Cheyenne Moon (3 page)

Abby awakened to the rough, wet tongue of Storm gently licking her hand that rested on his paw. He didn’t seem to be in pain and his eyes looked a lot clearer this morning. She looked around the cave for Shadow Spirit, but he was gone.  She got up and walked to the entrance, peering outside, she saw Shadow Spirit making a fire; he had a rabbit cleaned and ready to cook. She watched him, without him knowing, he had such a great compassion for all living things. She watched as he said a prayer for the spirit of the rabbit and thanked his God for the food that the rabbit provided. She knew in her heart that he was a gentleman, but she still wanted to go home. She missed her father, and worried about him so much.

“Good Morning Shadow Spirit, Storm looks better this morning.”

“Yes he is better, it will be a long time before he is well, but he will live. He is very weak, but I think that by tonight he can be put on a travois and we can continue to my village.”

“Good, the sooner we get to your village, the sooner I can go home,” she said.

“We have been through this Abby. I will see that you get home only when it is safe and only if at that time you still want to go.”

“And I have told you that I will still want to go home, anytime that I can get the chance to do so,” she stated as she stalked off to the stream to wash up.

“Do you always wake up a grump? He yelled.

When Abby returned the smell of the roasting rabbit bombarded her senses. The fresh air seemed to give her an enormous appetite, or maybe it was the fact that she went without food for so long that she was making up for lost time. Either way she was ravenous. 

They ate in an uncomfortable silence, neither of them wishing to argue anymore. In her mind she understood Shadow Spirit’ reasoning for not taking her home because the danger to him would be great, and for her to start out alone would be fatal. In her heart, she only wanted to see her father and her home again.

Their day was spent in the cave in case some of the renegades came back around. They fed Storm and exercised his stiff legs, so that when they placed him on the travois that night he wouldn’t hurt so much. As the moon rose in the cloudless, star sprinkled sky, Abby folded her sleeping robe and placed it on the travois that Shadow Spirit had made to transport his wolf on.  She felt a little uneasy about this being their last night alone. Soon she would be swept into the world of an Indian village. She didn’t know what to expect, but with all her heart she hoped she was allowed to stay with Shadow Spirit, for the simple reason that he didn’t seem like a stranger to her anymore. At least that was what she told herself.

Abby returned to the cave to make sure she gotten the rest of their supplies. She heard the horse walking around outside, she started to run from the cave, thinking he was leaving without her and ran right into strong arms.

“Why do you move with such speed,” Shadow Spirit asked.  He held her within the circle of his arms. Abby could feel the strength of his hard body.  She had a strange ache in the region of her heart. She couldn’t find the energy to pull out of his arms. She looked up into his beautiful green eyes, he smiled, and her legs turned to jelly.

“I… I was afraid you were leaving without me,” she whispered.

“I would not do that Abby. I will protect you and keep you safe if it is within my power,” he said. He knew it was true for he was feeling a great need to just hold her and have the world know that she would be his. His lips slowly descended to her waiting mouth.

Abby felt like a bolt of lightning had jolted her body. She tried to remain passive, but her arms came up and wrapped around his neck of their own accord.  She was kissing him with more passion than she knew she possessed. He broke the kiss, leaving Abby breathless.

“We will leave now,” he smiled. He helped her on to the horse, and vaulted on behind her. He held her a little more tightly than the last time they had been on a horse.

They rode through the night in silence, each with their own thoughts. Shadow Spirit knew that his way of life would be trying for Abby. The life of a Cheyenne woman was not easy, but the rewards of her work were plentiful. He hoped she would let herself become one of his people. If she could not adjust to their lifestyle, her time with the Cheyenne would be difficult at best.

Abby thought about Shadow Spirit as she let her body rest back against him. He was a magnificent specimen of manhood. The muscles bulged on his arms and legs and he was tall and powerful. Knowing he would be close when they reached his village gave her a sense of safety. She tried to forget the kiss they shared, to put it in the back of her mind, but that was not an easy task.

Shadow Spirit and Abby had ridden hard all night. The sun was just beginning to rise over the eastern horizon, as they came to the top of the mountain and Abby looked down into the valley where she got her first look at a real Indian village. There nestled between two tree-covered mountains were perhaps a hundred teepees. The mountains were covered with the colors of early fall, bright orange, brilliant yellow, all variations of red, sprinkled in amongst the still green leaves of the giant trees.

As they rode down the hill toward the village, she could see woman out in front of their tepees cooking the first meal of the day, and dogs running around hoping for a treat. Children and men were just beginning to drift out into the morning light. Abby began to wonder what kind of reception she would get. “Will they attack me when we ride in?” 

“You are with the son of their Chief, no one will harm you,” he answered.

“What will happen to me Shadow Spirit? Will I have to be someone’s captive?”

“That will be for council to decide. I will ask for you for myself, if that is what you want.”

“I don’t want to be anyone’s captive, not even yours,” she exclaimed.

“You do not have a say in the matter.”

“I helped you save your wolf and this is the thanks I get?” Tears welled up in her eyes as she glared at him

Her tears were his undoing; he could no longer make her believe that once he got her to his home, he was going to be rid of her. He would not tell her that he could not stand the thought of her being in someone else’s lodge.

“It will be better for you to be my captive than one of the other warrior’s with a wife. The wife is who rules the lodge; she tells the captives what to do.  It is also the wife who decides the punishment for any form of disobedience,” he said. “Since I have no wife to become jealous of your beauty, you will be safe as my captive.”

They rode into the village, women and children came rushing out of their lodges to point and stare at Abby.

“What are they saying?” She asked.

