Song Of The Warrior (8 page)

Billy made a sound as if he were choking. “Now who would tell him?”

“I'm glad we understand each other.” She didn't say any more as the buggy creaked toward town. After a while, she said, “You needn't escort me tomorrow, Lieutenant.”

“Good.” He smiled. “I'm glad to hear you've come to your senses about going out there to that—”

“I didn't say I wasn't going again; I said I didn't need your escort.” They were going through the little settlement now.

“But, Miss Willow, those Injun bucks are liable to do something terrible—”

“I don't think I want to discuss this anymore with you, Lieutenant.”

He reined the horse in before the house. Willow reached to gather her school supplies. “I would appreciate your returning the horse and rig to the livery stable.”

“Miss Willow—”

However, she had already climbed out, turned, and went up the walk.

 

 

Damn! Billy watched the girl walking toward the house. What rotten luck with that cougar. If Billy had had another fifteen minutes, he would have been lying between that wench's silky thighs, sating his lust while she writhed under him whether she liked it or not. He watched the line of her straight back, the swing of the soft curving hips. His groin throbbed with need. It had been awhile since Billy had had a woman and he had looked forward to mounting this uppity little Injun gal.

Billy Warton was used to getting what he wanted and his doting mother had always seen to it that he got it. Because of her, Billy had sat out the war while Daddy paid a substitute to go in his place. However, one scandal too many, and Daddy had sent him off to military school. Before Billy got out, the Wartons had lost all their money and Billy had to earn his own living. He didn't like working. In the meantime, this ache in his groin did nothing for his disposition. Cursing, he drove the buggy back to the livery and turned it over to a stable boy.

Deek Tanner was there. “Where you been? General Howard's called a meetin', I hear.”

Billy took a deep breath as he joined the scout. The man reeked of dirt and sweat. Besides, Tanner had lice; Billy could see them crawling through his beard. He motioned him over to a dark corner. “Anybody notice I was gone?”

Deek studied the snotty little officer while he scratched his gray-streaked tangle of hair. “Not if you get yourself back in time for that meetin'. Where you been anyway? That's the preacher's rig, and that old hoss looks plumb tuckered out.”

“Just out driving around, that's all.” Billy sounded vague.

Deek pushed his hat back on his greasy locks. “You wasn't out tryin' to find that Injun treasure without me?”

“Now, Deek, would I try to cut you out?”

“Not less you thought you could.”

The handsome young officer didn't deny it. “Is there any chance that preacher's ward knows the secret?”

“A mere gal?” He belched and shook his head. “Naw; only some of the chiefs or war leaders will know that.”

“You think there really is a treasure?”

If there was and Deek found it, he didn't intend to share it with this insignificant officer. “Maybe not. Others say it's worth a king's ransom; big nuggets from their secret mine. I dream many a night about findin' it; filling all my pockets with chunks of gold, stuffin' them in my hat and shirt till I'm so weighed down, I can hardly walk.” He sighed dreamily, thinking about carrying that treasure away. “Man find that, he could lay in the sun with pretty whores and good whiskey the rest of his life.”

Billy was staring up at his face. “You never did tell me where you got that scar.”

Automatically, Deek reached to touch the jagged, livid mark across his forehead. “I was a hero at Gettysburg, got slashed with a bayonet.”

The younger man made a rude noise. “Now, why don't I believe that?”

“Or maybe it was when I was almost scalped by a war party of Cheyenne while savin' the wagon train.”

“Where?”

“I forget. The Cheyenne is enemies of the Blackfoot, you know.”

The officer still looked skeptical. “I guess I did hear that you had been a wagon train scout. Is that how you ended up in the Blackfoot camp?”

Deek shook his head: “I was carried off as a boy durin' a raid, family all killed.” He grinned. “Now you know why I hate Injuns.”

