The sheriff and mayor took Lucy from him and stretched her out upon the ground. She appeared to be dazed and she was coughing furiously.
Maddie took the baby from Luke's arms. "You crazy fool. You could have been killed." Her eyes filled with tears of thanksgiving for his safety, for the safety of mother and child.
A crooked smile showed from beneath his soot-covered face. He dropped down on his haunches to give his son a hug before rushing off to fight the still raging fire.
Lucy called out for her baby, and Maddie quickly moved to her side. Lucy's hand flew to her mouth upon seeing her child safe in Maddie's arms. "I thought--"
"I know," Maddie whispered. She lay the tiny infant in her mother's arms.
Lucy looked up at her. "Caroline and Jamie, are they…"
"They're safe." Caroline and Jamie were racing back and forth to the stream to fill buckets of water for the men.
"And Peter?"
"Your whole family is safe."
Suddenly Lucy's expression changed from worry to anger. "Not thanks to those awful savages. I wish they were dead. Every one of them."
Shocked by Lucy's hateful voice, Maddie thought she misunderstood. "Are you talking about the Cheyenne?"
"Of course she's talking about those savages," Weedler snarled. "Who else would she be talking about?"
"They're not savages."
Weedler wagged his finger in her face. "Don't you go telling me what they are and are not!"
Maddie took a step backward. "I know the Cheyenne."
"Know them?" He barked an ugly laugh. "Do you also know that a few years ago those savages raided many of the homesteads around here, killing men, women and children--including my own parents and three sisters?"
Maddie was so stunned that she could hardly find her voice. "I'm sorry…"
"Sorry doesn't mean a hill o' beans."
"You're right," she said. "But neither does blaming a whole race for the deeds of a few."
"I don't know which of those savages is responsible. I don't care. All I know is I'm not resting until every last one is gone."
It was the hard, raw edge of hatred on his face that made her realize something. "You!" she shouted in outrage. "You're the one responsible for slaughtering those buffalo!"
His dark eyes glittered. "When the buffalo are gone, there won't be any reason for the savages to stick around."
"What you're doing is unjust and unfair."
"Do you think that what happened to my family was just and fair?"
"No, I don't think that." As much as she disliked the man, she could hardly blame him for wanting some sort of vengeance for his family's death. "Mr. Weedler, please. There's got to be a way to handle this without innocent people being hurt. Maybe the army--"
"The army? What good does the army do? The soldiers round them up, take them down south, and then what? The savages keep coming back. My way is best. I aim to make sure that those savages ain't never coming back." He tipped his hat to Lucy and walked away.
"Poor man," Lucy said to Maddie. "Imagine losing your family like that." She shuddered. "It's horrible to think about. I don't know how you can continue to defend those awful savages."
"They're my friends."
"They're the ones who set the barn on fire. I wager you'd feel differently if it was your house that lay in ruins."
"The…the Cheyenne did this? Are you sure?"
"I saw it with my own two eyes. There were five of them. One of the savages was dressed up with a red feather in his hair."
"His name is Red Feather. Not every Cheyenne thinks as he does."
"How do you know what those savages think? Why do you feel you have to defend people like this Red Feather and Luke?"
Maddie's temper flared. "Luke risked his life to save you and the baby."
Lucy sniffed in disbelief. "Peter saved us."
"Peter couldn't save a man from drowning in a desert!" Maddie immediately regretted her harsh words. Lucy had just lost her home, and it was obvious she was still in shock. "I'm sorry, Lucy. Forget what I said."
"It's true," Peter said from behind her. Neither woman had noticed Peter's presence.
Lucy looked at her husband. "What's true?"
"I'm a coward." Peter spoke to his wife but his eyes were on Maddie. "That's what you meant to say, wasn't it?"
"I had no right to criticize you," Maddie said.
Lucy concurred. "Considering the company you keep."
"That's enough!" Peter said sharply.
"Enough?" Lucy frowned at her husband. "Why do you insist upon defending Luke? He wasn't even man enough to fight in the war. But you did. You fought for your country and lost a leg because of your bravery."
"I lost a leg because of my cowardliness!"
Both women stared at Peter.
"How can you say that?" Lucy stammered at last.
"I panicked, Lucy. My company was waiting in ambush, and I panicked and ran. That's when I was shot. Many men died that day because I gave away our location."
"You were a hero that day," Lucy protested. "Everyone knows that Luke was the coward. Refusing to fight."
"Luke fought the war in his own way. He donated almost every penny of the profits from his business to support the war effort."
"I don't believe it, Peter. Why are you saying these things?"
"Because they're true, Lucy. I wasn't even man enough to stay around for Annie-May's birth."
"You were there all the time. I know you were." Lucy looked up at Maddie for confirmation. "You told me he was."
"She was protecting me," Peter said. "And today, I--" Tears formed in his eyes. "I almost lost you and the baby, and there wasn't a damned thing I could do about it but watch." He adjusted his crutches. "Oh, Lucy. Will you ever forgive me?"
