by Merry Farmer
“I think we’re losing the point here,” Katie went on. “The point is that not everyone wants Sky Bear to marry me. In fact, as I see it, the important people don’t want it at all.”
“Sky Bear wishes it,” Two Spots reminded them.
“Sky Bear doesn’t know what he wishes,” Katie huffed. “He doesn’t know what’s best for him even when it’s staring him in the face.”
Follows The River tugged on Two Spots’ tunic, and Two Spots spoke quickly to him again. His reply to her was far longer than Aiden thought their short exchange warranted and involved twice as many hand gestures.
“What’s he saying?” he asked, taking his fiddle out of the case and plucking the strings to tune it. He needed to play to loosen up his mind enough to grasp the idea poking at the back of his head.
Two Spots shook her head, grinning. “He tells a story of when his mother didn’t know what was staring her in the face. She had sent him to bed without his supper. He hid under the buffalo hides in her bed instead of his own until she came in. The tipi was dark and she did not see he was there. When she lay down under the covers and touched him, she shouted and hit him because she thought he was a dog.”
“I’m not surprised,” Katie laughed at the story. “In a dark tipi, I would believe this little ruffian was a dog too.” She leaned close to Follows The River to hug him. Like any little boy, Follows The River squirmed and giggled.
Aiden started to laugh, but the shock of inspiration blew the sound right out of his lungs. “Saints above,” he murmured, raking his free hand through his hair. “That’s it.”
“That’s what?” Katie said, standing straighter from where she was wrestling with Follows The River.
“Sky Bear wouldn’t know what’s best for him if it was staring him in the face,” he said. His heart beat faster. He was on to something.
“I believe we’ve established that,” Katie drawled.
Aiden shook his head, glancing from her to Two Spots. “You’re roughly the same size,” he said. “In the dark, it might be hard to tell the two of you apart.”
Katie stopped wrestling with Follows The River. Two Spots straightened her back, gaping at him. “What is this thing you say?” she asked.
The plan was only beginning to come clear, but he knew he was on to something. “We wait until Sky Bear thinks he has Katie in his tipi, in his bed, but it will actually be Two Spots.”
It was Katie’s turn to gape at him. “Are you daft?”
“This thing is not done,” Two Spots said. “A man only lies with his wife.”
“Then Sky Bear has to believe somehow that Katie is his wife or that it is all right for him to go to bed with her.”
“I’m not going to bed with anyone, Aiden Murphy,” Katie balked, letting go of Follows The River and standing with her fists on her hips.
“You won’t have to, because it will be Two Spots in his bed.” He turned to Two Spots. “Would you be willing to become Sky Bear’s wife that way?”
“You’re out of your mind,” Katie answered for her.
Aiden kept his eyes fixed on Two Spots. She was too quiet to reject the idea out of hand. Her eyes sparkled.
She didn’t get a chance to answer. A deep shout came from the top of the hill behind them. Aiden, Katie, and Two Spots turned together to see Sky Bear marching down the hillside, a small axe in one hand. He wasn’t alone.
Chapter Fifteen
Aiden stood to meet the small group of braves. Sky Bear had two friends with him, Sharp Arrow and Wolf Walking Alone. They paused as they crested the hill as if startled to find Aiden and the women there. Katie moved to stand by Aiden’s side, crossing her arms.
“What do you want?” she called up the hillside.
A part of Aiden winced. Sky Bear held his axe and the other two carried similar tools. They were in the middle of some task. They might have gone on with it if Katie hadn’t called to them. Then again, maybe not.
Sky Bear’s face darkened and he switched direction to head straight for them. His friends exchanged a glance, then followed.
“Be nice to him, a ghrá,” Aiden warned Katie, trying to keep their plan in mind, even as he clenched one fist at his side and tightened the other around the neck of his fiddle. “Within reason.”
Two Spots surprised them by stepping forward to meet Sky Bear. She started in on some explanation of why they were there or what was going on. Aiden watched closely, trying to think even though his blood pumped hard, urging him to fight. It was hard to read the brave, but Two Spots’ admiration for him was plain for all to see. That was only half of the equation. He needed Sky Bear to return her feelings for this to work.
