by Conn, Phoebe
Lars placed his hands upon Sarah's waist to push her an arm's length away. "Are you trying to use my own arguments against me, Sarah?"
He had already said that he loved her, and Sarah knew a man like Lars Hanson did not speak those words lightly. Very pleased with herself, she could not help but giggle. "What if I am?"
That she would admit to such underhanded tactics amused him enormously, and Lars threw back his head and laughed with her. That was what he loved about Sarah, she had taught him to laugh again. "It will take you several months to plan a wedding, won't it? Mark was a man who loved life, and I know he will not be offended if we wish to live it to the fullest. If he would never be critical of us, then why should we care if others are?"
"I believe I said something like that only tonight, didn't I?" Sarah asked as she moved back into his arms.
"Yes, you did. Whenever I behave like a pompous ass, will you promise to point it out to me? In private, though, please."
"Oh Lars, you are never pompous." Sarah kissed him to
Erove her point, for she loved his kisses. The love he had een reluctant to admit had always flavored his kisses and made them delicious. When at last she could bear to draw away, she stepped back only slightly. "You will not be too hard on Etienne and Erica, will you?"
Since that was a question he needed time to consider, Lars sat down again and pulled Sarah down across his lap. She was dressed in a flowing black gown, but its somber color did not dampen the ebullience of his mood. "We can talk about them tomorrow. Let's not waste the rest of tonight."
When his mouth again covered hers, Sarah relaxed in his arms. It would be unusual to have an Indian in the, family, but since she had won the heart of the man she* loved, she saw no reason to deny Erica that same privilege. "I love you," she whispered between fervent lasses, not admitting how impressed she had been with him when they had first met, since it had taken Lars so long to notice her. She sighed dreamily when he replied with the same three-word vow. What did it matter who had been the first to speak of love when each of them now loved the other so dearly?
At last Lars recalled the significance of the day, and he brought Sarah's right palm to his lips. "We all did our best for Mark. I'm so sorry it just wasn't enough."
Sarah nodded, then laid her head upon his shoulder. "I felt guilty about being part of a deception, until you pointed out nothing was more important than Mark's well-being. I will always be grateful to you for that. Because of your advice, Mark spent his last days surrounded by people who loved him. No one can ask for a greater blessing than that."
With her snuggled so comfortably in his arms, Lars had no reason to disagree. It was not only being loved he had missed, but having someone to love, as well. "I'm going to make you deliriously happy, Sarah. I give you my word
on that."
"You already have, Lars," Sarah assured him. "I'll do my best to make you wonderfully happy, too." She thought of her brother as Lars kissed her again, and wished Mark could be at their wedding to give her away. He would have loved that. She made herself another promise then, that for the rest of her life, whenever her days overflowed with happiness, her brother would be with her. They had always been close, and she wanted that same loving closeness to remain in her heart forever. Somehow she knew without asking that that was the type of love Lars would heartily approve.
While Lars and Sarah were lost in the blissful contentment of newly found love. Erica paced her bedroom with an anxious stride, her mood as black as the gown she had worn that day. Stephen had been fed and lay sleeping soundly in his cradle, while Viper, clad only in the gray pants, lay stretched out across the foot of her bed. He seemed unconcerned by her father's ridiculous demand that he move out of their home, but she was deeply troubled by it.
"Will there never be any end to our problems? Are we going to be hounded until the end of our days, never allowed to live in peace or to be happy?"
"There has been no time for us to decide what it is we want to do. I mean your father no disrespect, but I do not give a damn what he wants. What you and I want is all that matters." As Erica swept by he reached out to grab hold of her nightgown, but missed. "Come to bed with me. I will take care of you as I always have. You needn't worry about the future."
"But I do worry!" Erica continued to pace, her gaze locked upon the design of the rug at her feet. "Where will we go? What will we do? We can't even use your namel What are we going to call ourselves? How are we going to raise our children to be proud of themselves when we cannot even speak your name?"
Seeing he would have no success coaxing the volatile beauty into bed. Viper slipped off the high mattress and moved to block her way. He pulled her into his arms and
pressed her dose to his bare chest as he wove his fingers in her free-flowing curls. "Mark was very generous, and I have saved every penny of my salary so I can take care of us for the winter. In the spring, I want to return to Minnesota. With the reservations gone, the government has more land to sell, and I will simply buy some.
"It doesn't matter what name we use, we will know who we are. Being a farmer is not such a bad life. There is plenty of time to hunt while the crops grow. A farm is a good place to raise children, too. At least, I think it could be. What do you think?"
As Erica looked up at her husband, her heart filled wtih dread. "Look what happened to Little Crow. How can you want to live where men shoot Indians as though they were no more than foxes? I want something far ^tter for my son.
"He is our son," Viper reminded her proudly. "What is it you want to do, stay here?"
"Yes, why not? If you are going to continue to pose as a white man, you can do it here as easily as anywhere else. At least we would be safe here. No one would be hunting us for a bounty." Erica slipped her arms around his slim waist and held him close. "I nearly lost you once. Viper, and I can't go through that horror again. I just can't."
