Broken Promise

by Theresa Scott

  He frowned. "I wonder why they chose you.

  It seems odd that they would steal a pregnant woman."

  "They did it because they were still angry at you," she answered. "I overheard them talking. Tula told them to come and steal me."

  "Tula!"

  "She told them back at the Jaguar camp."

  He nodded. "I saw them at Claw's cave."

  "They were interested in trading me to the Fish Eaters because Hooknose wanted revenge on you. Said you'd stolen two children from him. My capture was supposed to be his revenge."

  Falcon raised an eyebrow. "It is true I took Milky and Berry back."

  "Yes, well, they did not like that."

  "Hooknose has a long memory."

  "It would seem so. As does Tula."

  "Tula cannot hurt you now," said Falcon. He looked into her beautiful brown eyes. "How I have missed you." He sighed.

  She turned away at his softly spoken words.

  "I must go back to my people."

  "Wait! Do not go yet."

  She whirled to face him. "What is it you want, Falcon? What strange thing is this that you do? You tell me you do not want me for your wife. You bring me back to my people and leave me. Then you come back, looking for me. What is it you are doing?"

  "I want you for my wife," he stated simply. "I was wrong to bring you back. I deeply regret it." He reached for her hands. "Star, come with me. Be my wife. We will raise our child together."

  She pulled her hands out of his grasp and turned her head away. He found himself staring at her long black hair.

  "I cannot," she said. "I am too confused."

  "What is it that confuses you?"

  He did not hear her answer, because suddenly he was jerked by the throat and thrown to the ground.

  Star's intended Badger husband, knife in hand, loomed over him. "You thought to steal her, Jaguar? Think again! I am here to defend her."

  "No, Camel Stalker! He did not steal me!" cried Star.

  "How is it that he is here then?" cried Camel Stalker, eyeing Falcon. "Get up," he snarled at Falcon. "Get up and fight. I will kill you and be rid of you for good!"

  "No! Please, Camel Stalker, no!"

  But Camel Stalker did not hear her. Falcon scrambled to his feet. Over by the water, out of reach, lay his spear. He grabbed for the obsidian knife he always kept at his side. Gone! It must have been lost in the fight with Red Jaw.

  It was to be his bare hands against Camel Stalker's knife then. He leapt at Camel Stalker. The man swiped once and Falcon came away with a cut along the flesh of his ribs. He heard Star's shriek but he ignored her. Every part of him concentrated on the deadly man in front of him.

  Camel Stalker lifted his knife and came at Falcon. Falcon tried to push him away, but the Badger man managed another long cut, this time on Falcon's side. Falcon winced at the pain. He grabbed the knife and yanked it out of Camel

  Stalker's hand and flung it. He heard it splash in the river.

  "Now we are evenly matched," gasped Falcon.

  With a cry, Camel Stalker lunged at him, his hands grasping for Falcon's throat. The two went down on the gravel.

  "Stop it!" screamed Star. "Stop it!"

  The two men fought on, each struggling for a death grip on the other's throat.

  Finally Falcon rolled on top of Camel Stalker. He sat on the man's chest and Camel Stalker's struggles were now too weak to dislodge Falcon. Falcon's two hands encircled Camel Stalker's throat.

  "No!" cried Star.

  Panting, Falcon glared down into Camel Stalker's eyes. "I do not want to kill you," he gasped. "But I will if you attack me again! Do you understand?"

  Camel Stalker glared at him. "Kill me and be done with it, Jaguar!"

  "No!" Star cried again.

  Falcon stiffened. Something sharp poked him in the back. If he did not know better, he would think it was his own spear.

  "Get up," hissed Star. "I will not have you killing him!"

  When Falcon did not move, she pressed the weapon against him againharder. Sweat broke out on his brow.

  "Star," he said carefully. "Put the spear down."

  "Not until you get off him!" He did not like the trembling in her voice. A frightened woman could do anything with a spear.

  "Put it down, Star," he warned again. "I will get off him."

  Below him, Camel Stalker was making a choking sound. Falcon glared at him. If he did not know any better, he would have thought Camel Stalker was laughing at him!

