by Jenna Kernan
“Skylar Fox.”
“Ah, a pleasure. And who is your companion?”
Lucie dismounted unassisted and stalked up to the officer like the wildcat he knew she could be. Sky found himself smiling.
“I am Lucie West.”
“West? Of course you are. But we didn’t expect you. Your brother is David, isn’t he?” She nodded.
“But he didn’t say a word.”
“He doesn’t expect me. I am here to see my husband.”
The officer’s eyebrows rose. He scanned the gathering of off-duty soldiers who were within earshot, but all took pains not to catch their commander’s eye.
“Is that so? He is among my men?”
Lucie shook her head and her braids thumped against her back. “He is in your jail.”
He laughed and lifted a hand in protest. “Madam, I can assure you that all I have in my jail are a few Sioux Indians and I hardly think…” He stared at Lucie’s chin.
Lucie did not blink or look away.
“Husband, did you say?” His brow wrinkled in confusion.
“Eagle Dancer. You are holding him, are you not?”
“I am. He is your husband?” He motioned to an en listed man. “Corporal, fetch David West, on the double.”
Lucie persisted. “What crime has he committed?”
The man’s face brightened. “There has been a murder.”
“Of the truant officer from Sage River. Yes, I know. I was a matron there. Is Eagle Dancer charged with the crime?”
“We are leveraging—”
“So you are holding innocent men as hostages.”
Now his face reminded Sky of the Artist’s Paintbrush flower that sprinkled the prairie in the late summer.
“Detainees.” Reilly could no longer meet her eyes and Sky marked the win in Lucie’s favor.
“May I see him?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “I doubt that will be possible.”
“I see. Where is your telegraph office?”
His eyes narrowed. “Why would that interest you?”
“Because, sir, I have several contacts, ones who have written about my travails as a captive, who would be very much interested in this story, both authors and members of the press. Also I will telegraph my father, who was honored to have President Hayes dine in our home during his campaign. They quite hit it off, you see, and not only because my father helped him win the election.”
The man’s face now matched the color of the underbelly of a bull frog. “I’m quite familiar with your family’s connections. They won your brother this commission, I believe. But I wonder if you really know what you are playing at, Miss West.”
Lucie stared imperiously at him. “Well, you do still work for the president, I presume?”
Reilly’s brows dropped low over his eyes. “You are making threats, madam. I would not drop names unless you plan to use them.”
“Have you ever seen a prairie fire, sir? Because I assure you it is nothing compared to the storm I will rain down upon you and this fort.”
The courtyard was silent now except for the ring of a blacksmith’s hammer.
The two combatants faced off. Sky wondered how Lucie could ever have thought herself a coward. The woman was magnificent. Sky was glad he did not have to count her as an enemy.
He thought about last night and then reconsidered, his heart heavy. He had hurt her, though that was never his intention.
Reilly turned toward the man beside him and barked an order. “Take Mrs…. Mrs. Dancer to see her husband.” He eyed Sky. “And just her. And call me when you find her brother. Perhaps he can take charge of her.”
With that he spun on his heel and retreated back into his office. Did anyone but Sky see Lucie’s shoulders sag?
“You’ll wait?” she asked.
Sky smiled and nodded. She captured a large breath, straightened her spine and marched after the escorting officer.
Lucie’s step did not falter until she was past the inner chamber of the stockade and approaching the solid door set with three vertical iron bars, which included one small window the size of a bible. She had expected to have Sky beside her when she faced Eagle Dancer once more. She had not realized how much she depended on his quiet protection until it was taken from her. And she’d thrown it away with her own reckless stupidity.
“He’s in here, missus, with two other chiefs—Iron Bear and Joy Cat.”
Joy Cat? The head man from the Bitterroot people, the one whose son Sky had accidentally shot?
“In there.” The soldier pointed to the square hole high in the door.
“It’s dark.”
“There’s no window but that one.”
Lucie’s heart sank. How long had they been trapped in this dank, airless crypt? She glared at her escorts and the soldiers shifted uncomfortably. But did not lower their rifles.
“Well?” she said. “Open it.”
It pleased her that her voice did not reveal the tremors that now shook her as the doubt and uncertainty still sloshed about inside her like water in a pail. She straightened, determined to not show that to these guards.
The man who held the keys stepped forward and Lucie noted he had only a soft covering of down on his chin. “Can’t. Just speak though the bars.”
She scowled but then turned and stepped to the opening. He can’t do anything to you. He’s locked up. Still her fingers trembled until she gripped the cold iron bars.
Lucie held down the sudden dread. She had not faced Eagle Dancer since the day he set her in that tipi and told her not to move.
He has no power over you now.
She pressed her face to the bars, peering inside. Gradually her eyes adjusted to the gloom and she saw two of the men staring at her. She remembered Iron Bear, now head man of the Village-at-the-End, although he now had hair more gray than black, but she did not know the second. This must be Joy Cat. Yes, he had the lined face and the weary eyes of a man who had known much grief.
Both men rose, their eyes wide in astonishment. The third figure remained huddled in a ball, wrapped in a blanket.