Deek watched the young dandy's handsome face, wondering what Billy Warton would say if he knew how he had actually come by that scar? Deek hadn't been a hero at Gettysburg, he'd been doing time on a chain gang during the war for murder and robbery. He reached to touch the scar again, remembering. Deek had attacked a not very alert guard with a shovel out on a road project, killing him, then fought a duel with shovels with another prisoner. The last thing Deek remembered that day was the fight; the other man slashing at him with his shovel. Deek didn't know how long he was unconscious, but the chain gang guards must have thought he was dead, because when he woke up all covered with blood, it was night and Deek had been laid on the side of the road for later burial. The other prisoner, a half-breed Cheyenne, had escaped and in the darkness, Deek had sneaked away, too.

He realized suddenly that the lieutenant was staring up at him and waiting. “Well, we'd better get back to the post.”

They began to walk. Deek glanced over at him. “You didn't tell me where you been with the preacher's rig?”

“I escorted Miss Willow out to the Nez Perce camp.”

Deek snorted. “You loco? Them braves ever find out how many of their squaws you've raped, they'll cut your balls off and feed 'em to you.”

“I got a yen for that half-breed wench, Willow.”

“You can forget that one.” Deek laughed and spat tobacco juice in the dirt as they walked. “You'd have to marry that prim little piece to get in her bloomers.”

“Maybe not; all you got to do is
promise
marriage. I've done it a hundred times.”

“Give it up, Lieutenant, she's got trouble written all over her.”

“I'm a Warton; Wartons always get what they want,” Billy said petulantly, “and I want her; at least a few times.”

“Aw, a woman's a woman.” Deek sneered. “Can't tell one from another in the dark. Man makes do with what he can get at the time. Fact is, I've had a few mighty sweet boys—”

“That's disgusting!” Billy looked at him sharply.

“More disgustin' than rape?” Deek grinned at him as they walked. “I've heard a few things about you at some of the other posts, Lieutenant.”

“Lies. All lies!”

Deek shrugged. “It don't make me no never-mind how you get yours, so don't be so high and mighty with me. Besides, if we ever find that treasure, we can buy anything we want, including pretty women; that's why I'm in this country.”

“Me, too.”

“Wal, then, ‘ppears to me we got a common goal.” Deek grinned obligingly and scratched his beard. The lice itched, but then he never seemed to be able to get rid of them without bathing often and that's one thing he didn't like to do. “We don't have to be friends, Lieutenant, to work together. If we ever get a clue to that gold, we can split it and both of us leave solderin' behind forever.”

“I'm for that!” Billy studied the scout. He didn't trust Deek, but right now, he didn't see that he had any choice. Deek Tanner knew the terrain and the Indians. Funny, now the gold didn't seem quite as important to Billy as bedding Willow.

They slipped into the meeting late.

General Howard stood at the front of the room. “Why, good afternoon, Lieutenant, so nice of you to join us.”

Billy saluted, feeling his face go red as the others turned to look, and someone snickered under his breath. “Unforeseen emergency, sir.”

General Howard motioned him to a seat. Deek stayed at the back, leaning against the wall.

“Now to continue,” General Howard said and stroked his beard thoughtfully with his left hand. “As you know, I've extended the Nez Perce deadline another thirty days to gather their things and go to the new reservation.” He looked out at his officers. “Captain, you look like you have something to say.”

“Well, sir ...”

“Speak up; speak up!”

The officer stood up slowly. “To be honest, sir, it appears Joseph may be making an attempt to comply, but some of the others aren't.”

A captain said, “May I comment, General?”

The one-armed officer nodded. “Please do; that's why I called this meeting.”

“Even if they mean to comply, General Howard, with the spring rains causing the rivers to run high, they'd have a devil of a time getting their livestock gathered up by the deadline.”

General Howard shrugged. “We've already given them an extension of thirty days and that's fast running out.”

“But we're talking about getting old people, babies, and young colts gathered up across miles of rugged terrain. I'm not sure it can be done in time, even if Joseph intends to.”

“That's not my problem.” General Howard looked troubled. “I do my duty as an officer in the United States Army as I have for many years. I took an oath to do so, gentlemen, as did you all, so I don't see we have any leeway.”

