Breed True (22 page)

Before he left, he veered to the mantle, over which hung a Winchester carbine.

"This is lever action, sweetheart, so you don't have to do anything but point and shoot." He pulled the lever back and down and handed it to her. "Stay away from the windows. It might be a good idea to bring the girls in here with you till I get back from looking around."

She barred the door behind him, carried the sleeping children into the main room of the ranch house, and made a bed for them in front of the fire.

They continued to sleep, unaware of Julie's fear. It seemed to her that Grady was gone only a short time before he rapped on the door, calling, "Let me in now, Julie."

When she opened for him, he stood surrounded by Indian braves. He stepped through the door, and they followed, filling the room with their presence.

"Julie, do you have food you can get together quick?" Grady's expression was grim but not afraid when he took the carbine from her hands and motioned her toward the kitchen.

He spoke in their language, and the Indians followed him down the hall and away from her. One stayed behind, sentry at the window as she fired up the stove and fried venison steaks in the skillet.

Grady came back alone and spoke to the lone Indian, who disappeared down the hallway too.

"What?" She had lost her fear and was now consumed by curiosity.

"Sweat lodge," Grady explained. "The Indians need a place to powwow."

Since it required no opinion or comment, she offered none. "They're on their way to Mexico. Little Eagle knew my father, knows me. He said they needed a safe place to talk, so he brought them here."

"Why would he do that?" Julie whispered.

"Little Eagle is my uncle—my mother's brother. It's not something I can say
no
to."

"Can you stack that food on a tray and bring it back to the sweat lodge when it's done?"

At her nod, he hugged her and whispered, "Don't worry; they're not here to hurt us."

And then he disappeared down the hall too.

She carried the twins back to their crib, unwilling to leave them sleeping untended by the fire. Then she stacked the food as he'd asked her to and carried the tray, heavy with meat and bread, down the hall to the mysterious room she had explored the first day.

Grady had since explained that Indians used such places for body purification, and Henry Hawks had taken to the idea like a true Apache. He'd built his own and attached it to his cabin for convenience.

She didn't know what to expect, but when she nudged the door open with her shoulder, she saw six Indians and Grady sitting on the floor around the small fire they'd built.

Grady stood and took the platter of food from her so that she could retreat, but one of the braves followed him and stopped her.

He lifted a strand of her hair that hung long down her back and gaped at her.

"
Wiwasteka
," he grunted in amazement.

The Indian led her back to the fire pit, gesturing excitedly to the one who sat separate from the others.

At first, Julie thought it was another brave, but then the figure spoke. "
Cetan Nagin
has found his mate."

The voice was eerie in the half-dark room, beautiful and mesmerizing and all the more astonishing because it came from a woman. She was burly, almost manlike in her appearance, her long black hair worn like the braves in the room.

She motioned Julie to her side, and reluctantly, Julie approached. "You think I might hurt you? Kill you?" The voice had become mocking and harsh. The woman grabbed Julie's chin, fingers digging into the flesh painfully.

"My husband says you are his people. So I guess that makes you my folks too. No, I'm not afraid you will hurt us." And Julie spoke true. The woman's eyes were fierce, measuring her worth, judging her soul as though searching for assurances that weren't there. "You will be Apache for us."

She pulled a short, skinning knife from her belt and motioned Grady to her side.

"
Cetan Nagin
has his
Mahala Nizhoni."
With those words she lifted his hand and sliced a deep gash in his palm. Then she picked up Julie's hand and did the same.

Blood mingled with blood as the Apache priestess pressed their flesh together. She chanted in a language Julie didn't understand while the fire blazed high in the middle of the room as if in response to her words. The moment ended when the Indian woman stepped back, releasing them from her spell. She loosened the strap around her neck, freed the bundle that she carried on her back, unrolled her blanket, and uncovered a pair of knee-high moccasins.

"For you," the woman said and handed the split-leather deerskin boots to her.

