Silken Savage

by Catherine Hart

  “Okay, now,” Middleton directed, clearing his throat. “All of you clear out of here so Adam and I can think. I’ve had about all the excitement I can put up with for one day.”

  Tanya took two steps, then turned back to Adam, unshed tears glistening in her golden eyes. “I’ll get you out of here, Adam, I swear it! And someday I’ll see Jeffrey pay for all his treachery.” That said, she left, head held high and proud.

  It didn’t particularly surprise Tanya to find guards posted not only outside the jail, but around the Martin house. Even with Adam in jail, Jeffrey was making sure Tanya did not flee.

  Justin explained everything briefly to Tanya’s family, then went home to speak to Rachel and his own father.

  Edward was outraged. The others were stunned. While Tanya sat silently seething, cursing and condemning Jeffrey, Edward ranted and raged, openly venting his ire.

  After a supper was served for which no one had any appetite, Tanya put her sons to bed. Soon thereafter, Judge Kerr, Justin, and Rachel showed up, and everyone gathered in the parlor to discuss this unexpected turn of events.

  “The sheriff suggested we find a way to sneak Adam out of town without Lieutenant Young knowing about it,” Roberto stated, “before the lieutenant can get authorization from Ft. Lyon.”

  “What if we can’t?” Rachel asked, her brown eyes huge with worry. “What if they arrest Adam? Tom can’t keep him in his custody indefinitely.”

  “It is Lieutenant Young’s word and Suellen’s against ours,” George said. “Even as anxious as the military is to get revenge on the tribes, surely they will see how ridiculous this incident is. Besides, we can point out that Jeffrey is obsessed with Tanya and Suellen is full of spite toward her.”

  “Will we be able to voice any opinions at all in a military matter?” Justin questioned uncertainly. “Tom seemed to think once they get Adam into their clutches, it will be a closed military procedure.”

  Judge Kerr frowned. “I’m afraid he’s right. That could be disastrous. I’ve also heard General Custer is back in Ft. Lyon, regrouping.”

  Tanya groaned. “Jeffrey was with his troop when they raided the village at Washita, and the two of them seem to have similar attitudes. According to Custer, the only good Indian is a dead one.”

  Melissa nodded dispiritedly. “Yes, and Jeffrey said they would be trying to locate Major Wynkoop to identify Panther.” A look of intense concern passed between Melissa, Tanya, and Rachel, the only ones in the room who knew the whole truth.

  Judge Kerr noted the look that passed between the women and his frown deepened. “That shouldn’t cause a problem, should it?” he asked. “As far as I know, Wynkoop has always worked in the best interest of the Indians. Besides, he should be able to positively confirm that Adam is not a Cheyenne. He could be the answer to our prayers.” His gaze traveled from one ghost-white face to the other, sensing the dismay in each. “Well, won’t he?” he pressed.

  When none of the three confirmed this, his expression became definitely apprehensive. “Rachel, Tanya, Melissa,” he directed gruffly, “may we meet privately in the library to discuss something of vital importance that has just occurred to me?” At their reluctant nods, he added, “Justin, you should probably come too.”

  Once in the library, he rounded on them. “All right! I get the undeniable impression that there is something important that you have failed to tell me, some secret the three of you share, and I’m beginning to think there may be some truth to these allegations after all. Am I correct?” His level gaze focused on Rachel’s face, waiting.

  At last she nodded miserably. “Yes, Garfield. It is true.” Her voice broke on a sob, and she hid her face in her hands, weeping.

  Justin was incredulous. “How can that be? Adam and I have grown up together. I’ve known him all his life!”

  “Not quite,” Judge Kerr was quick to point out. “Rachel, her father, and her son came to Pueblo when Adam was a babe. We all accepted without question the explanation that Rachel’s dead husband was an Englishman. It was a lie then, Rachel?” His tone was gentle, but insistent.

  Rachel let out a shaky sigh and raised her head to face him. “Yes, it was a lie. Adam’s father was the Cheyenne chief White Antelope. After he returned me to my family, my father brought Adam and me to Pueblo to avoid gossip. Each summer, when you all thought Adam went to my family in Santa Fe, he went to stay with his father in their village. He grew up learning two separate ways of life, and five years ago he chose to live with his Cheyenne family for good — or at least until I could no longer manage the ranch myself. I tried to understand, though I resented it. It is his destiny; the Cheyenne blood flows in his veins.”

