Savage Spirit (41 page)

In his heart he now knew that this child that   Lost Wind was carrying truly seemed no more to him than an extension of his resentment for Lost Wind.

"No," Alicia gasped. "I would never ask that of you."

He smiled and brushed a kiss across her lips. "Only you could be this unselfish," he said.

Then he took her hands and drew her close again. "My darling
Ish-kay-nay
, I have decided not to lay claim to Lost Wind's child after all," he confessed. "The child would only bring confusion into our lives. I want nothing but peace and harmony to be brought into our marriage. And I do not want to put a strain on our children by having to make space in their lives for Lost Wind's child. Our children will have true sisters and brothers to fill their lives. Is that not so,
Ish-kay-nay?
"

Tears streamed from Alicia's eyes. "I would hope so," she murmured. She flung herself into his arms. "Oh, how I do love you."

A voice speaking Cloud Eagle's name outside the dwelling drew Alicia and Cloud Eagle apart.

Cloud Eagle shoved the entrance flap aside.

General Powell stepped inside. He stretched out a hand toward Cloud Eagle.

"It is time for us to say farewell," he said to Cloud Eagle. He shook Cloud Eagle's hand, then clasped a hand onto his shoulder. "We must meet again soon in council."

"When the moon is full, during the moon of the great snow, let us sit in council here again," Cloud Eagle said, nodding.

"I will be here," General Powell said. He slipped his hand into his front jacket pocket and brought out something wrapped in buckskin.   "A present, Cloud Eagle," he said, shoving the gift into Cloud Eagle's hand.

Alicia's eyes were wide with wonder as Cloud Eagle unfolded the buckskin, soon revealing several matches. She looked quickly up at General Powell.

"Cloud Eagle, you told me once that the gift you appreciate most is matches," General Powell said, watching as Cloud Eagle sorted through them with his fingers, pleasure in his eyes.

Cloud Eagle smiled and thanked General Powell, then went to his trunk and lifted the lid. He extracted a buckskin pouch from inside the trunk and took it to General Powell, pushing it into the general's hands.

"My gift to you," Cloud Eagle said.

General Powell opened the pouch and withdrew a square of buckskin from it. He stuffed the pouch into his pocket and proceeded to unroll the square of buckskin, which being unrolled, disclosed another square of buckskin. The unwrapping continued until five pieces had been unrolled, displaying a handsome leopard-skin pouch, in which was a parchment with several signatures by well-known white leaders.

"I recognize this," General Powell said, looking quickly up at Cloud Eagle. "This is the peace treaty signed between you and our United States Government leaders when you first became chief."

General Powell looked down at the signatures again, then up at Cloud Eagle. "You are sure you want me to have this?" he said, his voice filled with emotion.

"Yes, take it," Cloud Eagle said, closing General Powell's fingers over the buckskins. "This is proof   always for you that I have celebrated a treaty of peace with the United States."

"Thank you," General Powell said, his voice breaking.

Cloud Eagle moved his hand away as the general slipped his gift into his pocket.

"I shall have returned to you soon a newly written treaty on paper signed by the President of our United States," General Powell said. "I will have it placed in a frame. You can hang it here in your lodge to show those who come and have a smoke with you."

Cloud Eagle smiled widely. "I do feel that peace is solid between us now," he said, clasping a heavy, friendly hand on the general's shoulder.

"The feast was good," the general said, his compliment genuinely said.

"Yes, good," Cloud Eagle agreed. "But feasting every day is not good. One grows like the duck on the bank, too heavy to take wing."

General Powell laughed softly.

Cloud Eagle walked the general outside, Alicia beside him.

When the soldiers were gone, Thunder Roars came to Cloud Eagle with his wives, and those he wished to have for his wives, trailing behind him.

"I wish to lighten your burden today," Thunder Roars said. He turned and gestured toward Red Crow's wives and children, then gave Lost Wind a lingering look. "I wish to take Red Crow's wives and children into my lodge. Also I wish to take on the responsibility of Lost Wind and the child that she carries."

