Spirit Journey: Historical Western Cowboy Romance Novel (Dawson Chronicles Book 3) (3 page)

His professional manner of speaking and the efficient way Mike had worked had reassured Peanut that he really was a doctor.  She didn’t know these people and they could have been telling her anything.  However, they’d already shown such kindness and they’d gone to a lot of trouble to rescue the three of them.

“Are you sure Annie’s ok?” Peanut asked a third time.  She couldn’t help being worried about her baby.

“She’s just fine,” Mike assured her.

“Thank you so much,” Peanut said.

Mike said, “You’re welcome.  Now, it’s Jaylyn’s turn to be tended.”

“I’m fine other than being very stiff and sore,” Jaylyn said.  “I don’t know how, but I am.”

Mike said, “It looks like your arm needs some attention.”

Jaylyn looked where he indicated and saw the ripped, blood-soaked sleeve.  She hadn’t noticed it before because she’d been so focused on her sister and niece.  “Oh.”

Mike said, “This sleeve has about had it.  Mind if I just yank it off?”

Jaylyn said, “I don’t mind at all.  A ripped blouse is hardly anything to be worried about after almost dying.”

Mike pulled the sleeve loose and cleaned the long gash on her upper arm.  Squirrel handed her a canteen and Jaylyn drank deeply of the cool water.  Squirrel told her to keep it and asked what happened.

Peanut roused a little and surprised them all by saying, “That no-good fiancé of mine better hope I don’t ever see him again or I’ll shoot him!”

Jaylyn said, “Peanut, try to stay calm.”

“Stay calm?  How can you say that after what he did?” Peanut demanded.

“I know, but you need to rest right now,” Jaylyn said.

Peanut settled back a little, but said, “Daddy found a small vein of gold on the parcel of land he bought in the Black Hills about a year ago.  Claude, my fiancé, helped Daddy on the claim and they were going to split the gold.  Claude said he wanted to set up a nice place for us to live.

“We were going to Hulette with Claude to trade in the gold and to buy some supplies.  We were coming along this trail and had camped a ways back.  We stopped here yesterday morning so I could take care of business.  He wanted us to come see the view over by the ravine because it was so pretty.  So we were standing there looking at it and he … he …” Emotion overcame Peanut at this point and she broke into sobs.

Jaylyn took her in her arms.  “Shh, sweetie.  It’s all right now.”  She rocked Peanut as she continued the story.  “Claude pushed us over the edge of the ravine and left us for dead.  He ran off with everything: our horses, our stuff, and the gold.”

Angry shock showed on everyone’s faces.

Raven said, “I’m sorry for what you have gone through, but you’re safe now.  We will take you back to your father.”

Peanut swallowed hard.  “Thank you, but you can’t.  He passed away a couple of weeks ago.  The homestead is there, but without Claude to work it, we have no way to mine for more gold.  We have nothing now except a few clothes there and the mining equipment.  The only money we had outside of the gold was in my saddlebag.  We have nothing.”

Tears coursed down Peanut’s face as the strain of the past couple of days caught up with her.  She hung on to Jaylyn and the sisters cried together.  Raven crouched down next to the women, putting a hand on each of their shoulders.

“Don’t worry.  You have
us
.  We’ll take you back to your land.  You can find someone to sell it to and then use the money to set yourself up in one of the towns,” he said.  “We’ll help you.”

“Why would you do that?  You don’t even know us,” Jaylyn said. 

Raven smiled.  “Because it’s the right thing to do and I would hope that someone would do the same for one of my children.  We’ll camp here today to give the both of you some time to rest.”

Black Fox nodded approvingly, but stayed silent, allowing Raven to handle the situation.  Although he led their group when traveling, this was mainly symbolic.  This was Raven’s quest and Black Fox had not interfered with any of his son’s decisions along their journey.  There hadn’t been any reason for him to since Raven had showed such sound judgement. 

He smiled inside. 
It is as I have always thought; someday he will be as good of a chief as me, if not better.  He has learned well.

Jaylyn shook her head.  “But Peanut can’t walk or even ride, for that matter.”

Skip raised his hand as though he sat in a classroom asking permission to speak.  Raven rose and nodded at him with a smile.  “Go ahead.”

“Um, well, I might, that is …” He had to force himself to look at Raven and not at Peanut, so that he could actually speak coherently.  “Dash could carry Peanut.  I could pad his saddle and prop her hurt foot up on the panier on that side.  That way she could still hold Annie, too.”

“Good idea,” Raven said.

Skip said, “I’ll pack him first thing in the morning so that it’s ready for right after breakfast.”

