Savage Betrayal (45 page)

Fighting Wolf was confident the hidden men would provide the protection he and his remaining men would need when they paddled openly into the Hesquiat village.

Should Fighting Wolf be attacked, Otterskin would immediately storm the village. Should Fighting Wolf be greeted in peace, the hidden Ahousats would stay in the woods. The Hesquiats need never know they were surrounded.

There was a slight bend in the rocky shoreline. If his old “uncle’s” directions were correct, the Hesquiat winter village should be just ahead. A loud yell went up as the Ahousats rounded the point. Fighting Wolf was surprised to hear the shouted warning. He hadn’t expected the Hesquiats to post guards in such an isolated location.

Paddling slowly, his retinue of forty-two men arrayed behind him, Fighting Wolf approached the shore where the village sat perched against a backdrop of cedars. Standing up in the precarious canoe, he balanced himself evenly. One of his warriors sprinkled white eagle down over Fighting Wolf’s head. The Hesquiats should realize from the gesture that he came in peace.

He watched, outwardly stoic, inwardly alert, as several Hesquiat warriors ran down to the rocky beach. Apprehensively, he noted they were armed with mus-kets. Someone, it looked like Feast Giver, ordered the men into a neat formation, their weapons pointing at the slowly approaching Ahousats. Behind them, stood a row of men holding sharp, pointed wooden lances. A few men holding bows and arrows formed the last row.

“Formidable,” muttered Birdwhistle. His voice carried across the water. Fighting Wolf did not reply.

He watched as the Hesquiats stood their ground. He grudgingly admired their disciplined ranks.

Feast Giver’s shout broke the tense silence. “That’s close enough, Ahousats! Any closer and we’ll shoot!”

Drawing himself up to his full height, aware that he made an easy target, Fighting Wolf called back, “We’re here to talk. We do not come to fight!”

“You lie, Ahousat! We know how you like to fight!” sneered Feast Giver.

Fighting Wolf heard his men mutter angrily at the slur. They bitterly resented hearing their leader labeled a liar. Ignoring the animosity around him, he responded in a calm voice, “If we wanted to raid your village, Hesquiat, we’d come at night, not in the full light of day.” He paused to let his words sink in. “Look at my men. Do you see any weapons?”

“Weapons are easily hidden, Ahousat!” snapped Feast Giver warily. “What do you want?”

First drawn by the sudden stillness in the village, then by the shouts, Sarita watched in disbelief as the Ahousats paddled slowly up to the rocky shale beach. Seeing Fighting Wolf standing proudly in his canoe, she felt tears gather in her eyes. She realized anew how much she loved him. Her breath caught as she heard Feast Giver shouting his questions at the Ahousat war chief. She couldn’t bear to see Fighting Wolf shot down in front of her. Why, oh, why, had he come? She strained for his answer.

“I want to talk with you and your father.”

“You can talk from where you’re standing, Ahousat!” came the hostile answer.

Drifting ever closer, Fighting Wolf raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” He shrugged casually. “Well, if you really want to discuss personal details about your family in front of the whole village—“

Feast Giver shifted his glance to the men awaiting his orders. His eyes caught his father’s form coming out of the longhouse. It was obvious from his hurry that Thunder Maker had heard the last exchange. Pausing to speak in a low voice with his son, Thunder Maker then called, “You say you want to talk, Ahousat!”

“That’s right,” agreed Fighting Wolf.

“Very well. You can come ashore. Alone. Your men stay in their canoes, where we can keep them covered.”

Fighting Wolf hesitated. If it was a trap, he would be defenseless, alone with the Hesquiats. On the other hand, his men could retaliate. They were armed. He’d had no qualms about lying to Feast Giver. The Ahousat warriors’ weapons lay ready on the floors of the canoes.

“I agree to your conditions,” answered Fighting Wolf. “Provided we stand on the beach, where my men can watch.” Seeing Thunder Maker’s nod, Fighting Wolf continued, “But let me warn you. If you harm me, my warriors will kill every man, woman, and child in this village!”

Satisfied that the Hesquiats thoroughly understood his threat, Fighting Wolf stepped out of the canoe and walked up the rocky beach, flanked by a belligerent Feast Giver and a silent Thunder Maker.

Once out of earshot from the others, Feast Giver halted abruptly. “Say what you came to say, Ahousat. Then leave!” Thunder Maker remained silent, and Fighting Wolf assumed he agreed with his son’s words.

“I know you’re holding my sister, Precious Copper,” began the war chief. He was rewarded with a guilty start from Feast Giver.

