Never Surrender (8 page)

Aiyana shrugged her shoulders. “He and Ahanu will be
gone for a few days. Perhaps he plans to trade you to the Crow.”

Kate’s stomach flipped as a breath caught in her
throat. Though she disliked Taima, she’d come to assume he’d at least allow her
to live here with his people. Truly worried, she returned her attention to the
roots in her hands, but she knew that Aiyana still watched her.

Without looking up, Kate said, “I’m sorry those
trappers killed your sister.”

“White eyes always think to invade our lands,
destroying our buffalo only for the hides...and to use our women for their
pleasures,” Aiyana snapped.

Kate looked up.
How dare she!
“Not all of us
are like that.”

Aiyana eyes widened and her lips curled into a sneer.
“You wouldn’t kill Taima if you had the chance?”

“Of course not; I detest being held captive by him,
but I could never
kill
him.”

“Then you do have feelings for him. Good, taking my
sister’s place as his wife will be easier for you.” As though it was fact,
Aiyana appeared satisfied, returning her gaze to her ministrations and
preparing her roots.

Kate gasped at her audacity. “I’ll do no such thing! I
would rather die before being forced to be his wife.”

Through narrowed eyes, Aiyana said in a slow,
deliberate voice, “That could be arranged. Perhaps we can offer you to the spirit
gods when we make our journey next week.” She paused. “I will talk with Taima.”
Aiyana spoke this last comment more to herself than to Kate.

Taunting Aiyana wasn’t wise, so Kate decided it best
to keep her mouth shut and do her chores.

Kate glanced up at Aiyana, a beautiful, bronze
complexion smoothed across prominent cheekbones and a straight nose. She could
appear friendly, or suddenly scathing, depending on her mood.

Her sister must have been beautiful if she had looked
anything like Aiyana. Kate wondered if Taima had treated Witashnah tenderly.
Was it even possible for him to be tender? She caught herself wondering what
type of woman attracted him. Blinking, she attempted to avert any further
musing and concentrated on the chores before her.

After the noon meal, Kate stood before an area where
hides were being dried. Thick animal thighbones lay nearby, sharpened at the
wide end near the joint. She knelt next to a hide with the bone Aiyana had
given her, and after watching the other woman, proceeded to scrape the
remaining membranes, hair, and fleshy tissue from the hide. She sprinkled water
onto the area to soften the scraping.

Kate scrunched her nose at the putrid odor emanating
from the tanning process. Aiyana sat a stone bowl between them containing an
equally smelly, dark, steaming substance. She watched as Aiyana ladled the
thick liquid onto the hide and spread it around with her fingers, kneading it
into the skin.

Aiyana looked at Kate. “This helps soften the hides
and makes them flexible and waterproof.”

“It smells disgusting. What is it?”

“We use white fat from the deer or buffalo, its liver,
and two brains.”

Kate’s stomach nearly erupted and her throat
constricted just watching Aiyana’s fingers knead the slime.

Aiyana continued. “These are cooked over the fire,
then applied to the hides for softening. Nothing in the animal is wasted.”
Spoonfuls were ladled onto Kate’s hide, but she couldn’t bring herself to touch
it.

“Rub it in,” Aiyana prodded, a sneer curving her lips.

Kate closed her eyes and placed her hands in the
liquid. Warm, slimy chunks moved beneath her fingers, causing her to gag.
Touching without seeing was worse, she decided, and snapped open her eyes. “How
can this possibly soften anything?”

“The dress you wear was made in the same way,” Aiyana
commented, making Kate look down at the beautiful work, its softness caressing
her body.

“But how does it soften? This hide is so coarse and
stiff.”

“We don’t question why, only trust in the ways the
spirits have directed us.” Aiyana concentrated on the work before her, so Kate
went about spreading the dark substance. She swallowed several times, hoping
she wouldn’t embarrass herself further by getting sick.

Hours later, Kate could barely move her arms and the
tenderness in her fingertips made them too sensitive to touch the hides
anymore. After placing the softened hides on branches over a smoking fire,
Aiyana led her down to the stream to finally bathe.