“Which means?” the captain asked.

“God help us.” General Howard sighed and went to the window and looked out a long moment as if he were praying. A chair creaked loud in the silence as a man shifted his weight.

A shiver went down Billy's back. So far, he'd never had to do anything but parade up and down in a fine uniform. He sure didn't want to take a chance on getting killed.

“Which means,” General Howard said reluctantly, “that if the Nez Perce aren't on that smaller reservation by the deadline, we'll be forced to put them there at gunpoint!”

After the meeting was over, all Billy could think of the rest of that day was whether he might actually have to fight Indians if the Nez Perce didn't do as the army ordered. No, there was the gold, and one more thing on his mind. He smiled and brushed the unruly lock of hair back, thinking about getting that little half-Injun beauty, Willow, beneath him and at his mercy. The more he fantasized about what he would do to her, what he would make her do to him, the more his groin ached. He considered making a formal call at the preacher's house, but Billy could see himself sitting in the parlor with a cup of tea balanced on one knee talking scripture with the reverend, and that wasn't what Billy had in mind at all. He needed a woman bad and he needed her now.

He went into town and saw that pretty squaw, Rainbow, leave the back door of the saloon. They never let Injuns come in the front. She was stumbling down the alley as if she were slightly drunk. Much of the time, he knew she was.

Quickly, Billy went into the saloon, bought the cheapest bottle they had, and returned to the alley. Rainbow was heading toward the road that led out of town.

“Hey, pretty thing, don't walk so fast.” He caught up with her, grabbed her arm. “Where you going?”

“Back to camp,” she said in broken English. “I been here too long, I know; my little son needs me.”

She was pretty, even though she was darker than Willow. She'd do for what Billy wanted.

“You don't need to hurry,” he said soothingly. “The old squaw watches him like always.” He held up the bottle with a smile. “Look what I've got.”

She licked her lips, then shook her head slowly. “No, I-I go. My boy needs me. I promised to stay away from whiskey.”

“Now why would you want to do that?” Billy took the cork out of the bottle. “We'll just have one little drink, then you can go back to camp.”

He could see the battle raging in her pretty face. “I try to stop; don't want to end up in jail.”

“Oh now, Rainbow, you aren't going to jail; I'll see to that. Tell you what,” he said, lowering his voice to a whisper, “you just taste this, tell me if it's any good. Then I'll give you a little money and you can buy something for the kid.”

Her dark eyes brightened. “Maybe a little shirt or a toy?”

Billy nodded and reached to hold up a coin. The late afternoon sun glinted on it. “Now you just taste this for me.” He held out the bottle.

Rainbow's hand trembled and she hesitated. Then she took the coin, tucked it between her breasts, shook her head and took a deep breath. “I-I better not.”

Billy caught her hand, put the bottle in it, and held it under her nose. “Just smell it for me, okay?”

She took a deep breath, then another. “Maybe one taste.” She brought the bottle to her lips, took a small swallow.

“Hey,” Billy said, “you can't tell anything from that sip, take another.”

She took a bigger swallow.

Billy grinned. “Is it any good? Take another drink and tell me.”

Rainbow's hand trembled. “I-I ought to go to camp.”

“Later,” Billy promised, “you don't want to have to give the money back, your kid needs a shirt; maybe a red one.”

She tipped the bottle up and took a swallow, then another. Billy watched. At that point, the Nez Perce woman tipped the bottle up and drank deep.

She was just a drunken Injun tart, he thought with disgust, even though she was pretty. It wasn't as if every man around the fort didn't take advantage of her weakness for alcohol. Anyway, if she didn't want to be tempted, she shouldn't come into the settlement. He took her arm.

“Why don't we go over behind the livery stable? We can have a little drink without worrying about anyone seeing us.”

She was protesting as he led her toward the stable, but she didn't let go of the bottle. “Me go back to my son, he need me.”