“Thank you, Skip,” Jaylyn said.  “That’s very kind of you.”

He nodded and gazed at Peanut, who had dozed off.  Why would any man try to kill his fiancée and baby?  It made him furious.  Peanut was a beautiful girl with her red hair that was a couple of shades darker than Jaylyn’s. 
He was no man at all.  More animal than human.
  Skip realized that he’d been staring.  Not wanting the others to see his preoccupation with Peanut, he went to take Dash’s equipment and tack off so he’d be more comfortable.

Hailey stepped over to Jaylyn.  “Would you like to get cleaned up?  I have an extra change of clothes.  You’ll have to roll the pants up since you are shorter than me, but they’ll be clean.”

Jaylyn smiled at the tall woman.  “Yes, thank you.”

“Come with me.  There is a stream where you can bathe.  I’ll stand guard,” Hailey said.

Jaylyn followed her.  Hailey picked up her pack and the two women walked down to the stream and went around a bend.  A while later, they came back to camp and sat by the fire.  Hailey had given her a pair of jeans and a Western shirt to wear.

Squirrel handed her a tin plate filled with some sort of meat and vegetables.  “You need to eat and lie down,” she said kindly.

“Thank you,” Jaylyn said before attacking the savory food. 

The venison was tender and the tubers were slightly sweet; a nice combination.  She was given some coffee to drink and she sipped at it once she’d eaten her food.  Her eyelids grew heavy and she almost dropped her cup.

Eric saw and his sympathy for her grew.  “Jaylyn.  Come with me.  I set up a place in the shade for you to nap.  You need to rest.”

“But, Peanut—”

“We’ll take care of her and Annie,” he interjected, smiling.

The kindness and sincerity in his gray eyes made her trust him.  She let him help her up and followed him over to a large maple tree where a bedroll had been set up for her.  He sat a canteen down by her.

“Just in case you get thirsty.  You should try to drink as much as possible.  You were down there a long time without food or water,” he said.

Jaylyn sat down.  “All right.  Thanks.”

“Sure.  Sleep well,” he said, leaving her.

              Jaylyn barely lay down before exhaustion claimed her.

              “You can come back now,” Hailey told the group of men who stood with the horses.

              Peanut had needed to nurse Annie, so they’d stepped out of sight to give them privacy.  They followed Hailey back to the campsite and Mike checked Peanut’s ankle, relieved that it wasn’t quite as swollen.

              “You’re on the mend, young lady.  Not to worry,” he said.

              Peanut smiled as she burped Annie.  The baby let out a belch and the others smiled. 

              “That’s Mama’s good girl,” she said.  “I, um, have to go.”

              Those men who had sat down rose again.  One of them would have to hold the baby since Squirrel and Hailey would help Peanut with her personal needs and Jaylyn was still sleeping.  Black Fox stepped closer to her.  “I will hold Annie for you.”

              Peanut looked uncertain about him taking her baby. 

              Squirrel said, “My brother loves children and he has raised many over the years.  He can often get babies to sleep when others cannot.  Annie will be safe with him.”

              “Ok,” Peanut said. 

              Black Fox smiled and reached for the baby.  He’d been missing his little ones at home and he was looking forward to spending time with Annie.  Annie had other ideas, though.  She stuck out her lower lip and tears gathered in her eyes.  Black Fox spoke softly to her and Annie’s face cleared for a moment.  But when Black Fox moved to take her again, she let out a wail and turned away from him, burying her face against Peanut.

              The chief couldn’t remember the last time a baby had had such a reaction to him.  His eyebrows rose and he backed off a little, thinking he’d moved too fast for the baby.  He heard a chuckle to his left and saw Owl grinning.  He glowered at his little brother and Owl let out a laugh.

              “You should have seen your face, brother,” Owl said.  “He’s not used to babies screaming at him,” he told Peanut.

              More laughter followed and Black Fox couldn’t stay irritated with Owl.  It was funny.  However, it wasn’t only Black Fox who Annie objected to; she wouldn’t go to any of the men.  By the time they’d all tried except Skip, Annie was crying hard and clinging to Peanut.

              “Skip, give it a go,” Mike said.

              “Me?  Why me?  If she won’t come to you guys, she won’t come to me.”

              Mike said, “C’mon.  Just try.  You’re creative.  We need to be able to hold Annie at times like this.”

              Skip wasn’t scared of holding Annie.  He’d held plenty of babies.  Taking Annie from Peanut required him to get close to her and to actually talk to her.  If he kept refusing, he’d look like an idiot, though. 

              “Uh, ok, sure.”  An idea came to him.

