Savage Splendor (Savage Lagonda 2) (18 page)

"What is that, Jake? It is very lovely."

"Look at it. Have you ever seen it before?"

By now, Zeke and Du Lac had gathered closer and they all stared at the armband.

Mara reached for it and turned it over in her hand. "This is very valuable. I have never seen it before."

Jake looked at his brother. "I found it lying in her bed in the loft."

Du Lac took the armband and studied it. "The craftsmanship is extraordinary. This would bring a lot of money."

Mara could feel her knees began to tremble, and she reached for Jake's hand. "Oh, dear God, Jake. They have found me, and this is their way of letting me know." Her voice was becoming hysterical. "What shall I do! Where can I hide?"

Jake hugged her protectively in his arms, while Zeke patted her arm. "Don't you worry. Me and Jake ain't gonna let no one, least of all no Injuns, take you."

"I am so frightened," she sobbed against Jake's wide chest.

Du Lac looked puzzled, "Why should you think that this armband belongs to an Indian? I have seen many different tribes, and none of them would be able to craft a thing of beauty such as this."

''You don't know the kind of Indians we are dealing with," Jake told him, "These ain't no ordinary Injuns like the ones we are used to."

"How is it that I do not know of this tribe?" the Frenchman asked.

Zeke shook his head. "Me and Jake killed us two of them, and we knew there was something different about them, but I am just now figgering out how different they really are."

Jake set Mara down in the rocking chair and took his rifle down from the rack. "I have been studying on it. At first when I saw the footprints in the lean-to, I figured there was only one man. But now I'm not so sure."

"How you figure that, Jake?" his brother asked.

"Cause this Injun ain't got no fear. He comes in here and leaves his calling card, to let us know he's out there watching us."

Zeke walked over and shot the bolt on the door, then checked to make sure the window was securely fastened. "We have to make sure the princess ain't never left alone, 'cause if I know Injuns, and I do, they will be watching and waiting."

"Why have they not attempted to rush us and take her by force?" Du Lac asked, as he checked his rifle to make sure it was loaded.

"Cause they must want her back real bad, but they don't want her to get hurt in an all-out fight," Jake said.

Mara buried her face in her hands. She felt fear so strong it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

When she climbed the ladder to her room she was in a real state. Her secret fear had been realized. Mara was sure at any moment she would hear a wild whoop, and the Indians would surround the cabin, overcome them, and take her away.

She felt she needed comfort from her fear, so she removed the medallion from the chest. Holding it up in the dim candlelight she read the inscription.
I will seek who I am
. She expected to see the old Indian man as she had on previous occasions. But he did not appear. Checking to see that Andrew was covered, she blew out the candle and lay down on the bed, still clutching the medallion.

"Who am I?" she wondered aloud.

"You are called Mara," a voice beside her spoke up.

Turning her head she was not surprised to see the shadowy form of the old man. Suddenly her fear seemed to ebb, and she felt at peace. "Should I fear?" she asked.

"Have no fear, Mara. Soon you will be on your way home. Close your eyes. Sleep, Mara."

Her eyelids grew heavy, and she felt sleep overtake her. She closed her eyes and slept peacefully all night.

The next morning the three men were surprised to find Mara so cheerful, knowing the night before she had been on the verge of hysteria. She smiled brightly as she prepared breakfast, and greeted each of them warmly as she poured them a cup of steaming hot coffee. They looked at her baffled when she sat down, propped her elbows on the table, and laughed out loud.

"I know my name. I know who I am!"

Jake halted his spoon halfway to his mouth. "What!"

She lifted her cup of coffee to her mouth and took a sip, while three sets of eyes watched her. "My name is Mara."

"What else do you remember?" Du Lac spoke up.

"Nothing else, only my name."

"But how can you recall your name and nothing else?" Du Lac asked. "Do you know what your last name is?"

"No, all I know is my name is Mara. It is a strange name, is it not?"

"If you know your name, it won't be long before you recollect more about yourself," Zeke said around a mouthful of corn mush.

Mara stood up and spun around in a circle. "Is it not a glorious day?"

"Shows you ain't been outside," Jake told her. "It's snowing and the wind is whipping up a blizzard."

"I do not mean the weather. I mean life in general."

Jake and Zeke watched her as if she had taken leave of her senses. Du Lac watched her thinking that somehow, some way, he had to have her.

He was beginning to have crazy fantasies about her. Thought of settling down in one place, building a cabin, raising a family. He could almost envision himself returning to her at the end of each day. She would set a well prepared meal before him, and afterwards ... he would take her in his arms, and remove her clothing one thing at a time, until she lay naked in his arms. Du Lac could almost feel the silkiness of her skin.

Good Lord! he thought, was he losing his mind? He had made himself a promise ten years ago when he had fled France, because of a woman, that he would never again become involved with the fair sex, and so far he had kept that promise. He had used women, yes, but they had not been important to him, merely objects. Something to be used for his pleasure and then tossed aside.

Thinking back, he tried to recall what Monique had looked like, but he could not remember her face. She had been blond and beautiful, and at the time he had thought he loved her.

Du Lac had been twenty-one years old that summer. He and the fair Monique had spent many happy hours in bed together. Their little affair had ended abruptly one night, when her husband, a wealthy merchant, had returned home unexpectedly and caught him and Monique in a very compromising situation.

Two days later, Du Lac and Monique's enraged husband had faced each other on a field of honor. It had been pistols at twenty paces.

Du Lac did not like to think of himself as a coward, but many witnesses that day had seen him fire his pistol early, killing his opponent instantly. He had fled the country, with the law not far behind him. He could never return to France. To do so would mean his arrest and imprisonment or even death.

