Wild Desire

“Seems I will,” Thunder Hawk said, his voice showing how disgruntled he was.

“Take me with you,” Sky Dancer said in a rush of words. “My father would never allow me to go. He kept me from those sorts of opportunities. He kept me too often to myself. He did not trust allowing me to leave the village, ever, without escorts. I have dreamed often of being in school, learning from books. Please Thunder Hawk? Take me with you? We can learn together.”

There was a sudden hushed silence in the hogan.

Then Thunder Hawk laughed absently, then happily. He could not believe the turns of events. Suddenly—oh, so suddenly—he saw a true reason for going to school: his wife. Through her eyes, he saw the importance of schooling. And it would be a wonderful thing learning together!

Thunder Hawk smiled at Sky Dancer. “You will go to school today with your husband,” he said. He smiled over at his father, and then at his mother as she came to Sage’s side and locked an arm through his, her smile warm, serene, and beautiful.

“I will go and see that two horses are readied for travel,” Sage said, his eyes dancing.

After he left, Leonida gave Thunder Hawk a hug.

Then Leonida took Sky Dancer into her embrace. “You have worked a miracle here this morning with my son,” she whispered to Sky Dancer. “And you have just as quickly won the heart of my husband.”

Sky Dancer returned the embrace, finding it wonderful to finally feel accepted. And she was finally going to get to attend school! Marrying Thunder Hawk may have been the best thing that she had ever done in her life.

Sky Dancer and Thunder Hawk rode away from the village, laughing and chatting merrily about the upcoming day’s events. Thunder Hawk was already explaining the normal day’s routine in the schoolhouse. He was anxious to share something with his wife that she had wanted for so long. He did not think once more on how much he had hated schooling. Everything was different now that she would be sharing it with him.

They rode on and on, sending their horses into occasional hard gallops, then easing them back into slower trots so that they could talk again.

Then a strained silence fell between them as they saw many horsemen quickly approaching, the sun reflecting off the barrels of their rifles. They did not have time to even wonder much about these white men who came and drew tight rein in a circle around Thunder Hawk and Sky Dancer.

“Who are you?” Thunder Hawk asked guardedly, knowing not to reach for his sheathed rifle. “What do you want? Let us pass. My wife and I are on our way to school. We do not wish to be late.”

“You ain’t attendin’ school today, Injun,” one of the men said. “You’re under arrest.”

Sky Dancer blanched.

Thunder Hawk’s mouth went dry.

“Arrested?” Thunder Hawk asked. “What for? What are you accusing me of?” He looked from man to man, now figuring they were a posse. He recognized one man, and then another from Fort Defiance. He had seen them ride with posses for the fort before.

But they had always been after renegades, or white criminals. Thunder Hawk did not see how he fit into either of those categories, and then his gut twisted when he suddenly remembered the fifteen stolen horses that he had used for his bride price.

He also recalled having heard that Damon Stout had lodged a complaint at the fort because of the missing horses. And not only the fifteen that he had stolen, also the others that were stolen when his father led them in the night raid.

One of the men reached over and handcuffed Thunder Hawk’s wrists. “What are you guilty of, Injun? Let me see now,” he said, his pockmarked face leaning into Thunder Hawk’s. “There’s horse thieving, and then sabotaging the train. It took some guts for you to steal that much dynamite to blow up the train last night.”

“Train?” Thunder Hawk said, raising an eyebrow. “Dynamite? I know nothing about it. Nothing.”

“And so you’re now guilty of lyin’, too,” the man said, shrugging.

Sky Dancer edged her horse closer to Thunder Hawk’s. “They cannot take you away,” she said, sobbing. “Please tell me they are not taking you away.”

When Thunder Hawk turned his eyes to her, he found that it was hard to find the words that were required to make her accept that this was happening. He did not understand it, himself, much less know a way to make her see the logic of it. Except that he was Navaho. It was easy for the white man always to cast blame on the Navaho.

“Pretty lady, just you be on your way back to your home,” one of the posse said as he slapped her horse’s rump. “Or else you’ll find yourself in the same trouble as your husband.”

The man scratched his chin. “When did you take a wife, Thunder Hawk?” he asked. “I thought you were just a mere schoolboy.”

It was taking all of the strength that Thunder Hawk could muster up not to lash back at these men, but he knew that he would only make things worse, and his wrists were secured with handcuffs.

Then a thought flashed through his mind. Proof! He had absolute proof that he was not anywhere near the train last night.

“You said a train was blown up last night?” he asked guardedly, just to be sure.

“Yep, and you did one hell of a job,” one of the men said. “It’s still smolderin’.”