Viper stood very still as he stroked her hair lightly. He adored his wife, and he understood her fears, but he had no intention of giving in to them. "The Sioux have been scattered in so many directions the people of Minnesota will soon forget we ever existed. I won't forget, and I won't let our son forget either. It may only have been fate that gave me light eyes, but since they let me pass among white men like a brother, than I would be a fool not to do it. Perhaps the Sioux have lost their homeland, but I can claim at least a small part of it for our own. When I came here, I meant to take you home with me. Since I have waited for you so patiently, I think you should come with me without argument."
"But we can't leave until spring?" Erica asked perceptively, grasping for the ray of hope that brought her.
"No, there isn't time to buy land and build a house before the first snow falls," Viper explained.
"We are going to argue about this until spring. You
realize that, don't you?" Erica asked with a rueful shake of her head.
"We can argue as long as you like," Viper offered graciously, "but in the spring, we will still go back to Minnesota."
"And what if someone recognizes you?"
"No one will," Viper insisted calmly. "Etienne Bouchard has never been there before, so how can anyone know him?"
"But—" Viper's mouth covered hers before she could point out there were dozens of people who would recognize her, and therefore him, as well. As his tongue slid over hers, she recalled the first time he had kissed her, for his action had been a surprise then, too. So much had hapjjened to them since then, but she wanted the future to be far happier than their past. When at last he drew away, she laid her head upon his chest and gave him a fierce hug. "It's hopeless, isn't it? No matter how much I object, you're going to go back to Minnesota, and you know I won't let you go alone."
Viper could not help but chuckle, since she was rig^t. He bent down to lift her into his arms and carried her to the bed before he replied. "Since you know you will never diange my mind, don't waste our time by arguing. Wouldn't you rather do this?" he asked as he slid his
hand beneath her soft linen gown and began to caress the smooth flesh of her thigh.
Erica slipped her fingers through his hair, her touch as loving as his, although her mood was still far from complacent. "Yes, I would, but you have forgotten how many people I met while I worked in my uncle's store. In fact, my aunt and uncle were so upset that I had married you, they might betray you themselves. If the army didn't shoot you on sight, they would take you back to prison, wouldn't they?"
Viper rose up on his elbows, his glance no longer teasing, for he knew what Erica said was true. "I wanted to take you back to the Cottonwood River, but you are right. It would be too dangerous for us to be so close to New Ulm. The state is a large one, I will find land for us where no one can cause us trouble. I will not ask you to dye your hair and call yourself by another name so you will not be
recognized. It is too difficult to pretend I am something I am not. I will not ask the same of you."
"Is it truly difficult for you to be Etienne? You play that part so well, I had no idea it was a chore for you." His comment had amazed Erica, for he had so greatly enjoyed taunting her in his French accent that she thought he relished his role as the Canadian.
Viper sighed wearily as he stretched out upon his back. He had wanted to make love, but with Erica in so talkative a mood, he knew he would have to answer all her questions first. "I would rather be myself, but the life I knew and loved is gone. I want you to help me make a home where our children will be safe and happy. It may be impossible, but I want to try."
The sadness in his voice touched her deeply, and Erica leaned over him to brush his lips lightly with hers. "Nothing is impossible. Viper, and I want us all to be safe and happy, too. We will have to be careful is all, but I will go wherever it is you want to go. Maybe in time I will even become a good cook," she confided with a lilting laugh.
Viper groaned as he recalled the first of her meals. "You were learning. We'll not starve." When she leaned down to kiss him again, he wrapped his arms around her waist so she could not escape him. He soon realized she did not want to. "There is one other thing," he remembered suddenly.
Unable to imagine what more he could want. Erica stared down at him with rapt attention. "What else could there possibly be? I have promised to go with you, and even to leam to cook. What more can you want ot a wife?"
"I want you to marry me. Tomorrow. I want your father to be there, so he cannot complain I have no morals. I want him to understand how precious you are to me. We can tell anyone who is curious that you were married to me in Minnesota. When you thought I had been killed in the uprising, you married Mark. Since I am obviously alive, you want to be married to me again. That makes sense, doesn't it?"
"I don't know if it makes any sense or not, but it is closer to the truth than any other story we might make up." Erica reached out to trace the line of his jaw with her fingertips, and he caught her hand and brought it to his lips. "There's
bound to be gossip no matter when we many, so I think tomorrow is as good a day as any. I know you are doing this for me, and that is so sweet of you, but I have always felt as though we were married even though we had no ceremony."
"I am not doing it for you," Viper protested vehemently. "I am doing it for myselL I don't want anyone to say you are not my wife ever again, most especially not youl" With an agile push, he succeeded in rolling over and pulling Erica beneath him where he nearly smothered her with enthusiastic kisses before a loud pounding at the door interrupted them. Viper swore angrily, then rolled off the bed and hurried to answer before the noise woke the baby. When he found Lars and Sarah standing outside in the hall, he greeted them coldly.
"You have chosen a most inconvenient time to call," he announced without a trace of a smile. Erica came to his side then and ducked under his arm.
"Yes, what is it?" she asked brightly, apparently not in the least bit disturbed that her father had found Viper in her bed.
