Sunflower (36 page)

A sudden movement in the crowd caught his eye, and Caleb glanced over the bobbing heads. There, between two Sioux women, stood a girl who looked enough like Analisa to make him want to call out to her. Caleb stared wide-eyed before he quickly tried to cover his amazement by looking away. Concealing his curiosity, he let his eyes scan the crowd as he guided Scorpio toward Red Dog’s tepee in the center of the encampment. Slowly he passed his gaze over the place where he’d last seen the girl and noted with some relief that she was still there between the two women. Her hair was parted in the center and braided in the Indian fashion, and a beaded headband encircled her brow. Her clothing told Caleb that she lived with a family of some stature in the camp. Why had he never seen her before? Without openly staring, Caleb let himself take note of every feature of the blond girl who was now almost hidden among the crowd. He wanted to tell himself that it could not be Anja’s sister, Meika, and yet the likeness between them was too great to be a coincidence. Could the brother be here as well? His next thought hit him as suddenly as a prairie thundershower: If Meika was among these people, was Analisa’s attacker also one of them? He wondered if he knew the man who had fathered Kase. Forced to pay attention as he maneuvered Scorpio through the pressing crowd, Caleb made his way toward Red Dog’s shelter.

Caleb felt Mia stir as she straightened, forcing herself to sit unaided. Red Dog, alerted by the young runner, pushed through the throng and stopped when he reached them. He looked up at Mia’s face for a moment, then reached up to take her from the horse. She leaned down and surrendered herself to the leader’s strong arms.

“Come with me.” Red Dog tossed the order over his shoulder to Caleb, who gave Scorpio up to the runner’s care. He knew the horse would be watered, fed, and rubbed down immediately. As he followed the man into the tepee, Caleb knew that Red Dog’s mind held many questions.

Caleb sat cross-legged on a buffalo robe and listened while the young leader issued orders for Mia’s care to the older women of his family. Red Dog watched in silence for a time before he turned his back on the hovering women and joined Caleb on the mat.

Dispensing with the usual ceremony that preceded conversation, Red Dog confronted Caleb directly. “Where did you find her?”

“Half a day’s ride away, between here and the agency land.” Caleb met the man’s questioning stare, but did not admit what he was doing so near the fort.

“She was alone?”

“Yes. And exhausted. She could travel no farther when I found her.”

Silence grew heavy between them as Red Dog watched Caleb. The women’s voices behind them in the shadowed interior of the hide dwelling were indistinguishable from one another. A low cook fire burned in the center of the room while a wisp of smoke rose through the smoke hole at the apex of the willow shafts that supported the buffalo hides. The air was scented by a bowl of rabbit stew simmering near the flames and by the heat of so many bodies. Caleb watched Red Dog draw himself up and fill his lungs with air. His obsidian eyes did not waver as they met Caleb’s blue ones.

“I owe you a life. You have returned one who is very precious to me.”

“I will remember.” Caleb knew it would be an insult to ignore the man’s words or pass them off with a show of humility.

The renegade leader allowed himself a glance toward Mia, who was now sleeping on a pile of mats. His mother sat at the girl’s side in attendance.

“How was she injured?”

Caleb paused before answering. If he raised Red Dog’s ire with the truth, by telling him of Hardy’s guilt, the young chief might take matters into his own hands and attack the agency himself, ending Caleb’s chance to arrest Hardy. Caleb’s job would be over, yet an attack on the Sioux agency would lead to more bloodshed. The troops from Fort Sully as well as others from the surrounding area would then be called out, and Red Dog’s band would be ridden down to the last man. Caution was required, even though Red Dog demanded an explanation.

“She said she was beaten,” he told the renegade.

Anger welled up behind Red Dog’s eyes. “By the white chief, Hardy?”

Caleb nodded. “You know of him?”

“Yes. He deals in women. The next time he comes to deal with me, I will kill him.”

“You have sold him women?” Caleb hoped to gain answers before Red Dog took offense at his question.

