Silken Savage (49 page)

“Well, you didn’t do my bread-basket a lot of good either.” Tom rubbed a broad hand across his stomach and grimaced. “You pack quite a wallop.”

“What was that all about?” Julie asked, thoroughly bewildered.

“It was the best I could come up with on the spur of the moment,” the sheriff explained. “I happened to stumble on those two just as the Haverick girl was babbling about Adam being a Cheyenne Indian. The lieutenant was lapping up every word like a cat at a bowl of cream. I tell you, he got a real dangerous look to him, all excited and hateful, with those blue eyes of his gleaming wild-like. One look was enough to tell me he was off his rocker and bound to cause some kind of trouble. Then I heard him say she’d just given him all the proof he needed — the perfect reason to arrest you, the excuse he’s been looking for to see you hang.”

“I didn’t wait much longer, except to hear him ask if she knew where you were now. When she said she’d last seen you at the rodeo corral, I took off to find you before they could.”

“But why did you have to arrest Adam?” Melissa asked. “Why couldn’t you just warn him, or tell Jeffrey to back off? This whole thing is insane!”

“It does seem a little extreme, Tom,” Justin put in.

Middleton gave Justin an incredulous look tinged with mild annoyance. “Son, for a lawyer you sure can be dense sometimes! Use your common sense. If Young had latched on to Adam first, his authority would override mine, and none of us could have done a thing about it, not even the judge. It would have been a military matter then, with trumped-up charges, few witnesses, and a biased jury, with a military trial and execution so quick it would be over before it started. It wouldn’t matter that both the girl and the lieutenant are crazy as bedbugs. It would be their word against Adam’s — if he were even allowed to tell his side of it — and none of us would have been permitted to testify in his behalf if I read the lieutenant right.”

“It’s a lot different here than back East, where they can drag a trial out forever. Here we are dealing with a bunch of glory-seeking cavalrymen eager to prove themselves superior to the savages, while they jump at their own shadows. Some of their commanding officers are so fresh from the East they don’t know a lance from a toothpick. They don’t know a Sioux from a Comanche, and couldn’t care less. As long as they make themselves look good, get an advance in rank, and get out of here with their scalps, it doesn’t matter what they have to do or how they do it. I’ve seen some of these jackasses bragging about how brave they are in battle and showing off scalps I know damned well came off a child or squaw instead of a warrior.”

Middleton sighed and shook his head in disgust. “Now, I ain’t saying I have a lot of kind feelings for the Indians, but a cavalry full of greenhorn soldiers and glory-hunting officers ain’t much better. Seasoned officers who know anything about the Indians are as rare as bird’s teeth, and those like Lieutenant Young stir up more trouble than they are worth.”

“What I am trying to tell you is this. Right now the troubles with the tribes are starting up heavy again, and it would be a feather in Young’s cap if he could claim to have caught a Cheyenne chief. Feelings are running high, and the military is out for every coup they can grab. They’d love to make an example of someone, and I’d hate it to be you, Adam. It wouldn’t matter that it was all a cock-and-bull story. It wouldn’t matter that half this town has known you all your life and would be up in arms defending you. One glimpse of possible fame and honor, and the military would hang President Grant himself without a proper trial or defense! They’d most likely arrest you, try you, and hang you so fast it would be over before you could do anything about it.”

Roberto had wandered to the front windows of the sheriffs office. “Lieutenant Young didn’t waste any time posting his guards,” he observed. “They are out there already. What do we do now?”

“We have to figure a way to sneak Adam out of town before Young gets the authorization from his superiors to arrest him,” Middleton said. “You were going to take a trip anyway, so at least it won’t upset your plans much. In the meantime, you’ll remain my ‘prisoner’.”

“Oh, dear!” Tanya murmured in frustration. “While Jeffrey runs around creating havoc, Adam must sit here like a treed raccoon. It isn’t fair!”

“Don’t you fret, Mrs. Savage,” Middleton said with gruff kindness. “We’ll think of something.”

“I hope it includes tearing Suellen’s hair out and slicing Jeffrey’s black heart into tiny pieces,” she suggested with a vengeance. “I could kill them both with my bare hands right now and feel no remorse whatsoever!”

“Tanya.” The tone of command in Adam’s voice brought her back into control. “Take the boys home. They are tired and hungry.” She nodded wordlessly.

