Forbidden Spirits (23 page)

A loud
kee-eeee-arrr,
caught their attention. Rose moved out of Tyler's arms and stepped to the window, and said, "Diana just left the post and she making a wide circle."

Tyler walked over to stand behind Rose, and with his hands on her shoulders, looked out as Diana dipped her wings and let out another loud
kee-eeee-arr
, then sailed off into the distance, where another hawk intercepted her. Together they made a wide circle while uttering shrill cries, then the new hawk made a steep dive and climbed again, and repeated several times before briefly grasping Diana's talons with his own, and together they flew off into the distance.

"Diana's left for good this time," Rose said. "She just found her mate." She looked over her shoulder at Tyler and added, "She also delivered her message. Did you get it?"

Tyler looked into the distance where the hawks were mere specks, and said, "Yeah, now we'll see if my dad agrees that I should teach kids like me to read. He probably will, but he'll also want me to go to college and get all the degrees I'd need to do it right, and that's not the way I want to do it because I want the kids to learn how to communicate with animals too, and they don't teach that in college."

Turning to face Tyler, Rose said, "Honey, however you want to do it, I'm with you
a hundred percent, and so was Diana, so now you need to follow your heart."

***

Before announcing their plans to his folks, Tyler wanted to clear it with Rose's family, primarily by asking her father for Rose's hand in marriage, which brought a chuckle from Rose, who thought it was very old-fashioned, but
cute
. He also wanted to square things away with Preston, since they'd be brothers-in-law.

As they were approaching the driveway to
Rose's parent's house, Tyler said to Rose, "You did call them this time, didn't you?"

Rose nodded. "They
already have a fair idea what this is all about."

"How could they?" Tyler asked. "They barely know me
. The only time they met me was when we were here before."

"They know you better than you think," Rose said.

Tyler looked askance at her. "Through spirits?" he asked.

Rose laughed. "No, through me. I've been talking non-stop about you practically since I met you, and all
of them, including Preston, watched your video a dozen or more times, and I showed them the drawings you did of Tundra that you gave me last week, and explained about your dyslexia and your plans to teach dyslectic kids how to read and communicate with animals, and also about the horsemanship school, and they're impressed. They know you're through drilling at Whispering Springs, and why, and that made a big difference. And if there was any doubt, my grandmother just sat back in her chair and rocked and smiled, which meant she approved. So all you have to do now is convince my father."

"I'm not worried about him," Tyler said. "When I was here before he made it pretty clear that he was okay with
me."

"Yes, but that was before he learned that I want
ed to marry you. I'm his little girl, and I'm only twenty-one, and you live in a stable on a mountain, and you have long hair."

"Wait a minute
," Tyler said. "He was okay with my hair before and said he understood why it was long. Besides, he's an Indian and long hair is okay with Indians."

"True, but that was before he learned that you
're about to take me away from him for good. Things have changed now. He wants me to wait a couple of years to make sure."

"
A couple of years?" Tyler pulled the truck to the curb and cut the engine. "Honey, there's no way I can wait a couple of years. Maybe a couple of months, or even as long as six months if there's no other way, but a
couple of years is out."

Rose placed her hand over his on the steering wheel, and said,
"It's not like other couples haven't waited that long. My dad could be right in that we're rushing into this."

Tyler felt the old sinking in his stomach that came whenever he had strong doubts about himself
, then he realized it was all about him, not Rose. "Do
you
want to wait that long, just to make sure?" he asked, thinking he really might be rushing her with his plan to marry before the summer was over, and he wanted to make sure she had no doubts.

Rose
reached up and touched his face, and said to him, "Sweetheart, I am absolutely sure I want to marry you now and be with you for the rest of my life. I have no doubts. But you might want to rethink asking my dad for my hand. We could go to the courthouse and marry on our own. We're both of age, so we don't need anyone's permission."

Tyler curled his hands around the steering wheel while thinking that her suggestion would remove all obstacles
in their path. They'd get married, and the families would have to accept it, and that would be that…

And he'd be taking the coward's way out.

"We can't do it that way," he said, while starting engine. "When we marry it has to be with our families' blessings. I don't want to wait, but if Jeremy's willing to leave the family, maybe for good, to be with Billy, then I can wait however long it takes to have you for my wife."

Rose kissed him on the cheek, and said, "
If the wait's too long, I'll become a slovenly, irresponsible, rebellious teenager again and they'll all be glad to get rid of me."

Tyler looked askance at
her. "Were you like that once?" he asked, finding it hard to imagine Rose that way.

Rose
chuckled. "No, but I could put on a really good act until my dad decides it's a latent rebellion that could last some time, and turns me over to you."

Tyler laughed, finding the joking helped take some of the edge off what he'd be facing.

A few minutes later, he and Rose found themselves sitting on the couch, with Rose's mother looking across the coffee table at them, her grandmother sitting in her rocker staring beyond the window, with a troubled look on her face, and Preston standing with folded arms, while leaning against the wall. Rose broke the awkward silence by saying, "Where's Dad?"

Helen Starbright replied, "He's on his way from the elder center. He knows you're here."

"Does he know why Tyler wants to talk to him?" Rose asked.

Helen nodded. "Have you two really thought this through?
You've known each other less than two months, and marriage is a lifelong commitment."

Rose covered Tyler's hand with hers, and replied, "We know what we want, Mom, and we know we're right for each other
, just as Granna knows." She looked at her grandmother, who gave a little nod, while continuing to stare out the window.

