Silken Savage

by Catherine Hart

  “Could you get my horse for me without anyone noticing, Jeremy?” she asked one day.

  “You’re going away,” he stated solemnly, swallowing a lump in his throat.

  “Yes, I must return to my husband and his people,” Tanya replied truthfully. “You understand this, don’t you? Will you help me?”

  Jeremy nodded. “What do you want me to do? When are you going?”

  “Tonight, if possible, after everyone else is asleep. I need you to get Wheat for me, and hide him in the woods near the house. No one must guess what I am planning.”

  “Not even Missy?” he questioned.

  “Not until I am gone. I don’t want Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle George to feel she has betrayed their trust just when they are starting to love one another. Missy needs their love and deserves a good home.”

  “What about me?” he queried sadly.

  “You, my friend, they have always loved. Besides, you are younger and can be forgiven for your mistakes more readily. Are you willing to risk it? If not, I’ll have to do it on my own.”

  “I’ll help,” he assured her.

  Jeremy performed above and beyond the call of duty. That evening he slipped out unnoticed and stole Tanya’s horse for her, bridle, saddle, and all. He hid Wheat in a stand of trees not far from the house. Then he scavenged food and water from the kitchen, tying the sack to Wheat’s saddle. He retrieved extra blankets from the house and loaded them onto Wheat’s back.

  Late that night, Tanya tiptoed down the dark halls of the sleeping house, Mark strapped to her back in his cradleboard, Hunter in her arms. “Thank goodness Cheyenne children are taught not to cry,” she thought to herself.

  Her knife at her waist, her bow and quiver across her shoulder, she followed Jeremy to where he had hid her horse.

  Mounted and ready to leave, Tanya bent to shake Jeremy’s hand in solemn farewell. “Thank you, Jeremy. You are a true friend, and I shall tell Panther of your loyalty. We shall both be eternally grateful to you.”

  “I’ll miss you,” he gulped.

  “Perhaps we’ll meet again someday.” Then she added, “Don’t forget to cover our tracks. I need all the advantages I can get.”

  “Goodbye,” he murmured.

  “Goodbye, Jeremy. Please try to explain to the others that my leaving does not mean I do not love them.”

  “Even Jeffrey?” Jeremy grinned cheekily.

  “No, you imp!” Tanya giggled. “Jeffreyyou can tell to go to the devil!”

  “I’ll be sure to tell him.”

  “Not until I’ve been missed. Cover for me as long as you can.”

  “I promise. Good luck.”

  “I’ll need all I can get, I’m sure. Goodbye, Jeremy.” With that, she was gone, blending into the shadows of the night.

  Jeremy carefully obliterated their tracks. Awaking early the next morning, he watched carefully that no one approached Tanya’s room. At the appropriate opportunity, he stated that Tanya did not want breakfast and was busy with the boys in her room. He even took Hunter’s breakfast upstairs, saying he was going to help feed him, and play with him there. No one questioned him, as he had done it on other occasions.

  At noon, Jeffrey arrived in time for lunch. It was then that Jeremy’s ploy began to fail. His explanation that Tanya did not want any lunch met with stiff opposition. Told to fetch her, he returned to say she refused to come down.

  Edward’s patience snapped. He tromped upstairs to have words with his daughter, leaving a quaking Jeremy below. Never had Jeremy wished more that he could make himself invisible, but he bravely awaited the explosion he knew was coming.

  Edward returned shortly, his face white and strained. “She’s gone! All her things are gone. She’s taken the boys with her.”

  He turned hurt, resentful eyes on Jeremy. “You helped her, didn’t you?” For once he did not bellow, but to Jeremy this was worse.

  Jeremy gulped and nodded. He got no chance to explain, as everyone began to talk at once.

  Sarah began to cry, as did Melissa, and Elizabeth was hard put to soothe her. George sat silently, puffing on his pipe, a concerned frown creasing his brow. Only Julie seemed pleased by the news, a triumphant, satisfied smile on her face, which she quickly hid — but not before Jeremy had witnessed it.

  Jeffrey was outraged. Immediately he grabbed Jeremy roughly by the arms, shaking the boy until his teeth rattled. “Damn you!” he shouted. “How dare you interfere! I should break your little neck! Do you know what you’ve done?”

