Deborah Camp (23 page)

“Fine enough,” he replied after pulling down the scarf to uncover his mouth. His thoughts meandered to the massage and how he’d brought roses to her cheeks when she’d seen him in his natural state.

“What are you smiling at?”

“What?” He swept away the smile. “Oh, nothing. It’s just good to be out breathing this fresh air. Riding Hauler is like sitting in your rocker.” He ruffled the mule’s brushy mane.

“Ever get pain from your chest wound?”

“No.” He covered the place with his hand. “Sometimes the skin feels tight, but that’s all. Have you ever been arrow-shot?”

She shook her head. “But I’ve removed my share from others. Bullets, too. I apprenticed with the medicine man. Much Smoke was my Crow father. He’s dead now. Micah brought news of it.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. It must be like losing a member of the family.”

“Yes, but it doesn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would. I suppose I lost some of my love for Much Smoke and Goose Down Woman when they turned me out.”

“Maybe you never really loved them. Maybe you were fond of them and respected them. I
mean, one corner of your mind must have always remembered that these people murdered your real parents.”

She cut her eyes at him. “Maybe. I wasn’t afraid of them, though. Remember that I was raised many more years as a Crow than as a white. I remember my childhood with them and less than nothing of my life before them.” Her gaze sharpened. “You see the Crow as your enemy, don’t you?”

“Not enemies, but I’m wary of all Indians. After all, my experience with them hasn’t been pleasant.”

“Steal horses from a white man and you’d get the same treatment.”

“I didn’t steal horses. The other men did.”

“But the Gros Ventre didn’t know that and they’re not given to asking for excuses. If you travel with thieves, you are one in their eyes. It’s like Gus says, if you bed down in buffalo dung, you’ll have a chip on your shoulder come morning.” She dimpled when he laughed.

“I do believe that Gus is more like a father to you now.”

She sobered and considered this suggestion for a few moments before she nodded. “Yes, maybe so. He has children of his own, but he’s taken a shine to me and me to him.”

“Where are his children and his wife?”

“The children are scattered near and far. His wives have crossed over. Gus says that living with him shortens a woman’s years and puts her in the ground before her time.”

She reined her horse on an overlook bluff and pointed a slender finger to the valley below where a creek meandered, flashing silver amid the pines and spruces. A black shadow covered half the valley. Tucker glanced up at the sun, loving the feel of it on his face, then his mind caught up with his eyes and he sucked in a breath as he returned his
attention to the moving shadow. But it wasn’t a shadow. It was a massive herd of buffalo. His ears picked up the thunder of their hooves and his nose twitched, catching their scent.

“Sakes alive! Look at that.” He felt his eyes widen. “Are we going to take one?”

Copper shook her head at the notion.

“Why not?” The thrill of a hunt fevered his blood.

“There’s plenty of meat at home, and I don’t want to have to skin, butcher, and pack home a buffler today. That’ll be too much work and we’re supposed to be having a holiday of sorts.” She tilted a smile his way. “Did you have holidays back home?”

“Sure did. Lots of them.”

“We had celebrations, but not holidays. Now I take holidays.” She giggled lightly. “This is my first one.”

He looked at the swarming buffalo again. “Buffalo would taste good.”

“Not today. There will be other herds to chase.” She rested her hands on the pommel and surveyed the jagged mountaintops and snowy crevices. “This is Absaroka land. There are river and mountain Crow, and I’m of the mountain ones. I’ve hunted this land often enough that I can do it with my eyes closed. I know every coulee, every ravine. I know where the deer hide and the buffalo graze. I know where to fish trout and where to flush out pheasant and quail.”

“Why didn’t you build your cabin here if you know it so well?”

“Because I didn’t want to court trouble. They wanted me away, so I went away. I like where I live now. I feel safe there with my back against the cliff and my face toward the Cornflower Valley.”

“Cornflower? That’s the name of it?”

“That’s what it’s called by most. The army probably has another name for it, and the surveyors
still another. Most land around here has four or five different names.” She leaned over to check on her gurgling baby, then reined Ranger around and picked up a track that was little more than a break in the trees.

