Wind Rider (23 page)

“Where is my wife, old woman?” Wind Rider asked curtly.

“Did Red Cloud not tell you?”

“Tell me what?” There was silence. “Speak!
I want to know where to find my wife.”

Woman-Who-Waddles’s face crumpled. “She
did not want to go.”

“Go? Go where? Has something happened to
Little Sparrow?”

“Do not listen to the old woman. She prattles
senseless words.” Spotted Doe appeared beside Wind Rider, having already settled the exhausted Summer Moon and laid out a pallet so she
could rest. “I will tell you what happened.”

Wind Rider whirled on his heel. His expres
sion was so fierce, Spotted Doe stepped back
ward. “Speak, Spotted Doe. And it had better
be the truth.”

”A blue coat from the fort came to take Little Sparrow away. Trader had seen her on his last
visit, and he told the soldier that she had run a
way from her master. I do not know how he knew such things, but it must have been the
truth.”

“Tell me about the blue coat. How is it that
Red Cloud let a soldier ride into the village?”

“Trader brought him. He did not wear a uniform, and they traveled alone. Red Cloud
decided to hear what the blue coat had to
say. The blue coat brought a treaty, which
Red Cloud refused to sign. Then the soldier
asked about Little Sparrow and told Red Cloud
that it would please the treaty commission if he
sent her back to her own people.”

“Little Sparrow belongs to me, not Red
Cloud.” He spoke so harshly, Spotted Doe cringed inwardly.

“Red Cloud is chief. After much thought he decided it would please the commission and
possibly gain a more favorable peace treaty if
he sent Little Sparrow back to her people.”

Refusing to believe Spotted Doe, Wind Rider turned to Woman-Who-Waddles. “Does Spot
ted Doe speak the truth?”

The old woman nodded. A nerve clenched in Wind Rider’s jaw, and his expression hardened.
“I will speak to Red Cloud myself.”

Abruptly, he turned and strode away. Wom
an-Who-Waddles ducked inside her lodge.
She felt as if she had lost a second daughter.
Spotted Doe quickly caught up with Wind Rid
er, pulling on his arm to stop him.

“Wait; there is more. There is something you do not know.”

Wind Rider’s steps slowed, but he did not
stop. “What more is there?”

“I heard Little Sparrow tell the soldier that
she was a captive and wanted to leave. She told
him that you beat and abused her. She said she
didn’t like being your whore. She begged him
to take her away/’

Wind Rider stopped abruptly. He stared at
Spotted Doe through narrowed eyes. “You
heard this? Why didn’t Woman-Who-Waddles
tell me?”

“I am the only one who heard. They spoke
outside our lodge and didn’t know I was inside.
I heard everything. Little Sparrow told him you
were cruel, that you forced her to become your whore. She said . ..”

“Enough! Go now! See to Summer Moon. I will speak to Red Cloud myself.”

“He knows nothing of what I have just told you,” Spotted Doe warned. “Forget her, Wind
Rider. I am all the woman you need.”

Her hands clung to him, and he shook
himself free. She stood and watched, a sly
smile curving her lips as he strode toward
Red Cloud’s lodge.

Wind Rider rattled the bones outside the
door and waited politely to be invited inside.
When the invitation came he ducked beneath the opening and sat cross-legged opposite the
great chief.

“I want to know about my woman,” he said,
not waiting for the chief to speak first, as was the custom. “Why have you sent her away?”

^“
A
soldier from the fort came for her. He said
if I let her go, the commission would view it as
a gesture of friendship.”

“He lied!”

“We shall see,” Red Cloud said cryptically.
“Future treaties depend upon the release of all
white captives.”

“Little Sparrow was not a captive; she is my
wife. Did she wish to go with the blue coat?”

Red Cloud shrugged. “It did not matter what
she wished.”

“The blue coat will return with many more of his kind. I saw with my own eyes what they did
to the Cheyenne camp. They will do the same
to our village.”

“The soldiers will not find us. Tomorrow we
will move our village to another place, a place
deeper in the Badlands, where buffalo have
been reported. Go home, Wind Rider. You
have no need for a white wife when you have
Spotted Doe. She will give you strong sons and
daughters.”

“Just tell me one thing, Red Cloud. Did Little
Sparrow go willingly with the blue coat?”

Being a shrewd man, Red Cloud gave the
answer he thought would best serve the People
and Wind Rider. He didn’t consider it a lie. If
Wind Rider thought his wife went willingly,
he would not grieve for her, he would turn to
Spotted Doe for solace, as it should be. “Little
Sparrow seemed most eager to leave. That is all
I can tell you.” He picked up his pipe, bringing the conversation to an end. Wind Rider had no recourse but to leave. He walked back to his lodge a bitter man.

“I am happy to see you have returned safely. Did you count many coup against the enemy?”
Coyote crossed paths with Wind Rider and
stopped to speak with him.

“The enemy are more numerous than blades of grass upon the prairie. If we kill one, two more take his place.”

“Red Cloud is ready to negotiate a peace treaty if the commission presents one that
is fair.”

”Ha! That will never happen. My greatest fear
is that one day all Plains Indians will be driven to reservations.”

“Perhaps I will join the great chiefs in
heaven and walk the spirit path before that
day arrives,” Coyote predicted. “Your father
was a great warrior, Wind Rider. I mourn
with you.”

