Wild Ecstasy (23 page)

William Joseph rose to his feet. “I will return to Fort Snelling and tell my father everything,” he said, smiling down at everyone. “And when you have the time, Echohawk,
and
Silver Wing, come and speak peace with my father. It will look better in the white community for those who will still carry doubts about your innocence in their hearts.”

Mariah rose along with Echohawk and Silver Wing and Nee-kah and went to William Joseph. One by one William Joseph embraced them, and when he came to Mariah, she looked adoringly into his eyes, seeing a reflection of herself in their depths. She was so very happy that he was her kin!

“Thank you for everything,” she whispered, clinging to him as he pulled her into a hearty hug. “Tell Abigail and your father that I appreciate what they did for me, and that I'm sorry if I gave them one moment of concern. I should have sent word to them that I was all right.”

“That you are is all that is important,” William Joseph said, easing her from him and holding her at arm's length. He winked down at her. “Whenever you like, Mariah, I'll give you a few dancing lessons.”

Mariah covered her mouth, stifling a giggle. “I have dancing lessons to learn here,” she finally said. “And the Indian dances are even more complicated than those I encountered at the fort.”

“No-din is an apt student,” Nee-kah said, smiling at Mariah. “She will learn everything of the Chippewa culture very quickly.”

“No-din?” William Joseph said, stroking his chin as his eyes smiled at Mariah.

“She is ‘Woman of the Wind' to the Chippewa,” Echohawk said, placing a possessive arm around her waist, drawing her close to him. “No-din. Woman of the Wind.”

As they all stepped from the council house, the first snowfall of winter was upon them. Mariah looked up at the snow as it fell from the sky, the flakes so big it was as though petals from wild plum trees were settling on her upturned face.

She looked at the wigwams, the snow on them making them look like huddled ghosts on the open plain.

“Come soon to Fort Snelling,” William Joseph said, swinging himself up into his saddle. He gave a vigorous wave, then barked the command that sent the soldiers away in a hard gallop.

Chief Silver Wing turned to Echohawk. “It is good that that is behind us,” he said, heaving a long sigh. “Now, Echohawk, before the snows become heavier and more frequent, you must concentrate on establishing for yourself a new village. If you so desire, build it side by side with mine. We will be as one, yet led by separate chiefs.”

Echohawk contemplated this suggestion for a moment, then placed a gentle hand on Chief Silver Wing's shoulder. “Thank you,” he said, smiling broadly. “My people will accept your offer with a glad heart!”

“That is good,” Chief Silver Wing said, clasping Echohawk's arm in brotherhood and good faith.

“I am cold,” Nee-kah said, clinging to the blanket around her shoudlers.

“The woman with child must be seen to,” Chief Silver Wing said. He whisked Nee-kah to his side and walked her away to their wigwam.

Echohawk and Mariah went to their own wigwam and embraced with a long, sweet kiss.

“Lie down beside the fire and cover yourself with the warm buffalo robes,” Echohawk said softly.

Perfectly content, Mariah did as he suggested, then watched as he busied himself heating several smooth round stones in the fire.

After these were thoroughly heated, Echohawk wrapped the rocks in strips of warm blankets, then knelt beside Mariah and placed them at her feet. “You will be warmed clear through soon,” he said, crawling beneath the piles of heavy robes beside her. He embraced her and drew her against him. “When will you say that you are ready to be my wife? How much longer do I have to wait for you to voice this aloud to me, the man who loves you?”

“Do you doubt at all that I will be your wife?” Mariah asked, smoothing her hand along the sculptured lines of his face. “I am here, am I not?”

“
Ay-uh
, and I will never let you go,” Echohawk said, brushing a kiss across her lips.

“Echohawk, before we speak vows of marriage, I first want to make things right in my life,” she murmured. “I want to reveal myself to my true father.”

“I understand,” Echohawk said, nodding. “As soon as the new wigwams are built and my people have a sense of belonging again, we will travel to Fort Snelling. We will both meet with Colonel Snelling, but for separate reasons.”

“
Ay-uh
,” Mariah sighed. “And then, my love, I will go through whatever ceremony is required to be your wife.”

