Savage Spirit (15 page)

A deer suddenly sensed alarm and hopped out of the circle. The other deer's ears perked up and, also sensing danger, they sprang away.

One deer was not as swift. Cloud Eagle notched an arrow on his bow and sent it into the animal's side.

For a moment the deer staggered, then it dipped its head so that the right antlers touched the earth.

Finally the animal fell on its side, breathing heavily.

The deer's mournful eyes looked up at Alicia. Blood trickled from its mouth, and a stillness filled the air.

Alicia could hardly stand watching the animal die a slow death right before her eyes. She was glad when Cloud Eagle made the deer's end swift by plunging his lance deep into the heart of the animal.

The deer had earned as much respect.

A second later, it was over.

It was then that Alicia and Cloud Eagle both noticed that not only was Cloud Eagle's arrow   lodged in the deer's side, but another arrow as well.

Clutching a bow, his dark eyes proud, an Indian warrior stepped into the clearing.

He was almost as handsome as Cloud Eagle. His facial features were sculpted, his body muscled. His bronze skin glistened in the morning air; his only attire was a breechclout and moccasins.

Cloud Eagle quickly recognized Thunder Roars, a neighboring Apache. He stepped up to him. "We share a kill today," he said, clasping his hands onto Thunder Roars' shoulders. "I view this shared kill as a sign of fellowshipof friendship."

"I, too, see it that way," Thunder Roars said, nodding.

"Let us vow today that we will be devoted friends forever," Cloud Eagle said.

"Destiny has made it so," Thunder Roars said, smiling at Cloud Eagle. "Friends forever."

Cloud Eagle stepped away from Thunder Roars and they both went to study the deer.

Alicia stood behind them, marveling over how quickly they had become friends, and why. As each day passed, she saw the genuine kindness of Cloud Eagle.

She looked at Thunder Roars. He seemed kind too, and genuine. She thought back to all the terrible things that she had heard about the Apache when she was in school in Saint Louis. She was seeing for herself how wrongly the historians had depicted them.

Of course, she knew that there were some Apache who had fought, and were still ready to fight, any white man who crossed their paths.

Again she found herself grateful and relieved   that Cloud Eagle had chosen the peaceful path with the white man. Had he not, she might at this very moment be lying dead or held in captivity.

Instead, Cloud Eagle was protecting her with every fiber of his being.

She welcomed this protection and did not feel as though she were a weakling because of it.

She enjoyed being a woman for the first time in her life.

"Thunder Roars, each half of this deer's skin will make a vest worthy of a warrior," Cloud Eagle said, kneeling down beside the deer. He ran a hand over its smooth fur. "Since the kill was shared, also must the skin be shared."

Thunder Roars nodded and knelt down on the other side of the deer while Cloud Eagle took out his knife and cut the skin down the middle.

Alicia turned her eyes away as the pelt was taken from the animal. And while the meat was taken from the animal, she listened to the shared conversation between these two Apaches. She smiled to herself when Cloud Eagle invited Thunder Roars to his village for a celebration of newfound friendship. That was just like Cloud Eagle. Generous and friendly to the very core of himself.

She was not at all surprised when Thunder Roars accepted the invitation; he seemed to have been made from the same mold that had formed Cloud Eagle's personality.

After the deer meat was evenly divided and made into bundles tied in yucca cord, then secured to their horses, Cloud Eagle and Thunder Roars approached Alicia.

Cloud Eagle had seen Thunder Roars eyeing Alicia for some time now and had not questioned   his reasons. He knew without asking. Not only was she a white woman, she was on the hunt with Cloud Eagle although it was taboo for her to be there.

"This is my woman," Cloud Eagle said, pride in his eyes as he gestured toward Alicia. "Her name is Alicia. But I call her
Ish-kay-nay
because of how she looked and acted when I first met her."

He gestured toward Thunder Roars as he smiled at Alicia. "Alicia, this is my friend, Thunder Roars," he said with much pride. "He is from a neighboring Apache stronghold. He will return to the village with us. There he and I will share a smoke, then the whole stronghold will celebrate their chief's newly found friendship."

There was a moment of silence.

