by tiffy
ʺLetʹs go home, Liza.ʺ His voice was filled with concern, soft with compassion, but deep inside burned a fierce, bright anger. He silently cursed the renegade who had broken his sisterʹs heart. Not bad enough that he endangered her life with those savages as well!
ʺBut what if what if weʹre wrong and Santiago canʹt come. What if heʹs been hurt or killed?ʺ she asked, grasping at straws.
Seeing the desperation in her eyes, Samuel shook his head and sighed in resignation. ʺAll right. Weʹll wait a bit longer.ʺ
Elise smiled through her tears. ʺThank you, Samuel.ʺ
That evening, Governor Alencastre invited his American guests to dinner. As always, he was a gracious host and the food at his table, much to Samuelʹs relief, was far superior to what the rude inn offered.
Elise shoved a piece of roast pork about on her plate as her brother and the governor talked. Nothing she ate these days seemed to agree with her.
ʺWe were delighted by your kind offer of hospitality, your excellency,ʺ Samuel said. Alencastreʹs expression was grave as he replied, ʺI must confess that I had an ulterior motive in extending my invitation, much as I enjoy your company.ʺ
Shelbyʹs guts clenched. He dared not look at his sister, but knew she had laid down her fork and waited as expectantly as he. ʺWhat ulterior motive, Governor Alencastre?ʺ he asked.
ʺI regret to inform you that you must leave at once. I will have your armed escort ready to ride out at first light.ʺ
ʺBut why so suddenly?ʺ Elise asked in a calm voice, although she was far from feeling calm.
ʺI mislike doing it, but it was my duty to verify your whereabouts while you were absent from Santa Fe,ʺ the governor said gravely. ʺAs you know, it is essential under Spanish law that every traveler have a royal permit giving his place of residence and destination whenever he moves about in New Spain.ʺ
ʺBut we were unaware of that, as I already explained,ʺ Elise replied smoothly.
Something more is going on here. Without looking at Samuel, she knew he sensed it, too.
Alencastre made a dismissive gesture with his hand. ʺBe that as it may, you cannot verify where you were, and since the renegade Quinn was seen riding off with the infamous raider Night Wind . . . well, I felt compelled to know if you were in any way connected with that dangerous pair.ʺ
ʺJust because my sister hired Quinn to bring her to Santa Fe does not mean she is the accomplice of a pack of savage Apaches!ʺ Samuelʹs expression was indignant.
Alencastreʹs shrewd blue eyes measured his outraged young guest, then moved to the sister. She was amazingly composed. Too composed. ʺThen you still insist you accepted the hospitality of some peasant sheep farmers you met on your journey here? My men found no one in Santa Rosa who saw you after your first visit there.ʺ He smiled thinly. ʺYou have repaid my trust with lies. Why?ʺ
Samuel prepared to speak, but Elise had far more practice at this sort of game.
ʺWe did not intend any harm, your excellency. Your suspicions regarding my relationship with Santiago Quinn were correct. I fell beneath his spell, and when his friend came to escort me to him, I went. Samuel felt duty bound to go alongunder protest, I assure you.ʺ
ʺThen you were in his Apache friendsʹ stronghold?ʺ Alencastre had expected lies and evasions, but this forthrightness threw him off balance.
ʺYes, we were, but it is days of hard riding from here. Even if Samuel or I wished to, we could not take you there. I may have loved unwisely, Governor Alencastre, but that is all I am guilty of. And my brother is guilty of nothing but loyalty to his sister.ʺ She met the governorʹs measuring gaze head on. This man was an excellent judge of character. She could not cajole or trick him, but had to rely on his innate sense of decency. Please God, donʹt let me be wrong, else Samuel will pay for my sins!
Alencastre sighed. She was telling the truth. No one unused to this wild, trackless terrain could ever retrace hundreds of miles to a hidden mountain village. ʺYou must love him very much,ʺ he said simply.
ʺI do,ʺ Elise replied softly.
ʺBut it is over now,ʺ Samuel added. ʺQuinn sent her away when the village came under attack by Comanches. He told her this life was too dangerous for her. On one thing at least the renegade and I agree.ʺ
Elise could not ask to remain in Santa Fe now, for it would signal to Alencastre that she was still waiting for Santiagoʹs return. If he did come for her, she would be signing his death warrant, but it was far more likely that Samuel was right.
