My Savage Heart (The MacQuaid Brothers) (31 page)

Caroline felt the sudden stiffening of his body and almost smiled. But he didn’t release her hand. If anything, his fingers tightened.

“I believe Your Ladyship has a mistaken notion of where my loyalties lie.”

“Do I?” Caroline decided the ability to sound aristocratic must be inborn. She certainly had no practice with it until she met Raff MacQuaid. Now she used it so often and so convincingly, she almost fooled herself. “It didn’t appear that way when you rode into the fort by the governor’s side. Nor tonight when you were included as a guest for his intimate dinner.”

She’d thought to make him angry which was why his reaction—throwing back his head and laughing—was all the more disturbing.

“Are you trying to bait me, Caroline?”

“No. I simply wonder why all other members of the peace delegation that went to Charles Town are held hostage and you walk about free.”

“First of all, I am not the only one given their freedom. Two of the Headmen have already left for the Middle Towns. Secondly, I presume no one considers me important enough to keep. I am not one of the Headmen.”

“But you’re listened to by the Cherokee... trusted.”

“Listened to, perhaps. Though I fear my link to the Little Carpenter’s ear has been sorely strained by the governor’s acts. But I have never been truly trusted, Caroline. My father saw to that.”

Caroline didn’t know what to say so she kept quiet, which is the only reason she heard his next softly murmured words. “My legacy from the man who sired me.”

She was doing it again. Seeing him as a person. Caring about him even though that caring wasn’t reciprocated. Caroline did her best to harden her heart. She concentrated on the seduction. But when that began to stir longings best left buried, she forced herself to remember the morning he left her... left her to his father’s bullying.

And all the time he held her hand against his chest, and the frosty winter evening surrounded them.

“Perhaps I should return you to Mistress Quinn’s.”

His words interrupted her musings, and Caroline tugged at her hand. He let it go without a struggle, and she wondered if she might have done the same as soon as he captured her hand. He stepped aside, and Caroline proceeded him across the parade grounds.

When they reached the rough-hewn door with the drawstring left out for her, he asked about Mary and the baby.

Regardless of her feelings for him, Caroline knew he cared for his brother’s wife and wished she could tell him something more positive. “She isn’t getting any worse. Some days she seems almost well. Then...” Caroline sighed. “She should be regaining her strength by now,” Caroline said of Mary. “And the baby is so small. Is there any way to get word to Logan?”

Wolf took a deep breath. She could see the expansion of his chest in the moonlight. “I’ve sent a letter. But the war has made communication between the colonies slow, so...” He let the rest of his words trail off. “I don’t know if Logan would be able to come even if he knew.”

“Wouldn’t be able to... or wouldn’t bother to?”

“What do you mean by that? Mary is his wife.”

A soldier ambled by with his arm around the daughter of one of Mistress Quinn’s friends. The girl giggled up at her companion, obviously smitten by him. Caroline wanted to call after her to beware of a handsome face. Instead she turned her attention back to the man who taught her the hard-earned lesson.

“I don’t mean anything I suppose. It just seems odd to me that Logan would leave his wife and go off to fight when she was in danger herself.”

“Has Mary been talking to you about this?”

Caroline turned her face away, not wishing to lie, yet unwilling to betray a confidence from her friend.

“She was not in danger when he left for one thing.” Wolf apparently decided she considered his question rhetorical. “And our father made it impossible for him to stay any longer.”

“Because of their disagreement over trading with the Cherokee?”

“I see she has been talking.” Wolf leaned against the wall. “Logan planned to save his money and come back for her, I believe. In the meanwhile, Robert treated her fairly well.”

“It’s difficult not to like her.”

He agreed with a nod of his head before continuing. “Logan did not know she was with child when he left... at least he did not mention it to me.”

“And would he?”

“If you mean did we confide in one another, the answer is, yes, at times. Still, there was plenty to separate us.”

“Your Cherokee blood?” Caroline was beginning to wonder if Wolf didn’t make more of that than he should. Mary had indicated her husband was very fond of his brother.

“For one thing. Circumstances of birth for another. Logan and his brother were born on the right side of the sheet. A difference hard to ignore.”

Caroline turned toward the door. “I think I should go in.” She’d tarried much longer than she planned as it was. But before she could reach for the drawstring, Wolf’s hand circled her arm. She slowly twisted her head to stare at him, hoping her expression revealed nothing of the desire his touch sparked.

“Are you all right, Caroline?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“I am not sure.” His dark eyes narrowed. “You seem...” He shook his head. “Stay away from the soldiers. Actually it would be better if you and Mary kept to yourselves. Measles have broken out, and Lyttelton fears the smallpox might spread from Keowee.”

“I’ve seen the fires as they burn their houses.”

“It is Lyttelton’s idea. He thinks it may curb the epidemic.”

“And what do you think?”

His eyes met hers. “I think I was a fool to bring you to the frontier in the first place.”

Caroline’s chin notched higher. “But then it wasn’t your decision, was it?” His fingers still gripped her arm, and Caroline felt them tighten, felt herself being drawn toward him.

“Very few things have been under my control since I met you, Lady Caroline. And those that have...”

Caroline never discovered what he planned to say. Leaving his words unspoken, Wolf lowered his mouth until it touched hers. The kiss did not last long, as he used his tongue to but briefly wet the closed seam of Caroline’s lips, yet the contact still left her breathless. She managed to pull away and enter the cabin before her knees gave out, but long into the sleepless night she thought about him and what he’d left unsaid.

December seemed endless.

A cold spell froze the ground and brought the first swirling snowstorm. The fort was abuzz with gossip each time a new delegation of Cherokee met with Governor Lyttelton. And that seemed to be an ongoing occurrence.