Lucy stared at him but offered nothing in the way of encouragement or forgiveness. Peter waited, and then, when no response was forthcoming, he walked away as quickly as his crutches would allow.
Maddie waited until Peter was out of earshot. "He's a good man, and he deserves your support."
Lucy's eyes blazed, full of hurt and confusion. "How can you say that? He almost let me die."
"It took courage for him to admit the truth."
Lucy's eyes filled with tears. "He was so different when I married him. Before that awful war. He came back a broken man. I tried so hard to make him feel like a hero…but nothing I say or do seems to make a difference."
"Maybe the problem is that he doesn't feel that you love him for himself."
"A coward, you mean."
"Not a coward, Lucy. A man who did nothing more than act out of fear."
Lucy slumped back as if in defeat. "I wanted to believe that Peter was a hero not because I would love him any less if he wasn't one but because it made me feel a whole lot safer to think of him as such." She gave Maddie a beseeching look. "This land terrifies me, Maddie. I'm not like you. The Indians, the animals, the isolation, it all terrifies me. Telling myself that Peter could save us from anything--it was the only way I could get through the days and nights."
Maddie squeezed Lucy's hand. "In the short time that I've known you, you've come through some trying times. It wasn't heroics that got you through those times. It was courage and fortitude."
"So what are you saying, Maddie? That I don't need protection? That I have what I need to get me through whatever lies ahead?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. You're strong, Lucy. I think once you accept that fact, Peter will rediscover his own strengths."
Lucy stared down at the baby in her arms. After a moment she looked up. "Would you hold Annie-May for me? I need to find Peter."
"Of course." Maddie lifted the sleeping infant from Lucy's arms.
Lucy hesitated a moment. "Maddie…what you said…it makes sense. Thank you."
Chapter 34
It was late that afternoon by the time the fire had been fully contained. The train had long left Colton and there was nothing to do but return home.
Neither Maddie nor Luke felt like talking much during the drive home. Matthew fell asleep between them, his head on Maddie's lap.
She waited until Luke unharnessed the horse before she asked him to confirm Peter's story.
"Is it true what Peter said? Did you donate money for the war?"
She walked by his side as he led the horse to the water trough. He looked surprised by the question. "When did you talk to Peter about the war?"
"Today."
He stopped and looked at her in surprise. "Today? While we were fighting the fire?"
"I know it seems like a strange time to be talking of the past. Actually, it was Lucy he told."
"Lucy?" He looked more puzzled than ever. "I can't imagine why the subject came up. The war is over. What difference does it make at this point?"
"It makes a difference to me. It further proves that I'm right about the kind of man you are."
He frowned. "It proves nothing, Maddie. I hated slavery. I always have, but my modest efforts did little to change things. It was men like Peter who made the real difference."
"According to Peter, he did nothing."
"He made the effort, Maddie. He put his life on the line."
"So did you, Luke. Today I watched you put your life in jeopardy to save the life of a woman who despises you. As far as I'm concerned, this just confirms what I've been saying all along. Whatever happened to the doctor was an accident. I know that as surely as I know how much I love you."
Later that afternoon, when Maddie was busy preparing supper, Shooting Star appeared at the door asking to speak to Luke. Her initial alarm upon seeing the Cheyenne was soon dispelled.
Shooting Star was alone, and he didn't appear to be hostile. If anything, he seemed over-friendly. He kept smiling at her and pointing to his potbelly, apparently thinking she approved.
Maddie sent Matthew to the barn to fetch his father. While they waited for Luke, she invited Shooting Star into the soddy, which was considerably cooler than she outside.
Shooting Star stepped across the threshold, dropped to the floor, and pulled out a knife.
Startled, Maddie cried out. Then she realized it was the mounted bobcat that Shooting Star was about to attack.
"It's all right. It won't hurt you. See?" She reached up to stroke the animal.
Shooting Star stood, glanced around at the other mounted animals, and his eyes filled with distrust and suspicion. Although he slid the knife into the shield at his waist, the wariness remained on his weather-carved face.
Maddie tried to take his mind off his surroundings. "Where's Lefty? Why hasn't he come?"
Shooting Star didn't seem to understand. "Lefty," she repeated. She lifted her left arm to demonstrate, but before she could convey her meaning, Luke walked in the door and greeted the Indian with a solemn nod.
"For you," Shooting Star motioned outside to three spotted ponies that were tethered there.
"Why are you giving me your ponies?"
"You don't like?"
"I like very much, but I don't know why you're giving them to me."
"Fair trade."
Luke considered this for a moment. "What are we trading?" When the Indian looked puzzled, he elaborated. "What do you want me to give you in return?"
Shooting Star indicated with his hand that he understood. "You give me Ostrich."
Maddie suddenly felt sick. "I think he means me. The Cheyenne think I look like ostrich."
Luke's eyebrows flew to his hairline in astonishment. "Do they have any idea what an ostrich looks like?"
Obviously misunderstanding the conversation, Shooting Star pounded his chest. "Me want Ostrich!"