Curious,
Rose left the couch and went to see what her grandmother was looking at and saw that the post where the hawk had sat was vacant, and in its place was a crow, which traditionally was considered the Trickster for its assertiveness and cunning. Turning to her grandmother, she said, "Granna, you've been staring at that crow for some time. What does it mean?" She prayed it wasn't something negative about Tyler, or maybe a sign that they must wait to marry.

Instead, her grandmother shrugged, and
said, "If someone doesn't throw netting across that row of berries, the crows will get them."

Preston laughed, which seemed to break the tension. Looking at Tyler, he said, "I've got the mustang going pretty well now. Maybe later you could come out and see how he's doing."

"I figured you'd connect with him," Tyler replied. "I knew you had the instinct and just needed a little guidance. Maybe after I get my horsemanship school going you'd be interested in learning some new ways of horse handling."

"Sounds
good," Preston replied. "Meanwhile, I'd better cover the berries before the crows get them and Granna gives me what for." He started for the door, then stopped midway and said to Tyler, "Incidentally, I'm glad you're not a squaw man."

Tyler laughed. "Yeah, so am I." He gave Rose's ha
nd a squeeze and winked.

Preston had just exited the back door when the front door swept open
, and Edison Starbright stepped inside. Seeing Tyler sitting with Rose on the couch, while holding her hand, he said to Tyler, "I understand you want to talk to me." There was no humor in his tone.

Tyler sucked in a breath to calm his nerves, and said, "Yes sir."

"Then come this way."

Tyler
was surprised at his abruptness, and when he looked at Rose, he could tell she was greatly disturbed. Still, he followed Edison into a room off the living room that appeared to be a combination family room, computer room, and exercise room, with a treadmill off in one corner, and closed the door. He sat on the couch, and Edison sat in a recliner adjacent to it.

However, before Tyler could start in
with his practiced introduction about why he was the perfect husband for Rose, Edison said, "Did you learn anything about Chief Joseph?"

The question threw Tyler
completely off guard, and for a moment his mind went blank, but after retrieving some images in his head, he said, "Yes sir."

"I don't need the
sir
," Edison said.

"Yes sir… umm. Okay.
" Tyler took a few moments to pull his thoughts together, then started in. "About Chief Joseph… I've read quite a bit and he was an amazing man. After their homeland was taken from them, which would force them to live on a reservation, Joseph was one of the chiefs to lead 250 warriors, 500 women, children, old people and cripples, and over a thousand horses, on a trek across 1,500 miles of rugged terrain in an attempt to reach Canada."

Tyler
went on to describe how they'd crossed rivers at flood stage on rafts made of tightly-rolled skins lashed together, and trekked over mountains in cold torrential rain and on muddy trails so narrow one step would send them plunging over the edge, and came within forty miles of the Canadian border when an unexpected military force intercepted them…

"
…then in October 1877, after four days of fighting," Tyler continued, "Chief Joseph raised the surrender flag and rode in on a black horse, and surrendered with the words, '
I am tired of fighting. Too-hul-hul-sit is dead. Looking Glass is dead. He-who-led-the-young-men-in-battle is dead. The chiefs are all dead. It is the young men now who say 'yes' or 'no.' My little daughter has run away upon the prairie. I do not know where to find her—perhaps I shall find her too among the dead. It is cold and we have no fire; no blankets. Our little children are crying for food but we have none to give. Hear me, my chiefs. From where the sun now stands, Joseph will fight no more forever.'
" Tyler waited for Edison's response.

For a few moments, Edison stared at him in silence, and Tyler knew he hadn't expected the long spiel, but the images kept coming, and the words in his m
ind kept flowing.

"Did you learn about his horse
, Ebenezer?" Edison asked.

Tyler could tell that the test wasn't over
yet, so he replied, "Yes, he was a red roan with large blood-red spots on his white rump, and he could run like the wind. Everyone with a fast horse, whether he was a frontiersman or an Indian, dreamed of the day his horse would beat Ebenezer, but, Ebenezer won all his races by large margins against the best horses in the region."

T
his time Edison smiled, and said, "I'm impressed. You did your homework. And now you're here to talk about taking my daughter away."

"No, I'm here
to ask you to give me her hand in marriage."

"And if I said, no?"

"Then I'll work as long as it takes to convince you to say yes."

"
You're both of legal age," Edison said. "Why wouldn't you just go ahead and get married?"

Tyler was beginning to get a handle on th
is man. "Because I respect you as my elder and as Rose's father, and I want your blessing," he replied.

"You're both very young
," Edison said.

"We're old enough to know our own minds
," Tyler replied.

"And you think you can provide for Rose and my grandchildren?"
Edison asked.

"That would be my primary goal from the
moment we exchange vows," Tyler replied. "I can promise you with certainty that I'll do everything in my power to make Rose happy because that's the only way I
could be happy."

Edison
fixed him with hawk like eyes, and Tyler was sure he was about to lay out the long range terms for gaining his approval, which would include waiting two years. But then his eyes softened some, and he said, "I think you're a man who's true to his word. However, I also think you should wait until you're both older, but because I don't believe in unwed couples living together, if you and Rose have decided you can't live alone at this point then you have my blessing." He leaned forward and offered his hand.

For a moment
, Tyler looked at the outstretched hand in stunned surprise, then he clasped it solidly, and said, "I won't let you down, but more importantly, I won't let Rose down."