December tenth brought word that the Little Carpenter would arrive soon with word from the Overhill Towns. Rumor had it that they desired peace with the British, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone except Wolf, who seemed as skeptical as ever. He sat in front of the fire holding Colleen in the crook of his arm while Mary stitched a tear in one of his shirts. He hadn’t asked Caroline to do it, and she tried to convince herself she was just as glad. Why should she wish to perform wifely duties for him?

But she couldn’t help watching him out of the corner of her eye as she sliced bread for the evening meal. And she couldn’t help thinking of him holding the baby that now rested beneath her heart.

“The English have named him emperor of the Cherokee,” Wolf said of Little Carpenter. “Though he is powerful among my people, it is a title that means nothing.”

“Do you mean he doesn’t speak for them?” Anticipation over his arrival at Fort Prince George was discussed with such enthusiasm, Caroline hated to think it was for naught.

“Some of them, yes.” Wolf’s gaze met Caroline’s, and she quickly glanced away. “He is mighty among the Middle Settlements. But he does not carry the talk stick for the council.”

That seemed to make no difference to the governor, who greeted the Little Carpenter on the nineteenth with all the pomp he could muster. A warm breeze freshened the air, and Caroline and Mary decided to walk outside to hear the band play and watch the Cherokee arrive. Mistress Quinn, who declared she’d seen enough Indians to last a lifetime agreed to stay with Colleen who slept in her basket.

The weather and the possibility of a break in the boredom of fort life caused most of the inhabitants to think as Caroline and Mary had. It was difficult to find a spot from which to view the welcome. When they finally managed to wriggle their way through the crowd, Caroline wasn’t surprised to see Wolf standing between Governor Lyttelton and the Little Carpenter, and the other Headmen who just arrived, Ocayula of Choata, and Ucanokeach.

“Is that what I think it is?” Mary asked, and Caroline nodded as the British-proclaimed head of the Cherokee people handed the governor eight scalps. He also held out a string of beads, and the women watched as the governor removed the three black beads which stood out on the otherwise white belt.

“That’s to symbolize that the governor is no longer displeased with the Cherokee.” When Caroline glanced over at her, Mary continued. “Raff told me.”

“I didn’t realize you talked to him so much.” Caroline stretched onto her tiptoes to see over the head of a tall matron in front of her.

“Yes, you do. You just always have some excuse to be out of the cabin when he comes by. Why is that, I wonder?”

Caroline shot her friend a scowl, then inched to her right. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you? I’m not the only one to notice how you avoid him. Raff commented upon it.”

“Did he now? Since when am I the subject of your conversation with him?”

“Since he asks about you all the time, and since you leave the moment he arrives.” Mary wrapped her shawl more tightly about her shoulders. “Do you know what I think?”

“I haven’t a clue.”

“I think you two care about each other.”

Caroline said nothing for a moment, just stared at Mary. Then she closed her mouth and shook her head. “That’s ridiculous. I think we should be getting back to the cabin.” She suddenly lost her desire to see the ceremony.

“You love him, don’t you?”

Caroline stopped short, then grabbed her friend’s hand and pulled her to the side of the parade ground. “Where did you ever get such a preposterous notion?”

Mary just stared at her in a way that made Caroline know all the denying in the world wouldn’t convince her. “Mary, there are things you don’t know about. Things I can’t tell even you. Please never bring this up again.”

And she didn’t. Caroline was grateful for that. That wasn’t the only thing that made Caroline thankful during the following weeks. Negotiations seemed to be progressing. Wolf was still pessimistic, but Caroline was beginning to convince herself that was his nature. Not that she didn’t agree with most everything he said when he stopped by the cabin—she’d decided it looked less like she cared for him if she stayed when he visited. But it was so much easier to believe the feelings of optimism that permeated the fort.

The governor released two of the “guests” that he held. When Tistoe of Keowee and Sheroweh of Estatoe crossed the river to the Indian town, an English flag rose above the town house. The following day two warriors, Young Twin and Slave Catcher, were delivered to the fort. They had taken part in the Cherokee raid on Virginia settlers. Caroline watched their arrival with sadness in her heart despite the fact that their surrender was a vital step toward peace.

“They are a sacrifice,” Wolf said that night as he and Caroline sat by the fitful fire. The wind howled outside, dipping down the chimney at intervals and driving smoke into the small room. Mary was asleep as were Colleen and Mistress Quinn. Given the events of the day, Caroline wasn’t surprised when Wolf stood at her door. She’d even been able to convince herself she hadn’t waited for him. But now she couldn’t mistake the pain in his eyes or the corresponding ache in her heart. Still, she tried to be the voice of reason.

“They did kill the settlers in Virginia.”

He made a crude comment in Cherokee that Caroline was grateful she couldn’t translate. “They acted as Cherokee warriors, avenging the deaths of their family members. And now they will be put to death.” He turned from her and stared into the flames. “And the worst part is, their sacrifice will be for naught.”

“Raff, how can you say that?” Caroline hadn’t remembered moving, yet now she was on her knees in front of him, grasping his hands. “Talk of a treaty between the English and Cherokee grows stronger every day. Why Governor Lyttelton said—”

“He is a fool on a fool’s mission.” Wolf’s deep breath expanded his chest. “The Cherokee will not abide this forced peace.”

“You sound almost as if you don’t want them to. As if you favor a war between the white man and
Ani`-Yun`wiya
.” She’d slipped into his use of the word for his people without realizing it.

“No, Caroline.” He seemed to notice their positions, he leaning forward on a handmade chair, she kneeling on the floor, her skirts swirled out about her. His voice gentled. “No one desires a fair peace more than I. But there is the rub. With the English it will never be fair. And there is nothing the Cherokee can do. I have lived among the English, seen their might.” He shook his head, and the thick black hair swung loose about his shoulders.