Mounting his horse, he rode away. But this time, he traveled in a slow lope, his head hanging low.
Chapter 27
When she is absent,
I no more
Delight in all that pleased before.
—GEORGE LYTTELTON
Exhausted, having stopped only long enough to take drinks from the rivers and eat small portions of the food that she had prepared for her and Adam’s outing to Canyon de Chelley, Stephanie rode into the outskirts of Runner’s village.
After Runner had ridden away in a hard gallop, she had not seen him again. But that had not stopped her pursuit of him. Determined for him to hear her out, she had had only one destination in mind after leaving Adam back at Canyon de Chelley, Runner’s village. He should be there ahead of her and she would force him to listen, even if it was at gunpoint.
Her trembling fingers went to the derringer that was holstered at her waist. Yes, if Runner left her no other recourse than to draw the gun on him to force him to listen to her, so be it. She loved him. She could not lose him, especially since the loss would have been as a result of her brother’s cruel schemes.
Stephanie’s head drooped. After having only slept for a few moments when she had stopped to eat, she was finding it hard to stay awake, even though she could feel a silence falling on all sides of her as she worked her way through the village and past people who had left their hogans to stare at her.
She knew that she had to be a fretful sight to look at. She hadn’t had a bath in two days and her hair hung around her face in loose tangles. As she ran her tongue across her lips she could taste dust and the salt of sweat. She could even smell the perspiration that had dried on her blouse.
It was almost laughable that she could dare come to see Runner in such a shape, when what she wanted most was to impress upon him the fact that she knew that he loved her. She doubted that any man would give her a second glance today, much less confess his love for her.
But if Runner truly loved her, as he had told her more than once, he should be able to look past her appearance, and Adam’s lies, and grab her up into his arms and kiss her hurt away.
“Just a little farther,” she whispered to herself, as she glanced up and saw Runner’s hogan not all that far away.
Her gaze shifted and she felt a knot forming inside her stomach when Sage stepped from Pure Blossom’s hogan, Leonida at his side.
Through the haze of her weary eyes, Stephanie was close enough to tell that Leonida had been crying. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were bloodshot.
A frightened tremor raced through Stephanie when she saw the rage in Sage’s eyes, and had to wonder at that. Did he hate her so much that the mere sight of her angered him?
Then her heart skipped a nervous beat. She turned her gaze back to Runner’s hogan. Surely he had arrived before her; he had told them everything.
She was now filled with fear, for who was to say what she had ridden into? Were they so angry at her they might even scalp her? Yet, why would Sage be angry? He hadn’t wanted Runner to marry her anyway.
No, it was something else.
After finally reaching Sage and Leonida, Stephanie drew a tight rein and slid clumsily from her saddle. She felt her knees buckling, and so reached for the saddle horn and pulled herself up, to her full height.
She leaned dizzily against the horse, then was seized by a shadow. Taking a large gulp of air, she fell to the ground in a dead faint.
“My Lord,” Leonida said, rushing from Sage’s side. She fell to her knees beside Stephanie and cradled her head on her lap. “Stephanie. Wake up, Stephanie. What’s wrong?”
She looked over Stephanie, wincing at the frightful state that she was in. It looked as though she had been to hell and back. Leonida could tell that something had driven Stephanie hard, and the reason why would remain a mystery to her.
Sage came toward Stephanie. He stared down at her for a moment, then sighed and grabbed her up into his arms and carried her into Runner’s hogan, the only available place to take her.
Leonida followed Sage into Runner’s hogan. It has been a day of days she fretted to herself. First Thunder Hawk springs a wife on his parents. Then Pure Blossom springs her own surprise on her parents. And now this? she despaired to herself. Although Stephanie was less than family, the fact that she had come to the Navaho in such dishevelment meant that this had been her destination.
Leonida knew what had drawn her there: Runner.
She poured water into a basin and grabbed up a cloth and went to the bedside, where Sage was unfastening the two top buttons of Stephanie’s shirt, to make it easier for her to breathe.
Leonida sat down on the bed beside Stephanie. “I wonder where she’s been?” she said, gently washing Stephanie’s face. “It looks as though she may have traveled many miles. If I didn’t know better, I would think that she’s been without sleep and has scarcely eaten.” She glanced up at Sage. “What do you think, Sage? Don’t you find this all very peculiar? Stephanie doesn’t seem the sort to behave irrationally.”
“I am sure it has something to do with Runner,” Sage said, going to squat on his haunches beside the fireplace. He began placing wood on the grate, stacking it so that it would light easily once he set a match to it. “I only hope our son is all right. She could have been coming to us with news—”