Through the Fire (The Native American Warrior Series) (30 page)

“
You say I am.”

“
Tell me you hate him. Curse his name. Wish him dead.”

She absorbed his unholy demand with a sick weight in her stomach.
“If I do as you ask, will you release me?”

He jerked his hand away.
“Shoka wants you alive, in his embrace again. Tomorrow, you will die with the sun.”

Skizenoh wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I will not let you kill her.”

Tonkawa spoke with ominous calm.
“Chief Tasisuri says I may do as I like to her. Who will tell the English? Shoka?”

A number of curious warriors left the campfire and walked closer to investigate the commotion.

“
Tai tciki hare
! Do your eyes not see her beauty?” Skizenoh’s voice rose in an impassioned mix of Catawba and English.

Like glowing embers stirred up in the fire, the hunger Rebecca had seen before returned to Tonkawa
’s hard gaze. She shuddered as he ran his fingers over her cheek and her hair.

“
I see also Shoka’s lips on her fair mouth. When she falls, he will taste these lips no more. Never again know the softness of her skin, or hair like gold sun. My vengeance will be more bitter than his own death.”

Rebecca shrank from this vile man back against her ardent defender.

“Have you no wish to taste her sweet lips? Know her soft warmth?” Skizenoh asked, as if playing to Tonkawa’s appetites.

Anger burned hotter than desire in the black eyes fastened on her.
“Better she dies,” Tonkawa said.

“
Must she die to be lost to Shoka? Make her your wife.”

Rebecca bit back an explosive refusal. If Tonkawa agreed to Skizenoh
’s suggestion, it would buy her time for escape.

His fingers lingered in her hair as though he loathed releasing the long lengths.
“Shoka will try to reclaim her.”

“
Tomorrow we will go. Keep her from him,” Skizenoh said.

“
He will follow, bring Shawnee warriors after us.”

“
We will fight them.”

Rebecca sensed Tonkawa
’s grudging reluctance as he dropped his hand, but his resolve was greater.

He straightened his back.
“I wish Shoka to find his woman with the life flown from her.”

Skizenoh clutched her.
“You must fight me.”

Tonkawa gestured toward the other watchful warriors.
“Will you fight us all? Must we tell your father his foolish son died for a woman?”

Rebecca took a shuddering breath. She reached her hand to Skizenoh
’s rigid fingers at her waist and tried to unclasp his hold. “I cannot allow you to sacrifice yourself for me.”

“
No. I will help you.”

“
You think to aid her in escape? Take her past me? Through these?” Tonkawa taunted, nodding his head at the gathering behind him. “Or here?” he mocked, pointing to the dark hole at their backs.

Skizenoh flinched as though Tonkawa had touched on a secret.

The older man cast him a jeering smile. “No one knows this way out. Some have tried, never to see the sun again. Hold her while you may. You can do nothing to preserve her life.” He turned on his heels.

Molten fire bubbled up past fear
’s cold grasp in Rebecca’s knotted gut. “May God damn you to hell for taking it, Tonkawa!” she hurled after him.

He swiveled to face her, shock in his eyes.
“You dare curse me?”

“
Would you have me beg for mercy you do not possess?”

Scorn flowed back into Tonkawa
’s hard gaze. “I would pity you more. Admire you less.”

Skizenoh gripped her as she began to rise.
“Then admire this. You are a greater bastard than Captain Bancroft.”

The ice vanished from Tonkawa
’s face in a flash of rage. “How dare you speak this? I could kill you now.”

“
What difference if it’s now or tomorrow? Only a coward takes the life of an innocent woman.”

“
Enough. You are mad.”

“
No. I am Peshewa. And I refuse to die without a fight.”

He seemed as incredulous as he was angry.
“You think to challenge me?”

She twisted in Skizenoh
’s arms. Had she a tail, she would have lashed it and bared her fangs, if she had them, with a primal snarl. Nothing could stop her enraged cry. “I’ll tear your throat out, you black-hearted swine!”

Skizenoh breathed more heavily with the effort of holding her back.
“Tonkawa will swiftly kill you.”

