Spirit Journey: Historical Western Cowboy Romance Novel (Dawson Chronicles Book 3) (12 page)

              Brook rested a calming hand on his shoulder.  “Reckless, can you blame him?  What would you do if it was him and not you?”

              Reckless’ mouth thinned in annoyance.  “Yes, I would come see him, too.  I have ruined everything for them.”

              Wolf said, “That’s not true, Father.  Look what you did for them.  I’d say that alone was worth the trip.”

              “I suppose,” Reckless said.

              Joe squeezed his hand.  “I’ll see you after a while.  Behave.”

              “I will.  Thank you, Joe.”

              “You’re welcome,” Joe said.

              He hugged Brook and the twins and left the room.

              After being turned away by two different hotels because they were Indians, Black Fox’s group didn’t bother trying another one.  Instead, they camped right outside of the city on a little farm where the owner gladly rented them some space.  He was sympathetic to their plight and the extra money was welcome.             

              The second night they were there, Skip and Peanut walked along, holding hands while a strong wind blew, cooling them down after another day in the nineties.  Skip detected much-needed rain on the breeze and was glad that they’d set up two large tipis that would shelter them from the storm.  They’d bought some canvas and long two-by-fours to make the structures since they’d needed them in a hurry.  They would give them to the farmer when they left.

              “I’m so glad Reckless is getting better,” Peanut said as they followed the fence line of a pasture in which Holstein dairy cows grazed. 

              “Me, too.  He sure gave everyone one hell of a scare,” Skip said.  “It’s not surprising with how powerful that vision was.”

              “Yeah.  I never used to believe things like that were possible.  It was all so real,” she said.  “I thought that herd of buffalo was going to run us over and that big white one that blew his breath on us scared me to death.”

              Skip put an arm around her.  “Don’t worry.  Reckless and Runner would never take us on a dangerous vision.  I know that Runner still feels responsible for Reckless having a heart attack.  He shouldn’t, though.  He did everything he could.”

              Peanut kicked a stone along.  “I know how he feels.  I still feel responsible for what happened to us.  I should’ve seen how rotten Claude was.”

              Skip stopped and made her face him.  “You’re not responsible.  You had no way of knowing that Claude was so devious.  Stop blaming yourself.”

              He wrapped his arms around her and she laid her head against his chest.  “How do you do that?” she asked.

              Inhaling the scent of her hair, Skip asked, “Do what?”

              “Make me feel better.”

              “That’s what I’m here for.” 

              Since declaring his feelings for Peanut, not only to her, but to Raven, much of Skip’s shyness around her had faded.  There were still moments when he became bashful, but they weren’t as often.

              Skip ran a hand up under her silky red hair, playing with the soft skin at the nape of her neck.  He was becoming more comfortable with touching her.  “I’m so glad you’re coming back to Dawson with us.” 

              Peanut shivered under his hand and her skin broke out in gooseflesh. 

              “Me, too.  I’m looking forward to meeting your family; they sound so nice.”

              The desire in her eyes drew him like a hummingbird to sugar.  “They are.  You’re so beautiful.”

              When their lips met, an explosion of desire hit them and Skip pulled her against him, immediately deepening the kiss.  Peanut had enjoyed kissing Claude, but she’d never felt such consuming passion for him the way she did Skip.  However, whenever things became too heated between them, Skip’s shyness would reassert itself and he’d stop.  Peanut would tease him and they usually ended up laughing about it.

              This time, the storm intruded on their private moment.  Thunder sounded closer and it began sprinkling.

              Peanut reluctantly drew away from him.  “Let’s get back to Annie and get out of this,” she said.

              Skip’s heartbeat in his ear almost drowned out the thunder as he smiled and nodded his agreement.  Holding hands, they ran for the tipis.

*****

              As rain drummed on the canvas tipi, Raven frowned up at it and shook his head.  He, Eric, and Jaylyn were the only occupants in that tipi at the moment.  Instead of trying to shout over the din, he signed, “This white man’s hide is too noisy and does not keep the lightning out.  At least it keeps us dry.”  Giving Eric a devilish smile, he signed, “When is the wedding?”

