Sunflower

by Jill Marie Landis

  The sensations he aroused in her excited Analisa as she fought to concentrate on his words.

  “My identity papers state that I am a Spanish professor traveling the United States to study the West. As an inept, foppish sort, I won’t be suspected of spying for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Only President Grant and General Parker know my true identity and assignment.”

  “You are in danger.”

  It was not a question. Analisa realized for the first time the extent of Caleb’s involvement.

  Caleb remained silent as he gathered his thoughts in order to deal with her honestly. He knew she would be forced to spend many days and nights alone at the fort, and he sought to keep her from worrying about him.

  “Not necessarily. I will pose as Don Ricardo when I am living at the fort.” He paused before adding, “The Sioux will know me only as a half-breed, Raven’s Shadow, who scorns the whites and has given up his half-white heritage.”

  Analisa lay tense beside him, her arousal ebbing as she tried to sort through the new information. It was slowly becoming apparent that his true identity was a dangerous secret that must be guarded at all costs. What of Kase? How could they trust the four-year-old not to innocently betray him? Analisa envisioned endless days of tension and worry, on guard against her son’s every word and deed.

  “How will we keep Kase from calling you Caleb? And how will you explain the fact that I am not Spanish? Kase is enough like you to be your son, but he speaks no Spanish. What if he should speak Dutch in front of someone? What will we do if...”

  He ran his hand over her arm and sought to quiet her. He lowered his voice to a hushed whisper, speaking in the slow, confident tone she was so familiar with.

  “If it’s all right with you, I’d like him to call me Papa. If he starts now, it’ll become natural to him by the time we reach the fort.” He took the time to tease the back of her neck with his lips.

  “I have a story all worked out, and I think it’s quite plausible. I told Williamson that I met you in Europe. We were married there, and Kase was born in Holland before we came to the States. I have been teaching in the East for three years, so naturally, you both speak English quite well. I haven’t had time to teach either of you much Spanish.”

  She marveled at the intricacy of his explanation and became caught up in the cover story. “So you went ahead to Fort Sully to make arrangements for us to move there, and now you are supposedly in the East, collecting your wife and son?”

  “Exactly. What do you think?”

  “What does this Major Williamson think?”

  “He believes me. He has no reason not to; my introductory papers are very official and in order. He is to make sure I have all the assistance I require, and the freedom to come and go from the fort to study the surroundings. Naturally, he thinks I’m a bit crazy to ride out into hostile territory alone. After meeting Don Ricardo, how can you blame him?”

  “Yes. The professor I saw ride up to my door this morning was lucky to know which end of the horse to lead.” She felt him laughing silently, “What will you really do among the Indians?”

  “They are renegades—runaways from the reservation. I’ll infiltrate their camp and work to persuade them to return to the reservation before they are hunted down and killed.” He avoided explaining the rest of his mission, hoping to ensure her safety by keeping her unaware of the details.

  “Part of the time you’ll be living with ... them?”

  “Yes, and while I am you will have to cover for me at the fort. I wanted to spare you that, but there is no other way this will work.”

  Analisa was so silent for a time that Caleb finally nudged her gently.

  “Anja?”

  “I was just thinking.”

  “And ...”

  “You have entrusted me with much responsibility, Caleb.”

  “I trust you with my life.”

  Analisa closed her eyes and prayed silently, hoping she would prove worthy of that trust.

  “Mama? Can I get in bed with you, too?” Her eyes flew open immediately and saw the round-eyed face of her child standing beside the bed staring at the two of them. She wondered how Kase had crossed the room so silently. He was becoming as graceful and stealthy as Caleb. Wanting to hide and draw the covers over her head in embarrassment, she was unable to answer Kase and so kicked Caleb in the shin.

  He took over immediately. “Run along and dress, Kase. We’ll be up in a minute.”

  Not the least bit offended by the abrupt dismissal, for he was always willing to please Caleb, the youngster moved off to his side of the room.

  “How long has he been standing there?” Analisa whispered from behind the hands she pressed against her burning face.

