“I have seen a prickly pear cactuses cozy up to arctic bearberry,” he said. “Southern dogwoods bloom just down the dune from northern ash pines.”
Candy’s eyes widened when several great herons and eastern woodp
eckers took flight from the sand dune. “It seems to be a paradise,” she murmured.
When Two Eagles did not respond but instead looked solemnly at her, she wondered what had caused the change.
“What is it?” she asked softly.
“I brought you here, alone, to tell you something else,” he said. “I believe it is time to explain to you how Hawk Woman came to be among my people, and why she must be protected at all times from being seen by white people.” Two Eagles took Candy’s hand and held it on his lap. “While she is safely inside the boundaries of my village, where no white man can come without permission, I feel the woman is safe enough. She only leaves the village long enough to bathe, and the sentries posted at strategic points keep all the women safe by the river. I am the one who made the command that she not work in the fields with the rest of the women. She must be guarded against the man who would probably kill her if he ever found her.”
“Who is this man that Hawk Woman fears so much?” Candy asked.
“When I found Hawk Woman, she was called by the name Sara Thaxton,” Two Eagles said. “She was dehydrated, sunburned, and terrified. She knew not that I was a friend, even when I told her in her own language that I was.”
“But you brought her to your village anyway?” Candy asked, searching his eyes.
“Not until she felt comfortable enough to tell me what had happened to her. Only then did I bring her to the village,” Two Eagles said, nodding.
“What had happened?” Candy asked.
“She had been part of a wagon train,” Two Eagles said. “She became the lone survivor after Sioux renegades attacked and killed everyone and burned the wagons.”
“But how could she have survived if everyone else had been killed?” Candy asked.
“Just like you, she managed to escape,” Two Eagles said. “She was trying to find a safe shelter when two wagons happened along, one driven by a man named Albert Cohen, and the other by a woman he introduced as his wife.”
“But she ended up being saved by you,” Candy said. “How? What happened to that man and his wife?”
“Before I found her, she had been forced to travel with Albert Cohen and his family,” Two Eagles said. “At first she was happy they’d found her, but when she discovered who was inside the two covered wagons, she became alarmed. There were eight women and several children, and she was told that those women were his wives, and the children were borne of those wives and were all his, too.”
“The man had eight wives?” Candy gasped, her eyes widening.
“He professed to have eight wives,” Two Eagles said, nodding. “You see, he explained to Hawk Woman that he was of the Mormon faith, whose belief it was that a man should take several wives to bear him many children.”
“Yes, I have heard of this practice,” Candy said. “So what then did Hawk Woman—I mean Sara Thaxton—do?”
“She was mortified by this man who had such power over women. Hawk Woman then asked why he and his family traveled alone, and not with other Mormons,” Two Eagles said. “He explained to her that he had been banished from the Mormon people for something he had done, but he refused to tell Hawk Woman what that was.”
“So it was then that she fled?” Candy asked.
“She didn’t want to travel with him, but she decided that she had no choice until someone else came along that she could ask for help,” Two Eagles said. “But she soon realized that she was there to stay, that he was not going to let her leave, and after one night of forced sex with the man, she managed to flee into the night. She was alone for many days before he found her again. And then she was with him for six winters before she found a way to flee again, this time successfully.”
“And so that is why she is here now,” Candy murmured.
“I felt compassion for the woman at what she had been forced to endure and offered to protect her from Albert Cohen if she wanted to live among my people,” Two Eagles said. “She agreed, and as a part of the plan to protect her, she left behind forever the name she was born with. She became Hawk Woman. I gave her that name because the day I found her, several hawks had been circling overhead as though protecting her.”
“And so you took over the chore of protecting her,” Candy said. “Like you vowed to protect me.”
“It is not the same at all,” Two Eagles said. “Soon after she became a part of my people’s lives, it became known to me that she was in love with me, but I felt nothing but pity for her and could never return her love. She has tried everything within her power to make me love her, but the longer she is among my people, the more embittered a woman she proves herself to be. I can never return her attention, or love. But I had vowed to keep her safe . . . and I never go back on promises.”
“And so that is how she remains at your village, still protected, even though I have seen that she is not liked by those who know the true person she is,” Candy said. She was glad that he had shared this story with her, for she felt better now about her situation. Candy now knew that Two Eagles would never abandon his love for her to pursue the other woman with the long, golden hair.
She also knew that she must continue to be wary of the woman, but she would not share Hawk Woman’s antics just yet with Two Eagles. Candy felt that she could take care of herself.
“Do you think the man is looking for her even now?” Candy asked.
“She believes he is not the sort to easily give up a woman he considers his wife,” Two Eagles said stiffly. “A woman he feels he might have impregnated again, for he would not want to risk losing a son, if a son was born of their union.”