War Cloud's Passion

by Karen Kay

  She turned her head toward him until her lips met the hard contours of his face. She asked, “My duty?”

  “Haahe,” he said. “Was it not you who once told me that you had to find Christian homes for these children?”

  “Yes, but…”

  “If you stay with me, then they will remain with me, too, and you know that I am not of that faith.”

  “But they want to stay with you.”

  “Does it matter? Did you not give your word to your people in the East? Did you not promise to find the children only the best homes?”

  She heard her own words in what he said. Out there on the prairie, before she had really come to know War Cloud, she had told him these things. How dare he use her own arguments against her. Did he not realize that things were different now? That she was different now?

  She said, maintaining her position, “Yours and mine would be a fine home for them.”

  “I do not doubt it,” he said easily enough. A little too easily, for he went on to say, “But that is not the point and you know it. You gave those people your word of honor. Can you so easily reconsider?”

  “I do not reconsider it without a great deal of thought.”

  He brushed a lock of her hair back from her face, his look at her pure adoration. “No,” he said, “you do not. I believe you. Still, I must force you to keep your vow. And I have my own duty to perform. I told you I would help you to place these orphans and I have.” He sent a weak grin down at her. “Come, it is not so bad. We will always have fond memories of each other, will we not?”

  Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. She could not help it. And she said, as the last of her pride died an ungallant death, “I do not want memories. I want you.”

  He sighed. “And I want you, but you know in your heart that it can never be. We come from different worlds. We have had a brief romance and it was good. But it is now time to resume our lives. Our experience will not be for nothing, however, for our lives will forever be shaped by what we have shared with each other.” He grimaced and then admitted, “I do not hate the whites so much anymore.”

  A tear slipped down her cheek.

  He wiped it away with the tip of his finger, bringing that same finger to his own eyes, there to commingle their teardrops. He said, “As easily as this tear becomes a part of me, so will you always be with me. When you think of me, I will be there with you. Come, do not cry. Yours is a brave heart. You must do this thing. You know that you must.”

  What was she supposed to do? What was she supposed to say? Try as she might, she could think of no other argument against his own. Whimpering, she said, “Kiss me, War Cloud. Kiss me once more, only this time, please kiss me as though you love me, if only for a moment.”

  He blinked, surprise etched into his features. He did not utter a word and yet his arms tightened around her, pulling her so closely in toward him, she could barely breathe.

  He lowered his head toward hers and she gazed up at him, trying to commit every tiny nuance of his features to memory. For the rest of her life, she would think of him as he was now.

  And as his lips met hers, she wondered if the wetness on his cheek was from the heat of the day or from another source. Whatever it was, as his lips met hers, she tasted the salty flavor of tears, but whether they were from her own eyes or his, she would never be certain.

  Yet, tears or no tears, his tongue swept into her mouth as though he might like to make love to her right here in this place and at this time, and she answered his ardor with every ounce of her being.

  She felt the gentle rocking of his chest, and tearing his mouth from hers, he hugged her so fiercely, she could perceive every loving contour of his body against her. She felt his shoulders tremble as though even his muscles protested the strength of his resolve.

  And then he set her away from him, turning his back on her and spinning away. Quickly, he strode out onto the prairie.

  Anna wiped the tears from her face and watched him for a scant moment before she spun around to confront the children. She said, “We must go.”

  Neither of the youngsters uttered a word. With no more than a brief nod to her, they both followed War Cloud. Meanwhile, Anna turned to Lame Bird.

  She wanted to reach out to him, to take him into her arms, but she knew he would protest. And so she remained beside him, mute, with tears running down her cheeks.

  What could she say to the lad? she wondered. If not for him, she would never have had this adventure; in truth, she and the children might be, at this moment, dead.

  Anna inhaled deeply and, assembling a ghost of a smile, said, “I will miss you.” She followed her words with the gestures of sign.

  Lame Bird said nothing, however, and gazed away from her. She added with both words and sign, “You will take care of him for me, won’t you?”

  Lame Bird nodded and said, “Haahe.”

  Too soon, both Patty and Collin were seated on the pony. As Anna approached them, she heard War Cloud talking to them, his words reminding her of her own to Lame Bird. He said, “You will be fine. You will take care of yourselves and watch her for me, won’t you?”

  It was Patty who spoke up; Patty who said, “I will. I love you, War Cloud, and I love Miss Wiley.”

  Anna heard War Cloud speak, but what was said, she could not hear.

  At last War Cloud spotted her and this time, as he turned to her, he said, “You must go. It is late morning, which is the best time to approach a fort. The soldiers will be relaxed and will not be so heavily on guard, for they will be taking turns having their midday meal.” He nodded toward her. “Go now.”

  Anna spun toward him one more time and mouthing the words “I love you,” she turned to leave.

  She glanced back only once, to see both War Cloud and Lame Bird watching them. She observed War Cloud as he signed the words, “You are in my heart,” his wrists coming up to his heart in a perfect hug.

  It made her want to turn around, run toward him and simply refuse to leave. But she could not do it. He wanted her to go, and sweeping the last tear from her cheek, as though she could just as easily sweep this man from her life, Anna turned away.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  As Anna strode into the courtyard of Fort St. Vrain, it was evident that the fort was alive with activity. But Anna, lost in her own thoughts, barely perceived it.