  “I’m not sure. I was concentrating on your neck.” He placed a gentle kiss on the soft skin at the edge of her hairline.

  After Christmas they’d played a waiting game with Kase, making certain he was asleep before they went to bed and that they were up and dressed before the boy awoke. Analisa had hoped he would not find out they shared a bed, but Caleb was certain that sooner or later he would know. Now that the truth was out, the boy seemed not to care in the least.

  “Kase?” Caleb called out, noting that youngster was nearly dressed. The call drew Kase to the bedside once more.

  “Go outside and lead Scorpio into the yard for me. He needs to stretch his legs. Can you do it?”

  Happy to be given such ä great responsibility, Kase shrugged into his coat and was out the door in seconds. At the sound of the wooden portal closing securely behind him, Analisa bounded from the bed and grabbed her clothes.

  “Need these?”

  Caleb had retrieved her new satin underclothes from between the sheets and tossed them to her. Within moments they were both dressed and nervously awaiting Kase’s return.

  “I’ll go out and get him.” Caleb strode to the door and grabbed his own coat. Analisa, too embarrassed to face either of them, kept her back to him while she added cow chips to the fire with improvised wooden tongs.

  Kase ran up to greet Caleb as the man rounded the corner of the house. The wind drove the mill above him, setting a frantic pace as the blades spun around and around. The sky remained lackluster gray, although dark clouds streaked it with charcoal. Rain was imminent.

  “I let him out, Caleb,” Kase announced proudly, pointing to Scorpio as the big horse moved about the yard.

  “You’re not afraid of him at all, are you?” Caleb asked the boy, the pride apparent in his voice.

  “Nee. I like horses.”

  “It’s about time you had one of your own.”

  Kase stopped kicking the toe of his worn leather boot against a dirt clod and looked up at Caleb in disbelief. “My own horse?” His child’s voice rose an octave in excitement.

  Caleb merely nodded. He’d see that the boy had a mount and riding lessons, too, as soon as they reached Fort Sully.

  “Let’s go in. Breakfast should be about ready.” Caleb shoved his hands deep in his pockets and headed toward the front of the house.

  “Caleb?”

  “Yep.” The man knew from the tone of the boy’s voice what was coming next. He held his breath.

  “How come you were in bed with my mama?”

  Caleb hunkered down on his haunches and met Kase’s honest, questioning eyes.

  “Do you remember when the minister came here last summer and your mama and I got married?”

  Kase nodded.

  “Well, that’s what married people do: They sleep in the same bed together and keep each other company.”

  “Do Jon and Sophie?”

  “Yep.”

  “Why?”

  “That’s just the way it is, son. Married folks sleep in the same bed.”

  Kase was silent again, thoughtfully sorting this new information.

  “Any more questions?” Caleb asked, silently imploring all of the gods that there were not.

  “What kind of a horse will I have?”


  Caleb released a pent-up sigh of relief. He stood and took the boy’s hand as they moved toward the door. “Just the right kind, Kase. I’ll pick out a special one just for you.”

  Analisa stared at the reflection in the long oval mirror in Sophie’s guest room. Surely this could not possibly be her, even though the image matched her every move. The round, luminous eyes fringed with golden lashes and the sun-kissed hair swept into a high-perched chignon were definitely hers, and yet the elegantly attired figure in soft rose-colored wool looked far too sophisticated to be Analisa Van Meeteren.

  She appraised herself with a critical eye and then remembered: She did not look like herself because she was no longer Analisa Van Meeteren. Mrs. Caleb Storm would definitely be a woman of quality, one who cut a fine figure indeed, for didn’t Caleb know the President of the United States personally? The thought did little to bolster her courage, but unwilling to be intimidated by her new status, Analisa straightened her shoulders, worked her kid gloves onto her hands, brushed a piece of lint from her jacket, and turned to inspect the bustle under her wool skirt. Gleaming leather boots hugged her feet and ankles, their buttons and loops fastened securely. At Sophie’s insistence she’d chosen a light gray pair, highly impractical and yet a fitting complement to the expensive dress Caleb had given her. She had purchased the bustle and a whalebone corset at Knapp’s Dry Goods in Pella. The two items were necessary to achieve the required fashionable figure beneath the stylish dress.

