by Paty Jager
A twig snapped behind him as a hand settled on his shoulder. Adrenaline pumped through his veins. He grasped the hand, rolled, and landed atop the intruder.
Ku`yc
(9)
Sa-qan gasped for air. Now she lay on the ground staring into Wade’s baffled face. She had not thought what Wade would do when she came up behind him.
“Angel, what…” His grip on her wrists loosened, but remained.
The confusion in his eyes and stunned silence twitched her lips into a smile. “I came to talk with you.”
“How did you find me? Are you camped near here?”
She did not mind his hands holding her or his body resting on her hips as he straddled her. The way his gaze slid across her face and hovered on her lips, she wondered if he thought of their kisses as well.
“We must talk.” She had to remember why she had followed him. To advise him not to wear this shirt into battle.
“Are you alone?” He released her and touched her cheek with the back of his hand. “You shouldn’t be out here by yourself. It’s dangerous.”
She held his knuckles to her cheek. Heat scorched her skin and traveled down her body to settle in her center.
The horse nickered. Wade’s strong arms pulled her to her feet, and he pushed her behind him as he stared into the darkness beyond his small fire.
She clutched his shirt and listened. Before landing she had searched the area for warriors. None had traveled this far back. “You should not camp on the trail,” she said in a whisper. “They check the back trail often.”
The horse resumed eating. Wade faced her, wrapping his arms around her.
“Is that how you found me?” His hushed voice warmed her ear.
“I came to warn you not to wear the clothes of an officer when in battle. The warriors know it upsets the other soldiers when a leader is killed.” She ran her hands over the fancy decorations on his shirt.
He hugged her tight. “I can’t hide what I am. It would look cowardly to the men under me.”
“I do not wish anything to happen to you.” Her fear for him warbled her words.
“But I have to do my duty. I don’t want anything to happen to you either.” His hands held her head. “You have ignored all my questions. I need answers.”
“I…” She licked her lips and stared into his eyes. His fingers gently caressing the sides of her head weakened her knees. She had to keep her wits about her. To tell him the truth would put her in disfavor with the Creator and possibly hinder she and Wade working together to help the Nimiipuu.
She grasped his wrists and drew his hands away from her face. Any connection with him ignited her body with sensations she did not understand. She led him to the tree where his belongings sat. Sitting, she urged him down beside her.
“Why are you avoiding my questions?” He sat, slipping his arm around her shoulders, tucking her body next to his.
His warmth and strength seeped into her, expanding her heart and bringing a song.
“I cannot tell you what you ask. I am a wanderer. I do not live with the Nimiipuu you chase. But I have seen the fighting and do not wish you to be hurt, again.” She snuggled deeper into his arms. What she said held the truth. She could not let him draw more from her.
His warm breath heated the top of her head. “If you don’t live with the Nimiipuu why did I find you with your niece in the Nimiipuu camp?” He kissed the top of her head. “And then with the wounded children and old men?”
He would be hard to convince. He had a strong mind. “It is my duty.”
His hand tipped her face up toward his. “How did you find me tonight? Know I looked for you?”
Her heart sung with gladness. “You were looking for me?”
“Yes.” His face grew near.
She knew he could not see her eyes in the darkness, but she could see everything about him. And his eyes shone with desire and concern. “Why did you seek me?”
“To make sure you were safe and to see if together we could figure out a way to stop the killing.” His face drew back and his body stiffened.
She placed her hands on his cheeks. “It is not your fault.” The sadness in his eyes spoke of more than the soldiers chasing the Nimiipuu. His body held much sadness and pain.
He shifted, securing her back under his arm and next to his side. His heart beat against the hand she placed on his chest. “You’re the first person in fifteen years I feel I can talk to.” His arm tightened around her. “And in actuality you’re the enemy, something I’ve been chasing those fifteen years.”
She pushed out of his arms. The way his hands fell to his side, indicated he gave her permission to harm him.
“I am not your enemy. Did I not heal you and protect you?”
Confusion once again settled in his brown eyes. “Yes. You said because I saved you and your niece. What do you mean you protect me?” He captured her hand. “I should protect you. But when you keep saying you aren’t a captive I can’t take you back to the camp and keep you safe.”
She blew frustration out on a huff. “I am not a captive.”
“But you could say you are and be safe.” His eyes pleaded.
“I will not lie and leave my people.” His concern for her touched her, but she could not leave the Nimiipuu. She would not dishonor herself. She would hold onto her true self. She would not be a coward like her father and save herself over the others.
His eyes grew dark and steady. “What do you call being here with me right now? You have left your people to talk with me.” He drew her closer. “Where are they? Why haven’t they found me if I am so close you can visit my camp?” He stood, pulling her to her feet. “Take me to them. I’ll speak to the chiefs and see if we can settle this amicably.”
“I cannot.” She pulled her hand from his and spun away, putting distance between them. Showing herself to the old woman and sick and Silent Doe and Girl of Many Hearts could not be helped, but to walk into the camp and ask to speak to the chiefs… The Creator would be most unhappy. Allowing Wade to see her had already broken her trust with the Creator. But necessary. She must help the Nimiipuu. Her instincts told her this was right.
