She stammered, not knowing what to call this man in the cage. She would no longer call him her father. He wasn’t. To her now, he was nothing but a name.
“What am I going to do with this evil man?” Fire Thunder said, realizing that her awkwardness came from not knowing how to address this man now that she knew he was not her father.
“Yes, what is going to happen to him now?” Kaylene asked softly.
“He can die slowly in the cage, or he can be hanged and get it over quickly,” Fire Thunder said sternly. “Which do you prefer? You have been wronged the most by this evil man.”
Kaylene turned her eyes away. She stifled a sob behind a hand for what this man had been to her for so long, a man she had never truly known.
So much came back to her, flooding her with memories of when she was a child. Yes, this man had been cold and so often noncommunicative.
But she could remember times, although they were rare, when she had idolized him for being the man who made the carnival so pretty and fun. He had been a man of authority, someone everyone seemed to look up to.
But, of course, she knew now that those looks had not been admiration at all, but the false looks of masks, beneath which lay a seething hate for this man who had enslaved so many.
Even most of the men who came today to help free Kaylene had at one time been children raised at the carnival at John Shelton’s mercy. Once grown, they had stayed on because they had nowhere else to go, or had no other skills than those they had learned at the carnival.
She had understood why they had turned and left him to fend for himself, that they had seen an opportunity to finally rid their lives of this tyrant!
But torn now by so many things, especially having been made a fool of all of her life by this man in the cage, Kaylene suddenly felt as though she were dying a slow death inside by not knowing who she truly was, or where her true roots may have been had she never been abducted as a child.
Roots! She had always hungered for roots. And this man had kept her from those who were truly hers.
Blinded by tears, Kaylene ran around the cage, and into the forest, Midnight quickly following.
She ran blindly onward until she tripped and fell on the root of a tree that had grown up from the ground in an arch.
Her body wracked with tears, she snuggled close to her panther as he lay down beside her.
Suddenly Fire Thunder was there. He reached down and lifted Kaylene into his arms and nestled her close to his chest. “My woman,” he said, his voice drawn. “Things will be all right. You are loved. I love you. I will make life wonderful for you.”
She clung around his neck. “I know,” she said, sobbing. “But what of that part of my life that is lost to me? What have I missed by living with . . . with total strangers?”
She looked desperately up at him. “I must find my true parents,” she said, her eyes pleading with him. “Will you help me? Please? Will you?”
“You know that your father’s carnival travels all over the country,” Fire Thunder said thickly. “I would say that it is almost impossible for you to ever know your true parents.”
“Mother—” she began, then broke into tears again to realize that the woman who had held her to her bosom as a child was truly not her mother.
“Anna . . .” she stammered out, “she will surely tell me. Once she knows that I know everything, why wouldn’t she?”
“She will deny everything,” Fire Thunder said. “Are you prepared for that?”
Kaylene knew that he was right. She lowered her eyes. “I’m so sorry for John’s part in the attack today against your people,” she murmured. “I will find a way to make it up to you and your people.”
“My woman, do you not know that you are not required to do anything to make up for something you are not at all responsible for?” Fire Thunder said, carrying her toward his village. “Except, to—”
“Except to what?” Kaylene said, interrupting him. She was anxious to do anything for him. Anything!
“We must marry soon,” Fire Thunder said, his eyes locked with hers. “We must face the future together as man and wife, as one heartbeat, one soul, one breath. Destiny has brought us together. One never questions destiny.”
Kaylene suddenly recalled his powers to stop the storm, and her fright of it. “Fire Thunder, I witnessed something that I don’t understand,” she murmured. “You were able to stop the storm today by praying. Why is that? Such powers somewhat frighten me. It . . . doesn’t seem natural.”
“There is nothing to be frightened about,” Fire Thunder said, hurt that she would be afraid of anything he did. “I was born during a fierce storm of fire, lightning, and thunder. That is how I got my name Fire Thunder. Ever since I was young, I’ve had special powers because of having been born during such a time, when the heavens were warring in battle. I have rarely used them. I do not want to be looked on as a witch by my people. Only a scarce few have seen my powers with the elements. You are now among those who know my whole, true self.”
