Savage Spirit (16 page)

On and on the dancing continued. Alicia was bone-tired, yet she did not complain. Staying and observing the dancing ritual seemed the proper thing to do. The lovers' dance went on and on until the moon was paled by the sun's rising.

Alicia leaned forward, her eyes wide, when at the end of the dance, the young braves presented   the girls with gifts. Each gift was different and seemed special. The girls' eyes shone as they clutched them to their bosoms and ran away to their lodges, while the young braves broke apart and went to their own tepees.

The crowd that had stayed the full night began to disperse. Alicia had not expected the celebration to last this long and somewhat resented not being able to spend the time as she had plannedmaking love with Cloud Eagle. But she
had
enjoyed the night.

She clung to Cloud Eagle as they walked toward their lodge, then stopped when they saw someone coming into the village on horseback.

"Is that Thunder Roars?" Alicia asked, shielding her eyes against the brightness of morning with the back of her hand.

Cloud Eagle forked an eyebrow when he noticed that Thunder Roars was not riding straight-backed in the saddle. Instead he was slouched over. His insides grew cold. "He appears to be in pain."

"Oh, Lord, no," Alicia cried. "I hope he wasn't ambushed."

Alicia and Cloud Eagle broke into a run and met Thunder Roars' approach. When they reached him, they stopped and stared, stunned at his appearance. There were no bullet wounds, but there were many red and inflamed welts covering his powerful chest, his arms, and his face. His eyes were so swollen, they appeared to be only slits in his skin. His cheeks were puffed out. His ears and lips were twice their size.

Thunder Roars slid easily from the saddle, then lifted a deer sack from the back of his horse.   Alicia stared dumbfoundedly at what it contained. She now knew what had caused the stings all over his body. The sack was heavy with crushed honeycomb.

"This gift, which is highly regarded by our people, is yours," Thunder Roars said, handing the deer sack to Cloud Eagle. "This gift truly seals our new friendship. Also I give it to you to acquire real merit among your people."

Alicia had heard that honey was the Apache's main store of sweets and was greatly desired for
pinole
, which was a flour made of mesquite beans and acorns. The very cakes that she had eaten tonight had been made from this flour.

"This chief is humbled over the gift and the sacrifice you made in acquiring it," Cloud Eagle said, hugging the deer sack to his bosom. His eyes raked over Thunder Roars' body again. "You have hardly been left untouched by the bees. Come to my lodge. I will prepare a herbal medication that will remove the pain and help take away the swelling."

Thunder Roars nodded, then groaned as he began walking his horse toward Cloud Eagle's tepee. Alicia could see him shivering and knew that he must have a fever. It was obvious that this Apache was allergic to bee stings. She felt that he might have a miserable several days ahead of him regardless of whatever Cloud Eagle did to try to make him more comfortable. She was also allergic to bee stings and avoided the creatures at all costs.

"Alicia, could you take Thunder Roars' horse to the corral?" Cloud Eagle said, stopping just before he entered his lodge.

Alicia nodded and took the reins.   When she returned to the tepee, she sat down away from Cloud Eagle and Thunder Roars and watched Cloud Eagle's gentle ways of medicating the welts.

When Thunder Roars was led to the pallet of furs upon which Cloud Eagle and Alicia had made love more than once, Alicia pitied him. He could not straighten his back, nor could he see. His eyes were now totally closed. When he stretched out on the furs, he groaned.

"Do you wish a shaman?" Cloud Eagle asked, as he leaned close to Thunder Roars' ear.

"No shaman," Thunder Roars mumbled through his swollen lips. "Sleep. All I need is sleep."

"When you awake, the welts will be all but gone," Cloud Eagle reassured him. "The herbs I used on them will ensure that."

Cloud Eagle stepped away from Thunder Roars. He went and stood over the fire and stared into the flames. Alicia sidled up next to him and placed her arms around his waist. "I'm worried about something," she murmured.

"He will be all right," Cloud Eagle reassured her, still staring into the flames.

"I am concerned about Thunder Roars, but my main concern is for you," Alicia said, causing his eyes to turn to her. "Isn't the duel today? This morning?"

"In a matter of moments," Cloud Eagle said solemnly.

