Witch Dance (31 page)

Lesser men would have quailed under his stare, but she was fighting Irish. Nothing deterred her.

“If you think I’m going to knuckle under and do your bidding, you’re sadly mistaken.”

“I’m Chickasaw. Unconquered and unconquerable. Don’t try me.”

“And I’m Irish. We may not have a motto, but we’ve got damned fine tempers and the grit to go with them.”

“You can do this the easy way or the hard way, Kate. Take your choice.”

She tried to stare him down, tried to get past the iron control that masked his emotions. He remained implacable, and underneath her heavy coat she could feel the sweat of pure rage and certain defeat.

“What is the hard way, Eagle? Do you plan to tie me up and lock me in my room?”

“Do you plan to try me, Kate?”

“Don’t think I won’t.”

They stared at each other, unmoved and unmovable, while a log on the fire burned in two and split with an audible crackle. The air was thick with challenge and the desire, lambent and intoxicating, that always smoldered between them when they were in the same room.

The doorbell rang, but even that sound could not bring them out of the spell that bound them. It rang again . . . and again, its insistent clanging no more to the two beside the fire than the annoying noise of a distant mosquito.

“Does nobody ever answer the door in this godforsaken place?”

Senator Mick Malone strode through the door, and cold air swirled in with him. The shock of seeing her father after so many years paled Kate’s face.

For a moment Kate felt the way she always did when she saw him, as if she’d been caught stealing cookies when she’d been told a dozen times not to eat them and ruin her supper. Hard on the heels of her childish guilt came rage.

“You are on Tribal Lands in the house of the governor, Father. You owe him the courtesy of a polite greeting.” She felt the loss as she stepped apart from Eagle. “Governor Mingo, this is my father, Senator Mick Malone.”

The two men assessed each other like gladiators who found themselves by chance in the same arena.

“Governor,” Mick said, nodding curtly.

“Senator. Please be seated.” The great dignity that was as much a part of Eagle as his long black hair and his beaded elkskin boots came to the fore.

“Don’t mind if I do. It’s a hell of a long way from Charleston to Witch Dance.”

He sank into his chair like an old man. The sight of his infirmities saddened Kate . . . and scared her. Mick Malone was supposed to be invincible.

“I’ll get you some coffee, Senator.” Eagle left the room as soundlessly as the snow that drifted in fat flakes beyond the window.

Kate sat in a chair opposite her father, and an uncomfortable silence descended over them. Sweat inched down the side of her face, and she wished she’d taken a chair away from the fire.

“How are ye, Katie Elizabeth?”

“Dirty, disheveled, grief stricken at the loss of my friend and my clinic. Other than that, I’m fine, Father.” She wouldn’t give Mick the satisfaction of seeing how hot she was by taking off her coat. “How’s Mother?”

“She misses you, Katie.”

What about you, Father? Do you ever miss me?

Kate stared at him, knowing she would never ask the question that pressed upon her mind.

“I’ll call her today . . . reassure her.”

“There won’t be any need for long distance calls, Katie. I’m taking you home.”

“I’m not going.”

“I’ve already bought your ticket.”

“Cash it in. I’m staying here.”

“This is all the doings of that savage.”

“Don’t you dare speak of Eagle Mingo in those terms.”

“I’ll use any terms I by God please. Do you take me for some kind of fool? I saw the two of you together when I walked into this room.”

Kate stood up, giving herself the advantage of towering over Mick as he sat in his chair.

“You should have knocked first.”

“I practically tore the damned bell off the wall, ringing it.” Mick stood up to face her, his shoulders squared like a boxer’s. “Katie Elizabeth, get your things.”

“I don’t have any things, and I’m not about to be picked up and shuffled around like a mail order package.”

Eagle came into the room as silently as he had left.

“Kate, go with him. It’s best.”

She whirled on Eagle. “Best for whom? Who the hell gives a damn who it’s best for? Certainly not you,
Governor
.” She fixed a fierce glare on her father. “Nor you,
Senator
.” She jerked off her coat and flung it onto the sofa. “While both of you are bickering over my life, I have patients who are dying. As soon as I take a bath, I’m going to make a house call, with or without your permission, Eagle Mingo.” She turned to her father. “As for you, you gave up parental rights the day you told me I was no daughter of yours.”