"You bring a woman on the hunt?" Thunder Roars then blurted out.

"That is so," Cloud Eagle said matter-of-factly. "And do you not see? She brought luck to the hunt."

Thunder Roars kneaded his chin as he measured the worth of the white woman.

Then his lips formed a slow smile. "She is welcomed as my friend because she is yours," he said, in his eyes a keen admiration of what he saw in Alicia.

Cloud Eagle placed a possessive arm around Alicia's shoulders. "She is more than a friend," he said, wanting to make his possession of Alicia perfectly clear to this Apache who might find her more than intriguing. "She will soon be my wife."

Alicia's heart fluttered with surprise, then moved into a quiet rhythm of happiness as she beamed up at Cloud Eagle.   His wife.

There. He had finally said it.

They would soon be married, and with this marriage would come a new life for her, one that she welcomed. She had not realized how alone she had been since her parents' deaths until she found such happiness and contentment with Cloud Eagle. They seemed to fill each other's every need.

They mounted their steeds and rode off with strips of venison hanging from their saddles. Alicia beamed as she rode proudly beside Cloud Eagle. She felt as though she belonged there. Everything in her past life was now only a faint memory. Her expected future of happiness outweighed anything that she had ever experienced in the past.

Gray leapt up and nipped playfully at Alicia's feet. "You can feel my happiness, can't you, sweet coyote?" she said, laughing into the wind.  

Alicia had bathed in the river after arriving home from the hunt. She had washed her hair with yucca suds and it now lay in a satin sheen across her shoulders.

She gazed admiringly down at the clothes Cloud Eagle had given her to wear for the celebration of his new friendship with Thunder Roars. It was another treasure from the trunk that held his beloved mother's clothes.

Alicia put on the skirt and blouse of deerskin. The fringed skirt extended from the waist to the knees. The blouse and the skirt were both ornamented with bits of bright metal and glass. And she wore the usual moccasins now instead of those she had worn on the hunt.

Alicia stepped outside into the cool breeze of evening. The sky was just now darkening overhead. Her eyes were drawn to the gathering of Apache around a huge outdoor fire. They sat on   blankets, leaving room enough between them and the fire for dancers to perform. The celebration had already begun.

Alicia's eyes shifted to Cloud Eagle. He stood with Red Crow and Thunder Roars away from the crowd, laughing with his friends over some shared joke. Except for brief breechclouts, their sleek bodies were revealed, the muscles bulging at their shoulders, arms, and legs.

A feeling of contented bliss swept through Alicia at the sight of Cloud Eagle. He had shared her quick bath farther downriver from the village. They had shared many kisses and long embraces, but because of the lack of time, they had not made love.

The thunderous beats of her heart were counting out the minutes until they could be alone again. After the celebration, they had the long night ahead of them. If they wished, they could make undying love until morning. And they could do this every morning of their lives. She was going to be Cloud Eagle's wife!

Smiling, feeling deliciously happy, Alicia went to Cloud Eagle and edged herself between him and Red Crow so that she could stand beside the man she loved.

''After taking so much time with your hair, do you feel pretty enough so that I can show you off to my people?" Cloud Eagle teased, placing a possessive arm around her waist. He smiled from Thunder Roars to Red Crow. "Is not my woman something very special?"

When neither offered a response, Alicia experienced a sudden feeling of renewed apprehension over being there. And although the Apache chief's word reigned supreme above everyone else's, she   felt as though she were an alien to the Apache, ruining what she had felt might be an evening of fun and happiness.

Cloud Eagle's jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed as he stared at his friends. "She is going to be my wife," he said sternly. "I expect you to treat her as though she already were."

Thunder Roars was the first to respond. His frown was replaced by a smile. He faced Cloud Eagle and gripped his shoulder with a hand of friendship. "She is most beautiful," he said, his eyes dancing into Alicia's. "Bring her to my stronghold anytime for my people to see and become acquainted with. Although she is white, the fact that you have chosen her for your wife will make her welcome in this Apache's stronghold whenever you wish to bring her."

Thankful tears burned at the corners of Alicia's eyes. She whispered a thank-you and wiped the tears away just as Red Crow took Thunder Roars' place at Cloud Eagle's side.