“It won't be for long,” Billy soothed, his groin already swollen and aching with anticipation. He led the pretty Indian woman around to some bushes behind the stable. They weren't likely to be seen here. “Here, we'll sit under this bush and visit a little.”

She sat down and took a long drink from the bottle. She wasn't as pretty or as light-skinned as Willow, but she was young and she was female, that was all he needed right now. He leaned over and put his hand on her breast.

“Hey, soldier boy, we just drink, that's all, then I go.”

He nodded. She was fast getting sloppy drunk; all he had to do was wait. In a few minutes, she would be almost defenseless and it weren't as if she were a white girl. Besides, hadn't he just given her some money? Tomorrow, even if she remembered, she wouldn't dare tell and Billy counted on that. As long as women kept silent, men like him would be free to prey on women without fear of retribution.

He watched her drink, the whiskey running down both sides of her mouth. The bottle looked almost empty. He leaned over and tasted the whiskey on the side of her mouth. Rainbow pulled the bottle from her lips as if to protest, but at that point, he grabbed her. Even as she opened her mouth to scream, Billy overpowered her, thrust his tongue deep between her lips. She struggled, but drunk as she was, she was almost defenseless.

Aroused, Billy took deep gulps of air as they fought. He liked doing it this way, overpowering a woman, making her submit to his will. His mother had always dominated him, but Billy had found a way to dominate women in return, make them pay for his mother's bullying. “Stop it, slut! I intend to have you!”

Instead, she continued to struggle as Billy ripped at her shift. Now he hit her hard across the face and she collapsed with a whimper.

“Now you just lay still, you little tart, or I'll really hurt you! Don't you scream, neither; no white man is going to help you.”

She lay there crying, a little trickle of blood in the corner of her mouth. He finished ripping her shift down the front and spread her thighs. Hey, the squaw knew what she was letting herself in for when she accepted his money, he rationalized. It wasn't as if this hadn't happened before. Lord, she had nice tits!

Quickly, Billy unbuttoned his pants that strained at his swollen manhood. “Now you just lie still until I get through,” he ordered, “or I'll hurt you some more.”

She was weeping softly as he grasped her breasts and plunged into her, grunting with satisfaction. God, that felt good! He closed his eyes and tried to pretend it was Willow who lay under him, soft and defenseless. The images drove him into a frenzy of lust. He began to ride the woman hard. Rainbow whimpered, but he didn't pay any attention. He needed this after the way that Willow had tempted and teased him.

As aroused as he was, the pleasure didn't last but a few seconds. Billy wasn't gentle. Then he lay on Rainbow's naked body, gasping from the effort. “You little Injun slut, don't you ever learn? White men got no more respect for you than a bitch in heat; that's all you are.”

He sat up, a little angry that he still didn't feel fulfilled. Now Willow, that was the woman he wanted under him, more than gold, more than land, more than anything.

Billy stood up, buttoned his pants, and looked at Rainbow still lying sprawled on her back, clothes ripped, weeping softly. “Now don't you go telling anybody, you hear? No one would do anything about it anyhow; that's what women are for; to pleasure men. Now you can go back to the Injun camp.”

He straightened his clothing, turned to walk away, then had a second thought. No use being extravagant; a bottle of bad whiskey ought to be plenty of pay for that slut. Billy came back, leaned over, picked up the gold coin from between her breasts, and stuck it in his pocket. Then he turned and headed toward the fort, still plotting how he could get Willow flat on her back so he could enjoy her, too.

 

 

It was dark before Rainbow's head cleared enough so that she could walk. The young bluecoat had been more brutal than most of the others. She could only vaguely remember the details; maybe she didn't really want to. Rainbow had such good intentions about staying away from the white man's firewater, but it blurred her grief over her handsome young husband's death. She was ashamed that the grandmother looked after her little son so much, but sometimes Rainbow did manage to pick up a little work in town cleaning the white women's houses. More than once, Rainbow had traded her body to the general store owner for liquor and supplies. Yes, she knew they were supplies that he was supposed to give her people anyway, but he seldom did and no one seemed to care. Now that the Willow girl had returned, maybe she would do something to help the Nez Perce deal with the whites.