“Justin, explain what has happened to my mother and the Martins, and also to your father. See if he has any suggestions.”

“Of course, Adam.”

“Roberto, I put you in charge of looking after Tanya and the boys, if you will. Jeffrey’s main objective is to have Tanya for his own. He is as mad as a rabid dog, and just as unpredictable, so take great care.”

“I will guard them with my life,” he vowed.

“Okay, now,” Middleton directed, clearing his throat. “All of you clear out of here so Adam and I can think. I’ve had about all the excitement I can put up with for one day.”

Tanya took two steps, then turned back to Adam, unshed tears glistening in her golden eyes. “I’ll get you out of here, Adam, I swear it! And someday I’ll see Jeffrey pay for all his treachery.” That said, she left, head held high and proud.

It didn’t particularly surprise Tanya to find guards posted not only outside the jail, but around the Martin house. Even with Adam in jail, Jeffrey was making sure Tanya did not flee.

Justin explained everything briefly to Tanya’s family, then went home to speak to Rachel and his own father.

Edward was outraged. The others were stunned. While Tanya sat silently seething, cursing and condemning Jeffrey, Edward ranted and raged, openly venting his ire.

After a supper was served for which no one had any appetite, Tanya put her sons to bed. Soon thereafter, Judge Kerr, Justin, and Rachel showed up, and everyone gathered in the parlor to discuss this unexpected turn of events.

“The sheriff suggested we find a way to sneak Adam out of town without Lieutenant Young knowing about it,” Roberto stated, “before the lieutenant can get authorization from Ft. Lyon.”

“What if we can’t?” Rachel asked, her brown eyes huge with worry. “What if they arrest Adam? Tom can’t keep him in his custody indefinitely.”

“It is Lieutenant Young’s word and Suellen’s against ours,” George said. “Even as anxious as the military is to get revenge on the tribes, surely they will see how ridiculous this incident is. Besides, we can point out that Jeffrey is obsessed with Tanya and Suellen is full of spite toward her.”

“Will we be able to voice any opinions at all in a military matter?” Justin questioned uncertainly. “Tom seemed to think once they get Adam into their clutches, it will be a closed military procedure.”

Judge Kerr frowned. “I’m afraid he’s right. That could be disastrous. I’ve also heard General Custer is back in Ft. Lyon, regrouping.”

Tanya groaned. “Jeffrey was with his troop when they raided the village at Washita, and the two of them seem to have similar attitudes. According to Custer, the only good Indian is a dead one.”

Melissa nodded dispiritedly. “Yes, and Jeffrey said they would be trying to locate Major Wynkoop to identify Panther.” A look of intense concern passed between Melissa, Tanya, and Rachel, the only ones in the room who knew the whole truth.

Judge Kerr noted the look that passed between the women and his frown deepened. “That shouldn’t cause a problem, should it?” he asked. “As far as I know, Wynkoop has always worked in the best interest of the Indians. Besides, he should be able to positively confirm that Adam is not a Cheyenne. He could be the answer to our prayers.” His gaze traveled from one ghost-white face to the other, sensing the dismay in each. “Well, won’t he?” he pressed.

When none of the three confirmed this, his expression became definitely apprehensive. “Rachel, Tanya, Melissa,” he directed gruffly, “may we meet privately in the library to discuss something of vital importance that has just occurred to me?” At their reluctant nods, he added, “Justin, you should probably come too.”

Once in the library, he rounded on them. “All right! I get the undeniable impression that there is something important that you have failed to tell me, some secret the three of you share, and I’m beginning to think there may be some truth to these allegations after all. Am I correct?” His level gaze focused on Rachel’s face, waiting.

At last she nodded miserably. “Yes, Garfield. It is true.” Her voice broke on a sob, and she hid her face in her hands, weeping.

Justin was incredulous. “How can that be? Adam and I have grown up together. I’ve known him all his life!”

“Not quite,” Judge Kerr was quick to point out. “Rachel, her father, and her son came to Pueblo when Adam was a babe. We all accepted without question the explanation that Rachel’s dead husband was an Englishman. It was a lie then, Rachel?” His tone was gentle, but insistent.

