Again Sam shrugged and left, leaving Jeremiah gasping on the floor, stunned that he had been allowed to live. He lay there until he heard the horses ride away.
He waited a while longer before he got up. Then he scrambled to his feet and ran outside, where everyone who had been in the dining hall was now gathered. The two wives of the fallen man were kneeling over him, along with his three children. All were weeping.
It was apparent that everyone was in a state of shock. They all looked to Jeremiah for answers.
Jeremiah went to them and stood before them. “Seems we had quite a problem on our hands, but I’ve taken care of it,” he said thickly. “Those men came to Hope looking for Nicole. Well, they came too late, for she left our community during the night. Seems she wasn’t satisfied with the haven we offered her here and she managed to talk one of our own into allowing her to leave.”
He hung his head. “We’ll never know which man allowed this, for without even going to look, I feel sure all of those who stood sentry last night were killed by the murdering outlaws,” he said sadly. He looked up at his people. “I’m sorry, so sorry. You know that I didn’t ask for any of this to happen, but I do feel responsible since I was the one who insisted on bringing Nicole among us.”
He looked at the children, whose eyes were filled with tears. He looked at the men who now stood together, their wives huddling as they held their children closer.
“Go and find those who were victims of the madmen,” Jeremiah said. “Perhaps one among them might still be alive.”
His head hanging, Jeremiah walked away from them all. He went to his home and locked himself into his room.
He had been so wrong to bring Nicole back to Hope. That woman had brought death with her.
It seemed to follow wherever she went.
Feeling so responsible for the tragedy that had come to Hope, Jeremiah bowed his head in shame.
Chapter Twenty-six
In the air there was the aroma of food cooking, alerting Nicole that they must be nearing Eagle Wolf’s stronghold.
A moment later, Eagle Wolf led her through a small pass, and Nicole got her first glimpse of the tops of tepees with smoke wafting in soft, gray spirals from their smoke holes.
As she rode with Eagle Wolf just a bit farther down the narrow path, she saw the entire village lying nestled in a hidden valley. The sight of a waterfall at the far side, cascading beautifully from a tall cliff, drew Nicole’s breath away. She had never seen anything as grand and majestic as that water falling in such a long stream, down, down, into a beautiful river that ran along one side of the village.
Nicole saw some women at the river, bending over the water, filling jugs with it. Others walked leisurely away from the river, each carrying a jug on her shoulder.
Farther still, to her left, she saw a huge garden, where women were busy harvesting what Nicole recognized as corn, beans, and beautiful, golden squash, as well as other vegetables. It was obvious that these people needed no one else for their survival.
Nicole also saw sheep in pens, their wool thick and ready to be shorn to make warm clothes for the winter. Then she wondered, would she be spending the winter here among the Navaho?
She was a woman with white skin. Surely she would be seen as these peoples’ enemy, for was it not people with white skin who had forced them into hiding?
The thought of their not accepting her caused a sick feeling in the pit of Nicole’s stomach. If they didn’t, what then would Eagle Wolf do about her?
Would he put her above everyone else and allow her to stay among his people? Or would he do their bidding if they told him that they did not want her to stay among them?
Oh, Lord, would he turn her away so that she was all alone in the world once again?
Oh, surely not.
At that moment, Eagle Wolf reached over and grabbed her reins to stop her horse, drawing his own to a stop beside her.
She looked into his eyes, seeing an emotion in them that told her of the depths of his love for her.
She didn’t know how this love had happened since they were of two different worlds.
And it had happened so quickly.
But they did love each other!
“You must know that you are not only a stranger to my people, but someone who looks like their most hated enemy,” Eagle Wolf said thickly. “I am not certain how my Owl Clan will react when they see you with me. But I am confident that when they know you as I do, they will no longer see you as an enemy, but someone welcome in their lives.”
“I’m so nervous,” Nicole murmured. “What will you do if they refuse to accept me? Will…you…send me away?”
“You know that I could never do that,” Eagle Wolf said. He reached over with his free hand and gently took one of hers. “The moment we met, I knew it was our destiny to become one. You felt it, too. I know, because I see that truth in your eyes every time you look into mine. My Great Spirit will guide my people into accepting, and then, loving you.”
“But I am being thrust into their lives so suddenly, without any warning,” Nicole said, her voice breaking.
“Not altogether,” Eagle Wolf said, slowly taking his hand from hers. “I was not alone when I first saw you at the Mormon community. Several of my warriors rode with me. When they returned to our home without me, I have no doubt they told our people about you. They knew that I would be bringing you home with me.”
“I feel uncomfortable because I know how often the Indians have been tricked by my people’s government,” Nicole said softly. “I know about broken treaties.”
“Yes, my Navaho tribe is one of those that were tricked more than once because we trusted too easily,” Eagle Wolf said tightly. “That is why I have brought my Owl Clan into hiding. There are no boundaries here as there are on reservations where the white people have forced so many red-skinned people to go. We have made our own boundaries. We are happy here.”
“But don’t you see, Eagle Wolf?” Nicole murmured. “I might be too much of a reminder of all that for your people to accept me.”
