The Bride Wore Feathers

by Sharon Ihle

  Jacob brought the tin cup to his mouth and took a sip of coffee. Groaning at the bitter taste, he said, "The professor told us it was medicine. Other soldiers were at his show. They will tell you that I am speaking the truth."

  Barney slammed his fist into his open palm. "And stop talking like that. You sound like a dam Indian."

  Jacob lifted his head and tried to shoot the lieutenant down with a fiery gaze, but a stabbing pain behind his right eye rendered him unarmed. His head drooped down toward the table again as he tried not to think about the awful taste in his mouth.

  "Sorry," Barney mumbled. "I don't mean to add to your considerable troubles by insulting you, but I'm kinda worried about my own hide. If Mrs. Custer gets wind of this and tells the general, we'll all be court-martialed."

  "And would that bring us trouble?"

  Barney's laugh was bitter as he explained, "I suppose that depends on your point of view. Me, I plan to stay in this man's army until I retire. That means I want leave the cavalry when it's my idea, not theirs. You got no stake just yet. I suppose there's lots worse things that could happen to you than getting thrown out of the army."

  "No. That cannot happen." Jacob struggled to his feet and lurched forward. Using the table for support, he said, "Please tell me what I have to do to make everything all right. Who can help me?"

  "Now, take it easy, Private. Sit a spell. You're looking a little pasty-faced."

  "But I must remain a soldier in Custer's army. Please tell me who can help me. What should I do?"

  "Jacob, take it easy." Alarmed, Barney circled the table and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "I didn't know a career in the cavalry meant so much to you. The situation's probably not as bad as I thought. Hazel's pretty good with words. I think we can assume she's been able to convince Libbie that Dominique was just a little sick."

  "I cannot assume anything. I have to go to her and make certain all is well."

  Barney laughed. "That's real brave of you, soldier, but you can't just go waltzing up to the Custer house and expect to be welcomed."

  "I think I am welcome." He reached into his pocket and handed the note to Barney.

  Even though the invitation was issued nearly two weeks ago, it was undated, as Jacob hoped. "Well, I'll be damned if you ain't welcome," Barney said as he read the delicate script. He scratched his head and returned the note. "I'd give my left arm for an invite to that house, and they go and ask you instead, a private, for heaven's sake."

  "I am sorry, Barney, but I must go."

  "Hell, you got no need for apologies unless that girl wrote the invitation when she was drunk. That it? Better tell the truth, Private."

  "No, no. Miss DuBois gave it to me before we left for town."

  "Then go on, get on out of here before you insult them by being late." As Jacob smoothed his hair and reached for his hat, Barney added a footnote. "Be sure to give my regards to Mrs. Swenson if she's there, hear?"

  "I will." After popping a peppermint ball into his mouth, Jacob ambled out of the barracks. He slowly made his way past the officer's quarters, preparing and discarding speech after speech, then labored up the white steps to the Custer home. He stared at the glass panels surrounding the door for a long moment before he was able to bring himself to knock.

  * * *

  Upstairs, Hazel offered a steaming bowl of lentil soup to Dominique.

  "Ugh, no." Turning her head, she tried to wave her chaperon off, but Hazel was insistent.

  "Now, you listen to me, young lady. If you weren't past twenty-one years of age, I'd turn you over my knee and spank you. Now sit up and eat before your Aunt Libbie gets back from Major Kennedy's and guesses the state you're in."

  "But, Hazel, I can't," she groaned. "It will make me sicker than I already am."

  "Humph. You should have thought of that before you decided to swill a whole bottle of the devil's own brew."

  With a low moan, Dominique collapsed against the pillows on her bed. "That's not fair. I didn't know what it was. I thought it would ease my miseries." And it had for a while. Now her cramps were back, stronger than ever, second only to the roaring pain thundering against her temples. "Please, Hazel. Just let me go to sleep. Tell Aunt Libbie that I took sun-sick like you told everyone else. Please?"

  "I shouldn't let you off the hook so easily. What I ought to do—" A couple of sharp raps against the door cut into her thoughts. "I'll bet that's your aunt now. What shall I tell her?" Hazel slid off the bed and hurried to the door. When she opened it, Mary stared back at her.

