Broken Feather Page 9

  “I’m so frightened,” Vanessa murmured, as Broken Feather settled beside her in the tent. “I tried to be brave about all of this, but I did not know what it would be like having a husband demanding things of me that…” she didn’t finish, as she started to sob. “I don’t know if I can face going back,” she whimpered into Broken Feather’s shoulder as she placed her arms around his neck for comfort. “I…I thought it would be like when you kissed me. You were so kind and gentle. Jason didn’t even kiss me once!”

  “He is crazy to have assumed you would like what he was doing without showing some kind of affection or concern for your feelings. Yet, he probably didn’t care if you liked it or not. It is one thing to take a woman, whether she is your wife or not, and another thing to make love to her. I want you to know that when I kissed you, it was out of love, not a need to satisfy my lust for a woman.”

  Vanessa stilled. After a long pause she took in her breath. “Are you telling me that you love me?” she asked, while realizing the answer when she remembered the way Broken Feather had treated her from the beginning.

  “You must know I do,” Broken Feather sighed. “What little good it does me. You would rather return to Jason than to risk going to Mexico with me.”

  “You know if I did that, I could never face my father or any of my friends again. I could even be arrested. While I want to be with you, because of the bond that has grown between us, it could only be in a setting where you appeared to be my servant, not my lover. Otherwise I would be cast out by society for wanting to be with a black man, let alone an Indian! The laws are quite strict on that point.”

  “And yet, I am shunned from society because I am black and an Indian, whether I am with you or not. Apparently our bond is not strong enough for you to take on some of the burden I have experienced my whole life!”

  “You make me sound cruel!” Vanessa said, sitting up. “I don’t want to hurt you, Broken Feather, but you must know it is impossible for us to be a couple beyond a working relationship.”

  “Like me being a scout, protecting you, saving you, bringing you to your destination safely. That is all I am to you, isn’t it?”

  “No…I can’t deny I have very fond feelings for you. I was fond of a slave we had when I was young and discovered how painful that turned out to be. It taught me just because I liked someone, did not make it right, especially when society is against it. We all have our place, Broken Feather. We have to remember that.”

  “You can remember it, but I won’t! I have been fighting all my life to fit into the white man’s world, and nothing I can do will change their opinion of me. I have fought beside the soldiers to get rid of my own kind. I have saved your father’s life on several occasions. I have been a dutiful soldier, following the rules the white man gives me, and none of that is taken into consideration, even to make me a part of my own tribe in Indian Territory. I don’t even have a place in Indian society, let alone white man’s society, merely because I have black blood in my veins. And now you, too, reject me because of it.”

  Broken Feather started to pull away from Vanessa in an attempt to leave the tent, but she grabbed his hand.

  “Don’t leave, Broken Feather. If you truly love me the way you claim, you have to help me!”

  “Help you do what? Return to a man who knows nothing about showing a woman love?”

  “I wish he had treated me the way you have, during our journey here. You have always been kind and gentle. It gave me hope that being married wouldn’t be as bad as I feared it might.”

  “Yet you would choose him over me.”

  “Only because I can’t choose you, even if you are the one I want.”

  “Am I the one you want?” he asked, trying to grasp at a little hope.

  “I don’t think I could bear it if I had to see you leave, the way Zack was forced to leave me,” she whimpered. “If I do go back, you have to promise to stay at the ranch. I will make it a stipulation to Jason that the only way I will agree to remain there is if he hires you on as a worker on his ranch. That way, if he does mistreat me, I know I will have a friend who will help me escape for good! My wedding night was just a shock to me. Maybe it will get better.”

  “So I must remain and watch you with another man, while you are the only woman I could ever love?” he moaned.

  “It is the only way I can make sure you will be with me,” Vanessa cried, and suddenly she was flinging herself into Broken Feather’s arms and kissing him. “Say you won’t leave me,” she begged. “I need you Broken Feather. You can’t leave.”

  Broken feather, buried his head into Vanessa’s long, flowing hair, tangling his fingers in it, and then cupping her face in his hands and bringing her into a long, passionate kiss. This was maddening, he thought, but he couldn’t help himself, even if she did go back, he needed to be near her. At least she was admitting to a deep feeling for him, which was more than he had hoped for, considering the situation.

  “I will never leave you,” he breathed, as he began kissing Vanessa’s face.

  Slowly, his kisses progressed to her neck and then he was unfastening her dress, pulling her clothes away so he could have access to her softness, as his lips continued to wander over her.

  Vanessa knew what she was allowing Broken Feather to do would be considered adultery, yet the thought did not daunt her. If Jason ever found out, he could just divorce her, and then she would be done with him, she thought, angrily. Only she feared if he did find out, he might kill Broken Feather, so she vowed he would never learn of it, as she began to respond to Broken Feather’s touch.

  Broken Feather knew this would be the last time he would be able to touch Vanessa in this manner, and beyond his love leaping to fulfill itself, he wanted Vanessa to discover that he was nothing like Jason, and that he wished to please her in every way. If she ever submitted to her husband again, he wanted to give her something to compare it with, and so this time, he did not restrain himself. He let all of his love pour out on Vanessa as he introduced her to the way a husband should make love to his wife.

