The Wild

Chapter VI

Piper only gasped in surprise because she had not expected anyone behind them. She was not as aware of the gossips as Paige was, and didn't really know the significance of the Indian girl's presence there. Paige, who had just arrived, saw her sister looking behind her, and turned to find Noayak.

This one simply ignored them and entered the tent resolutely, as Paige stared in horror. She was certain that inside, she would find Phoebe and Jolon, even if she had not seen them yet. Her sister's exclamation had been loud enough to hear from a ways…

Paige berated herself for being so stupid. She had brought her to them and now, from what she had understood, they both would be in deep trouble.

Once in the tent, Noayak looked furiously upon them. She started screaming in Indian, and Phoebe didn't understand a word of it. Nevertheless, the look on her lover's face was more than enough to tell her that it wasn't good. He began answering her, his voice steadily rising in volume, as Noayak became hysterical. At some point, he even put himself between them, and Phoebe understood why, when she saw the girl moving threateningly toward them. Jolon talked her down in a very hard voice and she spat to the ground right after this, her face contorted by rage. Then, Noayak stormed out of the tent, pushing Leo and Piper out of the way rudely, as they had stayed in the entrance, ready to intervene.

For a moment, Jolon said nothing, still shaken by the altercation.

"Jolon? What happened? What did she say?"

He turned to her, trying to smile reassuringly.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this…"

"Take care of what? I mean, now she simply will break your engagement, won't she?"

His expression told her that it might not be so simple.

"I have to go now. I'm afraid that the chief will want to talk to me soon…"

He was already getting up but Phoebe held on to him.

"Please, I need to know what you think will happen?"

Jolon sighed while coming back to her:

"I'm not sure, but I know that Noayak is still very angry and might cause trouble."

Phoebe could actually relate to her anger, as she herself remembered how she felt when seeing them together.

"I can understand that. However, what good would hurt you do to her?"

Jolon answered very seriously:

"You don't know how proud she is. I didn't just break our engagement; I humiliated her. She won't forgive this anytime soon…"

He came closer and kissed her lightly, while caressing her hair:

"Phoebe, you have to promise me to stay with your family at all time, from now on."

Phoebe replied with a hint of fear:

"Why?"

"I don't know what will happen exactly, but I'm sure that they will blame you as well, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I would die if I lost you."

From his very serious expression, she could see that he had meant it. It didn't reassure her in the least. But what worried her even more was what might happen to him:

"What will they do to you?"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine…"

She felt tears coming, and she leaned against his chest, still holding on to him, as if she was afraid that he might never come back if she let go. He wrapped his arms around her in response, loath to leave her as well.

"Could they?" The question was stuck in Phoebe's throat, and she swallowed hard. However, she had to know, even if it was selfish of her:

"Could they keep you away from me?"

Jolon reacted forcefully, tightening his hold on her:

"Nobody will keep me away from you. I promise."

She knew that he had meant it, but couldn't help worrying about the others. What if they hurt him, or took him prisoner. She wasn't worried about herself anymore, but only that indeed, if he didn't come back, if something happened to him, she might die from chagrin.

"I don't want you to go, I'm scared for you."

Jolon took her face in his hands, forcing her to look up.

"I swear to you, I'll be back and we'll be together forever, no matter what."

He then kissed her passionately.

Afterward, he got up quickly, afraid that if he gave her the chance, she would weaken his resolve again. Then he got out of the tent, actually startling Leo and Piper, particularly for the fact that he was still naked…Piper averted her eyes, while her face turned red from embarrassment.

When he had gone, she couldn't help mumbling:

"Savages…"

It seemed to amuse Leo, and she grunted at seeing his little smile. His amusement was short lived however, as they had gotten Paige to tell them what she knew, even as they were listening in on the fight.

Obviously, Piper and he had lost track of a lot of things during the last few weeks.

Piper turned again toward Paige:

"You know that you should've told us? Maybe if you had, this fiasco could've been avoided…" But then she realized that she herself was in part responsible for this. She had been the one encouraging Phoebe to follow her heart. Of course, at the time, she didn't know that she was in love with a man already engaged.

"I had no idea that it had come this far…" Paige said to defend herself.

Piper simply ignored her and she turned away, now ready to have a talk with her cousin.

She found Phoebe still sitting with the bearskin for only cover. She had tears in her eyes and seemed transfixed.

Piper suddenly felt pity for her pain, and forgot momentarily about her irritation toward her.

"Phoebe?"

This one barely looked up at hearing her voice.

Looking at her, Piper felt the irritation mounting again, but this time directed at the man who had taken advantage of her, and seemingly run back to his fiancée.

"What did he do to you? What kind of a man is he? Leaving you after this," she said, vaguely indicating the bedding without insisting on the meaning, as it still embarrassed her.

This got a reaction from her cousin, who used anger to shake the fear and pain:

"How dare you? You don't know him! You don't know anything about us…"

Piper recoiled slightly at the angry tone of voice. She had not expected her to defend him so fiercely, no matter what Paige said.

"Phoebe, he took advantage of you, then he ran out at the first sign of trouble."

