Savage Splendor (Savage Lagonda 2) (10 page)

"Zeke, how far is it to your cabin?"

"We should be there by last light tomorrow, barring trouble."

Mara nodded her head. She had no past and no future; for now her whole world revolved around Jake and Zeke. She knew no one else.

They stopped around noon and Mara dismounted and walked around to stretch her legs. Jake offered her a slice of sourdough bread. She hesitated a moment, noticing Zeke was drinking out of the leather skin. She wondered if there would be enough for her to wash her hands in.

"Zeke, would you mind if I washed my hands if I only used a small amount of water?"

Zeke looked taken aback for a moment. It had been a long while since he had been in the company of a woman, and most of the women he knew were from some Indian tribe or other, and were willing to swap their favors for a pretty trinket. They had never been too clean, and he had not minded overmuch.

Jake's loud laughter boomed out, as he doubled over with mirth. "See, Zeke, I told you there was other uses for water besides drinking."

Zeke gave Mara a lopsided grin. "Take all the water you want for washing, little princess, and don't let Jake goad you into thinking I don't never take a bath. I had me a bath . . ."

"Go ahead, Zeke, tell her when's the last time you took you a bath," his brother challenged, trying to suppress his laughter.

Zeke scratched his beard in thoughtfulness. "Does swimming in the water count as a bath?"

Mara's laughter startled both brothers. The sound of her laughter seemed to dance on the wind, and Jake and Zeke thought they had never heard anything half so nice. She was so beautiful, and they both felt it was their duty to look after her and protect her since they had saved her from the two savages.

"Zeke, I think you could count swimming as a bath without soap," Mara said wiping her eyes. Both men watched as she poured water into her hands and splashed it on her face.

After they had eaten, Jake lifted Mara onto the horse and they renewed their journey. They did not slow their pace the rest of the day, and that night when they set up camp Mara helped Zeke prepare the food, while Jake gathered wood and built a fire.

Soon all three of them sat down to a plate of beans and beef jerky. Once again Mara became nauseated after she had eaten a portion of the food. She tried to hide it from Jake and Zeke, but they noticed she had not eaten half the food on her plate and decided it was because she was overtired. Jake spread the blanket under a tree for her to lie on. Soon after she lay down she felt better and fell asleep.

The two brothers sat by the fire drinking the thick black coffee and talking in hushed tones. Every so often their eyes would wander to the golden-haired girl, who appeared to be sleeping.

"She sure is a sweet little lady," Zeke told his brother.

"Yep, she don't complain and carry on. She is lost and don't know who she is. We are strangers to her, and yet she smiles that sweet smile of hers, and it just melts my heart."

"Jake, she ain't no ordinary woman. You notice how fine she talks?"

"Yeh, she is a lady, born and bred. Someone, somewhere wants her back real bad." Jake scratched his thick white beard. "I intend that she gets back to those that she belongs to, so she will be looked after and cared for."

"Like taking her to the settlement. We can't go till she is stronger."

Jake nodded his head in agreement as he stood up and poured his remaining coffee back into the pot. "Best we get some shut-eye, but be wary. I got a feeling them Injuns weren't alone and they might try to track us to get her back."

"Jake, did you recollect anything strange about them two Injuns we killed?"

"I didn't pay too much mind to them once they was dead. What you mean?"

"They was tall, taller than the Sioux. Thinking back on it, they was different from any redskin I ever saw."

"Your imagination always was a mite farfetched."

"It weren't my imagination this time, Jake. Have you paid any heed to how the princess is dressed?"

Jake shrugged his shoulders. "She ain't dressed too different from any Injun maiden," he stated matter-of-factly.

"I was watching her tonight as she was setting beside the campfire. That beading on her buckskin dress picked up the firelight. Now I have seen gold before, and unless I miss my guess them beads is gold."

"You are crazier than a right-side-up opossum, Zeke, ain't no Injun got no gold. And if he did he wouldn't give it to no woman."

