Lakota Surrender (33 page)

Kristina examined her husband in detail. Gone was his tension. He stood smiling at her, looking as though he hadn’t a single care.

“What did you find?”

“Your father and several warriors.”

“Did they see you?”

“No.” He crouched next to her. “Soldiers do not scout well. They would see me only if I wanted to be discovered.”

Kristina let out her breath while Tahiska watched her closely.

“You do not wish to meet your father?”

“No. He doesn’t know I came out to the prairie alone. He would be angry and might take away my privilege of riding on the prairie altogether.” Kristina met Tahiska’s gaze. “I took advantage of his absence today.”

Kristina braced herself for Tahiska’s censure. In her world and in his a woman did not lightly disobey her father. She was guilty not only of disobeying her father, but also her lover. It was therefore enlightening to hear Tahiska chuckle.

“You are brave for a woman,” he said. “You risked much to see me. It is good. Our love for one another,” he motioned to her in sign as he spoke, “it is strong.”

Kristina smiled. “It is strong.”

They sat in silence for several moments.

“Where does your father journey?” Tahiska asked at length.

“They go to meet the trade wagon. The scouts came into the fort only last evening.”

Tahiska sat as though he had suddenly lost all life. No muscle moved, no expression flickered over his face. He betrayed none of his inner agitation.

“This trade wagon—it will bring more soldiers?”

“Yes. Most of the soldiers leave each spring with the wagon. In the autumn when they return our population is almost double.”

Tahiska nodded, then was silent. He stared at his wife, his features revealing nothing.

“I must leave to see this trade wagon.”

“No!”

He clasped her hand. “You must not oppose me in this, Kristina. You will need to be strong. I will require your understanding.” He leapt to his feet, drawing her with him.

“But I don’t understand.”

He grasped her face in the palms of his hands, while his thumbs caressed her cheeks. “You will,” he said, then held up his index finger between them. “You must not fight me.” He shook his finger. “You must not.”

Kristina held his intense gaze, staring back.

“Promise me.”

“How can I when I don’t understand? All I know is that you are suddenly tense.”

“I need your word that you will not fight me in what I must now do.”

She stared at him, just how much time elapsed, she was uncertain. At length she sighed, then answered, “I will do my best. I will try to understand, but you must realize that I am not accustomed to pledging my word when I know not what I am promising.”

Tahiska, satisfied, nodded, and releasing her, stamped over the letters Kristina had so carefully drawn on the ground.

“Come.” Tahiska paced to his pony and jumping on, reached down for Kristina.

“My father will be angry.”

“Then it will have to be.”

Kristina observed him closely. Why had all the tension returned? His eyes were even now scanning the distant hills and in his gaze was a stoicism that revealed nothing.

All at once Kristina’s earlier observations of Tahiska flashed through her mind: his nonchalance over their trade system, his failure to concern himself with the manner in which business was conducted at the fort, his lack of visits. It was then that she knew with certainty that Tahiska had other business at the fort than mere trade.

And as she stared up at him, she prayed for his safety.

“Injuns!”

Major Bogard surveyed the lone horseman on the hill, then swept his gaze over the rest of the terrain.

“Correction, Lieutenant. Indian, singular.” Major Bogard scrutinized the man who sat atop the distant swell of the prairie. He recognized his friend.

Issuing his company the command to halt, the major advanced alone toward the rider.

Tahiska had been trailing the soldiers for some distance. Never revealing his presence, he waited. He had no wish to surprise the soldiers. Such action would surely court disaster, and he could not afford to draw the possible hostile attention. Not when he had Kristina with him. So he awaited the opportunity to announce himself.

It came quickly when the soldiers entered a shallow valley between two sloping hills.

Advancing beyond the soldiers’ march, Tahiska held his mount still, making himself clearly visible upon the crest of the rise.

Kristina sat on the ground at the far side of the bluff below him, out of sight. He would not allow her to ride with him to the crest or to reveal herself until he was certain the soldiers would not fire on him.

Kristina had not taken well to this order and had argued with him silently in sign, until, exasperated, Tahiska had walked away, ignoring her completely. Her backtalk was becoming irritating, and he made a mental note to discuss an Indian wife’s role in detail at a later date. He would teach her proper manners.

Tahiska was glad to see Kristina’s father approaching him alone. He waited until the major was within shouting range, then yelled, “Halt!” in Lakota, signing to the major at the same time. “Wait!”

Tahiska reined in his steed and turning, sprang down the opposite side of the hill.

He returned in an instant, noting the major’s swift look at his troops and recognizing the officer’s relief at seeing the company of soldiers awaiting his next command. Yet, the major had just spotted Kristina, who was now settled in the saddle next to the brave, and his calm expression quickly changed.

Surprise turned to astonishment, astonishment to anger. The major glared at the couple while Tahiska hesitated at the crest of the hill. Then, clicking his tongue, Tahiska set his pony into a slow walk down the hill.

“Father.” Kristina’s voice was only a whisper as Tahiska pulled in just short of the major. Both horses, the Indian’s pony and the soldier’s stallion, skirted away from each other and the men were caught up for a moment with controlling their mounts.

“Kristina! What are you doing out here?” The major’s horse whinnied and reared away from the Indian. Containing his steed’s spirit, Major Bogard reined in close to the Indian. He cleared his throat.

“I… What is all this? This is the second time this Indian has brought you home, Kristina! Do you purposely ride out to meet him?”

