Rider on Fire

by Sharon Sala

  She had walked all the way to the end of the hall and was about to turn the corner when she was awash in cold air. The faint sound of rattles sent her grabbing on to the handrail for fear another vision was imminent and that she might fall. But the world didn’t shift and the hallway didn’t disappear. And when she looked up, she realized she was standing beneath an air conditioner vent.

  Disgusted with herself for jumping to conclusions, she continued her walk, right past the half-open doorway where Miguel Garcia lay watching television. He didn’t see her. She didn’t see him, and even if she had, wouldn’t have recognized him as anyone except the man she’d seen getting hit. Without his mustache and hair, he was a stranger.

  By the time she circled the hall and was back to her room, she was shaky. She stretched out on her bed and closed her eyes, and when she next woke, Adam was standing beside her bed.

  “Hey, pretty lady,” he said softly, and kissed her on the cheek.

  She smiled and then turned her face just enough so that the kiss settled on her lips instead.

  “Mmm, good,” she said softly, when he pulled away. “I am so ready to go, but there’s some paperwork that—”

  “Already tended to,” he said. “All you need is the wheelchair, and that’s coming up.”

  “Then we can go?”

  “Yes, honey, we can go.”

  “Did you see Dad?” Sonora asked.

  “Only through a window. He’s not allowed visitors, remember?”

  She nodded. “Did he see you?”

  “Yes. He waved … once for me, once for you.”

  A bright smile spread across her face. “He did that?” she asked.

  “Yes, baby … he did that.”

  After that, Sonora was satisfied and within minutes, they were gone from the floor.

  The trip home wore Sonora out. Adam had reclined her seat in the truck and within an hour of leaving Tulsa, she was sound asleep. She slept all the way to Adam’s home, then managed to get inside before she crawled into bed again. Adam helped her off with her clothes, and once she was comfortable, he pulled the covers up over her shoulders, pulled down the shades at the windows, and left her alone so that she could sleep.

  The phone rang several times during the rest of the day, but Sonora barely heard it. Adam was fielding requests from some of his patients, wanting everything from his advice to some kind of healing. Because he wouldn’t leave Sonora alone, he dispensed advice over the phone and requested the sick to come to him. There was a room in his house that he had set aside for times such as this, and so he waited as they came and went.

  And so the day went, and each ensuing day afterward until Sonora was almost one hundred percent back to her old self and Adam wasn’t so concerned about leaving her on her own from time to time.

  Sonora talked on the phone to her father on a daily basis, and with each passing day it became evident that Franklin Blue Cat had a new lease on life.

  It seemed, to Sonora, that the world was, once again, spinning properly on its axis, and whatever danger that had once awaited her was gone. In her mind, she spun several scenarios, all of which had Miguel Garcia either dead or on the run. She hadn’t thought past Franklin coming home from the hospital and had told Mynton that she was considering an early retirement. He was understanding, but regretted her decision and kept telling her not to make any hasty decisions.

  However, it was Adam’s constant and faithful presence in her life, and the family unit that he and Franklin represented, that appealed to her most. Bottom line, she was in love with Adam Two Eagles and if there was a snowball’s chance in hell that he returned the feelings enough to keep her around for the rest of her life, she wasn’t going anywhere.

  * * *

  Miguel was being dismissed. Days earlier, when his memory had returned, he’d had the foresight to call the used car dealer. The salesperson was relieved to hear Miguel’s voice, assured him that they still wanted to buy his car, and that the money they had agreed upon earlier was still good. He’d come to the hospital that same day with the luggage that had been in Miguel’s car, the papers Miguel needed to sign, and a cashier’s check for the car that he’d sold. Now, he had just enough money from selling his car to pay for his hospital stay, which left him flat broke but upright and still determined to exact revenge.

  The hell of it was, he had millions in a Mexican bank and even more in an offshore bank in the Cayman Islands. Any money he might request to be transferred from the Mexican bank would certainly pinpoint his presence to the authorities. But there was a chance that they didn’t know about the Cayman accounts and he needed money. It was a risk he was going to have to take.

  Even though he felt weak and shaky, he was on his own. He took a cab to a motel, got a room and dumped off his luggage, then headed for one of the larger downtown banks.

  He filled out the necessary paperwork to access a transfer to the new account he’d just opened, and asked how long it would take.

  The banker, being the sympathetic man that he was, had already learned of Miguel’s plight. He remembered hearing on the news of the incident where Miguel had been hurt, so he did all he could to facilitate a quick response. Within twenty minutes of a phone call, then a corroborating fax with the proper account numbers, over half a million dollars had been transferred into Miguel’s new account.

  He was all smiles and charm as he withdrew a hundred thousand with the explanation that he would be buying a new vehicle and didn’t want to run short, then left the bank. He hailed another cab, went back to his motel, and slept for the better part of eleven hours. When he woke up, he was starving and it was three o’clock in the morning.

  He called a cab, which took him to an all-night diner. He ate ravenously, hailed another cab back to the motel, and slept until after ten the next morning. It was then that he ventured out to the car dealers, paid cash for a brand new car and drove off the lot feeling much better about himself.