"You just look closely at them beads tomorrow and see if I ain't right. I think you will find I am right, and if I am ... I don't know what kind of savages we were dealing with." Zeke's observation caused both men to feel uneasy as they drifted off to sleep that night. Each kept a loaded gun by his side and jumped at any noise.

6

I reach upward like a twisted vine.

I say a silent prayer, help me gracious father,

Find that which is mine.

Mara looked at the cabin sitting in a glen surrounded by dense woods. It did not appear very large, and somehow looked as if it had not been lived in for a very long time. The weeds were knee-high as she walked to the front door. Jake opened the door for her, and Mara was immediately hit with an unpleasant odor. Trying not to show her distaste, she entered and looked about her at the disarray. Reluctantly she walked over to the wide fireplace. There were two small cots, a wooden table and four chairs, and along the wall was a small cupboard and a wooden stand that was stacked with dirty dishes and pots. A huge iron pot hung from a hook over the fireplace, and, from the odor that pervaded the room, she could tell the pot contained spoiled, leftover food. Mara stepped away from the pot so she could put some distance between herself and the offensive smell.

"It ain't much to look at, princess," Jake told her, looking about him with his hands resting on his hips.

Mara tried to find something positive to reply and she searched the room. "It has nice wood floors, Jake."

She saw the windows were shuttered and walked over to unlatch them. Pushing the shutters wide she breathed in the fresh air.

Zeke entered and placed the animal pelts down in a corner that was already piled high with pelts. "You are to make yourself to home, little lady. It ain't fancy, but me and Jake call it home."

Mara placed her hands on her hips and turned around in a circle. "What it needs is a woman's touch."

"There ain't never been a woman inside this cabin," Jake told her as he unhooked the pot containing the offensive odor and carried it out the door.

Mara eyed the two cots and wondered where she would be sleeping.

Zeke seemed to read her mind and nodded at the wooden ladder that led up to the loft. "We can make you comfortable up there. With a little fixing up, it won't be too bad, I reckon."

Mara nodded her head, and then scanned the room, not knowing where to start cleaning first. There was so much to do before the cabin would be clean enough for human habitation, she thought. She did not say this to Zeke, however, not wanting to hurt his feelings. It was too late in the day for her to get much accomplished. If she could only clean the cooking area it would help some, she thought.

"Zeke, would you bring me some water?" she asked, eyeing the pile of dirty dishes.

"You want it for drinking or bathing?"

"I want it for washing dishes," she said as she stacked the dishes together.

By now Jake had returned and both brothers looked about the cabin, as if seeing it for the first time, observing it as it must appear to a fine lady.

"Guess it could do with a bit of sprucing up," Zeke said.

"It won't hurt it none to have a good cleaning," Jake spoke up. "Zeke, do you recollect if we ever had a broom?"

"Nope, I don't think so. Never needed one before."

Mara smiled to herself. Already the two brothers were becoming important to her. They spoke in soft tones, and she could read kindness and concern in their eyes. She could not imagine either of them ever raising his voice in anger. "Zeke, the water," she reminded him.

The light was beginning to fade when Mara finished washing the stack of dirty dishes. Zeke had disappeared up the ladder to the loft where Mara was to sleep, and Jake had broken a small branch of a tree and was trying to sweep the floor with it.

Mara looked at him fondly, thinking that he was stirring up more dust then he would ever sweep out the door with the branch. Opening the door to the lower cupboard, she saw that it was well stocked with a large tin of lard, flour, cornmeal, coffee and sugar. Evidently the brothers liked to eat well when they were in residence, she thought.

She was not aware that Zeke had come up behind her until he spoke. "If you are too tired to cook, I will do it," he volunteered.

She looked at him, total confusion written on her face. "I do not think I know how to prepare food. If I did, I have forgotten."

