“I think that already you have come to understand my people, nidee. Yes, I do not like houses either. I will sleep outside, even though my mother will not like it.”
I wanted to ask him why he had come. His voice held no inflection of affection when he spoke of his mother, although perhaps that was because he was an Apache, and not accustomed to any outward show of emotion. I said impulsively, “I wish Little Bird had come with us!” and he gave me a guarded look that might have held some pleasure.
“Little Bird does not like my mother. My mother does not like her. My wife is happier with her people. But I am glad you are fond of her, as she is of you. In the short time you lived with us you learned our ways very quickly, little sister.”
I had the feeling that he might have said more if Lucas had not swung
his horse around and ridden back to us.
As usual, I felt a surge of resentment at his flickering look that seemed to tell me how untidy and unkempt I must look, with strands of hair escaping from my braids.
“It ain’t but a short distance now, but we’ll stop for a while to rest the horses. You want to take a bath, change clothes, there’s a small stream back there, behind those trees.”
Unconsciously, my hand went up to brush tendrils of hair from my face, and his mouth tilted at the corner.
“Give you ten minutes on your own, sister. And then I’m comin’ in too. Need to wash off some of the trail dirt.”
Under his sardonic gaze I took the small pack containing my new clothes from the back of the horse I had chosen and walked, without a backward glance, in the direction at which he’d pointed. So I had to make myself more presentable before I met his mother, did I? I could almost have wished I had those ugly clothes I’d worn on my journey from Boston. Ramon would certainly not want to marry me if he had seen me then!
But in spite of the anger that Lucas could always arouse in me, the stream was cool and refreshing, and I did feel better for being clean again. Remembering my promise to the shaman, I put on the traditional Apache dress he had given me, and combed my wet hair so that it hung loosely down my back. Vanity, I chided myself, but I could not help staring at my reflection in the water and wondering what Elena Kordes would think when she saw me.
Part IV:
The Valley of Hidden Desires
Twenty-One
My first impression, as I saw Elena Kordes walk down the steps of the rambling Spanish-style adobe and wood house, was that she could not possibly be as young as she looked.
There was still light in the sky, but the lamps had been lit, and formed a background for the jewels that sparkled in the elaborate Spanish-style comb she wore in her high-piled black hair. They were rubies, like the stones she wore around her neck.
“My sons!”
Her voice was rich and musical, only slightly accented.
“Si, madre—your sons.”
Was it my imagination, or was there a faintly sardonic note in Julio’s voice?
I had the feeling that I was watching something carefully staged as Julio went forward to accept his mother’s embrace with a casual one of his own.
“Lucas!” He had been standing at the bottom of the steps, his head tilted slightly to watch her, but now as he caught her against him I felt strangely awkward, as if I was watching some private performance I had no right to witness.
“You’re more beautiful than ever, Elena!”
She laughed like a young girl, her hands going up to touch his face as he released her. “And you, what is your excuse for staying away so long this time? I’ve missed you. We have all missed you.”
Again the words that my father had written flashed through my mind at that instant—“Lucas adores his mother…”
And certainly, as he looked down at her, his face looked suddenly young and unguarded. In the rapidly dimming light I could not decide what the expression he wore for just a moment could mean, and the next minute he was smiling at her teasingly.
“I think I stay away only to hear you say that when I return!” His tone was light, but it held an undercurrent of emotion I had never heard in his voice before. His hands touched her shoulders lightly, and close behind Julio said softly, “Is it not touching to see such devotion between mother and son?”
I thought he was jealous, and could not blame him. Those two…
And then, for the first time, Elena Kordes noticed me.
“But that is not Little Bird! Julio, have you taken another wife already?”