Cam clamped his lips together. How was he going to keep Riley safe, even if he sent her back to the future? If Mukua had visited her, he’d do it again if his plan to do her harm had failed. He directed his gaze up the mountain. Perhaps Naatoyita had the answers.
By the time they reached the camp of the Sky People near the mountain's summit, Riley was visibly limping. Knowing her the way he did, she was too stubborn to tell him she was hurt more than she'd let on because she was trying to prove that she wasn't weak.
Wordlessly, Cam scooped her into his arms and carried her to a sheltered rocky overhang, ignoring her protests, and set her on a sheep hide that was already spread out on the ground. A wicciup made of bare poles was erected against the side of the mountain, under the overhang, which gave it protection from the wind. A fire crackled in a pit in front of the dwelling. The camp looked sparse and barely inhabitable.
“Naatosi will tend to your wound, and any others you haven’t told me about.”
Cam knelt beside her when she glanced at him. He responded with a quick grin to hide the trepidation swirling around inside him that he was about to lose her forever. His gaze lingered on her face. She was the most enticing thing he’d ever laid eyes on. Dirt smudged her nose and forehead, and a bruise had started to appear on her left cheek.
“Are you staying with me?” Her question enforced the look of fear on her face.
“I won’t leave you.” Cam touched his fingers to the discoloration on her face. Riley winced from his touch. Renewed anger that she’d gotten hurt made his muscles tense. He forced himself from leaning forward and kissing her again.
“I won’t be far. I need to speak to Naatoyita to see what he can do about sending you home to your time, then I’ll be back.” The words left a sour taste on his tongue and his heart beating fast in his chest with the impending feeling of loss.
Riley visibly swallowed, and her eyes locked on his.
“And to finally get answers to your questions,” she whispered with a weak smile. A mixture of worry and sadness marred her face.
Unspoken words hung between them when Naatosi appeared and ducked beneath the rocky overhang. He looked as old and frail as his twin brother, his clothes hanging from his skeletal body, and his long white hair whipping around his face as he entered the shelter.
“I will tend to her, Cameahwait. Naatoyita is waiting for you,” the old man said, pointing to where his brother stood overlooking the vastness all around him. Naatoyita had wrapped a sheep hide around his frail body, facing into the wind that howled strongly off the mountain.
"Go. I'll be fine." Riley motioned with her hand for him to leave and nodded a greeting to the old man.
Cam offered a final smile to Riley and squeezed her hand. "I won't be long." He straightened, and headed out into the wind to join the elder at the rim, overlooking the hills and valleys below.
“I never grow tired of gazing upon the beauty of these mountains,” Naatoyita said when Cam approached to stand beside him. “Wouldn’t you agree, Cameahwait?”
Cam’s eyes scanned the forested hills below him that stretched into the horizon. Taller mountains were covered with snow. Off in the distance, a narrow scar in the earth broke up the continuity of the endless forests, finally widening into an expansive, green valley. The sun reflected and shimmered in a golden light off the great lake further to the south.
Cam lifted his face into the wind and closed his eyes. He inhaled a deep breath, savoring nature's raw power against his skin. Exhilaration flowed through him as he braced himself against each gust. The turmoil inside him was no less fierce. When he opened his eyes again, Naatoyita stood silently next to him, gazing into the distance.
Somewhere, just as the immense canyon opened into the valley, was the place he called home with Mat and Pikowan. Had Naatoyita been keeping watch over him all these years from up here?
“You are accepting of your life now,” Naatoyita stated without looking at him. The muscles along Cam’s spine tensed.
“It would be easier to accept if I knew why you brought me here,” he said, trying to keep his voice even. He faced the old man. “Will you finally tell me my purpose?”
Naatoyita’s gaze drifted slowly from looking at the horizon to meeting Cam’s hard stare. An equally slow smile spread across his face.
“When I came to take you away from your family in the future, you were a mere boy. You weren’t ready to be told. I only took you away because I feared that Mukua would try and spirit you away again, as he has managed to do once, and I wouldn’t be able to send help in time.”