  After a few wrong turns, he found his way to the Tulsa library, parked and went in. Playing upon the sympathy of a middle-aged female librarian who obviously viewed his accent as romantic, she helped him get online and straight to a Web site devoted to wood carver and sculptor, Franklin Blue Cat, which included the area in which he lived, as well as a business number.

  He jotted them down and left while the librarian was busy tending to someone else, stopped to buy gas and an Oklahoma road map, then went back to his motel.

  He studied the map for the better part of the day, located the Kiamichi mountains and the town nearest where Franklin Blue Cat supposedly lived, and then took a long nap. He was conserving energy for the day when revenge would be his.

  He was there for two days before he decided it was time to make his move. He longed for his native Mexico, but knew that as long as Emilio Rojas lived, he could never go home. However, there was always the Caymans. A large part of his money was there, and once in residence, he could have his account in the Mexican bank transferred, as well. Yes, it was a plan that suited him, and he longed to begin his new life. But there was a piece of his old one that had yet to be dealt with. Once he knew that Sonora Jordan was as dead as his Juanito, then he would start over and not a day before.

  * * *

  It was a hundred and three degrees in the shade. Sonora knew because she could see the reading on the outdoor thermometer Adam had hung on the porch. It was cool in the house, but confining, and Sonora itched to be outside, doing something. She felt as if she was in hiding, even though most of her indoor activities had been in place because of the need for rest and healing, rather than a reluctance to show herself.

  Adam had gone to visit an elderly woman who wanted him to give her a potion to get a man for her granddaughter, who had been living with her for five years. She told Adam that her granddaughter was lazy and getting fat and if she didn’t find a man and get married soon, no one would have her.

  Adam had stifled a grin and told her that he would certainly stop by on his way i
nto town. She didn’t know it and he wasn’t going to tell her as yet, but he wasn’t going to pretend, like some healers he knew of, that there was such a thing that could be concocted. What it amounted to was a young woman with no self-confidence and a grandmother who wanted her little house back to herself.

  He’d left Sonora with the number to his cell phone and a promise of bringing home some ice cream along with the groceries. He’d gone so far in planning ahead as to having an ice chest in the truck to keep the refrigerated and frozen items from spoiling on the way home.

  Sonora thought of the shaded creek below the house and the cool running water. It wouldn’t be much over her ankles, but it was out of the house and something different to do. Excited now that she had a plan, she went to change into some shorts instead of the jeans she was wearing, and tennis shoes instead of bare feet. She eyed the small, healed wound where the bone marrow had been removed. There was no more pain or stiffness at the site, and deemed it to be fit. She thought about taking her cell phone, then discarded the notion, left Adam a note telling him where she’d gone, and then hurried out the back door.

  The heat was like a slap in the face. There was a moment when she thought about changing her mind and going back into the house, but the creek wasn’t far and the thought of walking barefoot in the water was too enticing to ignore.

  A few minutes later she was on the bank above the creek. She saw the sweat lodge but left it alone. It had nothing to do with her and she didn’t want to intrude in a place where she didn’t belong.

  She looked down at the creek, and as she’d expected, the water was running free and clear. From where she was standing, she could see a crawdad as well as a couple of small frogs moving about in the water below. The trees on both sides of the bank leaned slightly toward the water, their branches forming an arch above it. Pleased with herself for thinking of this, she found a way down that wasn’t too steep, and once on the narrow shore, took off her shoes and stepped in. Compared to the temperature of the day, the water was cold, but it felt wonderful.

  There were small rocks along the sandy bottom that had long ago lost their jagged edges by the constant flow of sand and water. A squirrel immediately voiced its disgust at her unexpected appearance and promptly dropped a couple of acorns near where she was walking, as if to scare her away. She looked up just in time to see a little red squirrel disappearing into the upper branches.

  “Everyone’s a critic,” she said, and proceeded to wade along the creek bed.

  She came upon a small, deep pool about three feet in diameter and paused to look down. As she did, a tiny green snake that had been lying on some nearby rocks made a quick getaway by slithering off into some leaves.

  Sonora felt a moment of recognition with the little snake as she thought of the one on her back. In a moment of abandon, she stripped off her shirt and shorts, leaving her in nothing but a pair of bikini panties, then folded them up and left them lying on a pair of flat rocks at the edge of the shore. She checked her wound again to make sure it was not getting dirty or wet, and then straightened.

  The sway of hair hanging down her back and the air on her body was a sensual experience she hadn’t expected. But for the narrow strip of turquoise silk that passed for underwear, she was naked as the day she’d been born, and loving it.

  A pair of hummingbirds darted past her line of vision on their way up from the creek where they’d been getting a drink. She watched until they reached the top of the bank, then began drinking nectar from the red-orange trumpet flowers hanging from their vines among the trees. For a brief, fanciful moment, she could almost envision what life had been like for her people many, many, years ago, when their only concerns had been finding food and shelter from one season to the next.

  She lost all track of time down in her little Eden, and was crouched down and staring into a round hole in the creek bank when she heard a twig snap on the banks above her.

  Startled, she straightened, and for the first time, realized the danger of being down here alone and naked.

  “Who’s there?” she called out.

