Cheyenne Moon (17 page)

Shadow Spirit and the three braves rode toward the old barn and once again, he could smell food there had to be someone close by. He could see that the door was slightly ajar as he rode closer and a rocking chair and two small cradles sat in front of the structure. He knew that it had not been there the last time he had ventured here in his search for Abby. He motioned for his companions to dismount and gave the signal for silence. They walked to the door of the barn and peered inside in amazement at the neat little cabin. 

Creeping closer they opened the entrance to the lodge and listened for sound coming from inside. Shadow Spirit gestured to Moon Rising to look in the window.  He shook his head that he did not see anyone. They stepped over the threshold to find a well-furnished dwelling. There was food on the stove, still warm from there morning meal. Someone lived here and whoever it was had a baby for there were diapers hanging up to dry.

“Come let us look around outside,” he said.

Once they were back in the yard Shadow Spirit saw Storm coming toward them just as Moon Rising raised his bow to let an arrow fly. Shadow Spirit grabbed his arm causing the arrow to miss the wolf.

“This is my friend,” Shadow Spirit said as he rubbed the big wolf’s head.

“I am sorry, I did not recognize him.” Moon Rising had changed in the days since they had left the village. He was much more respectful to his chief and to the other braves. Shadow Spirit had talked to the brave at length and had found out why he behaved in the manner that he did. He had been influenced by the dark exploits of Black Heart. His father had been one of the warriors that had joined Black Heart when he was banished from the tribe. Moon Rising’s father had later been killed in a raid. Shadow Spirit believed that there was hope for the young man.

“You two look around down by the creek, Moon Rising and I will look more closely around here.”

They walked to the back of the barn, looking for footprints on the soft ground. Just as they were about to give up Shadow Spirit saw Storm go into a cave at the foot of the mountain that seemed to almost touch the barn. Weeds had grown up around the entrance which made it easy to miss. He followed the wolf inside. Narrow pathways led in different directions he decided to take the path that ran to left of the first cave. 

He came to a large cavern that was well worn on the floor. Moon Rising looked around seeing the bench along side of the cave wall he motioned to the chief. 

“Yes, I see it. This is not just a cave. There have been animals here like the ones the whites keep.” Shadow Spirit looked around for Storm who had disappeared down one of the passageways leading further back into the side of the mountain. He followed the wolf until he came to where a smaller cave housed a pool. 

“This place is a whole world into its self,” Shadow Spirit shivered at the cold air that circulated through the cave. At closer examination of the pool, he saw a rope coming out of the water. He pulled up the rope to find a jar of milk on the other end of the rope. Someone lived here. He remembered helping a woman that had been caught in a trap that she had set herself. He never thought about it anymore after that. It had been on the path to the old barn. The woman had looked oddly familiar like he had seen her somewhere before but could not remember where.

“Shadow Spirit listen I hear something that sounds like a baby crying.”

“It is only the wind that comes from where the water seeps into the mountain. Let us leave this place and go back to the outside.” Shadow Spirit was becoming discouraged he was so certain that he would find Abby this time.

When they found their way back to the first cave Storm was sitting there waiting for them. He got up turned, and walked down the other tunnel. Shadow Spirit and Moon Rising didn’t follow him. He would find his way out without any trouble. 

Abby had left the babies in Polly’s care and taken a gun to see if there was any sigh of an intruder. She was in the tunnel leading to the main cave when she heard a sound that took her breath away. She began to run toward the sound it was someone talking and she would know that voice anywhere.

“Shadow Spirit…. Shadow Spirit,” Abby yelled as loud as she could.

He heard her before she reached him. “Abby I am here. Stay there I will find you.” He said just as she burst into view and launched herself into his outstretched arms. He held her as she cried with joy. He looked at her with astonishment for she was the most beautiful sight that he had ever seen in his life. He ran his hands up and down her arms and stared into her eyes as if to assure his self that she was real and not going to disappear.   

She touched his face and his wonderful hair. She couldn’t stop touching him. He was here and she was going to get to go home finally.

“Abby….Abby I have searched for months for you I was beginning to think I had lost you forever.”