  "Scuse me, miz, but they's a soldier wanting to see Miss Nikki. Says it be mighty important."

  "Oh? Did he leave his name?"

  "Stoltz. Private Stoltz."

  "Jacob's here?" Dominique bolted off the bed and stumbled over to the looking glass. "Tell him I'll be right down, Mary. Oh, dear Lord, I look a fright. Hazel, quick, help me with my hair."

  With one raised eyebrow, Hazel nodded to Mary. "Tell the private I'll be down in a moment." Then she closed the door and stalked over to the dresser. "You can't seriously be thinking of entertaining the swine who got you in your cups this afternoon."

  "Hazel, please. Fix the back of my hair." She pinched her cheeks, then gave each one a hard slap. "And kindly stop saying that. Jacob didn't mean to get me drunk. He thought the elixir was medicine, too."

  "Of course he did, my dear." Hazel blew a long low whistle as she finished knotting Dominique's hair. "Boy, do you have a lot to learn about men."

  Some of Dominique's sparkle returned as she winked at Hazel's reflection. "You're right, of course, but how do you expect me to finish my education while standing in here with you? Shouldn't I be downstairs—with one of them? " She twirled, brushing a few lingering bits of straw off her blue gingham dress, and started for the door.

  "Not so fast, missy." One step behind her, Hazel went over the rules. "First off, it's highly improper of you even to see a fellow who doesn't have an invitation to visit you. Second, you will not be seeing him alone. I shall accompany you."

  Dominique stopped in her tracks and spun around. "It's not as if I'm some young schoolgirl, you know. I think I can manage the private all by myself."

  "As you did this afternoon in the back of the wagon?"

  Dominique pursed her lips. "I told you that was an accident. Why won't you listen to me?"

  "Oh, all right. I'll compromise. I'll greet him with you, and then I'll disappear into the drawing room to work on my crocheting. Just be warned—if it gets too quiet out in the parlor, I shall have to return."

  Dominique rolled her big brown eyes.

  "Take it or leave it, girl," Hazel said firmly.

  "I'll take it."

  Raising the hem of her skirt, Dominique made her way down the long curving stairway, then carefully strolled into the parlor. "You wish to see me?" she said to her guest as she entered the room.

  Jacob nearly dropped the carved ivory elephant he held. Replacing the statue on a small occasional table, he faced the women. "Yes. I came to see if you were well."

  "No thanks to you, Private." Hazel advanced on him, but stopped her progress at a scathing glance from Dominique. Backtracking, she excused herself. "I'll just be in the other room. I trust your visit will be brief, Private. Miss DuBois needs her rest."

  "I will not stay long." As soon as Hazel was out of sight, Jacob studied Dominique for signs of ill effects. Other than a general appearance of fatigue, she looked as beautiful as ever. With a sheepish grin, he said, "Your friend sounds as if she is quite angry with me."

  "Don't worry about it, Jacob. She's none too pleased with me, either."

  "Are you well?" he asked softly, concern reflected in his sea-blue eyes.

  "As well as can be expected, I suppose. I have a dreadful headache and feel as if I may be sick at any moment. How about you?"

  "I have definitely felt better," he said with a quiet laugh. "Perhaps what we need is a shot of Professor Harrington's elixir."

  "Oh,
Jacob, I don't think so." Swaying against him, Dominique brought her hand to her mouth in an effort to stifle her laughter. She caught her breath and whispered, "I was afraid you might be mad at me for getting so silly after I drank that awful stuff."

  With a quick glance over his shoulder, Jacob satisfied his sense of privacy. Then, in a bold move, he cupped her face between his hands, forcing her to look into his eyes.

  "I am to blame for any harm caused to you this afternoon. It is I who begs your forgiveness."

  He was so close she could feel the warmth from his breath, catch the faint scent of peppermint it carried. Again she swayed, but it had nothing to do with illness or potions, the miseries or a sense of propriety. It had everything to do with Jacob, the man. "Please don't say that. You've done nothing to forgive. You tried to keep me from taking too much of the potion, and even after it was too late, I know how difficult it must have been for you to handle me."

