Fire Thunder nodded a silent hello to Eloisa, and she to him. Then Eloisa’s eyes brimmed with tears again as she took the time to again slowly look her daughter over.
“You are so beautiful,” she then said. “And you are a woman of kind heart for having come to talk to me.”
“I so badly wish to embrace you,” Kaylene said, stifling a sob behind a hand.
“As do I you,” Eloisa murmured. She used the loose sleeve of her dress to wipe the torrent of tears from her eyes and face. “But it is enough for me just to get to see you and talk with you. Never had I thought it possible to see my daughter again. And now here you are, a grown woman who is soon to marry.”
“And soon I hope to also be a mother,” Kaylene said, feeling Fire Thunder’s grip tighten on her hand at the mention of children. She knew that what she said pleased him. “I will bring your grandchildren and let you see them also.”
“You would do that?” Eloisa said, her voice breaking again.
“Yes, I promise you that I shall,” Kaylene said, again wiping tears from her eyes.
“Where do you live?” Eloisa asked, glancing over at Fire Thunder, then back at Kaylene.
“I live with Fire Thunder now at his Kickapoo village not that far from San Carlos, Mexico,” Kaylene answered. “Yes, it isn’t all that close to your home, but I will still manage to come from time to time to have such chats as we are having today.” She swallowed hard. “That is, if you wish me to.”
“I have been quite lonely,” Eloisa said softly. “Yes, do come whenever you can.” She glanced down at the wolf. “Wolf is my best friend. He does not fear my scaly body.”
Kaylene started to kneel down to embrace the wolf, but again Fire Thunder stopped her.
“Who is to say the disease of your mother would not be carried on the fur of the wolf?” Fire Thunder said thickly. “Do not chance it, Kaylene.”
Eloisa whistled for the wolf.
He turned toward her and ran quickly to her.
She reached out and patted him, then guided him to her side.
“I was told, Mother, that you traveled with Gypsies,” Kaylene went on. “Could you tell me something about yourself and your Gypsy people? Where are they? Can you tell me who my true father is?”
Eloisa smiled slowly. “Yes, I can tell you about your father,” she said. “But until now I have told no one. I kept the secret, so that when he was alive, he wouldn’t have to be embarrassed by people knowing that he had loved a woman such as I, who was truly never pretty, but instead someone who knew well the art of loving a man.”
Kaylene’s heart sank when she realized that by her mother’s words—“when her father was alive”—that he was now surely dead.
She paled and gasped when her mother told her that her father was a great Comanche war chief. That meant that she, in part, was Indian!
“He is dead now for many winters,” Eloisa said solemnly. She gave Fire Thunder a frown. “He was killed in a battle with the Kickapoo.”
Everything became suddenly quiet between them. As for Kaylene, she was afraid to ask any more about her father, fearing that she might discover that her betrothed might have killed him.
She was glad when her mother broke the silence and told her at length about her Gypsy family, that they were now faraway, never staying put in anyone place for any length of time.
“They will never return this way ever again because they do not want to associate themselves with this old woman whose body has betrayed her,” Eloisa said sullenly.
They talked awhile longer, until Kaylene saw how weary her mother was becoming. And she knew that Fire Thunder was eager to return home.
And that was all right with Kaylene. She had succeeded in her mission to find her mother.
Now perhaps she could rest at night and proceed with the rest of her life with the man of her midnight dreams, and make a life with him that would be wonderful.
They said their good-byes and tears spilling from her eyes, Kaylene went back to her gentle mare.
Fire Thunder kissed her softly, then lifted her into the saddle.
For a while they rode down the hillside in silence, beneath the umbrella of the trees, and then through vast fields of wild flowers.
“How do you feel about my father being a Comanche war chief?” Kaylene finally blurted out, unable to hold it inside her any longer.
“How do you think I should feel?” Fire Thunder said, giving her a slow gaze.
“I’m not certain,” Kaylene said, sighing deeply. “It’s just that I know now that he died while battling the Kickapoo. Could it have been you?”
