Bittner, Rosanne (72 page)

Tyler rose, walking close to his father. "I guess... I guess I was afraid I'd somehow lose you, lose that kind of special thing we have."

Yes, Luke thought. It was nameless, but special, this feeling for his firstborn son, so special that poor Robbie had felt it, yet he loved Robbie and the rest of his children just as fiercely. Perhaps none of them would understand these feelings until they had children of their own. "That can never change, Ty. Never. Deep in your heart you have to know that."

Tyler smiled, and Luke felt as though he were looking into a mirror, except that the lines of age were not there. "I do, Pa," he answered.

Luke nodded. "What I've told you about my own father is just between you and me, Ty. I want the rest of the children to think only good things about him and my mother." Luke had not told Tyler the truth about Nathan's own real father. He had made a vow not to. It was enough that the children knew the young man was a half brother. It was important that he be accepted fully. Why taint the children's view of him or their mother, and why hurt Nathan, by telling any of them the truth? They had been told over the years that there were no pictures of Nathan's father because they had been burned in the raid. Only Katie knew the truth, and she was a wise woman, had always been very mature for her years. She knew firsthand how her mother felt and why it was important to keep the secret.

"I'd like to meet my uncle someday," Tyler said, interrupting Luke's thoughts.

"You may get the chance. He's going to visit. I don't know how soon, but I believe he'll come, maybe next summer."

Ty took a deep breath, smiling. "Maybe Ramona and I will have a child of our own by then."

Luke prayed the marriage would be as happy as Ty thought it could be. "Maybe. I just wish you had waited for a real wedding, Ty."

"Pa, I've been watching her and loving her for a year now. One day I followed her to the pond up at the northeast corner, and she..." He reddened. "She was swimming." He turned away. "I don't know. It just... happened. There she was, inviting me to come and swim with her. We both knew what we felt right then and there." He turned to meet Luke's eyes boldly. "She's not a loose woman, Pa. She was... I was her first. She said no matter what happened afterward, that's how she wanted it. I love her, and I want her to be my wife. We'll be okay."

Luke put a hand on his shoulder. "I think maybe you will at that. God bless you both, Ty. You know Lettie will love her as she does her own daughters."

Ty nodded. "Mother is a hell of a woman."

Luke held up his wineglass. "I'll drink to that." He finished the wine. "Why don't we go talk to Nathan? We need to straighten out a few things."

Tyler forced back the old resentments. "Sure. Why not?"

They left the house, and from the window of Katie's old room upstairs, Ramona watched Ty and his father walk out of the house and toward the barn. She worried over some of the things that had been said, but she kept her thoughts to herself. How could she talk to a white woman like Lettie about how an Indian woman felt about living this way, her fears and apprehension over marrying someone like Ty? Even now Lettie was going through some of Katie's old dresses to determine Ramona's proper sizing. She had Ramona try some of them on, but each fancy dress felt foreign and uncomfortable to Ramona. For these past three weeks she had shared her love with Tyler on her terms, rolling in the grass by the pond, wearing simple dresses and often no shoes when she was home with Nathan. It had not struck her until she came into the house with Ty just how white he really was, or how rich, or how he belonged with someone more like his own mother. What did she know about the proper undergarments and stockings, the proper way to wear her hair or a hat, how to take care of such a big house? Lettie was so kind, but no matter how much she taught her, or how fancy were the clothes she might wear into town to attend church and the women's socials Lettie was telling her about, she would always be Morning Sun, a Sioux Indian.

"Ramona, try this one! I think it might fit," Lettie was telling her. "You can come with me to the women's club meeting in two days and I will announce your engagement to Tyler. This dress will look beautiful on you."

Ramona turned to see her holding out a lovely lavender-colored dress with wide ruffles that spilled down the full skirt. She stepped over to let Lettie put it over her head, and she winced at the feel of the tight corset Lettie had laced her into. She hated the way white women dressed. She felt as if she couldn't breathe.

"Luke, You'd Better get out here. Ty and Nathan are about to go at each other's throats."

A plate of partly eaten steak and eggs sat in front of Luke. He looked up at Billy Sacks, who stood in the doorway to the dining room. "I'm sorry to bother you, but you'd better come."

