T'on Ma (11 page)

Two Hawks nodded once in agreement and led them northeast.

They rode all day, letting Two Hawks guide them. Many times, he waded through creeks or deliberately over rocky terrain, trying his best to hide their tracks. However, he knew the Apache. While his tactics might delay their pursuers for a little while, they would still keep coming. He allowed his small band only three stops during the day, always for water and always for the horses. The pace was brutal. Even when the sun set, he kept them going, trying to buy as much time as he could before they faced the inevitable showdown.

Finding a safe place for a few hours rest, he wearily got down from his horse. The muscles in his back were stiff. He could only imagine what the others must be feeling, as unaccustomed to riding as they were. Lana limped slowly over to him, handing him her horse's reins. He hobbled their two horses while Nathan took care of the other two. With that done, Two Hawks looked for Lana. She was already asleep on the hard ground. He stood over her, watching her sleep. Never a complaint, never a whimper had left her mouth. She would be a wonderful Kiowa wife. Within a few minutes, he was asleep next to her, his arm lying across her.

Nathan held the blanket out to Christina.

"Share?" she asked wearily.

"Yeah," he mumbled, almost too tired to stay on his feet. She nodded once, lay down and spread half the blanket over her. Nathan crawled under his half and then smiled to himself as Christina snuggled against his back, putting her arm across his chest. He put his hand on top of hers and, like the other couple, they were soon asleep.

All too soon, Two Hawks jostled Lana's shoulder to wake her.

"What!" she snapped.

"Get up."

"Already? I just fell asleep."

"No." He held up four fingers.

"Four hours? Are you sure?" She looked into his eyes for sympathy and found none. "Oh, all right," she sighed. Lifting her hands, she silently asked him for help to stand up. He laughed and pulled her to her feet. Next, he kicked the heel of Nathan's boot.

"Get up!"

"All right, all right!" Nathan grumbled. He rolled onto his side and rose up on one elbow. Gently shaking Christina's shoulder, he whispered, "Time to wake up."

"Hmmpphh."

"Come on, Christina. We've got to ride."

She rolled over on her back and opened sleepy eyes to look at him. "I hate you. You know that?"

Nathan only grinned.

Within a few minutes, the four tired people climbed onto four tired horses and began another arduous day of trying to stay alive.

That day and night passed just like the ones before. The following day, they had ridden for several hours through rolling hills when Two Hawks stopped them. He turned his horse around and rode behind them, watching and listening intently to his surroundings.

"What is it?" Lana asked.

"Apache," Two Hawks answered.

"Where are they?" Christina asked as she nervously looked around her.

Without answering her question, Two Hawks pointed to a low hill a short distance ahead of them.

Nathan nodded. "We need to hurry and make our stand there," he told the two women.

They galloped the distance and dismounted. Two Hawks led three of the horses down the other side of the hill after Nathan pulled his gunpowder and ammunition off his horse.

"Can you shoot?" Nathan asked Christina.

"A little. And I can reload."

"Good." He pulled out his knife and handed it to her. "Just in case."

She nodded and put it beside her as she said, "I still don't see them."

"There," Two Hawks pointed down the small hill covered in prairie grass. Both Lana and Christina looked in the direction he indicated. At first, they saw nothing, but then a movement caught their eye. Someone crawled on his stomach, inching toward them.

"What should we do?" Lana asked. "There's nothing to hide behind."

"Stay low to the ground," Nathan informed her.

Two Hawks led the fourth horse to stand between them and their attackers. With one swift motion of his knife, he killed the animal. It fell to the ground, offering the only cover they had.

"Oh, how awful!" Christina cried as Nathan pulled her to the ground behind the horse.

"You want to live, don't you?" Nathan unsympathetically argued. This was no time to be squeamish. Seeing the sickened look on her face, he felt bad at his tone of voice and reached for her to hold her. "It is awful," he murmured against her hair. "But it had to be done."

"They've got guns," Christina said, still alarmed. "How long can we keep shooting before we run out of ammunition?"

"I don't know." Nathan knew they didn't have enough to fend off thirty Apaches. They needed a miracle.

