Sunflower (52 page)

Staring at the back of the retreating figure, Analisa spoke softly to her son. “She’s in a bad mood today, I guess, Kase. Do not worry.”

Analisa knew immediately what had caused the change in Millicent and some of the others, women and soldiers alike. The word was out that her husband was not the Spanish professor he’d claimed to be but a half-breed Sioux. It mattered little that he worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, that he was better educated than most of them, or that his background was one of wealth and society. What mattered was that Indian blood ran in his veins. They would never condone her marriage to him, nor would they forgive her for having chosen to marry an Indian.

She no longer cared what the bigoted residents of Fort Sully thought. She took her brief outings with her head held high. Unlike the shame she had felt while living outside Pella, this new emotion was one of pride, for she knew that Caleb was far superior to those who held such prejudice against him. He had fought for their safety as much as for the lives of the Sioux who needed protection. She knew in her heart that if Caleb possessed two heads and one of them were green, she would love him all the same.

No,
she thought, as she sat in the rocker at his bedside late one evening, bundled in his robe and sipping hot tea,
it is I who feel sorry for these people. They have so little love and so much hatred in their hearts.
She knew then that never again would she allow others to cause her to feel shame.

The world was hot and dark, so dark that Caleb almost feared he was blind. He knew he’d been in this place before and tried to force his fevered mind to remember where or when. He tried to call out to Analisa. He knew she would come if only she knew where to find him. Or would she be afraid to enter this darkness? Caleb hoped she would not, and trusted his love to guide her.

A cool, fleeting touch entered into the strange, close heat that seemed to engulf him. Feather light, the touch moved against his brow and down along his cheek and neck. He tried to speak and thank the bearer of the soothing relief, but could not. His throat was parched and dry, his lips unwilling to move. He thought he heard a voice calling him from afar and forced himself to look through the black, endless night that imprisoned him. Caleb fought to lift his weighted eyelids and saw a wavering light somewhere nearby.

A figure bent toward him, a face he’d seen before in a vision, an apparition with wisps of silver hair that framed her face like a halo. He could see her eyes but not their color, yet he knew instinctively that they shone like blue crystals. Again the specter was dressed in white and he called upon his mind to recognize her. It was the princess he’d seen once before, the fairy princess of his father’s people’s legend, the princess who lived in the house of dancing, bobbing sunflowers.

Happiness suffused him when he recognized her. Where had she been? Perhaps in this land of darkness she had waited for him. Caleb tried to speak to her, to implore her not to leave him alone here, at least not until Analisa could find him.

“Are you the princess?”

Had he spoken, he wondered, or just imagined the words in his mind?

“Or are you
wanagi,
the ghost in my mother’s tales?”

“Sleep,” the spirit commanded. He felt the soft touch of her hand on his cheek. “Your fever is gone, Caleb. You will be well soon.”

“Wait.” He tried to call out to her, but already the vision was fading and he felt his eyes closing against the weak light around her.

“Analisa!”

He called out his wife’s name in hope that the spirit would lead her to him, but he knew it was too late. He felt himself drifting back into the darkness. It was cooler now, but just as deeply black.

“I am here, Caleb.”

He heard a voice at the edge of the darkness and his fears vanished. It was Anja. She’d found him at last. He smiled then, and allowed himself to drift into a peaceful sleep.

“Mama?”

Kase kept his voice down to a whisper as he tiptoed into the room, Galileo dangling from his arms. The cat was wild eyed, sensing sure strangulation if he wasn’t freed soon.

“Do you think Papa will feel better if I let him see the cat?” he asked.

“He’s still asleep, Kase.” Analisa reached out to rescue the black and white animal, and Kase released it into her arms. She scratched the haughty creature on the top of his head, and he settled down on her lap, purring loudly. The boy scrambled up beside her, squeezing himself into the small space she made for him on the wide seat of the rocker.

