Apache Flame (24 page)

“‘I have a plan,’ Coyote said. ‘Humpback’s son has no pet of
any kind.’

“The People did not understand what this had to do with
releasing the buffalo, but they knew Coyote was a great schemer, so they waited
for him to explain. ‘I shall change myself into a killdeer,’ Coyote said. ‘In
the morning when Humpback’s son goes to the spring for water, he will find a
killdeer with a broken wing. He will want to keep the bird for a pet, and he
will take me home. When I am in the house, I will fly outside to the corral and
the cries of the killdeer will frighten the buffalo and they will charge
through Humpback’s house and be released upon the earth.’

“The People thought this was a good plan, and the next
morning, Humpback’s son found a killdeer with a broken wing near the spring and
he took it home.

“‘Look here,’ the boy cried. ‘This is a very good bird.’

“‘It is good for nothing!’ Humpback declared. ‘All the birds
and animals and People are schemers!’ Humpback’s eyes glittered through the
slits of the blue mask he wore. His headdress was shaped like a cloud and
painted black with a yellow streak of lightning. Buffalo horns protruded from
the sides. He looked very fierce indeed.

“‘It is a very good bird,’ the boy said again.

“‘Take it back where you found it,’ Humpback shouted, and
his frightened son did as he was told.

“As soon as the killdeer was released, it flew back to the
People and turned into Coyote once again. ‘I have failed,’ he said, ‘but I will
try again. Perhaps a small animal will be better than a bird.’

“The next morning, when Humpback’s son went to the spring,
he found a small dog there. The boy picked up the dog and ran back to his
father. ‘Look here!’ he cried. ‘What a nice pet I have found.’

“‘You foolish boy!’ Humpback exclaimed. ‘A dog is good for
nothing. I will kill it with my club.’

“The boy held tight to the dog and started to run away,
crying.

“‘Oh, very well,’ Humpback said. ‘Let me test the animal to
make certain it is a dog. All animals in the world are schemers.’ He took a
fire from the hearth and held it in front of the dog’s face, and the dog barked
three times. ‘It is a real dog,’ Humpback decided. ‘You may keep it in the
corral, not in the house.’

“This was exactly what Coyote wanted. As soon as darkness
fell and Humpback and his son were asleep, Coyote opened the back door of the
house. Then he ran among the buffalo, barking as loud as he could. This frightened
the buffalo, because they had never heard a dog bark before. Coyote nipped at
their heels, and they stampeded out of the corral and through Humpback’s house.
The pounding do their hooves woke Humpback and he jumped out of bed, trying to
stop the herd, but the buffalo smashed his front door and escaped.

“After the last of the buffalo were gone, Humpback’s son
told his father he could not find his little dog.

“‘That was no dog,’ Humpback said sadly. ‘That was Coyote
the Trickster.’ And that is how the buffalo were released upon the earth.”

Alisha clapped her hands. “Tell me another.”

“Later,” Mitch said. “I can think of better ways to
entertain you.”

“Really?” Alisha said with a coy smile. She batted her
eyelashes at him.

“Do you think I’ll like it?”

“I can almost guarantee it.”

“Well.” She sighed heavily. “If you’re sure.”

“I’ve never had any complaints before,” Mitch said with a
roguish grin.

“Is that right?” she exclaimed.

She started to get up, but Mitch quickly rolled on top of
her, neatly pinning her in place. She glared up at him. “No other women, eh?”

“I’m just funnin’ with ya, darlin’.”

“What if I don’t believe you?”

“‘Lisha,” he said in a sing-song voice. “‘Lisha, can you
come out to play?”

“No,” she said, smothering the urge to laugh.

“‘Lisha. ‘Lish…a.”

She laughed in spite of herself, recalling the nights he had
called to her from under her window. “Remember the night you threw a rock at my
window, and the window broke?”

Mitch grinned down at her. “Your old man came running out of
the house with a shotgun. Scared the shit out of me.” He laughed. “If he’d been
a better shot, I wouldn’t be here now.”

They smiled at each other a moment, the memory warm between
them, and then Alisha cupped Mitch’s face and drew his head down toward her.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she whispered. “So glad.”