“In time you will prove to them that you are a different sort of person,” Eagle Wolf said, in his eyes a determination to make her understand that she need not be afraid to venture onward into his village. “So come now, Nicole. Come and let me show you to my people. There will be some who will be hard to convince that you are a person whose heart is good. But in time, those people will see you as I do.”
“But you are…” Nicole broke off, blushing because she had almost said that he was in love with her.
“I know what you were going to say without your saying it,” Eagle Wolf said, smiling softly at her. “I see it in the sudden change of color on your face.”
He again reached over and took one of her hands in his. “Ho, I am in love with you, and, yes, love sometimes clouds one’s reasoning. But know this, woman, I can be in love, and make sense, too,” he said, chuckling.
“How could you know what I did not say?” Nicole asked, in awe of this man’s sensitivity.
“Your feelings are in your eyes,” Eagle Wolf said, bringing her hand to his lips and gently kissing it. “You love me. I love you. Now it is said aloud. My warriors have told my people how I feel about you. They will make you welcome at our village in all ways.”
Loving this man so much, Nicole wanted to be kissed by him, and not only on the hand.
As though Eagle Wolf had once again read her thoughts, he reached for her. Leaning closer, he soon had her in his arms, his lips warm and wonderful on hers.
She twined her arms around his neck.
The moment was magical and wonderful as she tasted the wonder of his lips and felt the strength in his arms as he kept her from falling off her horse, while she was leaning toward him.
She knew that life was going to be all right for her again, and all because of this man who had welcomed her into his heart against all odds.
“I love you,” he whispered against her lips. “Ka-bike-hozhoni-
bi, forever, my woman. Forever. Now let me take you to my people and let them love you, too.”
Nicole’s heart was hammering inside her chest as he drew away from her and gave her her reins.
“This is our time. Let us go onward into a world that now belongs to both of us,” Eagle Wolf said. He smiled at her. “Daltso-hozhoni. All is beautiful.”
He looked straight ahead again, then sank his moccasined heels into the flanks of his white steed.
Nicole rode with him into the outer fringes of the village.
Everyone stopped what they were doing when they saw the white woman with their chief. All of Nicole’s fears returned in one leap of a heartbeat as she saw resentment on many of the peoples’ faces.
Yet on the children’s faces was no resentment. Sweet and innocent, they clung to the skirts of their mother’s buckskin dresses, gazing up at Nicole with wide, brown eyes.
Some children even smiled, although bashfully, as Nicole rode past them. It was then she knew that things would be all right.
She thought about how these children had been cheated of so many things because of what white people had done to them. She felt ashamed at first, and then she found herself loving the children.
She envisioned herself standing before a group of these children, whose trusting eyes watched her as she taught them everything she could.
Yes! These Navaho children would be her students.
As they rode onward, Eagle Wolf smiled from one person to the other, nodding his head at those who openly greeted him, and Nicole began to feel less and less uncomfortable. She could almost see people beginning to relax toward her.
And then someone suddenly stepped away from the others, blocking Eagle Wolf and Nicole’s way.
They were forced to come to an abrupt halt, stopping only a few inches from the angry-eyed man who faced them with fists jammed angrily on his hips.
He wore only a breechclout and moccasins. His coal-black hair fell in a long braid down his back. A knife was sheathed at his right side, glinting threateningly as the sun played on its handle.
Nicole realized that she had just found her first Navaho enemy, and she could not help being afraid.
Where there was one, surely there were others.
She glanced quickly at Eagle Wolf, who stayed in his saddle even as his eyes battled with those of the warrior. The other man stood there, glaring directly into Eagle Wolf’s eyes.
This warrior was openly challenging his chief. Nicole was stunned to witness this exchange.
“My brother, step aside,” Eagle Wolf said tightly. “You do not know what you are doing.”
“I know very well, my brother,” Spirit Wolf said. He slowly shifted his glare over to Nicole, making her shudder at the coldness in his eyes.
Nicole knew now that this was Eagle Wolf’s blood kin…his brother, and she could tell there was no love lost between them.
Nicole waited to see how Eagle Wolf would react to this brother who seemed so out of line and perhaps an embarrassment to Eagle Wolf.
“Spirit Wolf, step aside,” Eagle Wolf said again, this time with more anger and strength behind his words.
“Eagle Wolf, my brother and chief, you are not acting wisely, bringing this woman into our lives,” Spirit Wolf said. “Are you blind, brother? Do you not see the color of her skin? She is white! One white among us will bring more. Surely someone will want to know where she is. They will come here. Our stronghold will no longer be safe because of this one white woman!”
Eagle Wolf dismounted.
He went to Spirit Wolf and stood directly before him, but he did not reach out and touch him…yet.
Eagle Wolf was a man of self-control, and at this moment, he needed all that he could gather within himself to deal with his brother’s disobedience.
“And so my brother shames his own brother…his chief…in the presence of others?” Eagle Wolf said coolly. “You know well, Spirit Wolf, that I would never bring harm to our people. This woman will not bring harm, either. She is kind. And she is alone. This woman lost her family. She is alone in this world. Only the Mormon people know that she survived the wrath of those who killed her parents, and those Mormons would not dare come on our mountain. She is not of their religion, or their kind. And they are not the sort of people who cause trouble. They follow their own rules of goodness and kindness, leaving others alone.”