  His irate tirade drew the attention of the others. “Release the boy immediately! Release him, I say!” Sarah flew to Jeremy’s defense.

  Even as she spoke, Edward was prying Jeffrey’s fingers from Jeremy’s arms. “It’s done! Let him go,” he ordered in a defeated tone.

  Jeremy stood rooted to the floor, shaken and frightened, but determined to uphold Tanya’s right to leave.

  Sarah knelt before him, taking his hands in hers, looking up at him with tearful eyes. Her calm, sweet voice trembling, she asked, “Why, Jeremy? Why?”

  Biting his lip, Jeremy gathered his courage. “She needed to go,” he stated simply. “She told me to tell you her leaving doesn’t mean she does not love you. She just had to go.”

  A sob escaped Sarah’s throat as tears streamed down her face.

  Glaring up at Jeffrey, hating him more than ever, Jeremy said belligerently, “She told me to tell youto go to the devil!”

  “Shut up, kid, unless you want me to strip the skin off your backside with my belt,” Jeffrey threatened with a growl.

  “No one is going to beat anyone,” Edward stated authoritatively. “You have no right to administer punishment, at any rate, Jeffrey. That will be up to George and Elizabeth, if they so choose. That is rather beside the point at this stage, don’t you think?”

  Realizing his mistake, Jeffrey regained his composure with effort. He could ill afford to estrange himself from the Martins now.

  “You are right, Edward. Just now we must see to getting Tanya back. I’ll get some men together and start out as soon as possible. She’s probably headed back to the Washita in hopes of finding the tribe nearby, though we’ve had no word of where they had relocated. We only know they are no longer there. One of our troops reported back that they had found all of Major Elliot’s command dead, and there was evidence the Cheyenne had returned long enough to hold rites for their dead and left again.”

  Jeffrey glowered down at Jeremy. “I don’t suppose you will tell us when she left so we know how much of a lead she has on us?”

  Jeremy remained stubbornly silent.

  Edward sighed. “Let the boy alone. Tanya must have left sometime last night. That much we can surmise.”

  “If we go on the assumption that she left around midnight, she’s got a good fourteen hour start on us, if we can leave within an hour,” Jeffrey concluded.

  “I’m coming with you,” Edward stated firmly. Jeffrey looked startled. The last thing he wanted when he caught up with Tanya was her father at hand. He had a few scores to settle with that little witch!

  “That’s not necessary, Edward,” he argued. “It is going to be rough traveling, and we need to ride fast.”

  Edward, having glimpsed Jeffrey’s trigger-temper, feared for the well-being of his daughter and grandsons if left to Jeffrey’s care alone, but he kept his silence.

  As soon as Jeffrey left the house, an anxious look passed between Edward and his brother George.

  “I don’t trust him.” George’s words echoed Edward’s thoughts. “If you want, I will go with you.”

  “The high and mighty Lieutenant won’t like it,” Edward predicted. “If we follow along some distance behind, he needn’t know. I have a feeling Tanya is going to need us.”

  George nodded his agreement. “Let’s get cracking then. There’s no time to waste!”

  Blissfully ignorant of the plans the Martin men were forming, Jeffrey strode toward his headquarters, his thoughts vengeful.<
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  “You’ll pay for humiliating me in this way, Tanya,” he promised silently as he went to round up his men. “I’m going to have you for my wife, if it’s the last thing I do, and rest assured, there will be no doubt that I am the boss in our household. The gloves are off now, my dear, and I shall teach you a few well-deserved lessons!”

  He laughed as he pictured it in his mind. “You might even learn to like my brand of mastery, for master you I fully intend to do, my sweet!”

  Chapter 16

  THE SNOW on the plains was even deeper than Tanya had expected, and she was making slow progress. A bitterly cold wind was whipping down from the mountains.

  Hunter and Mark were bundled in furs and were relatively warm. It was Wheat that Tanya worried about at the moment. The snow was past the mare’s knees, and in places, up to her belly. She plowed valiantly through the drifts, trying her best for Tanya and the boys, but many were the times they had to stop when the brave little mare tired.

  In three days of travel, they had covered little distance, and Tanya continually looked back over her shoulder for signs of pursuers. It was virtually impossible in snow this deep to cover all their tracks, though Tanya had at first attempted to do so, at least for a few miles out of Pueblo. The backtracking took much precious time, and as soon as she considered it safe to do so, Tanya abandoned the effort. With luck, she had bought a little time by covering the start of her trail and also by cutting across country instead of following the road toward Fort Lyon.