His observations were interrupted by a comment from Sharp Arrow. Aiden turned to frown at the man. He was bulky for a Cheyenne and wore a bullish expression. Even Sky Bear and Two Spots stopped talking when he said his piece. Sky Bear frowned, Two Spots looked worried.
“Sharp Arrow says that they should not look for branches to make bows, they should show the women who they owe their respect to,” she translated in an uncertain voice.
Before she finished, Sky Bear snapped a question at Sharp Arrow. He shifted and flexed his grip on his hatchet, as if he wasn’t certain what pot was being stirred.
Sharp Arrow sneered and sauntered closer to Aiden. Aiden edged sideways to put himself between the brave and Katie. He could feel Katie tense at his back, but she stayed where she was. Sharp Arrow spit some words at them that were clearly not complimentary.
“Sharp Arrow has heard that you should be called Thinks Like Fox, but he says Bends Like Woman would be a better name,” Two Spots translated.
Wolf Walking Alone, still several yards away up the hill, laughed. He repeated the words, probably the name, and came to stand by Sharp Arrow’s side. Aiden darted a look between the two of them. One brave he could have taken. Two presented a real problem. He shot a glance to Sky Bear, wondering if he faced three enemies or if the brave would intervene. Sky Bear’s face was still unreadable, but he peeked at Two Spots as much as he watched the situation with his friends.
Wolf Walking Alone spoke up again. “Wolf Walking Alone says that only a woman would spend his time with other women, gossiping by the river. He says no real man would play with toys like a child,” Two Spots translated, her voice quivering. Wolf Walking Alone continued, his tone turning to a leer as he focused on Katie. “He says that if Burns With Fire were not Sky Bear’s woman, he would teach her to obey.”
“Over my dead body,” Aiden growled.
Two Spots translated, and Wolf Walking Alone came back with a comment that Two Spots reluctantly repeated. “He… he says he will teach the white man-woman to obey as well.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Aiden seethed.
Before he could put his words into action, Sharp Arrow reached out and snatched Aiden’s fiddle. Aiden was too busy watching Two Spots telling Wolf Walking Alone what he’d said to react fast enough. One tug and Sharp Arrow pulled the fiddle right out of his hands.
“No,” Aiden shouted, heart twisting to his stomach. Beside him, Follows The River gasped.
The braves laughed. Sharp Arrow turned the fiddle over with a sneer and a sniff. He handed it across to Wolf Walking Alone, who took it and looked it over himself. He made a dismissive comment of some sort, then threw the fiddle to the ground. With a sickening crack, the neck snapped off from the belly. The tense strings contracted, dislodging the bridge and leaving the fiddle a sorry mess. Follows The River cried out and jerked forward. He took one fearful look at the two big braves and tore off up the hill.
“How dare you,” Katie shouted as if her neck was the one that had been snapped. She bolted forward, fist raised.
Aiden held out an arm to stop her. “Careful, a ghrá,” he warned her, his voice raw with fury.
Sharp Arrow and Wolf Walking Alone just laughed. Sharp Arrow made a sneering comment to his friend, one Aiden didn’t need to have translated. When he moved to kick the bro
ken fiddle, Aiden snapped. He launched himself at Sharp Arrow, fist flying toward the brave’s face. It landed with a sickening crunch against the brave’s cheekbone. Pain radiated through Aiden’s knuckles, but it didn’t matter. Sharp Arrow stumbled, losing his footing and tumbling to the ground.
“Only a coward and a bully threatens women and destroys another man’s livelihood,” Aiden spit at him.
Sharp Arrow twisted to a crouch, barking something at Wolf Walking Alone. As Aiden turned to see what the other brave was doing, Wolf Walking Alone lunged at him. The man was roughly the same size as Aiden, but the surprise of his charge startled Aiden. Wolf Walking Alone pounded his shoulder into Aiden’s chest, knocking the wind out of him and lifting him off his feet. He hit the ground with a thud.
Sharp Arrow and Wolf Walking Alone were on him in an instant, both pummeling him. He took a fist to the jaw and one in his stomach so quickly that he wasn’t sure which brave had landed which blow. Katie screamed somewhere above him, but another blow to his head whipped him in the opposite direction.