"Oh, dear," Lettie fretted. "Now what? I thought we solved everything last night."

Luke scowled as he rose, walking on long strides out of the house. Lettie put down her own fork and hurried out behind him. What could have happened? Tyler had been so happy at the breakfast table. He had finished before them, wanting to go out and check on a lame horse. He was going to ride to Nathan's house then and see Ramona for a few minutes before starting his chores. Lettie hurried behind Luke, and she could already hear the shouting down by the barn. Luke started running, and she ran behind him. Nathan was standing and facing Tyler calmly, but two men were holding back Tyler, who was trying to get at Nathan with his fists.

"It's your fault, damn you!" Tyler was screaming. "Why did you have to come here? Why did you even bring Ramona in the first place if she was promised to a damn Indian! I hate you! I hate you, Nathan Fontaine! You don't even deserve the
name
Fontaine! You're
White Bear!
You're
Sioux,
remember? What the hell are you doing here, you bastard?"

Lettie's heart sank at the words. How much worse would it be for Nathan and Ty both if they knew the truth about Nathan's father? What had happened to cause this?

Luke stepped up and grabbed Tyler by the shirtfront. "What the hell is going on here? Just last night—"

"She's gone, Pa! Ramona is gone! She's out there alone somewhere, and it's his fault! He must have said something to scare her away from me!" Tyler's eyes were wet, his face red with rage, the veins in his throat taut from straining and screaming.

"Calm down, or I'll hit you myself!" Luke ordered Tyler. He looked at the men holding him. "Let go of him."

"Whatever you say, Boss." They released Tyler, and he stood there panting, glaring at his father. "Get rid of him, Pa. Get rid of him, or I'll
kill
him!"

Luke jerked on his shirt. "You'll do no such thing! I won't have this happening in my family!"

"Then he shouldn't have made Ramona run away!"

Luke let go of him, but kept a close eye on him. "The rest of you men get the hell out of here and get to work!"

The others wandered away, mumbling among themselves and shaking their heads. Luke realized some of them had no idea what was going on between Ty and Ramona, and he also knew what the opinions of some would be. He could not concern himself with that now. He turned to Nathan. "What the hell happened?"

A deep hurt showed in Nathan's eyes. "Ramona ran away. She left a note. I did not know what she was planning. Sometime in the night she must have come out here to get Star and she rode off. The note was left in Star's stall." He looked over at Lettie pleadingly, then back at Luke. "I swear I said nothing to discourage her. Last night I shared wine with you and Tyler. I had given my consent. I would not have gone back on my word."

"You
liar!"
Tyler shouted. "You talked her out of it. Somehow you scared her away!"

"I
love
her!" Nathan shouted back. "Would I want my own sister riding out there alone and in danger? Why would I do such a thing?"

"You'd do anything to keep her from marrying me!"

"Don't be stupid, Ty!" Luke answered. "Nathan wouldn't have wanted her to run off alone. The important thing is to figure out why she did it and for us to go after her."

Tyler tore a piece of paper from his pants pocket and handed it over, still glaring at Nathan, a tear slipping down his cheek. Luke read the note, written as well as Ramona could write, given her limited education. "'It is best this way,'" Luke read aloud. "'I love you, Tyler Fontaine.'" She had spelled Fontaine wrong, but he ignored it. "'I love you enough to do what is right for you, even though it breaks my heart. You belong here. I do not. Our happiness could not last forever. I am going back to my people where I belong. I will marry Standing Horse.'"

Ty glanced at his mother. "Did
you
say something to her? What did you do when you took her upstairs?"

Lettie felt as though someone had pierced her heart with a knife. "Oh, Ty, how can you think I would ever do anything to hurt someone you love?"

He looked away, clenching his fists.

"What
did
you do?" Nathan asked Lettie.

Lettie put a hand to her stomach. "Well, I... I was as good to her as I could be. I helped her try on some of Katie's dresses. She was going to go with me to the women's club meeting in a couple of days. We had a good time trying clothes on, fixing her hair."

