Savage Spirit (20 page)

And although he had never seen Alicia in anything besides men's clothing, he had known what surely lay beneath them and had secretly hungered for Alicia since the first time he had seen her.

He just had not approached her yet. He had too much to hide that she might discover.

She worked for the government. Because of this, she was a threat. He could not take any more chances that what he did behind a wall at   the back of his outpost would be discovered.

Sandy Whiskers also knew that he could not tell Cloud Eagle the truth about how he had acquired the painting in Alicia's presence, or everyone would know that he was responsible for the latest massacre on the California Road.

Thus far the United States Government was unaware of his marauding ways. In fact, they were more apt to defend than to ridicule him. There was a peaceful truce between them.

"You play games?" Cloud Eagle said, enraged by Sandy Whiskers' lies. He reached over the desk and wrapped his fingers around the Englishman's throat.

The cigar popped from Sandy Whiskers' mouth and fell to the desk on the stack of papers. The papers began smoldering.

"Your words are like a whisper borne by the mourning winds," Cloud Eagle hissed between clenched teeth. "Now tell the truth. Where did you get the painting? What happened to the man in whose possession you found it?"

"I . . . know . . . of no painting," Sandy Whiskers managed to get out in a strained whisper. "Let me go, Cloud Eagle."

Cloud Eagle squeezed the Englishman's throat more tightly.

Sandy Whiskers gagged. His eyes bulged.

"My warrior Turtle Crawls is a man of honor and truth," Cloud Eagle snarled. "He said that Red Crow took the painting from your cabin. I know this is true. Now you tell the lady the truth. Tell her that you stole the painting from her brother."

"I cannot tell her something that I know nothing of," Sandy Whiskers said, looking wildly over   at Alicia. "I am innocent. Tell this crazed Indian to let me go."

Alicia had stood by, silently watching, trying to measure the truth between these two men, and found it hard to believe Cloud Eagle's story over the Englishman's. She saw no reason for Sandy Whiskers to lie so blatantly about the painting. What did he have to gain?

She turned on a heel and rushed from the room, hell-bent on getting away from Cloud Eagle. She ran outside, but he was soon there, stopping her by grabbing her wrist.

"You believe the Englishman over me?" Cloud Eagle said, searching her face for some semblance of the love that she had shown for him until the painting was rescued from the fire.

Deep within his heart, he was not only condemning the Englishman for this estrangement with Alicia, but also Red Crow. If Red Crow had left well enough alone, and had not stolen the painting, then there would be no reason now for the woman he loved to turn on him.

He doubted if he could get her feelings turned around again. The only way he could show her absolute proof of his innocence was to bring her brother face to face with her.

But he saw that as impossible. Her brother was surely dead. The Englishman would not be foolish enough to leave anyone behind who might tell the truth about his illegal activities.

And as far as Cloud Eagle and the Englishman were concerned, it was war!

"All I saw today was one lie being stacked onto another," Alicia sobbed. She tried to jerk her wrist free, but Cloud Eagle would not allow it. She went limp and pleaded with her eyes. "Just let me go.   I'm so weary of all of this. My brother. My poor brother. Because of me and my stubborn decision not to return to Saint Louis, he is probably lying dead out there somewhere in the desert." She hung her head. Her body trembled as she cried in earnest. "He's dead. I know he's dead."

Cloud Eagle wanted so badly to draw her into his arms and comfort her but knew that she would not allow it. Instead he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the horse. This time she did not fight him. She saw it as useless.

Mounting the roan behind Alicia, Cloud Eagle glanced at Sandy Whiskers' window and scowled when he saw that he was peering out at him with a glint in his eyes. "You will pay for your lies," he said, making sure to mouth the words distinctly enough for the Englishman to see and understand. "
Pindah-lickayee dis-ay-go, dee-dah-tatsan.
White-eyed man, you will soon be dead."

Sandy Whiskers glared back at Cloud Eagle and understood each of the words being mouthed, even those spoken in Apache.

"
Excremento
," he muttered, a curse he used frequently when referring to the Apache. "Soon
you
will die, filthy Apache. I will get even with you. Savage, I have tolerated your interference long enough."