“You well never lose me my darling,” she replied as he sat her down on the bench. “I knew that you would never give up.”

“Go let the others know that my search is over, my wife is safe.” Moon Rising left the cave to tell the others that the chief’s wife had been found.

“Is our child safe?” Shadow Spirit asked with a note of dread at what the answer might be.

She took his hand. “Come with me, I will introduce you.” Abby said as she took his hand. “There are actually four people I would like you to meet.

Polly had heard Abby yelling but couldn’t make out what she was saying. She stood facing the tunnel that Abby had taken, with her gun raised ready to protect Morning Sky and Shadow Eagle. She was worried for Abby she had been gone a long time. She heard footsteps coming along the tunnel and Abby’s laughter.  She lowered her gun Abby wouldn’t be laughing if she were in trouble. Polly began to relax picking a fretting Morning Sky up in her arms.

Abby and Shadow Spirit walked into the open cave and he saw the older woman holding a baby. He walked to her and gently took the baby, holding it out so that he could look into its face.

“Shadow Spirit this is your daughter, Morning Sky.” Abby smiled brightly, he had not noticed the other baby lying on the straw, sleeping.

“She is beautiful, she looks like my mother. She has the same color eyes.”

“She looks like you, my darling.”

Shadow Eagle began to squirm around and make a little whimpering sounds, Abby went and picked him up smiling all the time. “This is your son,” she said to an astonished Shadow Spirit.

“I have two children, we have twins?” He exchanged the little girl for the boy and looked him over. “He is perfect also. Oh my beautiful wife you have made me a proud chief indeed.”

“Oh Shadow Spirit I am glad you are happy. I have wanted nothing more than for you to know that you are a father I am not finished with your surprises just yet.” She looked at Polly who was standing behind her holding Joshua’s hand. Abby noticed that his face was ashen and he was trembling. He must think that Shadow Spirit is going to hurt her like Black Heart did his mother. Abby took the frightened child in her embrace and softly stroked his back. “Joshua this is my husband, he is nothing like the bad man that hurt your mother. He is gentle and loving. I know that it will take you some time to come to trust him but if you will give him a chance, you will learn to care for him. He will be very good to you and will love you as his own son.”

Shadow Spirit was confused as to where the boy came from but he could see the love that Abby had for the child. He handed his son to the woman standing at the child’s side. She smiled at him with tears in her eyes. He recognized her as the woman he had released from the bear trap some time ago. She still looked very familiar to him but he did not know why.

He squatted down in front of the young boy. “My name is Shadow Spirit what is yours?”  He asked as Abby laid her hand on his shoulder.

Joshua took a step back, Abby held out her hand to him. He clasped onto it and looked up at her. He held his other hand out to shake hands with Shadow Spirit his eyes darting back to Abby’s face, but he still looked scared. 

“I am so glad to meet you. I can see that Abby cares for you very much and I will also.”

Joshua looked at Abby with concern still written in his eyes. He was not sure he could trust this big man who was dressed like the bad man who had hurt his mother. He returned to Polly, who was rocking the babies.

They all returned to the cabin where they had a big meal and a sat around the table talking. Shadow Spirit longed to have some time alone with his wife. He was anxious hold her and make love to her and love her the way that he had dreamed of for so many months. 

He had noticed that all during the meal Polly had kept staring at him. He looked at her know and saw that she again had tears in her eyes. “I have seen the ways that you stare at me, are you worried that I might hurt you because I am Indian?”

Polly glanced at Abby who shook her head in the affirmative. She was letting Polly know that it was time to tell Shadow Spirit the truth about who she was.

Polly got up and walked around the table to where he sat. She took the chair next to his and began her story. When she had revealed that she was his grandmother Shadow Spirit held out his arms and she fell into them sobbing.

“My mother, your daughter, will be so happy when she sees you. How have you survived here all this time?  How have you avoided Black Heart?”

“I was smarter than he is,” she calmly stated through her sobs.

