Ryder sent him a searching glance. “Did you
think I would not?”
Cut Nose shrugged. “It occurred to me. When
Little Sparrow left your lodge I assumed she had divorced you.”
Ryder’s eyes narrowed. “You would have liked that, Cut Nose. You wanted Little Spar
row once.”
Cut Nose grinned. “She is very beautiful. Her
hair is like fire and her skin is as white as snow.”
Suddenly his gaze rested on the breechclout
Ryder held in his hands. “Ah, I see you found
my breechclout.” His dark eyes raked Hannah
suggestively before turning back to Ryder. “I
had forgotten where I left it.”
Hannah groaned. Cut Nose was deliberately
goading Ryder into a fight.
Ryder’s face hardened. “Did you? I think you
know exactly where you left it. I found it in my lodge, lying beside my woman’s sleeping
mat.”
Cut Nose sent Hannah a sheepish look, as if to apologize for his oversight. He didn’t fool
Hannah for a minute. She knew he was waiting to see what she would say. When she remained
silent, Ryder gave her a hard look, his hands
clenched tightly at his sides.
“Perhaps I am mistaken and the breechclout isn’t mine after all,” Cut Nose offered. The sly
gleam in his black eyes suggested otherwise.
“What were you doing in my woman’s lodge?”
Ryder demanded.
Cut Nose smiled at Hannah. “Ask your woman. I do not go where I am not invited.”
Hannah gasped, left speechless by his damn
ing words. Surely Ryder didn’t believe Cut Nose,
did he? Once he thought she’d taken Trent as a
lover. Did he also think she’d invite Cut Nose
into her bed? When Ryder turned to her, his face
a glowering mask of fury, Hannah knew that
was exactly what he thought. She was caught in the web of Cut Nose’s lies.
Ryder could not adequately suppress the outrage he felt at Cut Nose’s words. He did
not believe for a minute that Hannah had
invited the man into her bed. He’d been an
utter fool to think she’d taken Gilmore as a
lover. He knew better now. No woman could lie with such conviction and at the same time
make love so sweetly. He should have accepted
her explanation immediately and trusted her
reasons for leaving Denver with Gilmore. She
had done it for him, pure and simple, and he’d
been a fool to believe otherwise. Jealousy did
crazy things to a man, and no matter what their
differences, he could no longer deny the love he
felt for Hannah McLin.
Hannah realized Ryder was staring at her, his expression grim and unreadable, and she
stepped toward him, holding her hands out
in supplication. “Cut Nose lied, Ryder. He did
come into my lodge last night, but it wasn’t at
my invitation. He fled in fear when you arrived
in camp. If you hadn’t come when you did, he
would have ...” She sent Ryder a bleak look.
“He would have raped me.”
“False words from a white whore,” Cut Nose said with scathing contempt.
Summer Moon, who had been listening,
paled, and Coyote, who was also present,
waited to see what direction Ryder’s wrath
would take. He didn’t have long to wait. With
a feral cry, Ryder grabbed the knife at his waist
and lunged at Cut Nose. Cut Nose, expecting retaliation, ducked and found his own knife.
Crouching low, the two men circled one anoth
er, each looking for an opening to sink his blade
into the other.
“Come on, white eyes,” Cut Nose goaded. “You’ve convinced the People of your loyalty,
but the color of your skin does not lie. I know what you are. A Sioux warrior is stronger and braver than any white man.”
Ryder lunged at Cut Nose, and once again Cut
Nose dodged. Then Cut Nose struck out. Ryder
neatly sidestepped while Hannah looked on in
horror. Then, suddenly, Coyote was standing
between them, separating them by the length
of his arms.
“Stop! You both know tribal law. There will
be no killing. If Cut Nose tried to rape your
woman, it is for the council to decide what will
be done with him.”
“Do you think the council will believe a white
whore?” Cut Nose laughed. “This must be set
tled between me and Wind Rider.”
“Cut Nose is right,” Ryder concurred. “We will fight here and now. Innocence or guilt will
be decided in hand-to-hand combat.”
“No!” Hannah screamed. She feared that Ryder wasn’t sufficiently healed from his ordeal
with the militia to fight Cut Nose. She’d seen
and felt firsthand the result of the beatings he
had received. “Let the council decide. If it is the
law, Ryder, you must abide by it.”
“Your woman is wise,” Coyote observed. “Lis
ten to her. I will call for a council meeting so you and Cut Nose can resolve your difference.
If punishment is due, let the council decide.”
Ryder was coiled like a spring. How could he walk away from the man who had tried to rape his wife? Yet the People must obey tribal law. If he disobeyed that law, it would aid Cut Nose’s claim that he wasn’t Cheyenne. At this
moment his instincts were white: He wanted to
kill Cut Nose and to hell with the council and
tribal law. But in the end good sense prevailed.
That, and the stricken expression on Hannah’s
face, convinced him to heed Coyote’s words.
With great effort he forced his body to relax,
and his grip on the knife eased.
“Call your council meeting, Coyote, but if
Cut Nose goes unpunished I will kill him.”
He turned and walked away rapidly, grasping
Hannah’s hand and pulling her along with him.
He didn’t stop until he had pushed Hannah
inside the lodge and entered behind her.