The look on his face might have moved her if she’d had any heart left to move. But she was stripped bare of feeling, totally naked emotionally. The only thing that mattered now was the Chickasaw children.

“I’m staying in this land you call godforsaken with this man you call savage.”

“Not while I have breath in my body,” Mick said.

“She’s made her decision, Senator.”

Kate marched out with her head held high, leaving the fighting Irish senator and the unconquerable Chickasaw squared off before the fire. Her righteous indignation got her out of the room and down the hall. In the bathroom that held the masculine smells of Eagle, in the shower that held the spicy soap still damp from his bath, she leaned against the wall and wrapped her arms around herself until she could stop shaking.

From the den came the sound of their battle.

“She’s made her decision, Senator. I will not allow you to go after her.”

“I don’t need your permission to go after my own daughter.”

“This is my house.”

“Why, you arrogant whippersnapper. Do you know who you’re talking to? I’m a by God United States senator.”

“You’re on Tribal Lands, Senator. Your title and power are meaningless here.”

Kate could picture Eagle, as formidable and unmovable as Arbuckle Mountain. But Mick Malone was neither impressed nor intimidated.

“You’ll think Tribal Lands when I get through with you. I’ll have the feds down here so fast it’ll make your head swim. When they get through investigating the fire at my daughter’s clinic, we’ll see who has power.”

There was the sound of footsteps as Eagle crossed the room, probably showing her father the door. Then a long silence, and Mick’s parting shot.

“You haven’t heard the last of me.”

Only when the door slammed did Kate realize she’d been gripping her arms so hard, she’d made red marks.

“Kate.” She hadn’t even heard his approach, and yet there was Eagle, standing just inches away from her, on the other side of the glass shower door. Kate squeezed her hands together to keep from putting them on the glass like a child would on a shop window holding a great confection.

“I’m sorry, Kate.”

She could withstand his coldness, but his kindness was killing her.

“Don’t take my decision to stay here personally.”

“I don’t.”

“And don’t think I’m going to make it easy for you . . . because I’m not.”

“I’d be disappointed if you did,
Wictonaye
.”

Was the slip accidental or deliberate? Her breathing fogged up the shower door, but still she could see him, too close, too tempting. The humming sound she used to make when she was curved into him on summer evenings under the stars started low in her throat, and she clamped her hand over her mouth.

What kind of woman was she? Wanting her best friend’s fiancé only hours after Deborah’s death?

Eagle’s house was sprawling, most certainly with two baths and probably three. Why had she barreled down the hall to his?

“Kate, are you all right?”

What if she weren’t? Would he come inside the shower and help her fog up the glass door?

“Uhm-mmm.”

“When you’ve finished your bath, I’ll take you home to get some of your things, and I’ll go with you on your house calls.”

“All right.”

He stood on the other side of the glass door for a small eternity; then he left. It must have been five minutes after he left before Kate had recovered enough to turn on the shower.

 o0o

The horses’ hooves sank deep into the snow as they struggled up the mountainside, single file. Only the life-and-death struggle of two children could have forced Eagle to take Kate on such a journey.

He glanced behind to see how she was making the trip. She gave him a thumbs-up sign, but he could see the tension in her face and knew she must be remembering what had happened the last time she’d braved the mountain.

There was a certain waiting stillness upon the land, as if someone, somewhere, watched every move they made. A raven rose suddenly from its nest, sounding alarms, and Eagle glanced upward.

Did a shadow move, or was it his imagination? If he hadn’t had Kate with him, he’d have investigated, but his primary purpose was to deliver her safely to the sick children.

When they entered the woods, he again was convinced that he was being watched. Strange that he wasn’t picking up a sense of evil, but a sense that whoever was out there belonged to the land in the way that his ancestors had.

Eagle scanned the woods, but not so much as the movement of a leaf betrayed the watcher.