"Cloud Eagle, you have been up all night without any rest," she said, her voice breaking. "Darling, because of the celebration I forgot about the duel. How could I be so thoughtless? I should have encouraged you to go to bed long ago."   "Do not fret so," Cloud Eagle said, framing her face between his hands. "I purposely lingered at the celebration, not only because I am the chief, but also because I knew that if I went to my bed, I would not sleep. It is not a pleasant thing to think aboutlosing a valued warrior. And that I will today. I never lose at duels. Anticipating that loss with sadness would have caused sleep to elude this Apache chief."

Alicia flung herself into his arms and clung to him. "I still feel responsible," she murmured. "Tell me again that I am not."

"Ten Bears is the one responsible for his own untimely end," Cloud Eagle said, gently stroking her back through the buckskin blouse. "It is as though he wishes to enter the land of the hereafter before his time."

"A death wish," Alicia whispered, shuddering.

"But fear not, my
Ish-kay-nay
," Cloud Eagle quickly reassured her. "Should I be the victor, my plan is to spare Ten Bears' life, not take it."

"But only moments ago you said that . . ."

"There are other ways to take a warrior's life than killing him."

"I don't understand."

"You shall see. You shall see."  

The sun was directly overhead when Cloud Eagle and Ten Bears stepped into a clearing just outside their stronghold. They were dressed only in breechclouts and faced each other with their left wrists and elbows banded to small oxhide shields, their bared knives flashing in the morning light.

Anticipating the duel, there was a hushed silence as everyone watched from both sides. Alicia stood between Red Crow and Thunder Roars, her heart pounding with fear for the man she loved. She kept telling herself over and over again that Cloud Eagle would win the duel. She had feared that losing sleep might cause him to falter. But Ten Bears had not slept either during the night-long celebration.

Her gaze swept over the crowd, stopping at Lost Wind. Alicia could see the dread in her eyes. This told Alicia that Lost Wind did not have much faith in her brother's ability to fight Cloud Eagle.   Alicia's eyes shifted downward and her lips parted in a light gasp. Lost Wind clutched a buckskin bag. Had she already packed for her journey from the Apache stronghold? Did she understand already that she was going to be banished along with her brother, who would not be victorious this morning?

Alicia's gaze went back to Cloud Eagle and Ten Bears, who were still only facing each other, not fighting. She had to wonder if Ten Bears had known all along that he could never win today. If not, she was confused as to why he had challenged Cloud Eagle to a duel.

Then she realized why. Ten Bears had no choice but to accept a challenge from his chief or he would have lost face and would have been humbled in front of all of his people.

Alicia's breathing came more evenly. Her heart even resumed its regular beats. Her beloved Apache chief would come through this unscathed.

She clasped her hands behind her when Cloud Eagle and Ten Bears sparred for an opening. Cloud Eagle held his war shield shoulder-high and slightly to the left, his knife lower to the right, blade down. He rocked sideways as he stepped around Ten Bears, the weight on the outside of his feet, his toes turned in. Both Ten Bears' and Cloud Eagle's bodies were relaxed. There was no tension or bunching of muscles.

Then the fight began. As they jabbed at the wind with their knives, and as they missed each other, they pressed together toward the edge of the trampled space. Their bodies gleamed with sweat like those of snakes that had sloughed off their skin.

Cloud Eagle leaped back to avoid a viper thrust   almost invisibly swift from Ten Bears' knife, then jumped forward again. He thudded the earth with his bare feet.

Shields crashed; feet tramped in rhythm.

Ten Bears leapt again to attack.

Cloud Eagle stepped aside and swung around.

As swift as a lightning strike, Cloud Eagle flung himself forward and struck like a leaping bobcat as he lifted a leg and with his foot knocked Ten Bears' knife from his hand.

Ten Bears took a step backward, but he was not fast enough. Cloud Eagle pounced on him and wrestled him to the ground. He pinned Ten Bears to the ground as he knelt over him, the point of his knife at the hollow of Ten Bears' throat.

''Do not spare my life only so that I can be humiliated and ridiculed," Ten Bears growled up at Cloud Eagle when he saw Cloud Eagle's hesitation.

Cloud Eagle was aware of someone softly crying. He looked away long enough to see Lost Wind, her eyes filled with tears as she gazed back at him.