  Her words were almost too much for him. If only she knew how badly he longed to handle her, to touch her. If they were back in his lodge in the camp of his father, it would have been a simple thing. Dominique would have been his by now. She would share his tipi, his life. This he knew, this he believed without a doubt. Thinking not of their uncertain future, but only of the moment, Jacob raised his fingers to her brow and brushed a lock of golden- red hair aside. "You were no problem," he said in a throaty whisper.

  But she knew she had been. Ever since her return to the house, vague, disturbing glimpses of her adventures in town had been popping out of the shadows in her mind. She remembered the potion, Jacob's warnings, Jacob's dark blue eyes, the way he smiled down at her with playful desire as he tried to comfort her in the wagon. She'd guessed it was desire because she felt the same thing, wondered if those feelings were there because of, or in spite of, the elixir. She remembered wanting to kiss him, had an idea she might even have asked him if he would do her the honor. Dominique's cheeks grew fiery at the thought. Had she verbalized her desires?

  "Oh, Jacob, I'm afraid I said some terrible things to you, asked you to do some things a lady would never—"

  "You are wondering if you asked me to kiss you?" He smiled, allowing one hand to fall down from her shoulder to her waist. "Yes, you did. But I also know the medicine made you say the words without your permission. Do not feel ashamed."

  Dominique blushed. "I don't feel shame, Jacob. I feel embarrassed because I asked you to do such a thing, because with or without the medicine, my lips had my permission. Because," she added, looking up at him with languid eyes, "it's something I've been wanting to do for a long time. If I feel anything, I feel cheated because it didn't happen."

  His breath caught as his heart thundered against his throat. "This is the way you feel now?"

  "Now more than ever," she said, leaving her lips moist and slightly parted.

  And because he was only a man at that moment, neither Sioux nor soldier, savior nor avenger, Jacob accepted her invitation without another thought. His arm tightened around her waist and he drew her against the length of his body in one swift movement. Then he claimed her mouth with his.

  Startled at first by the near violence of his kiss, the force with which he came to her, Dominique went limp and compliant under the onslaught of his kisses. Then passion—honest and heady, a genuine sensation, no longer just a word in a forbidden book—welled up inside her. A new awareness lapped at her senses, roused in her a curiosity and an enormous need, enticed her with a siren's wail from deep within. Her hands moved of their own accord, explored the ridges of his muscular shoulders, followed the hard valley of his spine, and massaged the softer flesh protecting his ribs.

  Then suddenly, as abruptly as he'd come to her, Jacob tore his mouth from hers and backed away. "Someone is coming," he said, his voice thick with desire.

  As she reeled in the strange new world of passion, Dominique's lashes fluttered and she wobbled when she tried to make her way to the rocking chair.

  Reaching out to steady her, Jacob gripped her arm until he heard the front door open, then slam. He released her and stepped back into the shadows just as Elizabeth Custer passed under the high archway.

  "Nikki," she greeted. "How was your trip to town?"

  Dominique remained standing, even though she'd reached the rocker, and worked at catching her breath. "Fine, Aunt Libbie. Private Stoltz"—she gestured toward the corner—"was good enough to show me around the city."

  Libbie spun on her heel, surprised to learn she and her niece were not alone. "Oh, Private—I didn't realize Nikki had company." She looked back to Dominique, one eyebrow raised, and asked, "Does the private have some special army business here?"

  "Not exactly." Dominique picked at a hangnail, struggling to find one of her usually quick retorts, and finally said, "Private Stoltz just stopped by to inquire about my health. I took sick on the ride back home today."

  "Oh, Nikki. Why wasn't I informed? I was only two doors down." She rushed to her niece's side and promptly pressed her palm against Dominique's brow. "You do seem a bit warm." Leaning back, she took in her niece's appearance. "Oh, and look at that high color. Why, you're positively flushed, girl. You should be in bed."

  Not even trying to control her reaction to Libbie's observations, Dominique exchanged glances with Jacob, then lowered her head to hide her sudden grin. "I'll be all right, Aunt Libbie. I was just in the sun too long."

  "Well, whatever the cause, you should be upstairs resting. Now run along."