The sky was sprinkled with sequins of stars, and the moon was so bright that it sent a soft white sheen across the land as Cloud Eagle rode into his stronghold with Alicia.

As he rode past the charred remains of Red Crow's lodge, he was filled with many emotions. He was sad over Red Crow and his wives' loss.

Yet he could not place his anger aside when he thought of the painting that had been found in the   fire. He kept reminding himself that Red Crow had stolen the painting with the best of intentionsto please his chief with a special gift.

He stiffened when he rode up to his lodge and saw the painting resting against the buckskin covering. It was hard to recall when he had first seen the painting and had wanted it for his own. Now he wished he had never seen it and would never see it again. It meant anything but good in his life.

Alicia had slept fitfully in Cloud Eagle's embrace for the past several miles. The crying and grieving over her brother, and over being so disappointed at Cloud Eagle's deceit, had drained her of energy.

As Cloud Eagle drew his roan to a shuddering halt, Alicia awakened and looked around her. She was again engulfed with the pain that cut deep into her heart when she saw the painting that rested against the outside of Cloud Eagle's lodge. The painting stood for many things now, most hurtful.

Gray romped from the tepee and stood patiently waiting for attention when Cloud Eagle dismounted. He grew frisky at Cloud Eagle's feet when Cloud Eagle reached for Alicia.

Alicia allowed Cloud Eagle to help her from the horse. She was weak. She felt empty through and through.

When her feet reached solid ground, she eased away from Cloud Eagle and walked in a dazed state toward the painting. Lifting it, she carried it inside Cloud Eagle's lodge. She sat down beside the lodge fire, which had burned down to glowing embers. She had enough light from those embers to see the familiar signature of her brother on the   painting in the right lower corner.

Trembling, her fingers traveled over the signature. It was as though she were touching her brother.

With Gray at his heels, Cloud Eagle entered his lodge. He stood over Alicia. "Allow me to help you put your grief and anger behind you," he said, kneeling down beside her. He reached a hand to push back loose strands of hair from her face and flinched when she slapped his hand away.

"I don't want you ever to touch me again," Alicia said, although saying the words cut to the very core of herself.

How could love turn to hate so quickly? Though she felt that all guilt pointed directly at Cloud Eagle, a part of her would never let go of loving him. What they had shared had been so beautifully sweet. She wanted it back again the way it was before she had found the painting in Red Crow's lodge!

But she knew that was impossible.

Cloud Eagle was a thief.

He was a liar.

More than likely, he was a murderer.

"You say what you do not mean," Cloud Eagle uttered softly, his voice filled with pain. "In time, you will see that. For now I will leave you alone with your grief. I will also think through how you feel about this Apache chief. If you will allow yourself, you will know that I am not guilty of that of which you accuse me. I know there is no more proof than my word, my beautiful
Ish-kay-nay
. If that is not enough, then all is lost between us."

Alicia cast him a glance, and seeing him look so beaten almost made her throw all doubts aside and rush into his embrace.   It would be so easy.

He was there. He needed her. She needed him.

Yet she could not find it in herself to go against the feelings that nagged at her insides. She could never love a man who had killed her brother!

She turned her eyes quickly away.

Cloud Eagle gazed at her for a moment longer, then he left to see if Red Crow had returned from the hunt. He had much to say to him! He would thank him for being thoughtful enough to steal the portrait for him. He would scold him for causing so much heartache because he stole it!

Cloud Eagle found Turtle Crawls sitting beside the communal fire. ''My friend, has Red Crow returned yet from the hunt?" he asked, settling on his haunches beside Turtle Crawls.

"The hunt must be good," Turtle Crawls said, smiling over at Cloud Eagle. "They have not returned yet."

Cloud Eagle stared into the fire. "Turtle Crawls, the Englishman lied," he said, his voice hollow. "In the presence of my woman, he lied. He said that he knew of no painting. Nothing made him change his mind. My woman believes him over me."

"Then she is not deserving of you," Turtle Crawls said.