Chapter 35

Charleston, South Carolina

For the first time in years, Martha stood up to her husband.

“I want to know about my daughter,” she said.

“She’s living with a savage. What more do you want to know, Martha?”

“How was she? Did she look all right? What did she say?”

Mick crushed his cigar in the ashtray and sat down in his chair with the newspaper. As far as he was concerned, the conversation was over.

Martha walked over to his chair and stood, waiting for him to notice her.

“Dammit, woman. What do you want? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“You’ve seen Katie Elizabeth for the first time in five years, and all you can say is ‘She’s living with a savage.’ I never considered you heartless, Mick Malone, but I’m beginning to think that’s exactly what you are. A heartless . . . son of a you-know-what.”

“Martha, I do believe you came close to cussing me.” Mick almost grinned.

“I do believe I did.”

Martha could hardly believe what she’d done. Flushed with success and newfound courage, she took the paper from his hand.

“Now,” she said. “Tell me what you said to my daughter and what she said to you. I want to know the truth.”

Mick seemed to grow smaller as he scooted down in his chair.

“The truth is ugly, Martha.”

“Yes, Mick. Sometimes it is.” She sat on the footstool beside the chair and took his hand. “Tell me about Katie.”

 o0o

Witch Dance

Anna had grown to hate her husband. Almost.

Looking at him now, sitting at the head of the dinner table, she could pretend for a little while that everything was normal, that they still shared the same goals, the same bed.

“This roast beef is delicious, Anna,” Dovie said.

“Thank you.” Anna had no appetite for roast beef. Even the smell of it made her sick.

She felt Cole’s eyes or, her, and when she looked at him, he smiled.

Don’t give me false hope
, she wanted to scream. She’d invited his family over, hoping that their presence would restore some sense of balance and normality.

Cole’s smile dashed all her plans. For a moment it was sincere, intimate,
real
. And then it became something else, something she didn’t even want to think about.

“Eagle flaunts the pale-faced doctor,” he said.

“I know of this.” Winston had aged terribly in the past few months. Except for his piercing eyes and the deep voice, there were no signs of the powerful, robust man Anna had known.

“She lives with him,” Dovie said.

“He protects her,” Winston said. “Nothing more.”

“Black Elk sent tribal police to do that,” Dovie protested. “They are all around Eagle’s ranch. Why can’t they do their job at Dr. Malone’s house?”

Anna wanted to throw dishes at her husband for bringing this contention to their family meal. Instead, she spooned in a mouthful of potatoes and tried to swallow them without gagging.

“She’ll turn him away from everything he believes in,” Cole said.

Clint shoved back his chair and ran from the room. Dovie started crying.

“Now look what you’ve done.” Anna’s rage and frustration boiled over. “If anyone is destroying this family, it’s you.”

Cole’s face was thunderous as he stalked out of the room.

“We will all survive this trying time.” Winston helped Dovie into her coat then put his arms around Anna. “You’re strong, my daughter. I’m proud of you.”

She stood in the doorway until they were safely in their car, then she went into the bathroom she shared with her husband and lost her dinner.

Cole didn’t even bother to ask why she was sick.

 o0o

The long white limousine slid through the night as silently as a shadow. Behind its tinted windows Melissa stared at the cottage and the charred ruins of the clinic.

“Stop here,” she told the driver.

As she stared into the darkness, the old rage built in her. Clayton had lived there . . . with another woman. Melissa flattened her palms against the glass and imagined how it must have been, the two of them sharing meals that Clayton had cooked and laughing together . . . laughing at her.

“You won’t win this time.”

At her signal, the chauffeur carried her back to her apartment in Ada. Inside, she dropped her purse somewhere in the vicinity of the entry hall and slid one arm out of her mink coat so that it trailed along behind her to the bathroom.

“Hurry, hurry,” she whispered to herself. “He’ll be here soon.”

Her hands shook as she untangled herself from her coat, then reached into the back of the linen closet to take out her supplies. When all the pots of paint were spread upon the vanity, she stripped off her clothes and stood naked in front of the mirror.