“Not all Comanche are my enemy,” Fire Thunder said solemnly. “Only those who crossed the border into Mexican territory, to raid and steal from those I promised to keep safe when a treaty was reached between myself and General Rocendo.”
He paused, then said, “There was only one Comanche war chief that I have actually gone to war against. And that was Chief Panther Crow.”
Kaylene stiffened at the name, reminded of her pet panther and how it had seemed to have come to her out of nowhere the day she had found it.
Could her father have been Panther Crow? Could he have been reincarnated into the panther and have come to her?
She didn’t voice this thought aloud to Fire Thunder. She would keep it close to her heart, the only secret she would ever keep from her beloved Kickapoo chief, her wondrous lover.
Then another thought came to her that shook her innermost being. She suddenly remembered those strange stirrings that she had felt after she had arrived at Fire Thunder’s village, while mingling with his people. So often she had felt as though she might have been an Indian in another life. Now she understood those stirrings!
It was wonderful to know that she was part Indian in this life!
It would be something she would carry proudly with her while she lived among Indians.
Yes, now she understood why she had so quickly felt as though she belonged with the Kickapoo.
Yet she could not help but feel as though she had been deprived of something precious in her life by finding out just now that she was part Indian. But she would make up for it now that she knew. She would learn everything Indian. She would live it.
The one thing that took away from this wonderful moment was the sadness she felt over the illness of her mother.
She vowed to herself that this woman would never forget her. She would go as often as possible to talk with her. Her true mother would no longer be alone in the world.
Then a thought came to Kaylene that excited her at the possibility of being able to do it. She looked quickly over at Fire Thunder.
“Fire Thunder, why must my true mother be forced to live in such total isolation so far from me, her only family?” she blurted out. “Could she come and live on your mountain, where I could go and see her more often, than if she should stay where she lives now? And, when we have children, we could share them with her.” Her eyes pleaded. “What do you think?” she asked, her voice trembling in her anxiety.
Fire Thunder thought for a while, then gave Kaylene a soft smile. “Yes, we can work that out,” he said. “We will go soon and tell her the news. We will give her the opportunity to be a part of our lives, if she wishes to be.”
“Oh, she will,” Kaylene said, sighing contentedly. “I just know that she will.”
“But still, you can only talk with her from a distance,” Fire Thunder said. “Will that be enough?”
“Yes, oh, yes,” Kaylene said, nodding. “You are so kind, Fire Thunder. So sweet, so caring. How am I so lucky to have met you?”
“I am the lucky one,” Fire Thunder said, again smiling.
They rode onward until they reached the others they had left behind at the campsite.
Then everyone rode together back toward Fire Thunder’s village.
They traveled until evening came, but they still went on. They crossed the Rio Grande, rode past the outskirts of San Carlos, then proceede
d up the mountainside.
Halfway up the mountain, Fire Thunder’s insides turned cold and he drew his horse’s reins tight and stopped. His eyes could not leave the horrendous sight of Black Hair as he hung from a tree in the moonlight, a rope tied securely around his neck. His head lay limply to one side.
Kaylene’s eyes followed Fire Thunder’s.
She felt faint when she saw Black Hair’s body swaying in the gentle night breeze, his horse grazing close by, as though it was dutifully waiting for him.
The other warriors circled around, staring, low chants beginning from the depths of their throats in plaintive, sad wails.
Kaylene gave Anna a quick glance, who had turned her eyes from the grisly sight.
Fire Thunder rode over to Black Hair. He waited for two warriors to stand beneath the body and reach up and take hold of its legs.
Then Fire Thunder slipped a knife from the sheath at his left side and cut the rope in half, loosing Black Hair.
Black Hair’s body fell clumsily downward. The two warriors caught him, then lay him on the ground and stood over him.
Fire Thunder dismounted.
Kaylene followed his lead and hurried to his side as he went and stood over his departed friend.
