“And that is?” Adam urged, seeing a glimmer of hope for his ploy.
“I can accept your apology and receive you again into my heart as a friend, but only if you stay away from my daughter,” Sage said, his eyes intent on Adam. “That one condition must be met, or we will be enemies forever.”
Pure Blossom emitted a gasping sob. She gave her father a wavering look, then turned and fled into her hogan, crying.
“That is not what your daughter wants,” Adam dared to say.
“She does not understand yet that her father is doing what is best for her,” Sage said. “In time, she will learn the wisdom of this decision.”
“And you will not sway in this decision?” Adam said, knowing that he wouldn’t, and also knowing that it made no difference what Sage demanded of his daughter. Adam knew that nothing would keep them apart, even if it meant meeting in secret.
“Never,” Sage said, firmly lifting his chin.
“Then I see no choice but to agree to your terms,” Adam said. “We can now shake on a renewal of our friendship?” He extended his hand, smiled at Runner as he shook it, his eyes gleaming as Sage shook it in turn. “Runner, will you go with me to Gallup in a couple of days, to travel as friends, to seal the bond again by joining activities now of men, instead of boys?” Adam added.
“Why Gallup?” Runner asked.
“I’d rather not say now,” Adam said, clasping a hand on Runner’s shoulder. “Please trust that what I have planned will be a great time for old friends.”
Runner looked over at his father, who stood unmoving, neither approving nor disapproving.
“Gallup it is,” Runner said, deciding suddenly.
Adam’s eyes looked into Runner’s, behind them a hidden hunger for vengeance. More than once he had been humiliated at the hands of the Navaho.
He would have his own turn to be the one to do the humiliating—in Gallup.
Sage had decided that enough time had passed, and the Navaho had readied themselves for the midnight jaunt to Damon Stout’s ranch. Runner had not been able to get Adam off his mind since their meeting the week before. He did not trust this instant friendship that his old friend was offering. There had to be a hidden motive.
Runner had decided to play along, to see what the motive might be. But now, while riding on his stallion, Runner tried to center his attention on the task at hand. Thunder Hawk rode on his left side, Sage on his right, their eyes eagerly searching through the night for anyone who might discover them in the act of horse stealing.
Sage had told Thunder Hawk that horse stealing was not something that was to be done often. It was done only at times to teach those who stole from the People that a Navaho was not so easily tricked.
They finally arrived at Damon’s corral, the moon blessedly covered by a dark shroud of clouds to hide their activities.
Runner roped a fence post and rode away on his horse, the post ripping free from the ground. Sage rode into the corral, Thunder Hawk beside him.
Sage looked at his youngest son in wonder. Thunder Hawk knew too easily where to go and pick out the horses that were theirs, and how to chase them down and rope them.
Runner also watched the ease with which his younger brother helped his father take the horses from the corral, as though practiced. He recalled the times when he had found his brother riding alone at night, tasting freedom, and wondered if Thunder Hawk might have also been practicing the art of stealing horses.
Thunder Hawk had no horses of his own. He couldn’t accuse his brother of something that he could not prove.
Runner continued watching Thunder Hawk, no longer seeing him as just a young man who was being forced to attend school. He saw that his brother had turned into a man.
Chapter 16
Say thou lovest me, while thou live,
I to thee my love will give,
Never dreaming to deceive
While that life endures.
—ANONYMOUS
As Stephanie stared down at her rumpled bed, she buttoned her blouse. No matter how hard she had tried, she couldn’t go to sleep tonight. Although Adam had apologized to Sage and Runner, she worried about his sincerity. She could not imagine Adam giving in that easily, not even for her. If he was playing games, she could be the loser—she could lose Runner.
“I need a breath of air,” she said, smoothing her hands down the front of her skirt. Perhaps a ride on her horse would provide an escape from her thoughts. And if that didn’t wear her out, nothing would.
Grabbing up her holstered derringer, she fastened it around her waist. As she put on a lightweight leather coat, she looked through the window and could see a light on in Adam’s private car.
“He’s awake,” she whispered to herself.
She had to make sure he didn’t hear her and stop her. She had to have this time alone, away from the train, away from him. Away from everyone.
Stepping lightly, she left her private car. She glanced over at Adam’s door, watching to see if he had heard the door close.
Having left her horse just outside her private car, at the hitching rail, it was easier to escape tonight without making the usual clatter. A chill wind sighed as she swung herself into the saddle, causing a shiver to race up and down her spine.
Lifting the reins and nudging her horse into a soft, lope away from the train, she looked guardedly around her. Everything was thickly shadowed, the full moon hidden behind a shroud of dark clouds. She could not help but remember how quickly Damon had jumped out at her the other night. It could happen again. She knew that. But she would not allow herself to be trapped by fear.
Finally away from the train, Stephanie slapped the reins and rode in a hard gallop across the land.
Stephanie crouched low and raced through the velveteen blackness of night. She inhaled the fresh, clean air, enjoying the feel of the vast land.
Having never felt as free, her mind now momentarily clear of all its clutter, she rode on. When the moon came from behind its cloud cover, she was in awe of what the light revealed. At night, as the moon’s glow splashed all around her, she not only saw but felt the mystical quality of the land.