Shadow Spirit threw his head back and bellowed with laughter at the thought of this tiny woman outsmarting the renegade. He could not believe that he had not only found his wife and twin children but had also found his grandmother and it appeared he had four-year-old son as well. Abby had told him about Joshua and her desire to keep him with them.

Abby watched as Shadow Spirit again hugged his grandmother. Tears glistened in the chiefs eyes and he smiled at Abby over the shoulder of his grandmother.

When the meal was over and the questions had been answered, Polly and Abby did the dishes. “Abby, you go be with your husband. Why don’t you take some quilts and spend the night in the caves, it is nice and cool there and you can have all the privacy you need for your reunion with Shadow Spirit.” Polly looked at Abby with the wisdom of a woman who had been in love. “I am not so old that I have forgotten what is like to be with your man after a long time apart. Now you go on and nurse the babies, if they get hungry during the night I have plenty goat milk.

Abby nursed both babies and held them close. She had not spent more than an hour away from them since their birth and she would miss them dearly. She loved them more than life, but Shadow Spirit was her life.  She had yearned for him for so long that the mere thought of having him all to herself for the night, made her heart flutter. 

Abby went to the cave and bathed in the small stream that ran along the wall floor of the cave that was the furthest back in the mountain. She brought a torch and lit the ones that had been placed at intervals in holes in the walls. She brought bread and goat cheese for a snack if they took time for one. Polly was going to send Shadow Spirit to look for her in the caves, saying that she had been gone a long time just to take a bath. 

She lingered over her bath, using the scented soap that Polly had made last fall with the wildflowers that grew on the mountain. She washed her hair and rinsed it until it shimmered in the light from the torch. When she was finished, she spread a blanket down by the water and sat waiting timidly for Shadow Spirit. The sound of the water trickling down the side of the cave wall and landing with a soft splash into the stream lulled her to sleep.

Shadow Spirit had a quick meeting with his warriors. He told them to watch his family and to make sure no harm came to them during the night. He was planning to be alone with Abby no matter what.  

When he returned to the house in search of her, he found Polly busy rocking his children. 

“Hello, have you seen Abby?”

“She went to the cave to take a bath, but she has been gone quite a while maybe you should go see about her,” Polly said with a wink.

“Nokomis, Grandmother, I believe you are as sneaky as the fox.”

“Maybe a little, but I believe that the two of you deserve some special time alone.”

“Thank you Grandmother. I am so glad to have found you I can see so much of my mother in you. You are so alike in the way that you care for other people.”

“Thank you, I hope that the time will come soon that I can once again see her.”

“As do I”

As Polly shifted her position in the chair, both babies were sound asleep. Shadow Spirit picked his son up gingerly so as not to wake him. He carried the sleeping child to his cradle and returned to do the same with his daughter. 

Polly watched him as he looked down at his children, the love he felt showing in his eyes which reminded her so much of her dear Judith’s beautiful green eyes. Shadow Spirit bent and kissed each baby on the forehead.

“I will go now and find my wife.”

“Yes, if you don’t go soon she may get tired of waiting for you.” Polly said as she rose from her rocking chair.

Shadow Spirit made his way to the back of the cave where Polly had said that Abby would be. He found her asleep on a blanket. Kneeling in front of her, he gently kissed her on the lips. She drew in a quick breath and opened her eyes, a slow smile played at the corners of her mouth. Shadow Spirit lifted her into his arms and kissed her with the passion of a man who had missed his wife for so very long. Abby’s low moan told him that she felt all the feelings that consumed him. He tenderly placed her on her back and lay down beside her. There was no need for words as he took one of her breast in his hand and softly kneaded it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down so that she had access to his mouth. She teased his lips with the tip of her tongue until he crushed her mouth to his in a kiss that took her breath away.

He slowly released her mouth and replaced his hand on her breast with his mouth. He could taste the milk that fed his babies there. Her body had matured and ripened from carrying them. He raised his head and looked at her and she looked back at him. “Please Shadow Spirit it has been so long.” When he entered her, she raised her body to meet his and clung to him as they moved as one. Their passion came quickly with a fury so great that it seemed they would surely explode with the love that consumed them.