With a sigh of defeat, Rainbow pulled her clothes together as best as she could, stumbled toward the camp, her head aching. It was late when she got there and she crawled into her lodge without being seen. Her little boy lay asleep as was the old grandmother and Rainbow's younger sister, Atsi.

If Rainbow's man had not been killed, they would all have salmon from the rivers and meat, but her warrior had been murdered by a settler, and no soldier seemed to care. Sometimes, the other hunters gave her food, but the hunting was poor with so many whites in the area now, killing off the game. Rainbow pulled her child close and snuggled him, wishing she had a pretty red shirt to give him. She wept for a long time before she dropped off to sleep.

Bear heard a noise, turned his head so that he saw the shadow of Rainbow as she stumbled past his lodge, into her own. Drunk again. Whiskey was a plague of Indian people and the whites knew it and used it as a weapon. Sooner or later, she might drink herself to death as Willow's mother had done and then who would raise Rainbow's little boy?

Willow's mother. Bear had been only a half-grown boy himself, but he knew the story. The childless white couple had wanted a child. Willow was pretty and more than half-white, so they had stolen the little girl, ignoring the mother's protest. What did one Indian girl's sorrow matter to anyone? Then after she had drunk herself to death with grief, Willow had already been sent away to school. Later, the trapper had shown up, wanting his woman and child. All the whites had lied to him and he had gone away, no one knew where. He might even be dead himself now.

Did Willow know any of this or think about it at all? Probably she would consider herself fortunate that she had been raised in civilization. Someday, she might be forced to choose between the two cultures and Bear had no doubts as to which she would choose. Why would anyone give up the soft, easy life of the whites to live the free but difficult life of the Nez Perce?
Chojykies
, lazy. Yes, that was the life of privileged white women.

Bear closed his eyes and tried to sleep. The Nez Perce had plenty of trouble looming with the army's deadline while Chief Joseph tried to decide what to do. That wasn't the reason Bear couldn't sleep. He heard Raven mutter something and turn over in his blankets. Raven was a fool for looking at the girl with green eyes. She wouldn't be interested in becoming a warrior's woman when she could be a soldier's or a rich rancher's wife. Who could blame her for turning her back on her Indian heritage? In the meantime, maybe Raven had only a passing fancy because she was new and different.

Himself, every time Bear thought about Willow, he felt strong feelings; mostly of anger. Why didn't she just go away and not add to the Nez Perce problems?

Gradually, Bear drifted off to sleep. In his mind, he remembered swinging the girl up in his arms and putting her on his horse. She had felt so warm and delicate and her waist had been so small. Her breasts had brushed against his arm as he lifted her and he had reacted as if he had been touched by fire. When she had rode before him on the horse with his arm holding her against him, he had been aware of her warmth all the way down their bodies. He remembered now that her hair had been as black as a crow's wing with the light reflecting off it. Bear had put his face as close as he dared so that he could smell the sweet scent of those locks. He was horrified to find that he was tempted to kiss the nape of her neck and he knew that she could probably feel his breath stirring her hair.

Was he loco? Maybe it was because he was without a woman and Bear was a virile man; he needed a woman to love and protect, a woman to give him sons. Someday, he must choose one, but he hesitated because of his scars, uncertain how a maiden would react to them, though most Nez Perce women must surely know the story. Besides, there was Raven. Bear had promised their mother he would look after his irresponsible younger brother and he did not give his word lightly. When Raven finally began to behave like a warrior and choose a woman, then that was time enough for Bear to marry. Several young women had flirted openly with the handsome Raven, but none had caught his brother's heart.

Bear drifted into a hazy sleep in which again he lifted Willow up before him on his Appaloosa and held her close against him, his hand on her warmth. He awoke in horror at the dawn as he realized that in his dream, Willow was naked as was he.