Blake sat restlessly in the hut. The pesky
buzzing of a bumblebee was the only sound in the hut besides his
heavy breathing. He wondered if Jason had returned and what he’d do
when
discovering he was gone. It had been many
days since that terrible experience in the woods and he was tired
of waiting. No one came to question him but he was fed and treated
well. An Indian came to take him to the pond to bathe and see to
his needs. When he asked questions about the injured boy or the
whereabouts of a particular white woman, they paid no attention to
him. So he sat and waited.
He noticed that the camp was quiet. He
assumed most of the people were out hunting and there was no one
but a handful of old Indians and a few women folks. The anxiety of
not
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knowing what to expect was driving him
crazy. Blake was about to stick his head out for the hundredth
time, but changed his mind knowing all he would see was an old
Indian sitting on guard. Standing to stretch his legs and arms, he
cracked his knuckles over his head. He did some shadow boxing to
limber up. Damn! If someone didn’t come soon, he’d fight the old
guard and go looking for his cousin. A commotion outside made him
freeze the upper cut to his shadow. Many horses approached,
disturbing the silence and he peeked out to see red men and women
coming back to the village.
“Maybe now someone would come,” he growled
beneath his breath, patience was not one of his virtues. Hours
later a tall Indian entered; the brave was big and muscular and
very handsome. Was this red man the leader? Would he be tortured
soon? Their eyes locked, and he knew the Indian had as many
questions that needed answers as he did.
He stood and asked, “Where is my cousin,
Melissa? If you’ve harmed her....” concern roughened his voice, but
he controlled his temper. If he didn’t get some answers soon, he’d
speak his mind. He would keep his cousin Jason a secret, for now;
see what was in store for him. He
prayed that his cousin would be patient and
not come foolishly barging into camp, getting skewed with and arrow
or worse.
Blue Thunder’s brows jumped at the mention
of his wife’s name but he kept his features unreadable. “Sit!” the
order was given sternly and the white man complied with an oath. He
had been told of this stranger’s bravery. He came to give his
thanks and to meet the man who was not much older than Star Gazer.
The young man was tall, blonde and good looking. He saw a family
resemblance but his heart sank when the youth asked about his soul
mate. Would this young stranger bring more trouble to his people?
Why did the stranger, who tried to save Star Gazer’s life, have to
be looking for Moon Glow? Mixed emotions filled his thoughts.
“We talk.” He joined the young man on the
ground. “I am Blue Thunder, son of Dasodaha.”
The man extended his hand. “Blake! Blake
January.”
Blue Thunder didn’t miss the thorny look in
Blake’s light eyes. “You say this Melissa is cousin?” He understood
Blake’s annoyance for being kept in the lodge so many days. He
wanted to talk with his wife before saying anything.
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Blake nodded.
“You come looking for her?” He already knew
the answer but he needed time to study this Blake’s character, to
see if he thought he would be trouble.
Again Blake nodded.
Blue Thunder just grunted. A moment passed
before he spoke again. “You were spying
on camp when bear attack Star Gazer?” He
said in a form of a statement and a question.
Blake frowned. “Star Gazer?”
Another nod, but this time the irate man
folded his arms across his chest, showing him that he was getting
impatient with the questions. He ignored the angry look on Blake’s
face. In spite of himself, he liked the white man.
“You are very brave to come to my brother’s
rescue. We thank you, although you were near Indian camp to spy. I
am sorry for the way you were treated but my people did not know
what to do with you. I will talk with Moon Glow first. Your cousin
is all right, she spent past days nursing my brother back to
health. I am sure she does not know you are here or she would have
come to see you. I believe my people kept you from her sight.”
He kept the fact that Apache’s didn’t like
killing bears or hawks because of superstitions, but which they
regard in a lesser degree than killing a golden eagle. Blue Thunder
rose, the meeting was over. What he didn’t tell Blake was that
after the braves returned to skin the animal, they laughed all the
way back to camp. It seemed Blake’s bullet lodge itself in the
beast’s rump and the other took off the beast’s left testicle.
