Bittersweet Ecstasy (55 page)

Her palms flattened on the mat on either side of his neck and she gingerly leaned forward to shorten the distance between them, a distance more unbearable than his physical pain. His left arm lifted so his hand could wander through her hair. Closing her eyes and cuddling to it as a contented cat, she let her feelings rove freely and wildly. His hand moved over her face, stroking and admiring each feature.

He uncontrollably pulled her to the mat and rolled to his left side, grimacing as the injuries on his chest and back protested loudly. He endured the pain, and rested his wounded arm across her body, for he desperately needed this contact. The problem was, he was lying on his best side and his least injured arm was under her head, so he could do nothing more than gaze at her and stroke her hair.

Rebecca’s arm carefully slipped over his waist and touched his back, making contact with the sticky salve and numerous injuries there. “What happened to you, my love?” she asked in alarm, as she struggled to keep her wits so she would not roll against him and hurt him.

Bright Arrow related how the “mourning cut” on his left forearm had become infected and was being tended. He told her how he had been shot in the right arm by a soldier. He revealed how he had been tricked
by a false truce flag, captured, then beaten and lashed to compel his war party to surrender. He explained how Sun Cloud had rescued him, brought him home, then left him here to heal while the others returned to battle. Unable to shoot a bow or use a knife or war lance or to safely endure the arduous ride or to keep from endangering others, he had accepted his brother’s command to remain in camp. He smiled and murmured, “I am glad I was here when you returned, even if it took many wounds to hold me down. If I had learned of your return while I was away, I might have deserted my band to rush to your side. Where have you been, my love?”

Rebecca kept her gaze fused to his as she enlightened him. When she reached the episode in the blockhouse, fury caused his jawline to grow taut and his dark eyes to narrow. “Do not worry, my love, I was not harmed in body, only in pride. The Great Spirit will punish him; that is why he has returned to our lands after these many winters: he has returned to pay for his evil deeds with his life. The soldier called Ames is a good man; I hope your people will spare his life.”

“It will be so, if possible,” he replied, then related what they knew and felt about this white man and others.

For a time, they talked about their family and discussed the events which had occurred during their lengthy separation. Finally, Bright Arrow asked, “What of Jeremy Comstock?”

A look of dismay crossed her face. “He was a good man and I could not have survived or returned without his help and protection. I did not see him again after Timothy Moore revealed the truth about me and arrested me. He probably thinks I lied to him and used him, and betrayed him. Perhaps that is best, Bright Arrow, for it will make it easier for him to forget me if
he hates me. I never went to his sleeping mat, my love, nor any man’s but yours.”

He smiled and said, “There is no need to tell me such things, for I know them. Now, there is something more I must tell you,” he hinted, then related the facts about him and Singing Wind and Silver Hawk and the false vision. “It seems I have been tricked many times. Why does Grandfather allow me to make such a fool of myself? I do not love her, Wahea; I only needed someone to remove the pain and emptiness of your loss. I did not give up on you until father and mother were slain and Silver Hawk entrapped me with his dark dreams and desires. Before Sun Cloud rode from camp, I confessed the truth of my blindness. He told me of his love for Singing Wind and of hers for him. It is good, and it is right, and it will be this way.”

He smiled as he told her about Sun Cloud’s victories in the Sacred Bow race and Sun Dance ceremony. “He said you were alive and you were calling to me. He said you would return, but I feared to believe it. Sun Cloud knows he must be chief and have Singing Wind; I know this, and soon all will know it and accept it. I have loved no woman in heart or body since I met you. As with my father Gray Eagle and my mother Shalee, we are as one and will live and die as one.”

Rebecca thought for a moment about Powchutu, the man who could have been her father, who was once believed to be her father. How she wished she could have returned sooner so she could have met him. He had been her mother’s first love and the reason why Joe Kenny had married her pregnant mother. Tomorrow, she would visit his death scaffold and pray for him, and for her parents. So many circles had closed during this last year, and so many mysteries had been solved.

“What troubles your mind, my love?” he asked tenderly.

“I was thinking about Powchutu. I wish I could have met him. He must have been very special for our mothers to love him and for your father to forgive him and to accept him as his brother. It is good he returned to settle their stormy pasts before… Tell me all you learned about him,” she coaxed, wanting to keep her mind off of the hungers which were gnawing at her ravenous flesh from head to foot.