In awe of him, more than frightened, Kaylene gazed into his eyes.
“Are you frightened of the knowing?” he asked thickly.
“No, I’m not frightened,” Kaylene murmured. “I love you. I admire you. I see you as a special man in so many ways.” She reached her lips up to his and brushed his mouth with butterfly kisses. “And I shall never tell a soul what I witnessed.”
He laughed throatily, placed a hand behind her head, and kissed her with fire, his tongue probing between her lips.
But knowing this was not the time to arouse so much between them, with so many injured, and with so many people to console, Fire Thunder drew his lips away and placed Kaylene on the ground.
When they entered the village, they discovered two Mexican soldiers escorting two people into the village on horseback.
One was a man. The other was a woman.
With Kaylene trailing behind him, her hand on Midnight, Fire Thunder went and met the strangers’ approach. He stopped and waited for the man and woman to dismount.
White Wolf helped Dawnmarie from her horse, then slipped an arm around her waist and went to Fire Thunder, his gaze moving quickly to Kaylene, a white woman, as she stood beside Fire Thunder.
“I am White Wolf of the Fon du Lac band of Chippewa. I have traveled far with my wife from Wisconsin to find her true people, the Kickapoo,” White Wolf said thickly. “General Rocendo appointed two of his soldiers to escort us here. He said that you are Kickapoo. Are you Chief Fire Thunder?”
“Yes, I am Chief Fire Thunder,” Fire Thunder said, easing a hand of friendship out toward White Wolf. “You are welcome to my village.” He cast a troubled glance over his shoulder. “You will have to overlook the condition of my people upon your first arrival here. We have just gone through an attack from white men.”
“An attack?” Dawnmarie said, paling. She now recalled the men who had rode past her and White Wolf and the Mexican escorts. Some had been wounded.
“Yes, but let that not worry you,” Fire Thunder reassured her. “They are now gone. The threat is over.”
Fire Thunder reached a hand out for Dawnmarie. “And you are of Kickapoo descent?” he said, her hand soft as she twined her fingers through his in a handshake of friendship.
“Yes, in part, I am Kickapoo. My mother, Doe Eyes, was Kickapoo,” Dawnmarie said softly. “My father was white. Long ago my mother told me the importance of making peace with my Kickapoo people. It is necessary for my afterlife. It is good to have finally found you.”
“Many moons ago my mother and father lived in Wisconsin,” Fire Thunder offered. “I was born there, but they moved often, sometimes to Illinois, sometimes to Indiana, wherever they could find peace with the white people. It was I who grew tired of broken treaties. That is why, upon the death of my chieftain father, I brought my people here.”
He frowned. “Tonight was the first time my people have been attacked while on this mountain,” he grumbled. “And it will b
e the last.”
“My mother, Doe Eyes, was born among your people, and she was abducted by my father who was a trapper,” Dawnmarie said softly. “She married the trapper. I was born. She was a devoted wife and mother. But all of her life she longed to be with her people. She died in sadness.”
Suddenly Moon Glow came walking toward Dawnmarie, her many cats trailing behind her. She stepped up to Dawnmarie and looked at her through her squinting, aged eyes. “I knew a woman named Doe Eyes,” she said huskily. “When we were both young and beautiful. It must be your mother I knew. She was dear to me. We . . . were . . . the best of friends.”
A sudden strained silence fell on those who had gathered to see the woman who claimed to be, in part, Kickapoo.
Chapter 20
They spoke as chords do from the string,
And blood burnt round my heart.
—JOHN CLARE
Dawnmarie gazed with parted lips at the woman. She was so unkempt and wretched, so haggard. But that didn’t matter. Miracle of miracles! Dawnmarie had found someone who remembered her beloved mother. This woman who knew her mother was absolute proof that Dawnmarie had found her true people!