Anger was apparent even in the man’s hushed tones. “We were making plans to trade for Mia and for other women of our band who were taken in by the soldiers before the winter came.”

“What does Hardy ask in return?”

“Furs sometimes, if we are trying to reclaim our captives. In the case of our own women, he would have asked for others to replace them—Crow or Blackfeet, perhaps, but he prefers whites.”

Trying to cover his astonishment, Caleb gently prodded the man with more questions. “What else does he give you in such exchanges?”

Red Dog smirked, contempt for Hardy etched on his face. “He gives us guns in return for some of the women we take him, or gold so that we can buy guns to kill his kind. This time he has gone too far. He will walk right into my trap. The guns will be used on him. All I need to do is send word that I have a white woman to trade.”

Red Dog was giving him all the information he needed in order to trap Hardy, but unlike the younger man, Caleb did not wish to see the agent dead. Justice would be served to the letter of the law, for Caleb intended to see that Hardy stood trial and that his atrocities became public knowledge. There were too many agents like him scattered over the frontier. If the BIA was to improve its services, men like Hardy would have to be paraded before the highest powers in the land. That was Ely Parker’s secret dream, and Caleb hoped to help to make that dream a reality.

“I saw a white girl among the people when I rode in. Will you use her to tempt him here?”

Red Dog’s expression became guarded at the mention of the white girl. “She is not for trade. She is the wife of Swift Otter.”

“I had not seen her before.”

Contempt was heavy in Red Dog’s tone when he replied. “Does the white blood mixed in your veins tempt you to have her?”

Ignoring the statement, Caleb met Red Dog’s stare. “I am curious. I thought I had seen all the people of the camp.”

“Swift Otter and his band arrived this morning. We camp apart for the winter. Now that the snows are gone, many more will join us.”

Standing, Red Dog turned his back on Caleb, ending the discussion. Any other guest would not have been treated in such a rude manner, but Caleb knew that his white blood as well as Red Dog’s lack of trust in him had prompted the abrupt dismissal.

Rising from the mat, Caleb ducked low and stepped out of the tepee. Dusk shrouded the camp while the people inside their dwellings shared the evening meal. Now more than ever, Caleb missed Analisa and Kase. He had no one here. He knew he wasn’t likely to get another glimpse of the white girl before morning, even if he prowled the camp. Perhaps it would be just as well if he set out toward the fort, as he’d done earlier. It would not be that late when he arrived. He had to send a message to Parker, with details and documentation of the incidents proving the agent’s guilt. Caleb knew that someone could be killed before this drama was played out. It was imperative that he send word to Washington before that happened.

“Mama? Mama!” The boy tugged at her shoulder.

“Mama, everyone is awake and Abbie has breakfast ready. This is the dance day, Mama. Don’t you want to get up?”

Analisa pulled herself up on one elbow and leaned toward her son, touching his cheek with her lips. The sun was already high, the bedroom flooded with light. She stretched, raising her arms high over her head, and remembered that tonight the long awaited dance would be held in honor of the Boyntons’ sister, as well as her own guests.

“Yes, I’d better get up, hadn’t I, Kase? We have to prepare the food, and Tor is coming in with some of the men to take the organ over to the commissary.” She flipped back the sheet and quilt and moved to the edge of the bed. “You run along, and I’ll be there in a moment. Tell Abbie I’m sorry I overslept.”

As Kase opened the door, Ruth peered into the room. She was already dressed in a crisp white blouse and green skirt, her hair pulled into a tidy roll. Her glasses rode atop her head, crowning the wavy mass.

“I’m sorry he woke you, Analisa. I intended for you to sleep a while longer. You’ve been working so late that I thought you could use a little extra rest.”

Ruth crossed the room to inspect two beautiful dresses hanging along the wall. As Analisa slipped her stockings on and then her
klompen,
Ruth fingered the material of the gowns, straightening ruffles and fluffing the skirts.