On the rest of the journey to the basin Tucker rode behind her and observed her attentiveness. Always alert, she noticed every rustle and movement around them. Her dark gaze swept to the sides and ahead of them. Ranger was just as conscious of the terrain and nickered softly when he caught wind of wild game. Valor grew weary and fretted for sustenance. Without stopping or even slowing much, Copper removed the baby from the cradleboard, unlaced her bodice, and let Valor suckle. Tucker noted that Copper glanced at the ground frequently, frowning and leaning sideways in the saddle for a closer inspection.

“What’s got you worried?” he called ahead.

“Nothing much. Looks like there are more wolves and coyotes than usual this time of year. I guess they had a prosperous mating season and the Bloods haven’t thinned them out yet. They’ll be attacking herds soon and the tribes will dispatch hunting parties. The wild dogs kill more than they need or want. Such a waste. Other predators bring down only …” Her voice faded and she reined Ranger to a stop and held up one hand to signal for silence. Ranger and Hauler pinned back their ears. Beneath Tucker, Hauler quivered and flared his nostrils.

Tucker heard nothing. The piney woods surrounding them offered fragrant shelter. Birds sang overhead. Tucker took a deep breath. He smelled it. Blood. Then he heard the birds for what they were. Buzzards.

Cooper slipped Valor back into the cradleboard. Ranger took a few hesitant steps. Copper guided the pinto around a thick stand of gray poplars and reined up again. Ranger blew out a noisy breath
and shook his head. Copper twisted around in the saddle to face Tucker.

“Wolf kill,” she whispered. “Looks like some braves caught up with a pack and slaughtered it. We’ll leave the trail and skirt around it.” She let Ranger pick a track around the killing ground. An arrow stuck out of a pine branch and Copper examined it. “Shoshone. Eagle Wing’s tribe. I don’t recognize this brave’s sign. He must be young. I don’t know any of the youngsters.”

“You got along with the Shoshone?”

She bobbed her shoulders. “We didn’t make war with them. We share with the Shoshone a hatred for the Lakota.” Years of training made her spit after saying that name.

Tucker grinned, tickled by her inability to shake certain customs. Hauler brayed softly and shifted farther from the carnage. Through the tree branches, Tucker could see sticky entrails and blood-soaked ground. A flock of black birds worked busily, fluttering and chattering in their frenzied orgy. All traces of the pack, save for their innards, were gone. Unlike the wolves, the Indians utilized what they killed.

“How many wolves were killed, do you reckon?”

“A dozen or more. The Shoshone must have baited the area and waited for a pack to show up.” She pointed to stakes in the ground. “Probably tied out goats. I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t run across some more.”

They came upon two other places where wolves had been lured and slaughtered. They climbed higher until the pines grew less thickly and the ground became more broken. Nothing but horses and mules could traverse the area. The country became wilder and slightly colder. Herds of elk thundered away from them. Deer leaped over boulders, their tails flashing white. Mountain goats and horned rams scampered over the higher
peaks, sending down streams of skittering pebbles and rocks. Eagles and hawks circled the skies, their penetrating eyes trained on the patchwork of brown, green, and white below.

Copper reined in Ranger. “The basin is up ahead. If we’re lucky, no one will be there. It’s very small, and not used as much as others in this area. The bigger ones are higher up and that’s where the Bloods gather. The Crow and Shoshone and the Blackfeet all winter near the geysers and then make summer camp down below on the Elk River.”

They traveled on a ways, hugging a ribbon of land around a cliff and then across the top of a flat butte, angling up again through well-spaced pine and spruce and between sharp rock formations that seemed like gray sentinels to Tucker’s fanciful eyes.

He saw the misty steam rising up into the blue sky before he spotted the round basin set against a sheer, moss-covered rock wall. White blooms dotted the moss around the basin. The water was gray and covered by a cloud. It smelled strongly of minerals. Mountain spurs curved around the basin protectively, leaving only one half accessible. Copper slipped from the saddle and hobbled Ranger. She gave him a drink from her canteen.

“The water in the basin is too warm for them,” she explained, motioning for Tucker to give Hauler a drink from his canteen. “They’ll wade in it, but they won’t like the taste of it.”

