T'on Ma (16 page)

"No!" Lana shook her head. "No! You just thought it was him."

"Oh, it was him, all right," Liam spit his words at her. "I saw his face!"

Lana gave a cry of pain and denial as she ran to the door and escaped outside, trying desperately to outrun the truth.

Liam watched her go, shaking his head, his jaws flexing. This hadn't gone well at all. Deciding to give her a little time before he went to look for her, he sat back down at the table to clean out his pipe.

Lana headed for the river, furious at Liam, furious at her life. If she had known where Two Hawks was, she would have left for his camp that very minute. But she didn't know. So she walked and walked, trying to get her emotions and her mind to settle down and make some kind of sense. All of Liam's arguments could easily be refuted and dismissed. All but one. If Two Hawks really was involved in selling women, what was she going to do? She
couldn't
believe that report. And yet, something in Liam's eyes and voice told her that he wasn't lying.

She walked aimlessly along the river for an hour when she saw Liam approaching. Frowning, she turned to face him, her arms across her chest, her chin set defiantly.

"What do
you
want?" she snapped.

"To make peace," he said quietly, all trace of his earlier anger gone. "I don't want to fight with you, Lana. I just need you to hear me, to really listen, before you make a decision you'll regret later."

"It's my decision to make," she retorted.

"Yes, it is. But it affects so many people you love. So many people who love you." Liam reached out and put his hands on her shoulders. "Even people who aren't born yet."

"Oh, for goodness sake! Quit being so dramatic," she fussed.

"Only if you quit being so stubborn and at least
admit
that I've given you something to think about." He shook her once in frustration and then softened his tone. "At the very least, girl, tell your folks what happened while you were captured. All of it." He frowned. "Please."

She sighed, looking away and then back at him. "All right. I'll talk to them. And, I'll admit that you
have
given me something to think about. But that's
all
I'm promising."

"That's enough. Thank you." He pulled her to him. "Please, Lana. Keep talking to me, too. Don't shut me out."

The next morning, Liam got up early and packed. Christina's dress measurements were carefully tucked away in his saddlebag, along with food for his journey. His horse was rested and ready to go. Liam took a moment alone with Joshua, and told him about his conversation with Lana.

"Hopefully, she'll talk to you and Mrs. Cooper soon. And, when she does, just listen. Don't overreact."

"I'll try. But it might not be easy," Joshua admitted. "Thanks for speaking with her. I'm not sure what I would have said. It probably would have ended up in an argument."

Liam laughed at that. "It did, anyway." He said goodbye to the others, saving Lana for last. He took her by the elbow and walked her away from the house. "Are we still friends?" he asked. "We were both pretty mad yesterday."

Much to his relief, she laughed. "Yes, Liam. We're still friends. It couldn't have been easy telling me some of those things."

"No. It wasn't. And I knew I risked your friendship by saying them."

Smiling, she said softly, "Liam, I think we'll always be friends." She kissed him on his cheek. "Have a safe trip."

Looking deeply into her eyes for a moment, Liam fought back the urge to kiss her lips. Instead, he mounted his horse, turned to everyone, and waved. "I'll see you for the wedding." Among the chorus of 'goodbye' and 'see you,' he rode away.

For several days after Liam's departure, Lana found herself thinking about what Liam had told her. Combined with what Nathan and her father had already said, she knew they all worried about her feelings for Two Hawks. His involvement with capturing women needed to be addressed. But when? She wouldn't see him until his return from his winter camp.

Lana kept reminding herself that she had promised Liam she would talk to her parents about her time with the Apaches, but the time never seemed right. Everyone was too tired in the evenings and too busy during the day. At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

One particularly gray day, the skies opened up with a cold rain in the afternoon, sending the Cooper family indoors for the rest of the day. The fireplace was warm and inviting. May sat in her rocking chair, knitting. Joshua planned which crops to plant where in the next few weeks. The rest of them were scattered around the room.

Lana sat at the dining table with a fresh cup of coffee. "I promised Liam I'd talk to you," she said to the room. "Now's as good a time as any."

