Broken Wings

by Sandra Edwards

  The children in the tribe also loved the new pairing. Not only did they have Tajan, who played with them, but now they had Maggie, too.

  Maggie and Tajan’s days were filled with joy and pleasure as they enjoyed a carefree lifestyle right alongside the children. They too were prone to play together like children, rather than act like married adults. Well, maybe teenagers anyway. It never took long for their playful antics to lead from one thing to another. When that happened, one of them always initiated a game of hide and seek with the children, which is how the couple always made their escape. Disguised as an effort to find a hiding place, the couple would run off and disappear, vanishing high up into the hills where the children were never allowed to follow.

  Even though the children never attempted to go after them, Maggie and Tajan continued on with their game of hide and seek as if nothing had changed. He could read her like a book, always knowing where to find her when they disappeared.

  Once he got her in his sights, he’d call after her playfully. “I will get you, girl!”

  Maggie would duck behind a tree, catching her breath. She could always sense when he was getting close to her again. She’d dart out like a flash and run off. Every time Tajan got near her, she’d scream with joyful delight that would filter through the forest.

  Upon occasion, their escapades found them on the shores of Lake Tahoe. By this time he’d undoubtedly caught up with her. She’d try to lead him back into the trees once she saw where they were, but he’d catch her, pulling her back toward the lake.

  The couple’s laughter filled the air with fun. Maggie somehow resisted his capture, running away. Tajan continued his pursuit playfully. He picked her up and carried her back toward the water, laughing lightheartedly while Maggie giggled and screamed all at the same time. Approaching the water’s edge she clung to him, as if this was the time he’d toss her in. Of course, he never did. Planting her feet in a couple inches of water was the extent of his reprisal.

  By then, it was almost time. They’d head for their special place, now known as Vista Point. By the time they’d get there Maggie had more often than not caught her second wind. Her constant jumping around and climbing over the boulders made Tajan nervous. The more she messed around, the more uncomfortable he became with her reckless abandon. Eventually, she’d get to the point of carelessness.

  Tajan motioned for her to come down, but she’d mock him with playful gestures. Sometimes, she slipped and fell into his arms. The magnetic power between the them was too much for either of them to overcome, and they ended up kissing. Their mutual attraction drew them into their own private world, derived in passion.

  On this day, Maggie’s conscious got the better of her. It seemed that after making love with Tajan she was always at her weakest. It was then that she was the most vulnerable.

  She lay on her side with her back to him. He propped himself up on his elbow and glanced down at her.

  With a tender, soft touch he caressed her hair back out of her face. “What is wrong?”

  She turned over and faced him. “I married you under false pretenses.”

  “What do you mean?” A frown wrinkled his brow. “Is there another in your white world?” his tone sharpened. “You left that world behind when I found you. Your world is with me now.”

  She shook her head. “There’s no one else. There could never be anyone else.” She touched his face, running her fingers along his strong jaw line. “And you’re right...my world is with you now.”

  “Then why are you so sad?” he asked in a much calmer tone.

  She hesitated, summoning the courage to tell on herself. “I have to tell you who I am…or was.” She looked away, wanting to hide her humiliation. For the first time she was ashamed of who she was. “My sisters and I—” She looked back at him. “—we robbed banks. That’s how I got shot. And that’s why I had all that money with me when you found me.”

  “Did the money bring you happiness?” he asked much too casually for what he’d just heard.

  She thought about it, before saying, “I thought it did.”

  “And now?”

  “Well…now I realize,” she said, “I was wrong.”

  “The white man’s money has no value here.” His tone was calm, but firm. “But you must never do it again.”

  “I won’t.” She sighed and drew him into her arms. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

  “I do not care that you stole from the white man,” he said. “But you have a new family now and you must never steal from any of them.”

  “I love these people,” she said, almost hurt. “I would never do anything to harm any of them.”

  Guilt washed over Tajan and he felt bad for saying it. He knew she’d probably done some bad things in her white world. And now that she’d admitted stealing from her own people he had to be certain she was clear—she could never do it again. He knew he’d offended her and he couldn’t leave the rift between them.

  “You are a liar,” he said in firm, yet playful tone.

  “What?” Fire practically shot out from her eyes.

  “You must have been a very good thief... where you came from,” he said, and lay back down.

  “Why would you say that?” she didn’t know whether to be mad, or scared.

  “When you came to us you started with my heart, and did not stop until you stole everyone else’s.” He laughed, pulling her on top of him. “You stole my heart.” He kissed her with lips that were more persuasive than she cared to admit. “Don’t try to deny it.”