"I know that already. It's one of the few things you have told me." Cam fisted his hands at his side. He sucked in a deep breath to try and curb his mounting frustration and remain patient. This was exactly why he'd left and turned his back on Naatoyita all those years ago. The old man continued to evade direct answers to his questions.
Naatoyita tilted his head, and stared up at him, his dark eyes seeming to look straight inside him.
“Why have you come to seek me out, after all these years of carrying anger inside your heart, Cameahwait?”
Cam straightened. His pulse pounded in his ears. Something about the satisfied look on the old man’s face told him that Naatoyita already knew the answer to his own question. Cam shifted weight from one foot to the other.
“I’ve come because I would like answers from you.” He shot a hasty glance in the direction of the rock shelter, then focused his attention back to the elder. “And to ask you to send the woman I brought with me back to her own time. Surely you know that she comes from the future. It appears as if Mukua has been up to the same games as when he sent me to the past as a boy.”
Cam had never talked so fast in his life. If he didn't get the words out now, he wouldn't be able to make his request at all. The howling of the wind seemed to die around him while the pounding of his heart in his ears increased.
Naatoyita reached his arm out and placed his hand on Cam's shoulder. He smiled again, then motioned with his chin.
“Walk with me, Cameahwait. The wind is too strong here for normal conversation. There is some shelter by those rocks over there.” He pointed to a cluster of boulders that formed an almost u-shape, and would afford some protection from the wind.
Cam responded to the pressure of the old man's hand and walked beside Naatoyita to where they could talk without having to raise their voices.
“What are your thoughts about this woman?”
Cam’s brows furrowed at the unexpected question. What, exactly, did the old man mean?
Naatoyita silently met his gaze, then looked to the ground. The hide of a grizzly bear was laid out on the rocky soil. Groaning, the old man lowered himself onto the fur to a sitting position, and held out his hand, indicating that Cam should do the same.
Cam frowned but indulged the elder's request in order to have his wish fulfilled quickly. His heart was slowly tearing into pieces, and it was best that he didn't prolong his agony any longer, knowing Riley would be leaving.
“Riley Bernard isn’t suited for life here. She needs to be returned to the future.” He forced the words from his mouth, looking directly at Naatoyita. The elder calmly shook his head.
“You are mistaken, Cameahwait, but you did not answer my question.”
Cam leaned forward to hear the old man better. He scowled.
"Mistaken about what? Riley will die if she remains here. If you send her back to her time and keep her safe from Mukua, I will do anything that you ask of me."
Naatoyita’s laughter cackled through the air. Cam gritted his teeth. This was far from amusing. He was ready to leap to his feet in anger, when the old man cleared his throat, and placed a hand on Cam’s arm. He held Cam’s dark stare without flinching.
“I see that your feelings for this woman run deep.” A smile contorted his wrinkled face.
"Tell me what I must do to keep her from any more harm at Mukua's hand," Cam growled, nearly baring his teeth at the e
lder. His hand twitched to reach out and grab him by the shirt.
“Are you saying that you are finally willing to embrace your life in this time?” Naatoyita smiled knowingly.
“I have embraced my life here,” Cam grumbled. “I haven’t accepted that you brought me here without giving me a clear purpose, but I’ve survived.”
“You have done more than survive, Cameahwait.” Naatoyita nodded in satisfaction. “The spirit of the bear lives strong within you.”
Cam ran a hand over his face. He was growing tired of this discussion. With each minute that prolonged Riley’s return to her time, his heart shattered a little more. “Enough riddles. Tell me you will send Riley back to the future, and keep her from Mukua’s clutches.”
“Mukua cannot harm her, as long as she is with you,” Naatoyita answered calmly. “I will not deny that he might try to do her harm, once he finds out about her, but I have confidence that she will be safe with you.”