“Why can’t you take me to the chiefs?” His arms folded around her, drawing her against his warm, hard body.
She shook her head. “They do not know me.” She spun in his arms. “You first thought I was not a Nimiipuu. They do not know me and could think I am not Nimiipuu also.”
His arms tightened. “Then where is your family? And how are you surviving if you aren’t with the group we’re chasing?”
He placed a kiss on her forehead. His mustache tickled.
“I am not alone. I have you and my brother and his wife.” Her heart lodged in her throat. She should not have mentioned Wewukiye and Dove. She wanted so badly to reassure Wade she did not think before replying.
“Your brother? Why is he not fighting with the other warriors?” He again held her away from him and scowled in the dark as he tried to see her face.
“He is not a warrior. He is a healer like I am. We do not fight. We try to save the Nimiipuu.” Confusion dulled his eyes, again. “You must go back with your soldiers. Lead them the wrong way and let my people gain freedom.”
He shook his head. His eyes cleared and his hands tightened on her arms. “I don’t agree with the killing and the false promises, but as an officer I won’t lead my men or any troops in the wrong direction.”
Wade stared into Angel’s eyes. He wouldn’t allow his infatuation with the woman to sway him from his duties. Her strength fascinated him. He wanted to draw her back into his arms and absorb the strength he’d witnessed in her every time they met.
Her refusal to take him to the chiefs left him powerless to help. And he refused to lead the army astray. They had come to a standoff.
“Where is your brother? I’ll take you to him.” If he didn’t get her out of his camp, his randy body would push him to ungentlemanly conduct.
“I can find hi
m.” She took a step, but his hand refused to release her arm.
“You shouldn’t be wandering around out here alone.” The soft undertone of his voice didn’t surprise him. His body had outmaneuvered his brain to lure her into his arms.
“I am safe.” The huskiness of her voice matched the desire in his as her body curled back against his.
“For all your strength and intelligence, you’re naïve if you think you’re safe wandering around here with Bannock scouts, your warriors, and possibly civilians hunting for the Nez Perce.” Her curves pressed against him awakening desires he’d left unheeded for years.
“Nimiipuu warriors do not harm women.” She inhaled in unison with his hand sliding up her waist and his fingers fanning across her ribs. “And I keep my distance from the others.”
Every nerve in his body wanted to kiss her and explore her body. He leaned down to kiss her neck.
An elk bugled in the distance. Angel stiffened and stepped out of his embrace.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—”
She reached out stopping his words. “You did nothing. I must go.”
The darkness shrouded her features. He couldn’t tell what thoughts ran through her head. “Where are you going? Let me escort you.”
“Do not worry for me. I will be safe with my brother.” She took a step toward him, rising up on her toes. “You are the one who is not safe. Be careful. I wish to see you again.” She kissed his cheek and disappeared.
Wade stared into the darkness until his hands and feet tingled from the cold. Replenishing the fire seemed foolish. If she found him, a Nez Perce scout could, too. He rolled up in his blanket and sat at the base of a tree with his rifle across his lap, eating the crispy rabbit.
What did he do now? His objective had been to find Angel. He did and had accomplished nothing.
Hell.
In his years of military service this was the most worthless and asinine thing he’d done. Rode off in search of a woman in the middle of a damn war. What was wrong with him? Had he finally cracked? Had the last fifteen years of killing and mundane military life finally broken his sanity?
He shook his head and stared up at the stars. What are you going to do come daylight? Continue on to be killed or taken captive or ride back to the regiment with your tail between your legs?
He wanted to put the Nez Perce on a reservation and resign. He’d given enough of his life to his country. It was time to settle down. Holding Angel awoke a desire in him to find a wife and start a family.
He had few skills outside of being an officer but that might get him a job as a marshal or Pinkerton. He wasn’t cut out for the life of a farmer or rancher. He’d proven that before the war. His father had tried to interest him in growing cotton and crops.
Memories of his childhood flooded through him. Ones he’d shoved to the back of his mind after finding everyone he loved buried in the small family cemetery.
From the moment he could talk his opinions had clashed with everyone in his family. At sixteen, he’d been vocal about slavery and the rights of all people. His family had tolerated it and fended off the neighbors who would’ve strung him up for his philosophy.
He’d struggled with which side to take in the war, fight for his principles or beside his family and friends; none of them said a word when he picked the North. His father had grimly shaken his hand, and his mother cried as he hugged her good-bye. Beth and Barney had hugged him and joked he chose the losing side, but they’d welcome him back after the war.
“Gahhhhh!” For the first time in years, he expressed the futility that overwhelmed him when he arrived back at the plantation and found all his family gone.
Forever.
Pu`ti`m
(10)
Sa-qan heard a yell of frustration. She knew the voice. Wade.
Fear scattered her thoughts. Had a warrior found him? Her heart pounded in her head. She raised her wings to take to the air.
“Where are you going? You just arrived?” Wewukiye glared at her. He had become the clear thinking one lately.
“I must find out what made that noise.”
“We both know who. The same person you were with when I called.” Wewukiye leaned down, placing his eyes level with hers. “You must stay away from him. His interference with your duty is not good.”