Cloud Eagle locked his eyes with Lost Wind's for a moment longer, then turned his attention back to Ten Bears.

"Killing you would be easy because you have gone against your chief in words and deeds," Cloud Eagle said as he glared down at Ten Bears. He inched his knife away from Ten Bears' flesh. "But your sister needs you for her protection."

Again he placed the knife to Ten Bears's throat and leaned down into his face. "Give your word to me that you will look after Lost Wind," he hissed.

"She should still be your responsibility," Ten Bears snarled back.   "You will show disrespect to your chief with spiteful words while your chief holds a knife to your throat?" Cloud Eagle said, searching for enough willpower not to plunge the knife into this warrior's flesh. "The knife would end your words quickly."

"That is what I wish," Ten Bears said, trying to strain his throat closer to the knife. "I have no wife. Only a sister. She can find another husband to look after her. Kill me, Cloud Eagle. I do not wish to carry disgrace with me throughout the rest of my miserable life."

"Your sister is barren," Cloud Eagle argued back. "No man but a brother would have her."

"You are sure it is my sister who is barren?" Ten Bears taunted. "Or are you void of seed that would make a child grow within my sister's womb?"

An angry flush rose from Cloud Eagle's neck. His self-control was at its end. And had Ten Bears's words reached farther than Cloud Eagle's ears, it would have been a swift end for the Apache warrior.

But Ten Bears had said the spiteful remark in a low hiss, meant only for Cloud Eagle to hear. And Cloud Eagle knew that there was a chance that what Ten Bears had said might be true.

Two barren wives.

It did eat away at Cloud Eagle's gut to think that he might be the cause. He had never thought that anyone else might consider this possibility. He was surprised when Ten Bears had the courage to speak of such a thing.

Tired of the arguing, and wanting to thrust Ten Bears from his sight and away from his stronghold so that he could not share his thoughts with others, Cloud Eagle moved away from him.   "Get on your feet," he said, motioning with the knife towards Ten Bears. "Take your sister and leave. I will spread the word that you are not welcome in any other Apache stronghold, that you are unworthy of lodging among our people."

Alicia scarcely breathed as Ten Bears slunk away from Cloud Eagle.

Her gaze moved to Lost Wind, who broke away from the crowd and ran to Ten Bears and clung to him, her eyes wide as she watched Cloud Eagle.

There was a strained silence among the Apache people as Ten Bears and Lost Wind walked away. Everyone turned and watched until they were only a tiny movement along the horizon.

Thunder Roars was the first to break the silence. He went to Cloud Eagle and clasped a hand on his shoulder. "You did well," he said thickly. "It took much courage and self-discipline not to silence that man's words and heartbeat. I admire you, Cloud Eagle, for saving his life, especially since it was for the sake of his sister."

"He was once a brave and valiant Apache warrior," Cloud Eagle said, turning to Thunder Roars. He slipped his knife into its sheath. "But now, except for caring for his sister, he is worthless."

Alicia ran to Cloud Eagle and flung herself into his arms. "I'm so glad it's over," she cried. She looked up at Cloud Eagle as he swept an arm around her waist. "You spared him. How noble of you."

"As I forewarned you, it was never my intention to kill him," Cloud Eagle said. "There are more ways than one to lose a warrior. In the back of my mind there was always Lost Wind and her welfare. It is not a good thing to send wives away.   But when you do, it makes one feel better to see that she is being taken care of by someone of her kin. Her brother was all that remained of her family. She became his responsibility when I cast her from my life."

Alicia glanced toward the crowd. They were looking at Cloud Eagle with utter adulation, including Spring Dawn. She wondered about
her
welfare. But she did not voice this concern out loud to Cloud Eagle. This particular Apache woman seemed capable of taking care of herself.

And perhaps one day some man would take pity on her, whether or not she could bear a child, and take her into his household so that she could serve him in ways other than mothering children.

A thought came to her that made her insides quiver with dread. What if that thought entered Cloud Eagle's mind? What if his pity for Spring Dawn urged him to bring her back into his lodge to do the cooking, mending, and cleaning? Alicia could not stand the thought of sharing anything with another woman.

Especially her man!

And she was very capable of caring for Cloud Eagle without any interference.