              Eric blinked in surprise, sending back, “Wedding?  What are you talking about?”

             
I am as bad as my father, but I cannot help myself
, Raven thought.  “You are attracted to her.”

              Eric was glad that Jaylyn didn’t know Indian sign.  Keeping a smile on his face, Eric signed, “I am not looking for a relationship.  Not after what I have been through.”

              Raven barely held back a sarcastic snort.  “Just because things did not work out with you and Vicki does not mean that it would not with Jaylyn.  I like Jaylyn very much.  I did not like Vicki at all.”

              Neither had Eric’s parents and some of his other family members.  At the time, he’d thought that they’d been too judgmental of his ex-wife and hadn’t given her a chance.  He’d found out that she’d been showing him one side and another to everyone else.  He understood how Peanut felt about not seeing Claude for what he was because the same thing had happened with him and Vicki. 

“Yes.  I know,” he signed, annoyed.  “You and everyone else have made that very plain to me.  Many times.”

“I am not trying to make you angry, I am trying to make you see that Jaylyn could be right for you.  Do you not feel it, too?” Raven asked.

Eric gave him a stony stare.  “This conversation is over.”

Raven signed, “I will say one more thing and then let it go.  Reckless’ almost dying has reminded me once again that we have no guarantees of how long we will live.  Only Wakan Tanka knows how long we have in this life.  Do not let what happened with Vicki sour you on the idea of happiness, cousin. 

“And do not wait because you are too afraid of being hurt.  I knew after only a couple of days that Zoe was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and wasted no time in making that happen.  You should do the same.  You could learn from Skip.”

Eric wondered at Raven’s amused grin.  “What do you mean?”

“Just that if Skip, who could hardly talk to girls before, has had the courage to get past his fear, then you should, too.”

Eric smiled as he thought about the way Skip and Peanut acted with each other now.  “He is just a boy and it is the first time he has ever had a girlfriend.”

Raven sobered and gave him a direct look.  “It is not a boy who declares his love for a woman and her children.  It is not a boy who is ready to marry her and support her and those children.  It is not a boy who decides that he would like to be the father of those children.  Skip is Skip, but he is no longer a boy, Eric.  And if Peanut agrees someday, he will marry her.  He has not asked, but he will.”

Eric was stunned.  “He loves her?”

“Yes, and the children.  He told me so.”

Eric glanced at Jaylyn, wondering what she would think about that.  She looked back at him.

“What is it?” she asked loudly.

He leaned over and spoke right into her ear so he didn’t have to shout.  “I think things between Skip and Peanut are getting serious from what Raven just told me.”

She pulled back to look in his eyes and then at Raven, who smiled at her. 

“This isn’t funny!” she shouted.

Raven motioned for her to come sit by him.  Jaylyn repeated her response and Raven leaned closer to her.

“No, it isn’t.  It’s cute, but not funny.  I’ve known Skip all of his life and if he says he’s going to do something, he does it.  He is trustworthy, respectful, determined, and a hard worker.  He has a job and he would be a good provider,” Raven said.

“You’re encouraging this?  He’s just a boy,” Jaylyn said.

Raven arched an eyebrow.  “Is Peanut just a girl?”

“Well, no, I guess not,” Jaylyn said.

Raven said, “I was a brave by the time I was his age.  He is young, but he’s a man.  He’s kind, generous, and he would treat her well.  He already does and you have seen that.”

Jaylyn couldn’t deny that.  Skip did things for Peanut all the time without her asking him to.   He helped her with Annie, and if Peanut did ask him to do anything, he jumped to comply.  It wasn’t because Peanut expected it, but because he wanted to make her happy.

“I don’t want her to get hurt, Raven.  She’s been through too much,” Jaylyn said.

“Trust me,” Raven said.  “He won’t hurt her.”

The tipi flap opened and Peanut and Skip came in.  He’d held a deer hide blanket over her and Annie so they didn’t get wet.  Skip dropped the blanket by the side of the tipi flap, took Annie from Peanut while she sat down, and then handed her back.  Then he dried off with the blanket before he sat down by Peanut.