Something was wrong.
The cramping in her stomach changed from trepidation to worry. She switched to Lakota. “Husband, I have come.”
The hunched figure moved. He turned to her now. For a moment she did not recognize him. His face was drawn, pale and covered with tiny beads of sweat. But on seeing her, his smile appeared, transforming his features. She reconciled this stranger with her memories of Eagle Dancer. The years and the losses had been unkind. Whatever her wounds, his were greater and still he smiled.
His gladness gave way to a fit of coughing. His face turned purple and he used a dirty bandanna to cover his mouth. She saw the fabric was crimson with blood. The sound was a wet, rasping sound that reminded her of a man spewing water from his lungs.
She turned to the officer. “How long has he been like this?”
“I don’t know, ma’am.”
“Fetch your doctor.”
He didn’t move.
She motioned for him to go. “Quick, now.”
He took a step to obey and then hesitated. “I can’t leave you without permission. I have to ask the captain.”
“Then do it.”
The man jogged off. Since reaching the fort Lucie had been intentionally acting exactly like her mother, all bluster and bluff, and it seemed to be working.
Eagle Dancer had finally stopped coughing as he shuffled to the door. He reached for her with one hand, keeping the other clutched tightly around the blanket at his throat.
“Sunshine,” he whispered.
His hand covered hers. The heat of his skin told her immediately he had a high fever.
He gazed from the darkness like a wolf in his den, his eyes glassy from the illness, but his smile was joyful.
“My prayers are answered. I have seen you once more.”
She did not like the tone of his voice. It had the ring of a man preparing to leave this w
orld.
Lucie hardened herself. “I did not come all this way to bury you. I have sent for the doctor.”
“It is the white man’s coughing sickness.”
Consumption, she realized. Many of the students had this, as well. It spread quickly among the Sioux and weakened the lungs.
He squeezed her hands. “Sky Fox found you?”
She nodded, feeling a pulsing of shame at Sky’s rejection of her. Lucie pressed back her emotions, walling them away to look at another day. What had passed between them had nothing to do with Eagle Dancer. She would do her best to keep Eagle Dancer alive to repay her debt. And then she would secure her freedom and say goodbye.
“He told me of the trouble here.”
“I am happy for any trouble that brings you back to me.”
“Rest now, until the doctor comes.”
The doctor did indeed come and seemed a sincere young man. He was permitted inside the cell, but Lucie was not. She watched as he listened to Eagle Dancer’s heart and took his pulse. He examined the bloody rag and confirmed what Lucie had known.
“But, in addition to consumption, I am afraid he has also contracted pneumonia. With his lungs already weakened, well, the prognosis is not good.”
“Can you do anything?”
“I’ll recommend he be moved to the hospital.”
“No, allowed to recover at home.”
“I’m afraid he needs real medication, not smoke and eagle feathers.”
Lucie did not inform the good doctor that many of the healers used medicinal treatments that were effective and unknown by whites because she knew from experience the effort was futile. She stepped aside as he exited the cell and tried to reassure him.
“I can administer any treatment you might deem proper.”
“Are you trained as a nurse?”
Lucie looked him in the eye and lied. It was a skill she had perfected during her captivity and one that she could manage as smoothly as a bird taking flight.
“Yes, I am.”
The man in charge locked the door and Eagle Dancer faced her through the small opening, filling her heart with pity.
The army doctor buckled his medical bag. “I’ll speak to the commander.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Eagle Dancer held her wrist. She glanced down at the strong fingers imprisoning her and skin prickled. “You have to let me go.”
“Not again.” His expression turned threatening.
She recognized that look. It was how he appeared to her every time she had begged him to return her to her mother, take her to the fort or deliver her to the soldiers—grim, determined. Always he had refused to release her and nothing had changed. Her sympathy died and she lowered her chin.
He can’t keep me this time.
She returned the look of determination and pulled his hand from her. Then she turned her back and followed the doctor down the corridor and into the receiving room. She found Sky outside. He paused his pacing at the sight of her. His worried eyes pinned her and she shook her head, offering no reassurance.
“He is very ill and it is cold and dank in there.”
Sky accompanied her as she waited for the commander. The doctor was speaking to Major Reilly. She and Sky were instructed to wait in the outer office.
She had barely taken her seat when the entrance crashed open, causing the young corporal seated at the desk to bolt to his feet. And Sky, quicker and more experienced, had Lucie behind him and his knife drawn at the potential threat.
Lucie peeked around Sky. For an instant she did not recognize the young captain. His sideburns were so thick and his face so dour. But when his eyes met hers she knew.
She sprang forward to greet her little brother. “David!”
Lucie stretched her arms wide. But her little brother made no move in her direction. Instead he turned toward the corporal. “Get out.”
The man scurried off, closing the door behind him.
“David?” Lucie felt the coiling apprehension in her belly. His scornful expression was familiar, but she had never witnessed it from a member of her family before. Even so, his look of disapproval was clear enough.
“Who the blazes is that?” said David, motioning his head at Sky, who had sheathed his knife.
