanessa, and all of you are in danger,” Lone Wolf said darkly. “The only advantage we have is that you and your sisters are with the three of us and people won’t be looking for six.” He held out the flyer, and she moved closer to examine it.

  Lone Wolf continued looking at the poster over her shoulder and she was aware of his presence and the warmth radiating from his body. These constant brushes against her and the feather-light touches were like kindling on a fire. She felt an overwhelming yearning to be in his arms.

  “Your father has increased the reward. Bounty hunters will be watching for you everywhere.”

  She smoothed out the flyer. “I’ll tell—” Shocked, she stared at the flyer. “He’s offering five thousand dollars!”

  “Everyone in the west will be on the lookout for three young women—particularly two as beautiful as Phoebe and you.”

  She bit her lip in consternation. “You shouldn’t be with us. This town is filled with soldiers. I saw them everywhere when we rode in.”

  “They’re from Fort Bascom. Soon I’ll take the horses to the livery stable, which is right behind the hotel. If questions have been asked, I’ll probably hear about it.”

  She placed her hand on his arm, feeling the solid muscle beneath. “Tomorrow morning, why don’t you take Muaahap, Belva, and White Bird and wait outside of town? I’ll meet you after Phoebe leaves on the stage. You would be safer.”

  “No,” he answered flatly. “If you and I and White Bird are seen together in town, no one will connect you with that flyer unless they get a close look at your face. My hair is cut in the white man’s fashion. I wear the white clothing I wore in Glen Hollow.” He glanced at the flyer. “Your father wouldn’t want to acknowledge you were with an Indian.”

  “No one saw us leave Glen Hollow. They may not have realized I was with you. And the few people who saw us together and remembered might not want to tell Papa. Everyone knows my father’s temper and his power.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  She turned to look at him. “We’ll be safe, although I’d feel better if the three of you would leave town and wait for me.”

  “No. You’re not riding out of here alone with fifty soldiers watching you,” he said gruffly. “You’re sure you don’t want to leave on that stage, Vanessa?”

  She gazed into his eyes and knew what she wanted more than anything else was his love. “No, I don’t,” she whispered, as he reached out to draw her against him and bent down to kiss her.

  She slipped her arms around his narrow waist to hold him tightly, kissing him back. His tongue entered her mouth and touched her tongue, playing over hers while he held her tightly.

  She held him, deeply in love with him, wanting to be his wife, yet feeling an uncertainty. She pushed away, looking up at him as she touched his jaw and traced her fingers along his throat. “I want to stay. I want to be your wife. I know what I’m doing.”

  “Vanessa, if I take you as my wife, I consider it binding.”

  “I’m sure of what I want,” she repeated solemnly, longing to hear words of love from him. She stepped back, too aware of their privacy, knowing she should turn and go now before she was in his arms for the night. “I should get back to my room. They’ll be waiting.”

  “In the morning I’ll go with Phoebe to buy her ticket to California. I don’t think we’ll draw as much attention that way, and no man will accost her as long as I accompany her.”

  “That’s fine.”

  “All of you need to say your goodbyes here at the hotel. If you want to stay behind and have the two of us see her off, we’ll do that; but Muaahap, Belva, and White Bird should ride out of town before daylight while no one’s stirring.”

  “I’ll tell them,” she said, turning to go.

  The next morning after breakfast, Lone Wolf left with Phoebe to buy a ticket. He also purchased a coat for White Bird and two black woolen capes for Belva and Vanessa. Upon their return, he followed Phoebe into the hotel room.

  Vanessa looked up at him. Once again he was in the white man’s clothing he had purchased in Menard. Handsome and tall, he dominated the room.

  “The stage leaves at eleven o’clock. Once Phoebe is aboard, we should leave town. We’re an oddity and far too noticeable.”

  “I think you should go now. I can wait at the stage stop.”

  “Sometimes they’re delayed.” He shook his head, dismissing her suggestion. “You can’t stay here alone. We’ll wait together.”

  Vanessa could not tell from his tone whether or not he felt they were in great danger, but she knew he wanted to go as quickly as possible.

  “A man traveling alone with four or five women is not safe,” he said flatly. “Many men saw us ride into town. They’ll see us leave. I’ll get the horses. We’ll load up and be ready to go when Phoebe gets the stage.”

  He left the room and Phoebe turned to her. “I’ll miss you. I wonder if we’ll ever be together again.”

  “I hope we will.” Vanessa did not tell her sister that she feared they might be saying goodbye for the last time. Phoebe had the portmanteau now and was wearing Vanessa’s poplin riding habit. Her anxious blue eyes showed that she understood the seriousness of their situation.

  “I’ll write to Annabelle Carter, so if you ever need to contact me, you can get in touch with Annabelle or Eleanor Rosati.”

  They stared at each other and hugged. They had too
much to say and no time for more than a few words. “Thank you for coming to get me,” Phoebe murmured.

  Vanessa nodded. “You go to California. Someday I hope to hear you sing. I’ll take good care of Belva.”

  Phoebe laughed. “You and Lone Wolf and Muaahap will take good care of her! She loves them as much as she does us.”

  Lone Wolf knocked, then opened the door. “We go now,” he said and closed the door again.

  Phoebe picked up Vanessa’s portmanteau. “Are you sure you want to give all this up?”

  “I don’t need the dresses. I’ll be wearing buckskin after today,” she said.

  “I mean everything else you’re giving up for him. Pretty dresses—”

  “I’m certain,” Vanessa answered, knowing Phoebe would never understand unless she fell in love.

  Lone Wolf appeared. He was dressed in buckskins, the pistol on his hip and a knife in a scabbard fastened to his belt. Looking wild and strong, he wore a deerskin headband.

  “The others should be waiting and it’s almost time for the stage, so we’ll go now.”

  Impulsively, Phoebe hugged him. “Thank you for coming to our rescue. I’ll always be grateful. I’m glad you’ll be in our family.”

  He smiled, returning her hug. Then Phoebe turned to Vanessa to clasp her in a tight, tearful hug. “I’ll miss you so much!”

  “I hope you find what you want, Phoebe.”

  They left the hotel and walked the next block to the stage station. The dusty Concord stage waited, its yellow wheels idle, its new team hitched up and ready to go.

  Nervous with excitement and anticipation, Phoebe gave Vanessa another quick squeeze. Then, holding up her poplin skirt, she boarded the stage. Her blue eyes sparkled as she settled in the seat. A couple boarded next, and Vanessa was relieved to see their friendly manner as they greeted Phoebe. A tall, balding man in a brown coat and brown trousers joined them, immersing himself in a newspaper as the last passenger, a woman, climbed inside.

  A man slammed the door; the drivers climbed up in front, and with a jingle of harness and the creak of springs, the stage pulled away.