Wild Flower

by Cheryl Anne Porter

  The Cherokee woman’s shoulders slumped. She shook her head and continued shelling the peas. “The papers that my brother Ned threw in the prison cell with the guard told of Taylor’s blood. On these papers were also written the words of that no-good Monroe Hammer. Ned forced him to tell the truth before he killed him. My daughter did not kill that man they said she did.”

  Grey wondered if Tennie Nell knew about the five other men her daughter—Taylor was indeed this woman’s daughter, more than she’d ever been Camilla James’s daughter—had killed. When he’d arrived here, he’d told her about Stanley James, that he and Taylor had killed him. But the others … He wondered.

  “I know my daughter has killed other men, Mr. Greyson Talbott.”

  She always called him that. Grey’s startlement was because of what she’d said. Could she read minds?

  Tennie Nell grinned and shrugged. “Only sometimes. It is a gift. We call it The Sight.” Then her grin faded. “I only wish I could have seen what my Wild Flower would face in your place of the Great Waters.”

  Grey had no answer to that. Instead he was thinking of Wild Flower. Taylor’s Cherokee name. It suited her. She was wild and free and beautiful … and she would grow and thrive where she was planted, no matter how difficult the terrain—or the odds.

  Out of the seeming blue, Taylor’s mother said, “It will not be easy for you here. You must learn our ways. But your people—what will they say about you staying here?”

  Grey’s heart soared. “Are you saying I can stay, Miss Christie?”

  She shrugged. “It is not up to me.”

  Grey knew better. She hadn’t wanted him to, not when he’d first brought Taylor home. Nor had Taylor’s uncle, Ned Christie. Nor had anyone else of Cherokee blood. And not a one of them yet had let him forget he was a white man. But slowly, he was winning them over. Grey leaned forward again, relaxing some. “Well, there’s not much they can say, Miss Christie. I already told my family I wouldn’t be back. You see, whether you wanted me here or not, I already knew I wouldn’t leave Taylor. Ever.”

  Tennie Nell nodded, her hands flying with the ease of long practice. “I know this thing you are saying. It is good. Now tell me again of your people.”

  Grey chuckled. Taylor’s mother loved talk of the Jameses—except for Stanley—and the Talbotts. “Amanda and Franklin postponed their wedding until this fall. They want to visit here then. Charles, too.” Grey sobered. “He would have come with us, but the shocks … the deaths. His health has never been good.”

  “Charles is strong. He will mend.” Then she sighed. “Poor Amanda. She has lost so much.”

  Grey nodded, knowing the truth of that. “Yes, she has. But she’s happy with my brother. It looks, too, as if he’s going to be the next mayor of St. Louis.”

  “That is good. This brother of yours, is he anything like you?”

  Grey chuckled. “Yes. Only responsible … and boring. I tease him about that. But he’s a good man. And Amanda, whom I love like a sister already, and with the help of my former housekeeper, Mrs. Scott, is happy to take care of my mother.” Grey swallowed, suddenly overcome with emotion. His mother’s head injuries had changed her personality. She was a different woman … a sweet, simple woman who took great joy in gardening and being with Amanda. But his mother had no idea who her sons were—or what she’d done to so many lives.

  “I, too, have my sorrows, Mr. Greyson Talbott.” Tennie Nell spoke quietly. Grey looked over at her. “I have not told you these things before. But I will do so now, so you will understand. I have lost a sister in Camilla James’s passing. Her family—the Hastings—were much like you. Very wealthy and yet very good. They came to the Nation as Baptist missionaries to open a school and an orphanage in Tahlequah. Sometimes Camilla would come and stay. And sometimes when Stanley was away on business, Charles would come see about Camilla. When the war broke out, Stanley James brought his young wife and child here to be with her family. That child was Amanda. But there was another child and that was Taylor. Charles and Camilla tried not to love, for Stanley’s sake. But they could not stop their hearts. Out of their love came Taylor. We were all happy until Stanley James came to take them away after the war.”