  Slowly, carefully, he rose from his opponent's chest. The sharp spear was no longer at his back. Camel Stalker rose just as carefully, then scrambled out of Star's way.

  "You two!" yelled Star. "Now look what you have done! You have brought on the baby!"

  Chapter Fifty-seven

  ''It is going to be a girl," said Falcon, sitting calmly beside Star and holding her hand. Down by the river, Camel Stalker pushed Red Jaw's body farther out into the current, where it drifted swiftly downstream. When they could no longer see the body, he paced the riverbank.

  "A boy," she panted. "It is going to be a boy!"

  "You will see." After watching Camel Stalker pace for a time, Falcon suggested, "We should send Camel Stalker back to fetch your mother."

  "Yes," grunted Star. "Do that."

  After Camel Stalker disappeared around the bend of the river, Falcon leaned over and asked, "Are you thirsty?"

  Star shook her head.

  There was silence between them except for Star's heavy panting whenever the pains became strong.

  "Did you stay with Tula while she gave birth?" asked Star when a quiet time came for her.

  "No. Tula's mother and sister helped her. Among my people, men do not help with the birth."

  "Among my people, they help," Star bit out.

  Indeed, he was glad that Star did not know what courage it was taking for him to sit here and hold her hand. When the baby came, they would face it together. Because of his vision, he knew that whatever their daughter looked like physically, she had a beautiful, mischievous spirit.

  Star gave a groan. "I wish my mother had told me more about giving birth," she moaned.

  "You will do fine," Falcon lied.

  Blue Jay and Camel Stalker arrived and with them came three other women, including Chokecherry, who was herself pregnant. Falcon marveled that she would want to see the ordeal that lay ahead of her.

  Blue Jay pushed Falcon out of the way. "I will help her now," she said imperiously. "She does not need you."

  "He saved me, Mother," gasped Star, "from the Slave Catchers."

  "It is true?" Blue Jay looked as though she did not believe her daughter.

  Falcon nodded.

  Blue Jay snorted her disbelief.

  "It is true," said Camel Stalker heavily.

  Falcon glanced at him in surprise.

  Camel Stalker nodded stiffly, then turned away.

  "Hmph," snorted Blue Jay and propped a fur under her daughter's head. She and the other women spread bulrush mats around the laboring woman.

  "Thank you," Blue Jay muttered out of the side of her mouth at Falcon. Then she ignored him.

  The other women gathered wood for a fire. Chokecherry carried a burning brand and touched the tip of it to the wood. Tiny flames sprang up.

  It was clear to Falcon that he was not needed with so many women to help, so he went to sit near the thicket where he had been hidden when the Slave Catchers arrived. He was trembling inside, but he did not think that Star had sensed it.

  Please, Great Spirit, help her through the birth, he found himself praying. Help her and our child, too. Since his vision, it felt right to pray to the Great Spirit.

  He could hear Star straining, and her low, guttural groans struck fear in his heart for her. Finally, he could stand it no longer. She had said that Badger men helped their women through childbirth; he could do the same. Anything was better than sitting by the thicket and imagining the worst.

  He walked
over and squatted down beside a sweating, straining Star.

  "What do you want?" muttered Blue Jay.

  "To sit with her."

  "Go away," Blue Jay answered.

  He rose.

  "Mother! He stays!"

  Falcon sat down and Star gripped his hand so tightly that her nails dug into his flesh.

  Blue Jay's lips tightened, but she said nothing.

  They sat like that, Blue Jay on one side, Falcon on the other, each holding one of Star's hands.

  After some time, Falcon started to rise. He had to empty his bladder. "Do not go!" cried Star and yanked him back down.

  "I will stay," he answered. "I will stay forever if you want me to." He sat back down, stolidly ignoring his bodily call and her frowning mother.

  Star gazed at him, her brown eyes puzzled; then she closed her eyes, groaned, and her whole body shook.

  "The babe comes soon," cried Star.

  Blue Jay glanced at Falcon. "Will you help?"