  “Dear God!” Justin exclaimed softly. “Then Suellen is right? He isa Cheyenne chief and Tanya’s husband, Panther?” His accusing gaze darted from Tanya to his own sweet, deceiving fiancée.

  Melissa nodded silently, her big blue eyes begging Justin to forgive her.

  Tanya was less reluctant, her valiant pride coming to the fore. “Yes, Adam and Panther are one and the same, and Hunter and Mark are our sons. Did you really believe I could claim to love my husband and fall so readily into a stranger’s arms?”

  “Who else knows?” Judge Kerr asked.

  “No one. Suellen, Melissa and I are the only captives left from the raid. And Major Wynkoop will if he sees Adam.”

  “What about Roberto or any of your other relatives?” he asked Rachel.

  She shook her head. “Only my father knew. We told none of the family.”

  “Perhaps we should inform Roberto now. Will he help us, do you think, or will he turn against us?” With this statement, Justin announced his allegiance to his lifelong friend.

  “He’ll help.”

  “We probably should inform your family, too,” Judge Kerr told Tanya. “They have a right to know. How will they react, Tanya? Will they betray Adam?” Evidently, Judge Kerr was also willing to aid his friends of many years.

  “I don’t know,” Tanya responded. “I suppose we’ll have to chance it, and hope they’ll understand. They’ve come to know Adam. They like and respect him. The fact that he is part Cheyenne should not change things.”

  “It shouldn’t, but it might,” Judge Kerr warned dourly. “Justin and I have known Adam a lot longer. This comes as a shock to us, but we know Adam is a good man, with respectable values. Being Cheyenne does not alter the decent man we know Adam to be.”

  “Perhaps you should be the one to point this out to my family,” Tanya suggested. “It is not easy to explain when your heart leads your head. They will expect me to defend Adam because of my love for him, but you would do so out of respect for a man you know and trust.”

  Predictably, Edward had a fit at first, Sarah nearly swooned, and Julie was torn between indignation and loyalty to her new husband and Tanya. Roberto readily accepted this news about his cousin and offered his help. George merely nodded and lit his pipe, and Elizabeth smiled as if to say, “I should have known.” Jeremy was elated, and had to be sworn to secrecy, though he would have liked nothing better than to be able to brag to all his friends.

  After their initial reactions, Sarah quickly became resigned to it, even rather glad that Hunter and Mark would be raised by their real father and that Tanya was reunited with her true love. With some help from Judge Kerr and Rachel, Edward finally accepted it more calmly, realizing that the Adam he had come to admire was a worthy man, whether white, Indian, or both.

  United in their efforts to save Adam, they now had the task of devising a plan. Weary and emotionally drained, they finally gave up for the evening, deciding they’d think better when they were more rested.

  The next morning, Tanya still had not come up with a workable plan, but her mind was working better. Regardless of all else, there were still certain things that could be done. Now that her family was aware that Adam and Tanya would be returning to the Cheyenne camp, there was no need for the pretense of packing for a long European voyage. Instead,
Tanya readied appropriate clothing for herself, Adam, and their sons. She packaged dried fruits and meats, filled canteens, and packed the necessary tools and other items they would require in their flight.

  With sharp-eyed guards watching, Tanya wondered how they could spirit the horses out of Uncle George’s stables and away to a more accessible place. When she happened to spy a can of whitewash intended for the back porch, she devised a method. Enlisting Jeremy’s aid, she set to work. Knowing her presence in the stable for long would draw the guards’ attention, it was decided Jeremy would be sent to clean the stalls — supposedly, at any rate. Under Tanya’s direction, he painted three white socks and a blaze down the face of Adam’s midnight-black stallion. Then, with walnut stain, he darkened the buckskin’s coat until Wheat was a solid gleaming brown.

  The last part of the scheme was the trickiest. Once darkness fell, Rachel and Justin left their own mounts in the stable and rode out of the yard astride the disguised Wheat and Shadow. Luckily, the guards noticed nothing amiss in the dim light, intent only on properly identifying the riders. Rachel and Justin then stabled the horses at the Kerrs’, where they could be retrieved without notice.

