Kendra met his gaze. “First, we need them all before we can destroy them. Mukua is still out there with his vessel, and there’s also the third one.”
Wo'itsa stepped away from her and gazed over the ledge. “Why has it brought us here?”
Kendra joined him. Instead of looking out across the vastness, she looked down. She grabbed Wo'itsa by the arm, then pointed. “Look.”
Wo'itsa leaned forward. “The woman who you tried to save from the bear. She can’t possibly be dead.”
Kendra stared into the canyon. Aimee Donovan . . . Osborne, lay lifeless on a narrow ledge. She appeared to be unconscious.
“Are we here to save her?” Wo'itsa wondered out loud.
Kendra frowned. This wasn’t making any sense. “No. Daniel is supposed to save her. That’s how they met.”
Voices drew closer, and they both spun around. Wo'itsa pulled Kendra behind some stone outcroppings. She recognized those voices. Her eyes widened. Her pulsen pounded at her temples as a surge of anger flooded her limbs with adrenaline, and she nearly stood to reveal her presence. Wo'itsa clearly felt her tension and tightened his hold on her to keep her hidden. Not a second later, the two elders of the Sky People, Naatoyita and Mukua, appeared and came closer to the edge of the canyon. They were obviously in a heated argument.
“You will not alter the timeline again, Mukua. You have done enough in your senseless revenge against the Bear Clan. Your plan continues to fail. How many more times are you going to alter the true timeline because of your misguided hatred?”
Mukua glared at his brother. The elder’s deep emotions were easy to see from Kendra’s vantage point. His eyes gleamed with hatred, but there was also the despair and anguish in an old man’s eyes from years of suffering a broken heart.
“I will always search for a way to destroy your plans for the bloodline of those who took my wife from me,” the elder spat.
Naatoyita reached his hand to his brother, who jerked away. “This is not what your wife would have wanted. She knew her role was to remain with her people.”
Mukua’s face hardened, but the lines along his lips moved as his jawline quivered.
“My wife died needlessly,” Mukua rasped, his voice weakening. A tear spilled from his eyes.
Naatoyita nodded. “Everyone died needlessly. This war should have never happened, but it did, and we must move forward. It is our duty to protect the sacred mountains.” The elder stared beyond the chasm of the canyon before turning his gaze on his brother again.
“In the end, you are the one who loses because you will not let go of your hate.”
Mukua seemed to hesitate, then shook his head. “I will not rest until there is no breath left in me. I will always search for a way to destroy your plans for the bloodline of those who took my wife from me.”
Naatoyita stared at his brother. A resigned look passed through his eyes.
“Then there is only one recourse left for us, my brother.” Naatoyita glanced over his shoulder. He made quick eye contact with Kendra, and his lips twitched in a satisfied smile before he turned back to Mukua.
“The vessels must be destroyed, so there can be no more time traveling. The days of the Sky People have come to an end. Future generations will talk about us around their camping fires. They will tell the legends of the Sky People, and speak of those who have saved our sacred mountains.”
Mukua laughed. “You are aware, are you not, Naatoyita, that the vessels can only be destroyed in one of two ways?”
Naatoyita nodded. “They can only be destroyed at the hand of the children whose spirits live inside them . . . or if the elder who created the vessel gives his own life.” Naatoyita paused, then added, “I cannot allow you to continue altering the timelines, Mukua. It is now up to the descendants of the Sky People to continue our work. May you find peace with your wife, my brother.”
Without any warning, and with surprising speed, Naatoyita tossed his medicine pouch on the ground, tore his brother’s pouch from around his neck and flung it into the dirt beside his own, grabbed his brother by the arms, then lunged forward and over the edge of the canyon, taking Mukua with him. Kendra sprang from her hiding place.
“No.” She stared over the gaping chasm. Rocks and dirt rolled down the side of the canyon, tumbling along with the bodies of the two Sky People elders, until everything came to rest with a splash in the river below.
Wo'itsa grabbed her and pulled her into a tight embrace. She squeezed her eyes shut and clung to him.