Cam shook his head and glared at Naatoyita. “What are you talking about, old man?" His pulse throbbed at his temples. Of course Riley was safe with him. He'd protect her with his life if needed, but he couldn't protect her in two different centuries.
Naatoyita's smile widened. " Mukua didn't send Riley Bernard to this time." He paused and stared directly at Cam. "I did."
Chapter Eighteen
Cam stared blankly at the elder. Naatoyita’s words rang in his ears. They made no sense. It took a moment for his mind to clear. Mukua hadn’t sent Riley? She was here because of Naatoyita? He leaped to his feet and towered over the elder, who calmly remained seated where he was.
“You sent her? For what purpose?” he shouted.
Naatoyita raised his hand, his bony fingers curling around Cam’s wrist. He tugged, and with his other hand, beckoned for Cam to sit back down.
“Sit, Cameahwait,” he said in a commanding tone. “And I will explain.”
Sitting was the last thing on Cam’s mind at the moment. All this time, he’d assumed that Mukua had sent Riley to do her harm, but Naatoyita?
Every muscle in his body was strung tighter than a drum, and he pulled away from Naatoyita’s grip.
“You’ve come for answers, Cameahwait. I want to give them to you, but not while you are consumed by rage.”
Cam gritted his teeth and drew in a lungful of mountain air. His head turned to the shelter where Riley waited for him. From where he stood, the rocks obstructed his view. Visions of her inquisitive eyes, her soft smile, and her passionate response to his kiss calmed the turmoil inside him. He took a step forward and lowered himself back onto the grizzly hide. His glare at Naatoyita deepened.
“I demand that you send Riley back to where she belongs,” he grumbled, trying to conceal the anger in his voice. If she wasn’t in danger from Mukua, all would be well for her once she returned to her time. A feeling of loneliness and dread washed through him at the thought. “I will do what you ask of me, but only if you return her to the safety of her time.”
Naatoyita lifted his chin and straightened his frail-looking body. The stern look in his eyes left no doubt that making demands was unwise, and Cam forced his muscles to relax. The elder patted Cam’s arm, a wide grin contorting the deep lines on his face.
“What do you remember of your mother and father, Cameahwait?”
Cam frowned. The elder was avoiding his request. He couldn't allow his temper to overrule him again. He'd learned a long time ago that no one made demands of the Sky People. He had to bide his time and indulge Naatoyita.
“My mother and father?” Cam echoed. He shook his head, his forehead wrinkled in concentration. His parents had been ordinary people. They’d both been soft-spoken, rarely fought, but set strict rules for him. He was their only child, but he’d never been able to truly relate to them.
"I remember feeling out of place as if I didn't belong," Cam said slowly. "I always thought I was different from them. Restless. My father never understood me, and my mother tried to enforce more rules with each one I broke." He scoffed.
Sure, he’d cared for his mother and father, but he’d never felt that close bond to them like he’d seen with some of his friends and their parents. He had felt more connected with his Tukudeka family, but something had been missing even while he’d lived with them.
He’d made his own family with Mat. The two of them had a bond that was stronger than what he’d felt for his parents, but nothing could compare to the strong feeling of connection he had to Riley. Since meeting her, the desire for a future, with a family of his own, had taken root in his mind.
Next to him, Naatoyita shook his head. “I was referring to your true parents.”
Cam’s frown deepened. The old man wasn’t making any sense. “The James’ are my true parents unless you're referring to Day Star and her husband."
The old man shook his head again. He looked directly into Cam’s eyes when he spoke. “When you were but an infant, I sent you to the future at your true parents’ request, in order to save your life. The James family adopted you.” Naatoyita coughed, clearing his throat. “I left you with people who would see to it that you would be taken in and raised by a good family. It was the only way to keep your true identity hidden.”
Cam stiffened. An uneasy feeling swept through him, as if there was something he was meant to remember, but couldn’t. “What are you talking about?” he asked slowly.