Santiago did not love her and was safe with Ana. She must leave Santa Fe.
Smiling sadly at the governor, she said, ʺYour offer of an escort home is most kind under the circumstances, your excellency. My brother and I shall be pleased to accept.ʺ
Castal studied the hard‐looking corporal. He was a typical career presidial, of mixed blood, with a wind‐blasted face devoid of any expression. His obsidian eyes stared straight ahead at nothing as his superior officer dressed him down.
ʺYou have lost Quinnʹs trail in the mountains. Have you no idea where those accursed Apaches hide?ʺ
ʺNo, sir. The Guadeloupes are very big. Our soldiers, very few. As you ordered, I sent two of my best men to the Comanche. They rode into the mountains with a scouting party, but they have not returned. I do not expect they will,ʺ he added stoically.
With an oath, Castal dismissed the corporal and sank onto the hard oak chair in his small office. God, how he hated the spartan room with its bare, whitewashed walls and cold stone floor. The small fireplace in the corner never seemed to give off sufficient heat in the thin mountain air. He longed for New Orleans with its warm, heavy air, rich foods, and luxurious living.
Of course it took a substantial amount of money to live well, and his family had been in greatly reduced financial straits for some years. He speculated for the hundredth time about whether Elise Louvois had lied about Quinnʹs wealth. If it were true, Juliette could have wed Quinn in spite of his tainted blood, and the Castal family would still be wealthy. And he would not have been forced to spend all these miserable years in the hellish outposts of Spainʹs crumbling empire.
Now his last hope to recoup his fortune seemed doomed to failure. All the plans he and Jamison had made in New Orleans had gone awry. The American interloper Pike was supposed to have created a diplomatic incident and been sent to Governor General Salcedo. Then, when war erupted between Spain and the United States, Castal could have seized power here in Santa Fe with Salcedoʹs help. Their backers in New Orleans were to supply guns and money.
But nothing was going according to schedule. First, that idiot Pike had gotten lost in the mountains to the north, perhaps even killed by savages in the trackless wilderness. Then General Wilkinson had betrayed their cause and ensured peace between Spain and the Americans. Now Castal dared not even remain in New Mexico. He was a hairʹs breadth away from being arrested by the only honest governor in all of the Spanish colonies. He damned Alencastre for listening to those conniving intriguers, Elise Louvois and Samuel Shelby.
Throwing the quill he had been twirling between his fingers onto the desk, he rose, then gazed out the window at the courtyard. Amid all the other activities, a small detachment of soldiers was actually being wasted escorting those treacherous Americans home. He watched as Shelby assisted his sister in mounting her horse. Where had those two vanished to for the past weeks? He would bet they had been in the Apache camp, but Alencastre would not listen to him and seemed to swallow their absurd tale about visiting a rancher to the north.
Castal would have given much to have eavesdropped on the governorʹs conversation with them last night at dinner, but he had been watched by Alencastreʹs men far too closely. His fists clenched in impotent rage. How dearly he wished to close his hands about Elise Louvoisʹ slender throat and squeeze the life from her!
ʺAll else here is lost for me, but I will not be cheated of my revenge. That violet-eyed bitch will pay for her deception.ʺ He stroked his jaw and considered. She had risked much to keep him from kil
ling Quinn. They had journeyed from St.
Louis to Santa Fe together. Damn her false protestationsthey must care for each other. He began to smile coldly as a plan formed in his mind.
Elise and her brother were bound for New Orleans. Quinn was now hopelessly out of his reach in the Apacheria. But if the renegade was indeed under her spell, might he not follow her back to the United States?
Since Raoul himself must resign his commission under threat of Alencastreʹs wrath, how fortunate that he knew Elise Louvoisʹ destination and most likely Santiago Quinnʹs as well.
ʺIt appears we will all meet in New Orleans,ʺ he vowed softly.
The Guadeloupe Mountains, December 1806
Ana awakened with a gasp of horror. It could not be true! But deep in her heart she knew it was. The dream was clear and complete at last. All the mysterious omens now made sense.
ʺWhat have I done?ʺ She sat up and hugged her knees to her chest, huddled in the freezing morning air, heedless of the fire that had gone out during the night.