Phoebe pulled the skin around her and stood in front of her cousin with fire in her eyes.

"How easily you judge…You! Who slept with my soon to be fiancé without even blinking…"

"Phoebe! And you said that you were happy for us, now I should have known better!"

The two cousins stared at each other angrily for a moment, but in the end, it's Phoebe who backed down, as she realized that she had gone too far.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it… But you don't know," she said almost pleadingly this time. "He loves me, and I love him."

Piper wasn't ready to give in just yet:

"What? You call this love?"

Phoebe sighed and closed her eyes, unable to endure the reproach in hers.

"Piper, I have known him for a long time, and I know that he loves me."

"You have known him for as long as we have," Piper said decidedly. "And may I remind you that he's our captor? Or have you forgotten that little detail?"

Phoebe had pain repressing the tears:

"You don't understand… Maybe, I can't convince you, but I know that I'm right."

Piper replied angrily:

"No, I don't understand, Phoebe. Why don't you enlighten me?"

Piper knew that she was overreacting, but she was hurt by her comment, and no amount of apologies would make up for it at the moment. Still, she truly wanted to know how she could be so sure of him, considering what she had seen…

Phoebe seemed about to talk, then she shrugged sadly:

"You'll only think that I'm crazy…"

"Frankly, as things stand, I'm not too sure that you're in your right mind anyway. So why don't you try me? Who knows, it might actually make sense…"

Her tone of voice indicated clearly that it was very unlikely. However, Phoebe thought that she at least owed her an explanation.

Therefore, she told her about the dreams, and then Piper finally exclaimed:

"Dreams? You base your certainty on dreams?"

"I know that it all sounds fantastic, impossible really; but it's all true. We shared dreams long before we met. And I had fallen in love with him through those dreams. Even when I thought that it was crazy because he most certainly didn't exist, I couldn't help it…"

"You're right Phoebe; this is too fantastic to be true. First of all, if like you say, you loved each other long before, why did he ignore you so blatantly all this time?"

Phoebe sighed again.

"It's complicated, and I can't explain all of it. It was just a bad series of circumstances. Until today, I didn't even know that he had shared my dreams…"

She saw that Piper was about to protest again, but this time she didn't let her:

"No matter what you think; what you all think, it won't change the fact that I love him, and that he loves me. So please, if you can't understand it, at least do not stand in our way."

"I want to believe you, Phoebe. But I also think that you're going to get hurt. What if he goes back to her?"

Phoebe just turned around without answering. She didn't feel like arguing any longer. There were too many reasons to worry already. She just hoped that in time, her cousin would see that she was right…

Most of all, she was hoping that the little seed of doubts that her cousin had just planted in her would go away soon…

Phoebe dressed up, and even though she was not really completely finished with her, Piper saw that her cousin wouldn't discuss the matter any further. At least not at the moment… However, she promised herself to try again at a later time.

When Phoebe was ready, she simply indicated so to Piper, and they went out of the tent without another word.

Paige and Leo looked questioningly toward them, but no explanation was forthcoming from either one, so they simply followed them back to the village in silence.

Cole had stopped to retrieve his clothes, and then simply ran to the village and his adopted father… He needed the advice of his mentor now more than ever. He had never been faced with such a situation. Nothing would change the way he felt about Phoebe, of that, he was certain. However, the possibility to lose everything he had lived for until now scared him. The people here were his family, and had been for years. Now, he knew that Noayak would do anything that she could to hurt him, and in truth, he couldn't blame her. He knew that he had been unfair to her.

Still, he had hoped to find a solution, given time. Now, this possibility had been annihilated. And things were even worse than he had feared. If he only could have talked to her, instead of her finding them like this…

When he arrived at the Shaman's tent, he simply entered as the old man was used to receive him at all hours of day and night. For this reason, the Shaman was not surprised to see him. However, after Cole related the events of the evening to him, his expression turned grim, which did not reassure Cole in the least…

"I warned you Jolon. You should have stayed away from her…"

Cole replied emphatically:

"I could no more stay away than I could stop breathing. I need her."

The Shaman took a moment before answering.

"Are you certain that it is your heart talking?"

Cole tried to stay calm:

"I love her, believe me. Yes, I lust for her, but I also love her with all my heart…"

The Shaman sighed heavily:

"And what about Noayak? You promised yourself to her. She had a right to expect you to fulfill this promise…"

Cole felt every word painfully. It was nothing that he had not told himself many times on the way there.

"I know that I should have done things differently. I wish that there was some way to make it right. But I can't marry Noayak. Not now that I know of Phoebe's love for me…"

"And you are so certain that she loves you that much? This won't be easy for either of you; you have to know that. Are you so sure that you want to put her through the painful times that are sure to come for both of you?"

Jolon couldn't answer this, and he sat heavily by the fire. The thought of their uncertain future weighed heavily on him.

The old man sat beside him and they both stayed silent for a long moment. After a while, Cole asked:

"What do you think they will do?"

The Shaman hesitated:

"I don't know." Then, he had to ask:

"Do you really love her so much that you'd want to put yourself through this?"