"Talk to us about what, dear?" May asked, looking up from her handwork.

"About my time with the Apaches."

"Oh." May put her knitting down and turned to say over her shoulder, "Jake, Paul, maybe you ought to go to your room for a while."

"No, Ma," Lana stopped her. "They need to hear this, too. This didn't just happen to me. Christina was there as well. And Nathan. So this affects the whole family."

Joshua nodded for his two youngest sons to sit back down.

Lana began her story at the river and told how angry and indignant she was at being captured. Except for keeping her tied, the Apaches had left her alone until they joined up with the rest of their band. Her account of the near-rape and of having the dead man fall on her shocked them all.

She then told them how Two Hawks found her. "I didn't know at the time that Nathan was with him," she explained. "I thought the stampeding herd was a coincidence." Turning to Nathan, she asked, "How did you do that, anyway?"

Nathan told briefly of killing the guard and using both their guns to stampede the horses. "It was Centas Yi' plan," he finished.

Lana nodded and then continued. "So, while the Apaches were distracted, Centas Yi cut Christina and me loose. We ran for the horses and then rode for our lives." She shook her head at the memory. "We ran forever, it seemed. We'd only stop to sleep for a few hours before we'd start out again. There was only one blanket, so I gave it to Christina. I slept next to Centas Yi to keep warm. Nathan slept next to Christina."

Christina blushed deeply at that revelation.

"We were very hungry and
beyond
tired. When the Apache finally caught us, we made our stand on a small hill. Centas Yi killed a horse to give us what little cover there was. We fought as best we could, but we ran out of ammunition and arrows too soon."

She stopped here, finding the next bit difficult to confess.

"So I told Two Hawks that I didn't want to be taken alive. There was no way I was going back to the Apaches."

"What?" May was horrified.

Lana raised her hand to stop her. "I asked Centas Yi if he would help me with that, and he said he would. I knew Nathan was making the same offer to Christina."

Lana stood up and walked toward the fireplace, her back to the rest of them. "I thanked Centas Yi and kissed him goodbye. My eyes were closed, but I could hear his knife scraping the leather as he pulled it out of its sheath. I could feel him raise his arm. The Apaches were screaming all around us."

Her trembling hand wiped a tear away from her cheek. "Centas Yi asked me to wait for him in the next world. He told me he would be joining me quickly and that we would start our new life together there. I kept that picture in my mind while I waited for the knife. But it didn't fall. When I opened my eyes, Centas Yi was standing next to Nathan, looking behind us. I suppose that's when they saw the cavalry. Then Centas Yi fell to the ground, shot by an arrow."

Lana turned to face her family now, studying their expressions. "That's what happened to me out there. That's the hell I went through. Centas Yi saved me from that. I owe him my life."

"Oh, sweetheart," May stood up and hugged her daughter. "I had no idea it was that bad. I am so sorry."

Lana returned her mother's hug and then stepped back. "Now do you understand why I love him? He did all of that for me - even risking death."

"Lana, I understand that's how you feel now," Joshua spoke, "but that doesn't mean you'll always feel this way. Time will change how you feel. You'll find some young man who will sweep you off your feet. Just see if you don't."

"Time will change how I feel?" Lana echoed in disbelief. "I don't see you telling that to Nathan and Christina. Did time change how you feel about Ma? You loved her once, but that disappeared?"

"Lana, that's different," he argued.

"How? One man, one woman, one love."

"Enough! I will not have this discussion with you right now. We're all too upset by what you've just told us." Joshua stood up and went outside. To where? He didn't care.

A few days after Lana's revelation, Joshua knew his family needed something else to focus on, and the upcoming wedding provided that. He calculated that the road to Ft. Worth would be dry and passable in two weeks. There would be just enough time to get there and back before planting. Already March, Nathan grew impatient for the wedding. Nathan and Christina enthusiastically met Joshua's announcement that they would leave in two weeks.