“Lies,” blustered the young man.

“No, not lies,” replied the Ahousat evenly. “She was seen in your village and I’ve come to take her back home with me.”

Feast Giver looked silently at the Ahousat, then at his father. Thunder Maker maintained his silence. Stepping into the breach his father refused to fill, Feast Giver said, “Why should we give her up to you? Have you any ransom to pay for her?”

Feast Giver was stalling, but he could not bear to let the beautiful Precious Copper go. If she went back to the Ahousat village, his chances of ever seeing her again were negligible.

“No, I have no ransom with me,” admitted Fighting Wolf.

“Then what are you wasting our time for?” scoffed Feast Giver. Maybe he could yet keep Precious Copper…

“The matter of a ransom is a small one,” stated the Ahousat arrogantly. “I can easily send for whatever you ask and have it shipped from my village.”

“Not good enough.”

Realizing they were at an impasse, Fighting Wolf mentioned conversationally, “I’ve also come for Sarita’s hand in marriage.”

For a moment, the two Hesquiats looked stunned. They both quickly recovered, however, and Thunder Maker spoke up first. “You what?” he asked, disbelief echoing in his voice. “After what you’ve done to her, to me, to my son, you have the effrontery to come to this village and ask for my daughter’s hand in marriage?”

“I’m not asking, I’m demanding,” cut in the Ahousat brusquely.

Thunder Maker was shaking his head. “This is too much. I cannot believe such insolence.”

“Believe what you will, old man,” responded the war chief. “But I’ve come to take my sister home and to take your daughter with me, as my wife.”

Thunder Maker drew himself up to his full height. “The answer is ‘no,’” he stated. “I want it clearly understood. You will not take your sister back with you. She will no longer be a hostage, but a Hesquiat slave.” The older man did not notice his son flinch at the hard words. “She’ll stay in our village and work for us.”

Thunder Maker paused, impaling his opponent with a steely eye. He was gratified to note the flush of anger on the Ahousat’s face. “As for my daughter, Sarita, I absolutely refuse to enter into any marriage negotiations with you.”

“Why not?” bit out an enraged Fighting Wolf. He struggled to keep a calm façade.

“Because Sarita is going to marry the Kyuquot chief, Throws Away Wealth.” Thunder Maker gloated to himself as he watched the astonished Ahousat digest these words.

“What?” demanded a now-furious Fighting Wolf, all pretense of calm forgotten.

“That’s right,” responded Thunder Maker calmly. He hugged himself in delight at being able to thwart the Ahousat’s plans so easily. “She can’t marry you because I’ve already promised her to the Kyuquot.” Seeing the Ahousat’s fury, he added uneasily, “The Kyuquot chief has many warriors.”

The threat was not lost on Fighting Wolf. “That dog! The Kyuquot is a cowardly fighter!”

“Oh? And how would you know that?” asked Thunder Maker, his uneasiness intensifying.

“Because I fought him,” sneered Fighting Wolf, his thoughts racing. His initial burst of fury past, his mind raced, busy plotting how he could still have Sarita. “I and my men beat him soundly when he raided us last summer. The cowardly Kyuquot ran back to his village with his tail between his legs.” It was plain from the look on his face that Fighting Wolf relished recounting the victory over the Kyuquot.

Thunder Maker coughed uncomfortably. “That proves nothing, Ahousat,” he said. “You’re probably lying…trying to intimidate me.”

“Probably,” agreed Fighting Wolf laconically. His eagle eyes watched his prey. “Are you intimidated?”

“Not at all,” responded Thunder Maker quickly.

Fighting Wolf noticed the sweat beading the older man’s brow. He smiled to himself. “Nevertheless,” he suggested smoothly, “I suggest you forget the Kyuquot’s marriage suit and entertain mine, instead.”

Thunder Maker stared at him for a moment. “That I refuse to do,” he said stubbornly.

“Why not?” asked Fighting Wolf, curiously. He was merely playing with Thunder Maker now. The Hesquiat was a fool not to know the Ahousats would make better allies than the weak Kyuquots.

“Need you ask?” snorted Thunder Maker. “I don’t trust you,” he snapped.” After the last ‘marriage’ we went through with you…well, just let me say that I will not be victimized by such treachery again!” With those words, he turned on his heel, obviously dismissing the Ahousat war chief.

“Not so fast, Thunder Maker,” said Fighting Wolf. A determined note in his voice made the older man turn.