  Upon entering the fort, she had asked the soldier at the gate to escort her to the officer in charge. The man had led her to a Colonel Robinson. She waited in his office now.

  She glanced at the downtrodden faces of her charges. Like her, they clearly did not wish to be here.

  It had become evident to her that War Cloud had feelings for her—she had no doubt of that. But, whatever feelings he held within him, they were not enough to enable him put his trust in her.

  Besides, he did not love her. He had never told her that he did, and she had reason to believe that he never would, no matter how long she remained with him. Under such circumstances, what good would it do her to stay?

  The colonel, a man in his late forties, chose that moment to stride into the room. He said, advancing toward her, “Miss Wiley, is that correct?”

  Anna nodded, offering the man her hand. “I am with the Society of Orphans, sir. I am in this country to try to place children with the settlers. These are the last two children to find families. It is why I have come here.”

  “I see,” said the colonel. “But might I ask you how you came to be here?”

  Anna sighed. “It is a long story, Colonel. Perhaps after we have had an opportunity to refresh ourselves, I can relate the details of our journey. At the moment, I am interested to learn if there is a reverend or priest here who might help me to find parents.”

  “Yes,” said the colonel. “Yes, of course. You do have papers stating your cause, do you not?”

  “I am afraid I lost those long ago.”

  “I see,” he said, and then again, “I see. Well, be that as it may, won�
��t you come with me?”

  “Certainly.” Anna arose and, taking the hands of both Patty and Collin, followed the colonel from the room.

  On the way out the door, the colonel commented, “The guard tells me that you and the children have come to us riding an Indian pony.”

  “That is right.”

  “Might I ask you how you came to be in the possession of an Indian pony in this country?”

  “We were given it.”

  “I see,” said the colonel. “By whom?”

  Anna heaved a deep breath. She said, “Excuse me, Colonel. Though I am sure you are needing and wanting a great deal of information from me, I must tell you that we have had a harrowing journey. I am not prepared at the moment to go into the necessary details. Perhaps later, if you would be so kind.”

  “Yes, yes, of course. Of course. Excuse my manners, Miss Wiley. It is only that we’ve had a rash of visitors to our fort in the last few days. Seems a bounty hunter’s come here all the way from a little south of the North Platte. He’s looking for a renegade.”

  “Well,” said Anna, “I wish him luck.”

  The colonel turned to her with a light in his eye that Anna could little understand. However, when all he said was, “Right this way, please,” she obediently followed him.

  “Miss Wiley.” It was Patty speaking to her.

  “Yes?”

  “Why did that big man ask you so many questions? Doesn’t he know that you are tired?”

  “I don’t know, Patty. Perhaps he seeks information that he thinks we might have about the Indians.” Anna lowered her voice. “And we mustn’t tell anyone about the Indians, do you agree?”

  Both children nodded.

  “But, Miss Wiley.” It was Patty again speaking to her. “Why can’t we go back to War Cloud?”

  “Shhh,” said Anna, glancing at the colonel, walking ahead of them. “Not quite so loud.”

  “I’m sorry.” Patty pouted until all at once she said, “But I don’t understand. Do you love War Cloud?”

  Anna sighed, not wanting to answer the question, but this was little Patty, after all. The girl deserved an explanation. Truth be told, Anna was literally breaking her word to the youngster. She said, “I love him very much, Patty. But there are problems.”

  “What problems?” asked Patty.

  Anna sighed. “Problems of a personal nature, I’m afraid. Problems that go back a long way in his family, long before we ever met him.”

  “Hmmmm,” said Patty. “I still don’t understand. If you love him and he loves you, why can’t you marry him?”

  “Because,” said Anna, “there is a curse in his…” She stopped. “What was that you said, Patty?”

  “What?” Patty wanted to know.

  “The part,” Anna explained, “about War Cloud loving me.”

  “Oh, that. I just don’t understand, if two people love each other, why they can’t marry. Is it because he’s Indian? Is that why you won’t marry him?”

  Anna leaned in toward Patty. “He loves me?”

  Patty nodded, then asked, “Didn’t you know?”

  “He never told me.”

  Patty beamed. “Well, he told me so.”

  “When?”

  “This morning, when I told him I loved him and I loved you, he said that he loved you, too.”

  “He did?”

  Patty nodded.

  “Did he tell you anything else?”

  The little girl moved her shoulders up and down. “Only that there were some things love required a person to do and that sometimes, if a man loved a woman well enough, he had to let her go.” Patty frowned. “What does that mean, Miss Wiley?”

  Anna glanced up and away from Patty. She asked, “You are certain about this?”

  The youngster nodded.

  Anna spun away from the colonel. She began to hurry in the opposite direction.

  Not that the man noticed. Since he had taken the lead, with Anna and the children in tow, he had not glanced back at them once.

  “Miss Wiley?” It was Collin speaking. “Why was the colonel taking us toward the sheriff’s office?”