Echohawk smiled to himself, knowing that she would be greatly surprised when he told her that a private ceremony had already been conducted that had made them man and wife.

When the time was right,
ay-uh
, he would tell her!

He looked through the smoke hole overhead and to the sky. It was no longer snowing, the clouds having drifted away. Tonight the stars seemed to be the eyes of the gods, shining down at him and his beloved . . .

Chapter 23

—Earl of Sterling

 

 

 

 

The wind swept across the snow-silent slopes. Mariah and Echohawk's horses loped along the crusty white trail, obscured by a blizzard of spinning snowflakes. Even though Mariah was wearing a snug bearskin coat, its hood framing her face, and winter moccasins lined with rabbit fur, she still trembled, her teeth chattering, as the bitter chill of the early evening stung her cheeks and nose. When she and Echohawk had set out for Fort Snelling earlier in the day, the sun had been brilliant overhead, and the snow that had fallen the previous day had begun to melt from the limbs of the trees.

And then an unexpected snowstorm had blown in over the land. In the forest that fringed the river, powdery snow smoked into the wind from the limbs of the great cottonwoods, and grass spiked upward through the icy crusts that stretched across the meadows.

Mariah and Echohawk had been too far from their village to turn back. They had decided that it was best to travel on to Fort Snelling, since they had postponed the trip already too many times. Their newfound love, free of all doubts and suspicions, absorbed them completely. And the unusually harsh weather had made it hard to gather the appropriate materials for the new village's wigwams.

But in time, when the dwellings were finally built, Echohawk's people were able to settle in for the winter. Chief Silver Wing's generosity extended even to helping supply Echohawk's people with enough staples to get them through the winter.

And now Echohawk felt free to leave his village and people to take care of his affairs at Fort Snelling—to talk peace with Colonel Snelling and to see that his name was completely cleared.

Mariah glanced over at Echohawk, seeing how wonderfully handsome he was, even though mostly covered by a bearskin coat which matched hers. He rode tall in the saddle, as though he were an extension of his prized Blaze.

And he no longer had to wear the eyeglasses, although he still found them useful for hunting and target shooting. Mariah didn't mind them at all, in fact she secretly loved the quirky addition to his rugged features.

But she knew that
he
detested the eyeglasses and was awaiting the day he could cast them aside entirely, for he felt that they took away from his nobility—his prowess as a great hunter and invincible leader.

Her mittened hands clutching onto the reins, her eyes now directed straight ahead, she tried to ignore how the wind continued to hurl stinging pellets of snow at her. Her thoughts turned to her own reason for going to Fort Snelling, besides traveling with the man she loved for moral support. She was finally going to come face-to-face with her true father. She was determined that he know she was his daughter. And surely he would be as happy about it as she. He had always treated her as though she were someone special.

But perhaps that was because he had always felt sorry for her, never having approved of the way she had been forced to live with Victor Temple—as though she were a boy, instead of a girl with a girl's desires and dreams.

She wanted more than pity.

She wanted the love of a true father.

Her thoughts went to Abigail. What would she think of this revelation? It was not Mariah's wish to hurt her feelings, yet Abigail did not seem the sort whose feelings could be injured all that easily. She was a strong breed of woman who had experienced many misfortunes in life while accompanying a husband whose ambitions took him in the way of opportunity and temptations. But of course Mariah would tell Josiah privately and let it be his decision whether or not to break it to his wife.

And then there was William Joseph. Mariah was proud to be able to call him her brother. He was such a dear sweet man, kindhearted through and through. She had even felt a strange sort of bonding with him upon their first acquaintance.

Now she knew why.

And she had to wonder how
he
would feel!

Evening shadows were beginning to lie long and dark on the snow as Fort Snelling came into view through the break in the trees ahead. Mariah was barraged by assorted emotions as she anticipated the moments ahead with her true father. She had waited a lifetime, it seemed, to tell him her secret.