He kicked and wrestled with the braves, jabbing one with an elbow and buying himself time to shift to a better position. Two Spots had joined Katie’s screaming by the time he freed one arm enough to throw a punch at Wolf Walking Alone. Pain radiated through his gut and face, but he refused to give in to it for a second. He had a fight to win. His pride, and more importantly, Katie’s safety were at stake.
“Get off of him,” Katie shouted to the side.
She surged forward, kicking Sharp Arrow in the side when he dodged away from Aiden’s fist. When her first kick landed hard, she bellowed with anger and kicked him again. Sharp Arrow growled and grabbed hold of her ankle, twisting. Katie went down with a yelp.
Aiden saw red. He slammed his elbow into Wolf Walking Alone’s side as the brave tried to choke him from behind. The blow landed with a sick crunch, and Aiden jumped after Sharp Arrow, who had a fist raised to strike Katie.
An ear-splitting cry sounded from Sky Bear, and in an instant the fighting stopped. Aiden jerked to his knees, ready to fight on, but froze. Sky Bear held his axe high over his head, its blade glinting sharp in the sunlight, ready to strike his friend. Sharp Arrow flinched and cowered. Aiden recovered from his shock and jumped to put himself between Sky Bear and Katie, who lay in the grass, covering her head with her arms.
Sky Bear shouted, eyes wide with fury, shaking the axe above him. Two Spots was in tears, trembling, her hands pressed to her mouth, and didn’t translate.
Aiden eyed the axe, measuring how many blows he could withstand before he wouldn’t be able to defend Katie or fight back. It was worth the risk as far as he was concerned. He squared his shoulders to ram into Sky Bear’s knees and topple him, but before he could act, Sharp Arrow scuttled backward.
Aiden blinked. Fists tight at his sides, he glanced from Sharp Arrow to Sky Bear. Sky Bear was furious, but his anger was directed at his friends as much as at Aiden. He shouted, but once again, Two Spots was too shaken to translate.
Another voice called out over top of Sky Bear’s. They all twisted toward the hill to see Grandfather rushing toward them, Follows The River by his side. When Grandfather repeated his words, all three of the braves backed away from Aiden and Katie, and Sky Bear lowered his axe. Follows The River scurried to where the broken fiddle lay in the grass and lifted it to hug to his chest.
“I have asked what is the meaning of this fight,” Grandfather said. “I have not had an answer.”
Katie uncovered her head and flipped to her back. She panted as she sat and inched closer to Aiden. Aiden scooped his arm around her waist and tugged her close, needing to feel her to know she was safe.
“These men felt the need to insult a woman,” Aiden replied, as bold as he dared without throwing down an outright accusation.
Grandfather nodded. He asked Sharp Arrow and Wolf Walking Alone—who were slowly getting to their feet—a question. The two braves exchanged sullen looks, and Sharp Arrow tried to explain. Grandfather didn’t like his answer. He had a few harsh words for them that ended with a cutting hand gesture. The two braves lowered their heads and skulked away up the hill.
Next, Grandfather turned to Sky Bear and said something with a plaintive gesture.
“Grandfather says this is not the way of things.” Two Spots recovered herself enough to translate his words. She stepped heavily to Katie’s side as Aiden stood, helping her to her feet. “He tells Sky Bear that a warrior defends the weak. He does not attack them.”
Sky Bear replied to Grandfather’s words with a defensive frown.
“Sky Bear says he was defending Burns With Fire,” Two Spots repeated his words. “He says he would have struck the man who hurt her.”
“I don’t believe that for a second,” Katie mumbled.
Grandfather heard her. He pivoted to face her with a frown. “I do not like this thing that has happened,” he said.
Neither did Aiden, but he stood taller and took Katie’s hand. “What has Sky Bear ever done to prove he has any interest in Katie’s wellbeing?” he defended her.
Two Spots whispered her translation to Sky Bear. Sky Bear began to reply, but Grandfather cut him off.