“‘Lisha…”

She writhed beneath him, needing his touch, needing to
envelop him, to taste him and touch him. “Now, Mitchy,” she pleaded softly.
“Now, now, now!”

He needed no further urging, and soon the night was filled
with the sweet musk of passion and Alisha’s soft cries of delight.

* * * * *

They spent one more day in their special place, laughing and
loving, the joy they found in each other erasing all the bad memories of the
past. “Will you teach me to speak Apache?” she asked. “I’ll need to know so I
can speak to our son.”

Our son. Mitch looked at his bride. She could be pregnant
now, he mused, and tried to imagine how she would look, her breasts full, her
belly swollen with his child. It grieved him that he had not been with her the
first time, that he hadn’t been there to reassure her, to comfort her, to watch
her bloom with new life.

He thrust the thought away. She was right. What was past was
past, and there was nothing to be gained by dwelling on it.

“We’ll ask my mother to teach you,” Mitch said. “I could use
some lessons, too. I knew a little of the language when I was a boy, but I’ve
forgotten a lot of it.” It was surprising, though, how quickly the words and
phrases he had learned were coming back to him, how much he understood. Still,
it would be nice to be fluent in his mother’s tongue. It was doubtful if their
son would speak English.

With regret, they packed their belongings and dismantled the
wickiup.

“Thank you, Mitchy,” Alisha said as they took a last look
around. “Thank you for making our honeymoon wonderful.”

“It was my pleasure, darlin’,” he drawled. “Believe me.”

“Can we come back here again some time?”

“Sure.” He took her in his arms and nuzzled her neck. “But
it’s not the place, darlin’, remember that.”

“Hmm, getting a little smug, are we?”

“Who, me?”

“Who, indeed.”

“Maybe I need more practice.” He kissed her ear, his tongue
sliding over her lobe. “I wouldn’t want any complaints.”

His breath was warm against her skin, his tongue hot and
erotic. “I’m not complaining,” she assured him. “Not at all.”

“Good. Cause I’m willing to practice as much as you think
necessary.” He grinned impudently. “After all, you’re a teacher, and I want to
get it right, in case there’s a test later.”

“Oh, very funny,” she said, swatting him playfully on the
arm. She looked around again, wanting to imprint this place, this moment,
firmly in her mind.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Yes.”

He lifted her onto the back of one of the horses, then swung
up behind her, his arms sliding around her waist, his hands cupping her
breasts.

“Are we riding double?” she asked.

Mitch nodded. “Cozy this way, don’t you think?”

“Mmm, very.” She leaned against him, reveling in the touch
of his hands on her body. “Hold me tight, so I don’t fall off.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

The other horse followed as they rode away from the stream.

“Mitchy, where are we going to stay when we get back to the
village?”

“I don’t know. With my mother, I guess, until we can build a
lodge of our own.”

“With your mother?” she exclaimed, horrified at the thought
of sharing Mitch’s bed with White Robe, Elk Chaser, and Red Clements only a few
feet away, not to mention Mitch’s little brother.

He laughed as he heard the disappointment in her voice.
“Don’t worry, darlin’. We’ll find time to be alone.”

“Well, I hope so,” she grumbled. “After all, you do need
lots of practice.” She looked over her shoulder and smiled. “In case there’s a
test.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

White Robe listened intently as Mitch and Alisha told her of
the last five years, how Mitch had left Canyon Creek to find work, how Alisha
had realized she was pregnant, how Russell Faraday had lied to both Mitch and
Alisha about the death of their child. So many lies, she thought sadly, so many
lives changed.

She hugged Rides the Buffalo to her as Mitch and Alisha left
the lodge to go look for Red Clements. The white man had gone off to watch some
of the warriors race their ponies across the river. Mitch was hoping that, in
his travels, Clements’ might have heard of a boy who had been adopted by one of
the tribes.

White Robe pressed a kiss to the top of her son’s head, then
sent him outside to play with his friends.

“What will you do?” Elk Chaser asked.

White Robe looked at her husband, and slowly shook her head.
“I cannot give him up.”