  With the horses and essentials ready and waiting, all that remained was to somehow manage to get Tanya, Mark, and Hunter away from their diligent guards and slip Adam under the noses of his, no easy matter, especially with Jeffrey dogging Tanya’s every step. Roberto escorted her to the jail that first morning to speak with Adam. After she explained to him what they were doing, they then discussed possible ways to help him escape, but nothing sounded reasonable. Meanwhile, Judge Kerr was using his influence with high officials in the territory, to no avail. No one seemed to have the authority needed to intercede or influence military affairs.

  Upon leaving the jail, Jeffrey approached them. Tanya felt Roberto stiffen at her side, prepared to defend her, and grateful as she was, she didn’t want him to give Jeffrey an excuse to arrest him too. She decided the best course was to ignore Jeffrey, if possible.

  With head held high and shoulders straight, she stared past him, walking slowly but steadily toward home. Undeterred, Jeffrey kept pace with her. With a nasty leer, which she saw from the corner of her eye, he taunted, “Thought you’d gotten away with it, didn’t you, Tanya love? Well, thanks to Suellen, the tables are turned.”

  “Go away, Jeffrey,” she hissed.

  “Tanya darling, you’d do better to be nice to me. The life of someone dear to you will soon be in my hands. What happens to him depends entirely on you.”

  That stopped her short, and she swung about to face him. “Perhaps you’d better explain to me exactly what that comment means!”

  He spread his hands out in a gesture of innocence, his face a false mask of sincerity. “It is as simple as this, Tanya. If you could manage to have your marriage annulled and marry me before Savage’s trial is over, I could no doubt arrange to have him set free. If not, he’ll assuredly hang, and you will be a widow. Either way, you will soon be mine again. Of course, I won’t accept his sons in the bargain. You’ll have to get rid of them.”

  Her eyes shot deadly golden daggers at him. “I’ll neverbelong to you, Jeffrey. Never! If you weren’t insane, you’d have realized that by now. You are quite mad, you know. If I didn’t hate you so much, I could actually feel sorry for you.”

  “You bitch!” he exploded, grabbing her roughly by the arms. “You’ll regret those words! I’ll see you pay for each and every insult you’ve subjected me to!” In rhythm with his words, he shook her like a rag doll, stopping only when he felt the barrel of Roberto’s pistol in his ribs. “Take your filthy hands off my cousin’s wife!” Roberto ordered.

  Jeffrey released her then with a look of contempt at Roberto. “If you shoot me, you won’t get five feet before you are arrested.”

  Roberto smiled evilly, his teeth flashing in his dark face, his eyes snapping fire. “That may be, but you’ll already be dead by then, your blood seeping its way into Hell.” His soft, slow words held the weight of a sacred oath.

  Jeffrey backed off. “Think about what I have said, Tanya. Your time is running out. And don’t try anything. I have you all under close surveillance, even your brats. If I see anything suspicious, it won’t be hard to make you regret it. Your sons will be the first to pay, and then your Indian lover.” He turned on his heel and stalked off.

  Roberto and Tanya shared a worried look. “I think we need next to find a way to get your sons to safety,” said Roberto. “Even with Kit guarding them, I feel uneasy.”

  “So do I,” Tanya concurred. “His mind is so twisted, it is impossible to follow the line of his thoughts.”

  It was Rachel who came up with an idea to protect her grandsons. That very day she sent Roberto back out to the ranch, and by midnight he had returned to town again.

  The early morning sun glistened on Tanya’s hair as she stepped lightly off the front steps, a huge basket balanced carefully in her arms.

  “Sorry, ma’am, but I have to know what’s in that basket you’re carrying,” one of the guards said, stopping her.

  She glared at him, but halted. “In case you are unaware of it, there is a wedding planned in two days,” she said stiffly. “I am taking these pies to Emily Kerr in preparation for it.”

  The soldier lifted a corner of the checkered cloth and sniffed appreciatively at the fresh-baked aroma escaping. “Apple and blueberry,” he sighed. “Sure smells good.” With that, he let her pass, watching to make sure she entered the Kerr home.

  A short while later, he watched as she made the return trip. As she passed him, he caught sight of a couple of eggs peeping out from under the cloth. “Careful going up those steps, ma’am,” he cautioned politely. “Those eggs look about to tumble.”