ʺSomehow I must find the courage to face the Red Eagle and She Who Dreams.ʺ
Then a thought struck her. Surely the old woman had known about her lies to the white woman, yet she had not reproached her. ʺShe knows more than I.
Perhaps there is a reason why she allowed me to send the American away. Oh, Red Eagle, please recover quickly . . . and please forgive me.ʺ
The wound Santiago sustained from the Spanish musketball caused poisoning to set in by the time he reached the stronghold. For days, he languished in a feverish delirium as the old medicine woman worked over him with serene confidence.
She Who Dreams had sent Spybuck to bring Joaquin and Orlena to their greviously ill halfbrother. While She Who Dreams and Orlena worked to save his life, Joaquin and Spybuck remained nearby, worrying. At last the day came when the Red Eagleʹs eyes were once again unclouded by fever. Everyone rejoiced.
She Who Dreams grunted with approval as she removed the remnants of the poultice from Santiagoʹs wound. ʺIt has healed well.ʺ
ʺAnd the fever is gone, thanks to that bitter bark drink you have drowned me with.ʺ
When She Who Dreams departed, he gathered clean clothes and headed to the icy stream to bathe. He needed time alone to plan what he would say to Elise when he reached Santa Fe. They still had resolved nothing about the future of their relationship. She was married.
Desert Flower watched, him walk slowly across the crowded encampment, pausing to admire young Spotted Elkʹs first small bow, then greet several giggling adolescent girls who cast their sheepʹs eyes on the Red Eagleʹs exotically handsome body. He flirted harmlessly with them, using his flashing white smile and bright green eyes to elicit blushes, stammers, and more giggles as they scampered away. He continued his leisurely stroll toward the menʹs bathing grounds. Was I that foolish as a fourteen‐year‐old girl? She knew that Santiago thought of her as his little sister. After what she had done, she prayed he still would. Their relationship was becoming easier to accept now. Perhaps because of the vision.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the tall, muscular body of Spybuck caught her attention. How much he had changed. He looked like a Lipan warrior now, but he was taller and strikingly handsome. Desert Flower was so immersed in guilt, she scarcely took note. She watched the two men greet each other and walk together to the stream.
ʺDesert Flower has been watching you,ʺ Spybuck said to Santiago as they approached the thick willows around the stream.
ʺAre you certain it is not you she watches?ʺ Santiago studied his friendʹs greatly altered appearance. He no longer wore the heavy earrings that had disfigured his earlobes, and his scalplock had been cut to the length of his hair, which now completely covered his head. He wore a simple red headband and a soft buckskin shirt and leggings such as the other Lipan men favored in cold weather.
ʺYou have abandoned your Muskogee heritage for Ana, have you not?ʺ he asked in Lipan, a language in which Spybuck was fast growing fluent.
ʺWhat is between me and Desert Flower will be settled later.ʺ
ʺYou know I do not wish to be your rival, my friend. If there is anything I can do to aid your suit, only ask it.ʺ
ʺDesert Flower has loved you from afar since she was a child. The heart does not choose where this will happen. She has seen how it is between you and Elise. All I can do now is wait, but I am a patient man,ʺ he said with a wry smile. While the men bathed, Desert Flower waited near the Red Eagleʹs lodge, working up her courage for the confession she must make to him. The vision she had while the Red Eagle lay unconscious replayed in her mind. Would it mean danger for him? Perhaps his Lipan family would forever lose him to the white world across the great Father of Waters. Whether her vision boded good or ill, she now accepted that it was not her place to withhold it. Visions were given by the Spirits and she must obey.
ʺHow difficult a life She Who Dreams must have had,ʺ she murmured sadly. Yet the old woman always seemed at peace, serene in spite of her powers. ʺBut she has never abused them or lied to those she loves as I have.ʺ Desert Flower prayed that one day she would earn such serenity.
When she saw him approaching, she stretched out her hand and said in a tight voice, ʺPlease. We must talk and this will not be easy for me.ʺ
Santiago looked at her troubled face and held open the flap to his lodge, then followed her inside. ʺWhat is troubling you, Little Sister?ʺ
ʺI only pray that after I speak of what I have seen . . . and done . . . that you will still wish to call me your Little Sister.ʺ
He looked at her with a premonition of disaster. ʺI asked that you see Elise and her brother escorted safely to Santa Fe. Did you not do so?ʺ His breath caught until she nodded. ʺWhat then?ʺ
ʺI told your woman that you did not wish this dangerous life for her. That you had bidden me to send her there so that she and her brother could return to their own land,ʺ she confessed. Tears choked her voice, but she forced herself to meet his accusing eyes.