“The Navaho are so lucky to have been a part of this land for so long,” she whispered.
As never before, she was seeing why they had fought for their rights to it.
She had read many books before having ventured to the land of the Navaho. She had read the account of Kit Carson’s actions against the Navaho, and how he had forced Sage and his people from their stronghold all those years ago.
She had always admired the stories told about Kit Carson, but then she had heard of the tyranny he had practiced against the Navaho and could see him as nothing less than ruthless and scheming.
A sound, similar to thunder in the distance, caused Stephanie to draw her mount to a halt. Her fingers tightened involuntarily on the reins when her horse jerked sideways.
She looked heavenward, puzzling as to why she had heard thunder. The sky was clear, the moon bright. Stars were twinkling like sequins overhead.
She squinted and looked into the distance, now realizing that what she was hearing couldn’t be thunder. It was a steady drone that went on and on.
“Horses,” she whispered.
Suddenly the horses appeared ahead of her, and then several horsemen. It was a black and white torrent of manes and tails and hooves, trailing the moon’s glow. The horsemen were cutting back and forth behind the herd, gently keeping them moving.
Stephanie edged her mount beneath a ledge so that she could not be seen and eagerly watched as the horses and riders drew closer. By the light of the moon, she soon recognized the horsemen. They were Navaho. They were herding the horses across a straight stretch of land in the direction of Runner’s village.
Then, when they began riding past her, oblivious of her presence, Stephanie gasped. “Runner!” she whispered.
He was among the men. And not only Runner—she soon recognized Sage and Thunder Hawk.
She continued watching, wondering why they were herding the horses this time of night. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. “What if they stole them . . . ?” she whispered aloud.
She suddenly recalled Runner sneaking about at Damon’s ranch, looking at the horses.
A low, snarling sound drew Stephanie’s attention elsewhere. When she saw the glint of several eyes in the darkness, moving toward her, she grew limp with fright. The moon soon revealed the gray, shaggy coats of several wolves as they slinked toward her.
Her fingers trembling, Stephanie reached for her derringer as they revealed their sharp teeth, growling.
Before she had the chance to take her firearm from its holster, one of the wolves made a lunge at Stephanie’s horse, spooking it.
Stephanie screamed and hung on for dear life as it neighed and reared with fright and then took off in a mad, crazed gallop.
“Whoa!” Stephanie shouted, then screamed again when it went even faster.
She clung with all of her might to the reins.
“Stop!” she cried. “Whoa!”
Nothing she did appeased the horse’s fears. He kept plunging onward.
Stephanie slowly became aware of someone riding beside her. She didn’t dare take her eyes off the ground ahead of her. She hoped and prayed that the horse wouldn’t stop suddenly.
“Stephanie, when I reach my arm out for you, let go of the reins!” she heard Runner shout at her.
“I’m afraid to!” she cried, her eyes still glued straight ahead.
Runner edged his stallion closer and closer. “Now!” he shouted. “Let . . . go . . . now!”
Stephanie sucked in a wild, frightened breath, then dropped the reins. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer, then gasped as she was grabbed from the speeding horse and held safely on Runner’s lap.
Runner drew his mount to a quivering halt. He placed a finger to Stephanie’s chin and brought her eyes up to meet his. “Are you all right?” he said as Sage rode silently up beside them.
Stephanie sighed heavily, her breathing raspy. “I’m fine,” she finally managed to say. “Thanks to you. If you hadn’t come along, I’m not sure what would have happened. My horse just wouldn’t stop.”
Runner enveloped her within his hard, powerful arms and hugged her, then he leaned her away from him, a deep frown furrowing his brow. “What are you doing this far from the train?” he said, his voice drawn. “And alone? What are you thinking of?”
“I needed to be alone,” Stephanie said sullenly. “I . . . couldn’t . . . sleep.”
Thunder Hawk rode up, questioning her with his dark eyes, and she smiled shyly at him, then looked up at Runner again. “Why are you out this time of night, herding horses?” she murmured.
Runner and Sage exchanged quick glances, then Runner rode away with Stephanie to catch her horse, leaving Sage and Thunder Hawk staring after them.
“Father, it does not seem as though my brother heeds your warnings about the white woman,” Thunder Hawk said, wincing when he saw anger and pain in his father’s eyes.
“His heart makes him do strange things,” Sage said in a mumble. “And although this father hates to admit it, I do understand my older son’s behavior. Many moons ago, your father’s heart was stolen by a woman with white skin.”
He smiled over at Thunder Hawk, and tousled his son’s wiry, black hair. “You would not be here had I not allowed my heart to take control of my mind,” he said proudly.
“It is good to hear that you understand a son’s love for a particular woman,” Thunder Hawk said, reaching over to clasp a hand to his father’s shoulder. “I would hope that when love comes to me, you will understand.”
“Your education is important now,” Sage said, his eyes narrowing. “Not women.”
Thunder Hawk stared after his father as Sage rode away to join those who were still herding the horses toward his village.