              Peanut heard a bullfrog croak from nearby and looked around for it.  The sound kept coming and she realized that Skip was making the noise when he came to her and Annie.  The baby also searched for the source of the sound.  Skip crouched by Peanut’s side so that Annie could see him, but he didn’t have to look directly at Peanut.

              He changed from bullfrog croaks to chirrups.  Annie focused on Skip, who stopped long enough to smile at her, and then went on to do a few bird calls.  When he smiled at her again, Annie returned the expression and laughed a little.  Chirping like a wren, Skip held out his hands to Annie and then stopped chirping.

              “C’mon, Annie.  If you come with me, I’ll introduce you to the best mule in the world.  You’ll like him, I promise.  C’mon,” he coaxed.

              Annie held out her chubby little arms to Skip and he lifted her from Peanut’s grasp.  “Good girl,” he said, rising.  He gave Peanut a little smile before leaving the area.

              “Well, how about that?” Dino remarked as the rest of them followed Skip.

              Mike smiled.  “Yeah.  How about that?”

*****

              Jaylyn woke late that afternoon.  She lay still, getting her bearings.  Hearing voices, she rose up slowly on an elbow and groaned.  Her whole body was sore and her head hurt.  Stiffly, she rose from the bedroll and made her way towards the fire.  Jonathan saw her and was concerned because she didn’t look completely steady.

              He got up and went to her.  “Here.  Let me help you.  You don’t need to fall down.  You did enough of that yesterday.”

              She liked his smile and chuckled at his funny remark.  “Yes, and I don’t want to ever do it again.

              Jonathan guided her to an empty spot and assisted her in sitting.

              “You look more rested,” Eric commented.

              “My mind feels clearer, but my body feels worse,” she said.

              Mike said, “That’s not uncommon after the sort of physical trauma your body went through.  It’s a miracle that you didn’t sustain any injuries other than scrapes, cuts, and bruises, but I’m glad you didn’t.”

              “Me, too.  I see Peanut is sleeping again.  I’m glad,” Jaylyn said.  “When Claude pushed us, she curled herself around Annie right before she started rolling.  I slid down feet first.  Both of us hit those boulders.  They came loose and rolled down after us.  I saw them coming and tried to get Peanut out of the way, but her leg still got trapped.  I wasn’t strong enough to move them.”

              Raven said, “I’m not surprised.  It wasn’t easy for us to move them, so you couldn’t have.”

              “Here, Jaylyn.”  Mike passed over two aspirins to her and Squirrel gave her a cup of tea.  Jaylyn took the pills. 

“Where is your home, Jaylyn?” Raven asked.

“Near Mystic.”

Black Fox’s gaze sharpened.  “Mystic?”

“Yes,” she said.

He grunted.  “It used to be called Sitting Bull.”

A chill wind blew through Reckless and he visibly shivered.  His family had witnessed this behavior many times and they knew that something not of this world was occurring.  A powerful dreamer, Reckless had the ability to communicate with spirits and received signs of things to come.  Deceased family members often came to impart information to him.

Jaylyn looked around as everyone froze, their gazes locked on Reckless, who closed his eyes.  She started to speak, but Black Fox held up a silencing hand.  She fell quiet, a little embarrassed.  A hand closed around hers and she looked up at Eric, who smiled reassuringly at her.  She smiled back and they returned their attention to Reckless.

Reckless heard the sound of rushing water and the cry of an eagle.  He smiled, recognizing his spirit helper, with whom he had a strong bond.  He waited patiently for these sounds to fade, knowing that they were merely a signal to him that he had entered the spirit realm.  The sound of living water was sacred to him since he’d drowned twice in a river and had been brought back from the spirit world.  The eagle often took him places during his vision quests.

These sounds were replaced by the crackling of a fire, but Reckless knew that it wasn’t their fire.  It belonged to someone else.  Opening his eyes, Reckless looked across the flames to see the smiling face of his cousin, Runner. 

“Hau, cousin,” Runner said.  “You are close enough to communicate now.  This is good.  It means that you are on your way.”

The boy had grown, but his handsome face was the same, the devilish grin matching the light in his black eyes. 

“You have caused many people great pain by running away,” Reckless said sternly.

Runner sobered.  “I know, but it was necessary.  I was called here, and I knew you would follow me eventually.  I could not come home until you did.  It is too important.”

“What is too important?” Reckless asked.

“Is Grandfather with you?”

“Yes.”

Runner smiled.  “Good.  There is much here for him to see.  For you
all
to see.  Brown Stag has much to talk to all of you about, but he wanted to do it in our sacred homeland, where our people first came forth into the world.  There is such power here, Reckless!  It vibrates inside my body, just like you said it would when great power was upon me.”