“Why did he do that?” she sobbed.
Wo'itsa stroked the back of her head. “Naatoyita must have believed it was the only way to stop Mukua. We could all see that Mukua’s heart would never change.”
He held her face between his hands and looked at her. “Naatoyita sacrificed himself to ensure the protection of the sacred mountains. According to what he said, his death destroyed the vessel he created.”
Kendra nodded, too stunned to say anything. Wo'itsa kissed the top of her head and pulled her back into his arms. He held her until she stopped sobbing, stroking her back.
“Perhaps now Mukua can find peace and be reunited with his wife again.”
After a while, he stepped away from her. He gathered Mukua’s medicine pouch along with the one Naatoyita had tossed aside, then led her away from the edge of the canyon. “All we have to do now is destroy the remaining two vessels.”
Wo'itsa glanced at the canyon again. “Are you sure we should leave the woman to die on the ledge?”
Was it the right thing to do? What if something else changed along the timeline, and Aimee wouldn’t be rescued? Before she had time to contemplate too much, Wo'itsa pulled her back to their hiding place and gestured for silence. Moments later, Daniel Osborne appeared with another man.
Kendra held her breath. She dared not move while Daniel climbed down the steep canyon wall and came back with Aimee a short while later. The two men conversed in hushed tones. The other man left, leaving Daniel alone with his future wife lying unconscious on the ground. He picked her up, gathered her in his arms, and stared at her for a moment, then carried her away from the edge.
A tear trickled from Kendra’s eyes. She wrapped her arms around Wo'itsa, and kissed him
“Let’s try again to get home to our proper time.”
She reached for the snakehead in Wo'itsa’s pouch. Their eyes met.
“Their children and children’s children will tell the legends of the Sky People,” Wo'itsa murmured.
Kendra nodded as she glanced in the direction where Daniel carried Aimee away to meet their destinies. She wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck, and gazed into his loving eyes.
“They don’t know it yet, but that is the beginning of a beautiful love story.”
Epilogue
He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close while a strong breeze blew off the side of the mountain. The sun was setting as they stood, overlooking the valley and surrounding mountains below. The mighty river flowed from the distant lake across the wide expanse of the valley before it carved its way through the canyon with the yellow rocks.
The woman glanced up and smiled, her face radiant as the colors of the sun reflected off her skin. Wo'itsa pulled Kendra closer. The years hadn’t diminished her beauty or her warrior’s heart.
“What are you thinking about, my wife?”
“I’m thinking how glad I am that I took your advice all those years ago and started reconnecting with my ancestors. I can’t imagine a better life than the one I have here with you.”
“You don’t miss your life in the future? It is not every woman who prefers to live in seclusion at the top of a mountain with only her husband for company.”
Kendra laughed. “But look at the view from atop this mountain.” She swept her hand out in front of her, then looked up at him. “And you’re not bad company, either.”
Wo'itsa squeezed her hand, then led her back to their hut. “Our ancestors would be proud. I believe
we have done all the Sky People proud.”
Kendra nodded. “We raised a beautiful daughter while we lived among the Tukudeka.”
“Gentle Sun grew up leading an ordinary life without the burdens of the Sky People, while still fulfilling her destiny as protector of the bloodline that will oversee the sacred mountains into the future.”
When they’d ducked into the protective shelter of their hut, Kendra dug through one of her many pouches, her back turned to him. She glanced over her shoulder. Wo'itsa knelt by the fire, stoking the flames and adding more wood.
“Do you ever wonder if everything is going according to the plan set out by the elders when they created the vessels?”
Wo'itsa glanced up and looked at his wife. “I am confident that the timeline is on the correct course, thanks to Naatoyita’s sacrifice all those years ago.”
He shook his head. “Mukua would never have stopped his relentless need for revenge.”
“It’s sad how he allowed his grief to turn to such hate,” Kendra whispered. “He obviously loved his wife very much to grieve like that, but he could have used those feelings for good, rather than trying to destroy others.”