  He read the direct challenge in her gaze.

  "Will you stay and help my daughter or will you run, Jaguar man?"

  "I will stay," Falcon answered, his voice steady. "I was wrong to cast her aside. I was afraidI"

  "The babe comes!" Star moved into a squatting position. She gave a huge grunt and her grip on Falcon was so strong that he winced.

  "Ohhhhhhh!" she groaned.

  "Help her," muttered Blue Jay.

  Falcon propped Star up until she was squatting over the rush mats.

  "Hold her," Blue Jay ordered Falcon, "from the front."

  Chokecherry took his place propping Star's back, and Falcon went around and kneeled down in front of Star. He leaned back on his heels so that she could brace herself with her hands on his shoulders.

  "Aaaarghhh," groaned Star.

  Falcon wanted to get up and flee but Star's weight on his shoulders pressed him in place.

  "The baby is coming," instructed Blue Jay, "on the next wave of pain."

  Star gave a guttural cry.

  Falcon held one of her clenched fists. "You are doing well," he crooned. Another lie. If she survived this birth he would crawl back to the Badger camp on his knees until his flesh was bloody in tribute to the Great Spirit. He would!

  "The babe comes!" cried Star.

  The other women ran over to see. "He comes!" cried Chokecherry.

  "I see his head!" announced Blue Jay.

  Falcon did not dare look down to see what was happening. He stared into Star's beautiful face, her head thrown back, her breath coming in quick pants, her naked breasts slick with sweat. "I love you," he whispered.

  She opened her eyes but she did not see him.

  "Ahrrrrrrgh," she groaned.

  "You are doing very well," he encouraged. Perhaps he did not lie after all. The women acted as if this were an accepted way to birth a child. Was it?

  "The babe is here," cried a jubilant Blue Jay.

  "Oh!" cried Chokecherry.

  Falcon held Star, his arms supporting her. He held her until Blue Jay could pull the child out from under her.

  "A knife, a knife!" cried Blue Jay. "I need a knife to cut the cord!"

  The women fluttered about. Falcon handed his obsidian knife to her.

  Blue Jay's dark eyes met his. "Thank you," she said, and he thought she was doing more than thanking him for the knife.

  Star lay back down on the mats and held out her arms. Blue Jay put the long, thin baby into them. "My babe," Star muttered, exhausted. She beamed at the child. Falcon brushed Star's hair back from her wet forehead.

  "It is a girl," she said in surprise.

  Falcon took a breath, willing himself not to turn from the twisted body. Willing himself to smile upon the sickly features. He would do it. For Star. And he would stand by Star until her death. Or for as long as she would let him.

  He looked at the child. Her face was small, her eyes closed. At that moment she opened them and he gazed into clear brown eyes. He jerked back, startled. Her face lookedlooked

  His eyes flew along her body. Strong little legs kicked and jerked. Little fists shook in the air. She was strong. She was healthy!

  He gasped. His babe was born whole and healthy! He stared at Star, stared at the babe. His child, his daughter, alive, strong ...

  He covered his face with his hands and he wept.

  Chapter Fifty-eight

  Night had fallen but Star could easily see her babe by the fire's cheerful light. Star smiled as the baby nursed at her breast. "She knows what she wants," murmured Star proudly. "See how she seeks the nipple? She knows she must do that to survive."

  Falcon sat beside her and watched the babe, but he said nothing.

  Happiness coursed through Star. She was so happy her beautiful babe was born at last. Ah, but her life was good.

  She admired her child for a long while, then glanced at Falcon. Knowing how he never liked to talk about anything important, she nevertheless had something to ask him. And though she now risked losing her newfound calmness, she must know the answer, for her sake and for her beautiful daughter's. "Tell me, Falcon, why did you return?"

  His dark gaze held hers. "To see you."

  "You have seen me. Are you going to leave?"

  "No."

  She frowned, surprised. "I remember, during the birth, that you said you would stay with me forever. What did you mean?" She held her breath.

  "I meant it. I will stay with you as long as you want me to."