Watching Mara's lovely face, now all he could think of was making love to her. He was a man in love. He thought of all the women who had loved him, and how he had used them, only to toss them aside when he began to tire of them, but Mara was different from all other women.

He had to find a way to get her alone. If she wished it, he would build her a cabin close by, where she could be near Jake and Zeke.

He looked at the cradle where Andrew was sleeping. He was not too fond of the idea of raising another man's child, but Mara loved the baby, so he would allow her to keep him.

He was beginning to feel confident that she would consent to become his wife. After all, she could not remember who she was, and she needed a man to look after her.

"Mara," Du Lac said, testing her name out loud.

"Yes," she answered.

"I am glad to see you no longer fear the Indians. I will never let them harm you." He said confidently.

Mara thought of the armband that had been left on her bed where she would be sure to find it. She had begun to wonder if the man who had left it might be the tall Indian she had dreamed of so often. She found herself hoping he was real and not someone she had imagined. Mara wondered what she would do if he were to come to her and ask her to go away with him. She was beginning to wonder if he might not be Andrew's father.

"No I am not frightened of the Indians any longer," she said.

Du Lac tested the tip of his hunting knife, then slipped it into the sheath about his waist. "That is good, Mara. But do not ever underestimate the Indians. They always seem to strike when least expected."

As night fell, the winds died down and the clouds moved away, leaving a deep blanket of snow bathed in the bright moonlight, giving the illusion of daylight.

Andrew was sleeping peacefully beside a warm fire, and Jake and Zeke were cleaning their guns.

Mara felt restless, and she was on the point of being annoyed with the way the three men watched her every move. She had decided she could not live with the threat of Indians hanging over her head. Pulling a warm wrap about her shoulders, she walked to the door.

"Where do you think you are going?" Jake said standing up abruptly.

"I am going out for a breath of fresh air. I do not intend to spend the rest of my life shut away in this cabin."

Jake was beginning to know her moods very well, and when she got that stubborn set to her chin it meant she would have her own way, or there would be all hell to pay.

Du Lac had been waiting for the opportunity to get her alone, so he picked up his rifle and walked over to her.

"I will go with her," he told Jake. Seeing doubt in Jake's eyes he patted his rifle. "Do not worry, we shall stay near the cabin."

Outside, Mara took a deep breath of fresh air. "It is almost like an enchanted world," she said breathlessly. "The stars appear so close, I have the feeling I could reach out and touch them."

Matio watched from his hiding place, where he had been waiting all day. When he saw the queen, he almost called out to her, but then his eyes moved to the white man with the gun. He remembered very well how it felt to be hit with the fire from the weapon, and he did not want to feel the fire enter his body again.

"Mara," Du Lac said lightly, not knowing how to tell her what was on her mind. He decided it would be best to lead up to it slowly. "There are two schools of thought about the stars. I wonder which one you subscribe to?"

"What are my choices?"

He smiled down at her. "One theory is that each star is a giant ball of fire, and, should one come within thousands of leagues of a star, he would be burned to ashes in the flickering of an eyelash. The other theory is that the stars are cold, and if you were to get too close to them you would freeze."

"I do not want to believe either of your theories. I would like to think that each star is a world, very much like this one, with people who are similar to ourselves. I would like to think there is a place somewhere where the people live without fear and hunger, apart from the rest of the world. A special place ... an Eden." Mara frowned, as something flickered in her mind, but it was a fleeting thought, nothing she could hold on to.

"I wish there were a place that was cut off from the rest of the world, where there was no greed, and no ugliness," she went on. When she saw how strangely Du Lac looked at her, she laughed nervously. "Of course there is no such place, is there?"

Du Lac turned her around so she was facing him. He touched her golden hair lightly. "What a strange, exciting woman you are. Are you a witch who has come to earth from one of those faraway stars, to entrap poor mortals such as I in your enchanted web?"

Matio could not understand the white man's words, but he could tell by his tone of voice that the man desired the queen. He waited to hear Mara rebuke the man, but when she spoke, her voice was soft.

"I am nothing more than a woman who has lost her identity. I neither seek to ensnare a man nor would I welcome any show of affection from one."

He tilted her chin up and stared into her green eyes. "Whether you set out to entrap me or not. I am indeed trapped. I myself did not see it coming. One day I walked into this cabin and there you were. When first I laid eyes on you I knew that I was a man who had lost his heart."

He lowered his head, and Mara knew he was going to kiss her. At first she wanted to pull away, but she remembered her dreams where the tall Indian had kissed her, and she wondered if Du Lac's kiss would feel the same. When his lips touched hers it was no more to her than his warm lips pressed against her cold ones.

Du Lac, however, was not having the same reaction to her. The feel of her soft lips caused his pulse to quicken and his heart to race.

Anger burned in Matio's heart as he witnessed the kiss. He could not believe the queen he had loved and worshipped would allow anyone other than the king to kiss her. He wanted to rush forward and tear her out of the white man's arms. In his anger he wanted to drive his knife into the man's heart. He might very well have done that very thing, had not the sound of the queen's voice stopped him.

Mara pushed Du Lac away from her, wishing she had not allowed him to kiss her. She was almost repelled by his touch. When he tried to pull her into his arms once more, she slipped away from him.

"Do not again attempt to kiss me. You are no more than a stranger to me. I do not think I like being kissed very much," she said, thinking she was being unfair to Du Lac. She had been comparing him to the man in her dreams, and no one could compare with him.