“How do you think this happened?” Kaylene asked softly, turning her eyes away from Black Hair.
“His appearance tells me that he has been dead for some time,” Fire Thunder said. “I am remembering now how sullen Black Hair was after his daughter humiliated him by her shameful behavior that last time in front of the whole village.”
“You . . . think . . . he killed himself?” Kaylene asked, gazing up at Fire Thunder, seeing his anguish.
Fire Thunder held his face in his hands. “No,” he said, his voice choking. “I will not believe that he killed himself. The Kickapoo think suicide an unforgivable, mortal sin.”
He flung his hands from his face and looked heavenward. “Who could have done this thing?” he cried. “This man. This brave warrior! He was so much to me! He was my closest friend, to whom I gave the right hand of my heart!”
He looked down at Black Hair again. “There are many possibilities,” he growled out between clenched teeth. “The Texas ranchers. They could have discovered that we Kickapoo are responsible for the recent thefts of their cattle, not the Comanche. They could have come across Black Hair as he traveled alone. As a mark of vengeance against our whole tribe, they could have killed Black Hair, one of our most valiant warriors.”
He looked over his shoulder, in the direction of San Carlos. “It might have been some of General Rocendo’s soldiers,” he hissed out. “The general might have ordered this done, making Black Hair pay for Black Hair’s daughter’s sin of consorting with his son Pedro, and for Running Fawn being responsible for his son being so ill from having made the tattoo on his leg.”
He turned glowering eyes toward Anna. “Or it could have been carnival people from John Shelton’s troupe who came and avenged John Shelton’s death,” he said sullenly.
“No, it surely wasn’t them,” Kaylene cried, knowing the importance of keeping Fire Thunder and his people from resenting Anna for any reason. “His men did not care for him that much. They only tolerated him because they had no choice. They were raised to know only one thing—carnival life. And don’t you remember? Mother gave the carnival to them. They would be too happy for that good fortune, to come and kill one of your men. They have cause to thank you, not resent you.”
“I will never know who is truly responsible,” Fire Thunder said, his voice breaking.
He glanced over at Black Hair’s horse. He nodded toward a warrior. “Get his horse,” he said softly. “Place Black Hair across the saddle. Let us take him home. Soon Black Hair will be riding the spirit of a horse long since gone from this earth on his trip heavenward.”
Kaylene watched solemnly, thinking how complicated life was. Only a short while ago she had felt so blessed and happy to have been able to talk and be with her true mother.
Only moments ago she had been content to know that her very own mother might soon live near her, so that they could talk whenever they chose to.
And now, it was the worst of times, when the man she loved was filled with such despair over the loss of a loved one.
It always seemed that it was hard to keep a good, hard grip on true happiness, for there was always someone, or something there, to tear it all down again.
Chapter 28
She walks among the loveliness she made.
—VITA SACKVILLE-WEST
Several weeks had passed. The mourning period was now over for Black Hair. Fire Thunder no longer wore narrow strips of braided buckskin around his neck and waist to show his mourning. Nor was his entire face covered in the black ash of mourning.
As Fire Thunder had said, Black Hair’s storms of life were over. He was at peace.
And so Fire Thunder was now at peace with Black Hair’s death, yet would forever miss him.
Kaylene was all aflutter inside because this was the day when Fire Thunder was going to make his formal announcement to his people about his upcoming marriage to her.
She sat before a roaring fire in Anna’s cabin as Anna brushed her hair for the coming ceremony. Although Kaylene had lived among the Kickapoo for many weeks now, the formality of the ceremony was required so that she would be living by the rules set down by them. She would be practicing their customs.
“You have so many things to learn about Fire Thunder’s people,” Anna said softly, as though she had read Kaylene’s thoughts. “Take this for example—that I could not brush your hair in Fire Thunder’s cabin. I shall never understand, Kaylene. It seems so wrong. Soon his cabin will be yours. Is he going to force you to step outside every time you want to brush or comb your hair? You can’t tell me that he tends to his own long hair outside his lodge.”
