Half Breed Haven by A. M. Van Dorn

Author:A. M. Van Dorn [Dorn, A. M. Van]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Cedar Ledge Publishing
Published: 2019-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Silence reigned inside the dwelling as outside the whoops and cries of the practicing warriors filled the gap left over from Summer Sky having gone silent. He released her face and lifted her chin with a thumb.

“You can tell me what’s really going on. It’s Crazy Elk, isn’t it? He’s the one guiding you down this folly.”

“Again, a word I do not know.”

“Stop Sky. Please.” he said in a hushed voice. She looked at him longingly on the edge of a decision he could tell. He issued a final plea hoping it would break the dam of her hesitation.

"Yes, what is happening here tonight is all Crazy Elk. It was he who told me that we must make that sacrifice, an ancient ritual practiced by one lone renegade tribe of the Mescalero. It's not something we do, but Crazy Elk was fascinated by the tales of this tribe and its barbaric practices."

“So, he wants to achieve some sort of glory by adopting the ancient ways.”

"That is only an extra boon. This ritual is his way of delaying our attack on the town."She must have seen the puzzlement in his face, and she began to talk quickly. "Just after you left we spotted smoke signals from my brother. He and our best hunters and the bulk of our warriors have been off on the Great Hunt. The signals read that the hunt was successful, and they would be returning home soon. That was hours ago. They could be here at any minute," she finished almost breathlessly.

“I don’t understand.”

Taking a deep breath, she laid a hand on his shoulder, "He wants to delay the battle so that my brother can be present for the attack. In the heat of the coming battle he intends to slay my brother and make it appear as a white man killed him in battle, and then he will assume command of our tribe as the new chief and I will be forced to become his woman."

Her eyes lowered, and a quaver ran through her voice that was hard to reconcile with the strong, commanding woman he had seen on the two occasions he had been in her presence on this day. He watched as she become downcast and struggled to sort out what she had revealed.

“I assumed that you were already his woman. His love for you was clear even when we were children.”

Summer Sky looked at him in despair. “I have been his lover. For all his faults and flaws he knows how to please a woman. But he wanted more. He wanted to take me as his wife but my heart, I discovered, belonged to another. A proud warrior whose life was devoted to the tribe. Jealous, but knowing he could not kill the man outright and anger my brother, he found another way to get rid of him.”

Blue River looked away from her face for a moment as he realized what she would tell him next as he recalled Crow Woman's tale earlier as they prepared for the rescue mission.

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