“I can explain…”

“Didn’t I tell you not to ride onto the plains alone?”

The major didn’t await an answer. Instead he glared at the Indian.

“What are you doing with my daughter?” Even his signing didn’t mask the rudeness of the question.

Tahiska hesitated. While he had no reservations about defending either his or his wife’s honor, he was reluctant to steal the honor of self-defense away from Kristina.

“I will not speak if you wish to defend yourself,” he murmured to Kristina in Lakota, his steady glare never leaving her father. Then Tahiska glanced at her. He took a good, long look. Because his attention had been taken up with scouting, he hadn’t really observed her for several hours. He had assumed that she was still smarting from her backtalk. He was surprised, therefore, to find that tears pooled in her eyes and her lips were quivering.

Tahiska came to her defense at once. Setting his pony into motion around the major’s steed, he shouted in Lakota, “Your daughter almost lost her life in a battle against the Fire Spirit.” He reined in his mount, and using only his knees to guide the animal, signed to the major, “It is always a wise man who hears all the facts first before he decides if he is angry. Your daughter has had a narrow escape from the fire. The spirit was awakened upon the prairie where she was passing.”

Tahiska spun his horse in a circle, then bridled his pony next to the major’s until Indian and soldier were face to face. He lowered his voice while he signed and spoke, “A scolding is not always in order. Oftentimes one shouts when one should give comfort.”

Major Bogard scowled at the Indian before replying, “The bluff fires are hardly dangerous. And that doesn’t explain what she is doing with you.”

“I wasn’t on the bluffs, Father,” Kristina said. “I was in the tall grass…”

“Kristina!”

“I thought it looked too green to burn!”

“What were you doing out there anyway?”

“I was looking for…”

“And why are you with this Indian?”

“Tahiska saved my life,” Kristina almost shouted.

Tahiska trotted his mount away, gaining distance. He set the pony into another series of circles, then, with his gaze on the major, he let go of the reins.

“I will not allow you to accuse her,” he signed.

“She is my daughter.”

“She is my wife,” he said in Lakota.

“What did he say?” the major asked, speaking to his daughter.

Kristina didn’t speak.

“I said,” Tahiska signed, having guessed what the major had demanded of her, “that she is mine to keep safe. I told you that I would ensure her safety, and I do.”

“How did you find her?” the major inquired aloud.

“Say what you mean so that I can understand you,” Tahiska signed, anger flashing in his eyes.

“This is twice that you have found and rescued my daughter while she was riding alone on the plains. Do you follow her?” he signed furiously.

Tahiska’s head shot back as though hit. His chin jutted out, and with his eyes, he dared the major to say more.

The two men glared at one another, until at last the major guided his horse over to the Indian. Both men ignored Kristina.

“I fear for my daughter’s reputation,” the major began. “There is talk of her because you are always with her. Yet you promised me that you would not dishonor her.”

“Do you say I dishonor her by my presence alone?” Tahiska signed. “Do you mean I bring disgrace to her because I save her? Would you have preferred that I let her die so as not to taint her reputation?
I
have kept my promise.”

The two men measured one another as though preparing for battle. “Wait here!” the major finally ordered. He whipped his mount around and dashed back to his troops.

Tahiska watched Kristina’s father for long moments. At last he said, “He knows we love. But I do not think he has yet admitted this to himself.” He didn’t glance at Kristina or await her reply.

He stared at the major, a friend who, in the space of a few moments, had turned opponent.

Major Bogard stared at the young couple up on the hill. There was something occurring here between them… He tore his hat from his head, whacking it hard against his leg. He glanced heavenward, then back at his troops.

Damn!

He didn’t like it.

“Send the troops on ahead. The two on the bluff will be joining us.” He spoke to his junior officer. “Appoint someone to escort my daughter home in the morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

Both men saluted.

Major Bogard glanced toward the sun, then back towards the couple. He was not pleased. The couple sat well together. There was a perceivable closeness about them, a bond that said—

Damn!

“More beans, Miss Bogard?”

“No, thank you.” Kristina smiled briefly at the young galley hand before she swung her gaze back to the timber skirting the far side of their camp.

Tahiska stood there, apart from the others. And though he leaned casually against a tree, his stare was watchful, alert.

Kristina yearned for him. After this afternoon, she now felt tied to him as she had never felt before. She was sick of the pretense, tired of acting as though there was nothing between them.

She couldn’t remember ever wanting to be with anyone so intensely. The ache was physical and she actually contemplated stealing to him in the early hours of the morning. She quickly set the idea aside as too dangerous, though the thought of it brought on pleasant memories she was quick to stifle.

She willed Tahiska to glance back at her, though she knew he would not. Whenever he was amongst her people, he was always on guard, and he seemed unusually alert tonight.

As the fire sparkled and danced between them, Kristina gazed at him in utter fascination, recalling his touch, his scent, his taste—all of those special things that were uniquely his. She didn’t even consider hiding her feelings. She loved him too much.

Major Bogard stared at his daughter. Even a blind man could have sensed her deep regard for the Indian. She peered at the warrior with an intensity bordering on adoration. And the major knew without asking that the Indian returned her affection. He at last confronted the facts. The young couple was in love.

Damn!

He could not condone their love affair. The man was Indian! Yet, if he thought about it, what more could he ask for in a young man? Tahiska was honorable and trustworthy without exception, a man who valued honesty and generosity beyond all else. If the man did love his daughter, it would be for a lifetime.