Nathan smiled rather bitterly, shaking his head. "You are a good woman, Mother, but I think perhaps it was too much at once—all those fancy clothes, being in that house, seeing how you live."

"And I'll just bet you pointed all of that out to her when you got her back to your house!" Tyler yelled at Nathan. "My mother would never deliberately discourage her, but you would, you son of a bitch! You knew she'd get just enough of a taste of being a Fontaine to scare her, and you played on those feelings!"

A terrible sadness showed in Nathan's eyes. "I said nothing to her last night. When she came home she was very quiet. I asked her what was wrong, and she just looked at me and said she did not want to talk about it. She just wanted to go to bed and think and be alone. I even offered to come and get you, but she said that I should not."

"That was all the more reason
to
come and get me!"

"Both of you get mounted up," Luke ordered. "We're going to try to find her. She probably tried to follow the same roads and trails that brought her here. She most likely headed north before she would go east, so that she wouldn't have to ride anyplace near Billings."

"I can track her," Nathan said. "I know the gait of her horse, and Star has one hoof that looks slightly crooked."

"Let's go, then." Luke grabbed Tyler's arm to lead him into the barn, but Tyler hesitated, glaring at Nathan.

"She rode out of here in the night. Do you know how dangerous this country is at night?"

"Of course I know how dangerous it is! I have lived in the open country most of my life!"

"If anything has happened to her—"

"You will blame me!" Nathan said, sneering. "But at the same time,
I
will blame
you,
Tyler! None of this would have happened if you could have kept your pants buttoned until your father got home! You had no right making big promises to her! You had no right taking liberties with her!"

Tyler charged for him again, but Luke grabbed him, holding on for dear life. "Stop it, Ty!" he growled. "Or do you plan to punch your own father! That's what you'll have to do before I'll let you light into your brother again!"

Tyler relaxed again, jerking away from Luke. "Don't call him my brother." He turned and walked into the barn, and Luke looked at Lettie, seeing the devastation in her eyes. He just shook his head and followed Tyler into the barn. Nathan looked at his mother then.

"I swear I said nothing to make her do this," he said, agony in his voice. "I did not mean to make so much trouble for you. When we find Ramona, we will leave the Double L."

Lettie shook her head. "Please don't, Nathan. Don't go away again."

He hated to see the pain in her eyes. "I might have no choice. If it comes down to choosing between two sons, you know which one Luke would choose, no matter how much he loves me. He loves Tyler the most, and I do not blame him for it. Perhaps we will find Ramona and everything will be all right."

Tears slowly trickled down her cheeks. "Perhaps," she whispered.

CHAPTER 36

November 1886

It was a dark time for everyone. In the Fontaine cemetery, two new headstones were erected. Runner, sixty, had died that past spring, a blow to Luke, especially with the sorrow that had hung over the household for over a year now. Runner had been buried next to a stone that read, Here Lies Ramona, a Sioux Indian, Born Springtime 1867, Died August 1885. Loved by Tyler Fontaine.

Lettie looked out a back bedroom window at the graveyard in the distance. A cold rain pelted the glass, like the coldness that had fallen over the Fontaine family. Ramona had been found lying in the road with a broken neck. Star was found later with a fractured leg and had had to be shot. Luke had arranged for both the horse and Ramona to be brought back on a wagon. Star was buried next to Ramona.

Tyler had sunk into a terrible despair, and even his father couldn't help him. His hatred for Nathan was so great that Nathan had chosen to go and live at the northern line shack so they would hardly ever have to see each other. Lettie and Luke felt as if they had lost both their sons. In May Katie had given birth to another son, Jeffrey Adam, her fourth child, and their own sixth grandchild. Nathan and Leena were expecting the following summer, but the coming of more grandchildren could not erase the sorrow that had filled their hearts since Ramona's untimely death.

There would be no children for Ty and Ramona. Lettie could not help blaming herself, wondering if she had said or done something that night before Ramona ran away that might have upset her so much. Perhaps she shouldn't have carried on so about how Ramona should dress, or about attending the women's club with her. She had not stopped to think of how terrifying such things might be to someone from such a different world. Ramona had been like a sweet child who needed careful guidance and nurturing.