“You’ve done a marvelous job on these, Analisa. What a task, and what a talent you have!”

Analisa flushed at the compliment and thanked Ruth before she quickly pulled off her nightgown and drew on her old yellow calico dress. She walked to the dresser and, while she continued her conversation with Caleb’s stepmother, parted her hair, separated it into two sections, and began to braid it.

“It was a job I enjoyed,” she told Ruth. “I could not have done it without the aid of your gift, Ruth.” Ruth had brought a new sewing machine from Boston for Analisa. The overwhelming gesture was such a surprise and delight that she had insisted on making dresses for Ruth and Abbie as well as one for herself. Even though Abbie declined the offer and there was one less to make, the task had forced Analisa to work long hours in order to complete the gowns before the dance.

“For a time I thought you were ready to send that sewing machine back home with me.” Ruth laughed, turning once more to face Analisa.

Deftly, Analisa plaited the second braid, wound it about the crown of her head, and pinned it securely, forming a golden coronet.

“The little booklet with the drawings and instructions didn’t help much.”

Ruth laughed as she recalled Analisa’s attempts. “I’ll never forget the look on your face once you got it threaded and were able to make the treadle pump the needle. It was priceless. You looked as if you’d just invented the thing yourself.” Ruth thought for a moment before she added, “You know, you could make a fortune in the East if you were to open your own salon. You have quite a talent for design.”

A soft smile turned up the corners of Analisa’s lips as she remembered Pella and the discoveries she’d made as she learned from one experimental dress and then another. All the nights she’d spent poring over pictures and making patterns in the dim lamplight of the soddie had helped her develop a talent that was second nature to her now.

“What a difference the machine makes, Ruth. I am so lucky to have it.” Analisa stood in the doorway, waiting for Ruth to join her. She smoothed the waistline of her dress before she looked at the woman once again. “And I’m lucky to have you, too.”

Ruth took her by the shoulders and studied Analisa’s eyes before she spoke.

“I’m so pleased to have you in my family, Analisa. Caleb made a wonderful choice when he married you. For a time I thought that he would never marry. He’s always been such a loner. You are a very special lady.” She gave Analisa a quick hug and then added, “I’m going to skin him alive, though, next time I see him. He should be checking on you more often.”

It was Analisa’s turn to laugh. “I’m trying not to ‘hem him in.’ Didn’t you warn me about that yourself, Ruth?”

“I guess I did, but this is ridiculous. Besides, I’m anxious to see him myself. Come, dear. Abbie has breakfast waiting for you.”

The day passed quickly, with everyone in the household engaged in preparations for the party. Abbie and Ruth worked in the kitchen, determined to bake pies that, as Abbie declared, “would cause a man’s heart to stop beating.” Analisa hemmed and pressed the new gowns and was well pleased with her handiwork. For Ruth, she’d worked with a raspberry watered silk. The material had been packed inside a box of fabric intended as a gift for Analisa, but she insisted on using it for Ruth. The shade was too overpowering for her own fair coloring, but perfectly enhanced Ruth’s dark hair and hazel eyes. Since Abbie had refused a new gown, Analisa had stitched a full length ruffled white apron for the cook to wear over one of her own dresses.

For herself, Analisa had chosen a material unlike any other fabric she’d ever worked with. It was a pale pink muslin striped with ribbons of white that were embroidered with tiny blue flowers. From it she had fashioned a gown with a narrow skirt and a lower neckline than any she’d ever worn—but only due to a miscalculation on her part. The pattern she’d drawn had seemed perfect, but when Analisa tried on the finished dress, she found the neckline far lower than she anticipated. The material was too precious to discard, however, and Ruth thought the gown stunning, insisting that the bodice was flattering and Analisa’s figure well suited for it, so Analisa was finally convinced she should wear it, with a shawl for modesty’s sake.

By the time evening arrived, the members of Analisa’s new family stood assembled in the parlor awaiting Private Jensen, who was to escort them across the parade ground.