“You cannot keep the truth a secret forever. Did you not see
the way Alisha looked at the boy? He looks much like his father.”

“It is not uncommon for brothers to look alike.”

“But they are not brothers. Otter and the woman need only to
ask among the people for a child who was brought here four summers ago. Rides
the Buffalo is the only one. All who dwell here know he was not born to us. It
is a secret you cannot hope to keep.”

Tears rose in White Robe’s eyes and dripped, like silent
rain, down her cheeks. “How can I let him go? I have loved him and nourished
him since he was an infant. I have cared for him when he was ill, quieted his
fears in the night. He is as much my son as his father is.”

Elk Chaser gathered her into his arms and held her close.
“You will not lose the boy. Surely Otter would not take him from you.”

“But he will! Alisha will not be content to remain here. She
will want to go back to her own people. They will take the boy with them. I
cannot let him go! I know it is wrong of me, but I cannot.”

“You must tell Otter the truth,” Elk Chaser said gently. “If
you do not, he will hate you for it. Have there not been lies enough already?”

With a sigh, White Robe pressed her face to her husband’s
chest and wept bitter tears. Elk Chaser was right. There had been lies enough.
It was time for truth.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Rides the Buffalo walked away from his mother’s lodge, his
gaze downcast. He didn’t answer Little Fox’s call, didn’t stop to say hello to
his best friend. He just kept walking. His mother had often told him that
spying was wrong, that one day he would see or hear something he would regret.

Today was that day.

His mother was not his mother. His father was not his
father.

Otter was not his brother, but his father. His mother was a
white woman.

He looked down at his arms, lifted one of his braids. His
skin had never been as dark as those of his friends; his hair was not a true
black, but a dark brown. It was wavy, not straight.

Now he knew why. He was not a true Apache.

Tears burned his eyes, and he started to run lest someone
should see him weeping like a baby.

He ran downstream, his vision blurred by his tears.

Why had no one told him the truth?

The white woman was his mother. He had been taken from her
at birth. And now she wanted him, but he did not want to go with her.

He ran faster, paying little attention to where he was
going. He didn’t want to leave this place, didn’t want to go live with his
white mother. They would be sorry they had lied to him…

Blinded by his tears, he didn’t see the chasm until it was
too late. He screamed as his left foot went over the edge, and then he was
falling, falling, spinning down, down, unable to stop. His right shoulder
slammed against the side of the chasm and he cried out as pain splintered
through his arm.

“
Shi ma!”
He cried for his mother, and then
everything went black.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Mitch put his arms around Alisha and held her tight. “I
don’t believe it.”

“I thought he looked a lot like you.” Alisha shook her head,
the happiness she had felt at learning that Rides the Buffalo was her son muted
by the stunned disbelief in Mitch’s eyes. “I didn’t think anything of it. Your
mother told me he was your brother. Brothers look alike.”

Mitch swore softly, the oath somehow more vile for its
mildness.

“What are we going to do now?”

“Damned if I know.” He dragged a hand over his face. Why the
hell hadn’t his mother told him the truth when he got here?

It had been Owl Woman, wife of Fights the Wind, who had told
them the story. She had overheard them talking to Red. She knew of a boy who
had been adopted. Ordinarily, she would not have said anything, but Mitch had
saved her husband’s life. Owl Woman recalled the day the trader from Dawes City
had come to the
rancheria
. He was a frequent visitor, but he hadn’t come
to trade this time. He had been hoping to find someone to take in a male child.
White Robe had taken one look at the boy and practically grabbed the child from
the trader’s arms.

“What do you think Rides the Buffalo will say when he finds
out?” Alisha asked.

“I can’t imagine.” He took Alisha’s hand in his and they
started walking back toward his mother’s lodge. It had been a shock, learning
that the boy he thought of as his brother was his son, but there could be no
doubt. “Why the devil didn’t my mother tell me the truth when I got here?”

“Maybe she didn’t know.”

“How could she not know? You said he looks just like me.”

“Mitchy, calm down. We’ve got to think of Rides the Buffalo
now.”

Mitch blew out a sigh. “What would you think if you suddenly
found out that your parents weren’t your parents, after all?”