Savage Courage

by Cassie Edwards

  “Fawn, I know you want to do the rest for your daughter,” Dancing Willow said as she stepped aside and made room for Fawn. “Please go ahead. It will mean much not only to you, but also to your daughter.”

  “Thank you,” Fawn said, stepping behind Shoshana to braid her hair. As she completed each braid, she tied the ends with strings of painted buckskin. The hair strings were works of art. They were wrapped with brightly colored porcupine quills and tipped with ball tassels of porcupine quills and the fluff of eagle feathers.

  Shoshana looked quickly at the closed entrance flap when she heard drums and rattles being played outside as everyone gathered for the ceremony.

  Tears came to her eyes to know that finally everything had come together for her and Storm. In a matter of moments she would be his wife!

  It all seemed like a dream, one that she hoped never to awaken from because it was so magically wonderful.

  She was glad that all of their concerns about the scalp hunter were behind them. Surely by now he had met his fate. She was certain Colonel Hawkins had given him a quick trial and gladly placed the noose around the evil man’s neck.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Come live with me and be my love,

  And we will all the pleasure prove!

  —Christopher Marlowe

  The marriage was not to be celebrated in the village, but beside a lovely waterfall that splashed into the river below.

  Drums played in unison with rattles as everyone stood back and awaited Shoshana’s arrival.

  The smell of food filled the air, awaiting the moment when the ceremony was over and everyone would share a feast, dancing and singing.

  A limited amount of planting was done at the stronghold, mainly of maize, pumpkins, squashes, and beans. They never ate creatures that lived in water.

  Their staple food was mescal, the roots of which were collected in quantity and baked in a large hole dug in the ground.

  The mescal roots had been deposited there late last night, covered with green leaves and grass, which were overlaid with earth. A steady fire had been kept burning on top for the whole night.

  After the ceremony, the mescal would be unearthed, then pared and eaten with great zest. It had a sweetish taste, not unlike beets but not as tender.

  For some occasions, an intoxicating beverage was made from the mescal. The roasted root was macerated and allowed to stand several days in water, where it fermented rapidly. The liquid was then boiled down until it produced a liquor.

  But today no intoxicating drink was needed to make everyone heady and happy. All eyes were focused in the direction where Shoshana was expected to appear. The waterfall would make a lovely backdrop behind her.

  Storm awaited her arrival as he stood with his sister on one side of him and his shaman on his other.

  Fawn was too weak to stand any longer. Instead, she sat on plush pelts with others who were too old or weak to stand. She was at the front, so that she would have the best view of her daughter.

  Shoshana was taking a husband today, and not just any husband. Storm was the ultimate prize for any woman.

  As for Storm, he would find new responsibilities in marriage. He would take up the task of beginning a family. No longer would he while away the hours with the other bachelors in the warriors’ lodge.

  He would now have a wife to look after, and he would take the responsibility very seriously. His hunting would no longer be just for himself, but for his wife, and soon children, as well.

  Suddenly the drums and rattles ceased playing and all eyes watched as Shoshana came into view, riding a fine gray horse, a gift from Storm to his bride.

  When her shawl dropped from her shoulders, and rested around her waist, her tawny form was seen through the transparent silky gauze of the dress she so loved.

  Her back straight, her braids falling far down her back, her face radiant with a smile, she gazed at Storm, who awaited her arrival.

  Suddenly the shadow of a huge bird fell across her path, making her gasp and gaze up to find a golden eagle in the sky.

  It was, it seemed, the same eagle that she had seen that day just prior to discovering her mother. Its golden eyes gazed down at her now as it continued to soar above her.

  Her eyes met the eagle’s momentarily. It seemed to her that the eagle was speaking to her through its eyes, and telling her that its deed was done. It had led her to her mother, and now it gave its blessing on her marriage.

  “Thank you,” she whispered up at the huge bird, then watched it soar away from her, soon disappearing high above in the clouds.

  Feeling blessed now in so many ways, and realizing that this day had been her destiny, even when she was a tiny egg in her mother’s womb, Shoshana gazed again at Storm and smiled, then rode onward to him.

  When she reached him, she drew tight rein. He came to her and reached his arms up for her.

  Overwhelmed by her passionate love for this man, Shoshana gave him a smile that sent a silent message of forever into his heart. She leaned into his arms and let him take her from the steed.

  “Come, my woman,” Storm said thickly as he placed her gently on her bare feet. “This is the moment we were born for, you and I.”

  “Yes, I know,” she murmured, clasping his hand, and following him up to the shaman.

  She glanced momentarily at Dancing Willow. She saw nothing threatening in her eyes, yet neither was there the friendship she would like to see.

  Then she gazed over her shoulder at her mother and gave her a smile. The tears in her mother’s old eyes were understandable. It seemed that her mother had made herself live until she knew that her daughter’s future was mapped out for her . . . a future that included a man such as Chief Storm.

  She gave her mother a nod to say that everything her mother had wanted for her was coming true, that she could relax now and enjoy these special moments that would stay within Shoshana’s heart like a sweet melody for the rest of her life.