The past few days had been as hard on Kase as they had been on Analisa and the rest of the household. He had haunted the bedroom doorway, a small, silent shadow, sometimes waking late at night to crawl from his makeshift bed on the settee and stand beside Analisa as she sat awake in the rocker. Often he would startle her as she dozed, forcing her to catch her breath, startled at the sight of a small figure draped in a long white nightshirt who’d appeared without warning beside her. The experience of losing his
opa
was still fresh in his mind, and he would often voice his fears, asking if Caleb was going to die like his great-grandfather and leave him. She had reassured him over and over that Caleb would live, only to find herself praying fervently that it would come to pass.

She pushed her feet against the floor to set the rocker in motion and welcomed the calm she experienced as she watched Caleb sleep peacefully for the first time in nearly a week. Sometime during the night the fever had left him, and now she waited impatiently for him to awaken.

“Mama?”

“Hmm?”

They spoke in silent whispers as they sat side by side staring at the figure stretched out under the tulip-patterned quilt.

“When will he wake up?”

“Soon, I think.”

“Ja?
What if I put the cat on his stomach? You think then he’ll wake up?”

“You put that cat on my stomach and I’ll tan your hide.”

For a moment they were both too stunned to move, and then Analisa jumped to her feet. Galileo hissed as he tumbled unceremoniously to the floor. She reached out to touch Caleb’s forehead and then took his hand between her own. His face was stubbled with a light growth of beard, his hair matted and much in need of a wash, and his eyes were rimmed with deep purple shadows. But he was alive, lucid, and smiling at her beguilingly.

“Miss me?” His voice sounded hoarse, a dry, rasping whisper, but the light in his eyes shone for her alone.

She nodded and smiled, blinking away tears as she reached for a glass of water and gave him a drink.

“Ja,
I missed you.”

“Want to show me how much?” He tugged on her hand and drew Analisa down toward him. She perched gingerly on the side of the bed, afraid that the least motion would cause him pain.

Kase immediately scrambled up beside Caleb and leaned close enough to plant a kiss on his cheek. “I’m glad you’re awake, Caleb,” Kase said.

“You don’t want to call me Papa anymore?” Caleb raised an eyebrow as he teased the boy.

“Ja.
I forgot.”

“I’m glad I’m better, too, because I missed you ... and your mama.”

Caleb laced his fingers between Analisa’s as he continued to stare into her eyes, telling her without words the things he longed to say but could not because of the boy.

“Kase, go over to Ruth’s and tell her that Caleb is awake. Tell her to come over later to see him.”

“Do I have to?”

“Ja.
You are the only one who can go right now.”

Kase clung to Caleb’s neck a moment longer, burrowing against him until Analisa was forced to remind him of the wound.

“It’s all right,” Caleb reassured her, his voice husky with emotion as he soothingly stroked the little boy’s shoulders and then gave him a firm hug before he set him away from him.

“Do as your mama said, Kase. You can come right back, you know.”

After a quick kiss to Caleb’s cheek, Kase crawled off the bed and flashed a winning smile at them before he ran out of the room.

“Your turn.” Caleb tugged on her hand. “Or am I too much of a mess?”

“You look
wonderful.”
She leaned forward and pressed a light, quick kiss on his lips, a kiss that Caleb sought to deepen before she pulled away.

“I feel as if I’d been dragged behind a horse. How long have I been out?”

“Six days. It is not noon yet, the twenty-sixth of May.”

He studied her face, his expression intent, searching.

Analisa felt her heart begin to gallop.

He patted the empty space beside him. “Sit with me.”

She complied. Easing into the space beside him, she leaned against the headboard and nervously smoothed her apron over the skirt of her gray batiste gown. Analisa could not fathom why she felt so awkward with Caleb, as nervous and unsure as if they’d just met. Perhaps, she thought, because the circumstances were so similar to those of their first meeting. Then, too, he’d been in her care. She’d blushed and shied away from his every look, every word. Now that he was well, she felt awkward, and so she lay beside him and stared at the toes of her stocking feet.