"I do not see it that way," Cloud Eagle said. He looked over his shoulder at his tepee, then stared at the fire again. "She is white. All whites have little trust in the Apache. Just because she learned to love me does not erase that suspicion entirely from her heart. She is a victim of prejudices taught her as a child. How can I blame her for that which someone placed inside her heart   when she was only a child? Her reaction now over seeing the portrait in the Apache's possession is only natural. In time she will learn to trust this chief again."

Gray tried to get Alicia's attention, and when she ignored him, he sauntered outside and sat down beside Cloud Eagle.

Alicia stared at the painting a moment longer, then laid it aside and stretched out on the pallet of furs. She was exhausted. She needed sleep. In the dark void of sleep, she could forget all that she had lost, if only for the moment.

Then she sat up quickly and stared at the closed entrance flap. She listened to the muted sounds in the village. Everyone was going about their own business. If ever she were to escape, this was perhaps the best opportunity. She now felt more like a prisoner than she had at the beginning.

Feeling the urgent need to place miles between herself and Cloud Eagle, she moved to her feet. Making plans, her mind traveled quickly. She knew that the horses were carefully guarded, so she would not be able to use one for her escape. She would have to take her chances on foot.

She turned and gazed at the weapons, then chose a knife which she placed in a leather sheath at her right side.

She stared at the rifle, then without further thought, also grabbed it.

Her gaze then fell upon something shiny beneath a roll of blankets. Her eyes brightened with recognition. "My pistol," she softly cried. She picked it up and tucked it into the waist of her skirt.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she   fought the memory of her nights with Cloud Eagle as she tiptoed to the entrance flap.

Grasping the rifle with one hand, she eased the flap slightly aside. Peering outside, she caught sight of Cloud Eagle on his haunches beside Turtle Crawls, and remorse filled her in a deep, painful rush. At this moment she knew that no matter what, she would always love Cloud Eagle. Nothing could take away those feelings that were locked within her heart as though branded there.

She loved him deeply. Reverently. Forever.

Then she rushed from the tepee and circled around behind it. She looked toward the corral. As she had guessed, a warrior guarded it. She would have no chance to steal a horse.

She welcomed the darkness that stretched out before her, yet she feared it. She hoped she would come across travelers who would take pity on her and give her a ride. She had many miles to travel until she reached Fort Thomas. That was her destination. It tore at her gut to think that she could be the cause for Cloud Eagle's eventual arrest.

She ran onward into the darkness, her eyes cautiously darting on all sides of her. Only when the stronghold was a vague shadow in the distance did she allow herself just one last look.

A sob lodged in her throat to know what she had left behind.

Her heart.

Her very reason for being.

Again she turned. She stumbled listlessly along and cringed when distant wolves and coyotes barked and bayed at the moon. She was reminded   of Snow. Was she among those restless animals tonight?

And Gray?

Alicia already missed Gray with all her heart.

When the wolves seemed closer, she broke into a mad run, and was soon exhausted. She found an overhang of rock and sought shelter beneath it. Limply she sank to the ground and fell into a deep, heavy sleep.  

The morning came with the harshness of desert light and the blistering sun, awakening Alicia with a start. She rose on one elbow and looked around her. She felt suddenly empty again when she realized where she was, and why. She had lost everything in the world that meant anything to her.

Cloud Eagle had betrayed her.

Her brother was more than likely dead.

She grabbed the rifle and rose slowly to her feet and moved out of the shade of the towering rock overhang. Her thirst was so intense that her mouth felt as though it were filled with cotton.

She ignored the gnawing at the pit of her stomach. Food was the last thing she was interested in. She had to quench her thirst, then be on her way. She had no idea which way to travel to reach the California Road, where she might be rescued and taken to Fort Thomas, or to her stage station,   where Milton was surely proudly taking charge.

She doubted that scalawag had even sent word to the fort that she had disappeared. He had said more than once that he would be glad to be rid of her.

"Looks like you got your wish, Milton," Alicia whispered to herself. She then laughed beneath her breath. If she made it back to civilization alive and discovered that he hadn't sent someone to look for her, he'd pay dearly for that little deception.