  “Oh, yeah…” Laughter carried her words on the air. “Is that all I’ve managed to get away with? That’s not all I was after.”

  ~~~~

  CHAPTER 17

  Maggie could have easily remained with Tajan and his people, sharing and living out the rest of their lives blissfully happy. That is, if the outside world hadn’t come crashing back down around them. When it did, neither of them expected it. Therefore, neither of them was ready for it.

  They’d been out most of the day. And now, as they headed back to camp they laughed and talked, enthralled in each other. Tajan was carrying a batch of trout he’d caught. Maggie had a basket of wild berries and edible roots and bulbs that she’d gathered while Tajan was fishing.

  “I want to give your mom some of the pine nuts I found,” she said. The elders’ circle in the middle of the campsite dragged her attention away from Tajan. She scanned the circle, more out of curiosity than anything else, since she knew it had to be a pretty special occasion for it to happen without notice. An important visitor, perhaps?

  The last person she expected to see was her grandfather Bradford Fuller.

  Maggie froze. Her basket of goods fell to the ground.

  Tajan glanced back and forth between Maggie and the tribal council. He zeroed in on the older white man sitting amongst his people and recognized him instantly.

  Bradford Fuller was a frequent and welcomed visitor among the Washoe. He was in the habit of traveling up three or four times a year to visit and trade with the tribe.

  Maggie’s reaction to the familiar guest twisted Tajan’s nerves around his gut. He turned to her. “Do you know him?” he asked, even though he didn’t want to know the answer. He didn’t need one. He could tell by her reaction that the white trader, who also happened to be a frequent visitor among his people, was more than a simple trader to her.

  She looked at the council and then back at Tajan. “He’s my grandfather.”

  Tajan’s nerves instantly relaxed. He took her hand, ignoring the spilled basket, and led her toward the group.

  Bradford Fuller’s gaze landed on Maggie and Tajan, and his face paled. It was as if he’d seen a ghost.

  Which of course was the logical conclusion since he’d thought she was dead.

  Mary had returned home with the news of Molly’s death. She and her grandfather had waited for Maggie to show up, but their wait was in vain. After weeks of waiting and nothing ever coming from it the
y accepted the notion that Maggie must’ve suffered the same fate as her sister Molly.

  “That’s my granddaughter!” Bradford pointed to Maggie. He wrestled his urge to jump up; instead, he waited respectfully for Timeko and the tribe’s chief to stand so he was free to go to her without offense.

  Maggie dropped Tajan’s hand and ran into Bradford’s arms.

  “We thought you were dead, too,” he said.

  She backed away, surveying his face with a grave look. “Too?”

  “Your sister Molly—” He nearly choked on the words. “—is dead.”

  That proved to be a little more than Maggie could handle. Her ability to reason deserted her, then her thoughts faded and consciousness abandoned her.

  Maggie slumped toward the ground.

  * * *

  Bradford Fuller gave his granddaughter precious little time to recover from his difficult news. It didn’t take him long to drag her off, hoping to make her see the error of her ways.

  Maggie strolled in the direction of Vista Point with him following behind. She leaned against a giant boulder and he stood over her like a troubled parent.

  She tried her best to ignore him because she knew what was coming. She didn’t want to hear it and she certainly didn’t have to like it.

  But that didn’t stop him. “You understand that you have to leave here,” he said, “don’t you?”

  Maggie could almost feel the fire flickering from her eyes. “I can’t leave him.” Her tone was undeniable and her words final. “I could sooner stop breathing than to leave him.”

  “The longer you stay here,” he said in a calm manner, “the more danger you’re putting him in. They killed your sister down in Carson City. And if they get one look at you,” he said of the white law men, “they’re going to know you were one of her accomplices.”

  He wasn’t overlooking the similarities between Maggie and Molly. They both had red hair and they looked alike. Mary was the different one with hair as dark as night.

  “I can’t leave him…” her words trailed off on an injured tone.

  “You’re wanted,” he said. “Remember?”

  Yes. And up until now—as far as she knew—she’d been an unidentified party. But now that Molly had been identified, this was not a safe place for Maggie to hide. Not safe for her. Not safe for Tajan. And not safe for his people.

  Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes.

  “I’m thankful that he found you and nursed you back to health,” he said with a measure of compassion. “But if you truly love him, you’ll leave here with me tomorrow…before they find you and he ends up dying trying to protect you.”

  Her grandfather’s words crashed down around her a little too harshly. Even so, they rang of pure truth.

  * * *

  Once Tajan heard that Bradford intended to take Maggie back to California the next day, he was overcome with anger. Inside his own grandfather’s lodge, Tajan paced paced the length of the interior while Timeko and his grandfather, the Chief, looked on.

  He stopped, as if a cold wind had frozen his body, and faced his elders. “I will not let him take her!” he said in his native tongue.

  “It’s not your choice,” Timeko replied in the same language. “And she’s in danger here.” Timeko hoped to reason with his son, yet fearing there would be no way of reckoning with him.

  “The girl must be returned to her grandfather,” the Chief finally spoke, issuing the final words on the matter.

  And those were the worst words in the whole world for Tajan. His grandfather had the last word.

  * * *

  The tribe’s council decided Tajan’s wife would not accompany him to his lodge that night. Doing so could make it all the more difficult to separate them in the morning.

  Just before daybreak, Tajan emerged from his lodge. Having had all night to wallow in his anger, it had swelled to the breaking point.

  How dare they? How dare his own people attempt to take away the only thing that had ever meant anything to him?

  Maggie emerged from a nearby lodge. She’d been grilled half the night about the danger she’d be bringing to Tajan if she stayed. They’d all tried to make her feel guilty and they’d done a pretty good job of it, too.

  She didn’t want to bring danger to him. Why couldn’t they see that? She loved him more than life itself. In fact, she couldn’t imagine life without him. How in the world was she supposed to go back to California and put on this farce of a pretense that she was happy about it? She didn’t know how she was supposed to survive without him. But everyone seemed so certain of one thing—if she stayed, Tajan would die.

  Bradford led Maggie past Tajan. She paused, gazing into his eyes. She wished she could tell him it was a bad joke. That everything was going to be okay. But that was a lie. It wasn’t going to be okay. Nothing was ever going to be okay again.

  Bradford gave Maggie a tug, prompting her away from Tajan’s side. Her eyes never left Tajan’s steady gaze as she was led away

  Tajan had put forth a good front—on the outside. But inside, he was dying. His heart was breaking. The fact that she could actually walk away from him was killing him.

  Bradford nudged Maggie to get on the horse. She did it—in an almost trance-like state—and turned back for one last look. Tears were starting to smear her vision. Even so, she could see his stone-faced glare.

  Tajan didn’t take his eyes off her until she and her grandfather disappeared from view. He went back inside his lodge and emerged again, shortly. His anger was spilling over. He mounted his horse and took off in the opposite direction that Maggie and her grandfather had gone.