“Yes, he does,” Kaylene murmured. “It is taboo for anyone to brush or comb their hair in a Kickapoo lodge. Now I will be the first to admit that I find that strange, also. But it is just one of those things I must accept. I am hellbent on learning everything Kickapoo and living among them as one with them.”
“I am grateful, oh, so grateful to Fire Thunder for allowing me to live here, and for giving me this fine cabin. But I too often feel as though I am an intrusion in your lives,” Anna said, her voice breaking.
Kaylene looked over her shoulder at Anna. “I understand that so much has changed in your life,” she said thickly, “And I can see how you might feel as though you are intruding . . . as though you don’t belong. Please listen when I say that I am so happy that you are here.”
Kaylene rose from the chair and turned toward Anna. “And one day you will feel as though you belong,” she softly encouraged her. “You are so much the same as I, in how we never had roots until now. It is a difference I love. But you were with the carnival for much longer than me. It will take longer for you to adjust.”
Anna laid the brush aside as Kaylene stepped closer. She drew Kaylene into her arms. “You could hate me, yet you don’t,” she whispered, stroking Kaylene’s back. “Thank you, darling, for caring . . . for taking me in when I felt I had lost everything.”
“I’m glad to be able to give you something back after all that you did for me,” Kaylene murmured.
She swallowed hard when she recalled how she had felt hate for Anna the first time she realized that Anna had deceived her by making her believe that she was her own daughter.
Kaylene was happy to know that she hadn’t been abducted like the others. She had been taken in to raise as a daughter. How could she hate Anna when she had taken pity on her as an infant?
If Anna had not done this, Kaylene shivered at the thought of what might have happened to her. For certainly, she would never have met Fire Thunder.
A shadow filling the open doorway brought Kaylene from her mother’s arms. She smiled as Fire Thunder stepped into the room with the grace of a deer, his gaze roving over her.
; Kaylene squared her shoulders and straightened her back as she allowed him a longer look before going to him to fling herself into his wonderfully strong arms.
She ran her fingers down the front of the dress that she had purchased in San Carlos on her last shopping spree with Anna and Little Sparrow. It was blue silk, with puffed sleeves and a fully gathered waist. White lace trimmed the low bodice and the edges of her long sleeves. She wore dainty slippers.
All but for the flowers that her mother had not yet placed in her hair for the ceremony, Kaylene was ready to go out and face Fire Thunder’s people.
Kaylene looked at Fire Thunder and the way he was dressed in a neat suit of buckskin, with fringe on the sleeves, across the shoulders, and down the trouser legs. He wore high moccasins made of the softest, cream-colored skins. His hair trailed down his back, braided and decorated with shells.
Kaylene was taken anew by his handsomeness, by his gentle smile, and by the shine in his blue eyes. She had never thought that love could be this strong between any man and woman, especially after being raised in a family where man and wife scarcely ever embraced. Even smiles were vague between them. It seemed to have been a business transaction between John and Anna Shelton. Nothing more; nothing less.
With Kaylene and Fire Thunder, it was going to be a sharing of hearts until they took their last breaths on this earth. Theirs was a special loving, a special, mutual admiration between them. And she felt so very, very blessed!
“I have come for you,” Fire Thunder said, reaching a hand out for Kaylene. “Come. My people are waiting.”
“The flowers,” Anna said, rushing to Kaylene with a handful of pink roses, their thorns removed from the stems. “Let me put the flowers in Kaylene’s hair.”
Fire Thunder’s eyes danced at Kaylene’s. “Yes, make my woman special today,” he said huskily. “A surprise awaits her this morning.”
“Surprise?” Kaylene said, her eyes widening. She stood perfectly still as her mother pinned the roses in her hair above each ear. “What sort?”
“Now if I told you, it would not be a surprise, would it?” Fire Thunder said. He turned to Little Sparrow as she came into the cabin with Midnight at her side, on a new red leash.
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