Bright Arrow grinned as he recognized her ploy, and he complied. When he finished, he teased, “If the shaman was awake, I would force him to smear numbing salve over my body so I could seize you.” He rolled carefully onto his back to ease the tension on his chest.

Rebecca smiled provocatively and whispered, “I have not forgotten how to ride a wild stallion. If you lie very still, would it hurt you for me to mount him and to carry our spirits away on the wind?”

Bright Arrow grinned once more and his eyes seemingly sparkled. “If you do not, soon he will ache more than my wounds. I must warn you, he is weak and has little control this moon.”

“Then our feelings match, my love, for I have been lingering on the edge of passion’s cliff since I entered our tepee.” She lifted his knife to sever the cloth strip which held her dress together in the front. When she noted his probing look, she said, “He tried to rip off my clothes. Ames tied it for me before we escaped.”

Rebecca removed her clothes, then his breechcloth. She leaned forward and kissed him, gently at first, then urgently. She felt his hand fondle her breasts; then he asked her to shift forward so he could taste them. She eagerly obliged him, her stomach and womanhood tensing as his mouth feasted on one, then the other. His left hand roamed her bare flesh and slipped between her parted thighs. She moaned with exquisite pleasure
as he skillfully stroked the hardened bud. She wished she could reach his manhood to caress it, but she had to use her arms to prop herself where he could reach her easily and painlessly. When she glanced at it, she realized it needed no enticement to become fully aroused, and its eagerness and beauty enflamed her.

The firelight was nearly gone, and soon their sights of each other would be too. She wanted to watch his face and for him to watch hers as they shared this first reuniting of bodies. She reluctantly pulled herself from his lips and hand, and gingerly straddled his hips. Taking his shaft in her grasp, she held it in position while her receptive body closed over it. There was instant pleasure from their action. Their gazes locked and remained so as she lovingly and skillfully labored to slake the passions which blissfully tormented their senses.

Bittersweet ecstasy teased over their joined bodies and promised to reward them quickly by rapturously appeasing their mutual needs. Spirits soared and passions mounted until they were feverishly attacked and conquered. Still, she rocked upon him to extract every drop of love’s nectar from their fused bodies. When their spasms ceased, they smiled tenderly into each other’s eyes.

He reached for her and drew her down beside him once more. He kissed her and vowed, “I love you with all my heart, Wahea.”

“As I love you, Bright Arrow. You must rest and sleep. We will talk later.” She cuddled next to him, and both were slumbering within a few minutes, their Lifecircles entwined once more.

Hours later, Sun Cloud watched the large regiment of soldiers leave the fort and head westward. He
deliberated his next move; for he could not attack such an enormous band alone, and he would be visible to their scouts if he trailed them too soon. He had no choice but to remain hidden in the forest near the fort for a time. He had dressed and painted himself to match his father’s image, to lure the soldiers into their trap this morning. He wished he had his war horse, instead of the ghostly white one which could be mistaken for Gray Eagle’s, for they were not completely accustomed to each other and the stallion did not respond to his commands as rapidly or as agilely as his loyal and intelligent beast.

He realized the regiment, if it did not change directions, was heading toward the area where their trap had been planned and was being prepared at this very moment. Yet, there was no way he could get in front of the soldiers and entice them to the right spot. He could only hope that the Great Spirit would perform his duty for him today, and end this madness for a time. He was not worried about the soldiers attacking the united bands by surprise, for their scouts would see them approaching, and the bands would carry out their strategy even if he was not luring them into their cunning snare.

He glanced at the fort and wondered how many soldiers were left inside, and whether he could enter secretly to rescue his love. No, the light and his looks would expose him. As much as he loved Singing Wind, it was foolish to risk everything to rescue her. Once the soldiers were conquered, the survivors could be forced to return her to him. He would linger here for a short time, then follow the regiment.