The village moved the next day. Wind Rider
had little time to think about Hannah. But
when they reached their destination and the
village settled down to normal activities, his
mind searched frantically for the truth about Hannah. Had she really wanted to leave badly enough to lie about her treatment? Never had
he treated her cruelly or abused her, not even when he had first taken her captive. He cared
for her. He’d made her his wife, not his whore.
Why would she say such terrible things? Had
she also lied about the man she had run away
from? No, that much was true; he had seen
the result of her master’s abuse himself. His confusion had turned from pain to incredible
anger after Red Cloud had told him that Little
Sparrow seemed most eager to leave.

Summer Moon had been invited to share
Woman-Who-Waddles’s lodge, and Wind Rider
had given permission. She had settled into her
new home and seemed to get along well with
her Sioux sisters. Mourning rituals demanded
that she slash her arms and cut her hair, but
the disfiguring wounds she had inflicted upon
herself were beginning to heal. Wind Rider also
noticed that Coyote was taking an uncommon
interest in the young widow.

But Wind Rider was restless. His heart and
body dwelt in different places. Try though he
might, he could not forget Hannah. He was
torn, torn between his Indian upbringing and his white heritage. Part of him wanted to leave the People and find Hannah, and part of him wanted to forget Hannah ever existed and continue to fight the enemy. Matters did not improve when he could summon neither the
passion nor the will to make love to Spotted
Doe. He did not want her. Spotted Doe grew so angry over his neglect that she threatened
to divorce him.

The situation finally reached a head when Spotted Doe forced a confrontation. “I should
have joined with Runs-Like-A-Deer,” she spat
angrily. “He would not become obsessed with
a woman who hated him.”

Wind Rider stared at her. Was it true? Did
Hannah really hate him? “Perhaps it would be best if you did divorce me,” he said with a lack
of any real interest. “I cannot find comfort in
a woman’s body right now. You are beautiful
and desirable, Spotted Doe, but another man would appreciate you more than I.”

Spotted Doe had had about all she could
take. After Little Sparrow left she had natu
rally assumed that Wind Rider would turn to
her for comfort, but it had not happened. She
searched his face, seeing things she had not
noticed before. She had always known he was white, but until now she had never realized just
how very much he looked like a white man. He
had not one Indian feature or trait. His skin
was golden, true, but the color was due entirely
to the sun. His eyes were silver, not black or
brown, and he was taller than most Indians. It
suddenly occurred to her that she didn’t want
a child who looked white.

“You are right,” she said with scathing contempt, “I am sure another man would appreci
ate me more than you. I was blinded by your
handsome features, but I do not want a man
who does not want me. You are white. Cut
Nose spoke the truth when he said you cannot change the blood flowing through your veins.
You fight for the People now, but one day your loyalty will change.” Bitterness made her voice
harsh. “I divorce you, Wind Rider. I hope Runs-
Like-A-Deer still wants me. Go find your white
woman, if you must. I wish you joy of her.”

Wind Rider said nothing as Spotted Doe
gathered her belongings. Once she left his
lodge everyone in the village would know
she had divorced him. But he did not care. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. The foundation upon which he had built his life lay in
shambles. He no longer knew who or what he
was: Cheyenne or white, Wind Rider or Ryder
Larson. His Indian father was dead. There
was only his sister now . .. and Hannah. After
White Feather’s tragic death he felt his ties to the Indians unraveling. His thoughts were in turmoil, his mind troubled. Never in his adult
life had he felt such overwhelming confusion.
Not since he had first arrived at White Feather’s village as a young boy.

Spotted Doe left the lodge without bidding
Wind Rider good-bye. She saw no reason to tell
him she had lied about Little Sparrow. Let him go through life thinking the woman he cared for hated him, she thought spitefully.

Wind Rider watched without emotion as
Spotted Doe left his lodge. He felt nothing but
relief. He had married two women and made
them both miserable. Now he was alone. He
had always seen himself as a loner, without a
wife or children to mourn his passing. He had
hinted as much to his sister many moons ago,
before he left the Cheyenne village.

Tears Like Rain ... Abby. How he longed to
see his sister. He would have a niece or neph
ew by now, he realized abruptly. Abby would have liked Hannah, he thought with a touch of sadness. Bitterly, he shoved the notion from his
brain. Hannah didn’t want him. She hated him.
She was as far out of his reach as the moon.
Or was she?

“Something troubles you, my brother.” Coy
ote approached Wind Rider cautiously. Since Wind Rider had returned and found his wife
gone he hadn’t been the same man. He had
seemed more relieved than annoyed that Spot
ted Doe had divorced him and was now being
courted by Runs-Like-A-Deer.

“Many things trouble me,” Wind Rider
acknowledged.

“You mourn your woman.” It was a state
ment rather than a question.

“I mourn the loss of my identity. I no longer
know who I am,” Wind Rider admitted with
self-derision. “I hear voices calling to me and
I know not where they come from. My mind is
torn, my soul overburdened.”

“She did not want to go,” Coyote said.

Wind Rider looked at him sharply. “What!”
Was he referring to Little Sparrow? “How do
you know this?”

“She told me.”

“I find that difficult to believe. Her heart is false. Like most white eyes, she speaks with a
forked tongue.”