“
Better now, than awaiting my execution. He wants Shoka’s woman. Let him deal with me.”

The hint of a smile glinted in Tonkawa
’s eyes as he pounced on her words. “Now you say you are his woman?”

“
And his wife. Give over, Skizenoh. Let me go.”

“
You cannot fight him.”

Tonkawa raised his tomahawk, his lips curled in scorn.
“What fight? One blow, she lies dead.”

“
I am unarmed, coward. Will you retain your weapons?”

He tossed his tomahawk and knife aside and beckoned to her.
“Come, Peshewa. Meet your end.”

“
Release me, Skizenoh. Save yourself.”

“
I will not let you face him alone.”

“
It’s not your fight.”

“
No! The fight is mine!” a familiar voice shouted from behind them. “But it is easier to shoot you, Tonkawa. Take one step, I fire. If anyone moves, you die first.”

“
Shoka!” Thrilled and bewildered, Rebecca stared into the shadowed opening. She couldn’t see his face, only the play of torchlight along the leveled barrel of his musket.

Skizenoh was frozen in place.
“How did he find his way?”

“
Skizenoh!” Shoka called. “I give you thanks for aiding my wife. Release her to me now.”

Her defender
’s arms fell away and Rebecca was free. She pecked a kiss against his cheek and looked up into his staring eyes. “God keep you.”

“
And you. Go.”

She clambered to her feet and fled over the channels in the stone with Tonkawa
’s furious stare following her every step. When she glanced around to be sure she wasn’t pursued, she slipped on a wet place and landed on her knees. Stifling a cry, she picked herself up from the rock floor and scrambled back into the yawning darkness where Shoka waited.

“
Any who gives chase, dies!” he shouted. Then, in a whisper, “Keep silent and stay near me,
meh newah
.”

Chapter
Sixteen

Shoka had never witnessed a more splendid display of female wrath than Rebecca
’s astonishing challenge to Tonkawa. It was also indescribably reckless and had forced him to take action before he’d intended.

The rumble of upraised voices sounded behind him, but he didn
’t expect Tonkawa would dare to follow. At least, not immediately. They must make haste.

“
Come, Peshewa.”

Musket in hand, he swung around and squeezed through the narrow opening in the cave wall. All-consuming blackness swallowed up the faint light from the larger cavern along with the strident voices. Moist rock pressed around and above him. The cold mineral essence filled his nose. He also detected a breeze on his cheek from the chamber up ahead. The furry tail of his faithful guide feathered across his leg.

Rebecca was at his heels. “Oh God. Shoka—”

The terror in her hoarse gulp told him he had trouble. Reaching back with his free hand, he found her arm.
“Here.”

“
I can’t bear this darkness,” she choked out.

He closed his fingers around her hand and drew her along.
“Close your eyes. Pretend it is only night.”

“
It’s darker than any night I’ve ever known.”

“
I am with you,” he soothed.

She clung to his hand and he guided her blindly around the passage. He turned sharply and they rounded the second corner into another unseen corridor. He bent his head beneath the diminishing ceiling, drawing her along behind him.

His moccasins were noiseless over the gritty floor. Her soles dragged. Her panicked breaths created the only sounds, apart from the constant dripping of water.

“
Get down,” he said.

He pulled his fingers from her clutching hand and crouched even lower to pass through a cramped opening. The damp walls crowded in on all sides and brushed his shoulders like a stony cocoon. He wished he wore his shirt, but he
’d removed it before the battle.

She sucked in and blew out, her breath warm on his back.
“No. I hate tight places,” she whispered, barely suppressed hysteria in her gasp.

Somehow he must prevent her from completely losing control.
“You are nearer the opening now.”

The oppressive space narrowed even further, forcing them onto their knees on the grit and wet stone. The dank smell of stone reminded him of an ancient tomb never exposed to light. He prayed his keen senses and the guide he followed would keep them from being buried alive.

“Shoka, I can’t bear it!” she cried, clearly beyond caring if they were overheard by any possible pursuers.

“
Calm down, Rebecca.”

She thrust wildly against the stone as if to fight her way through to the sunlight.
“No! I’ve got to get out!”