The next morning, Melissa woke to two
things: Her husband’s warm and loving embrace and an aching back.
Although overjoyed to find herself in his arms, it took a moment
for all the events of the past week to come into focus and she was
startled that she was no longer near Star Gazer.
“Oh, Blue Thunder,” she yawned, “when did
you return?” Snuggling, she cried, “Oh, I
must see to Star Gazer. How long did I
sleep?” He grabbed her hand touching her lips with his finger.
“Husband missed wife’s soft sweet mouth and
her warm body. Star Gazer is all right.
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You slept soundly through the night and you
should sleep more. You lost weight and have dark areas under
beautiful honey eyes.” His voice was pensive. “You carry my child,
you need rest. You have done everything possible and I am proud of
you. Father and aunt are with him; Star Gazer will live because of
you.” He kissed her tenderly. “You rest and I will bring food. We
must fatten you up, you are skinny mate.”
The beginning of a smile tipped the corners
of his sensual mouth and Melissa’s heart melted and she didn’t
argue and lay back down. “I missed you, my husband. How was the
hunt?”
“It went well. Now rest and I will bring
food. Later we will talk about another matter.”
She was curious but closed her eyes. Blue
Thunder returned shortly with her meal and she slept again, waking
as the sun slipped behind the mountains.
“Blake!?”
Melissa cried with joy when she heard her
cousin was the man who tried to save Star Gazer.
“Your cousin was lucky that Silver Horse,
Kicking Bear, and Weeping Bird were near when he shot the grizzly,”
her husband said.
“Where is he? Is he all right? Why wasn’t I
told sooner?”
“Whoa, one question at a time,” he chuckled.
“I will bring him to you and you can see for
yourself that he is well. At the time, he
was of no importance; my people worried more about Star Gazer, when
he was near death. I talked to Blake and my father talked to him
this morning. In his clumsy way, he did save Star Gazer and we owe
him that much.”
Blake embraced Melissa. For some strange
reason he didn’t mention her brother, wanting to make sure that
they were both not in any real danger. He had no reason, as of yet,
to trust the red men. His cousin wept with happiness and said that
they had so much to talk about. Melissa’s husband sat in the
shadows as they answered each other’s questions. He told her how he
went to her home and found it abandoned.
“It took me a while to find where any of
your slaves had gone. Luckily, Sam’s grandson, Jacob, had changed
his mind about going up North and gone to work as an apprentice for
the
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blacksmith in town. Jacob told me you and
your sister went west after the attack.” He remembered how he and
Jason spent another month tracking down the wagon train that left
for California.
“I found the train weeks after the Indian
attack only to hear that you were abducted. I nearly went crazy
when I leaned that little Daphne had given birth and was going to
marry a young man.” Blake rubbed his eyes and expelled a long
breath. “Sorry about your parents and about Effie. I was beside
myself worrying about you. Have they treated you all right?”
Before he gave Melissa had a chance to
speak, he continued, “After what I was told by Sam, I was surprised
to see Daphne as well as she was. She seemed happy with Seth and
her baby they named Dawn. She is worried about you and I promised
her that I would find you and bring you back.” Again he omitted the
fact that her brother was overjoyed to find his baby sister alive,
and he had spent three days adoring his niece. He and Jason
promised Daphne and Seth that they’d see them again.
Melissa shuddered, “Although I am relieved
that my sister is doing well, I cannot go back with you,” she
informed him with tears in her eyes.
He tossed her a puzzled frown and directed
his question to her swollen belly. “Why not, are you a
prisoner?”
“Oh, no! Nothing like that,” she blurted.
“I’m carrying Blue Thunder’s child and I love him with all my
heart.”
Not wanting to believe she was telling the
truth, he shook and lowered his head scratching the nape of his
neck. She couldn’t be in love with this Indian. Could she? He
wished they could speak in private, tell her everything. Blake was
sure she was afraid of the large brave.
He whispered, “I am here for you if you
change your mind about him.” He nodded towards the shadow. “Blue
Thunder said I must stay until they break up camp in the spring.”
