Savage Beloved (17 page)

“I understand how that can happen,” he said. “For it is now the Moon of Strawberries, when bears are seeking green sedges, or roots, anthills, and berries, and when buffalo sharpen and polish their horns for bloody contests among themselves. They fight over the female buffalo that they want to mate with. Those horns and that fighting spirit are enough to overpower any other animal.”

“That is so interesting,” Candy murmured, impressed that Two Eagles seemed to know so much about so many things.

She could hardly wait for him to teach her about such things, and especially about the ways of his people. She wanted to learn to adjust to living with them, for she never wanted Two Eagles to be disappointed in her.

“I have wanted to ask you about something but felt that I shouldn’t,” Candy said.

“Never hesitate to ask me anything,” he said. “Asking is learning. I will gladly teach you my people’s customs. One day, you will know as much as myself.”

She blushed. “I doubt that,” she said, then gazed into his eyes. “Outside, there are five poles that project
from one side of your entranceway. Why are they there? Is there a meaning to them?”

“There is much meaning,” he said. “Four of them represent the four world quarters, or gods, while the upward peak is symbolic of Man-Never-Known-On-Earth, or
Kinnekasus
, the Creator.”

He gestured toward the entranceway. “And the door of all homes of my people is placed on the east side so that the sun may look into the lodge as it rises, while the small circular opening overhead is placed there not only for smoke to escape through, but also so that the sun may look into the lodge at noon, and at night, the star gods are thought to pour down their strength into our homes.”

He then gestured toward the fire pit. “The fire’s place in all my people’s lodges is considered sacred,” he said. “There offerings are made, food is cooked, and medicine is heated. We Wichita people view our home as a miniature of the universe itself.”

“There is so much to learn,” Candy murmured.

“You are like a newborn babe, who learns something at each new sunrise,” he said. “When you give birth to our first child, who will then learn as you learn now, you will be the teacher while I, the father, will be busy at my chieftain duties.”

“It is all like a dream, my life now, in comparison to how I lived before I met you,” Candy said softly.

She knew now why her father had been stationed at Fort Hope. It was to fulfill her destiny . . . to find Two Eagles and fall in love.

“My woman,” Two Eagles said huskily as he
wrapped his arms around her and drew her beneath him. They made love again as Shadow slept soundly beside the warmth of the fire, one ear lifting to the sound of wolves suddenly howling in the distance.

Love not me for comely grace,

For my pleasing eye or face,
Nor for any outward part,
No, nor for my constant heart.
—Anonymous

Billowy white clouds skipped across the blue sky overhead as Candy stood in the shadows of a tall birch tree a few feet away from the Wichita people, who were conducting the burial ceremony for Short Robe. He was dressed in his most colorful clothes. He wore yellow streaks beneath his eyes so that he would not lose sight of the sun on his journey now that his soul had departed to the land of ghosts.

Candy was only observing the burial of Short Robe, not an actual participant. Two Eagles had asked her to join the funeral rites with his people, but had not asked her to stand next to him. She understood. Until she became his wife, her place was
not at his side during such important functions. He had not told her this; she just felt it.

She had walked slowly with the people through a forest of birch and cottonwood trees as Short Robe was carried on a travois for his last journey on earth. After a time, they came to a clearing where a grave had been dug for his burial.

Candy looked even now at the many mounds of earth dotting this otherwise flat stretch of land. The wind sang low in the branches of the tall pines all around them.

The graves were not marked as white people marked theirs, with names engraved on stone. Instead there were only uncarved stones placed over the graves.

She wondered how the families of the deceased remembered which grave belonged to whom, since there were no identifying markers except the stones. She could only conclude that they knew without needing markers.

Another thing that puzzled her was the size of the hole that awaited Short Robe’s body. It seemed large enough to hold several deceased, not just one.

She looked slowly at a lovely mare that stood close to the grave. It held no saddle on its back, nor reins. A lone rope hung around its neck, but not an ordinary rope. This one was decorated with feathers and flowers, obviously ornamented thus for the burial ceremony.