  ~~~~

  PART THREE

  THE REVELATION

  ~~~~

  CHAPTER 18

  Billy and Rio traveled the winding road up the mountain on their way up to Lake Tahoe. Once again, he was driving her car while she rode shotgun.

  “Kryptonite” by Three Doors Down poured out over the radio as she admired the mountainous terrain. Rio sang along with the tune while keeping her eye on a black SUV in the side view mirror. The fact that they were being followed hadn’t eluded her. If Turner thought it had, he’d underestimated her.

  Prior to reaching the south shore of the lake, they stopped at Vista Point. Many years ago the locale had been turned into a scenic spot with its gigantic boulders scattered all around, many of which were stacked on top of each other. The only thing that had changed since Maggie and Tajan’s day was that modern civilization had built one guard wall against the south side.

  Rio sat silently on the man-made railing, gazing out over the magnificent sight before her. The lake stretched for miles in all directions, surrounded in its entirety by the colossal mountains of the Sierra Nevada.

  Billy leaned against a huge rock. “You seem to be right at home.”

  “I do like it here.” Her eyes stayed glued to the lake. “I can’t quite put my finger on it.” She looked at him. “But I feel a sense of comfort here.”

  “This was probably a place where Tajan and Maggie spent much of their time.”

  Rio wasn’t her usual spunky self and Billy hadn’t missed out on that. She seemed preoccupied. “Hey, I’m going to go find a bathroom. You want to come?” In his own way, he was offering to leave her alone for a while so she could work out whatever was bothering her.

  “I’d like to stay here,” she said. “If you don’t mind.”

  “That’s okay,” he said. “I’ll be back soon.”

  He walked away and Rio decided to explore the locale. Almost in a daze, she wandered through the area until, unbeknownst to her, she came to the place where Tajan had asked Maggie to marry him and then claimed her as his own.

  Rio climbed onto the same boulder the star-crossed lovers had made love on all those years ago. She examined the rock and eased down. Lying on her back, she propped up her feet. She closed her eyes and covered them with her forearm.

  Why couldn’t she get the warrior out of her
head? Was she losing her mind? He was after all just a face painted on a canvas. Granted, a captivating face, but it was nothing more than that. The man had been dead for over a hundred years. Still, Rio couldn’t stop thinking about him.

  A chill breezed through her as she wondered what it must have been like having Tajan looming above her in the throes of passion. Her sexually inspired musings were invaded by the sudden smell of an unusual aroma that seemed almost sweet in a masculine sort of way, and quite unlike anything she’d ever perceived even though it felt familiar.

  She could almost swear she felt his lips brush against her cheek. Overwhelmed with the certainty that if she opened her eyes she’d see Tajan, but she didn’t dare try it. Instead, she savored the thought of his tongue exploring her neck in a tantalizing way. She swore she felt his long hair tickling her breasts.

  But how was that possible? She wasn’t naked. Rio’s eyes sprang open and she jumped up. Tajan was not there. In fact, no one was there, and that was somehow disheartening. Surveying her surroundings, she saw Billy heading her way from the end of the trail.

  She scrambled to cover herself and felt the heat burning her cheeks when she remembered that she was fully clothed. Unable to rid herself of the flush that had fallen over her at the mere thought of—hey, what was that anyway?

  Billy stopped at the side of the rock she was sitting on. “Uh oh.” The corner of his lip twisted. “There it is again.”

  “What?” She glanced down, making sure she wasn’t actually as naked as she felt. This thing—whatever it was that she’d seen—seemed so real. She could still recall Tajan’s hair tickling her breasts.