Comanche Woman (26 page)

Chapter 13

B
AY AND
L
ONG
Q
UIET RODE UNTIL DUSK AND CAMPED
not far from a small water hole. Bay was exhausted and sore. Her shoulders ached, her thighs were scraped raw, and her buttocks were tender. Her legs could hardly support her when she slid off her pony. She hid her weakness from Long Quiet, not wishing to prove herself a disappointment to him so soon after becoming a Comanche wife.

“I’ll get some firewood,” she offered.

Long Quiet saw her hobbling away and realized she’d be hard pressed to do the bending and stooping such a chore would require. “I’ll do it while you unpack the ponies,” he said.

Bay’s eyes widened when he reversed their jobs. But he was gone before she could thank him. She loosened the packs on the ponies and put them on the ground. Long Quiet had shot and gutted two rabbits for dinner, but she had to skin them. She wrinkled her nose. She knew how to skin a rabbit, but that didn’t mean she liked doing it.

She didn’t bother to empty the contents of her
parfleche
, simply reached inside for her knife. The skinning went quickly, and Bay had time to dig a pit and arrange a circle of stones before Long Quiet returned with enough mesquite to last all evening. While the rabbit roasted on a stick over the fire, Bay arranged a pallet for them to sleep on. She eyed the
parfleche
she’d set near the fire, knowing it contained the winter leggings she was making for Long Quiet. She’d thought when she packed them that she’d sew on them in the evenings during the trip. She smiled ruefully. She was too tired to do anything more tonight than stretch out on the pallet and sleep.

When the rabbit was ready, they divided it between them. When they’d finished, they settled down on the pallet, close but not touching.

“How long before we get where we’re going?” Bay asked.

“Tired of traveling so soon?”

Bay cautiously turned over, groaning when her muscles protested. “Just wondering,” she gritted out.

Long Quiet reached out a hand to massage her shoulder. “I pushed a little harder today, knowing you’d be sore tomorrow. It’s not much farther.”

Bay had tensed at Long Quiet’s first touch, but the strength of his fingers did too good a job soothing her aching muscles for her to think about objecting. She edged a little closer to Long Quiet to make his job easier, and when he nudged her with his palm, she readily flattened onto her stomach. He sat up beside her so he could use both hands to ease the soreness from her shoulders.

“You never told me why you’re going to Mexico,” Bay said.

Long Quiet’s hands paused for a moment, then resumed as he explained, “Last year about this time, the Mexicans finally did what they’ve been threatening to do since Texas declared her independence seven years ago. They invaded Texas and captured San Antonio with an army of several thousand men.”

Bay froze. “Why didn’t you say something about this before?”

“Because General Woll and his army only stayed in San Antonio nine days. It was apparently just an expedition to see if Mexico could successfully invade Texas.”

“And it succeeded!” The force of Long Quiet’s hands on her back kept Bay from rising to confront him. “Texans all over the Republic must have been terrified.”

“More angry than afraid, it seems. They put together an army of their own to retaliate against the Mexicans. The Texas army had orders from President Houston to invade Mexico and confront General Woll’s army—if it looked like they could win.

“General Somervell led the Texas army south down the Laredo road, right through a post-oak bog. Between the animals sinking in quicksand up to their bellies and the men being drenched through with mud, they were in a pretty mean mood by the time they reached the Mexican border.

“Unfortunately, Woll’s Mexican army was long gone and the Texans captured Laredo without getting a chance to fight off some of their aggravation.”

Long Quiet’s hands had moved down from Bay’s shoulders to the middle of her back, and as he talked, his fingertips just skimmed the edges of her breasts. His touch seemed accidental, but Bay still felt a sense of languorous delight. “What happened then?” she murmured.

Long Quiet’s hands tightened for a moment on Bay’s back before he said, “That’s when things started going wrong. Half the army decided they’d had enough revenge and headed home. The rest, led by a fellow named William Fisher, set out toward the Mexican town of Mier. Unfortunately for them, another Mexican army, this one led by General Ampudia, heard what was happening and surrounded the town.

“On Christmas Day, the Texans fought the Battle of Mier. Before they finally ran out of ammunition and surrendered, twelve Texans had been killed and twenty-three wounded. But they’d killed six hundred Mexicans and wounded two hundred more. As you can imagine, the Mexicans weren’t feeling particularly benevolent toward their captives.”

Bay felt tense but wasn’t sure whether it was from the serious turn of Long Quiet’s story or because his hands had moved down to massage her buttocks. Every once in a while his thumb would land in the crease between her thighs. She quivered with the thought of what would happen if she just turned over.

“You’re shivering,” Long Quiet said, his voice husky. “Are you cold?”

“No, I’m fine. I just—what happened to the Texans who were captured at Mier?” she said in an attempt to ignore the rapidly increasing sexual tension between them.

“Ah. They escaped, of course.”

Bay smiled. “No, really. What happened?”

“They escaped,” he said with a smile. His smile was short-lived as he continued. “But they’d been marched deep into Mexico before they fought free. The land around them was nothing but desert and barren mountains. They lacked food, water, and shelter. Almost all of them were recaptured. The Mexicans were furious, humiliated. General Santa Anna ordered that every tenth man who’d participated in the escape be executed.”