Rachel let out a shaky sigh and raised her head to face him. “Yes, it was a lie. Adam’s father was the Cheyenne chief White Antelope. After he returned me to my family, my father brought Adam and me to Pueblo to avoid gossip. Each summer, when you all thought Adam went to my family in Santa Fe, he went to stay with his father in their village. He grew up learning two separate ways of life, and five years ago he chose to live with his Cheyenne family for good — or at least until I could no longer manage the ranch myself. I tried to understand, though I resented it. It is his destiny; the Cheyenne blood flows in his veins.”

“Dear God!” Justin exclaimed softly. “Then Suellen is right? He
is
a Cheyenne chief and Tanya’s husband, Panther?” His accusing gaze darted from Tanya to his own sweet, deceiving fiancée.

Melissa nodded silently, her big blue eyes begging Justin to forgive her.

Tanya was less reluctant, her valiant pride coming to the fore. “Yes, Adam and Panther are one and the same, and Hunter and Mark are our sons. Did you really believe I could claim to love my husband and fall so readily into a stranger’s arms?”

“Who else knows?” Judge Kerr asked.

“No one. Suellen, Melissa and I are the only captives left from the raid. And Major Wynkoop will if he sees Adam.”

“What about Roberto or any of your other relatives?” he asked Rachel.

She shook her head. “Only my father knew. We told none of the family.”

“Perhaps we should inform Roberto now. Will he help us, do you think, or will he turn against us?” With this statement, Justin announced his allegiance to his lifelong friend.

“He’ll help.”

“We probably should inform your family, too,” Judge Kerr told Tanya. “They have a right to know. How will they react, Tanya? Will they betray Adam?” Evidently, Judge Kerr was also willing to aid his friends of many years.

“I don’t know,” Tanya responded. “I suppose we’ll have to chance it, and hope they’ll understand. They’ve come to know Adam. They like and respect him. The fact that he is part Cheyenne should not change things.”

“It shouldn’t, but it might,” Judge Kerr warned dourly. “Justin and I have known Adam a lot longer. This comes as a shock to us, but we know Adam is a good man, with respectable values. Being Cheyenne does not alter the decent man we know Adam to be.”

“Perhaps you should be the one to point this out to my family,” Tanya suggested. “It is not easy to explain when your heart leads your head. They will expect me to defend Adam because of my love for him, but you would do so out of respect for a man you know and trust.”

Predictably, Edward had a fit at first, Sarah nearly swooned, and Julie was torn between indignation and loyalty to her new husband and Tanya. Roberto readily accepted this news about his cousin and offered his help. George merely nodded and lit his pipe, and Elizabeth smiled as if to say, “I should have known.” Jeremy was elated, and had to be sworn to secrecy, though he would have liked nothing better than to be able to brag to all his friends.

After their initial reactions, Sarah quickly became resigned to it, even rather glad that Hunter and Mark would be raised by their real father and that Tanya was reunited with her true love. With some help from Judge Kerr and Rachel, Edward finally accepted it more calmly, realizing that the Adam he had come to admire was a worthy man, whether white, Indian, or both.

United in their efforts to save Adam, they now had the task of devising a plan. Weary and emotionally drained, they finally gave up for the evening, deciding they’d think better when they were more rested.

The next morning, Tanya still had not come up with a workable plan, but her mind was working better. Regardless of all else, there were still certain things that could be done. Now that her family was aware that Adam and Tanya would be returning to the Cheyenne camp, there was no need for the pretense of packing for a long European voyage. Instead, Tanya readied appropriate clothing for herself, Adam, and their sons. She packaged dried fruits and meats, filled canteens, and packed the necessary tools and other items they would require in their flight.

With sharp-eyed guards watching, Tanya wondered how they could spirit the horses out of Uncle George’s stables and away to a more accessible place. When she happened to spy a can of whitewash intended for the back porch, she devised a method. Enlisting Jeremy’s aid, she set to work. Knowing her presence in the stable for long would draw the guards’ attention, it was decided Jeremy would be sent to clean the stalls — supposedly, at any rate. Under Tanya’s direction, he painted three white socks and a blaze down the face of Adam’s midnight-black stallion. Then, with walnut stain, he darkened the buckskin’s coat until Wheat was a solid gleaming brown.

The last part of the scheme was the trickiest. Once darkness fell, Rachel and Justin left their own mounts in the stable and rode out of the yard astride the disguised Wheat and Shadow. Luckily, the guards noticed nothing amiss in the dim light, intent only on properly identifying the riders. Rachel and Justin then stabled the horses at the Kerrs’, where they could be retrieved without notice.