Abby lay in Shadow Spirit arms with her head resting on his chest. She could hear his heart beating, it was a soothing sound. 

“I never want to be away from you again. I feel safe and content when I am with you, you’re my hero,” she said in soft sleepy voice.

“I believe that you would have found your way home even if I had not found you. You are such a courageous woman you have managed to escape Black Heart, and save the life of a small boy all while you were with child.”

They spent the night wrapped in each other’s arms. They made love when one or the other would wake and begin to arouse the other. They would ride out the storm that was their love and hold each other as their breathing returned to normal. Abby woke once during the night to find Shadow Spirit watching her sleep. She smiled and snuggled closer to his warmth. He put his arms around her and drifted back to sleep.

When they woke the next morning they bathed in the pool before returning to the cabin. Polly had breakfast ready and had fed both babies and Joshua when they arrived.

Shadow Spirit decided that they would all leave for home in the morning. He was sending two of his warriors on ahead today to check for trouble. He did not want to travel with his family with-out having his men in the lead. In this territory, one never knew what was over the next hill. 

“Grandmother we will leave at dawn in the morning, is there anything that you wish to take with you that is too large for the horses to carry?” Shadow Spirit asked.

“There is all my furniture that my son Joe made, but I know it would be impractical to think I could take it on such a long journey.”

“I thought I saw an old wagon in the barn that could be repaired. It would also provide cover for the children, you, and Abby. I will only take an extra day and I would feel better knowing you had something that you cherish to take with you to your new home.” 

“I think you so much, but if it is going to make much of a delay, I will be alright with-out these things. It is my daughter that I want to see more than anything.”

“The delay will only be one day. I think that we will be better off fixing the wagon. You will have to choose which pieces to leave behind. I promise you Grandmother that I will get you to your reunion with my mother.”

Polly hugged Shadow Spirit and wiped the tears from her eyes. “That decision is easy, I want to take my table and chairs and my bed if there is room.”

“I will make room. Do you know where Abby is, she disappeared after we ate breakfast?”

“She is lying down with the babies.”

“I will not disturb her now. I am going to forage for some young saplings to use for the covering for the wagon.” 

“Be careful, you can get lost on that mountain if you don’t know the land here.”

Shadow Spirit took her by the shoulders and smiled down at her.  “Grandmother, I am Indian, I will not get lost.”

“I know I am just a little over protected seeing as I have just found you.”

“As I am also, I guess it is inherited.”

Shadow Spirit walked up the mountain and was amazed at the wild flowers and vegetation that grew on any spot where the sun could shine through the canopy of trees. He came to the top of the mountain and looked out on the most spectacular view he had ever seen. The mountain dropped off strait down into a valley that had a river winding through the middle. There were buffalo and elf grazing on the lush grasses. Oh how he would love to hunt in that valley. In the fall, he might make the long trip here to hunt instead of his normal place.

Shadow Spirit looked up in time to see a Red Tailed hawk go swooping down to spear a rabbit in its knife sharp talons. The hawk flew with the rabbit dangling in the air to a nest resting on a ledge only a few feet from where Shadow Spirit stood. He watched as the mother hawk fed her babies bits of the rabbit.

He turned back to the task at hand of gathering the slender young trees that would bend to the shape he wanted for the skeleton of the wagon. Just as he took a step, he heard a rattling noise, he froze, and about six feet in front of him lay a huge snake. It began to coil, twisting, and turning its massive body, getting in position to strike. Shadow Spirit ever so slowly withdrew an arrow from his quiver, he placed the arrow in the bow and pulled back, letting go just as the snake struck out. The arrow found its mark, hitting the snake in midair.  It fell to the ground and he grabbed it by the tail and flung it over the side of the mountain.

He gathered all the saplings he could carry, if more was needed, he would send Moon Rising to get more while he worked on the wagon. The work would take both of them several hours to finish. He wanted his family to be safe on the trip to their home. He felt like the luckiest man to have found Abby and have not just one child like he was expecting, but two.  He must not forget Joshua for his wife truly loved the little boy and he was sure when he had the time to get to know him, he would also.