  Vanessa marveled at the way Broken Feather was making her feel, causing her to desire to become part of what he was offering her. His seduction of her made her heart leap and skip a beat at every touch, and when she felt him take her completely, her body rose to the pleasure, heightening her own desire, wanting all that Broken Feather could give. In that moment of complete fulfillment, she felt more than just enjoyment of making love to Broken Feather. She truly felt a very part of him as well and wished she did not have to go back to Jason, hating the fact that society was keeping her from having her fondest wish. However, she knew better than to hope for a change in society’s opinion of the black man, let alone the Indian, so she decided to enjoy this closeness as long as she could before she returned to the life of a rancher’s wife.

  Vanessa discovered, now, why Jason had desired her several times in the night. Surprisingly, it seemed she could not get enough of Broken Feather loving her, and never wanted the magic to end. She submitted willingly as often as Broken Feather approached her for added ecstasy, and welcomed his every touch, caress and expression of the love he felt for her. Vanessa realized she loved him too, but it was an unpromising sort of love and surely should never be encouraged, despite the fact that she was encouraging it.

  As Broken Feather carried her away to a world of wondrous discoveries about how he could make her body and soul feel, Vanessa never wanted to return to reality. She could not face it if she could never share this with Broken Feather again, which made her all the more anxious to have him remain at the ranch with her, even if it meant she would have to submit to Jason’s wishes.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Something is not right,” Broken Feather almost whispered as they got closer to the ranch.

  He stopped the wagon and jumped down, searching the ground, as Vanessa sat and wondered at what he was doing.

  “A band of Indians have been on this road,” her murmured, as he climbed bac
k up in the wagon.

  They hadn’t remained at the camp overnight, but instead, had decided to return to the ranch before dark. Now the sun was hovering in the west in the distance, and Jason began to notice extra horse tracks on the road, covering the tracks his wagon had made earlier when he first started out. Not only that, but the tracks were of unshod horses, a sure sign that the riders of those horses were most likely Indians, not white men, who usually kept shoes on their horses. He knew they were not just a small herd of wild horses, because of the depth of the prints, indicating they carried riders.

  “I’m going to leave you here with the wagon and hide it behind that cove of trees, and go ahead on foot, just to make sure that no danger lies ahead,” he told Vanessa, as he led the horse and wagon over to the trees. “This is too close to white men’s property for a band of Indians to just be passing through. I believe this may be a raiding party. You stay here. If I do not come back, I suggest you head back to the fort, because it will mean the worst has happened.”

  “Please don’t leave me here,” Vanessa begged.

  “I have no choice. I need to see what is going on at the ranch. These are fresh tracks, and there are more Indians in this group than Jason has workers at the ranch. They won’t have a chance if they are caught unawares. I just hope I am not too late to help them.”

  Broken Feather pulled the rifle out of the wagon, filled his pouch, slung over his shoulder, with ammunition, and gave Vanessa one long look. She jumped down from the wagon, flinging her arms around Broken Feather’s neck.

  “I love you, Broken Feather. Don’t get yourself killed! How will I know how long I should wait for you?”

  Broken Feather held her against him, thrilling at her confession of love. He didn’t have time to savor the moment, though. “If I am not back here by morning, or you see a band of Indians passing through before that, it will mean I have not accomplished my goal. Hopefully they will not see the wagon if they do come through this way, and once that happens, you must leave as soon as they are out of sight.”

  “I’ll come to the ranch, then,” she whimpered. “I won’t leave until I discover what happened to you, if you don’t come back or I see the Indians leaving.”

  “It would be best if you didn’t,” he mumbled. “You might not like what you see, but knowing you, I doubt you will listen to me,” he shrugged. “Just do not come until morning if I don’t return, or you haven’t seen the Indians pass. They may go another direction, and you won’t know. Just wait until morning for me to return, before you take off, if you don’t see any Indians pass by. Indians don’t like to raid at night, unless it is a full moon, so you should be safe enough overnight.”

  “You are scaring me, Broken Feather,” she shuddered.

  Broken Feather gave her a parting kiss, and then started sprinting off in the direction of the ranch, holding his rifle in one hand. He decided he would stay a safe distance, as he approached, taking cover to discover what was happening there, if anything.

  As he got closer, he could see the front yard clearly. A collection of Comanche ponies were gathered in front of the house, painted in war paint. On the front porch, they had assembled their prisoners, who appeared to have their hands tied behind their backs, and the Comanche braves were ransacking the house, while others were gathering up some of the horses.

  Broken Feather counted the Indian ponies to discover how many Comanche there were, compared to how many he could see in the yard. He assumed there must be some in the house as well. He counted a dozen war ponies and could see three Comanche braves with the ranch horses, two watching the captured ranch hands, and assumed the others were in the house, gathering whatever they wished to take with them. They may decide to take the ranch hands as prisoners and use them for ransom, or just torcher them to death, for the pleasure they would get out of it. Only that would probably come later, after bringing them and the horses, along with what they plundered, back to their camp.