“This is Skylar Fox, the man who escorted me here from Minnesota.”
David’s brows sank lower still. “Will you excuse us, Mr. Fox?”
Her brother had fairly spat the words between clenched teeth. Lucie had never seen him so angry. Sky looked at her and she nodded her consent. Sky walked toward David, forcing her brother to step aside to let him pass. It was a clear act of dominance that had Lucie scowling at both of them.
Sky paused in the doorway. “Call if you need me.”
She nodded her understanding. As the door clicked shut, she turned her attention to David.
“That was very rude,” she said.
“Rude?” His laugh was harsh and humorless. “You come here, to my post, and tell my superior officer that you married the animal who held you captive. What the devil are you playing at?”
“You don’t understand.”
“I can see that.” He dragged off his hat and raked his hand through his thick red hair. “And you clearly don’t understand. Otherwise why would you make me a laughingstock among my men? How am I to keep order when they are snickering? I’m tired as hell of defending you, do you know that?”
Lucie lowered her head. She feared this would happen. That by trying to help Eagle Dancer, she would hurt her brother.
“So I ask you,” he continued, “have you lost your damned mind? What would make you tell such a lie?”
“But it’s true.”
His face turned pink as cooked salmon. “What!”
“I married him. I had to—”
“Don’t say another word. When they brought him in here, it took every ounce of restraint I had not to shoot the bastard who befouled my own sister. And now…I want to hang him and then shoot him.”
“You have to help me get him out.”
He turned his back. “Damned if I will.” He rounded on her. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”
Lucie felt her calm unwinding. The shock at his indignation gave rise to a surging anger of her own. “What business is it of yours? It happened before you were even born.”
“You’re making a spectacle of yourself.”
“Yes, I do, everywhere I go. But I never expected my own brother to condemn me.”
“You’ve embarrassed me, jeopardized my promotion.”
Lucie’s throat began to burn and she knew the tears were imminent. Her voice, what was left of it, emerged as a hoarse whisper. “David, I’m sorry. I would have died without him. He kept me alive. I have to do this.”
“He ruined you for decent men. He’s the very reason you’re a spinster. My God, Lucie, he raped you.”
Her head bowed. She knew all that. “He married me with my consent.”
David’s jaw dropped. If she lived to be a hundred, she hoped never to see that look of disillusionment again. Then his features turned hard.
“I’ll kill him.” He turned toward the door and Lucie grabbed his arm. She shook him off as his fury turned on her. “How could you?”
Lucie clenched her numb fingers into a fist. “David, please. You have to help me.”
“If you mean help you get home, I shall most certainly do so. But I will do everything in my power to see Eagle Dancer faces the justice he deserves.”
Lucie had never felt so alone in her life. In the past, even in her darkest times, she always had the love and support of her family. But now…what if her parents felt the same way? What if they also were ashamed by what she was trying to do? She knew it was right, but what would this decision cost her?
The door to the inner chamber opened and the doctor stood in the entrance.
“The commander will see you now, Miss West.”
Lucie nodded, trying to gather in he
r pain. But David seized her arm in a hold that was commanding and painful. Her eyes flashed to him. This little boy, whose nappies she had changed and whose nose she had wiped, had the gall to try to bully her?
“My sister has made a mistake, sir. She’s changed her mind. I’ll take charge of her.”
“Very good, Captain.” He tipped his hat to her in dismissal. “Miss West.”
Lucie watched him retreat inside the office. David was going to make her choose between her family and her duty. Lucie tugged her arm free.
“Wait.”
The doctor turned, his brow quirked. She glared at her brother, who scowled back.
“Lucie, don’t. I’m warning you.”
“David, I will not take orders from you. I’m sorry you disapprove, but do not presume to speak for me again.”
He spun on his heels and stormed off.
Lucie watched him go and felt a little piece of her heart break away with his parting.
Then she turned and followed the fort physician into the commander’s office. There, Lucie negotiated to have all three men released to allow the head men to investigate the murder and see to their people. The doctor set the lynch pin when he mentioned that, in the absence of the head men’s leadership, the whiskey-ranches just beyond the reservation’s border were doing a bumper business. Thus far the young men, idle and bored, were only trading their food rations for alcohol.
“But I’m fairly certain, Captain, that a territory filled with drunken Indians is more of a threat than these three men.”
“Damned whiskey-ranches spring up as fast as we close them down,” said Reilly.
“And we can’t send them off now because they married squaws. Lots of desperate men willing to take on a squaw or two for the acreage now.”
Lucie felt her heart ice. Was that why Sky wanted to wed Joy Cat’s daughters? She had read about the offer of grants for each Indian, man or woman, who would farm the land. But it seemed her people had found a way to exploit even this.
Major Reilly lowered his eyebrows. “I still think holding their leaders is the best way to get our man. Don’t fool yourself, doc. They know exactly who killed Carr. Wait until I get those arrows, then we’ll see.”
Lucie saw her chance slipping away. So she gave him something else to chew on. “I wonder what the braves at the Great Sioux Reservations will do if their chief dies in your fort?”