She looked guardedly at Echohawk. He had not offered much conversation this entire journey, and she understood why. Even though William Joseph had assured them that Echohawk's name would be cleared, she and Echohawk knew that it was hard for the white community to cast aside suspicions where an Indian was concerned. So many could still insist that Echohawk was guilty in spite of the evidence to the contrary. It was those people that she feared.

Echohawk turned to Mariah. He reached out to her, smoothing the cold flesh of his fingers across her cheeks, rosy with color from the freezing air. “Your face is too cold,” he grumbled. “This journey would have been best delayed again.”

“No, I don't believe so,” Mariah said, extending a mittened hand, covering his. “I am fine. Just a little bit chilled, but fine. But what of you? You don't have as much on as I.”

When they had first set out on the journey, she worried about him withstanding the cold, for he said that a chief did not wear hand coverings, nor did he hide beneath a hood. His peripheral vision must not be impeded by anything worn around his face, having to be alert for any unsuspecting traveler on the trail, and his hands must not be encumbered, having to be free to use a weapon quickly should the need arise.

“Since childhood I have learned to endure many things,” Echohawk said, frowning. “Among them the cold months of winter. It is the Chippewa brave who must learn early how to withstand the cold, for it is the brave who must see that food is on the table. The hunt does not end just because the snows come.”

As the wide-open gate of the fort was upon them, Mariah and Echohawk became silent as they rode into the courtyard.

Mariah sighed with relief when she found the courtyard all but deserted, seeing only a few straggling soldiers trudging through the snow, their heads bent to the wind. Only a few looked up and stared at Mariah and Echohawk.

Other than that, only the sentries posted at each side of the gate had taken full notice of them.

But the sentries, knowing Echohawk so well, had waved him and Mariah on without questioning them.

Mariah's attention was now on the house that sat at the far end of the courtyard. Her heart began to pound at the prospect of knocking on the door, her father perhaps the one to open it. Even though the Snelling household was well staffed, she had noticed in the short time that she had lived there that if Josiah was at home and not busy with his ledgers in the study, he would go to the door instead of the butler.

Riding onward in a slow lope, Mariah looked over at Echohawk, “Soon, Echohawk, things will be cleared up and we can return to a peaceful life with your people,” she said, anxious for that also. Through all of the difficulties these past weeks, they had not yet taken the time for the marriage ceremony. Mariah did not like to feel as though she were living in sin by not being married. She only hoped that as the good Lord looked down from his place in the heavens, he would have seen her recent difficulties and understood.

“I owe so much to Chief Silver Wing,” Echohawk said. “It was with a sad heart that he did not accompany us on this journey of peace. But I saw his reasoning as wise. Our villages should never be left without a chief. Our people need the reassurance a chief's presence affords them.”

“I believe that he again was thinking of your welfare by deciding not to accompany us,” Mariah said softly. “He wanted this moment to be yours alone. It is your vindication sought here, Echohawk. Not so much Silver Wing's.”

Echohawk nodded. “
Ay-uh
, that is so,” he said, then grew silent as the shadow of the great Snelling mansion loomed over them.

Together Echohawk and Mariah dismounted and secured their reins to a hitching rail. With an anxious step and heart, Mariah walked beside Echohawk up the stairs to the porch, inhaling a nervous breath before knocking.

She waited with wide eyes for the door to open. When it did, she took a step back, not recognizing the man who answered it. While living with the Snellings, she had become acquainted with all of their servants, and this man's face was not familiar to her.

There was something unnerving about the man, a cold aloofness to his stance that made a chill ride Mariah's spine. He was tall and thin, his clothes black except for a stiff white collar that framed a long, narrow face With tight, drawn features—and eyes that appeared empty in their opaque grayness.

“Yes?” the man said, looking suspiciously from Mariah to Echohawk. “What can I do for you?”

“We have come to meet with Colonel Snelling,” Mariah said, firming her chin. “Please tell him that Mariah and Echohawk are here.”

“That would be impossible,” the man said stiffly. “Colonel Snelling no longer resides here. So if you will excuse me, I must see to my other duties.”

Mariah was stunned speechless by the man's words. She stared up at him for a moment, her lips parted, then placed a hand to the door, stopping him from closing it. “You must be mistaken,” she said, her voice quavering. “This is Colonel and Mrs. Snelling's house. They must be here.”