ʺDid Elise believe you?ʺ His voice betrayed his doubts. ʺNo, she did not. She said she would wait for you in Santa Fe, but her brother was all too eager to believe. He does not wish her to live in our land.ʺ
ʺWhy have you confessed the truth to me now?ʺ he asked coldly.
ʺAt first I thought the Comanche war party was a sign to me, that you and the white woman were not destined for a life together. At least that was what I told myself, but I not only lied to your woman, I lied to myself. That is unforgivable, and now I know, because my conscience tells me, how grievously I have wronged you.ʺ
Santiago watched the tears overflow her dark eyes and roll unheeded down her cheeks. His guts clenched as he thought of Elise. ʺI must go to Santa Fe at once. I only pray it is not too late.ʺ He reached for the door flap, but her protest stayed him.
ʺWait! There is more. You asked why I have spoken now. I could not in honor let you seek her out in Santa Fe and believe that she deserted you if she is gone.ʺ
ʺHonor? Conscience? Is it not a bit late for that, Ana?ʺ He did not use her Lipan name.
ʺI said that I had convinced myself that the Spirits had spoken, because they have spoken to me before . . . and since.ʺ
He studied her now, realizing that she was truly sorry for her petty jealousy.
Then the thought struck him like a thunderbolt. ʺYou have inherited She Who Dreamsʹ gift. That is why you returned to live with the Lipan.ʺ
ʺYes. And I have betrayed it.ʺ
ʺDoes She Who Dreams know this?ʺ
ʺI have not spoken of my evil deed to her. But I think she knows. I shall tell her, but first I knew I must tell you. I do not even ask your forgiveness. My sin is too great.ʺ ʹʹAna,ʺ Santiago said gently, ʺthere is more, is there not? What has caused you to realize that you have displeased the Spirits?ʺ Her anguish was a palpable thing, filling the lodge, reaching out from her to him.
ʺAfter they left the stronghold, the vision I had been having in bits and pieces returne
d. Only this time it was whole and clear.ʺ
She took a deep breath. ʺThe American woman carries your child.ʺ
The gourd dropped from his nerveless fingers. ʺI see why you realized your error,ʺ he said. Awe and shock washed over him, oddly mixed together. He thought about Elise conceiving his child. Of course it was possible. They had been lovers for months.
ʺWhat else do you know?ʺ he asked Ana.
ʺI have seen some troubling things. She is already married.ʺ
ʺI know. She told me.ʺ
Ana could see the pain in his eyes as he admitted the fact. ʺDid she also tell you the man is unspeakably evil? There are things so dark, so unimaginable that those images do not come clearly to me, but I sense that he has hurt herand I know that he will die.ʺ
ʺWill I kill him?ʺ His hands were balled tightly into fists, and every muscle in his body tensed.
ʺThe dream does not tell me thatonly that he will die. I feel it is your destiny to follow her back to her land. The babe will be born there.ʺ
ʺDoes the dream tell you if she loves me?ʺ Or if she forgives me?
ʺIt tells me that you love her.ʺ
ʺYou grow as enigmatic as your mentor,ʺ he said in frustration.
Ana smiled, sadly. ʺMy mentor has often said we are told only that which we need to know.ʺ
ʺI already know I love her,ʺ he snapped. ʺNow you have admitted it to yourself.
That is a beginning. Next you must convince her.ʺ
He regarded her lovely, tear‐streaked face, then took her chin in his hand and raised it until their eyes met. ʺLittle Sister, you have done penance enough, I think. Perhaps it was fated that things work out this way. With Castal in Santa Fe, it may have been safer for Elise to return to her country.ʺ
A small flicker of hope flashed into her tearreddened eyes. ʺCan you forgive me, my brother?ʺ
His fingertips touched the silvery droplets on her cheek. ʺYes, Ana, I forgive you.
Perhaps now that you know I will always be your brother, you will recognize some other things.ʺ
She looked at him for a moment, then understood. ʺYou are thinking of Spybuck.ʺ