He turned slow eyes back to Cloud Eagle. "If you wish that Lost Wind's child be brought to   you upon its birthing, so be it," he said. "But if you would rather that I raise the child as my own, you know that it could never find a better home, or father, except for you."

"You know then that the child Lost Wind carries is mine?" Cloud Eagle said, frowning at Thunder Roars.

"Yes, she was truthful about the circumstances of the child," Thunder Roars said, nodding.

"And you still want her?"

"If
you
do not want her, Cloud Eagle."

"Take her then, and be warned that she has a spiteful tongue."

"And the child?"

"We will have children of our own. I will need no more," Cloud Eagle said, his chin held proudly high, his arm embracing Alicia.

He could feel the venom in Lost Wind's eyes, and he ignored it.

Alicia's insides warmed into a pleasant sort of bubbling feeling. Cloud Eagle had just gone beyond what was expected of a man who wanted to prove his love for a woman!

Feeling as though she were walking on air, Alicia went with Cloud Eagle to join the celebration again. As they sat down among the Apache people, black-masked dancers representing the benevolent mountain spirits called
gaan
performed, to drive away evil and to guard against illness.

Her thoughts flying ahead to her wedding day, Alicia was only half aware of the performance.  

Alicia was enjoying her finest hour. She had finally reached that most special day in her life, the day when she would be wed.

Her brother was ready to leave as soon as he witnessed the ceremony. He was strong enough now for the journey, and he would be heavily escorted by the Apache on his journey to Fort Thomas.

A drummer was beating an oxhide drum behind Alicia's tepee.

Many women were attending her as she prepared herself to meet Cloud Eagle in the large lodge that had been prepared for the wedding.

She had been told that the actual ceremony, where she and Cloud Eagle exchanged vows of total commitment, would be short. What led to that special moment was all a part of the wedding ritual.

As one of the women slipped the tribal robe   of beaded buckskin, with paintings of bright red and blue dye upon it, over her head, she was told that the yellow buckskin ceremonial dress was the color of pollen, a symbol of fertility. A beaded, T-shaped necklace was placed around her neck.

She smiled when she allowed herself to return in her thoughts to the prior evening.

She had been purposely left out of Cloud Eagle's private "bachelor party," but he had told her about it later, when he had held her close after making love. He had told her that the old warriors and the young men had gathered in the newly constructed ceremonial lodge. While the younger warriors had listened, those with much life behind them had recounted adventures and exploits, each man telling his own, for he knew them best.

They had drank
tizwin
, a beverage that had the same effect on the Apache as the white man's "firewater" had on them.

Cloud Eagle had come to her after the party, singing and swaying. When they made love, he had been like a man possessed. The way he had loved her had been intoxicating to Alicia. She had returned his eagerness.

But while he was gone, enjoying his bachelor party, Alicia had been placed in the hands of the old wives and was instructed in the duties of married women. She was told that wisdom was won from much sorrow, and that experience, knowledge, and the secrets of handling a man were the life's work of a woman who married into the Apache culture.

She had listened attentively as the hair of her eyebrows had been plucked, and seven thin red   lines had been painted from her lower lip to the base of her chin.

She had not questioned the old wives. She had just listened and allowed them to do whatever they saw fit with her, knowing that this would please Cloud Eagle.

The dress finally lying smoothly along her body, her hair combed until it was shining and sleek, Alicia thought of how Cloud Eagle would see her only moments from now.

Bright ornaments were displayed to the best advantage on the fringes of her buckskin dress and along the sides of her moccasins.

She had bells on, as well as tinsel, beads, and bracelets. There were also faded symbols of dark red made from the dried blood of a beef-heart painted on the dress.

She was suddenly aware that the drum no longer beat out its steady rhythm behind her tepee. Instead, she could hear many drums, as though they were coming from a deep tunnel, as they thumped inside the ceremonial lodge in the center of the stronghold.

Pure Sky handed a cane to Alicia, who eyed it warily.

"This is a ritual cane," Pure Sky softly explained. "It is decorated with eagle feathers to ensure health and oriole feathers for a good disposition. The cane is made of hardwood in order to last into your old age, to support you when you become frail."