“I don’t think this is gonna let up tonight,” Skip half-yelled.  Smiling at Peanut, he said, “No giggin’ frogs.”

Jaylyn smiled and watched the way Peanut’s eyes shined when she looked at Skip.  Did she have feelings for him?  Her protective streak rose and she decided to talk to Peanut when she had a chance.  For now, though, she moved back over to sit by Eric.  They struck up a game of knuckles and played while the rain drummed down onto the canvas tipi.

*****

              A half hour later, the rain let up enough so that the people inside the tipis could hear each other.  Over in the other tipi, Joe was being his usual entertaining self.  When he’d heard about the hotels in town refusing services to his friends, he’d told the hotel managers off, and had come to stay with them on the farm.

              He took a long pull from a bottle of whiskey and passed it to Striking Snake, who sat to his right.  Black Fox’s son-in-law, Brown Otter, made the moonshine and Joe had brought some with him from Dawson.

              “I’m gonna kill Rick Westlake.  Well, I almost did,” he said.

              Squirrel grinned.  “What did he do?”

              “I’ll tell you what your favorite person did,” Joe said, chuckling.  “Don’t think I don’t know that you have a crush on him, Squirrel.”

              Her eyes glittered with amusement.  “You are imagining things.”

              Joe laughed and looked at Striking Snake.  “Doesn’t it bother you that your wife has a crush on a former Mountie?”

              Striking Snake laughed.  “No.  There is no harm in looking.”

              Joe shook his head.  “Anyway, here’s what happened …”

              Joe went down the hall past the playroom on his way to the washroom.  He stopped when he heard an odd squeaking noise, trying to figure out the source of it.  Backing up, he listened, determining that it came from the playroom.  Going in, he looked around, and then heard another squeak over by Percy’s cage.

              He made a face of distaste, but he went a little closer, looking in the cage.  Percy was bathing, which wasn’t unusual, but he seemed to be more aggressive about it than normal.  The squeaks he heard reminded him of mice and he knew that Percy didn’t make those sorts of noises.  Had a mouse gotten in with Percy somehow?

              Joe couldn’t stand ferrets or any type of rodent, but he didn’t mind Percy as much as Rick Westlake’s ferret, Curtis III, who was trained to attack people and do other things that helped with law enforcement.  Joe was fond of Percy in his own way and he didn’t like the idea of a mouse possibly biting Percy and giving him some disease. 

              Mustering his courage, Joe went even closer to the cage to see if he could see the mouse, but he couldn’t.  The sounds continued, however, and Percy seemed to be cleaning his hind end an awful lot.  Had the mouse bit him back there?  Was it right up against Percy and that was why Joe couldn’t see it?  Percy’s thick white fur might be hiding it.

              Joe cringed when he heard more squeaks and Percy moved a little.  He seemed to be breathing hard, too.  Now convinced that something was very wrong with Percy, Joe knew that he had to do something.  The kids were off at camp and everyone was either down at the barns or in town.  It was up to him.

              “Oh, good Lord,” he said.  “I don’t believe I’m about to do this.”  He unlatched the cage and slowly dropped the door down.  “Now look, Percy, I’m gonna try to help you, so don’t you bite me.  You ain’t never bit me yet, but there’s always the first time.  I know I don’t ever do this, but you know me, so don’t get excited.  I ain’t gonna hurt you.”

              Percy paid Joe no attention, intent on his grooming.  Tentatively, Joe felt around by Percy, talking to him the whole time.  His fingers came into contact with something warm and wet.  He got ahold of it, but dropped it when it squeaked.

              “What the hell is that?” Joe asked.

              Percy licked his hand and he jerked it away.  There was blood on his fingers.  Truly scared for Percy now, Joe grew bold and picked the ferret up before he lost his nerve.  He pulled Percy from the cage and looked at him.  Percy squirmed as Joe looked at the critter’s rear end.  Joe watched in disbelief as a bald, pink little thing emerged from Percy.

              “A baby!  You’re having babies?” Joe shouted as he held Percy aloft.