A shiver passed through the Hesquiat chief as his eyes locked with the piercing ebony eyes focused on him. “What do you want? We have nothing more to say to each other.”

“I want,” said Fighting Wolf evenly, “my sister
and
Sarita.”

“Are you deaf, Ahousat? I said ‘no’ to both demands.” The older man turned to walk away once more.

“You’re in no position to defy my demands,” shot back Fighting Wolf coolly.

“Watch what you say when you’re in my territory,” warned Thunder Maker. “This is my village. My men have mus-kets trained on you. One word from me and you’re a dead man. Now, if you’ll excuse me—“

“Tell your father,” said Fighting Wolf, turning to the ignored Feast Giver, “that unless he wants his village destroyed, he’ll return my sister.”

“What can you do, Ahousat?” sneered Feast Giver.

“My men have your village surrounded,” said the war chief casually.

Feast Giver stared at him. “You’re bluffing,” he said softly.

“Am I?” smiled Fighting Wolf pleasantly. The flash of white teeth was gone in an instant.

“Nuwiksu,” called Feast Giver, not taking his eyes off the war chief. “Come back here. There are a few more points to discuss.”

Hearing the warning note in his son’s voice, Thunder Maker reluctantly padded back to the two antagonists. “I’m waiting,” he said, impatiently.

“The Ahousat has our village surrounded,” said his son curtly.

Thunder Maker sized up the handsome face turned to him. “He’s bluffing,” he announced and started back to his longhouse.

“Can you afford to gamble your people’s lives on that one guess?” asked Fighting Wolf politely.

Thunder Maker stopped and seemed to argue silently with himself for a moment. When he turned back to the two men, there was a look of resignation on his face. “All right,” he said wearily. “Let’s get this over with.”

For a long while the two chiefs debated their positions while Feast Giver looked on. Finally, seeing that his father would not be swayed from his intention to enslave Precious Copper, Feast Giver spoke up. “I think you should both know,” he began, “That I wish to marry Precious Copper.”

As one, the two disputants turned to stare at him. “What?” they asked in unison.

Thunder Maker sputtered, “Of all the—“

He was cut off by Fighting Wolf’s roar. “No! Absolutely not!”

When silence reigned once again, Feast Giver said with dignity, “I love her and I want to marry her.”

“Impossible,” responded Fighting Wolf. “I won’t allow my sister to marry you. She can find a far better man.”

“Now look here,” began Feast Giver.

“Not only that,” interrupted Fighting Wolf, “But I will not force my sister into marriage...no matter what you have done to her.” His cold eyes left no doubt that he believed the worst of Feast Giver.

“I resent your implication,” snarled Feast Giver. “If I’ve done anything, it’s no more than what you’ve done to Sarita.”

Fighting Wolf lunged at Feast Giver. Thunder Maker barely managed to hold back the heavier, muscled war chief. “Please,” he said nervously. “Let’s discuss our problems. We’re noblemen, not brutes.” At this reminder, the two combatants reluctantly backed off. But Fighting Wolf was still angry and Feast Giver looked very hostile.

In the shadows of a nearby longhouse, Precious Copper looked at Sarita. “Shouldn’t we do something?” she asked, wide-eyed.

Sarita nodded. “I can’t just hide here and watch while they’re out there fighting each other.” Taking a deep breath, she stepped outside the door. “Are you coming?”

Precious Copper responded quickly, “I’m right behind you.” Together the two women hurried across the rocky beach to where Thunder Maker had placed himself between the Ahousat and Feast Giver.

Fighting Wolf was the first to see the women approach. He looked up and relief swept over him as he saw his sister walking towards him. She looked rested and healthy.

Then his gaze swung to Sarita. He devoured her with his eyes. It had been so long…She looked as beautiful as ever. More so. He eyed her figure knowingly. The bulky kutsack hid the swell of her stomach.

Sarita’s steps faltered as she approached the waiting men. She couldn’t tear her golden eyes away from Fighting Wolf. Her heart beat furiously. So often she’d dreamed of seeing him again, and now he was here. And far more threatening in life than in her dreams. He threatened her heart, her life, her very soul…Unconsciously, her hand went to her stomach, as if to protect the new life there.

Fighting Wolf caught the gesture and smiled slowly. His gaze held hers. “Sarita,” he breathed.

“Fighting Wolf,” she acknowledged defiantly.

Thunder Maker watched through narrowed eyes as the two eyed each other warily.
She does not like the Ahousat
, he thought.
Perhaps, if he is bluffing about his men surrounding the village, he may yet be put off from his plans to have her…