Alicia smiled at Pure Sky. "Such a beautiful custom," she murmured.

"It is now time," Pure Sky said, as she took Alicia by a hand. "Come. Cloud Eagle waits for you."   Alicia grasped the cane. Her heart pounding, she looked from woman to woman. She was glad when she saw approval in their eyes, and also admiration as their gazes swept over her.

''I do look all right, don't I?" she asked suddenly, needing verbal assurance.

"You look beautiful, even though your skin is white," Pure Sky teased back.

The rest spoke almost in unison as they told her that she was pretty.

Alicia went from woman to woman. As she hugged them, she thanked them. She now truly felt as though she belonged, that she was a part of the Apache people.

Then once again Pure Sky came to her and clutched her hand. "We must not keep Cloud Eagle or our people waiting any longer," she said, pulling on Alicia's hand.

Fringed, beaded, and combed, Alicia left the tepee with Pure Sky, the other women following behind them.

Her eyebrows rose with surprise when the women, all but Pure Sky, suddenly ran around her and entered the lodge ahead of her. Yet she still did not ask questions. She was learning by doing.

The sky was brilliantly turquoise overhead. Although winter was fast approaching, the day had seemed made especially for two lovers. Not one cloud floated across the sky. The sun was deliciously warm. There was scarcely a breeze fluttering through the golden leaves of the cottonwoods.

Again her attention was drawn to the pulsing of the drums and the throbbing of the rattles. They were more pronounced. The beat was faster,   almost maddening to the ear.

Her gaze shifted, and she watched the thick veil of smoke spiraling from the smoke hole of the ceremonial lodge. The smell of sweet grass burning met her approach. She was now only a few footsteps from the entrance to the lodge where she would join her beloved.

Suddenly realizing the quiet of the stronghold, compared to the thunderous beats of the drums and rattles which wafted from the ceremonial lodge, Alicia looked over her shoulder. No one was outside the ceremonial lodge. Not even children or dogs. Only the loose tongues of the tepees licked lightly in the breeze.

This had to mean that everyone had crowded into the ceremonial lodge to witness their chief taking a wife.

And the fact that they were there, to see Cloud Eagle marry a white woman, made Alicia think that she was now openly, fully, accepted by them all.

She stepped up to the larger lodge with a happy heart. As Pure Sky led her inside, her knees grew weak with anticipation. Her pulse raced when she felt the eyes of the people upon her. The crowded faces in this larger lodge were like shining points of light in the semi-darkness; the central fire and the smoke hole overhead were the only source of light.

She quickly noticed that the women had put on what they had of beads and fringed leather ornamental clothing. Babies were swathed and sewed into their upright cradles. The warriors and young braves wore only their breechclouts. The young girls wore long and flowing buckskin dresses.   Then Alicia was aware of only one set of eyes when she found Cloud Eagle sitting on a high platform, autumn flowers spread in front of and around it.

Cloud Eagle's eyes drew her to him, and Alicia felt as though she were floating on wings toward him. The love she felt for him at that moment was so intense that it made her insides glow with a sweet warmth.

She gazed at him and smiled, her eyes finding him clothed in only a breechclout. He had not even put on his moccasins. It was as though his partial nudity was conveying to her that he was offering himself to her as though he were newborn in his love for her.

She swallowed hard and brushed a tear from her eyes as she took one last step to reach him.

When he stood over her, she expected him to offer her a hand to help her up beside him.

Pure Sky did not let go of her hand. Instead, she drew Alicia away from Cloud Eagle again.

Around a big fire, many women gathered in a circle. Alicia was guided to the center of the circle and left there.

She eyed Cloud Eagle warily.

When he nodded to her, giving his approval of what was happening, she sighed heavily.

Suddenly the women closed upon Alicia with a weird sing-song chant; the drumbeats were now low and scarcely discernible, the rattles quiet.

The women drew back from her then and shaded their eyes with their hands and looked slowly around the lodge, as though searching for lovers of their own.

They closed in upon her again, singing with   their lips close to her body, until she was folded within the circle of women.