  This time Dominique bit back the impulse to argue, knowing that to push any more tonight would only rouse suspicion. She exhaled loudly and nodded. "I think you're right. Thanks again for the lovely afternoon, Private. Maybe we can do it again some other time."

  "I would be honored, Miss DuBois."

  Dominique curtsied, whirled around, and took one dramatic step toward the hallway before she stopped. "Oh, Aunt Libbie. There is one other thing. Private Stoltz is the soldier I invited to join us a few days past. It seems his invitation was destroyed before he ever had a chance to read it. Do you suppose it would be all right to extend him the same courtesy, oh, say... Friday afternoon?"

  "Oh, well, Nikki... I don't know."

  "It would be such a wonderful gesture. He was so helpful when I was ill this afternoon and all. I don't see how we can let him go unrewarded."

  "Well, in that case ..." Libbie faced the private. "Would you care to join us around four o'clock on Friday afternoon for tea and cakes, Private? We usually sing some songs or play cards."

  Jacob's smile was broad, directed not at Libbie, but beyond her to the vision of cunning beauty in the doorway. "I would be honored. Thank you. I wonder if I might ask Lieutenant Woodhouse to come, too. He helped to care for Dominique this afternoon."

  "Lieutenant Woodhouse?" Again Libbie looked toward her niece. "Isn't he Hazel's new friend?"

  Grinning, she said, "Why, yes, I believe he is." From the other room, Dominique was sure she heard a small gasp. She continued, "Barney Woodhouse is quite some gentleman too. I think you ought to get to know him better, Aunt Libbie. He's a good one to have around."

  "Hummm." Libbie turned back to Jacob. "Very well, then. Go ahead and extend the invitation to the lieutenant as well."

  "Thank you, ma'am, but I have one more request."

  "I'm sorry, Private, but I cannot invite any more strangers into the general's home in his absence."

  "It is nothing like that. I would ask that your invitation be in writing. Some of the soldiers play jokes on each other and I do not want Barney to think this is what I am doing to him."

  "Oh." Libbie shrugged and crossed over to her small marble-inlaid desk. She pulled a slip of her personal stationery from the drawer, scribbled a few lines on it, then folded the paper and handed it to the private. "There. That should convince him of the authenticity of my invitation. Until Friday afternoon, Private."

  "Thanks, ma'am."

  Her duty finished as she saw it, Libbie nodded and glided over
to Dominique's side. "Now, then, let's get you upstairs."

  "Good afternoon," Dominique called to Jacob as she and Libbie passed under the archway.

  "Afternoon, ladies," he replied, hat in hand. After the two women left the room, Jacob followed along behind them, turning left in the direction of the front door as they headed right toward the stairs. When he reached the threshold, he stopped when he heard Libbie's excited voice cry out.

  "Oh, Nikki. I almost forgot. I have just the thing to perk you up. One of the major's men was in town today, and he bought a few bottles of a brand-new cure-all. Why, I'll bet all you need to feel better is a dose of Professor Harrington's Nature Cure and Worm Syrup."

  Chapter 9

  On Friday, once again wearing the white gauze dress with the grass-green satin trimming, Dominique twirled before her full-length looking glass. She leaned forward, tugging at the fabric and encouraging her breasts to swell out over the square-cut neckline, then straightened. After spinning from one side to the other, she gave her reflection a nod of approval and strolled over to her bedroom window.

  Through the large gabled window frame, her gaze swept the commanding view of Fort Abraham Lincoln and its Missouri River backdrop. Beyond the cottonwood trees lining the banks lay the wild, untamed Dakota Territory and the Indians fighting so mightily to keep this land as their own. Her thoughts, as they seemed to do more and more, reverted to the night she had spent in the Lakota camp—to the savage Dominique had come to think of as Jacob's brother—the man whose kisses had fueled the fire Jacob had ignited so well in the parlor.

  Tonight she would inform him of his mother's fate. She would make it her duty to let him know of the existence of the man who carried his blood in his veins. Again Dominique thought of that man, of the savage whose naked body had warmed, then returned life, to her frozen limbs. His voice, the husky laugh that was so like Jacob's, stirred her memory, her heart. She couldn't let another day go by, allow another shared intimacy to pass, without telling Jacob about the man called Redfoot.