The river curved where they stopped near a dense copse
of pine trees and the water appeared deeper. Kate stripped off her dress and
moccasins, anxious to be in the water. She quickly waded knee-deep before
realizing how cold it was and she screeched.

Soft laughter came from the shore. Kate turned around.
Aiyana also prepared for bathing, but Kate’s rushing into the cold stream must
have looked awfully silly.

“You will get used to it, but it takes time.”

Kate doubted it. Gooseflesh rose on her body. Yet she
relished bathing after going so many days without, even though the cold water
chilled her to the bone. She trickled water over her limbs. The handful of sand
she scrubbed her skin with invigorated her, renewing her stamina, making her
forget how tired the day’s chores had made her. Kate rinsed her long hair, then
stepped ashore before Aiyana was finished and wrapped in her blanket to dry
herself.

After drying, Kate pulled a few sagebrush leaves from
the bush, crushed them and rubbed the leaves over her arms and shoulders, then
the rest of her body. She inhaled the aromatic scent of the leaves, then
slipped on the soft buckskin dress. Using a corner of the blanket, she fluffed
and dried her hair.

Aiyana did the same.

She followed Aiyana back to the lean-to and prepared
for bed. Aiyana’s children and Kelee slept on the opposite side with their mother,
while Kate lay alone across from them. Aiyana wouldn’t possibly try to kill her
with the children present. Kate tried to rationalize. Then again, they were
with her the other day when she pulled the knife. She didn’t want to fall
asleep and allow Aiyana another opportunity to catch her unaware.

* * * * *

Two days later, as Kate sat at the fire preparing the
noon meal with Aiyana, an older warrior walked toward them. Kate glanced up
from the sizzling fish and met the man’s dark gaze as he joined her and Aiyana.
Confidence exuded from his stature, tall and proud, yet the friendliness in his
warm eyes when he smiled made her want to speak with him.

To her surprise, he stopped beside her. Aiyana hurried
over. She nervously glanced from the man to Kate, then lowered her eyes, and
reverently said, “Sakima, it is good to see you.”

“Might I talk with Kate alone?” he asked Aiyana, then
met Kate’s gaze. “Would you walk with me?”

Kate glanced at Aiyana, not sure if she should leave,
but Aiyana’s attention centered on Sakima.

“Taima will not like hearing of this,” Aiyana stated.

Sakima gently smiled. “How will he find out?” Without
waiting for an answer, he motioned for Kate to join him.

Unsure of what Aiyana referred to, Kate hesitantly
joined the older warrior. She kept pace with his long strides as he walked away
from the encampment to follow the river. Moments of silence passed. She glanced
at him several times as they walked, but waited for him to speak first. Who was
Sakima? She’d seen the respect Taima’s people showed when they passed him. Had
he been their leader before Taima?

Near the river’s edge, Sakima stopped. “Sit with me.”
He sat cross-legged, allowing time for her to join him. “I realize this is not
where you want to be,” he said in a quiet voice. “But know this...you were
meant to be here. I have seen it in my visions.”

Kate clenched her teeth as she grasped the soft
buckskin of her dress in her fisted fingers. “Taima is the reason I’m here, yet
we despise each other. Why didn’t he just leave me be?”

She tried to rise, but Sakima touched her shoulder.
“It was the interference of the Great Spirit. In my visions, the eagles brought
you from beyond the sky, beyond our time, and told me you have knowledge of the
future.”

Sakima’s dark eyes gazed into hers as if attempting to
read her mind, to glean information she didn’t want to share, but he’d peaked
her curiosity. “Are your visions always right?”

“Eventually all predictions come to be, as will this
one.”

Kate wrung her hands in her lap. “But you haven’t told
me what will happen, or why I’m here.”

“You are here to heal our people.”

Frustrated that he talked in circles, she sighed and
gazed at the clouds. Though the sun shone, none of its warmth touched her.
“When I have no knowledge of healing powers, how will this be possible?” She
looked back at the older warrior. Years of wisdom and concern were etched into
his handsome features and around his eyes. There was a familiarity she couldn’t
put her finger on.

“I cannot explain, but you will remain here with us...and
not as an enemy.”