He turned and looked at his people. “Know this, my people,” he said, gazing from one to the other. “All is safe at our stronghold. This woman, too, seeks safety from those who killed her parents. She has suffered terrible losses. She deserves peace in her life. Like you, she deserves a safe haven. I have offered this to her, and she has accepted.”
Spirit Wolf stepped even closer to Eagle Wolf, so close that their breaths mixed.
“How do you know this white woman so well? Why would you do this for her?” Spirit Wolf asked, his eyes mocking.
“This woman came to me when I was sick with fever. She offered me help while you, my very own brother, were trying to benefit from your brother’s illness,” Eagle Wolf said dryly. “If I must choose between the two of you, I prefer to have her in my life.”
Eagle Wolf stepped away from Spirit Wolf and pointed to the path that led down the mountain. “Go, Spirit Wolf,” he said, his voice filled with deep emotion. “You do not deserve the love or loyalty of your chieftain brother, or our people. In your heart there lies too much envy toward your own blood brother, your only family left on this earth. You have lost the right to my love. Our parents would be ashamed of you, as ashamed as I am.”
Shocked by Eagle Wolf’s sudden decision to send him out of his life, Spirit Wolf stepped away from his brother, wide-eyed. “You would do this to your brother?” he gasped. “You would send me away?”
“You sent yourself away when you decided to become someone I no longer recognize,” Eagle Wolf said. “All of our lives I have cared for you, my brother. And still you resent me and my position in life? Spirit Wolf, go away and think about what you have done and what you have wanted to do to your brother. When, and if, you can return and be the person you were before greed and jealousy came into your heart, you will be welcome again in our Owl Clan.”
“You would do this because…because…of this woman?” Spirit Wolf blurted out, again glaring at Nicole. “It is because of her and you know it!”
“You are still not listening to my words or my heart, brother,” Eagle Wolf said. He pointed toward the pass that led from the village. “Go. Now.”
Suddenly realizing that Eagle Wolf was serious, and that he was near to being banished from their clan, Spirit Wolf grew downcast. “I am sorry,” he cried. “I spoke out of turn. Please forgive me. Give me a second chance. I do love you, Eagle Wolf. Greed and the desire for leadership did blind me, but only for a little while. I no longer want what my brother rightfully has. Please forgive me?”
Nicole felt partly to blame for what had just happened between the two brothers. She wanted to try to do something to smooth things over between them.
She dismounted and went to Eagle Wolf, placing a soft hand on his arm. Eagle Wolf looked at her with a question in his eyes.
“Eagle Wolf, a person is much bigger and better if he can find it in his heart to forgive, especially family,” she murmured. “Spirit Wolf is your brother. Please give him a second chance. I know how quickly one can lose family, for always. You, too, could lose your brother in such a way.”
Both Eagle Wolf and Spirit Wolf gazed in wonder at her. Both saw the goodness of her heart.
Of course, Eagle Wolf had already seen it, but this new evidence of it confirmed how right he was to have brought her to his stronghold.
Eagle Wolf nodded. He truly did not want to lose his brother. Spirit Wolf was all that was left of their family.
It would devastate him if he could never see Spirit Wolf again.
He reached out and embraced his brother, holding him tightly. “We must never let anything pull us apa
rt again,” he said thickly. “Our mother and father would not rest in the heavens if we were not good to each other. My brother, do not leave. Stay. We will work things out between us.”
Spirit Wolf choked back a sob and clung to Eagle Wolf.
In Navaho, he told him that he was sorry.
“Truly, my brother, I will never disappoint you again,” Spirit Wolf then said. “Ukehe, thank you.”
They stepped apart.
They both turned to Nicole and smiled at her.
Through all of this, the people of the Owl Clan were silent, looking and listening. Now they were smiling.
Suddenly the onlookers went to Nicole. One by one, they embraced her and welcomed her.
She realized now that by acting to bring the brothers together again, she had made the people see that she was no danger to them.
They were openly letting Eagle Wolf know, without words, that this woman needed protection from the outside world, and they were willing to provide it.
Eagle Wolf nodded to two youths. They came to him and took the horses.
Eagle Wolf took Nicole by the hand and led her to his tepee. When he had the entrance flap closed, he turned and pulled her into his arms.
She twined her arms around his neck and melted as his lips came to hers in a wondrous kiss.
Then she leaned away from him and smiled into his eyes. “Thank you,” she murmured.
“And why do you thank me?” Eagle Wolf asked, his eyes dancing.
“For being you,” she murmured. “Just for…being…you.”
Again he swept her against him and kissed her. The world went on outside the lodge, laughter and voices and sunshine wafting down through the smoke hole overhead.
Suddenly Nicole believed in life again. For a while she had given up hoping that it would ever be worth living again.
Now she had a reason. She had many.
There was Eagle Wolf. There were the Navaho children.
Ah, but she was anxious to see their eyes as she stood before them, teaching them to read and write, and to understand the ways of white people.
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