Two Hawks watched the crawling Apache and, as soon as the man was in range, took careful aim with his bow, letting an arrow fly. It found its target, sending the man leaping into the air, only to fall back down, dead. At the sight of their fallen comrade, the rest of the band rose to their feet or rode on horses over the nearby hill. Screams and taunts filled the air as bullets whined past the four desperate people or thudded dully into the dead animal.

"What are you singing?" Lana asked Two Hawks as she lay on her stomach next to him.

"My death song."

She whipped her head around, looking frightened. "Your death song? It's really that bad, then."

He only nodded as he took aim at a warrior.

"What I wouldn't give for another gun!" Nathan grimaced as he hurriedly reloaded his.

The horsemen reached the bottom of the besieged hill, firing relentlessly. They had trouble taking accurate aim, though, as they, too, had to dodge bullets and arrows. One of the warriors made it to the hilltop, leaping off his horse onto Nathan. As the two men rolled, locked in their ferocious struggle, Christina watched, aghast. Then, seeing her chance, she plunged Nathan's knife deep into the Apache's neck. Nathan pushed off the dead weight and retrieved his knife.

"Thanks." He handed the bloody weapon back to her. Picking up his gun, he took aim again, not seeing the tears in Christina's eyes or how badly her hands shook.

"I got one!" Lana announced triumphantly. No one said anything. They were all too busy.

They fought for only fifteen minutes before Nathan looked over at Lana. "We're almost out of powder. Enough for two, maybe three rounds."

Lana closed her eyes. Now what? Looking over at Two Hawks, she told him the news. He only had a few arrows left as well.

Lana reached for his hand. "Don't let them take me. Please." He nodded, his jaws clenching. He couldn't look at her, not wanting her to see how heart-stricken he was.

She turned to her brother. "I won't be taken alive. Centas Yi will see to it."

"Lana?" Nathan stared horrified at her. "No!"

"Oh, yes, Nathan. They might kill you and Centas Yi, but they will have a fate much worse for Christina and me. Rape will probably be the least of it. You need to talk to her now, while you have a chance."

Nathan felt sick at his stomach, but his sister was right. The Apache could be cruel. He crawled over to Christina with his gruesome offer.

Lana took careful aim with her last bullet, blinking back tears, and then fired. Her target went down. Two Hawks shot the last of his arrows and, not waiting to see how they landed, pulled her to him, holding her close as he lay partially on top of her. It was time.

"Kiss?" he asked as he looked into her beautiful, trusting eyes. She nodded and offered her lips.

"I love you, Centas Yi." She touched his dark hair, his handsome face in a gesture of farewell. "Thank you for this."

"T'on Ma, wait for me. I'll be right behind you. Then we can go to our new life together."

"I'll wait." She paused to take one last look at his eyes. "Be quick," she whispered.

As he kissed her with longing and love and sorrow, he pulled his long knife out of its sheath. He could feel her lips trembling against his as she rolled slightly away from him, offering him her breast. Apache war cries filled their ears. This would be last thing they heard. He raised his arm straight up, the knife's blade glinting relentlessly in the sun.

Nathan reached for Christina, drawing her to him. Killing the Apache guard was as easy as breathing compared to the task that lay before him now.

"I don't know how to say this," he began. "But Lana doesn't want to be taken alive. Centas Yi has agreed to help her." He looked into Christina's wide, scared eyes for a moment before he went on. "If you feel like Lana does, then I'll help you."

Christina broke into tears. She had never been more frightened or overwhelmed in her life. "What do you think I should do?" she whispered.

"You lived with the Apache as their captive. You'd know more about it than me."

"Will it hurt?"

"No. I'll make sure of that."

"All right. Thank you." She reached for his hand, holding it tightly. "I'm sorry we have to go through this. I really wanted more time to get to know you."

"Me, too." He studied her face, her sweet, bruised, dirty face, and kissed her. She was the first woman he'd ever kissed and now she would be his only. At least, he thought, he would leave this life knowing what that felt like.

As he crawled back to where she had left his knife, he looked at the eastern horizon. "Yeeeeehhaaawww!" he hollered. "Look!"

