Savage Spirit (30 page)

Cloud Eagle found it hard to respond to a man who had been a friend until Ten Bears had accused Cloud Eagle of things he knew were not true. He glared down at the general. He wore a freshly laundered uniform, the golden buttons shining against the blue fabric of the garment. He looked much older than his age of forty-five. His well-groomed gray hair lay just above his shirt collar, his thick, gray mustache scarcely revealing   a straight line of lips beneath it. Wrinkles lay like well-traveled paths across his face.

"White eyes, I have been falsely accused," Cloud Eagle began. "I am not a bad man. I do not rob and steal. I speak the truth always. The Great Spirit gave me an honest heart and a straight tongue."

He squared his shoulders proudly and continued. "Yes, my skin is red," he said. He placed a hand on his breast, over his heart. "There is no guilt there. I can look you in the face like a man and say that my heart is big and that my tongue is not forked."

"Then why does one of your own Apache come to the fort and tell things that incriminate you?" the general said, fidgeting with a pen, rolling it back and forth between his fingers. "Do not all Apache profess to have been taught to be honest? Who am I to believe? You or Ten Bears? What does he have to gain by lying?"

"Cloud Eagle has a lot to gain by telling the truth," he said, then his eyes flickered like burning coals down at the general. "Ten Bears gains vengeance by lying."

"Oh?" the general said, easing back in his chair again. "And why is this vengeance sought against his very own chief?"

"In a duel, Ten Bears was the loser," Cloud Eagle said. "And then it was I who banished him and his sister from the Apache village. This brought much humiliation into the life of Ten Bears. Hunger for revenge then was the only thing that remained in his heart."

"I see," the general said, nodding.

Cloud Eagle leaned over and placed his palms   against the top of the desk, bringing his face closer to the general's. ''The Apache have bad men among them, but your soldiers who wrongly entered my stronghold today have always been considered my friends," he said. "Friends and brothers."

"Friends, yes," the general said. "But we are also soldiers who must do our duty. The raids on the California Road must be stopped. You have been accused of these raids. Therein lies the cause for friends to become enemies."

Cloud Eagle straightened his back and placed his arms tightly to his sides, his hands doubled into tight fists. "My heart is heavy and wounded that the white pony soldiers would believe that this Apache could be guilty of raids against people to whom this Apache has offered protection for so many moons."

Cloud Eagle glared down at the colonel. "You look cross-eyed when you search for those who are guilty of these crimes for which you lay blame on Cloud Eagle and his warriors," he said. "Go. Go to Sandy Whiskers' outpost. Take a long, searching look. You will see the cages where prisoners have been held and some have surely died. Sandy Whiskersthe man you looked past as though he were a mere dot of sand in the desertis responsible for most of this of which you accuse Cloud Eagle."

"The women you freed from the Englishman's outpost told us about what he is guilty of. But that does not clear your name. You may have made similar raids and ambushes."

"You do not want to see my innocence," Cloud Eagle accused. "You would rather take time arresting me and my warriors than to go out   beneath the hot rays of the sun to search for Sandy Whiskers."

"You have been arrested because Ten Bears said that you are guilty of the crimes accused," General Powell argued back. "And as for Sandy Whiskershe is long gone. We can search no further for him."

"You can allow him to go free that easily? After what he was guilty of?" Cloud Eagle said, his voice drawn. "My woman was recently abducted and incarcerated there. Cloud Eagle and his warriors released her and the others. Now death should come to Sandy Whiskers. Yet you waste time raiding my people? Innocent, peace-loving people?"

General Powell toyed with his mustache. "If what you say is true . . ." he said, his words breaking off when Cloud Eagle interrupted him.

"Sandy Whiskers thinks he is lucky to have escaped," Cloud Eagle said, his lips clenched. "But when he is found by the Apache, his death will be much worse than had it been done quickly at the outpost."

The general rose from his chair and began pacing. "I'm not sure what I must do about all of this," he said, kneading his chin.

"What of my people?" Cloud Eagle said. "Did your soldiers leave death behind at my stronghold? If so, where lies the blame? Did you order such a massacre?"