“
Hear me. All will be well.”

“
God, no—We’re in hell.” She beat at the rough wall encasing them with her hands and shuddering sobs shook her.

Shoka hated that he couldn
’t relieve her smothering horror. “We are almost there,” he promised.

She rocked back and forth.
“You’re just saying that.”

“
No. Soon this will end.”

“
I shall be quite mad by then. Just as everyone has been declaring I am this whole horrible day.”

“
You will not go mad. I would turn and give you comfort if I could. Have courage.”

“
Do you think I possess an unlimited abundance of the bloody stuff? We’re going to die in this hole.”

“
We will not die,” he said, and crawled ahead through the tunnel. Perhaps if he kept talking and moving, she’d follow and they’d get through.

He heard her tripping over her cloak and skirts as she crawled after him.

“We will too die. Only it could take ages,” she panted, clutching his back. “Pass me your knife. I’ll kill myself.”

She really must have gone a little crazy with fear.
“Do you think I took you from death at Tonkawa’s hand to let you die by your own?”

Her grasping fingers slipped away as he moved forward, leaving her no choice other than to keep up with him. Exasperation seemed to momentarily distract her from her terror.

“It’s damn unfair making me go on in this hole.”

“
Is it better you die?”

“
Yes!” she insisted, and then in a smaller voice, “will it hurt much?”

“
To drive a knife into your heart?” If they hadn’t been in such nightmarish circumstances he might have laughed.

She choked back tears.
“I don’t know if I can.”

“
I would not choose this.”

“
No. You’re a bastard, trapping me in here.” She struggled after him. “How can you possibly find your way?”

“
I did not come for you alone. I follow another.”

Mystification further distracted her.
“Who?”

“
The wolf. When we fall behind, he waits.”

“
Gabe is ahead of us? I can scarcely believe it.”

“
Believe. Now and then, I feel his fur.”

“
Even with Gabe’s aid, you could still take a wrong turn,” she said with an upswell of terror in her voice.

Shoka crept further down the now sloping grade and her almost imperceptible body heat vanished from his back.
“I know. When I first came this way, I carried a torch.”

She panted, battling her skirts and squirming behind him.
“Why did you put it out?”

“
Catawba would follow. I waited to steal you away while all lay sleeping. But you must challenge Tonkawa.”

“
You mean if I hadn’t, we could have had a torch? I’d no idea you were there,” she groaned.

“
How could I signal you?”

“
I prayed you would come. But I didn’t see how you could prevail against so many.”

“
Nor I. I much admire the tongue-lashing you give Tonkawa,” Shoka admitted.

“
You did?” Her mood seemed to lighten for an instant.

Shoka crawled on.
“Yes. But it is well Skizenoh held you back. Tonkawa would kill you very fast. How did you think to win?”

She scuttled after him.
“Fury drove all thought from me. I felled the captain, though.”

“
No. I saw Bancroft in battle.”

Her breath rasped as she tried to catch up to him.
“Bancroft wasn’t down long, just enough for me to escape. I tripped him up and gave him a kick. You can guess where.”

Shoka chuckled, a most unlikely sound in this grave-like underworld.
“I would like to see you attack the captain.”

“
I would like to see anything.”

He pushed lengths of hair back from his damp face.
“Soon we will enter a larger cave.”

“
And then?”

“
The way to the outside is above a steep slope—what’s this?” Cold water rushed across his hands and a dim roar rumbled ahead. “There was no stream here before.”

“
There’s one now!”

The swift water was already to his thighs and would quickly engulf them both. Wild with frustration that he couldn
’t turn and grab her, he shouted, “Hold to my musket, Rebecca! We must escape this space!”

By the tension on the gun, he sensed her grip the stock that jutted behind him. Battling the deluge, he towed her after him. The might of the water caught him and swirled them both through the stone-carved channel. The rock lashed his chest and shoulders. He feared what it was doing to her.

She shrieked, “Shoka!”

He felt her let go and tumble back. Unspeakable terror
—he could see nothing, nor turn to seek her. A faint light shone just ahead.