  She nodded wordlessly. Tanya passed Justin and Roberto at the door. They were lugging a good-sized trunk between them. “What are you doing with that?” she called after them.

  Justin grinned ruefully. “This is just a small portion of Melissa’s worldly goods,” he joked. “I’ll be hobbling down the aisle after a few trips like this!”

  The guards laughed with him. “Marryin’ is hard work,” one offered with a wink.

  One more delivery was made to the Martin household that morning. Elizabeth pulled the wagon to a halt at the front gate, a huge box balanced on the seat beside her. Julie and Melissa came running out of the house. Melissa reached the wagon first, tearing the top off of the box. With a squeal of delight, she reached in and pulled out a lovely yellow gown, twirling about joyously, the gown held out before her. “Oh! It’s lovely, Elizabeth! Is the rest of my trousseau in there! Did she get it all done?”

  Elizabeth smiled indulgently, her sharp eyes noting the silly grins on the faces of the guards. “Every stitch,” she promised. “But, dear heart, I really think you should examine the contents in a more private place. Help me take these things inside.”

  Between them, Julie and Melissa carted the box indoors, and Elizabeth pulled the wagon around back.

  Inside, several anxious people heaved a collective sigh of relief as they helped a small, dark-haired boy from the box.

  “Hello, hola,Pepito,” Roberto said in greeting.

  “You were as quiet as a ratoncito,a little mouse.”

  The boy grinned, his small white teeth flashing in his olive face. “Is Felipe here?”

  “Yes, he arrived in a basket of eggs this morning. He is taking a nap now.”

  Pepito nodded. “He’s still a baby. I don’t take naps anymore,” he stated importantly.

  Rachel came bustling into the room. “Oh good! I was hoping he had arrived safely,” she said upon seeing Pepito. “It was good of Anna and Selena to loan us their children for a few days.”

  Turning to Tanya, she said, “Hunter and Mark are having a lovely holiday with Emily Kerr. She is already spoiling them outrageously.” She added gently, “Do not fret, Tanya. They will be safe there, and it will not be for long.”

  �
�It is best this way,” Sarah offered. “Now when you are ready to leave, the boys will be waiting. In the meanwhile, Pepito and Felipe can easily pass for Hunter and Mark at a distance, and Jeffrey will be none the wiser.”

  “I know,” Tanya agreed, “but Jeffrey was right about one thing. Time is running out quickly. We must devise a plan to rescue Adam!”

  Chapter 26

  IT WAS Melissa who inadvertently came up with the best plan. Not without risks, it still had a good chance for success. Besides, it was their only hope.

  Late in the afternoon on the eighth of July, a party of twelve adults and three children, all elegantly attired in their wedding finery, trooped past the guards and into Sheriff Middleton’s jail.

  Short minutes later, Jeffrey burst in behind them, a look of thunderous anger on his face. “What is going on here?” he demanded.

  Tom Middleton bristled. “Look, you belligerent bigmouth, I don’t answer to anybody in my jail! You just wag your tail on out of here! This is a private party.”

  “Yes!” Julie piped in. “If Melissa wanted you at her wedding, she’d have invited you.”

  “Wedding!” Jeffrey exclaimed. “You’re holding a wedding in a jail?”

  “That’s about the size of it,” Judge Kerr said. “Melissa and Justin insisted that Adam and Tanya be present at the ceremony, and this was the only way we could see to arrange it.”

  “Got some problem with that?” Middleton drawled. “If you do, that’s too bad, ’cause this is my jail and I say it’s fine.”

  Jeffrey gave them all a look of contempt. “Go ahead with your stupid wedding. Just remember, I have my men watching you. They’ll see that no unauthorized person leaves here.” His blue eyes leveled their gaze on Adam, still securely behind bars.

  The words of the solemn ceremony carried easily through the open windows to the guards. So, too, did the sounds of congratulations and toasts to the new bride and groom.

  The sight of the photographer lugging his bulky camera toward the jail brought the guards to attention. They stood uncertainly as the guests filed out to stand in front of the jail, the setting sun casting a golden glow on their faces. They jerked to full alert as Sheriff Middleton exited the building with Adam in tow.