Kate rounded her eyes. He must have overheard Aiyana’s
comment the other day about becoming Taima’s wife in her sister’s place. “And
what does Taima know of this? What role will he play in my remaining here? Am I
to surrender to whatever he wants?”

“Taima is stubborn. He’s a lot like his mother.” At
that, Sakima stared across the river toward the snow-capped mountains.

“You knew his parents?” she asked, not understanding
the faraway look in Sakima’s eyes.

Silent moments passed.

“His mother came to us much the same as you, by being
captured.”

“Did she also hate the man who captured her?”

He nodded slowly and smiled as he continued to gaze at
the mountains. “Yes, very much so; she had no family to return to, yet fought
against us. Eventually she accepted us as her family.” Sakima looked at Kate
with sincerity. “I hope you come to accept us as family. There are those of us
who need your help to heal the past.”

How could she possibly help? This man talked in
circles. Besides, she wanted to leave and return to her own time. “Who might
those people be?” she asked.

Kate waited patiently for Sakima to answer her
question. Who was it that needed her help to forget the past?

“Taima, for one,” Sakima replied, raising an eyebrow.

She laughed. “How will that be possible? We hate each
other. We don’t talk much, but when we do, our words cut like weapons.”

“Sometimes...that is how a friendship starts...in
anger. Taima’s past influences his present,” Sakima said, knotting a blade of
grass between his thumb and forefinger.

Kate brushed her hair away from her face. “I realize
he must have loved his wife and mother very much. Yet I think he blames me for
the wrong done to them because the trappers were white.”

“And did you not, at one time, blame Taima for the
scalping of those in the wagons?”

She turned her attention to the purling river, the
water flowing over the rocks as Sakima’s words echoed back at her. How could he
possibly know this? Had Taima told this man everything? She had blamed Taima,
just as he had her.

“Do you know Taima well?” She met the older man’s
gaze.

Sakima looked at her and drew his eyebrows together.
“Can you not see it? Although he did get his blue eyes from his mother.”

She searched his expression, unsure what she looked
for. His straight nose, high cheek bones and sculptured jaw line appeared
familiar, yet she couldn’t place the older man’s face. Kate shook her head.

Sakima’s next words came slowly. “He is my son.”

Kate’s breath caught in her throat. An image of Taima
formed in her mind. The same straight nose and sculptured jaw line, the same
gestures, the same confident stride. Except for the striking blue eyes, Taima
was a younger version of the proud warrior beside her. Pieces of the puzzle
began falling into place. As the group’s peace-keeper and shaman, Sakima was
trying to convey his message to her through explanations of his visions.

Suddenly it all made sense to her!

“You captured his mother, the same as Taima captured
me!” Kate exclaimed, then looked heavenward. “I don’t believe this is
happening.” She glanced back at Sakima. “Have you told Taima of these visions?
Of me staying with his people?”

“He didn’t want to listen. His anger blinds him. But
soon, he will realize that what I have seen will come to pass.”

“Did his mother teach you English?”

“Yes, she had been educated where the sun rises.
Several of our people speak English, though on rare occasions. Now that you are
among us, we shall use the language more.”

“Ahanu, Aiyana, and Kelee do.”

“Yes, Taima’s mother wanted Kelee to understand the
white man. She wanted him prepared for the future, for the coming of white
settlers.”

“They will destroy the buffalo, you know, until they
are almost gone from your lands.” Pain began to throb in Kate’s temples as bits
and pieces of history pricked at her memory. She closed her eyes and attempted
to massage away the pain as she slowly rocked back and forth. An image of
skinned buffalo carcasses formed in her mind, hundreds of dead animals
scattered across an open plain.

Sakima’s warm hand touched her shoulder and Kate
jerked, her gaze meeting his.

“You, too, have visions. I have seen this happen to
you before, at the stream one morning. It confuses you, but in time, all will
reveal itself to you. You must have patience.”

She nodded, though still not understanding.

“When we travel to the hot springs, beware,” Sakima
warned.

Suddenly a tall shadow loomed on the ground before
Kate. The scent of warm leather drifted past.