“You did the right thing, Ryder,” Hannah
said softly. “You are in no condition to engage
in a fight with a man like Cut Nose.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ryder growled.
“You should have told me immediately that
Cut Nose tried to rape you last night.”
Hannah flushed and looked away. “Cut Nose
threatened to kill you if I spoke of it.”
“And you believed him? Don’t you know by
now I can take care of myself?”
“You aren’t healed yet from the beatings you
took in jail!” Hannah exclaimed. “I couldn’t live
without you. I love you, Ryder.”
Ryder shook his head, marveling at the emo
tion that made people lose their sense, their
will, even their pride. He wondered if he would
survive it. He had been ready to kill for Hannah,
and he still would if anyone dared to touch her
again. “I have known a sister’s love, parental
love, but never have I known a woman’s love. When I left the Cheyenne nation to fight with
the Sioux I assumed I wouldn’t live long enough
to find a woman to love, let alone take a wife. I
envied the love Tears Like Rain felt for Zach,
for I knew I would never attain that kind of
happiness. And now .. .”
“And now?” Hannah prompted. She held her
breath, waiting for the words she’d waited so
long to hear.
“And now I have a woman to love.”
“Are you saying you love me, Ryder?”
Not one for flowery words, Ryder said, “Is that not what I just said? Did I not follow you when you left me? Did I not leave the People
for your sake?”
Hannah nodded solemnly, her gaze intent upon his face. And still she waited for something more. If he couldn’t say the words, how could she believe he meant them?
Ryder sighed, then flashed her a disarming
smile, aware of what she wanted. “I love you,
Little Sparrow. I have always loved you. Even when you looked like a scrawny bundle of rags
with matted hair and dirty face. With your help
maybe I can learn to trust men with white
skins and live with them in peace.”
”Oh, Ryder!” She threw her arms around
his neck, raining kisses on his face, his chin,
his nose, wherever her lips could reach. ‘I’ve
always loved you, too. And if you want to live
in Red Cloud’s camp, I won’t complain. As long
as we’re together, I’ll be happy.”
Ryder hugged her close, realizing how precious she had become to him and amazed that
he would be so willing to sacrifice a way of life
he was comfortable with for her.
“I must find my way in the white world,
Hannah. No matter how much I admire the
Indians, no matter how deeply I feel about the
injustice done to them, I can no longer live with
them. Your life is too precious to me to place it
at risk. Life in the Badlands is too uncertain. The
whites are too plentiful. One day all Indians will
be forced to live on reservations, and that is not
what I want for you.
“I will still help my people. But I will help
them in ways that don’t involve killing. The
governor granted me amnesty, but I have given
something in return. I have agreed to act as
Indian agent to the Sioux and Cheyenne. I will
deal honestly and fairly with them. They will
have food and blankets to see them through the
winter, and a champion to argue their cause.”
Hannah’s eyes sparkled brightly. “Your child
will be proud of you.”
Ryder stared at Hannah for so long, she felt
a slow heat creep up her neck. Had she mis
judged Ryder? Didn’t he want their child? It
was a subject they hadn’t previously discussed.
“You’re carrying my child?” His voice was
thick with emotion. His next words set her back
on her heels. “You went with Gilmore knowing
you carried my baby in your belly?”
Hannah’s mouth went dry. “I never would have endangered your child, Ryder. I never
would have allowed Trent to touch me. Don’t
you understand? I did it for your sake. How many times do I have to repeat it before you
believe me?”
“I do believe you, Little Sparrow. I was a jealous fool for not realizing you’d never go off with Gilmore without a good reason. I shudder to think what might have happened to you and
my child.”
“Trent had many faults, but I’m convinced he would never have hurt me. He would have been angry, but I truly believe he cared for me
in his own way. I never wished for his death,
or the death of any of those men escorting us
to Fort Laramie. Will this senseless slaughter
never end?”
She began to sob softly, and Ryder gathered
her into his arms, content for the time being
to have her resting against his heart. “I do not
know how all this will end, but I intend to
use my authority as Indian agent to help the
People. We will leave Red Cloud’s camp soon.
The governor is waiting for me to take up my
new position. I hope you won’t mind living
with Abby and Zach until our own home can be built.”
“I won’t mind as long as we’re together.”
Ryder’s hand strayed down to her stomach, coming to rest on the barely discernible rise. A look of pure delight spread across his features. “I never expected this. Not long ago I was cer
tain I would die fighting white eyes. Then I
met you and began to dream of a different life,
one that included a wife and children. Not just
any wife, but one with bright hair and green
eyes. Now, through you, my personal talisman,
my dreams have become reality. I love you,
Hannah, and I’ll love our child.”
Ryder’s words forced the tenseness from her
body. Hannah hadn’t realized just how tight
ly she had been coiled while awaiting Ryder’s
reaction to her pregnancy. Finally she was able to relax. Ryder wanted the baby! He loved her.
Nothing else mattered.
He kissed her then, with so much tenderness she wanted to weep with joy. He kissed her so
long and so thoroughly, tasting her with such
obvious relish, that the blood flowed thick and
heated through her veins. When he broke off the kiss and set her aside a soft cry of protest slipped past her lips.
“I want to make love to you, my love, but
I cannot until this thing between me and Cut
Nose is settled. By now Coyote has summoned
the council members and I must go.”