He whipped his head around to look back at the others. To his horror, he watched Two Hawks raise his knife over Lana's chest. Leaping to his feet, Nathan grabbed Two Hawks' wrist just before the knife plunged.

"No! Wait!" Two Hawks jerked his head up, puzzlement on his face. "Look!" Nathan pointed to the east. Two Hawks stood to his feet while Lana sat up, confused.

Even Two Hawks, with his hatred for the U.S. Army, was happy to see that double column in blue. Lt. O'Connell's scout had reported gunfire a short distance away and that the Apache were attacking a small group of people. The cavalry rode at a full gallop, only a few short minutes away from them.

As he stood beside Nathan, Two Hawks turned, grinning widely, to look down at Lana. His expression changed to one of surprise as he fell slowly toward the ground and into her arms.

"Centas Yi! Centas Yi!" Lana cried as she stared at the arrow in his back. He moaned and tried to stand, but Lana held him down.

"No!" she ordered. "Don't move." She looked up at Nathan, her face reflecting her fear and anger. At last, it had looked like they would live through this ordeal, but now - now she didn't know if
all
of them would.

"Keep him still," Christina said. "I've seen my pa pull an arrow out before. I think I can do it."

"Are you sure? We don't have anything to use."

"When the Army gets here, we will," Christina said with confidence. As if on cue, the Army appeared around the hill and charged the Apache, sending them scattering south and southwest. While they outnumbered the Army almost two-to-one, the Apache had used up almost all of their ammunition. They could only hope for a hand-to-hand fight for better odds.

A moment later, Lt. O'Connell and Joshua topped the hill, both men leaping off their horses.

"Lana!" Joshua exclaimed in relief as he ran over to her.

"Pa!" Lana looked up with tears in her eyes, Two Hawks' head in her lap. "He's hurt. Can you help?"

"Sure, we can help." The lieutenant walked over to her and laid Two Hawks flat on the ground. Then, lifting her up by her shoulders, he turned her to face him, looking closely into her eyes.

"Are you hurt, Lana?" She was covered in blood so he didn't know.

"No. I'm fine, Liam. Really."

"That is
such
good news." In spite of their short acquaintance, he held her close. "Such good news. I was so worried."

Stepping out of his arms, she knelt beside Two Hawks. "Will he be all right?"

"If we build a fire and I can boil some water in something, I can get the arrow out." Christina looked at Liam. "Can you help with that?"

"Certainly." He looked down the hill where some of his men were returning from chasing the Apache. Motioning to one, he called out his orders. "We need a fire and some boiling water. Oh, and whiskey."

"Yes, sir," the private said.

In a short time, the orders were carried out. Christina cleaned around the wound as best she could and then poured whiskey over it to sterilize it.

"The arrow is only part way in. If we push it all the way through, we might tear up an organ. If we pull it back out, it will definitely tear up his muscle." Christina gave her assessment.

"What should we do?" Lana looked across at her father.

"I'd recommend pulling it back out," Liam said. "His muscle will heal. You puncture a lung and he's as good as dead."

"All right, then. That's what I'll do." Christina looked over at Lana, who stroked Two Hawks' unconscious face.

As Christina reached for the arrow, Liam stopped her. "Let me. You're too tired."

When she stepped out of the way, Liam took a firm grasp on the shaft, close to Two Hawks' back and, in one strong pull, yanked the arrow out. Two Hawks moaned once and then fell silent. Christina poured more whiskey over the wound, then used water to wash off the blood.

As a final step, Liam cauterized the gash. He had heated his knife until it glowed. Grateful that Two Hawks lay unconscious, he grimaced as he touched the searing metal against flesh. The sound and smell nauseated Lana, who turned her head away, determined not to faint after everything else she had already been through.

"There. It's done," Liam announced as he stood up. "All we can do now is wait."

By then, all of his troops had returned, so he went down the hill for their report. The Apache had scattered and there weren't enough troops to chase them all. Liam decided, now that Lana and Christina had been rescued, to simply let the Apache go.

"Nathan, Lana, I am so glad to find you," Joshua smiled as he finally hugged his daughter. "And who is this lovely young lady?" he asked, trying to lighten the situation.