Taima.

Her stomach knotted. Her heart raced, quickening her
breath. She glanced at Sakima, then stared at Taima.

The spark of blue anger from Taima’s narrowed gaze
could have struck her dead. A muscle twitched along his jaw. “Go back to
Aiyana, now...where you belong. She has meat and hides to prepare.”

Kate rose, stood defiantly before Taima, and glared
into his eyes; eyes which could easily weaken her resolve. She stormed away
before the wall around her heart began to crumble and she allowed Taima to
invade her soul.

* * * * *

 “What do you want, Noshi?” Taima refused to sit,
knowing he’d be pulled into his father’s plans for the future.

“You cannot run from what will be, Nechan,” Sakima
said, gazing beyond the river.

Taima glanced across the water to the spot his father
watched. At the edge of the forest, a wapiti, a bull elk, approached a female
elk nibbling grass. He nudged her neck, refusing to be ignored. The cow strode
a few feet away and he followed, then tried again. Eventually, they roamed into
the woods together.

Taima breathed deeply to calm himself. “She’s not
staying here. I’m trading her at the next Green River rendezvous.”

“You can’t trade her anymore than you can trade your
own son, for it is already written.”

“Though I respect your visions and their predictions,
on this, Noshi, you are wrong. She will be gone,” Taima stated.

“Was your hunt successful?”

“One buffalo and two big horned-sheep. I’ll talk with
you later, Father.”

Taima turned and left. Why did his father insist on
becoming friends with Kate? Taima wouldn’t allow her to stay. She’d caused him
enough problems already.

As he approached Ahanu’s lean-to, Aiyana spread out
the hides with Kelee’s help, staking them to the ground, while Ahanu unloaded
the meat. Kate was nowhere in sight.

Aiyana glanced at him, then out to where his father
continued to sit. He waited for a snide comment, but none followed. She lowered
her lashes and went back to work.

“Where is she?” Taima finally asked.

Aiyana pointed to a small grouping of tall sagebrush
where two slender feet protruded from the opposite side. As he approached, he
saw Kate on her hands and knees, retching in the grass. Taima almost felt sorry
for her.

Almost.

“Get away!” She moaned. “Go back to your friends. I
won’t be going anywhere. You can…” Her stomach erupted again. Taima waited a
few steps away.

“Go . . .” she panted breathlessly, then collapsed on
her side and curled up.

Taima exhaled and shook his head.
Damn her!
If
she weren’t so stubborn, she would allow him to help. “When you’re able, come
sit with me.”

Moments later, too exhausted to fight, she crawled
over, sitting a few feet away.

Taima gave her a sidelong glance. “It will take time
to get used to working with raw meat and preparing the fresh hides.”

Kate leaned her forehead into her hands. “I will
never
get used to it. How embarrassing. Aiyana is probably still laughing.”

“She wasn’t laughing. What did Sakima discuss with
you?” Taima asked, his voice sounding sterner than he’d wanted.

Her eyes glared at him with green fire. “If he wanted
you to know, he would have told you.”

“His visions tell him you belong here.”

“Right! With the way you’re treating me?”

“You would rather I trade you?”

Kate stood, her hand holding her stomach. “Why would
you want me to stay, us hating each other the way we do?” she said with a
sneer, then left Taima sitting in the grass, as she strode toward Aiyana.

Taima followed at a distance, watching the gentle sway
of her hips. Thoughts of bedding her tightened his groin. She was the enemy,
she could remove every memory of his wife, yet he could not help thinking of
her. He quickly chastised himself for wandering from his original plan to trade
her.

At the lean-to, the aroma of roasting meat drifted to
Taima’s nose, causing his stomach to growl as Ahanu turned a large piece of
buffalo meat over the fire.

The women quietly busied themselves preparing the
skins. Kate scraped the buffalo hide using a sharpened thighbone. More than
once she paused, turning her head sideways each time she gagged, yet she
continued with the scraping. Taima smiled to himself. He gave her credit for
not giving up.

Three hours later, dusk cloaked their camp. With the
meat done and the hides finished, Aiyana handed Kate an obsidian plate laden
with meat and cooked roots. She ate quietly with downcast eyes while Ahanu told
of their hunting excursion.