  She then turned and gazed into White Moon’s eyes as he took one of Storm’s hands and then one of her own. Her heart pounded inside her chest as the shaman spoke the words that would make her and Storm husband and wife.

  “Maheo has brought you two together, to know the love you feel for each other, and to give you a future together which will include many children,” White Moon said, slowly nodding as his eyes moved back and forth between them. “Maheo blesses you today. So does this shaman bless you. Live in peace and happiness for the rest of your days in the knowledge that your marriage was written in the stars . . . was meant to be. From here on, you are husband and wife.” He smiled at Storm. “Now do you have something to say to your bride?”

  Storm smiled broadly, nodded, then took both of Shoshana’s hands in his as he turned and faced her. “My wife, my lovely Shoshana, I promise that nevermore will you suffer any injustice or sadness,” he vowed. “I am here to see that your life does not lack for happiness and blessings from above. As your husband, I promise you these things, Shoshana. I love you. I shall always love you.”

  Tears filled Shoshana’s eyes . . . tears of happiness. She smiled at Storm. “My darling husband, I promise never to disappoint you, to keep your home filled with happiness and joy . . . and . . .” She paused, blushed, then finished what she had wanted to say. “And I also promise you many children, especially a son who will be born in your image. I will be at your side, Storm, to love you and to share my happiness with you. If you ever need more from me than these things, ask, and they, too, will be yours.”

  She slid her hands free of his and flung herself into his arms. “My Storm, my husband,” she whispered against his lips before he gave her a tender kiss.

  Then they parted and smiled at White Moon, and at the people who stood so quiet, watching and listening.

  “Your chief now has a wife!” Storm shouted, taking one of Shoshana’s hands and lifting it for everyone to see.

  There were loud cheers, words of congratulations, and then the women
broke into song as Storm swept Shoshana into his arms and took her to her steed, then mounted the horse a young brave brought to him.

  He gave his people a broad smile, and Shoshana smiled down at her mother. Then they rode away, side by side, until they arrived at a place Shoshana had been told would be readied for her and Storm on their wedding day.

  She had been told only today that Storm had slipped away in the middle of the night to prepare a retreat for their honeymoon. He had erected a beautiful snowy white tepee. Its entrance flap was open. There were slow spirals of smoke rising from the smoke hole.

  “Here we shall stay two days and two nights,” Storm said, dismounting and then helping Shoshana from her steed.

  He tied their reins together and tethered the horses to a low limb, then turned to Shoshana.

  “Come and see where we will spend these private moments alone,” he said, again sweeping her into his arms and carrying her to the tepee.

  When he took her inside, she gasped in delight at what he had done. Colorful, beautifully scented wildflowers were strewn everywhere, over and beside plush pelts, and food was cooking in a copper pot over the fire, sending off aromas that made Shoshana’s stomach growl.

  “You are hungry?” Storm asked, his eyes gleaming into hers.

  “Yes, but not for food,” Shoshana said, her own eyes twinkling. “I believe you know what hungers need to be fed.”

  “I believe yours match my own,” he said, gently sliding her down to her feet amid the flowers. He framed her face between his hands. “My wife. I can now call you my wife. And you can call me husband.”

  “My husband,” Shoshana murmured, everything within her feeling deliciously warmed by his embrace and by the electricity that flowed between them.

  “And I believe a husband should undress his bride, do you not think so?” Storm asked, already sliding the dress over her head.

  When she was totally nude, he bent low and kissed the nipple of one breast, and then the other, then sucked a nipple between his lips and gently nibbled on it with his teeth as his hands wandered lower and found her wet and ready between her thighs.

  “You need to be undressed, too,” Shoshana murmured, though she hated to remove his beautifully beaded buckskin outfit, for she had never seen him as handsome as today.

  “Then undress me,” Storm said huskily, holding his arms out on each side.

  Soon he was undressed as well.

  He twined his arms around her waist and led her down to the plush pelts that he had prepared for them beside the fire. As he covered her with his body, flesh against flesh, his mouth went to hers with a hot and passionate kiss.

  Shoshana twined her arms around Storm’s neck and strained her body up against his. The need she felt within her was so strong, she could hardly bear to wait for him to thrust himself inside her. And when he did, she shuddered with the intensity of the feelings that swam through her.

  His mouth seared hers, leaving her breathless and shaking. Their bodies moved together rhythmically.

  Wondrous, sweet feelings overwhelmed Shoshana.

  It was a drugged passion that she felt as his body moved more vigorously against hers. A husky groan of pleasure came from deep within him.

  She emitted her own cry of passion and her senses began spinning as her hips strained upward, meeting his every thrust, surrendering herself to the pleasure that he was giving her.

  Storm moaned throatily as the fire spread within him, his loins aching for fulfillment. He pressed endlessly deeper, then felt the wondrous drugged pleasure that he sought as her body answered his in a quiet explosion of their love.

  Breathless, her head still spinning with the rapture of the moment, Shoshana clung to Storm as he lay atop her.

  And then he rose, swept his arms around her, and carried her outside where the sun was lowering in the sky behind the mountain peak. Still carrying Shoshana, he took her to where she could see the waterfall more closely.