“He wants to help the Nimiipuu. That is why he is out here all alone. He wished me to take him to the chiefs so he could talk with them.” Her ears strained to seek any other sounds to learn if Wade was in trouble.
“He is using you to find the Nimiipuu so his soldiers can stop them.” Wewukiye continued to stare at her. “Why are you not thinking clearly? You are the one who has kept Himiin and I from bringing disgrace to ourselves and the Nimiipuu.”
“I am not disgracing myself or my people. I have found a so·yá·po who could help us. Why must you think they are all bad?”
“Since the so·yá·po have spread across the Nimiipuu country there have only been as many as the branches on my antlers who have listened and spoke for our people. The rest have wished only to rid us of our birth place.”
“This soldier is one who will speak for us.”
Wade’s desire to help the Nimiipuu was pure and his intentions genuine. She believed this as strongly as she believed in the Creator.
“You are feeling too much for this mortal.”
Her body heated as her mind tried to deny the accusation. “I wish him strong because he will help the people.”
“You wish his body strong because you desire him.” Wewukiye stomped his foot and peered down at her. “You fought Himiin and I becoming involved with mortals. Sister, we at least picked Nimiipuu for mates. You are choosing to side with the enemy.” He spun and charged through the trees, leaving her to wonder at his words.
Was she falling in love with a mortal? No. She worried for the man because he was sympathetic to the Nimiipuu. Her heart stuttered as his face formed in her mind. The heat of the path of his hands on her body warmed her thoughts.
The memory of his anguished cry drove her into the air and circling above his camp. He leaned against a tree, weapon ready, his eyes squeezed shut. She landed in a tree and watched as a single tear trickled down his cheek. What clouded his thoughts and brought such sorrow? Every feather on her body ruffled as she fought with herself to stay in the tree and not go to him as a woman.
If she could touch him she would take away his sadness, just as she had taken away his pain as he healed. Wewukiye’s words echoed in her head. Had she fallen for the enemy? Could Wade be using her to get information about the Nimiipuu? She ran the questions he had asked back over in her mind.
Several times he questioned the location of the bands. Could he be hunting for their location to tell the other soldiers? Distrust, as small as the insect that stung the skin without being seen, emerged in her mind.
Wade’s eyes opened, and the anguish she saw in their depths squeezed her heart. His pain had become her pain. Could someone she had grown this closely connected to be using her? Doubts continued to plague her.
She leaped in the air and soared toward the soldiers’ camp. If they gathered close behind Wade she would have her answer to his deceit.
****
Sa-qan circled above the camp. Many smoldering campfires and indentions in the ground suggested a large group had left and not toward the Nimiipuu. But as she flew in different directions she witnessed other soldiers converging on the area. Her heart raced as she hurried back to the area of the Nimiipuu. She would warn Wewukiye, and they would find a way to have the scouts discover the other soldiers and warn the people.
On her way, she flew by Wade’s empty camp and spotted him trotting along the Nimiipuu’s trail.
Fear for him stalled her wings. If a Nimiipuu warrior found him he would be killed.
She had to stop Wade. If he were killed by a warrior she would never forgive herself, yet she could not follow him everywhere to keep him safe. Sa-qan landed in a gulley well
ahead of Wade. She shifted to the woman form and started walking toward him. What could she say to make him stop this foolishness?
****
Wade wiped a hand over his eyes. He hadn’t slept during the night. Visions and guilt from his past and anxiety over Angel wandering around alone as well as the possibility a warrior could kill him before he found the Indians had kept him wide awake. But the apparition in front of him had to be a dream. Cavalry troopers learned how to sleep in their saddles, and he was pretty sure he’d fallen asleep. It was the only way to explain Angel standing fifty yards ahead, smiling.
He didn’t pull back on the reins, but his horse stopped, its nose touching Angel’s shoulder.
“Wade? Are you sick?” She hurried to the side of his horse and tugged on his arm.
Wade shook his head and stared down at the concerned eyes of Angel, in person, not a dream. “W-what? I thought I was dreaming when I saw you standing there.” He dismounted and gathered her in his arms.
“Is that why you tried to walk your horse over me?” She pushed back, staring into his face.
“Yes, no. Hell.” He let her go and tugged his hat off, running a hand over his burning, gritty eyes. “I didn’t sleep all night worrying about you, thinking about my past, and wondering if a warrior would find me.”
Her arms wrapped around his waist as her head rested on his chest. “Do not worry for me. I am safe. But do worry about the warriors. Come.” She slipped her hand into his and grasped his mount’s reins. She led him to the edge of the trail and into a small area concealed by rock outcroppings.
“I will stay with you now so you may sleep and not fear being found.” She pulled his blanket off the back of his saddle.
“No. I have to keep moving. I’ve lost time by sitting all night by that dang tree, when I should have been moving.” He grabbed the blanket.
She tugged. “Your horse needed rest as did you.”
He tugged. “My horse is rested. I can sleep on him as he walks.”
She nearly sent Wade to the ground, ripping the blanket from his hands. “You will not be aware of warriors sneaking up on you if you are sleeping on the horse.” Angel spread the blanket. “Lie down.”