Apache-Colton Series

by Janis Reams Hudson

  Dee-O-Det grinned. “Of course she is with child.”

  Daniella frowned.

  Cochise clenched his fists. “You knew she was with child?”

  “Naturally,” the old man said as if he’d just been asked if he knew his own name. “It is what a shaman is for, to know these things. I also know she has not taken a husband. When would she have time to even think over such a serious matter, when she’s been so busy rescuing everyone else’s children? Now that she has returned to us, we can settle the matter. Take her to Nali-Kay-deya’s wickiup and stay there with her until I come for you. Do not permit yourselves any visitors.”

  Daniella tensed. What was he cooking up? Whatever it was, she didn’t think she wanted any part of it. “I don’t need a husband.”

  “Of course you do,” Cochise said emphatically. “I have heard that among your people an unmarried woman who has a child is looked upon with scorn. It is the same with our people. We will do as Dee-O-Det says. Come.”

  Dee-O-Det placed a gnarled hand on her shoulder and smiled at her. “Do not worry, child. I have seen your future, and it is a good one. You will be happy with what comes to pass.”

  Giving her no chance to protest or question, Cochise took Daniella gently but firmly by the arm and led her to Nali-Kay-deya’s wickiup, as Dee-O-Det instructed. Kay, as Daniella called her, was one of Cochise’s two wives, and mother to Naiche, Cochise’s youngest son.

  Cochise refused to speak to Daniella about whatever Dee-O-Det was up to. Instead, he rolled himself in his blanket and went to sleep next to his wife. Across from Daniella, she saw that Naiche, too, was asleep.

  But even as exhausted as she was by the grueling trip to the stronghold, Daniella could not sleep. Fear of her nightmares was so strong that she never fell asleep in the dark any more, even when she tried. Because the mountain night was cold, she spent the dark hours until dawn feeding small sticks to the fire. As the sun came up, she was finally able to close her eyes.

  Dee-O-Det left his chief and Woman of Magic and returned to his own fire within the ring of sacred stones surrounding his wickiup. There he studied the flames and listened to the wind as it whispered through the tops of the pine trees, waiting for the answer to his question. As the diyini, or “holy one,” the spiritual (and sometimes the physical) well-being of the band depended on him. Woman of Magic’s future would directly affect that of the band. Of this Dee-O-Det was certain.

  In less than an hour, he knew, Yellow Hair, the white man called Colton, would come for the girl. Dee-O-Det knew what Yúúsń had planned, but the girl was stubborn and afraid, and others among the band had their own ideas of what her future should hold. For things to turn out right, Dee-O-Det knew his timing must be perfect.

  Just before dawn, the shaman sent his young apprentice to watch the trail. The old man waited inside his wickiup, not wishing to talk with anyone for the time. It was nearly noon before his apprentice came secretly, as instructed, with the news that the Yellow Hair had just passed t’iis nasitąą, the leaning cottonwood. Dee-O-Det smiled and gave the young man further instructions.

  Dozens of voices outside the wickiup woke Daniella when the sun shone directly down the smoke hole above her. Cochise sat in his place of honor across from the doorway on his bed of furs. His eyes were fixed on the halter he was braiding from strips of rawhide. Nali-Kay-deya and Naiche were gone.

  Daniella had scarcely sat up when Dee-O-Det’s voice rang strong and clear from outside, calling for Cochise and Woman of Magic to come out. Daniella opened her mouth to speak, but Cochise motioned her to silence and led her through the doorway.

  She blinked at the bright midday light and shaded her eyes with one hand. What were all these people doing here? What was going on? When the crowd to her left parted, she saw Loco approaching leading five mustangs. He kept his eyes from hers as he walked to her side and tethered the horses in front of the wickiup. He then walked about ten feet away and turned back toward her, standing there, feet spread, arms folded across his sturdy, bronze chest, a grin playing about the corners of his wide mouth. Daniella had the sudden urge to seek the relative shelter of the wickiup.