  Broken Feather decided to wait until the braves started coming out of the house to load what they stole onto their horses. He sat quietly, where he was hiding, the end of his rifle barrel propped up on the top of a tree stump, while he lay behind the stump, viewing the Indians through the sights of his rifle, making sure he had a clear shot at each one of them.

  He could hear them laughing and talking among themselves in their own language about what they planned to do to the white men, once they brought them back to their camp. It didn’t sound pretty, and Broken Feather was well aware of all the horrible things the braves delighted in doing to make someone suffer beyond endurance. It would be a long torturous death for all of them, and if they didn’t kill the housekeeper, they would most likely rape and use her until she wished she was dead, he thought.

  Since they assumed there was no one to stop what they were doing, the band took their time, gathering what they wanted and bringing it out to the horses, using one of the horses they were stealing as a pack horse, tying gunnysacks filled with what they had taken, to ropes flung over the horses’ backs.

  Now they were all mounting up, getting ready to ride out, leading the horses, and the prisoners, whom they had tied together with a lead rope to pull the group behind them. It was the moment Broken Feather was waiting for, and he started picking off the braves one at a time, before they had a chance to even lift their bows from their backs, since they hadn’t expected a fight. The captured horses jerked from their lead ropes, the moment the gunfire began, causing more confusion as they stampeded around the yard. All the prisoners fell to the ground, keeping out of the way of fire and the Comanche were starting to lift their bows, but didn’t know where to shoot, since Broken Feather was too far away for them to even see. Those who weren’t shot off of their horses, were now fleeing away to escape more gunfire. Broken Feather had picked off at least nine of the Comanche.

  As he stood up, and headed down to the ranch yard, the men were untying themselves, and scrambling to their feet again. Jason ran out to greet Broken Feather, grabbing his hand in a handshake of gratitude.

  “You saved our lives,” Jason exclaimed. “How did you know…” He stopped. “You are by yourself. Couldn’t you find Vanessa?” he asked suddenly.

  “She is safe. When I was returning with her, I saw the Comanche tracks, and assumed it was a band of raiders, so I came to investigate, leaving Vanessa behind with the wagon.”

  “Well, you made it back just in time. How can I ever repay you?”

  “Actually, there is a way,” Broken Feather replied. “I was wondering if you had a job for me. I have decided to leave the army, since they have not kept their promise to give me land with the Seminole tribe. I don’t know much about cattle, but I am good at training horses, if you could use me.”

  “I wouldn’t mind having someone like you at the ranch, to help protect us from the Comanche, even if you didn’t have anything else to offer,” Jason smiled.

  “Then I will go back and get Vanessa, so she doesn’t worry. I told her if I didn’t come back by morning she needed to head back to the fort. She will be relieved that everyone is safe now.”

  “You did a good job, Broken Feather. I can see why Sam trusted you to bring his daughter safely to me.”

  Broken Feather merely shrugged and raised his eyebrows, remembering what Vanessa had told him about her wedding night. At least this way, Jason would not suspect what was behind Broken Feather’s true reason for asking for work, which he may have if Vanessa had ended up insisting that Broken Feather remain at the ranch. Now that she wouldn’t have to demand Jason let him stay, there would be no suspicions on Jason’s part.

  “Take one of the horses then,” Jason said. “The boys and I will start cleaning up the mess those Indians made, and bury what heathens you managed to kill.”

  Broken Feather swung up on one of the horses, bareback, and guided it out of the ranch yard, eager to return to Vanessa so she wouldn’t worry about him. When she saw him coming, she ran towards him, and he leaped from the
horse before it even managed to stop, gathering Vanessa up in his arms.

  “Everyone is alright,” he told her. “I got there in time to stop the Comanche from taking everyone prisoner, and out of gratitude, Jason gave me a job at the ranch. Now I can remain here to make sure you stay safe, and that Jason does not mistreat you. It is a lucky thing, because this way, he won’t be concerned why I truly requested to be hired on at the ranch.”

  “Good,” Vanessa smiled. “I will have demands of my own, once I return, though, if Jason wants me to stay,” she told him.

  “Did you mean what you said about loving me?” he asked eagerly.

  “Of course, I did,” Vanessa giggled. “I don’t know how I am going to refrain from showing how I feel about you while you are at the ranch. If Jason ever found out about us, though, I would hate to think what he might do.”

  “Then we must be very careful,” Broken Feather, told her.

  Then he was enfolding her in his arms, and finding her lips, wishing he did not have to take her back to the ranch, as he found himself drowning in the kiss, which revitalized him and gave him more of a purpose for living.

  “I don’t know what will become of all this,” Vanessa murmured when their lips parted. “I just know I have to have you near me, Broken Feather. Somehow we will find a way.”

  Only Broken Feather feared that day would never arrive. She was going back to Jason and he was her legal husband. How could they ever find a way, he wondered?

  Broken Feather tied the horse to the back of the wagon and the two started out again, both filled with their own concerns and neither knowing what the future held for them. When they arrived at the ranch, Jason came out to greet them. Broken Feather noticed that all the dead Indians had been removed and he could see a few painted horses in with the rest of the ranch horses.