“Are you all right, Anja? Everything okay here?” he asked as if he sensed her skittishness.

“Ja.
Everything is okay now.”

“You look bad.”

Just as he knew it would, his comment drew an immediate reaction and she turned to question him. “Bad?”

“Tired,” he amended.

“You kept me from sleeping for five nights. Last night you were talking and tossing. Something about a princess.” She waited for an explanation while Caleb silently mused over her comment.

“Well,” she prodded. “Do you know some ... some princess?”

He did not hesitate to carry her hand, fingers still entwined with his, to his lips to kiss the back of it.

“Yes. I know a princess. I married her.”

Although Caleb seemed content to talk, Analisa was all too aware of the strain in his voice. He needed sleep, sleep unburdened by fever, and he needed sustenance.

“Let go, Caleb, and I’ll have Abbie fix something for you.”

“Where’s Ruth?” He continued to toy with her fingers and gave her arm a slight tug that caused her to slide down the headboard in his direction.

Analisa knew it would do no good to protest and so shifted her weight and made herself comfortable as she leaned against his good shoulder. Just feeling the familiar warmth that emanated from him helped, her relax.

“Ruth moved over to the major’s house.”

“What?”

“Ja.
He moved to the bachelor officer’s house and offered his home to Ruth because he knew it was so crowded here. Ruth plans to stay until you are well again.”

“And that old pipe-smoking tyrant, Abbie? Is she still here?”

Analisa giggled at his description, for Abbie had indeed become a tyrant while Caleb lay ill. “She’s been more than good to me, Caleb. To you, too.”

“I know. I’m only teasing.”

His eyes closed and Analisa rested contentedly beside him, waiting for him to drift off to sleep. It surprised her when the sound of his voice broke the peaceful lull.

“I’m sorry, Anja.”

“Sorry?”

“Yes. For putting you through all of this. You and Kase. I’ll make it up to you both. I promise.” He opened his eyes and tried to roll onto his side but found he lacked the strength to accomplish even this small task. “I’m quitting as soon as the BIA sends out another agent. No more of this intrigue for me. You and Kase deserve a decent, normal life, and I intend to see that you get one.”

For some reason Analisa felt suddenly saddened by the words she’d so longed to hear. She wondered if her feelings stemmed from the tone of resignation in his voice or from her own uncertainty about how she would react to what Caleb called a decent, normal life.

“Wait until you are well before you decide, Caleb. Right now you are too exhausted to worry about it.”

“I won’t change my mind.” He thought for a moment longer before he spoke again. “What happened to Hardy?”

“Red Dog did not try to take him from the major after ... after what happened. He is in the guardhouse until you can give them instructions. Messengers have come each day from Red Dog. He said he will talk peace with you and
only
you.”

“Sounds as if I don’t have time to waste lying in bed.”

“If you try to get up, General Abigail and I will hit you over the head with cooking pots.”

He laughed and shook his head. “I wouldn’t doubt that you’d do just that.”

“Caleb.” She laid her palm alongside his cheek and leaned forward to kiss him. The kiss was chaste and brief, yet held a promise of more. “Please. I must get up now. You need to eat, at least some good, rich broth. The doctor said you must not get dedryhated.”

“De-
what
?”

“Are you teasing me?” She tried hard to appear stern and forbidding.

He shook his head, but she did not miss the twinkle in his eye.

“De-dry-hated.” She pronounced each incorrect syllable distinctly.

“That’s exactly what I thought you said.” He dared not smile, but let go of her hand and quickly closed his eyes again.

Analisa slipped from the bed to go in search of Abbie. She paused in the doorway long enough to reassure herself that Caleb was resting comfortably, then let herself out. As she closed the bedroom door, Analisa heard him chuckle contentedly and then smiled to herself and whispered,
“Dehydrated,”
in perfect, unaccented English.