  The thaw had discontinued the day after she’d left Pueblo and now, as she neared the Arkansas River, a snowstorm was starting in earnest. Tanya could barely see where they were headed.

  When they reached the banks of the Arkansas, Tanya was dismayed to find it swollen and raging from the recent thaw. There was no way she could consider crossing here. She would have to search out a shorter, more shallow span.

  Tanya’s discouraged sigh was swallowed in the wind. Here was yet another delay. Already she had spent precious time covering tracks, stopping to rest Wheat, and to feed and warm Hunter and Mark. Now this, added to the slow travel in snow and bitter winds. Everything, even nature itself, seemed to be against her desire to be reunited with Panther.

  Her gaze traveled the raging river, noting the huge chunks of ice racing along in its current. As she guided Wheat alongside the bank, she realized how hazardous the crossing would be. One misstep, one block of ice, could snap the mare’s leg and pitch them all into the icy water. In her desperation to reach Panther, Tanya was courting death every step of the way, taking her children with her. The odds were overwhelmingly against her, and if she’d had the time and energy, she could have cried.

  It was late afternoon, now. The sun would be setting soon, and Tanya still had not found a place to cross safely. Then her ears picked up a faint sound on the wind. Throwing back her head, she strained her ears, listening intently, her heart pounding in her chest.

  Oh, God! There it was again; the sound of horses; the clink of bridles; the sounds of pursuit! Kit heard it too, and growled low in her throat. A horse whinnied and Tanya clamped a hand on Wheat’s nose to discourage her from answering the call.

  Visibility was poor, but Tanya knew her pursuers need only follow her trail to find her. Her only hope was to elude them until nightfall or find a way to cross the river and lose them on the other side.

  Urgency driving fatigue from her, Tanya kneed Wheat to a faster pace, pushing the weary mare to her limits. Behind her, she heard a triumphant shout, and a cold sweat popped out on her brow. Risking a quick glance behind her, Tanya caught a glimpse of a blue uniform. Her breath caught on a sob as she realized she too had been spotted.

  Wheat was winded, breathing heavily now, and Tanya silently admitted to herself the futility of trying to escape capture. Slowing the mare to a walk, within minutes she was surrounded, staring rebelliously into Jeffrey’s flushed face.

  “You’ve made a mistake, Tanya, a big mistake, and I’m going to see that you reap the results of your impetuous actions, my love,” Jeffrey sneered. “Get off the horse,” he ordered sharply. Tanya’s eyes darted to the faces of the men surrounding her. Some were openly leering at her; most were tired and sullen.

  “Don’t look to them for help,” Jeffrey advised. “They are under my command and will do as I tell them. Besides, they are none too thrilled at having to come out on this chilly jaunt in the wilderness to retrieve you. Now, get down off the horse, Tanya.” Still she hesitated, and Jeffrey exploded, “Do it! Or I will run my sword through those brats of yours before that cat can twitch a whisker!”

  Tanya blanched and dismounted warily.

  “We’ll camp here for the night,” Jeffrey informed his men. “Make a fire and keep an eye on the brats, and if the cougar gives you any trouble, shoot it.”

  It took about an hour for the men to get the camp set up for the evening. It was then Jeffrey grabbed Tanya roughly by the arm, directing her toward the edge of the camp.

  Kit let out a warning snarl and crouched to leap. “Tell him to back off, Tanya, unless you’d prefer to see him made into a rug.”

  Seeing no other recourse, Tanya issued commands in Cheyenne, and Kit settled down to guard the children.

  “Very wise, my dear,” Jeffrey taunted. “Now, come along. We have a few things to settle between us.” He gave her a rough shove away from the men.

  A few yards out of sight, he pulled her to a halt, swinging her about to face him. “You’ve made a fool of me for the last time, Tanya. You’ve made me look ridiculous before my men and the whole of Pueblo, and now, by God, you are going to pay for it!”