“Oh, no!” Bay said.

“The Mexicans claimed they were being merciful.” Long Quiet’s hands, which had been moving steadily, stopped. “They used a lottery to decide who was to die. Seventeen black beans were put into a clay jar with 159 white beans. They forced each prisoner to draw out a bean. The seventeen doomed men were offered a meal and an opportunity to speak with a priest before they were lined up along an adobe wall and shot. Those who survived the lottery were taken deep into Mexico, where they’ve been ever since.”

Bay sat up and faced Long Quiet. His somber expression gave little consolation for her fears. “So why are you going to Mexico?”

“Some of the Mier prisoners are attempting an escape. I’m going to meet them with horses and supplies and lead them back to Texas.”

“Why do you have to go?” She hid her fear behind the sharp demand.

He shrugged. “Creed asked me to go. It looked like if I didn’t go, he’d leave Cricket and go himself.”

Bay could understand why Long Quiet had agreed to help Creed, but it still meant he would be putting himself in danger. Right now she didn’t want to think about how much that mattered to her. No longer the least bit sleepy, she got up from the pallet and walked over to where she’d left her
parfleche
. She opened it and reached inside, yanking out the buckskin leggings she’d been making for Long Quiet and leaving the rest of the contents to spill out as they would. She marched back to the fire and sat cross-legged with the leggings in her lap, just staring at them.

“What are you doing?” Long Quiet asked.

“I’m going to finish these leggings.”

“They can wait. You need to rest.”

“I’m not tired.”

“You can hardly move. Put your sewing away. Then come back and lie down beside me.”

Bay stared for a moment at the buckskin in her hands before she said, “What if you don’t come back?”

“What?”

“What if you don’t come back from Mexico? I’ll be alone in your village among strangers. What will happen to me?”

Long Quiet came and sat down beside her. He took the buckskin from her hands and pulled her into his embrace. “I think you have too little faith in your husband,” he gently chided, but added to allay her fears, “My grandfather will make sure no harm comes to you.”

“What if . . . what if someone accuses me again of being a sorceress? It could happen, couldn’t it?”

She could hear the irritation in his voice when he answered curtly, “Anything is possible, but I don’t think it likely.”

“Let me go,” she said. “I want to put your leggings away so the morning dew won’t get to them.”

Reluctantly, he released her. Bay gathered the buckskins and folded them carefully, aware that Long Quiet’s eyes never left her. She was just about to stuff them back into her
parfleche
when he said, “Don’t move. Don’t breathe. Stay right where you are.”

Bay looked down. Barely illuminated by the firelight, a small snake lay half inside and half outside her
parfleche
. The head was black, followed by a thin ring of yellow and a thicker ring of red. Then the pattern was repeated. She’d never seen a snake quite like it, but if Long Quiet’s actions were any guide, it was dangerous.

She struggled to remain perfectly still as Long Quiet maneuvered closer. It was all over before she could blink. The snake’s head had been severed from its body by Long Quiet’s knife and she’d been yanked out of danger and enfolded in his arms.

“Shadow, Shadow,” he whispered. He was trembling and his mouth found hers urgently, as though to reaffirm that she was alive. He clutched her to him as he tried to calm his shattered nerves.

“The snake was poisonous?” Bay asked breathlessly.

“Deadly,” he huffed. “A coral snake.”

“Where did it come from? I didn’t see it crawling toward my bag, and it was tied closed until a moment ago.”

“You didn’t see it because it was already in your bag. Someone must have put it there before we left the village.”

“But I’d already reached into that bag—twice! Once to get my knife and once for the leggings. Why didn’t the snake strike then?”

“You were lucky.” He looked down at the snake’s severed head. Not even his grandfather could guard her against such surreptitious attacks. “We were both lucky. Maybe I shouldn’t push that luck. Maybe it would be better if you went home to Three Oaks after all.”

“For a visit, you mean? Until you return from Mexico?”

“No. To stay.”

Long Quiet turned away so she wouldn’t see the agonized look on his face. He’d searched for this woman for three years, had loved her for more years than that. He’d believed her lost to him forever because she had a Comanche family and then had discovered she wasn’t bound to anyone after all. Then the Great Spirit had so turned the course of events that she had become his wife. How could he possibly consider sending her from his side?
How could he not?

“I wanted to believe that the Comanches’ fear of you was foolishness, but there’s nothing foolish about this attack on you. It’s not the first time someone’s tried to kill you, Shadow. And despite my wishful thinking, it won’t be the last.”

“You don’t know that it was someone from the village who put that snake in my bag.”

“I can’t prove it, no. But I won’t take a chance with your life.”

“It’s my life. I can make that decision for myself,” Bay said. “I’ll go to your grandfather’s village and wait for you.”

“I won’t take you there.”

“Then I’ll find it by myself,” she challenged.

Long Quiet’s nostrils flared in anger even as his eyes glowed in admiration for her courage. She’d already spoken of her fears, yet she’d willingly brave that danger to be with him. His heart swelled with love for her. “Don’t you see you have no more choice than I do? To leave you in
Comanchería
is to condemn you to certain death. I can’t let you stay here. I’ll take you to your father’s house.”