Naatoyita breathed in deeply and adjusted his seat. "It is time for you to know the truth, Cameahwait. When I took you from your home in the future when you were a boy, I knew you wouldn't be ready to understand, but Mukua left me no choice but to bring you back before you were grown. He would have come after you again--"
“I know that already,” Cam interrupted.
Naatoyita held up his hand to silence him, giving him another stern look. Cam forced his mouth shut.
"I made a promise to your mother and father that I would protect you," Naatoyita continued. "I brought you back to your time and place of birth – here - so that you could learn the ways of the Sheepeaters, and take your proper place once you were old enough." He sighed and stared off into the distance. He cackled hoarsely in a chuckle and shook his head. A pleasant memory seemed to spark in his eyes.
“You are very much like your father,” he added with a smile. “He was a restless youth, just like you, and didn’t like to follow rules. It was your mother who finally tamed him, and he accepted his rightful place as shaman of the Bear Clan among the Sky People.”
Cam squeezed his eyes together and ran his hand over his face. Nothing was making sense anymore. "My real father was a shaman among the Sky People?" His voice sounded foreign to him when he asked the question.
Naatoyita nodded. “His name was Agwai Puhagand.”
Cam shook his head with incomprehension.
Medicine Man with Bear Power.
He held out his right arm and ran the palm of his left hand over his skin. He looked up into the wrinkled face of Naatoyita. "The blood in my veins is that of a white man. How can I be the son of a shaman?"
“The color of your skin does not determine to which people you belong. It is what is in your heart. Many years ago, the Sky People came from all races.” Naatoyita’s eyes clouded with pain. “As you know, there are only three of us left. You come from a long line of strong medicine men of the Sky People. Among the white men, your father called himself Osborne.”
Osborne? There was that name again that he'd heard Riley mention. A quick memory flashed before him of the dark-haired ranger who had taken him into his care after the first time he'd time-traveled.
Cam swallowed. His throat constricted painfully. “Tell me about my parents,” he said hoarsely. “What happened to them?” The words barely left his mouth.
When a sudden gust of wind whipped up the dirt around their little shelter, Naatoyita wrapped the sheepskin hide more firmly around his shoulders. He coughed, and cleared his throat.
"Years ago, the Sky People were many. We l
ived among the Tukudeka and their relatives and taught them to honor the earth – everything in the sky, and on the ground, and in the waters. Everything is connected, and it was important for all to do their part to protect the land of our ancestors.
“What happened?” Cam’s question was barely a whisper.
Naatoyita’s eyes seemed to cloud over even more. “Fighting broke out among the two Sky People clans.” His bony fingers trembled when he brushed his hand over his eyes. “There was much senseless death and killing. Naatosi, Mukua, and I, as the strongest elders with the most powerful puha, couldn’t stop what was happening. Your parents came to us to find a way to keep the few children of the Bear Clan safe from harm. Combining everyone’s spirit medicine, we forged a vessel that would enable us to send you through time to keep you safe.”
Naatoyita paused and inhaled a raspy breath. He looked out into the distance, then back at Cam.
“Mukua wanted us to send his wife to the future for safety, too, but the rest of us refused. Three infants had recently been born into the clan. It was decided that only those three would be sent.” He gave a sad laugh. “The plan was to bring you back once there was peace again. Naatosi and I would take you and the other two infant children to a safer time. When we returned, everyone was dead, except for Mukua.”
Naatoyita's voice cracked. He coughed some more and adjusted his robe around his shoulders.
"Mukua's anger turned to hatred, and he turned his back on his family, announcing that he was no longer part of the clan. He blamed the death of his wife on your father and us, and vowed revenge."
“Let me guess,” Cam interrupted. “By killing me.”
The old man nodded. “Naatosi and I found out later that he’d forged his own vessel, but not before his wife was killed. He started traveling through time to find you and the other children in order to wipe out the clan’s line.”
Cam rubbed his hand along the back of his neck. It would take some time before everything that Naatoyita had told him made any sense.
Yellowstone Origins: Yellowstone Romance Series, Book 6 Page 18