“They have never seen a woman with your coloring, they say your hair is the color of the white man’s gold and your eyes the color of the summer sky,” he said with a gentle expression in his eyes.  “We will go speak to my Father now.

Shadow Spirit dismounted and helped Abby from the horse’s back.  She was terrified.  The women came up to her and started poking at her and pulling on her hair.

“Please Shadow Spirit make them stop,” she pleaded.

He spoke to the women sharply in Cheyenne. They immediately stopped and backed away. Shadow Spirit took Abby by her arm and walked to the center of the village where the Chief’s lodge was erected. Shadow Spirit called to his father and mother asking permission to enter.

“Come,” a woman called from inside.

A woman of a slight build, with long red braids and sparkling green eyes came up to Shadow Spirit and embraced him.

“It’s good to have you home my son. Your Father wishes to speak with you.”

“It is good to be home Mother, I have missed you and Father more than I can say.”

Abby stood just inside the tepee watching the tender reunion. She couldn’t understand where her people got the impression that Indians didn’t have the capacity to love and form bonds with family as the whites did.

Shadow Spirit walked to a bed in the back of the tepee. The bed looked very comfortable it appeared to be made of buffalo skins stuffed with grass.  He kneeled beside the bed speaking softly to the frail man reclining there, his mother sat beside the bed holding her husband’s hand.

Abby thought they had forgotten about her. She felt totally lost and alone. She missed her Father more than ever now as she witnessed the love Shadow Spirit had for his parents and the love they had for him. She saw the Chief glance in her direction, then turn and say something in Cheyenne. Shadow Spirit motioned for her to come closer. She did with reluctance.

“Father, this is Abby, Abby this is my Father, Chief White Feather of the Cheyenne.”

“How do you do sir?”

“I have seen better days,” he said with a smile. “My son tells me he took you away from Black Heart. You are a lucky woman, it is not often anyone escapes from the clutches of that renegade.

“I am very grateful to Shadow Spirit for all his help, but I would sorely like to go home, my Father needs me,” she pleaded.

“Shadow Spirit has explained the reasons you cannot go home at this time, has he not?” The Chief asked in an unusually strong voice for someone so frail.

“Yes sir he has, but I could go alone.”

“I will not allow you to risk your life so foolishly, you are a beautiful young woman, and Black Heart will not give up so easily. You may stay here for as long as need be. My wife will need help in the days to come, I am not long for this world, and I will soon join the ones who have gone before me.” Abby observed a single tear slide down his wife’s cheek during his words of death. “My wife is a strong woman, but our daughter is to be wed in a short time and cannot be of as much help, with her own lodge to take care of, you will take her place.”

“How long before I will be allowed to go home?”

“It is decided. No more talk,” he stated.

Abby walked away, her hopes deflated. She again stood by the door flap, and watched as Shadow Spirit embraced his mother. He came to where Abby stood and looked down at her.

“Are you leaving me here alone?”

“You will not be alone. My parents will watch over you,” he said.

“You said that I was to be your captive.

“That has changed. My mother needs you, but I will be close by. My lodge is only a few steps away. Do not be afraid, my mother is not a hard woman she will treat you well. Now I must go, there is much for me to do.” He touched her cheek briefly with his fingertips and was gone.

Abby stood waiting for instructions from Shadow Spirit’s mother; she gazed at the older woman as she attended to her husband. She was extremely beautiful. She had glorious red hair and clear caring eyes the color of new grass in the springtime, an exact match for her sons. Her skin had been darkened from years of constant battles with the wind and the sun. The older woman looked up, caught Abby staring at her, and smiled.

“My husband sleeps now. Come, we will go outside, we can get to know each other while I prepare our noon meal.”

Abby followed her outside the lodge to where a fire burned with a large pot hanging over it.

“My son neglected to introduce me. My name is Judith Macintosh, but here I am known as Green Eyes. This has been my home for over twenty-five years now.”

“I am Abby Anderson. Do you ever get homesick?”

“The Crow killed my parents when I was taken captive. I was down at the stream fishing when I heard my father scream for everybody to hide. Strong arms grabbed me from behind and I was pulled onto a horse. I saw our cabin burning in the distance as I was taken away, so you see I had no one to be homesick for. I was only held a few hours by the Crow before White Feather and his warriors came upon us and killed the raiding party, taking me with them,” she explained.

“Weren’t you just as afraid of them as you were the Crow?”

“You know, I do not think that I was. There was something about the way that White Feather looked at me that made me feel safe.”

They talked about life with the Cheyenne as Green Eyes put tiny potatoes and turnips in the boiling stock along with bits of venison. She hung another smaller pot beside the stew pot; she cooked the tops of the turnips in the small pot, adding a hunk of suet.  Shadow Spirit came back as the food was being served to his father.

“Would you like some stew and greens, my son?”

“Yes Mother. It has been many suns since I last tasted your stew,” he said.

“Thank you, I will serve you when I am finished helping your father.”

“I’ll serve Shadow Spirit for you,” Abby said.  She dished a large portion of stew and greens and handed it to him.

“Thank you Abby. You should also eat, trail food cannot compare to my mother’s cooking. She has incorporated the better of two worlds into her cooking.”

They ate their meal in a relaxed silence. The food was delicious. Abby ate two bowls of stew and a helping of greens. She had never eaten that much at one time before in her entire life. 

She walked outside as Shadow Spirit was leaving. Green Eyes had gone to visit a sick friend while the Chief slept. Abby longed to take a long bath, and to have something decent to put on.

“Shadow Spirit,” she said timidly.  “Do you think it would be possible for me to have a bath and something clean to wear?”