"This Apache, who has fought side by side with you and who has laughed and cried with you, will no longer show his displeasure over your choice of women," Red Crow said, clasping a hand to his chief's shoulder. "Bring her to my lodge. Let her become acquainted with my wives. She needs Apache women friends in order to survive the life of a white Apache wife."

"Thank you," Alicia said, wiping tears from her cheeks. With Red Crow's show of allegiance and friendship, she felt as though she had won a great victory. "I will be happy to come to your lodge. I am anxious to make the acquaintance of your wives."

Red Crow stepped away from Cloud Eagle and   nodded toward the crowd of Apache. His eyes stopped when he found his wives. "Sweet Rose and Laughing Eyes. Do you see them as they both cast looks over their shoulders at their husband? And do you see my children? Two sons. I am a most lucky man."

Alicia followed his stare and found the two Apache women to whom he was referring. His wives were petite and pretty and had smiles that proved their happiness. She found this hard to understandhow any woman could be happy sharing a man's love with another. She recalled Cloud Eagle's wives and how jealous they had been of her.

But that was because she was white, she thought to herself.

She glanced quickly over at Cloud Eagle. Should he find another Apache woman to his liking, would he take a second wife?

The thought petrified Alicia, not only because of how the Apache felt about her, but because she would never accept another woman in Cloud Eagle's life. She could never share him or their home.

"They are quite lovely," she finally murmured, her gaze now on the babies who were sitting on the blanket next to Red Crow's wives. Children. His wives had given him children.

Cloud Eagle, too, was gazing at the children with a look of fondness. Yet there was a sadness, a longing in the look. She could tell that he was being eaten away by this want for children. There seemed to be some sort of urgency in this needan urgency that frightened her. What if she couldn't give him a child? She could be discarded just as easily as his first wives.   The sound of the drums reverberating through the night air drew Alicia's attention. People were joining hands and dancing around the fire, their feet thumping in time with the rhythm of the drum, as rattles shook out their own strange sounds for the dancers.

"Come," Cloud Eagle said, taking Alicia's hands. "We will dance." He nodded at Thunder Roars. "Join us. We share my woman in the dance."

Red Crow had already gone to his wives and had chosen one of them to join the dancing, leaving the other behind to care for the children.

Laughingly, Alicia ran hand-in-hand with Cloud Eagle and Thunder Roars into the dancing frenzy. She became filled with the joy of the moment as she followed Cloud Eagle's lead and lifted her feet and bobbed her head rhythmically with the music. She enjoyed Thunder Roars' company. He was good-natured, his eyes laughing as he gazed into hers.

For hours the celebration continued, until the moon passed its zenith and began its descent. The older Apache retired, but the young remained outside.

Exhausted by the energetic dancing, Alicia flopped down onto the blanket with Sweet Rose and Laughing Eyes and accepted a platter of food which they offered her. She enjoyed the cakes made from mesquite bean and acorn meal. She feasted on roots, berries, nuts, and seeds of grasses, washing these down with water sweetened with honey.

Pleasantly full and exceedingly happy, Alicia pushed the empty platter aside and watched several young Apache braves gather in a tight   circle, which was then surrounded by a larger circle of girls.

The throb of the drum stopped, and as one of the girls stepped forward to select the young man with whom she would dance, the lonely, thin wail of the
flageolet
, a small wood flute, carried through the moonlight.

After saying a farewell to Thunder Roars, Cloud Eagle sat down beside Alicia and watched the dance with her. He knew this dance well, and the meaning behind it. He had at one time participated in such a dance himself. Lost Wind had chosen him that night to dance with her. At the end of the dance, he had presented Lost Wind with a special present, a Navaho blanket.

He remembered her well that night. She had been beautiful and sweet in her costume of white deerskin and flashing beads.

But sometime since then she had lost her sweetness and had become a nagging, spiteful woman. Even if she had given him children, he doubted he could have kept her as his wife. She was someone now he did not know, and no longer cared to.

Spellbound, Alicia watched the young people. The young girls selected the braves with whom they would spend the rest of the night, dancing. The braves seemed shy. The girls seemed just as timid.