“Mariah? Echohawk?”

Mariah and Echohawk turned around in unison when the familiar voice spoke behind them.

“William Joseph!” Mariah said, rushing down the steps, grabbing one of his gloved hands. “Your parents. Where are they?” She gave the servant a quick glance over her shoulder, then turned questioning eyes back to William Joseph. “Tell me that he is wrong. They aren't gone, are they?” Her gaze lowered, and she swallowed hard, then looked up at William Joseph again, panic rising within her. “They have to be here. Tell me they are!”

Echohawk came to Mariah's side. He swept an arm around her waist and drew her next to him. “We have come to have council with your father,” he said. “If he is no longer living in this house, take us to his new residence. We have traveled a long way, through much cold weather, to speak peace with your father. We wish to do it now, William Joseph.”

“My father has been transferred to Jefferson Barracks in Saint Louis,” William Joseph said, looking apologetically from Mariah to Echohawk. “I've neglected getting a message to you. I now see that I should have, but the weather has been bad. I was waiting for it to break, and this happened so suddenly.”

Mariah paled. “Your father has been transferred?” she gasped, her hopes of ever being able to reveal her special secret to her true father waning. “Why? When?”

“He received his orders from Washington only last week,” William Joseph said solemnly. “My parents departed for Saint Louis on a riverboat as quickly as they could get things settled here.”

“But what about Echohawk?” Mariah blurted, for the moment forgetting her own reasons for having come to Fort Snelling. “Your father was to assure him that his name has been cleared. Now what is Echohawk to expect? Will the white community still condemn him? Will he never be able to ride free of worry, in danger of someone ready to shoot him in the back for . . . for crimes he didn't commit?”

“I assure you both that Echohawk's name has been cleared,” William Joseph said, placing a hand of friendship on Echohawk's shoulder. “Before my father left, he sent out a decree wide and far, stating your innocence. You have nothing to fear, Echohawk. Nothing.”

Echohawk smiled warmly at William Joseph. “That is good,” he said. “When you see your father again, thank him for me.”

“I will not be seeing him soon,” William Joseph said, his eyes wavering as he glanced down at Mariah. “I'm returning to Boston. I am through with my adventuresome days of being an interpreter. I am going to pursue a career in politics in Boston.”

Mariah's heart skipped a beat with this news, now realizing that she was going to lose William Joseph from her life almost as quickly as she had discovered that he was her brother.

It wasn't fair.

None of it!

A part of her wanted to cry out to William Joseph that she was his sister, yet another part warned her that this was not the best thing to do, since she might never be able to tell her father the truth.

This saddened her—this silence that she felt compelled to maintain.

“No-din, we must return to the village,” Echohawk said, turning to her. “The weather. It could worsen. It is best that I get you home, warm between blankets beside our fire.”

William Joseph gave Echohawk and Mariah an anxious look, then said, “You are surely tired from your travels. Why not stay the night in my cabin, then leave tomorrow? You will travel much more safely if you are rested.”

Mariah was bone weary, and her disappointment seemed to have worsened her fatigue. And she felt strangely empty, having so looked forward to seeing her true father, and now he was gone.

Echohawk considered William Joseph's offer for a moment. He looked at Mariah, knowing of her disappointment and sadness, and feeling that was enough to cope with tonight without forcing her to ride the entire night in the freezing cold.

He turned grateful eyes to William Joseph. “
Mee-gway-chee-wahn-dum
, thank you. Your offer is accepted,” he said. “Your warm fire will be welcomed tonight.”

“You can leave your horses here,” William Joseph said, stepping between Echohawk and Mariah. “I'll send my groom to take good care of them.” He placed an arm around each of their waists and led them on across the snow-covered courtyard. “And you can have my cabin all to yourselves. This is my last night at Fort Snelling. I've a few things to settle with some of the men.” He chuckled when he saw Mariah's anxious look, knowing she'd misinterpreted what he had said. “A poker game, Mariah. I plan to get into a hot game of poker tonight.”