Moon Glow moved closer to Dawnmarie. She placed a bony hand on Dawnmarie’s arm and leaned close to her ear. “My name is Moon Glow,” she said in a soft whisper, because she knew not to speak her name aloud. It was forbidden now that she had been labeled a “Trotter,” as well as the village witch. “I gave your mother a friendship bag many years ago, and then the very next day Doe Eyes disappeared.”
Recalling the beautifully beaded friendship bag, the very one that Dawnmarie’s mother had given to her, for her to give to a friend in turn, Dawnmarie choked up with emotion. This was bringing her so close to her mother. It was as though she were there with Dawnmarie, instead of in a dark, dank grave back in Wisconsin.
“You were her very best friend,” Dawnmarie said, embracing Moon Glow, drawing gasps from the crowd who were gathered around them. “It is good to be with you. If only Mother could be here, as well.”
“Your mother is now among our ancestors in the afterworld?” Moon Glow asked, easing from Dawnmarie’s arms.
“Yes, and I am sure her spirit is here with us, feeling finally at peace because I have found my people, and her special friend,” Dawnmarie said, wiping tears from her eyes.
Kaylene watched the emotional scene, of this woman of mixed blood meeting her people for the first time. Tears stung her eyes, to know that she herself had people out there somewhere whom she had never known, and more than likely never would.
But it looked as though Dawnmarie’s persistence had worked.
Perhaps Kaylene would be even as persistent in searching for her parents.
Yet, she was not truly sure if that was wise. She had found a home here with Fire Thunder. Should she dare place it in jeopardy by leaving him, to search for answers that she would probably never find?
While with Fire Thunder, Kaylene felt as though she had the world. Surely she should be content enough with that. She had found roots with him.
She slipped an arm through his as she continued to watch Dawnmarie and Moon Glow, surprised that Moon Glow had been allowed to stay this long among the people.
“Tell me about your mother,” Moon Glow murmured. “Where she went after she left our people. Were there any more children besides you? Was she happy, truly happy, away from her people?”
“My mother was kidnapped by a trapper,” Dawnmarie said, her voice breaking. “I was born of their union. I had no brothers or sisters. And, yes, for a while, my mother was happy. She loved my father. But she always pined for her people. She came looking for you. But she discovered that you had moved faraway. She gave up her search. She then even gave up her reason for living.”
“That is sad,” Moon Glow said, tears splashing from her eyes. “If we could have gotten together, perhaps both our lives would have been different.”
“She would have been so happy to have seen you again,” Dawnmarie said softly.
Moon Glow leaned close again. “I must return to my lodge,” she said, looking guardedly around her. “It is forbidden for me to mix with the others, especially guests. Before I am ordered back to my lodge, I will return.”
Dawnmarie’s lips parted to ask why, but before she could, Moon Glow had hurried back to her lodge, her cats trailing close behind her.
“I don’t understand,” Dawnmarie said, gazing at Fire Thunder.
“Do not question it,” Fire Thunder said flatly. “Now tell me everything about your mother.”
Dawnmarie looked with quiet sadness toward Moon Glow’s lodge, then into Fire Thunder’s eyes again. She told him about her mother’s feelings about her true people, and again, this time, a more lengthy explanation about why she felt it was so important to be there herself.
Fire Thunder embraced her once she was finished. “You are welcome among my people and you are welcome to stay as long as you wish,” he said softly.
Dawnmarie hugged him back, then stepped away and stood beside White Wolf again. “You are very kind and generous,” she answered. “But on my long journey from Wisconsin to Mexico, I have had time to think things through. I appreciate your invitation to stay, but once my mission is fulfilled, that of getting the Kickapoo to give their consent for me to enter the afterlife as a Kickapoo, I will most definitely return to Wisconsin, so that I can be with my children.”
“If that is your decision, then so be it,” Fire Thunder said. “We will all first celebrate the New Year, and then we will celebrate the Feast for the Dead, which should be enough for you to know that your hereafter life will be secured, as Kickapoo.”