She glanced again at the large grave, and then back at the horse that stood dutifully close to the dead warrior it had belonged to.

A chill went down her spine as she guessed why the grave had been made so large. She had heard that some Indian warriors were buried with their favorite steed!

Was this horse going to be destroyed, then placed in the grave with Short Robe?

The shaman, Crying Wolf, was kneeling beside the fallen loved one who lay on the travois, chanting Short Robe’s deeds as a warrior.

When Crying Wolf was finished, everyone began a low chant as Short Robe was lowered into the grave.

Soon his bow, his quiver of arrows, his lance, and war knife, were placed in the grave with him.

What happened next was so sudden, so shocking, yet a necessary part of the burial rites. A warrior stepped up to Short Robe’s horse and shot it, killing it instantly.

Many men then went to the horse and with great ceremony lowered it into the grave beside Short Robe, so that they would make the long journey together, as they had traveled while Short Robe still had breath in his lungs.

Shaken by what had just happened, Candy turned and looked away just as the warriors knelt beside the grave, and with their hands started pushing earth into it.

Candy saw that Two Eagles was among those who filled the grave. When it was done, they placed stones over the thick mound of earth.

Candy waited until she saw the people head back toward their village. Then she fell into step after they
had all passed her by, even Two Eagles. He and the shaman led the procession.

She had felt his eyes on her as he had walked past, but she knew why he hadn’t stopped to see if she was alright.

He was still involved in the burial process, which would not end until all his uncle’s personal possessions were taken care of.

Two Eagles had told her that after the burial, everyone would return to the village, where they would stand back and watch as Two Eagles took his uncle’s belongings from his tepee. Before burning Short Robe’s tepee, which was the custom after someone died, he would hand out all of his uncle’s possessions to those who were no kin to him, for it was the rule that no Wichita could benefit from the death of a family member.

After arriving at the village, Candy went straight to Two Eagles’s lodge, which now was also hers, and stood outside. She watched as Short Robe’s belongings were handed to those who stepped up and voiced a need for them.

This process took a while; then Candy watched Two Eagles light a torch in the flames of the huge outdoor fire, and go back to his uncle’s tepee to set it ablaze.

Everyone was quiet as they watched the leaping flames reach heavenward. The buckskin covering was soon gone, leaving only the remains of the lodge poles blazing red with fire. One by one, they crumbled to the ground, until all that was left of the tepee was simmering, glowing ashes.

Then the mourners solemnly turned and began making their way toward their own homes, the children quiet, too, for they had loved this old man who shared so much with them.

But there was one person who did not go directly to her lodge. Hawk Woman was walking toward Candy, a look of open and utter contempt in her eyes. Before Candy could get inside the tepee, Hawk Woman came up to her and gave her a hard shove while no one was looking.

Candy fell awkwardly to the ground, shaken by the fall but not hurt, except for her pride. She looked up at Hawk Woman who stood over her, her eyes snapping angrily.

“Why did you do that?” Candy asked as she slowly pushed herself up.

She received no response from Hawk Woman. Candy had never had an enemy before now, but knew for certain that this woman was the worst kind of enemy anyone could have.

It was evident that Hawk Woman wasn’t about to respond to Candy’s questions. She had come to do what she had wanted to do ever since she realized that she had lost Two Eagles to Candy.

Hawk Woman gave Candy a strange sort of sneer, then stomped away to her own tepee.

Candy looked over at Two Eagles. He had not seen what had happened to her. He was too involved in trying to make a group of children understand why someone like Short Robe had to die, that everyone had their time for dying.

Even now Two Eagles was embracing one child
after the other. Their parents had already gone into their lodges, the sound of soft chants and prayers wafted from the smoke holes of each, proving that the mourning might continue throughout the night.

Candy badly wanted to tell Two Eagles about this incident with Hawk Woman, yet she knew that he already had much on his mind; he didn’t need to be bothered with the acts of a spiteful woman.