  At a shout from her right, she turned and saw the people open up another corridor, this time for Golthlay, who also led five horses. Daniella’s heart knocked against her ribs. He must have stayed behind when Mon-ache rode out. If she’d known Golthlay was here, she might have waited to bring the boys home.

  When he’d tied his horses on the other side of the doorway, Daniella glanced nervously at Cochise, who stood expressionless beside her, then at Dee-O-Det. The shaman winked at her!

  She was still puzzling over that when two men she didn’t know came forward, one from Loco, one from Golthlay. Stunned beyond speech, Daniella listened through the sudden buzzing in her ears as each man, acting as an official go-between, offered Cochise the five horses as a bride gift and asked for Woman of Magic in marriage for the man who sent him.

  The buzzing in her ears lessened as Cochise turned to her.

  “Well, daughter? Which man will you choose as husband?”

  “You can’t be serious!”

  “I am serious,” Cochise snapped. “You cannot raise the child alone. Who will provide for you? You must have a husband. You will not leave here until you are married.”

  Daniella was stunned. He was serious! He actually expected her to marry one of those…those… For one brief moment she was nearly overwhelmed by fear. In the next instant she shoved it aside and straightened her shoulders.

  All Cochise was asking—no, telling—her to do was marry. Well, she wouldn’t do it. It was out the question.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “She did what?” Travis bellowed.

  “Like I said—”

  “No.” Travis raised a hand to stop Tucker from repeating himself. “I heard you. Damn her! What the hell was she thinking, setting off alone like that with those boys? What the hell were you thinking to let her?”

  “I suppose you could have stopped her?”

  The laughter in Tucker’s voice set Travis to grinding his teeth in frustration. “When did she leave?”

  “Last night, just before midnight.”

  “Damn her. Why didn’t you go with her? Now she’ll have to ride back alone.”

  “Did I say she was comin’ back?”

  Travis felt his skin turn cold. “What do you mean?” he said with a growl. “Don’t play games with me, Tucker. This is Dani we’re talking about. Of course she’s coming back.” He wished he was as sure as he sounded.

  “You’re right,” Tucker agreed with a nod. “She’ll be back. As soon as the kid is born and she finds a family to raise it.”

  “What?”

  Tucker opened his mouth, but Travis cut him off with an enraged snarl. In utter frustration and nearly choking on his own anger, Travis spun and rammed his fist against the wooden post supporting the thatched roof of the porch. Grass and dirt filtered down on his head and shoulders.

  When he turned back around, massaging his bruised knuckles, Tucker had gone into the house. The old man came out a moment later carrying a canvass bag and a bedroll.

  “What’s that for?”

  “For you,” Tucker said calmly.

  Travis frowned. “What for?”

  Tucker spoke as if explaining something to a dimwitted child. “So when you ride after the girl, you’ll have food and blankets.”

  For the first time in what felt like weeks, Travis threw back his head and laughed.

  Tucker agreed to send Jorge back to the Triple C with word that Travis was going after Daniella.

  “By the way,” the old man said, “she thinks me and Simon are stayin’ in town till she gets back. I wouldn’t wanna be the one to tell her otherwise, if I was you.”

  Travis grinned and nodded. In less than five minutes after Tucker brought out the sack and bedroll, Travis was on his way.

  She was less than a day ahead of him, and he intended to catch up with he
r by tomorrow or the next day.

  He found her trail easily—she’d made no attempt to cover it—and smiled to himself. He’d have that stubborn little baggage within reach soon. After all, she was five months pregnant. How fast could she travel, anyway?

  Pretty damn fast, he thought grimly, days later when he knew he’d been spotted by Cochise’s trail guards. He’d be at the stronghold in a couple of hours, and he’d never even caught sight of her. He knew he hadn’t passed her or missed her, because he had followed her tracks all the way.

  Damn her. What was she trying to do, kill herself? He was half dead from exhaustion, and he wasn’t a frail, pregnant woman having to worry about the safety of two young boys.

  When he reached the edge of the rancheria, a young Apache greeted him, saying in halting Spanish that he was sent by Dee-O-Det, and Yellow Hair was to follow him. Another boy ran up to take Travis’s horse, so he dismounted, remembering to unstrap his gunbelt and hang it over his saddle horn, and followed the shaman’s messenger.