Then she motioned to the others and said, "Bring the food. We are done," and they exited as quietly as they had come, through the backdoor in the sweat lodge.

Julie watched them steal away, one by one like shadows in the night, until all evidence of their presence was erased.

"I don't understand," she told Grady.

He laughed harshly, "Don't have any answers either. Little Eagle said they were on their way, passing through the mountains and not even near, when Lozen called a halt and said they had to bring those boots to you."

"Lozen…? But how did she know me?" If it had not been for the leather moccasins she still held, Julie would have thought it all a dream.

"Victorio's sister. Since the army killed him, the Apaches follow her. She's a mystic, shaman, and warrior. When Lozen says
stop
, the others stop."

"What were the words she said over us?" It had sounded more like a wedding ceremony than the one she'd had in Eclipse, but Julie thought it would be nice if she at least knew the words.

Grady hugged her to him and repeated the Indian woman's words first in Kiowa, then in English. "As one, you will be."

She touched his chin and then slid her arms around his neck, questioning him still as she pulled his mouth down to hers.

"What does it mean,
Mahala Nizhoni
, the name she called me?"

"Lozen gave you your Indian name."

"Well," Julie nudged him in the chest. "What is it?"

Grady's smile was content. "Beautiful Woman," he murmured in her ear.

Julie set down on the edge of the bed and pulled on the boots that Lozen had traveled fifty miles out of her way to bring the unknown wife of
Cetan Nagin
. They were high-topped moccasins that wrapped her lower legs in soft warmth.

She held up her feet to show Grady. "Strange wedding gift," he growled. "Take off the rest of your clothes and let me see what they look like, then."

He flashed a wicked grin at her and instead of the shy embarrassment his suggestion once would have caused, Julie pulled her dress over her head and stood naked before him but for the leather moccasins. Her red hair cascaded down her back and over her shoulders, touching the tips of her breasts.

"
Mahala Nizhoni
," he groaned as he lifted her in his arms. "My beautiful woman," he claimed her as the weight of his body carried her to the mattress and they became one.

* * * *

Two weeks later, Grady left at dawn, and the day settled in to be long and boring.

Julie was in back of the cabin gathering wood with the girls who wore the leather moccasins she'd made for them. She had taken over Grady's red shirt, and wore it today along with a pair of his long johns. She'd turned his long undershirts upside down, and improvised leggings for the girls too.

She watched for snakes and followed them closely as they staggered around the clearing picking up twigs. Spring filled her with a zest for life …
No
, she admitted …

Grady Hawks fills me with a need to live forever like this.
"Come on, girls," she called.

"Bring your wood and follow Mama." That called up the chant Julie had become accustomed to.

"Mama,
Ate
, Mama,
Ate
." Julie grimaced. The girls were learning words and practiced the sounds endlessly, chattering back and forth.

She felt the vibrations under foot of many horses and dropped the wood, gathering the girls to hurry toward the cabin.

She didn't make it to the back door leading to the sweat lodge, before the Hawks Nest riders entered the ranch yard from one side; at the same time, horsemen coming from the other direction arrived.

Hidden by the corner of the cabin, she shushed the twins, who mimicked her stillness.

Grady had eight men with him; the other group was fifty strong and all carrying weapons drawn and ready.

Julie stayed back but could hear the words exchanged. "You got a problem, Hiram?"

Grady's drawled question brought a smile to the sheriff's face. "I hope not, son. But you can see I have some uneasy people riding with me, so I'd keep my guns holstered if I was you."

Teddy James interrupted the friendly, but tense exchange, yelling, "You've been harboring Indians on this land. It's a fact, and your neighbors aren't going to stand for it any longer. We're here to see to that."

Before the fat saloonkeeper could say more, Sheriff Potter interrupted him. "You're here, but if you want to stay, you'll keep your mouth shut while I ask some questions. I told you that before you mounted up to ride along."

The two groups of men faced each other across the clearing, as Grady reached for his hat. Half the guns already drawn marked him as a target. But he ignored them and took his hat off, wiping sweat from his brow.