The current spewed him out of the tunnel and splashed him into the larger chamber flooding with muddy water. He dropped his weighty musket and struck back around. Gushing water splashed in his face. Spitting out the swill, he reached blindly for any part belonging to her. His fingers slid along the stone and the churning flow pushed him back.

“Rebecca!” he shouted, fighting his way to the tunnel.

“
Help me!” she screamed.

Heart-stopping relief
—he snagged her skirts in his hand. Somehow she’d managed to hang onto a protrusion in the rock. He closed his fingers around her wrist and ripped her out from the blackness and into his arms.

She clung to him and he clutched her. Her chest rose and fell against his, but this was no resting place. He struggled to keep his footing in the rising water. Gray light cloaked the chamber, not as large as the one the Catawba sheltered in. Soon, this would be another death trap.

Above the rocky slope, he saw the faint opening where Gabe had first led him in. The white wolf swam toward their only hope of escape.

Shoka tightened his hold on Rebecca and waded into brown water reaching his chest. The muddy deluge washed over much of her. At the far side of the seething flow, he spotted the wolf dragging himself out with his forepaws. He started up the rocky side. Just then the menacing brew whipped Shoka like an enraged grizzly and knocked him off balance.

He lurched—the cave floor no longer beneath his moccasins. He went under. The foaming current tore her screaming from him.

“
Rebecca!” He swam toward her, but the overpowering cascade forced her back.

She tumbled helplessly, fighting to get her head above the roiling water. Her skirts and shoes would drag her down. She was no match for this onslaught.

He battled toward her, but the churning surge pulled her under. “No!” he shouted.

Kicking furiously, he swam to the spot where he
’d last seen her. He thrashed out his arms to grasp her. His eyes frantically searched the frothy brew.

Fighting harder than he
’d ever fought in his life, he withstood the current and dove down into the lashing murk. Without seeing, he grabbed out, catching her hair. Wrapping his fingers around the wet tangle, he plucked her from the liquid grave.

Gasping for air, he heaved them both above the brown tide and caught her up. He held her to him. No man ever recovered a greater treasure. This greedy torrent wasn
’t snatching her away again.

She lay limp in his arms as he pummeled through the raging water and scrambled, sliding, up the slick stone. Ragged breaths tore from his burning chest. Finally, he pushed through the opening in the rock.

The watery roar fell away below. Wind and rain struck his face. He’d made it out of the pit; though all the forces of hell had been unleashed against him.

He staggered with her beneath sheltering hemlocks and sank onto the ground, gulping hard.

She still lay unmoving.

He pushed up on his elbow and bent over her. Mud streaked her white face and her skin had a bluish tinge. No breath escaped her pale lips. Fresh dread seized him. He must make her breathe.

Cupping her cold cheeks in his hand, he crushed his lips to her chilled mouth and blew. Again and again he filled her lungs. “Breathe,” he pleaded against her mouth.

She coughed slightly.

Even the smallest response was infinitely dear to him. He pulled back, seeking any more movement.

She coughed harder, but her eyes remained closed.

He gripped her shoulders. “Rebecca. Look at me.”

“
No,” she whispered.

He groaned with relief and pressed his lips ecstatically over her face.
“If you refuse me, you still live.”

“
You saved me.”

“
I almost didn’t. So still and cold you were when I found you. I cannot live without you, Peshewa.”

She nestled weakly against him, shivering in the wind.
“I know, my love. Tonkawa also knows.”

“
We cannot remain here. This entrance is hidden but he may know it. My powder’s wet. I cannot fire the pistol,” Shoka said, pushing himself up with his legs. “I still have my knife and tomahawk.” He lifted her and stepped out from under the boughs into the force of the downpour. “The storm gives cover. Soon it will be dark.”

The wolf waited a little way ahead, a ghostly white in the mist and rain.
“Our friend will guide us. We will follow brother wolf.”

****

The rain slowed to a cold drizzle as Shoka raced to put a greater distance between them and any Catawba who might be in pursuit. “Gabe leads in the direction of camp. But this trail is different from the one Tonkawa took today,” he told her.