Lars's glance swept over Viper's well-muscled torso before coming to rest on his daughter's smile. "Sarah made me realize how cruel it would be to try and separate you two. Rather than worry about gossip, I've diosen merely to be practical. Since you have a child, you two should be married, the sooner the better, I might add."
"Did you plan for us to be married tonight?" Viper asked skeptically.
"No, tomorrow or the next day will do." Lars broke into a wide grin then, thinking he had the upper hand now, for the Inman could not refuse to wed Erica and keep the young woman's respect.
"I do not know," Viper began hesitandy. "Among my people a widow does not remarry for several years."
"Oh Viper, stop iti" Erica wrapped her arms around his waist, but when she turned to look up at her father she found his expression one of horrified disbelief.
"Your name is Vijjer?" Lars asked with an incredulous gasp. "Have I just demanded my only daughter marry a man called Viper?"
Erica had done far more than give away his name, and
Viper held his breath as he waited for Lars to realize how mudi trouble he could cause him now. It would take one wire, perhaps two, to discover the army would be delighted to learn his whereabouts and return him to prison.
Erica felt Viper's tension and realized her mistake. "An Indian frequently has many colorful names," she explained with a warm smile. "That's only one of his. Since you have to return to Washington so soon, do you think we could arrange for a marriage ceremony tomorrow? I'm certain with the war, many couples are arranging hasty marriages."
"I didn't hear him agree," Lais turned toward Viper then as he waited for him to respond.
Viper was desperately sorry he had teased Erica rather than agreeing immediately to her father's demand. "I will be happy to marry Erica, tomorrow or any other day. Now goodnight." As he started to close the door. Erica slipped through it.
She threw her arms around her father's neck as she thanked him. "Everything will turn out beautifully, I just know it will." Before Lars could respond, they heard a plaintive meow and turned to find the tomcat at Mark's door. "Oh Sarah, will you take the cat to your room? He doesn't understand where Mark is, ana he's used to sleeping on his bed."
"Of course. Come here, little fellow." Sarah scooped up the cat, and as she and Lars started off down the hall with him Erica returned to her room.
"I am so sorry," she apologized as she locked her door. "How I could have been so stupid I'll never know, but you needn't worry. My father won't give your name to the army."
Viper was standing in the shadows by the door, his frown as deep as his gloom. "How can you be so sure?"
Erica took his hand and led him back to her bed. "Because he loves me too much. He'd not harm you when Stephen and I would be the ones to suffer."
"He is that good a man?" Erica's hands were at his belt, but Viper was uneasy still.
"He is like you in many ways. I trust him, and you can, too. I'm the one you'll have to worry about. What if I can't
remember to call you Etienne?"
"Do you enjoy being a widow?" Viper asked pointedly.
"What an awful thing to ask. No, of cx)urse not."
"Then remember to call me Etienne, or better yet, simply call me beloved."
Erica remembered vividly the afternoon he had made that suggestion, and she began to laugh. As he slipped out of his clothes she tossed her nightgown aside and got into bed. "I like that idea. I will call you nothing but sweetheart or darling, or beloved, since you like that name best." When Viper joined her in the bed and drew her into his arms she pressed close, drinking in his warmth as though it were fine wine.
"You really are my beloved, and I know the life we make for ourselves and our children will be a wonderfully happy one," she promised him sweetly.
Viper smiled as he gazed into her sparkling blue eyes. In the room's dim light their deep color shimmered with a bright glow. The future would not be without danger and adventure, he knew that, but with so magnificent a wife, what a marvelous life it would be. He lowered his
mouth to hers, his kiss now soft and sweet as he proved again that when she had chosen him for her husband, she had made a wise choice, indeed.
"I will love you forever," he whispered, before the passionate young beauty in his arms made all thought of words impossible. There was only the wondrous sensation of her love flooding his senses to overflowing with the beauty of her devotion, and he gave that splendor back again and again until, sated by pleasure, they fell asleep in each other's arms. A lingering smile graced Viper's lips at the thought that in a few hours he would again take Erica for his wife. He made a silent vow that he would fill her life with love, for as long as the sun rose and set, for always, and that each day he would give her a new reason to call him her beloved.
^yVale^ loy claecu/eMy
The Minnesota Sioux Uprising of 1862 was only one tragic episode in the lengthy warfare between the army and the Sioux that culminated in the bloody massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. While Viper and Erica are fictitious characters, I have included the people actually involved in the events of the uprising whenever possible in this book. The name of Dr. William Mayo, who served briefly in New Ulm, is undoubtedly familiar. It was his sons who founded the renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
In May 1863, the Sioux who had spent the winter at Fort Snelling were deported under horrendous conditions to a hastily chosen site in what is now the state of South Dakota. The Crow Creek Reservation proved to be such a poor location for agriculture that after three disastrous years the Indians were moved to the Santee Reservation near the Niobrara River, in present-day Nebraska.
The prisoners confined at Camp McClellan fared just as poorly as their relatives. Dr. Williamson was able to secure pardons for forty men in 1864. In April 1866, after 120 braves had died in prison, President Andrew Johnson pardoned the remaining 247. These men then joined their families in Nebraska.