Tucker hobbled Hauler while Copper removed the cradleboard. They unsaddled the horse and mule, then left them to graze on the tender shoots in the rock crevices near the basin. Tucker pulled his walking stick from the saddle and limped to the mist-shrouded basin. His leg had stiffened on him during the long ride. Copper hung the cradleboard from a low tree limb, then she carried Valor to the basin. She undressed the baby and sat with
her at the shallow edge of the natural pool. Valor’s eyes widened. She looked at her mother, clearly unsure whether to laugh or cry. Copper smiled broadly and trickled some of the warm water over Valor’s face.

“Feel that? Oooh, isn’t it wonderful?”

Comforted by her mother’s soothing voice, Valor squealed and patted the water. She kicked her chubby legs and squeaked with delight. Copper lifted handfuls of water and let them stream over the baby’s head. In the bright light, Valor’s hair glinted reddish-brown. Tucker realized that the child wouldn’t have black hair, after all, but more likely a color closer to her mother’s.

Standing at the edge of the basin, Tucker surveyed the situation and wondered about his next course of action. As usual, Copper came to his aide.

“You’re not going to wade about in your clothes, are you? Once you get in that water, you’ll be warm enough without them.” She stood up, her squirming, wet baby in her arms. She moved past him, behind him. “Want a drink of water from mama’s canteen, baby-love?” she crooned.

“You talking to me?” Tucker asked with a smirk.

“You know better than that, soldier blue. So, what are you waiting for?”

“I’m just admiring the place,” Tucker said. “It’s right pretty.”

“I’m glad nobody’s about. I stood the rifles over there against that rock in case something comes nosing around. We’ll have a soak and then eat something later.”

“Sounds like a good enough plan.” He let go of the walking stick to peel out of the heavy buffalo coat and unlace the front of his buckskin shirt. He had trouble making his fingers work to his satisfaction. Suddenly nervous, he wondered if he was supposed to strip to the skin or wade in wearing his woolen undergarments.

A flash of white skin arrowed past him and he had a fleeting image of a heart-shaped backside before the water covered Copper’s body. He closed his mouth and swallowed dry air. When she turned to face him, the water lapped around her shoulders and she held her baby close against her breasts. She arched her brows in a silent question, which he didn’t respond to because he couldn’t locate his voice box. The only part of his body he was acutely aware of was the throbbing part between his legs.

“Well? Undress and come on in,” she said, then turned her back on him and devoted her attention to Valor.

He couldn’t remove his clothes fast enough. Naked, he waded into the pool. Warm water gurgled around him, making him tingle. His feet slipped on smooth stones and firmly packed mud.

“It’s almost hot,” he said, stopping when the water lapped at chest level. “But it feels mighty nice.”

Copper faced him. The water flowed around her shoulders and she hoisted the baby higher. “Valor likes it, too. Look! She’s kicking like she’s trying to swim. Are you a tadpole, baby-love?” She lowered Valor into the water and laughed when she kicked vigorously and waved her chubby arms. “Look at her, Tucker! I bet she could swim like a fish if I let her go. I wonder if all babies are as smart as mine.” She glanced up and her gaze held Tucker’s. He wasn’t watching Valor. His eyes caressed Copper’s bare breasts and his chest rose and fell with short, choppy breaths. She bent her knees and the mineral water covered her from Tucker’s lambent gaze.

Tucker looked away and cleared his throat. His body throbbed in a hundred places. Suddenly, he knew he had to put distance between them or he’d do something he’d regret. He waded toward the cliff wall. The water deepened and he swam to a
rocky ledge. Crossing his arms on it, he hung there and rested his cheek on his arms. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the caress of the hot springs. The smell of minerals was strong and he hoped Copper was right about the water having healing properties. It’d be nice if it could also cleanse him of the nearly overpowering need to bury himself in Copper’s luscious body.

For the next hour he watched her from a safe distance as she played with Valor, the two splashing in the water and sending diamond drops into the clear sky. When Valor started fretting, Copper presented her back to Tucker and the baby grew quiet. Tucker knew she was breastfeeding her daughter. A stream of sunlight coursed down her spine, gilding her smooth skin. Her waist was small, her shoulders narrow. She held herself proudly, her bearing that of a woman of substance. Copper picked her way to the shore. Before the water exposed her hips, she glanced over her shoulder at Tucker. Her message was clear. He gave her his back. Minutes passed before she called out to him.