Silken Savage (12 page)

To Tanya it seemed only minutes after she’d closed her eyes that someone was shaking her awake. She opened sleep-heavy lids to see Walks-Like-A-Duck standing over her. “Panther says you are to join the ceremonies now.”

Tanya sat up yawning. “I’d much rather sleep,” she commented lamely as she started to dress.

Walks-Like-A-Duck watched silently as Tanya carefully re-plaited her hair and adjusted her headband. Then she reached out for Tanya’s waistband. In her hand she held the two gruesome scalps Tanya had successfully pushed from her consciousness. Tanya reacted automatically, backing away abruptly.

Impatiently, Walks-Like-A-Duck held out the scalps. “You must wear these on your belt this evening, Little Wildcat. While you were gone today I scraped and dried them for you.”

Grimacing inwardly, Tanya cautiously took them from her and hooked them to her belt, murmuring her thanks.

“Lord, the things I do for that man!” she thought to herself.

Bracing herself for the ordeal to come, she followed Walks-Like-A-Duck outside. The night sky was deceptively peaceful, bright and clear, as if to make up for the frightful events taking place beneath it. The moon was high, and Tanya judged it to be around midnight. She had slept for over three hours.

The entire tribe was gathered about the central fire, reminding Tanya of her first night in the Cheyenne village. For a minute she stood uncertainly, absorbing the sights and sounds around her. Once again, all the men wore their paints; colorful, fascinating, and gruesome. Tonight, it seemed, the women took an active part in the ceremonies. They were mourning their dead, and their shrieks and wails were heartrending. Tears sprang to Tanya’s eyes as she saw them weeping and wailing, adorned in ashes, tearing at their clothes, and clawing at their skin and hair. Relatives of the dead had cut off their braids and slashed their bodies in an open display of their grief.

To one side of the central fire, two Ute braves were lashed to poles, their naked, sweat-slick bodies glistening in the flickering firelight. The Cheyenne warriors had captured the other when his horse had stumbled and fallen. This night the Cheyenne men would sit back and watch, as their women took their revenge on the unfortunate victims.

As Tanya looked from the Utes to the grieving women, she was torn between revulsion of what she knew was to happen and the knowledge that it was justified. Feeling the weight of the scalps at her belt, she only hoped she would not have to participate.

Her eyes travelled about the circle, finding Panther seated next to Black Kettle, Winter Bear on the chiefs other side. Panther motioned to her to join him. When she reached him, he seated her next to him.

“Chief Black Kettle has demanded your presence for this evening.”

Tanya nodded wearily. “I understand.”

“You will be expected to participate later, when the Utes are turned over to the tender mercies of our women,” he went on, his face a mask as he reached out to touch the scalps dangling from her belt.

“I know,” she responded quietly.

“Shy Deer spoke of how you saved her life this morning. You showed great bravery.” Still his face revealed nothing.

“I used the skills you taught me,” Tanya told him, calmly meeting his look.

Still he fingered the scalps. “You hate these, don’t you?”

Her answer was a simple “Yes.”

“After tonight you will hang them on the lodge pole.” Only his eyes reflected his understanding.

Tanya nodded stiffly, turning her attentions to the activities.

The tempo of the drums changed, announcing the change from grieving to vengeance. The men performed a lengthy war dance, and by the time it was the women’s turn, the deep, steady throb of the drums seemed to have seeped into Tanya’s bones, invading her being to commune with her soul. Without conscious volition, she was on her feet, joining the shrieking women, her knife flashing in her hand. Her own voice joined the others in their taunts and wild ravings.

As if in a trance, she approached the Utes, her golden eyes glowing. Caught up in the mood, it seemed that she stood aside and watched herself as her hand flashed out and her knife made a small, precise slice on the thigh of one of the captives. Her lips curled in a parody of a smile.

A small voice in a remote corner of her mind questioned her savage actions. Had she lost her mind? Was she suddenly possessed? Her pulse beat wildly in response to the drums, and her blood raced through her veins, obliterating her weariness. She felt wild and free, and exhilarated.