  He would have thought the arrival of a white man would have caused a bit more notice, even if he had been here before. Yet the part of camp they walked through seemed deserted. Up ahead he heard voices, and then he saw a crowd had gathered.

  Travis recognized Cochise’s deep voice at once, but didn’t catch the words, only the serious tone. Dee-O-Det’s young helper led Travis around the edge of the crowd and up beside a wickiup. Travis didn’t know what was going on, but Dani and Cochise and two strings of mustangs seemed to be the center of attention. Two men, one of whom was Golthlay, stood before them, and Dee-O-Det stood behind the two men.

  The old shaman’s gaze caught Travis’s, and Dee-O-Det grinned at him. Travis would have stepped forward to make his presence known to Cochise and Dani, who had their backs to him, but Dani’s word’s in Spanish stopped him cold.

  “I am sorry, but I cannot marry one of these men.”

  Cochise folded his arms over his chest. “Choosing to remain unwed is not one of your options, daughter. Tell me what is wrong with these men.”

  Travis couldn’t believe this was happening. Cochise expected Dani to marry one of them! A shiver of rage ran through him. He would have spoken then, but Dee-O-Det had worked his way through the crowd to Travis’s side. The old man grabbed his arm and shook his head. “Wait,” he hissed.

  “They are both fine, strong warriors, in need of a wife,” Cochise was saying. “Mexicans killed Golthlay’s wife many winters ago. Loco, too is without a wife. She took his son and daughter and left him after, well, after a night we shall not mention. To either man, you would be an only wife, at least for a while. They are good men, and would treat you with honor and provide well for you.”

  “Honor. Ha,” Dani scoffed. “I can’t believe you would even listen to Loco’s offer, after what he did to me. We all know that’s why his wife left him. He only wants me so people will stop laughing at him.”

  The two prospective grooms had moved closer. Loco bristled under her insult and glowered his anger at her. Golthlay chuckled.

  “What are you laughing at?” Daniella demanded of Golthlay. “We both know why you offered for me. You don’t want a wife. You want revenge because I beat you at your own game.”

  Dani faced Cochise once more. “I will not choose to tie myself to one of these men. If you choose for me and force me to marry one of them, then his death or mine will be on your head, for I swear to you, before the wedding night is over I will slit his throat, if he doesn’t kill me first.”

  Cochise glowered at her. “I tell you, you must take a husband! If these two who have offered for you are not to your liking, then name another. I well send for him and see you married. Your child must have a father. And do not tell me your white father will help you, because I will not have it. Any man who would turn away his own daughter for something that was not her fault shall have nothing to do with my grandchild.”

  Daniella tried to stifle her anger, for she knew harsh words would get her nowhere. “Shitaa, you saved my life, and my mind. I love you for that. Please believe I mean no offense when I say I could never live with the Chúk’ánéné every day for the rest of my life. I like my bed up off the ground, and a solid roof and walls around me that don’t leak when it rains. I’m too soft and spoiled to be happy living any other way.”

  “Then choose one of your own kind. I do not care, so long as you marry a good provider who is strong, and who will take your child as his own.”

  “There is no need to find a father for the child.” Loco stepped forward until he was a mere three feet away. Daniella’s first urge was to step back, but she forced herself to be still.

  “Part of the child is mine, and I will take the whole.”

  Daniella knew he referred to the Apaches’ belief that a child was made one part at a time. To make a whole child, a couple must mate many times. Even their word for bastard, yuutatske’, meant “many fathered.” They believed that each man who’d raped her had sired part of her child.

  Her stomach contracted, threatening to send its bile up her throat. She swallowed heavily as her mouth filled with saliva.

  She turned to Cochise and muttered, “Shishxéná! If he says another word, I shall kill him!”

  With a flick of his wrist, Cochise sent Loco back to the edge of the circle. To Daniella, the chief said again, “Then choose one of your own kind.”