Taima bit into a piece of meat as he watched Kate,
wondering what her thoughts were. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders to
frame her face. The sun had tanned her complexion in the few weeks they’d been
together.

Did she want to stay, but refused to admit it because
she thought he hated her? He’d allowed her to think that, and now regretted
that move. Were his feelings changing? He reminisced about his father’s
visions. If she belonged here, why didn’t she fit in?

“Is it possible I might go for a walk before turning
in for the night?” Kate asked without looking up.

Taima still watched her. “Not alone. You tried
escaping before, and I stopped you. Remember my promise,” he taunted. Kate
glared at him across the fire, her eyes sparkling in the dark.

“I can go with her, Noshi. I will protect her,” Kelee
stated with pride, pounding his fist on his chest.

Taima laughed at his eight-year-old son. “I bet you
will. All right, but be on guard for danger and don’t be gone long.”

Kelee bound toward Kate, grabbing her hand and pulling
her up. A genuine smile curved her lips as she gazed at Kelee and tousled his
hair.

“If you are to be my new mother, we must know each
other better. Come.”

The boy tugged Kate away from the fire as her menacing
gaze met Aiyana’s, then Taima’s. Her smile disappeared and her lip curled to
one side in obvious disgust.

“Are you happy about what he overheard in anger?” Kate
accused. Taima only stared back at her through narrowed eyes.

After Kelee and Kate strode away, Taima looked at
Aiyana accusingly, but she lowered her gaze. Kate should take lessons from her,
he mused.

“Taima, I didn’t mean to cause problems,” Aiyana said
softly.

“Don’t worry. I will talk with Kelee.” Taima rose to
follow his son and Kate, keeping back a safe distance so neither of them saw
his approach. He wondered if his son would accept Kate as a replacement for his
mother even though they had never discussed it. Could he accept her as a
replacement for his wife? He sighed. Too much time had passed, and he’d never
thought about loving another woman who would take his wife’s role at his side.

Kate’s soft laughter drew his attention. Kelee had hit
her, then ran away, making her chase him along the shore of the Wind River.
When Kelee slowed to turn and see where Kate was, she easily caught him and
they rolled to the ground. Kelee’s squeals made Taima smile. He hadn’t seen his
son this happy in many moons. But why did it have to be a white woman who made
him experience such joy again?

Their muffled conversation carried on the cool night
breeze. The two began walking toward him, their conversation easy to make out.

“We’d better head back to camp, Kelee. Thank you for
coming with me. I wasn’t frightened at all.”

Kelee held Kate’s hand. “Are you going to like being
my new mother?”

“Kelee...I think Aiyana was only teasing when she said
that. It’s up to your father to decide who your new mother will be, but I know
he’ll choose someone perfect for you both.”

“Then I’ll tell him to choose you!” Kelee said and he
dropped Kate’s hand.

Taima watched his giggling son run the remaining short
distance to Ahanu’s lean-to. He wondered if Kelee missed not having a mother.
Had he been wrong to deprive Kelee just because he didn’t want to get involved
with a woman again, to open his soul and become vulnerable? His heart ached to
think he might have hurt Kelee regarding the absence of a mother.

Kate moved farther downstream away from Taima, drawing
his attention. He followed, stepping on a twig in his path and Kate suddenly
turned to face him.

“Who’s there?”

“Did you plan to go very far before I caught you?”

“A walk at night never hurt anyone, or were you hoping
I’d try to escape so you could carry out your promise to bare my flesh for your
pleasures?” Kate retorted, stepping closer to him. “Perhaps that’s what you
want me to think so you could take me and ease your conscience by thinking it’s
my fault.”

“I wouldn’t have to take you, you’d be willing
enough.”

Her palm stung the side of his cheek, but Taima
clenched his teeth against the pain.

“I can’t believe you’ve even thought about bedding me.
But then again, you’ve been without a woman for several years, haven’t you?”

The hatred in her voice cut him deep yet he knew her
thoughts were his fault. He’d not corrected her accusations when she first made
them.