The general turned abruptly and faced Cloud Eagle. "No massacre was ordered," he said. "I would not give such an order, Cloud Eagle. All that I wanted was for you to be brought in for questioning, and the white woman released."

"The drunken white man was out of place   among your soldiers," Cloud Eagle said. "He could entice others into doing that which was not originally ordered by you. If this happened . . ."

"If that happened, then he will pay, as well as the others who might be responsible for careless, callous behavior," General Powell said. "As for now, Cloud Eagle, I have no choice but to place you behind bars until I can investigate everything more completely."

Cloud Eagle's blood ran black with anger, yet he practiced the restraint that he had been taught as a child and kept his anger at bay. "You are wrong to place this Apache chief behind bars," he said in an even tone. "Your people came to our country. You were well received by the Coyotero Apache. We watched you pass by ones, by twos, by threes across our land. You went and came in peace. We believed your assurances of friendship and we trusted you. Why do you now distrust this chief who has offered you nothing but friendship?"

"It is the law," General Powell said, his eyes wavering into Cloud Eagle's. "If
any
man, no matter if his skin is red or white, is accused of performing heinous acts against others, he must be incarcerated until proven guilty or innocent of the crime."

"You know that an Apache behind bars is an Apache without dignity," Cloud Eagle said solemnly. He leaned into the general's face. "White man, your tongue is forked, and your heart is black, like a snake's."

"I would be careful who you call names," General Powell said, his face reddening with anger. He slapped his hands behind him, clasping them tightly together. "There is one more thing that I have failed to question you about. The white   woman. You took her captive, did you not? If not, how can you explain her presence at your stronghold?"

A sudden commotion in the corridor outside the general's quarters caused Cloud Eagle's and General Powell's eyes to move toward the closed door that led to the corridor.

Cloud Eagle was taken aback when he recognized Alicia's voice. He smiled slowly as he heard her using a few choice unladylike words while shouting at those who were bringing her to the general's quarters. It made relief flood his senses to know that she was all right and still filled with a fiery spirit, enough to stand up for herself against those who might have humiliated and offended her.

He wanted to go to her and grab her away from the soldiers, but the chains heavy at his ankles rendered him helpless.

He glared down at them. They were an abomination of the worst measure in the eyes of an Apache.

He looked slowly up and his eyes rested on the keys that lay on the edge of the general's desk, yet too far away for him to reach.

The door burst open. Alicia was flanked on each side by two brawny soldiers. She was jerking and yanking in an effort to wrench herself free, her curse words flying forth from between her delicate lips like hornets on wing.

"You damn ingrate sonsofbitches, let me go," Alicia screamed, her hair flying around her face as she continued to struggle. "You have no right to treat me like this. I've done nothing wrong."

When she caught sight of Cloud Eagle standing there with chains on his ankles, all of the fight left   her. The color faded from her face and her knees grew weak. The pit of her stomach felt as though someone had doubled up a fist and hit her.

"Cloud Eagle?" she whispered, the words faint now as they passed across her lips. Tears sprang from her eyes. "Oh, Lord, Cloud Eagle."

"Alicia?" General Powell said, surprise in his eyes. "My God, Alicia Cline. Milton Powers failed to tell me the name of the woman who had been taken captive. He just called you byeh, other choice names since he did not seem to think too highly of you."

"Yes, it's me," Alicia said, yanking herself free at last as the soldiers lost their grip. "And I'll have you know,
sir,
I think even less of Milton Powers and you for what you have done today to the Coyotero Apache." She turned soft eyes to Cloud Eagle. "Especially Cloud Eagle.''

"Cloud Eagle was arrested because he has been accused of certain crimes," General Powell said, going to Alicia. He tried to place a hand to her cheek, but she slapped it away. "As for you, dear, you should be glad that I sent someone to set you free. No white woman should suffer disgrace at the hand of any Indian, even if the Indians have professed to be friends to all white people."