  At that point, Adam appeared on the bank above. He’d been going to tease her for slipping off to the creek like a child, but when he saw her, the words died on his lips. There wasn’t one childlike thing about the woman standing in the water.

  She was golden-brown all over, with curves that could make a man weep. She was holding her hands over her breasts until she saw it was him. At that point she dropped them to wave a hello and he almost fell into the creek.

  “You’re a little overdressed,” Sonora said, and then laughed softly, as if she knew a secret he didn’t know.

  “Yes, I can see that,” he said, and then jumped from the bank down to the shore without bothering to find a good place to descend.

  “Don’t hurry on my account,” Sonora said, and grinned.

  But the smile slid off her face when Adam began to undress.

  “Uh …”

  He didn’t take his gaze from her face as he came out of his shirt, pants and shoes. Unlike her, he didn’t stop with the underwear. Before she knew what was happening, he was completely nude.

  His long brown body and hair dark as night made him look like a savage, then her gaze shifted to his face. She took a deep breath, and then sighed.

  “You are so beautiful,” she said softly. “Did you know that?”

  He walked into the water and came toward her.

  Her eyes widened as she realized his intent. She laughed as she spun, and started to run, splashing diamondlike droplets of water as she went.

  Adam hesitated only once when she turned her back. He saw the snake. It certainly wasn’t the first time he’d seen her naked with the tattoo completely revealed, but it never failed to make his heart skip a beat. But after that, the hesitation was brief as he bolted after her.

  He caught her in three strides, spun her around and yanked her close against his chest.

  “You’re supposed to be recuperating.”

  She leaned her head back against his forearm and stared straight into his eyes. She could feel every curve and muscle in his body, as well as his breath against her face. His eyes were dark and glittering with a warning she didn’t mistake.

  “Recuperating?” she repeated.

  He nodded.

  She slid her arms up around his neck. “So heal me,” she challenged.

  Before she knew what was happening, he had stripped the bit of silk from her hips, lifted her off her feet, and with his hands under her backside to guide the way, lowered her down onto his erection.

  Sonora moaned beneath her breath as he slowly filled her, then closed her eyes.

  “Does this hurt you?” he asked.

  “Lord, no,” Sonora said.

  “Then open your eyes and know the man who loves you.”

  Sonora did as he asked, locked her legs around his waist, and her arms around his neck, then held on as he took her for a ride.

  At that point, everything seemed to happen in moments of slow motion.

  A ray of sunlight coming down through an opening in the limbs that settled on the crown of his head.

  The sound of flesh against flesh as Adam took her where they stood.

  Droplets of water on Adam’s face mingling with tiny beads of sweat.

  His nostrils flaring.

  Her breasts pressed against his chest as the ache between her legs blossomed, then exploded in a blinding white light of passion.

  As she was coming down from the adrenaline rush of her climax, she felt Adam shudder. Before she knew what was happening, his hold on her tightened. One more thrust, then another and he suddenly threw back his head and let go with a groan.

  It echoed up and down the creek bed, startling a small fox out of hiding and sending a pair of doves flying from the branches of a tree above them.

  As the last bird took flight from the creek, Adam gently set her back down, then took his hands and proceeded to wash them both from the clear, r
unning water of the little creek.

  Sonora steadied herself by putting both hands on his shoulders as he knelt at her feet, washing her gently with water he cupped in his hands.

  His hair was silky to the touch, his shoulders broad and strong. She said his name, just to hear it from her lips.

  “Adam.”

  He paused, then looked up.

  “I think there’s something about me you should know,” she said.

  He straightened, then waited.

  “I’m going to tell you something that I’ve never told another man. Ever.”

  His heart thudded once out of rhythm.

  “I’m in love with you,” she said. “And it scares me to death.”

  Relief hit him like a fist to the gut. He combed his fingers through her hair, then pulled her to him, his voice husky and full of emotion.

  “I had begun to fear I would never hear those words from your lips. I love you, back, Sonora, more than you can imagine. I want to know that I will see your smile each morning and feel your hands upon me every night. I can’t even face the thought of a life without you.”

  “You don’t have to,” Sonora said, and gave herself up to his kiss.

  Adam held her there, in the middle of the creek with the water running cool on their feet and the trees shading their bodies from the sun, and knew that for the rest of his life, he would forever associate this place with her.

  Finally, he urged her out of the water, helped her dress, then dressed himself. He showed her an easy way up from the creek, then together they walked back to the house.

  Sonora was so happy and at peace that she didn’t even heed the faint sound of running horses, or the distant gourd rattles in the back of her mind. She was too full of Adam and the love they’d just professed.

  * * *

  Miguel had been up and down every road within a fifteen mile radius of Franklin Blue Cat’s home and gallery, and that was after realizing that no one was home. He cursed himself for not thinking to check at the hospital before he left to see if anyone knew who’d taken Sonora Jordan home. It was obvious she was not in residence at her father’s home, but considering the fact that she’d been part of some transplant procedure, he was assuming she might have needed aftercare. At that point, he remembered the Native American man she’d been with, and the dark blue Ford truck he’d been driving and figured if he could find that man, he might find Sonora.