  “It must have been awful for you.”

  She nodded. “It was. We had to keep from Stanley James the truth of Taylor’s mother and father, so I took her as mine and raised her. But I always wrote Camilla, and her me. I wanted her to know of her child. Then, Stanley found a letter. Camilla wrote to tell me of this. We thought it best to tell the girls that the other one was … no longer alive. We also agreed that Taylor should believe her father did not want her. To keep her from going to him. And then … I sent her there myself.” Her expression hardened. “I am a very foolish woman who never deserved Taylor.”

  “It’s over. You can’t keep blaming yourself.”

  “I can.” Tennie Nell quickly looked away from Grey, sorting through her bowl, looking for any unshelled peas, he supposed—and also so he wouldn’t see her tears.

  After a quiet moment during which Tennie Nell composed herself, Grey tried another subject. “You spoke of me being very wealthy, Miss Christie. I am. And I want to do some good with my money. My brother is wiring my income to me, which I will deposit in a bank here. With it, I hope to do good things for the Nation … for Taylor’s people.”

  Tennie Nell concentrated her gaze on Grey. “You are a good man, Mr. Greyson Talbott. I am certain The People will welcome your help.”

  Grey began to sweat. He felt nervous. He’d never asked for a woman’s hand before. “And what about Taylor? Do you think she will … marry me?”

  Tennie Nell grinned at him, her dark eyes alight with affection. “I do not know. It is not for me to say.”

  Just then, the sounds of crackling leaves and horses’ hooves caught their attention. Riders were coming through the woods. With Taylor’s mother, Grey stood up, waiting. His heart welled with love for who broke through the stand of trees and rode toward them atop Red Sky. Flanking Taylor, and atop their own mounts, were the still-terrified Bentley—he was certain he’d be scalped at any moment—and the ecstatic Calvin, who already had a Cherokee sweetheart, a lovely girl named Dahnea. The Christie cabin was crowded, but it was home.

  In her hand, Taylor proudly held up two fat dead rabbits for their dinner. “I have done well for us.”

  “Ah, this I can see!” Tennie Nell Christie called out, smiling.

  Grey grinned as well. Mother and daughter. Taylor had indeed survived her ordeal and her wounds. She had mended slowly but completely. And with Grey and these men, she had found her way back home. She never spoke of being white. In her heart and mind—and theirs—she was Cherokee. Full-blood.

  “Mr. Greyson Talbott has something he would know from you.” Tennie Nell turned to Grey. “Go ahead. Ask her.”

  Grey waited until the threesome had reined their mounts in front of the porch. Calvin dismounted first and then helped Bentley’s rotund little self off his Indian pony. Taylor dismounted Red Sky by slinging a leg over the horse’s neck and simply sliding down his bare side to the ground. She landed easily, still holding her kill, and looked up at Grey. “Ask me what?”

  What a wild and beautiful sight she made. Courage filled him. “If you’ll do me the honor of marrying me.”

  She grinned broadly but didn’t even hesitate. “You know nothing, do you, white man? We are already married—in the way of my people. It is the woman’s decision. I have given you my heart and you have moved into my family’s home. And so … we are married as long as I say this is good with me. If you can accept that, then you can stay with me and I will love you. My heart, my life, my soul, and my body I give to you, Grey. They will always be yours. And they will have to be enough.”

  Despite her abrupt tone, a warm shiver slipped over Grey. Her words were vows, like a wedding ceremony, in themselves. His hands to his waist, he smiled down at her. “They and you will always be enough … Wild Flower.”
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  She smiled and nodded. “Good. Then it is settled. I will make my life here with you in this place. And it shall be good, Man Who Loves Wild Flower.”

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR

  Wild Flower

  BY CHERYL ANNE PORTER

  1. Cheryl Anne Porter’s historical mysteries often deal with complex issues such as feminine empowerment, family relationships, prejudice, and personal growth. What issues are explored in Wild Flower? Why do you think these issues are still as relevant today as they were in the late 1800s?