But Candy, herself, would be more watchful. She would not allow Hawk Woman ever to get the better of her again.

She wondered what else the woman’s scheming mind might conjure up in order to harm her.

She gave Hawk Woman’s tepee one last look, seeing the entrance flap tied closed, then sighed heavily as she turned and hurried inside her own. She found Shadow snoozing restfully beside the lodge fire, which had burned down to low embers.

Candy was always relieved to see Shadow after being away from her, even if for only a short while. She knew that, more than likely, Shadow would leave one day and never return. Candy had to keep reminding herself it was the natural thing, for her wolf was born in the wild and had instincts that told her that was where she truly belonged.

But even knowing those things did not make the thought of eventually losing her pet any less painful.

Sighing heavily, Candy placed several logs in the fire pit, where the glowing coals soon took hold and created a softly burning fire which cast dancing shadows over the inside walls of the tepee.

This relaxed Candy so much that she soon forgot
Hawk Woman. She stretched out on the pelts beside Shadow, snuggled close to her wolf, and soon drifted off into a restful, sweet sleep. She didn’t even hear Two Eagles when he came in and joined her, soon falling asleep himself.

Hawk Woman crept up to Two Eagles’s tepee, parted the entrance flap that he had forgotten to secure, and gazed inside at Two Eagles and Candy as they slept.

A keen jealousy knifed through her at the sight of Two Eagles lying so close to Candy, his arm resting over her.

A low hiss came from Hawk Woman as she dropped the flap, then went to the river and waded in, hoping that the shock of the cool night air against her wet flesh would help her forget the desire for vengeance that would not leave her.

Somehow, somewhere, she would get rid of Candy, and then it would be just Two Eagles and Hawk Woman again, both free to love, and eventually marry.

“I will have him,” she whispered harshly to herself, her body shivering as she ran from the water. The coldness had not banished any of her thoughts.

She now knew that nothing but finally achieving her goal would ease her mind. Nothing but revenge would let her live as she had before Candy arrived with her sweet, syrupy voice and petite body.

In the moonlight, Hawk Woman gazed down at her own body, hating her thick waist and bowed legs, but proud of her large breasts.

Growling, she yanked on her dress and ran to her tepee. Inside, she changed into a dry robe, then threw herself onto her bed of blankets and sobbed until she finally found some solace in sleep.

But even then she couldn’t find the peace she hungered for. In her dream she saw Two Eagles making love with Candy. She could even smell them.

She awakened with a start, her body wet with perspiration.

“I must achieve my goal soon or lose my mind,” she whispered to herself.

Hawk Woman had already lost too much that was precious to her. Rarely did she allow herself to think about her losses, or her life when she’d been called Sara Thaxton. It was just too painful to recall the daughter that she had left behind.

Penelope. Precious Penelope!

“No,” she cried in a soft whimper. She could not think about her. The moment she had given birth to the baby, Albert Cohen had taken her from Sara’s arms. He had hated Sara so much, he had denied her her very own child and had given her to another woman to feed from her milk-filled breasts, even though Sara had had more than enough to fulfill her child’s needs.

Penelope had never known that Sara was her mother.

“Oh, my baby,” she cried, her body feeling so empty.

As sometimes, in a dead man’s face,
To those that watch it more and more,
A likeness, hardly seen before,
Comes out to someone of his race.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Candy was fighting off her nervousness as she rode on a beautiful white mare beside Two Eagles’s black stallion.

Two Eagles sat alert and silent in his saddle. His jaw was set, his muscled shoulders tight beneath his fringed buckskin shirt, his eyes directed straight ahead. She knew this journey was a painful one for him, but he was determined to visit the other band of Wichita whose lives had been touched by Candy’s father.

She glanced at the large buckskin bag that hung at the right side of Two Eagles’s steed. Just thinking about what was inside the bag made her shiver.

It was the severed head her father had kept as a trophy!