  Anna did not think. She barely had enough time to work out a plan of escape. She said, “I don’t know. Maybe the people we sought were in that office.” She began to run. “Children, did you see what they did with our pony?”

  Both youngsters shook their heads. Cohn asked, “What are you going to do, Miss Wiley?”

  “I think that I am going to take a horse in exchange for the one that we brought here with us.”

  Astonishment colored Collin’s face. He asked, “Why are you going to do that?”

  “Because,” said Anna, “I am going back to War Cloud.”

  Patty jumped up and down. “Goody! Can we come with you?”

  “No, you will find homes here—good homes. You are both to stay here.”

  “But we want to come with you. You promised, Miss Wiley. You said that if you married War Cloud, we could be part of your family.”

  “But I want you to have good, respectable homes, children.” Anna tried to reason with Patty. “Don’t you see, I want you to be happy.”

  Patty glanced up at Anna, and so adult was her expression, Anna was taken slightly aback. The youngster said, “What good is a ‘spectable home if you are not with me, Miss Wiley?”

  Anna began to answer, stopped and swallowed whatever protest she had been about to make. What was wrong with her today? Anna wondered. She was much too inclined to break into tears.

  Dropping to her knees, Anna took Patty into her arms and said, “You know, I think you could be right. After all, what’s the point of having white picket fences and apple pie on Sunday if you’re not with the people you love?”

  Patty laughed and gave Anna a big grin.

  Anna returned it and stood up, glancing around her. “Now, the hard part. How to get out of here without creating a stir.”

  Whereupon she took both children by the hand and strode swiftly across the yard, glancing back only once at the retreating back of the colonel. Luckily for them, the man still had no idea that Anna and the children had been taken with another notion.

  The gate to the fort was still open, Anna noted.

  Perhaps, if she and the children were quick enough, they could find a mount and leave here without causing much anxiety…or perhaps they might find a wagon. A wagon?

  There stood one in the center of the fort.

  Anna rushed the children toward it, and raising them both into the back of it, said, “We’ll leave here and find War Cloud again…somehow. Are you sure you want to come with me?”

  Both Collin and Patty grinned at her. “We’re sure. Let’s hurry,” said Patty, and Collin nodded.

  Anna ruffled Collin’s hair, much to his chagrin, and hurrying around to the front of the buggy, she hopped onto the driver’s seat. Without pausing to think of the repercussions of “borrowing” an entire carryall, she took hold of the reins and set the horses moving in the direction of the gate.

  She heard a shout behind her, a man’s voice.

  “That’s the one I’m looking for, Sheriff. She fits the description given to me by the scout at the wagon train. She’s the one who’s been traveling with the renegade Indian, War Cloud!”

  Oh, dear, thought Anna. So much for her theory that she and War Cloud had caused little stir.

  Dear Lord, why hadn’t Anna put her facts together before now? Especially since War Cloud had once told her that he was a wanted man amongst the whites.

  There was no time to reconsider her actions, however, though she would not have done so even had she been given the chance. Urging the horses forward, Anna set the wagon straight for the fort’s entrance, willing herself not to stop.

  Goodness knew what these people would do to her and the children, she thought, now that they knew she had been accompanying War Cloud. Perhaps it was a good thing that Patty and Collin wanted to go with her. There would be no “good” homes for them here
.

  Seeing the drama being played out in the courtyard, the guards began the task of closing the gates, but Anna held on to her nerve, driving the horses forward.

  She didn’t have time to think; she could only act, and as she cleared the gates, she realized she had done so with no more than an inch to spare.

  Hopefully, it would take the soldiers some time to mount and come after her, and by then she would be gone and would be hidden. But what chance did she have against trained professionals?

  “Yaaaa!” She drove the horses faster, using the quirt to urge them into a race across the prairie.

  War Cloud watched Anna until her figure was no more than a mere speck on the prairie.

  Lame Bird commented, “I will miss her.”

  War Cloud, however, barely acknowledged his brother, and even then it was simply by a slight tip of his head.

  “I had grown accustomed to seeing her with us,” said Lame Bird. “I had hoped that she would stay.”

  War Cloud made no comment. Instead he said, “Ta-naestse, let us leave this place and go north to the Black Hills. There we should be able to find our northern kin.”

  But neither male made a move to leave.

  “Nohaso,” said Lame Bird, “maybe we should go to the fort to ensure she is well received. Sometimes the whites are difficult to understand, and because she was with us, they might think to do her harm.”

  “I have been having much the same thought,” War Cloud admitted. “Nohaso, perhaps we should go there. To make sure.”

  Lame Bird began walking in that direction.

  “Wait!”

  Lame Bird stared back at his brother.

  “We must have a plan. What if the whites recognize me? I would be taken prisoner and killed and you might be murdered, too. We should have a strategy, for we do not even have any horses with which to outrun the soldiers should we need to.”

  “E-peva’e,” said Lame Bird. “It is good. You are right. We should have a plan. But first let me ask you a question.” He sent his brother a patient look and asked, “Na-meho-sane-me? Are you in love?”

  “Haahe,” confessed War Cloud. “I am.”

  “Then let us hurry,” said Lame Bird. “I have a bad feeling about that place.”