  2. Taylor’s Uncle Ned suggests to her that she may not really be as tough as her reputation. Do you think that other people’s perception of someone frequently differs from that individual’s perception of herself/himself? How did Taylor differ from her reputation or from the perceptions people had of her?

  3. The Cherokee Nation, as depicted in Wild Flower, reflected an evolved culture that was pretty well versed in the ways of the neighboring mostly white United States. Yet the white people Taylor encountered in the story didn’t seem to know much about Cherokee ways. How do you think this discrepancy came about?

  4. Thoughtful character studies and the ways in which people change are a mainstay of Cheryl Anne Porter’s writing. Which character or characters do you think changed most in Wild flower? How did the author show these changes?

  5. In Wild Flower, as in Cheryl Anne Porter’s two previous historical mysteries, Captive Angel and Prairie Song, the heroine (and sometimes other characters, too) has to deal with the effects of unpleasant past events. How does Taylor deal with her “past baggage” in Wild Flower? Do you think that people can simply choose to have positive outcomes in their lives despite having to resolve painful pasts?

  6. Do you think Taylor gains closure with the events of her past? If so, how does reconciling her past propel her toward her future?

  7. In Wild Flower, Taylor reflects that she didn’t know her father when she was growing up. And she asks her cousin Amanda about Amanda’s father. How do you think the absence of a father affected Taylor as a child? As an adult?

  8. Family themes are prevalent in Cheryl Anne Porter’s writing. In Wild Flower, the theme of treachery within one’s own family was an underlying concept. Discuss the threat of a villain within a family.

  9. Taylor spoke about the prejudice white people exhibited toward Indians. What about Taylor’s own feelings toward whites? How extensive do you think this so-called reverse discrimination was? Still is?

  10. How was Taylor affected by learning the truth about her heritage? How did it change the way she lived her life?

  St. Martin’s Paperbacks Titles by Cheryl Anne Porter

  HANNAH’S PROMISE

  JACEY’S RECKLESS HEART

  SEASONS OF GLORY

  CAPTIVE ANGEL

  WILD FLOWER

  PASSIONATE PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF

  Cheryl Anne Porter

  CAPTIVE ANGEL

  “What a tour de force. CAPTIVE ANGEL grips you from the get-go (first page) and never lets go. Cheryl Anne Porter at the top of her form. This is a top-notch romance; not-to-be-missed read.”

  —Romantic Times

  SEASONS OF GLORY

  “A must-read for Western lovers. It made me want to buy the first two.”

  —Affaire de Coeur

  “SEASONS OF GLORY captures the fast-paced adventure, suspense and romance of the West … Cheryl Anne Porter completes her trilogy with a memorable and heartwarming story, fulfilling readers’ fantasies and expectations.”

  —Romantic Times

  JACEY’S RECKLESS HEART

  “This book is dynamite. Ms. Porter is a powerhouse of a writer.”

  —The Belles & Beaux of Romance

  “JACEY’S RECKLESS HEART has a very powerful, complex plot and emotional story that held me breathless. It is not an easy story to forget, and Cheryl Anne Porter’s talents have never shone brighter.”

  —Romantic Times, 4½ stars

  HANNAH’S PROMISE

  “Plenty of action and suspense, great humor, wild passion. This one is definitely a keeper.”

  —The Belles & Beaux of Romance

  “Cheryl Anne Porter brings wonderful characters and a compelling mystery to life in HANNAH’S PROMISE. The Gothic overtones and the titillating sexual tension blend together perfectly and readers will be hooked on the Lawless Women series.”

  —Romantic Times

  WILD FLOWER

  Copyright © 2001 by Cheryl Anne Porter.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

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  ISBN: 0-312-97716-6

  St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / March 2001

  St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  eISBN 9781466873780

  First eBook edition: May 2014