  Stiff with cold and bundled in fur, Tanya could not answer fast enough to avoid him as he pushed her flat on her back in the deep snow. He followed her down, pinning her with his body and grasping her wrists tightly. Tanya had no opportunity to reach her knife, and try as she might, she could not gain the leverage to throw Jeffrey off of her. The snow, her bulky clothing, and Jeffrey’s weight kept her effectively pinned beneath him.

  For several minutes Tanya continued to fight him, until she realized her agitated wriggling was arousing him rather than putting him off. Also she was futilely expending what little energy she still possessed. She became still beneath him.

  When he lowered his head, intent on kissing her, she turned her head aside and his lips met her cheek instead. Irritated by her gesture of denial, Jeffrey captured both of Tanya’s wrists in one hand, and with the other he held her head still. This time his lips met their target, his teeth grinding against her tightly closed lips.

  Repulsed and angry, Tanya could not lie quiescent. Her sharp teeth clamped down upon his lower lip until his blood ran with her own upon her tongue.

  Incensed beyond measure, Jeffrey shouted an oath, pulling away from her. As she glared up at him, her hatred shining out of her golden eyes, he struck her sharply across the face.

  “Don’t you ever try that again!” he roared. “You are going to have to mend your ways once we’re married, Tanya, or both you and your brats will pay dearly. Obviously, you do not respond to gentle handling, and I’ve reached the end of my patience with you. I suppose you’ve gotten used to being treated roughly by your captor, and if that is the only way to get a reaction out of you, so be it.”

  He reached his hand inside her coat to fondle her breast roughly through her dress. Tanya wriggled in protest and felt the bulge in his breeches along her thigh. Her expressive eyes widened in alarm.

  Jeffrey chuckled mirthlessly. “That’s right, honey, I want you and seeing as you’ve already been used by that savage, there is no reason why I should wait, is there?”

  He squeezed her breast painfully. “I’ll show you what lovemaking is all about, and you’ll forget your Indian lover soon enough. When I’m finished with you, you’ll be begging for more.”

  His hand released her breast to yank at her skirts, his breathing heavy as his knee wedged itself between her resisting thighs. His voice was
unsteady as he continued, “Don’t fret, love. I still intend to marry you, if only to insure that you are mine alone. You may be soiled goods, but by God, you’ll be mine!”

  Jeffrey fumbled with the buttons on his pants, his knees pressing painfully into her outspread thighs to hold her still. Tanya renewed her efforts to free herself. The thought of Jeffrey taking her after Panther’s tender lovemaking sickened her, and her panic grew as Jeffrey started to lower his body to hers. She managed to make Jeffrey lose his balance momentarily with her thrashing as her outraged scream split the air.

  Jeffrey slapped her across the face once more. “Shut up!” he growled, “and lie still. You are going to enjoy this as much as I am.”

  “I doubt that very much.” The voice resounding clearly through the snow-muffled air startled them both.

  “Let my daughter up, Lieutenant,” Edward Martin ordered.

  “Do it, Young,” George Martin advised firmly when Jeffrey did not move immediately. “If Tanya was your wife, you might have some license here, but since that is not the case, Edward has every right to protect his daughter’s virtue. His anger is justified, and if you’ve harmed her or her sons, he’d be well within his rights to shoot you where you are.”

  Jeffrey levered himself away from Tanya, facing away from the others as he fastened his pants. With one parting glare at Tanya he stomped back to the camp his men had set up, George hard on his heels.

  Tanya scrambled to her feet, accepting her father’s extended hand. Pulling her into his arms, Edward hugged her to him.

  “Did he harm you?” he asked anxiously.

  Tanya merely shook her head for an answer and returned her father’s embrace.

  “God, Tanya, if he had, I think I’d kill him! If we’d been a few minute later …”Edward shuddered to think what would have happened.

  He put her away from him, the better to see her face. His fingers traced the vivid marks on her cheek. “He hit you. The lousy bastard hit you!”

  Tanya nodded miserably and kissed the fingers stroking her face.

  Edward cradled her face between his palms, looking down at his daughter earnestly. “Tanya, darling, we love you. We always will, no matter what. How can I make it up to you for the way I’ve acted since you’ve returned? I’ve been an ass, but put yourself in my place. How can I let my princess, my daughter, leave when she’s just returned to us? How can you expect your mother and me to let you go when we grieved over your absence for so long? Come home, Tanya. Will you come home and stay, if only for a while longer?”