“Too much trouble has been brought to our village already,” he said. “There was trouble when Thinks Like Fox came. There was trouble when Burns With Fire was brought here.” He paused long enough to sigh. “There was trouble when we made our camp here and when we left out winter home. There was trouble when the white man came, and there was trouble before they came. And yet, we make more trouble every day. This thing is not good.”
A twist of regret pinched at Aiden’s gut. If he could have taken the trouble away from Grandfather and his people, he would have. If his newly forming plan worked, perhaps he could do just that.
Sky Bear spoke up in his usual proud tone as soon as Two Spots translated Grandfather’s words. He gripped his axe and thumped his chest, holding his chin high.
Grandfather merely sighed at whatever he said and replied with a weariness that made even Sky Bear lose some of his haughtiness.
“Sky Bear tells me that he is a warrior,” Grandfather said to Aiden and Katie. “He says that he has honor and his enemies should respect him.” Grandfather shook his head. “I say that a true warrior does not provoke his enemies. A true warrior seeks a way to avoid war, but when it comes, he faces only those enemies who have directly hurt him.”
As soon as Two Spots translated Grandfather’s words, Sky Bear’s expression twisted to bitterness as he spoke. “Sky Bear says that no white man has honor. They are all enemies.”
A deep sadness filled Grandfather’s face. “It is because of this kind of thought that the whole world will drown in trouble.”
Sky Bear looked as though he would protest, but Grandfather ignored him. Instead, he turned to Follows The River and beckoned for him to come forward. When he did, Grandfather took the broken fiddle from him.
“This makes me sad,” he said. “This was powerful medicine. It had inside of it the secret to peace.”
“There are other fiddles,” Aiden said, even as his heart twisted with regret at the warped and curled strings, the cracked wood along the belly where the neck had broken off. There were other fiddles that he wouldn’t be able to afford, even after years of work.
“That may be so,” Grandfather said. He handed the fiddle to Aiden. “Come with me. We will see if anyone has the magic to fix this.”
“But I….” Aiden turned to Katie.
She stood a foot behind him, hugging herself and frowning. When Aiden met her eyes, she nodded. “You can go,” she said. She turned to Two Spots, who was watching Sky Bear from lowered eyes. “We have work to finish anyhow.”
“I’m not leaving you where that maniac could hurt you,” Aiden whispered.
Katie glanced from him to Sky Bear and back again. “I don’t think he’d dare.”
Grandfather must have overheard some part of their exchange. He said something to
Sky Bear and gestured off up the river. Sky Bear clenched his jaw and rocked from one foot to the other, but with a sharp exhale, he turned to march off.
“Now, come with me,” Grandfather repeated. “We all have work to do.”
An uneasy itch crept down Aiden’s back. The last thing he wanted to do was leave Katie. Sky Bear was gone, but he didn’t trust Sharp Arrow or Wolf Walking Alone to stay out of things after their fight. But the chances of him being able to keep Katie in his sights at all times were slim.
“You’ll keep an eye on her?” he asked Two Spots. “Make sure she stays within sight of plenty of friends?”
Two Spots nodded.
Aiden returned her nod. “You take care of yourself too.”
He hated to leave, hated it with every fiber in his being, but he needed to go with Grandfather. He needed to take a look around the village and learn where certain things were, like Sky Bear’s tipi. He needed to get Katie away from this place as soon as possible, and for his plan to work, he needed to be prepared.
The fight had broken up and the men had gone their separate ways, but Katie’s heart continued to pound.
“We can’t let this keep on going,” she said to Two Spots as they finished filling their water skins in the stream. “It has to end.”
Two Spots stood from where she had crouched beside the stream. “It will end when you become Sky Bear’s wife.”
Katie shook her head. “No, it will end when Aiden and I leave this place.” She hoisted the water skin over her shoulder and stepped out of the stream. She laid a hand on Two Spots’ shoulder. “I have found a true friend in you, Two Spots, but I don’t belong here and neither does Aiden. And I don’t belong to any man.” Except Aiden, her rebellious heart added. She rubbed her breastbone, as if the words had caused an itch, an itch that spread through her entire body.
Two Spots did her best to smile. “Thinks Like Fox wants me to deceive Sky Bear, to go to his bed.”