Alicia slung her hair back from her face and placed her hands on her hips. "I was not being held captive at the Apache stronghold," she spat out. "I will soon be married to Cloud Eagle. I will then gladly go by the name of white Apache. And,
sir,
you will live in disgrace and shame the rest of your life for having ordered the massacre at Cloud Eagle's stronghold. Many innocent Apachewomen, children, and men alikedied needlessly today. What have you to   say for yourself,
sir,
to know that your orders were carried out? Much blood seeps into the Apache soil even now, as I speak."

There was a strained silence in the room.

Cloud Eagle was instantly numb from the realization of what had happened to his people.

General Powell was stunned.

Then a roar, much more loud than any lion could set free from the depths of its throat, filled the room. It was Cloud Eagle's voice, filled with despair and rage.

He then stumbled toward the desk and grabbed the key. Before the soldiers could stop him he unlocked the irons at his ankles, then threw them across the room.

Then he lunged across the desk and grabbed the general by the throat.

When Alicia heard the click of triggers on each side of her, she moved as though she were a whirlwind. She kicked one rifle from one of the soldiers and swung around and grabbed the other one. She aimed the rifle at the soldiers.

"I wouldn't try anything if I were you," she said, her eyes daring them to.  

The general grasped at Cloud Eagle's fingers and tried to pull them away from his throat. "Let me go," he said, his voice faint and raspy. "You don't know what you are doing."

"Cloud Eagle knows very well what he is doing at all times," Cloud Eagle growled between clenched teeth. "You said that you did not order a massacre of my people. Again you speak with forked tongue. My woman brings news that blood has been spilled in my strongholdspilled by your blue-coated soldiers."

"It was not carried out . . . as a result of a direct command from me," the general said, his face reddening as he gasped for breath. "Good Lord, Cloud Eagle. I had no reason to give such a command. I wanted you for questioning. And I wanted to be sure the white woman was released from captivity. That's all. You've got to believe me."   "Cloud Eagle, it seemed that things got out of control," Alicia said over her shoulder as she held a steady aim at the soldiers. "I believe it was because Milton Powers incited the soldiers to violence. I saw enough to truly believe that after one shot was fired, perhaps carelessly, it began something that could not be stopped. I hold General Powell responsible, only because he has lost some control of those under his command, not because he actually ordered the raid."

"Is that so?" Cloud Eagle said, leaning his face into General Powell's.

"Seems I have lost some strength as a commander," the general said, his eyes wavering. "Never would I have ordered a raid on your people, Cloud Eagle. Many of them are my friends."

"Yet you would condemn me and would hang me so quickly?" Cloud Eagle said, relentlessly keeping his fingers locked on the colonel's throat.

"If you were guilty of that which you were accused, yes," the general sputtered out. "I would have no choice. I must set a good example, or else others would take up raiding. What then, Cloud Eagle?"

"You set a good example by being so lax a leader that your soldiers kill and maim innocent Apache?" Cloud Eagle demanded.

"I'm sorry about that," the general said, his voice now only a hoarse whisper.

Cloud Eagle glared into the general's eyes a moment longer, then yanked his fingers from his throat. He moved back to the other side of the desk to Alicia's side, his eyes never leaving the general in case he might try and draw the firearm that was holstered at his waist.

It amused Cloud Eagle to see the general, now   cowering beneath Cloud Eagle's steady stare, rubbing his red, raw neck.

"Those soldiers who brought death and destruction to my stronghold must be punished," Cloud Eagle said. He took his eyes off the general long enough to stoop and pick up the rifle that Alicia had kicked away from the soldier. Quickly Cloud Eagle straightened his back again and leveled the rifle at the general's chest. "You must give your word that reparation will be made or I will return and make sure it is done myself," he warned.

"I will see that those responsible are punished," the general said, his voice drawn.

Alicia's eyes wavered up into Cloud Eagle's. "Darling, your people, those who lived through the massacre, are on their way to this fort by foot," she murmured. "They are being treated as captives. Those who died . . ."

The sound of sudden, repeated, and rapid gunfire outside the general's quarters caused Alicia's words to falter. She had not had time to tell Cloud Eagle everythingthat several of his warriors had fled so that they would not be killed or taken prisoner. They must have arrived. They had come to take back what was theirs, especially to save the life of their beloved chief.