  The hat was sheer folly, but Sophie had insisted she buy it and had finally won out by using devious tactics. She’d told Caleb about the hat and about Analisa’s stubborn refusal to spend any more of his money on herself. Sophie had described the jaunty gray hat in such detail that a blind man could have found it at the millinery store. Caleb had purchased it almost immediately and had threatened to leave Analisa at the depot if she appeared without it.

  Analisa lifted the little gray confection carefully out of its box, brushed the peacock-blue feather with her gloved fingers, and carefully perched the hat on the coil of gleaming hair. The feather tilted and waved rakishly to one side, and she frowned back at the image in the mirror. The hat was just not right, she decided, and only served to make the regal figure in the mirror more frightening. She felt as if she were masquerading as someone else and was afraid of being found out. With trembling fingers she thrust a long, deadly-looking hat pin through the son gray felt and secured it to her hair. Caleb wanted her to wear it and so she would. Perhaps she would eventually forget it was up there.

  With a last look in the mirror and a bemused shrug, Analisa accepted her fate and quickly surveyed the room. None of her possessions remained; they had been taken downstairs with Caleb’s things. Jon and Sophie had insisted that the Storms stay with them for a few days before their departure. Gratefully, Analisa had accepted. A strong storm front had boiled across the plains, dumping inches of rain and hail on the prairie and turning the ground into a sea of mud.

  Analisa was thankful that she would no longer be forced to endure the spring rains in the soddie. Each year the rains came, soaking the yard, seeping through the sod-lined ceiling and into the dirt floor. Muddy water spattered and dripped unceasingly into the room. Pots and pans caught the biggest drips while oilcloths and rags, old canvas and newspaper protected the furniture. Life during the rainy season went on in a sea of mud, and Analisa was glad to be going far away from it.

  Sophie and Jon’s two-story house was made of wood. Set away from the center of town, on Liberty Street, the house represented a far different way of life than the one Analisa had known. Shops were located nearby, as were the neighbors Analisa had lived without. It reminded her of life in the old country—housewives walking to market in the morning, horses and buggies passing by, busy people leading active lives and keeping in touch with one another. Would Fort Sully be like this? she wondered. No one would know her there. Perhaps she would be able to join in the stream of life around her instead of existing far removed from everything.

  Analisa took one last look around the room, admiring the way the sunlight played upon the high polish of the floor and wondered if her new home at Fort Sully would be half as elegant. She doubted that she could adjust to living in such luxury, and then laughed at herself for worrying over something she could not foresee. With a shake of her head at the vision in the mirror, Analisa set the peacock feather bobbing. She groaned in exasperation, then turned and left the room without a backward glance.

  The sun, flooding in through lace-draped windows, warmed the cheery front parlor of the Aliens’ wood frame house. Caleb felt that the room welcomed visitors as he looked around for the last time. A large stone fireplace stood in the center of the far wall. Sophie’s eye for elegant but unpretentious detail was evident in the appointments she had chosen for the room. The walls were papered with a soft floral pattern of spring colors accented by a white wooden chair rail. Blue and white Delft pieces adorned the plate rack and the thick mantelpiece. Touches of lace and crocheted doilies softened the spider-legged tables, and a yellow-striped settee and matching wing chair near the tall windows beckoned visitors to sit in the sunlight.

  When Kase asked Jon to play him a song on the fiddle, Caleb noticed the sadness in the tall man’s eyes and realized how sorely the Aliens would miss Kase. As Jon quietly explained that there wasn’t time for him to play a tune, Caleb drew on the long chain of his watch, slipped the timepiece out of his vest pocket, and pressed the catch to release the lid. The gold watch had once belonged to his father and so held special memories for Caleb. One glance at the slender hands told him it was time to leave for the depot. Deftly he pressed the lid closed and returned the watch to his pocket, then went to the foot of the stairs to call to Analisa.