  “Shitaa, that’s just not possible,” Daniella claimed. “My people will never accept this child, just as they don’t accept me. My child will be a half-breed bastard, and to white men, I’m just an Apache whore—a puta! No man wants a whore for his wife.”

  Someone grabbed her from behind, and a harsh voice sounded in her ear—in English. “Stop it! Don’t say things like that about yourself!”

  “Travis!” Daniella felt her knees turn to water. If Travis hadn’t been holding her arm so tightly she would have fallen. A strange sense of relief flooded her at the sight of him.

  But that was ridiculous, she told herself. His presence would only complicate her predicament. “What are you doing here?”

  “Did you think I wouldn’t come? Did you think I’d just let you ride off like that and not come after you? What the hell is going on here, anyway?”

  She gave a short, bitter bark of laughter. “It seems everyone’s decided the whore needs a husband.”

  “That’s enough!” His fingers dug painfully into her arm. The look in his eyes was enough to kill.

  Daniella tossed her head in defiance. “Well, it’s true,” she cried in defiance.

  “It’s not.” His grip on her arm tightened. “You’re nobody’s whore. I won’t have you even thinking it.”

  “Español, por favor,” Dee-O-Det drawled. This was what he’d been waiting for. He restrained a grin, barely, when Travis addressed Cochise in Spanish.

  “They each offered you five horses?”

  “Sí.”

  “I’ll make it ten horses, plus ten head of cattle.”

  “Travis, no!” Daniella shrieked.

  “I accept. Nzhú. It is good.”

  “It’s not good. I don’t accept.”

  “Yes you do,” Travis said calmly. “I’m your only logical choice.”

  “Travis, be serious!” Daniella switched to English. “Just stay out of this. I can outwait him. In a few days he’ll give up and leave me alone.”

  “No he won’t. You know that. Besides, I happen to agree with him. I think you need a husband.”

  “Well I don’t!” It was time to end this farce. She switched to Spanish. “I did not come here to find a husband for myself or a father for my child. I came to find a couple willing to raise this child as their own, because I don’t intend to raise it at all.”

  Stunned silence greeted her statement. She knew what she proposed was unheard of among the Chidikáágu’. Children were so valuable to them that if a couple could not have any, they stole one from an enemy and raised it as their own. It was the only way the t
ribe could survive. And here she was, trying to give her child away. No wonder Cochise and Dee-O-Det were looking at her as if she’d grown another head.

  Dee-O-Det uttered a strangled cry, then shouted, “No! It cannot be allowed!”

  Daniella had known the old man might disapprove, might even be shocked and angered, but she hadn’t counted on his outright interference. She’d come this far; she wasn’t about to give up now.

  “You would have this child raised by a woman who will hate the sight of it?” she cried. “For I swear, every time I look at it, I will be reminded it was conceived in violence and hatred, and I will soon grow to hate the child, through no fault of its own.”

  “But you are wrong, my child,” Dee-O-Det cried. “This child you carry is not from any violence or hatred.”

  “What are you talking about?” she demanded. “There is not a person here who does not know what happened to me that night. And if you think I’ve been with any—”

  “No! That is not what I meant. Hear me, Woman of Magic, and listen to my words. The burden in your womb was not placed there by angry, drunken warriors. When they finished with you and dragged you to the base of the sacred pine, no seed had taken root. It was the bolt of lightning from the Thunder People at the right hand of Yúúsń that set seed to fertile ground. The same bolt that placed the streak of white in your hair to mark you as Woman of Magic. You do not carry one child from being violated. You carry two, both from the hand of Yúúsń, and both children, a girl and a boy, will wear the mark of Yúúsń’s favor, just as you do.”

  The people standing around were as speechless as Daniella.

  Loco clenched his fists and scowled, while Travis held his tongue.

  “It’s impossible!” Daniella cried. “Things like that just don’t happen, and you know it.”

  “Ah,” the old man said. “But it has happened. All was set in motion a hundred winters ago when Yúúsń planted the sacred pine in our winter stronghold, where no other pine trees grow at such a low elevation. It is Yúúsń’s will, and no mortal can change what will come to pass, not even Woman of Magic.”