“Thank you,” Dawnmarie said softly, still finding it hard to believe that she was there among her people. As she had told Moon Glow, she truly felt as though her mother’s spirit had followed her from her resting place in Wisconsin and was happy for her daughter. Soon Dawnmarie would finally lay to rest her fears of her hereafter life.
“White Wolf, Dawnmarie, I would like for you to meet the woman who will soon be my wife,” Fire Thunder said, placing an arm around Kaylene’s waist, drawing her close to his side. “This is Kaylene.” He then gestured down at Little Sparrow. “And this is my sister, Little Sparrow. She can speak only through sign language and she reads lips when one who speaks to her does not know the full art of signing.”
Kaylene was thrilled at being introduced officially as his bride-to-be. She smiled half bashfully at White Wolf, and then Dawnmarie.
She felt Dawnmarie’s eyes linger on her, and she knew why. Dawnmarie was part white and she had married an Indian.
Kaylene was anxious to talk alone with Dawnmarie and question her about her life among Indians. It did appear, though, that her answers were there, in the way Dawnmarie clung to her husband’s arm, and gave him an occasional adoring glance. She was happy, so intensely happy.
The introductions over, Fire Thunder looked nervously over his shoulder, at those who were still tending to the wounded before carrying them inside their lodges.
Troubled, he gave White Wolf a wavering gaze. “Kaylene will escort you to my home,” he said thickly. “There we will shall later share food and conversation. But I must first see to my people. I must comfort and help those who need it.”
“I shall go with you, if you do not mind,” White Wolf said. “My wife can go with Kaylene. We can join them later.”
“That is fine. I welcome you,” Fire Thunder said. He placed gentle hands on Kaylene’s shoulders. “This will give you time to become better acquainted with Dawnmarie, and she with you.”
“I look forward to it,” Kaylene murmured. She so badly wanted to give him a comforting kiss for his pain for his people and their wounds. “Again, I am so sorry about what happened today. I feel somewhat to blame. If—”
“No if’s,” Fire Thunder said, placing a gentle hand over her mouth. “Remember that it was I who brought you here.”
She smiled as he eased
his hand from her mouth.
Little Sparrow clung to Kaylene’s hand as Kaylene and Dawnmarie walked toward Fire Thunder’s cabin.
“The panther is beautiful,” Dawnmarie said as she gazed down at Midnight as he strolled in his dignified fashion somewhat ahead of them. “I have never seen one that could be tamed enough to be a pet.”
“His name is Midnight,” Kaylene answered. “I found him when he was hardly larger than a house kitten. We became fast friends. Nothing could part us now. And whomever I choose as a friend, is his.”
Dawnmarie gasped and paled. She stopped in midstep when she saw John Shelton in the cage.
Kaylene gazed at John as he gave her a pleading look, while trying to keep that most private part of himself covered beneath his hands.
Every time Kaylene looked at him, she felt herself despising him more deeply. His presence there in the cage represented everything evil about him.
“Ignore him,” Kaylene said icily. “He led the attack on the Kickapoo. He was captured. He is paying for his evil deeds.”
“But who is he?” Dawnmarie asked, shuffling past him, embarrassed somewhat by his nudity.
“He once was my father,” Kaylene said, her voice void of emotion.
Dawnmarie looked quickly over at Kaylene. “Your . . . father?” she gasped out.
“Only in pretense, it seems,” Kaylene said, sighing heavily. She looked at Dawnmarie. “Please, let’s not talk about him. Let’s talk about other things that are more pleasant. I hope that you will tell me your feelings about living among Indians; about, oh, so many things. You seem to have experienced so much. Surely you can offer advice about that which is troubling me.”
“And what is that?” Dawnmarie asked softly. “Tell me. I shall do whatever I can. You do seem troubled about so much.”
“Yes, and life, in general, it seems,” Kaylene said, again sighing. “But one thing is in my favor. I have Fire Thunder’s love.” She laughed awkwardly. “But that did not come easy. He took me captive. I, at first . . . hated him.”
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