Derek Sturgis cleared his cloudy wits and looked at the two men who were sleeping in the chairs with their
heads resting on the small table: James Murdock and Bill Ames. The loud noises of the departing regiment had aroused Sturgis, but for a time he’d failed to grasp what had disturbed him. He glanced at the tray, then comprehended Cooper’s brazen deceit. He hurriedly awakened the two men and enlightened them as to his suspicions and their possibly grim situation. Fortunately, none of them used milk or sugar in coffee, so they had not consumed as much of the sleeping powder as Cooper had hoped.

“That bloody fool!” Sturgis declared in disbelief. “Bill, go see if my worries are real ones. Murray, you get us some horses and supplies ready, because I’m certain they are. I’ll join you two in a moment.”

Outside, Sturgis joined three men and discovered the extent of Cooper’s crazed behavior and intentions. Lieutenant Thomas Daniels had been arrested that morning for refusing to obey Cooper’s orders, but Ames had demanded his release from the blockhouse. However, Ames had left Jeremy Comstock imprisoned, for the trapper insisted on leaving to search for Rebecca Kenny, and that action could endanger everyone and everything, including Jeremy.

Sturgis learned that the reckless Cooper had left only one company of men to defend the fort, but he had been gone less than thirty minutes. Sturgis shouted to the cook, telling the man to get rid of everything on the tray in his office because it was drugged. He put Major Ames in charge and told him to remain on full alert. Sturgis made certain he had his papers from the President, as he knew he would be forced to use them to halt Cooper’s madness. “Let’s ride. If we don’t catch him and stop him…Lord, help us all.”

Sun Cloud was ready to trail the regiment when he
saw three men race from the fort, heading after the soldiers and carrying a military standard which flew a white truce flag instead of the Army pennon. He eyed the two “civilians,” one was a trapper by his garments and the other was wearing clothes similar those Powchutu had worn when he had arrived from the white lands far away. The other man was a soldier, the man whose life he had spared recently. The white men looked upset and were in a big hurry. This was very strange, he reasoned.

Sun Cloud decided it was safe and smart for him to check out this mystery. He mounted the white horse and rode toward the men at an intersecting angle. He cautiously slowed when he had their attention.

The men reined up sharply and stared at the incredible sight before them. Sturgis murmured, “It’s Gray Eagle himself, and alone. So, Butler’s men didn’t kill him after all,” he stated happily, then waved.

Sun Cloud had watched the oldest man’s reactions and instinctively guessed his identity. He prodded his horse forward, halting only four feet from the men, just enough room to defend himself if there was trouble or deceit, which he doubted.

Sturgis’ smile faded and he said, “You aren’t Gray Eagle. I would know him anywhere. I hope to God this doesn’t mean what I think it does. Is he—”

Daniels spoke up. “This is Sun Cloud, Gray Eagle’s son. You can trust him, Mr. Sturgis.”

“I’m James Murdock, Murray to my friends. I know your brother.”

Sun Cloud’s gaze went from one man to the next, until he had studied each twice. “My father spoke of the man called Sturgis many times, and he called you friend. My brother spoke of the man called Murray, and called him friend. Sun Cloud knows the man called Daniels, and calls him friend. Four days past, Bright
Arrow honored such a flag, but he was deceived and captured; your soldiers beat him and tried to slay him. Less than a full moon past, your soldiers ambushed the Oglala Council and took the life of Gray Eagle. I ride in his place. Speak your words to me. Why does a large band of soldiers leave your fort? Why do you bolt like a chased deer and carry a truce flag?”

Sturgis said, “I’m sorry about your father, Sun Cloud; no greater man than Gray Eagle ever lived. These lands will be less without him. I was hoping and praying they had lied about his death. I needed his help to end this bloody conflict. The soldiers who started this new trouble are not obeying the orders of our Great White Leader, our President. I was sent here to stop them, to make peace, to sign a treaty with all Indians in this area. General Cooper hasn’t been himself since he arrived; some of the evil leaders at the fort misguided him. He left while we were asleep. I have to catch him and prevent him from attacking any camps; he wants to destroy every one before I can halt him.” He held up the papers which he had withdrawn from his pocket. “I have letters, a message, from our highest chief, commanding him to obey me. His men do not know I am the President’s agent. When they do, they will obey me, not him. I can promise you, hardly a one of those soldiers wants to harm your people. They want this war over as quickly and badly as we do. Help me,” he pleaded.