“At least it has come to an end. The vessels are destroyed, Daniel and Aimee Osborne raised their children, and their grandson will see to the protection of the mountains going into the future.”
Kendra walked up to him. She stood behind him and asked, “What about our grandson?”
Wo'itsa laughed. “He will never realize that without him, you and I might not be together this day. If not for him, who knows if I would have found the vessel to bring you back to me?”
He looked up and held out his hand. When Kendra took it, he pulled her to the ground to sit beside him. She reached for a stick and poked at the fire, staring into the flames.
“I’m sure Naatoyita knew we would be together again,” she said absently. “That’s why he waited for the right opportunity to finally put a stop to his brother.“
Kendra smiled and let out a contented sigh. “Even if our grandson wasn’t aware of it, I’m sure Naatoyita guided him to look out for Daniel, and later, Chase. Naatoyita was teaching him early on to be the successor to the Sky People.”
Wo'itsa’s forehead scrunched. “The blood of the Sky People flows in his veins, but there is no need for a successor after we are gone.”
Kendra held up her hand and opened her palm. Their eyes met after Wo'itsa had finished staring at the snakehead she revealed.
“The original vessel. I thought you destroyed it. You’ve kept it all these years?”
Kendra nodded. “I couldn’t bring myself to destroy it. It’s as if the spirits called to me to keep it alive. But now it needs someone new to safeguard it. I believe it’s time for it to be handed off to someone else.”
He looked at her for a long time. Perhaps she was right. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
Wo'itsa smiled. “Then tomorrow we will take the vessel to our grandson. From this day forth, Elk Runner will be the keeper of the vessel and the legends of the Sky People.”
Thank you for reading Yellowstone Legends. I hope you enjoyed this addition to the Yellowstone Romance Series. Please consider leaving a short review to let other readers know about the book.
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YELLOWSTONE ROMANCE SERIES
(in recommended reading order)
Yellowstone Heart Song (Book 1)
Return to Yellowstone (Sequel to Yellowstone Heart Song -novella)
A Yellowstone Christmas (novella)
Yellowstone Redemption (Book 2)
Yellowstone Reflections (novella)
Yellowstone Love Notes (short story)
A Yellowstone Homecoming (novella)
A Yellowstone Season of Giving (short story)
Yellowstone Awakening (Book 3)
Yellowstone Dawn (Book 4)
Yellowstone Deception (Book 5)
A Yellowstone Promise (novella)
Yellowstone Origins (Book 6)
Yellowstone Legacy (Book 7)
Yellowstone Legends (Book 8)
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Many of my readers have asked for a timeline for both the YELLOWSTONE ROMANCE SERIES as well as the TETON ROMANCE TRILOGY and the WILDERNESS BRIDES SERIES, since the three series are closely related (by setting and time period) and characters from one series tend to make cameo appearances in the other, and storylines have even crossed over.
All three of the above series combined create one big world in and around the Yellowstone and Teton area of the early 1800’s when mountain men and fur trappers roamed the land. Another six-book spin-off is planned for release starting sometime in 2018.
To download a pdf file with a list of all the books currently available in the three series, and their reading order as they fall on the timeline, please click HERE. The file is updated as new books get added.
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About the Author
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Peggy L Henderson is an award-winning, best-selling western historical and time travel romance author of the Yellowstone Romance Series, Second Chances Time Travel Romance Series, Teton Romance Trilogy, and the Blemished Brides and Wilderness Brides Western Historical Romance Series. When she’s not writing about Yellowstone, the Tetons, or the old west, she’s out hiking the trails, spending time with her family and pets, or catching up on much-needed sleep. She is happily married to her high school sweetheart. In April 2018, she and her husband made their permanent home in Yellowstone National Park.
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As always, a special thank you goes out to my editor - Barbara Ouradnik, my proof-reader - Heather Belleguelle, for all their hard work and dedication to make this book the best it can be. Thank you to my beta readers for questioning everything! And, my cover designer - Collin Henderson, for putting up with my endless requests for changes.
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