Savage Beloved

Shadow slept most of the time now.

Candy recalled Spotted Bear’s belief that Shadow might have mated with White Wolf. If so, Candy wondered how soon the pups might be born.

“I’m concerned about Shadow,” Candy said. “Have you noticed how she sleeps most of the time?”

“It is a sign of contentment,” Two Eagles said, stroking Shadow’s thick fur. He smiled at Candy. “She will be alright,” he said softly.

Candy returned his smile, then her mind drifted back to Spotted Bear. Often she had wanted to tell Two Eagles about having been helped by Spotted Bear, and how lonely he was, with only wolves sharing his life.

Some day she wanted to get the courage to tell Two Eagles her secret about the man who now saw himself as a Ghost. Oh, surely Two Eagles would take pity on him and bring him back into his world.

Yet there was the chance that Two Eagles might be offended that Candy had spent time with Spotted Bear, a man banished from their people. He might be even more angry that she had kept the truth from him.

“You are in such deep thought,” Two Eagles said, placing a finger beneath Candy’s chin and bringing her eyes around to meet his. “Do you have something you wish to talk about?”

Feeling as though he had read her thoughts, Candy almost blurted out the truth to him, but she couldn’t take the chance. She wanted nothing to spoil this happiness that she had found with him. Having Hawk Woman to worry about was enough!

“I still can’t help worrying about Shadow,” she said, hiding the truth.

“Whatever will be will be,” Two Eagles said. “You live your life, Shadow will live hers. It will be for her to choose and for you to accept.”

“Yes, I know,” Candy murmured, nodding.

She smiled as Two Eagles brought a piece of apple to her lips.

She opened her mouth and let him feed it to her. Deliciously sensual feelings swept her all over again, and she wanted nothing now but his arms around her.

She ate the piece of apple, then reached her hands to his cheeks, bringing his mouth to hers. “You taste much better than the apple,” she whispered against his lips.

He shoved the platter of food aside and swept his arms around her. He lifted her and carried her back to their bed.

Again they made soul-satisfying love.

Chapter Twenty-five

The sacred fruit forbidden!

Some cursed fraud

Of enemy hath beguiled thee.

—John Milton

Several days had passed and the harvest was completed. Everyone was pleased, because it had been a very fortunate planting season.

Candy was with Two Eagles taking a leisurely ride on their steeds in the early evening. Candy was feeling especially happy that she had participated in the harvest.

She now knew not only how to harvest corn, but also beans and pumpkins.

As she rode in the shade beside the river with Two Eagles, where tall cottonwoods stood like sentinels over the water, she recalled what she had done to help. She wanted to fix it in her memory until the next harvest season, for she never wanted to disappoint Two Eagles by failing in her duties as his wife.

After harvesting all the corn and preparing it for storage for the winter, the women had picked the beans. Still in their pods, the beans had been spread out upon a hide pegged to the ground. When the beans had dried, they were beaten with a stick to release them from the pods. Finally the beans were winnowed and then packed in bags.

After the pumpkins had been harvested, all the women sat down together in the shade of trees. Each woman took several pumpkins from the pile and prepared them in the traditional Wichita way.

The first step was to peel the pumpkins. Then some were cut spirally into strips from top to bottom, while others were cut into rings and hung on a cross-pole to dry.

After the whole pumpkin had been stripped, there was a disc left at the bottom, which was known as the “Sitting One.”