  The sound of her footsteps ringing on the wooden floor above him stopped his words. He waited silently for her appearance, then watched as she paused, tentative and unsure, on the landing. She was lovely, a vision of quiet sophistication and elegance, the deep rose of the gown reflected in the color that suffused her cheeks. She descended the stairs slowly, the toes of her gray kid shoes peeping from beneath the swaying wool hem. Her hands were encased in the soft smoke-colored gloves, and the jaunty feathered hat rode atop her flaxen hair. As she noticed him, her wide blue eyes sought his approval, but Caleb remained speechless until she reached the bottom step and stood facing him, her eyes level with his own.

  Finally he spoke, words whispered in Sioux, his first tongue, the language of his soul. The words faded away upon the air, and silence fell between them. He translated for her. “You are beautiful. You do me great honor.”

  He felt her eyes on his lips, his face. Leaning forward, Caleb warmly pressed his mouth against hers. It was a slow, unhurried kiss, a sharing of warmth, passion held on a tight rein because of their surroundings. The time had come to leave, to embark upon a new life, and both were aware of the need to pull apart. They did so, slowly, simultaneously, and with regret.

  Conscious once again of her appearance, Analisa reached up to see if the hat was secure.

  Caleb watched. A wide smile appeared on his face. “Sophie was right,” he agreed. “The hat’s perfect.”

  “With luck I will forget I am wearing it.” She rolled her eyes and blew at the feather.

  He extended his arm to her, elbow crooked, and she allowed him to lead her into the parlor where her friends waited to say farewell.

  Sophie called out, her voice high with nervous excitement, “You look wonderful, Anja! You’ll be the most glamorous woman at Fort Sully.”

  “I can already assure you of that,” Caleb broke in, “for I’ve met all the others, and not one of them compares with my Anja.” He bent to whisper against her ear, “At Fort Sully or anywhere else, for that matter.”

  Embarrassed by so much praise and attention, Analisa sought to convince them she remained unchanged by the fashionable trappings. “When they see the hands beneath these gloves, people will know for certain I am
no lady of quality. I have calluses that will last a lifetime.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that,” Jon said. “You’ve worked hard because you’ve had to.”

  Unsure how to respond, Analisa looked away and noticed Kase sitting alone and uncertain on the raised hearth. She realized she must look like a stranger to him. Gently withdrawing her hand from Caleb’s arm, she went to her son. His blue eyes stared up at her from beneath the straight fringe of blue-black hair, his face unsmiling and thoughtful. She reached for his hand, and when Kase stood, she drew him into a warm embrace.

  “You look very special in your new suit. You are the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.”

  “More than ... more handsome than Papa?”

  She nodded. A tender feeling warmed her whenever she heard the child call Caleb Papa. Analisa whispered her reply. “Yes, but don’t tell him that I said so.” She smiled a secret smile, and Kase bobbed his head, agreeing to keep the secret.

  “What are you two up to now?”

  Analisa turned to face Caleb, her son’s hand tightly enclosed by her gloved fingers.

  “Oh, just sharing a little secret is all. Is it time to go?”

  “I’m afraid so.” Caleb turned to Jon. “Why don’t we see to the carriage while Analisa and Sophie say good-bye?”

  “Go with Papa, Kase.” Analisa urged him forward.

  Analisa fought the tears threatening to spill from her eyes as Sophie held out two gifts. “These are for you.”

  Analisa took the gifts, one a small soft object wrapped in brown paper, the other a heavy muslin bag filled with shifting, heavy lumps. Analisa knew at a touch what that bag contained. “Bulbs?”

  “Yes.” Sophie nodded, her long curls bobbing about her shoulders. “Tulips for your new home. I know how much you love flowers, and I’m sure you’ll find something to plant there, but knowing how you Dutch love to take your tulips with you, I got these for you. Some of each color.”