Zeke picked up her hands and turned them over. He noticed they were delicate and well shaped, soft hands that had never labored. "There ain't no callouses on these hands," he said.

Jake leaned his makeshift broom against the wall and came over to stand beside his brother. He took Mara's hand and inspected it. "You ain't never done no hard work, but that don't surprise me none. I knew when I first heard your voice that you was a real lady. Most probably had servants waiting on you."

Mara felt tears of frustration gathering in her eyes as she tried to remember who she was.

"I do not know, Jake. I do not know who I am."

"It don't make no never mind, little princess. Zeke and me will take care of the cooking, and as far as you knowing who you are, I bet you will wake up one morning and tell us your name and where you live." Jake took her by the shoulders and led her to the table, where he sat her down. "You just rest. Me and Zeke will cook you up something nice and hot to eat."

Mara lowered her head to the table in total misery. She sat there the whole time the brothers were preparing the meal. Every so often they would look at her with concern, but she did not notice. She was searching her mind, trying to remember anything that would tell her who she was. It was frightening—the blank void of her mind would reveal no clue to her past life.

Dinner that night consisted of fried fatback and eggs. Jake told Mara that he had bought the chickens some years back, since he had a fondness for eggs. He had turned them loose in the woods since he and Zeke were gone most of the time and could not tend them properly. The chickens had thrived. They roosted in the trees at night, and to his surprise had multiplied. The only problem was finding the eggs, which the chickens hid in various nests among the underbrush.

Mara found she was hungry and the fresh eggs tasted delicious. Jake and Zeke watched in satisfaction as she ate two eggs.

After dinner she insisted on clearing the table and washing dishes, while Jake brought in more wood and Zeke tended to the horses. By the time Mara had finished the last of the dishes Jake and Zeke were seated by the fireplace. Zeke filled his pipe with tobacco and lit it. The room took on a cheerful glow as Mara sat down on one of the wooden chairs, warmed by the fire that glowed in the fireplace. She had discovered that although the days were hot, the nights could turn quite cool.

Once again Mara's stomach felt queasy, but she tried to ignore it. She was not aware that the two men were watching her as she picked up the fringe on her doeskin dress and studied it in the bright firelight. She frowned. Why was she dressed so strangely? She ran her hand over the soft doeskin, then she studied her moccasins. She was dressed as an Indian!

Looking at her hands she saw that they were white. She picked up a tress of hair and saw it was golden in color. Raising her head to Jake she gave him a questioning look.

"I am not an Indian. How is it that I am dressed as one? Jake how . . . where did you and Zeke find me?" she said, beginning to panic.

The two brothers exchanged glances. "It ain't no use you fretting over anything, little princess. We will talk on it when you are more rested," Zeke told her.

"No, tell me now. I have to know, can you not see? It is as if I have no past. I was born the day you found me. I have to find out who I am."

"Well," Zeke said, taking a puff on his pipe and blowing out a smoke ring and watching as it floated upward. "When me and Jake found you, you were with two big Injun bucks. They were fighting over you. Me and Jake shot and killed them."

Mara swallowed convulsively. "I was a captive of Indians?"

"It would appear so," Jake spoke up, wishing they had not had to tell her how they had found her.

She looked down at her doeskin dress with new understanding. "Is that all you can tell me?"

"Yep," Jake said. "There ain't no more to tell. That's all we know."

"You was in a faint or something and me and Jake took turns carrying you," Zeke added.

Suddenly Mara remembered the golden medallion she had placed in her shoe. The two brothers watched curiously as she removed her moccasin. She held the medallion up to the firelight watching the way it shimmered.

"Do either of you know about this?" she asked.

Zeke reached across and took the medallion. "I ain't never seen the likes of it before. It's gold," he said, handing it to Jake to inspect.

"Yeah, it's gold, all right. Look, it has some kind of markings on it. It ain't English. I can't read, but I know writing when I see it. Can't be no Injun writing. It might be a clue to your past, princess," he said, handing her back the bright object.

