Savage Beloved

“They are fascinating,” Candy said, her eyes widening as each bird spr

ead its long, spiky tail feathers, then inflated the air sacs beneath their white breasts. The morning air was filled with loud plopping sounds. There were at least a dozen male birds involved in the ritual.

“They are displaying together in a lek, a mating ground, advertising themselves to shy, camouflaged females waiting somewhere nearby,” Two Eagles said. Then his eyes were drawn elsewhere, and he grew silent again.

Candy saw him looking at something besides the birds. She followed his gaze and saw a huge village of tepees up ahead, surrounded on three sides by birch and cottonwood trees; a meandering stream ran snakelike behind the dwellings.

Smoke spiraled lazily from the smoke holes of the lodges, and many beautiful horses munched on thick grass in a corral at the far side of the village, close to the creek.

Candy heard the steady throbbing of drums coming from the village, and wondered if those drums were being played because of Two Eagles’s arrival. Was it a good sign that they played so constantly and rhythmically? Or . . . bad?

Candy flinched as though shot when she saw several warriors ride out of the village, heading toward Candy, Two Eagles, and his warriors.

“Two Eagles, I am so afraid,” Candy said as the warriors came ever nearer.

Two Eagles sidled his horse closer to hers and reached a hand out to gently touch her arm. “My woman, you should never be afraid of anything while I am with you,” he said gently. “Do you think I would put you in danger? These people are my friends; they were friends to my father and grandfather before him. They would never harm anyone who rides at my side.”

“But I’m not just anyone,” Candy said, gulping hard. “I . . . am . . . a white woman, the daughter of the most hated colonel of all.”

“You might be his daughter, but your heart is yours, and it is a kind heart. You have been good to the Wichita,” Two Eagles said, smiling at her. “Especially to this Wichita chief.”

Candy blinked tears from her eyes and smiled softly at him. “Yes, especially to this Wichita chief,” she murmured. She looked straight ahead again as he dropped his hand away from her and drew rein along with his warriors as the riders came up to them and stopped.

“It is good to see you again, Chief Two Eagles,” one of the Raven band warriors said, placing a knotted hand over his heart. “Come. My chief awaits your arrival.”

Candy saw how the warrior’s eyes lingered on her, and then turned to the bag that hung on Two Eagles’s horse. Surely he had guessed what lay within it, because Two Eagles had sent a scout ahead to explain.

She believed the scout had also prepared these people for the arrival of a white woman who would be accompanying Two Eagles and his warriors.

She wondered if they had been told who she was, and why she was there, and if they knew she would soon be the wife of Two Eagles.

Her heart pounded as Two Eagles said nothing, only nodded to the Raven band warrior.

Candy got as close as she could to Two Eagles’s steed as they rode behind the Raven band’s warriors until they reached the village.

All activity stopped at the village as everyone, women, children, and men alike, gazed in wonder at the woman riding at Two Eagles’s right side. She was wearing a fringed buckskin dress, yet her skin was white, her hair golden.

Candy wasn’t sure what to do when she saw Two Eagles nodding a fond greeting to everyone, with smiles and nods of welcome coming back to him.

So she forced herself to smile, praying to herself that the quivering of her lips could not be seen. Her fear continued to build when she saw the huge tepee that Two Eagles was heading toward.

She knew it had to be the chief’s lodge because it was the largest tepee in the village.

All of the Raven band warriors broke away, leaving Candy and Two Eagles alone with his warriors.

When they reached the large tepee, Two Eagles nodded over his shoulder to his warriors, who slid from their saddles and stood beside their horses, surely having been instructed to stay there until Two Eagles was finished talking with the Raven band’s chief.

Candy stiffened when the chief stepped outside. He appeared to be the same age as Two Eagles, and wore only a breechclout and moccasins. His coal-black hair fell in a long braid down his muscled copper back. She knew this had to be Proud Wind, the son of the older chief whose head was being returned to its rightful place today.

He came and extended a hand up to Two Eagles, who accepted it. Then as Proud Wind stepped back, Two Eagles dismounted and embraced him.

When they stepped away from each other, Two Eagles turned and smiled up at Candy. “Proud Wind, this is my woman, Painted Wings, who will soon be my wife,” he said, pride in his eyes. “Painted Wings, this is my best friend from my youth, Proud Wind.”

Candy was not surprised to be introduced as Painted Wings, for surely that name would make her more acceptable to Proud Wind.

Proud Wind stepped closer and smiled up at Candy, too. “It is good to know the woman who will be my friend’s wife,” he said, nodding.

“I am proud to know you,” Candy said. Then as Proud Wind stepped aside, Two Eagles approached Candy’s mare and helped her from the saddle.