He scowled knowing that Jason would certainly come looking for him
soon.
Melissa squeezed his hand. “We cannot chance
your bringing back soldiers. I will deliver my baby then. When you
leave, you must go back and tell Daphne that I’m all right. I am
not being forced against my will. I have a lot to tell you; we’ll
talk tomorrow.”
Blake nodded.
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Later that night, Blue Thunder and his wife
ate supper in silence. She lifted her head and asked, “What will
happen to Blake?”
He set his plate aside and took his wife’s
hand in his. “Your cousin is much admired among my people, as you
are now, but he is inexperienced. I am keeping him here for two
reasons: One, he is your family and I think he will be good for you
to have him near. The other reason is that he needs to learn skills
if he is to survive in the wilderness.” He toyed absentmindedly
with her fingers. “Blake has survived this far but he is a bad shot
and only wounded the bear. If my people had not been nearby, he
would have been killed along with Star Gazer.”
His eyes misted at the thought. “My father
is holding council with the elders tomorrow to decide about you and
your cousin. You have won great favor in Dasodaha’s heart for
saving his son’s life with your powerful magic. My people now call
you, Woman Who Stitch Flesh.”
Blue Thunder laughed and his wife joined
in.
136
TWENTY-EIGHT
Jason was losing his patience. He had seen
Blake being escorted by a large, imposing brave from one dwelling
to another. Then hours later, before dusk, his cousin was escorted
back to the other large. Strange looking huts, he thought, but
didn’t ponder on it long, he had more important things to do, like
saving Blake’s skin than to care what those Apache’s lived in. He
would hide out one more night but he dared not light a fire.
Shivering in the night’s cold air, he was
growing tired of cold beans and jerky; he’d make his move tomorrow.
They had to let Blake tend to nature, that’s when he would free his
cousin. At least his cousin still had his full head of blonde hair
on his head. He wondered how or why in the first place Blake let
himself be captured. He thought his cousin was smarter than
that.
Jason had to smile to himself. Even in his
childhood, he was helping Blake out of scraps. His towhead cousin
was not big or tall for his age and he was the butt of jokes. Jason
was tall, taller than his classmates so when the bullies picked on
Blake, it was Jason who received black eyes, split lips or bloody
nose defending the boy. But then one year, around fourteen, Blake
shot up like a blade of grass that had been over fertilized. His
cousin even passed him in height by two inches and after that, he
fought his own fights. In fact, Blake took to carrying small
dumbbells around with him, lifting them every chance he got and he
shadow boxed daily in the
barn. But here Jason sat. Once again ready
to save Blake’s sorry hide, and he with only one good eye.
The next day Blake was taken to the pond by
only one buck. He was surprised that they were alone but something
was going on because earlier all the braves had gone to the lake to
bath and see to nature. This was to his advantage; he could over
power one Indian and escape hoping to fine his cousin, but a twig
snapped and he and his escort turned in time to see Jason leap from
the bushes, gun in hand.
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“Don’t shoot him!” cried Blake.
“What!? Have you been brained washed? He’s
the enemy. Is my sister alive?” shouted Jason, gun still in his
hand.
Blake nodded. “Yes, and she’s okay. And I’m
all right in case you were wondering.”
The sarcasm went over his cousin’s head and
he snapped, “Where is she? We’ll get her out of here and---”
“Jason!” Blake screamed but the warning came
too late. The butt of a tomahawk came down on his cousin’s
unsuspecting skull.
“Don’t kill him, he’s my cousin! He’s the
white woman’s brother,” Blake quickly explained, fearing that Jason
might have made the situation more dangerous, for all involved. He
tired to explain again but the two bucks spoke in their Anthabasian
tongue, and then one hoisted the unconscious man over his broad
shoulders. Blake was nudged with a knife at his back to follow.
Damn, he should have told Melissa the truth. Surely, now they’ll
both be tortured and
killed. Would Melissa be able to save them?
Since he held back information about her brother, she might be too
angry to intercede on his behalf. But they were kin; that should
account for something.