Reckless shivered again.  “You have seen Brown Stag?”  His great-grandfather had been Reckless’ first spirit guide, but he hadn’t seen him in years.  It was normally his parents who came to him now.

“Yes,” Runner said.  “He said that it was important for you to come and he knew that if I came first that others would follow.  He wanted as many to come as possible.”

“Why now?  Why is this so important?”

Anger leapt into Runner’s expression.  “You all need to see it now before it gets any worse.”

“Worse?  How?” Reckless asked.

“You will see.”  Runner smiled again.  “It is good to see you.  I—”

The vision changed and suddenly Reckless was no longer sitting with Runner.  A vast prairie spread out before his eyes, the land teaming with bison and antelope.  An underground lake rose in his vision, the water crystal clear below a ceiling of intricate natural artwork.  Again the vision changed and he heard a baby cry.  Four red flames danced in a circle and then scattered in different directions, blown away by a whistling wind that grew in volume until it seemed as though Reckless’ eardrums would burst from it.  He put his hands over his ears, but it didn’t help. 

Gradually, the din faded and Reckless heard Brown Stag say, “Come, Grandson.  Bring your father to me.”

Reckless’ head came up.  “My father?  My father walks the spirit world with you, Grandfather.”

“Do as I say, Grandson.”

“I don’t understand!  What does that mean?”

His eagle cried out, but it quickly turned into an owl’s screech.  The sound of rushing water filled his ears and he knew that he would find out no more information.  He allowed himself to fall back into his body even as confusion swirled in his mind.

When Reckless opened his eyes, he wasn’t surprised to find that a couple of hours had elapsed.  Time passed differently in the spirit realm than it did in the physical world.  Reckless’ eyes touched on those who sat around the fire with him, his heart filled with questions. 

Reckless’ gaze met Raven’s.  “Your son is alive and well.  He has been calling us, willing us to come.  He is entering into his own power.  It is my belief that he was able to reach me because we stepped onto sacred ground a couple of days ago.  He and I are connected now, given even more power by Wakan Tanka as we come closer to the
Wa-shun Wakan
.  That is where we must go.”

Black Fox grunted in approval and smiled at the Lennox women.  “It was not by chance that we came upon you three.”

Reckless also looked at them.  “Four.  They are four, not three.  I have seen it.  They are the Four Red Winds, sent by Wakan Tanka to guide us to
Wa-shun Wakan
and
Pte Tali Yapa
.  Brown Stag awaits us there at the lake within
Wa-shun Wakan
.”

Raven asked, “Four?  But there are only the three of them.”  He looked at Jaylyn.  “Was there someone else down in that ravine with you?”

Jaylyn shook her head, confused by what was happening.  “No.  It was just me, Peanut, and Annie.  I swear.”

Reckless smiled benevolently at Peanut.  “She carries the fourth wind inside her.  The new life within you is strong and has resisted death’s pull.  Wakan Tanka has blessed you with another child.  One with an important destiny.”

The color drained from Peanut’s face and she grew slightly dizzy.  “How could you know that?  I didn’t tell anyone.”

Jaylyn’s mouth dropped open.  “Pollyanna Pearl Lennox!  Are you expecting?”

Tears burned in Peanut’s eyes and she nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jaylyn asked, moving over to her sister.

“I didn’t tell anyone—not even Claude.  I was going to once we traded in the gold.  I didn’t want to tell him until then.  Sort of like a surprise, I guess.  We were going to get married and settle down and be so happy.  I thought he loved me and Annie.  Now I know that all he wanted was the gold.  He didn’t care about us at all!”

Peanut covered her face with her free hand, holding Annie in her other arm.  Her shoulders shook and Annie picked up on her mother’s distress.  The baby cried, her wail cutting into the quiet of the night.  Jaylyn put her arms around the both of them, trying to calm Peanut and Annie.

Loud bullfrog croaks sounded and Annie stopped crying immediately, her blue eyes looking for their maker.  She found Skip and smiled at him, holding out her arms to him.  He grinned and trotted over to take her from Peanut.  Once he had Annie in his arms, Skip took her back to where he’d been sitting by Black Fox.  She frowned at him, but she seemed to feel safe with Skip holding her and stayed quiet.

Mike wished that he’d have known that Peanut was pregnant before giving her laudanum, but it couldn’t be helped now.  He wouldn’t give her any more.  Instead, he began brewing willow bark tea so that it was on hand overnight to ease Peanut’s pain.  He decided to add some chamomile to help calm her, too.  The last thing he wanted was for her to miscarry from the physical and emotional trauma she’d been going through.