Mara held the golden disk closer to the fire so she could see what was written on it. "It is Egyptian hieroglyphics," she said immediately. She strained her eyes to read the tiny markings. "It says: 'I will seek where I belong.' What can it mean?" she asked in a puzzled voice. For some strange reason she feared the medallion. Her hands were shaking and the golden disc dropped to the floor.

"How could I know what was written on it? Why can I read and understand hieroglyphics?

Zeke shook his head and picked up the medallion, handing it back to her. "I don't know, princess. What is this Egypt you speak of?"

"Egypt is a place."

"Is it in the United States?"

"No, it is across the Atlantic Ocean. Do not ask me how I know this, I just do."

"Do you think you are from this Egypt?" Jake asked.

"I do not think so. Do I speak English with an accent?"

Jake grinned. "You speak the language like it was intended to be spoken. You have the accent of the upper class American."

"This is getting stranger and stranger. Who am I? Where did I come from? How long do you suppose I was with the Indians before you rescued me?" Her voice was rising hysterically.

Jake stood up and walked over to the corner where he kept his jug of whiskey. Hurrying back to Mara he uncorked the stopper and handed the jug to her.

"Jake, she can't drink out of the jug," Zeke said, reaching for a tin cup and holding it out for Jake to pour the whiskey into. Kneeling down, her urged Mara to take a sip. She shook her head, but Zeke persisted until she took a small swallow.

She coughed as the fiery liquid burned a trail down her throat. When she caught her breath she found that she was somewhat calmer.

Jake helped her to stand then led her over to the ladder. "You go on up and have you a good night's sleep. Things will look better for you in the morning. Who knows, you might wake up knowing who you are."

Mara nodded, clutching the golden medallion. She started up the ladder. Halfway up she paused and looked down at Jake.

"How long do you suppose I was a captive of the Indians?"

"I don't know for sure, princess, but I have been studying on it. All the captives I ever heard of that was took by the Injuns were forced to work like slaves. The women of the tribe live a hard life, they work harder than the men do. It don't appear you was forced to do no work, so you must have recently been captured."

"Then how do you explain how I am dressed?"

"I don't, and you shouldn't try to think about it."

"The memory's a funny thing," Zeke spoke up. "I once knowed a man who got a hard lick on his head. You recall him Jake, Fielder Jack, they called him."

"Yeh, I knowed him."

"He clean forgot who he was for three days. Could be that you got a lick on your head and forgot the same way."

Both men watched as she digested what Zeke had told her. Then she smiled sadly and said, "If you will excuse me, I think I will go to bed. Good night. I thank both of you for rescuing me and treating me with such kindness. To me now, you are the only family I have. I am very fond of you."

Both men watched her, speechless, as she climbed the ladder to the overhead loft.

In the loft Mara discovered that Zeke had placed blankets on a pile of soft leaves to make her bed. As she lay down something flickered in her mind. She pulled a second blanket over her for warmth. It was as if she could remember the touch of a hand caressing her body. Closing her eyes, a face flashed through her mind. A pair of dark eyes looking at her lovingly. The image quickly faded, leaving her to wonder whom she had been thinking of. Closing her eyes she willed herself to sleep, for in sleep she could find peace for her tortured mind.

Zeke leaned back in his chair and combed his fingers through his red beard. "Jake, wouldn't it be nice if we could keep her with us? Something about her makes me want to take care of her, seeing that no one ever does her any harm."

"Yep, me too, Zeke. But you know we can't do that. This ain't no way for a lady like her to live. She needs to be with her own kind."

"I guess, but it's a pity, ain't it."

"Yep."

Palomas opened his eyes. His mind seemed to be in a dense fog, with swirling flashes of lights and pain so intense he almost cried out in agony. The pain was in his chest and seemed to pin him to the fur robe he was lying on. He groaned as his lips formed a word.