The sun had risen over the horizon when Tanya wiped the last of the captives’ blood from her knife blade. The drums ceased as the last, shuddering breath eased from the Utes. Their lifeless forms hung from the poles, barely resembling human beings. Thousands of small cuts laced their blood-streaked bodies; pools of blood congealed at the base of the poles. Their ears, noses, lips, fingers, toes, and privates had been severed from their bodies. Empty sockets gaped where their eyes had once been.

Tanya took one last, long look, shuddered violently, and stumbled wearily off to her tipi.

She slept deeply until noon, never stirring when Panther gently stripped her clothing from her and covered her with the blanket. When she arose, it was to a lethargic feeling, as if she’d been drugged. She blanched beneath her golden tan as she recalled her actions of the night before. She had acted like a savage! But as she attempted to drag her conscience to the fore, the feelings of guilt she thought she ought to have dissolved. She tried and failed to dredge up feelings of remorse.

With one last fatalistic shrug of her shoulders, she muttered, “What is done is done and best left to rest. They were our enemies and would have done the same or worse to any of us.” Still, she grimaced at the traces of blood on her hands and arms. Unbinding her hair, she headed for the stream.

The entire female population of the village seemed to have the same idea. Worn out from the previous evening’s activities, they too had slept unusually late and were just starting the day.

With none of her old self-consciousness, Tanya slipped out of her dress and moccasins and waded into the cool, clear water. Intent on her bathing, she was unaware of Suellen’s presence beside her until the girl’s strident voice sounded loudly next to her.

“What do you think your parents and fiance would say about the way you acted last night?”

Tanya spun to glare at her. Nancy was standing behind Suellen, frowning. Full of spite, Suellen continued boldly, “You’re a born whore, Tanya! You like that tall, copper stallion between your legs. Unlike the rest of us, you seem to thrive on this dreadful life.”

Tanya closed the distance between them swiftly, her eyes shooting golden flames. “You jealous bitch!” With that, she swung back her arm and delivered a sharp slap across Suellen’s face. The other girl lost her balance and plopped on her rear into the shallow water.

Nancy let out a gasp of dismay. “Oh, Tanya, I’m sure she didn’t mean it! It’s just that you are treated so much better than the rest of us.”

Suellen struggled to her feet, dragging her wet hair out of her face. “Oh, I meant it, all right! Every word of it! Miss High and Mighty here wants to join the tribe. Well, she’ll fit in perfectly with this bunch of savages! I guess breeding really does tell!”

Tanya gathered her dignity about her. In a deadly quiet voice, she said, “You have overstepped yourself, Suellen. I shall have to see that you are properly punished.”

At this, Melissa, who had come up soon after the fracas began, cut in. “Oh, no, Tanya. Please!” She touched Tanya lightly on the arm.

“I would not allow her insolence to go unanswered if we were in the President’s parlor, Missy, and I cannot allow it here.”

A crowd of Indian women had gathered round. Quickly Tanya sought out Forest Fern, Suellen’s mistress, and told her of Suellen’s insults. “I realize I am not yet a member of the tribe, but I soon shall be. If it were left to me, I would flay the skin off her back, but she does not belong to me. I leave it to you whether she shall be punished or not, and to what extent.”

That said, Tanya went back to her bathing. Melissa sidled up to her. “Is it true what Suellen said about you wanting to join the tribe?” she whispered.

“It is,” Tanya answered stiffly.

“Don’t be angry, Tanya,” Melissa pleaded. “I just don’t understand why.”

“I want to marry Panther.”

Melissa nodded sadly. “He certainly is handsome, and he treats you so nicely. Do you love him?”

Tanya’s anger dissolved. “Yes, very much. We are to have a child in the spring.”

“What about Jeffrey?” Melissa protested softly.

“This is quite different than what I felt for Jeffrey. If he came for me tomorrow, I would choose to stay with Panther.”

Melissa sighed. “Well, I’m glad something good came out of all this. I’m not sure yet, but I suspect I may be with child too, though I’m not at all happy about it.”

Tanya eyed her small friend sympathetically. “I’m sorry, Missy. If there was a way I could ease your problems, I would, but Ugly Otter hates me. You’d better not let his wife catch you talking to me.”

Tears glistened in Melissa’s huge blue eyes. “I know. You wouldn’t believe the evil things that woman can think up.”