  The setting sun blazed orange on the treetops, reflecting its last glow in the water as it splashed over the rocks. It made a rainbow of colors, then fell down below into the river.

  “The sun wields the greatest power of all,” Storm said, glancing up just in time to see the last of the sun as it crept behind the peaks above them. “Just think what life would be if Father Sun withheld his light from us . . . or how damaging would be the rays of the sun if he let his rays shine day and night without cessation.”

  They watched the moon replace the sun, then went inside the tepee and made love again, this time more slowly, more tenderly, as the stars twinkled through the smoke hole above them.

  Suddenly all of Shoshana’s past was just a memory that she could let go. She was happy to be making a new life now with Storm, one which she could look back on and smile.

  He had given her the Apache life that had been denied her those long years ago. He had given himself to her as her husband!

  “I shall always love you,” she whispered against his lips as he paused before taking them both over the edge into paradise again.

  “As I will you,” he whispered back. The howl of a distant wolf suddenly split the night air outside the lodge.

  And then . . . there was the screech of a panther.

  Shoshana and Storm both heard it but pretended they hadn’t. They clung to one another and continued making love.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Dreams of the summer night!

  Tell her, her lover keeps watch!

  —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

  Several days had passed. Birds were settling in their nests for the night in the cottonwoods beside a slow, meandering stream.

  A slow fire blazed in a camp that only a short while ago had been set up after a full day of capturing wild horses.

  Storm’s people had felt the need for more horses before they left for Canada. They needed more for the grueling journey, and in case there were no wild horses in Canada to keep replenishing their already powerful herd.

  As Shoshana had watched, Storm had captured many beautiful horses. There were mares and stallions of all colors and all sizes. They were all handsome and well muscled. There were buckskins, sorrels, pintos, bays, and chestnuts.

  Storm had especially rounded up a snow-white stallion just for his wife . . . his Shoshana.

  All the captured horses were now penned in a nearby canyon, contentedly grazing.

  Although Shoshana was not happy about it, her sister-in-law had accompanied Shoshana and the warriors on the horse roundup. Storm had told her earlier that Dancing Willow loved the chase and would be riding with them as she always did.

  It still hadn’t made Shoshana happy, for she knew that Dancing Willow continued to resent her and probably always would. It was hard to be civil to the Seer knowing that every time the woman looked at her, she did so with quiet jealousy in the dark depths of her eyes.

  At this very moment, Shoshana had to pretend to be pleasant to Dancing Willow as they bathed together in a deep pool of water fed by the shallower stream. They were far enough from the camp so that they had total privacy for their bath.

  Had Shoshana not felt so grimy and dirty from the long day on her horse, and were she not anxious to be with Storm tonight amid their blankets far from the others, she would have just let herself stink instead of bathing with Dancing Willow alone.

  She felt she needed to keep an eye on every move that Dancing Willow made. After the spider incident, how could she trust Storm’s sister?

  Although Dancing Willow had apologized, Shoshana knew deep in her heart that it was an apology laced with a lie!

  “The water is not too cold, is it?” Dancing Willow asked as she splashed herself. “After a day on a horse, does it not feel good to have the water soothe your aches and pains?”

  Shoshana wanted to strike back at Dancing Willow and say she was surprised that the Seer would admit to having aches and pains from riding. She would have expected Dancing Willow never to confess to anything that migh
t make her look less strong in Shoshana’s eyes.

  But again Shoshana felt deceit in Dancing Willow’s sudden friendliness. The other woman had hardly spoken to her all day.

  Shoshana glanced where she had left her rifle at the edge of the pool. Storm had told her to take it with her because the panther was still a threat in the area.

  But Shoshana felt she needed it more for protection from Dancing Willow. If the Seer wanted Shoshana done away with, was this not the perfect place and time, when they were totally alone?

  “Shoshana, you do not hear me?” Dancing Willow said, drawing Shoshana around to gaze at her. “You are so quiet. Why? Is it the panther that makes you so afraid? For you are afraid. I see it in your eyes. I sense it in everything about you.”

  “Yes, it’s the panther,” Shoshana said, not really lying. She did worry about that large, sleek cat.

  “To escape your fear, think of something else,” Dancing Willow said, running her fingers through her long black hair, then wringing water from it as she started walking toward shore. She gave Shoshana a look over her shoulder. “Come. Let us dress and get back to the camp, for I see that nothing I say takes the fear from your eyes.”

  Angry at herself for allowing this woman to see her fear, Shoshana left the water and was glad when she was dried and dressed again in full buckskin attire, which included leggings that her husband had given to her for the long day on horseback.

  “The horses that were captured today are beautiful, are they not?” Dancing Willow said, slowly sneaking away from Shoshana while her sister-in-law’s back was to her. Dancing Willow had seen a movement in the grass at the edge of the water.

  She smiled devilishly as she realized what it was. A snake!

  A snake had come at an opportune time for Dancing Willow. It was going to be very useful to her. She would not give up until she had intilled cold, stark fear within Shoshana’s heart. She wanted Shoshana to long for the sort of life she had known when living as a white woman.