“Soon you will see that this son also does not bear your words, nor follows your bidding,” Thunder Hawk said, scowling. He sank his moccasined heels into the flanks of his horse and rode away to join the other braves.
Stephanie’s horse was caught and tethered. Runner and Stephanie rested beside a small, winding stream, before taking the long ride back to her private car. The chase had taken them farther and farther into a canyon. There they were protected from the cooler breezes of night. There they sat beside a slow-burning fire, the warmth spreading to the stark, red walls on either side of them where the canyon walls reached high into tall buttes overhead.
Watching the slow-burning flames of the fire, Stephanie cuddled next to Runner. “You haven’t said yet why you were herding the horses at this time of night,” she murmured, turning to give him a slow, questioning look.
“That is nothing to concern yourself about,” Runner said, drawing her lips to his mouth. “It is Navaho business.”
He embraced her and lifted her onto his lap, threading several locks of her hair through his fingers. “Let’s not question each other about our separate reasons for riding through the darkness of night,” he breathed huskily against her lips. “Except for the moon and stars, we are alone. Let us show them the wonders of our love.”
His lips clinging to hers, he pressed her down onto the ground. His one hand ran down the length of her, then traced a heated path up her leg, beneath her skirt.
Stephanie moaned against his lips as he caressed her between her thighs. She lifted her hips to help him as he tugged her undergarments down.
Her hands shoved his fringed breeches over his hips. When his desire for her sprang into sight, she circled her fingers around him and led him to where she had opened her legs, to receive him inside her.
Runnner’s arms snaked around her waist and drew her pliant body against his as he thrust himself into her depths. As he drew his lips away, he smiled down at her, and watching her become enraptured by their lovemaking, he could see a hungry fire burning in her eyes and was aware of a sudden curling heat tightening within him.
“I love you so,” she whispered, and twined her fingers through his long, black hair, bringing his mouth to hers again. She pressed a warm kiss to his lips, then darted her tongue into his mouth.
Their bodies jolted and quivered as their passion reached the bursting point. They clung; they rocked; they moaned. And then their bodies subsided exhaustedly into one another’s.
Runner rolled away from her, but held her endearingly at his side.
“We should leave,” Runner said, reaching for her undergarments, bending over her to slip them up her tapered legs. “As it is, we may not arrive at your railroad car until dawn.”
“I don’t care if I go back there at all,” Stephanie murmured, giving him a pouting look as he smoothed her skirt. “When I am with you, everything is so simple. It is when we are separated that I find things so complicated and confusing.” She leaned into his embrace, placing her head on his chest. “Will we ever find a true, lasting peace in our relationship?”
“Since I was a child, I have never known the true meaning of peace,” Runner said somberly, covering the fire with dirt to smother it. “The Navaho have fought hard to retain a peaceful coexistence with the white man. But there are always those who try and take that from us.”
“When you say that, you are including Adam, aren’t you?” Stephanie said, pushing herself up from the ground.
“Would you say that he has brought us peace?” Runner said, turning to Stephanie.
Speechless, she gazed at him for a moment, then flung herself back into his arms. “I would hope that you could say that I have brought something into your life besides pain and hardships,” she murmured. “Runner, I cannot ever think of an existence now without you.”
Their lips came together in a sweet, lasting kiss, then Runner took Stephanie by the waist and lifted her into her saddle, then swung himself onto his own horse. “Somehow, we will manage to work things out so that we can always be together,” he said softly.
&n
bsp; “I want nothing more than that,” Stephanie said.
She followed him as he led his horse into a slow lope down a winding path away from the canyon, the moon once again hidden behind dark clouds.
A cigar in one hand, a whiskey bottle in the other, Adam took a long, deep swallow that emptied the bottle, then set it on the table beside him. He set his cigar aside in an ashtray, his eyes burning from lack of sleep. He was still upset over having been forbidden ever to see Pure Blossom again. He had to find away of protecting her when he put his plans in motion against the Navaho. Even if he had to go so far as to hide her away in his private car, so be it. Now that he had found such a love, there was no way that he would deny himself. Fires burned in his loins just thinking about her.
A light tapping sound at his door drew his attention away from his reverie. “Stephanie?” he said to himself. “What the hell would she want this time of night?”
When he tried to get up, he discovered that he was light-headed from the whiskey. He stumbled out of the chair and walked in a weaving, staggering fashion to his door. Squinting into the darkness, he swung the door open, then gasped with surprise when he found someone besides his sister standing there.
“Pure Blossom?” he said, his eyes widening. He blinked them slowly. “Am I imagining things, or are you truly standing there?”
“I have come to you,” she said, throwing herself into his arms. “I could not stay away.”
He wove his fingers into her lustrous, long hair. “But your father,” he drawled drunkenly. “You know you are going against your father’s wishes. . . .”
“To be with you, yes,” Pure Blossom said, gazing raptly up at him. “It is not the first time I have gone against his wishes because of you. How can he expect me to obey him?”
“Darling, how did you know which train car was mine?” Adam said, drawing her into the room, closing the door behind them. “What if you would have knocked at my sister’s door, instead of mine?”
Wild Desire Page 14