Later that afternoon, as Tanya sat with Shy Deer and several other women sewing buffalo hides together for a tipi covering, she was surprised to be summoned by Forest Fern.

“I wish you to be present to witness the punishment of our slave for her insolence to you,” the woman told her.

Tanya arrived before Forest Fern’s tipi to find Suellen tied to a post before it, stripped to the waist.

Forest Fern turned to Tanya. “Please tell her in your tongue why she is being whipped. I wish her to know so she has no doubt why she is punished and knows not to repeat her offense.”

Tanya walked around to face Suellen, no trace of remorse on her face for what the girl was about to endure. “Your mistress wishes me to inform you that you are to be whipped for your insolence this morning, Suellen. You would be wise to hold your tongue in the future.”

Suellen glared at her, but said nothing.

Forest Fern did not wield the lash herself, nor offer the honor to Tanya. A boy of fourteen had been selected for the chore. Anxious to be off to better things, he did not dally. He applied the lash in hard, swift, evenly spaced strokes, and in a very short time it was done with. Unlike Panther, the boy had not cared whether or not he broke the skin, and Suellen had several bloody stripes amidst the other welts.

After the first few lashes, Suellen had fainted and ceased her screaming. Tanya wasted no time feeling sorry for her. Expressing her appreciation to Forest Fern for her actions, she returned to her work, only to be interrupted a second time, this time by a summons from Chief Black Kettle.

He instructed her to be ready to leave the village the next morning. “Our war party will be leaving at dawn. Panther will be among them. You will ride with them into the foothills and go on alone from there. Seven suns from tomorrow you will meet one of our braves at the spot where you leave them.”

One last night in Panther’s arms and then a week or more away from him. One last test to pass and then a lifetime within the circle of his love.
These thoughts passed through Tanya’s mind as she held him close that evening in the privacy of their tipi.

“In a week’s time you could find your parents and pick up the threads of your old life.” Panther’s voice sounded distant, though his mouth rested close to her ear.

“Do you think me a fool, Panther? I know Black Kettle will be sending someone to spy on me.”

“You could easily elude him with the tricks I have taught you,” he pressed.

Tanya turned so she could see his face. “Have you so little faith in me, Panther? Do you doubt my love for you and your child within me?”

“There are ways to rid yourself of my child and be free of all traces of me.”

Tanya spoke around the lump in her throat. “I would never do that, Panther! Even if I lost your child, you would remain forever in my heart, as my heart now rests within you.”

He held her face between his palms, his fingers playing over her eyes. “Be sure, bright eyes,” he whispered, “for once we have been joined as man and wife, only death will part us.”

“I am sure, Panther, very sure. I shall miss you dreadfully just the short time we are to be separated.”

“It will not be for long, Wildcat.”

All talk between them ceased as Panther’s mouth closed upon hers. He drew her tightly against him, as if to absorb her into himself. Tanya’s lips parted beneath the pressure of his, and his tongue thrust deeply into her mouth, searching out the sweetness there, twining with her own.

His hands traveled the curves of her body, teasing her breasts until her nipples were tight buds standing erect upon her swollen breasts. His lips searched out her ear, her throat, her pulse pounding wildly there. His tongue traced the line of her neck down to her shoulder as she matched him move for move, her small white teeth nipping delicately along his shoulder and chest. They were like dancers, moving in perfect synchronization.

His mouth found her breast as his hand found her mound, teasing and pleasuring her there. Her own hands were no less busy tracing the lines of his body, finding and fondling him until he was hard and near to bursting.

She sensed Panther’s need to master her and succumbed to him willingly. She made no protest when he locked her arms over her head and held them there, nor when he spread her legs wide and anchored them with the weight of his own. She felt the tip of his manhood near her entrance, yet he held off, his lips and teeth teasing along her shoulder and breasts until she was nearly wild for need of him, her body twisting and arching to his, until she finally understood what he was waiting for and would not say.

“Please, Panther,” she begged. “Please. I need you so. I need you now. Please love me!”

At last he joined with her, his body driving wildly into hers with such a fierce need that she felt her desires burst at his first mighty thrust. A rainbow of colors exploded in her brain and melted into a kaleidoscope of changing shapes. Then her passions rose again to greater heights and burst anew, again and again until she lay exhausted and half-conscious beneath him.