It was an uncommon gesture for him, and Julie tensed, afraid it was prelude to a gun battle, but he set it back on his head and said prosaically, "That what you come all this way to ask?"

He flashed a cold smile at Teddy James, and Julie saw the fat man flinch. "Everyone knows I have some drovers working for the Hawks Nest brand, who may have a drop of Indian blood. Hell, I have a drop or two. So, yea, there's some Indians livin' here. We own the place."

His tone had remained affable the entire time he spoke, but his eyes glittered, giving the lie to the smile that repeatedly flashed white. "And now explain to me why you're trespassing."

His smile had disappeared, and in spite of the lopsided numbers, members of the sheriff's posse looked nervous.

Determined to stir up trouble and feeling comfortable with fifty men at his back, again, Teddy James spoke up. "They've been seen. We've had people watching your place, you think we don't know you have Indians coming and going all times of the day and night."

"And these Indians that people have seen, did they stop by to visit? Maybe have supper with me and my wife?"

Since that's what they
had
almost done, Julie thought it brazen of Grady to mock them with it. The horses moved restlessly as taunts flew back and forth.

"These men have been deputized by the federal marshal in Abilene to pursue and capture, if possible, the remnants of Victorio's band. They were sighted southwest of here, traveling fast—a pack of warriors heading toward the border."

Sheriff Potter maintained the voice of calm reason and added, "Thought I'd deputize myself into this hunt when Teddy decided he'd start here."

Julie could see the changing expressions on the individual faces. Some clearly thought Teddy James was on a wild-goose chase that had taken them in the wrong direction. Hiram Potter was encouraging that opinion and was making some headway.

Before she could change her mind, she settled the babies tighter in her arms and walked around the corner of the sweat lodge.

Grady's red shirt hung below her knees, the top of the leggings covered by the hem.

"Sheriff Potter," she called to the one man in the posse who had always been fair to her. "What brings you and these fine men to our ranch this morning?" Julie hugged the girls close and smiled at the riders.

"Jesus, would you look at that. There's your Apache warriors, Teddy." The man guffawed loudly, and the few who hadn't seen the Indian woman come around the corner all looked now—except her red hair gleamed in shiny waves that fell halfway down her back, as her English words of cordiality reached their ears. The silent Indian babies had golden curls, and the three females were the prettiest picture many of the men had ever seen.

"'Morning, Mrs. Hawks. I've been meaning to come out this way and check on you. I can see that you and the mister have been busy."

The sheriff nodded meaningfully at the babies in her arms who remained still, as though they understood the danger. But then Emma spotted Grady on his horse across the yard.

"
Ate
," she called and held out her arms to him, squirming to get free from Julie.

"
Ate
." Amy took up the cry as they both wrestled to get loose.

"Looks like you've got an armful there, missus. Seems like they saw someone they want real bad."

Grady started his horse across the clearing, leaving the other Hawks Nest riders where they waited.

When he reached her, he dismounted and took Emma from Julie's arms, blowing on the neck of the little girl as she giggled and threw her arms around him.

"You've got a real nice family there, Grady. I'm glad to see it all worked out for you."

And just like that, the situation was over. "Teddy, the posse will be riding after the real Indians now. You might want to consider the distance from here to Mexico and change into some better suited clothes. I'll be heading back to Eclipse, myself."

Hiram Potter nudged the riders on their way and herded Teddy James back down the trail. When the saloon owner was beyond hearing distance, the sheriff paused and tipped his hat at Julie.

"Good day to you, ma'am. Sorry if we disturbed you." And then as if an afterthought, he quirked a brow at Grady and added, "I thought you might be interested to know, the front man for the Eastern Consortium had an accident. Damned if we didn't find him on the same trail where you found your pa, Grady."

Julie knew her mouth had dropped open, but Grady looked unsurprised. "Well, what killed him?" she asked, since the sheriff didn't volunteer the information.