The day after Joshua's announcement, Lana began her day by going to the river, her two water buckets in hand. She crested the small rise to start her descent to the water. There, on the other side, sat Two Hawks, straight and proud, on his black horse. He sent his horse trotting through the river as Lana set her buckets down in anticipation. Two Hawks jumped from his horse before it stopped and wrapped his arms around Lana.

"Hello, my heart," he smiled as he looked into her eyes. "Beautiful woman."

"You're here!" she cried and then, holding him tightly, reached up for his kiss. They stood like that for a few moments, happy to be together, hungry for each other.

"Come." He led her to his horse and, once she was on, jumped up behind her. They rode to her grove of cottonwoods where they dismounted and he tied his horse. Turning to Lana, he kissed her once, then released her and gathered wood for a small fire. Lana spread his blanket next to the fire and, when the wood was burning brightly, sending its warmth to them, Two Hawks sat next to her.

Lana reached out to touch his face. "I missed you so much, love," she said softly. Kissing her fingertips, she placed them over his heart.

He returned the gesture and then, wrapping his arms around her, he laid them both down. He had waited all winter to be with her, and today he would take her to his village as his wife. But, now that she was in his arms, he couldn't let go, not yet.

"I love you." Strong emotion filled his voice as he stroked her cheek and touched her hair. Lana's hands were clasped behind his neck as she smiled up into his handsome, brown eyes.

"Did you miss me?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes. Too much."

Her hands slid down his chest and around his waist. She provocatively slipped them under his shirt, but stopped suddenly when she felt his scar.

"Oh, Two Hawks. I should have asked. You are all right now from the arrow?"

"Yes. I'm fine."

"You were so hurt when I saw you last that I've been worried about you."

"You have? Then that must be why I healed so fast. My woman's thoughts made it so."

"Yes. Your woman made it so." She smiled again, but then grew serious. "I never had a chance to thank you for saving me from the Apaches on our last day together. You were so powerful and so brave."

"If I am powerful, it is because of you," he murmured as he leaned down to kiss her again. Taking her hand, he put it suggestively under the front of his shirt, enjoying the sensation of her touch on his skin.

She studied his face for a moment and then closed her eyes while his lips went from her mouth to her throat and his hands went from her waist to her breasts. At his touch, her eyes flew open. This was new for her, but she saw his passion and desire for her, and she couldn't deny him what she wanted so badly herself.

In spite of the cool morning air, she slowly raised his shirt. Two Hawks sat up and lifted it over his head, tossing it aside. She ran her hands across every inch of his chest and stomach, up his arms and across his shoulders.

Sitting up, she pulled her hair to one side and turned her back to him. He had never undone buttons before and, at first, they frustrated him. By the time he had the second one undone, he nodded in satisfaction. By the fifth, he smiled in anticipation. With the last one undone, he pushed her dress off her, revealing her lacy camisole and beautiful shoulders.

He kissed her back and her shoulders as his hands slid beneath the lace to touch her soft skin. Her camisole soon joined her dress beside his shirt. He pulled her back against his chest, his strong hands around her waist. As she leaned her head to one side, he kissed her exposed throat while his hands moved up to caress her breasts. She put her hands on top of his, encouraging him.

Lana didn't notice the cold. She was in his arms, being loved by her man, being shown how to make love. She sighed as he laid her down again, his lips sensuously kissing her breasts. His hands drove her wild as they moved to her hips and started pulling down her petticoat. Lana arched her back and turned her head to one side. As she did so, she caught sight of his rifle. It had been there all along, but she just then noticed it. The rifle's significance took a minute to sink in.

"When did you get a rifle?" she asked, still under his spell.

"What?" He looked up, confused at first. "Rifle?"

"Yes." She pointed to his horse.

"Oh. I traded for it."

"Traded? What? Horses?" She was fully alert now.

"No. Not horses." The young man scowled. He didn't want to talk about trading right then.

"Then what?" When he didn't say anything, she went on. "Someone told me that you were taking captives. Is that where you got the rifle?"