  She lifted a brow. "That is very different from what you told me before. When you brought me back to my people."

  She heard the accusing note in her own voice. At any moment he would get up and say he had to leave or go hunting. She braced herself.

  He shook his head slowly. "I was a fool."

  She stared at him in surprise. "Falcon?"

  "Yes?"

  "What has happened to you?"

  Around them, the women waded in the water or gathered wood. Chokecherry and Blue Jay laughed beside the water. Camel Stalker sharpened a knife blade. Falcon leaned closer to Star. "After you told me you were pregnant, I greatly feared that you would give birth to a sickly child."

  "And if I had?"

  "That is why I came back. To help you with a sickly child."

  "She does not look sick," observed Star, eyeing the baby asleep at her breast. "She looks healthy."

  "She does." There was something in his voice she did not understand. His scar was white against his cheek.

  "II thought that it would be like it was with Tula," he added. "A long, difficult birth, a sickly child who would later die, and then I thought you would turn against me."

  She frowned. "Like Tula?"

  "Yes." He stared at the river.

  "But why would I do that?"

  He shrugged. "I thought you would."

  She thought about that. "I am not like Tula," she said at last.

  He laughed. "No, you are not." He appeared cheerful at the thought. "That is what Betafor told me, too."

  "Betafor?"

  He smiled ruefully. "She told me much to think upon." Then he grew solemn again. "I thought you would stop loving me if our child died. I could not bear to see your love turn to hatred, too."

  "So you sent me away."

  He nodded and sighed. "I thought I could not face such pain again. It was very difficult for me, Star."

  "It was very difficult for me, too," she whispered. She remembered the nights she had cried herself to sleep. The days she had hoped for a glimpse of him. She glanced away, unwilling to let him see her tears.

  He reached for her chin and gently turned her face back to him. "I love you, Star," he murmured, kissing each tear that rolled down her cheeks. "I want to be a good husband to you, and a good father to our child."

  She closed her eyes. How she had longed to hear those words from him. Did she dare trust him?

  "You said you did not want to face such pain again, and yet you came and sought me out at the Badger camp.
What changed you?"

  He shrugged and was silent for a time. "I realized finally that I loved you and wanted to be with you. If it meant helping you with our sickly child, so be it. I came to help."

  She smiled sadly. "It is not like you to talk like this," she admitted. "I am surprised you have not jumped up to go hunting."

  He laughed. So did she.

  She kissed the top of her sleeping daughter's little head. "If we become husband and wife again, there may be more children, Falcon. Will you run each time I am pregnant?"

  "I hope not." He laughed, but ceased when he saw her watching him.

  "I could not bear it, Falcon." Tears blurred her sight of him.

  "Ah, Star," he murmured. "Do not cry, dear one." He kissed her lips softly. When he drew back, he said, "I have had much to think upon, these last seasons without you. It was my grief at losing my son and then losing Tula that made me so unreasoning. I thought my life was over.

  "And then you, a mud-covered, long-legged heron, came into my life. I could not believe that you could love me. Or that I could love you. I did not think I deserved such happiness." He shook his head. "I did not even recognize your love in our home."

  "And now you do?"

  He sighed. ''It took a long time, but now I do."

  She thought about his words. A feeling of hope stirred in her heart.

  "Dodo you still love me, Star?"

  "Yes," she whispered.

  "And I love you. Let us start anew in our lives," he urged, taking her hands in his. "Let us face our problems together. We can talk about them. Together, we can overcome our fear and anything that awaits us."

  "Falcon, I hardly know you," she marveled. "Is that you saying we can talk?"

  He looked sheepish for a moment. "Perhaps I should go hunting now," he said and started to rise.

  "Falcon, do not!" she cried and tried to sit up. The baby on her breast squirmed and woke up and started rooting for the nipple.

  Falcon laughed and plopped himself back down beside her. "I will stay, Star. I did but joke."

  "Come here, Jaguar man," she said and pulled his head toward her. She gave him a long kiss. "I love you, but you put me through much agony."

  "Can you find it in your heart to trust me again, Star?"