Cole turned toward him and simply replied:

"More than life itself…"

The Shaman sighed again:

"Then, I'll try to help you. However, I can give you no guaranty. You know very well that they will be especially hard on you…"

Cole turned back toward the fire:

"I know."

That night, he spent in meditation with the Shaman, as they appealed to the spirits for council. None was forthcoming, and in the end they simply waited together.

Contrary to what he had expected however, the chief didn't send for him right away. Instead, he called the elders to his tent and they had some kind of meeting that lasted most of the day.

The Elders were divided over this. On the one hand, they knew that his betrayal of the chief's daughter was a serious crime, and maybe even the proof that he was not trustworthy. But on the other hand, he had showed more promise than any trainee had in their memories. They had put great expectations in the young man and now, it was all being destroyed. The chief was outraged even more for the fact that he had been against keeping the white people in his village. However, they had a few compelling reasons to do so, as the Elders reminded him. At first, none of them saw the advantage of having them as prisoners. Yet, after a while, they had considered the possibility that the white men could come back for revenge. The prisoners could then be useful…

The chief demanded at the very least reparations for his daughter's humiliation, and this they were ready to grant him. However the discussion prolonged as they debated on the manner in which he would get it.

Phoebe didn't sleep at all that night. More than once, she had the impulse to go out and try to find him. Still, she knew that it was a bad idea. Reason told her that she had to wait for him to come back. The hard part had been to convince her heart of this.

That morning, the Shaman got up to leave and Cole looked up at him curiously.

"I have to see if I can do something. You have to stay here and wait for their summoning."

Cole simply nodded and returned gloomily to his contemplation.

However, the Shaman had another person to see before going to the council, and if Cole had known, he might have protested.

The old man walked not toward the large tent, but toward the prisoners' one.

There, he found Leo and Piper already out and preparing some food. They looked up toward him, at once with curiosity and a little fear as well.

Leo stood up and came to stand in front of him, trying if possible to prevent more pain for Phoebe, as he knew the man was there for her…

He had no idea how to say that to him of course, so he stood firmly in front of him, trying to convince him to turn around with his expression.

However, the old man surprised him and Piper by addressing him in passable English.

"Need to see the girl," he said hesitantly, obviously searching for his words. He had practiced long ago with the missionary and Cole, but now it was rusty, he realized.

"I don't think that she needs any more aggravation from any of you."

The Shaman didn't understand everything, but got the gist of it.

"Just want talk, no more…"

He looked stoically at Leo, and this one finally let him by, if with some hesitation.

Piper almost put herself between him and the entrance as well, but Leo indicated to her that he would watch him, as he followed the old man inside.

Phoebe looked up immediately, hoping to find Jolon there, so that seeing the old man instead was a complete surprise and soon after, this became apprehension.

"What is it? Where is Jolon?" She asked anxiously, fearing the worst.

She realized right away that he probably didn't understand a word and turned away, wondering why he had come in the first place.

The Shaman was just observing her in silence, and she could feel his stare.

Then, she was also amazed when he spoke in English:

"You love him?" He suddenly asked. Phoebe reacted by turning to him with big round eyes.

"You speak English?"

He dismissed this with a shrug and asked again, more insistently:

"You love him?"

Phoebe answered firmly this time:

"Yes I do, with all my heart."

The Shaman turned to Leo:

"Please need talk alone…"

Leo frowned, but a look toward Phoebe told him that she agreed to it. Therefore, he reluctantly left the tent, but still stayed close by.

The Shaman stayed silent for another long moment and soon Phoebe couldn't take it anymore:

"What do you want?"

The Shaman sadly nodded and waited a moment longer before answering.

"Big problems. Never should have come…"

Phoebe didn't feel like indulging anyone that day:

"We didn't have a choice," she replied, almost angrily.

The old man lifted his hand, as if to ward an attack.

"No hate you, just see… All be better if not come… But now, too late for that. He never go with you, know that. He not go back to them…"

Phoebe had trouble understanding what he meant.

"What do you mean, go back?"

The shaman looked at her with the expression of one that thinks he is being played.

"Even if born white, him Indian now…" He said firmly.

When he saw her dumbfounded expression, he understood that he had been mistaken. Ever since Jolon had told him about the night before, he had been convinced that she knew what he was, and would try to convince him to bring them back into their world.

He had seen the look of disdain that they sometimes gave to the members of the tribe, and couldn't believe that she would have fallen for an Indian. Yet, now he could see that the news had come as a total shock to her.

"This can't be, he would have told me…"

"Maybe he don't want you to know."

Phoebe reacted:

"Why," she exclaimed incredulously.

"Why wouldn't he want me to know that we are the same."

"Because he Indian, inside," the Shaman added, putting his fist to his chest for emphasis.

He knew that he had possibly made a big error in judgement, and his stare softened somewhat, even as Phoebe was still upset.

"You really love son of mine?"

Phoebe answered again, this time irritated by his lack of trust.

"Yes I do. I told you already."

He insisted again:

"Still?"

Phoebe sensed that he had guessed at her inner turmoil. "Why didn't he trust me enough to tell me," she was thinking. Her feelings for him were unbreakable yes, but it didn't keep her from being hurt by his omission.

"Yes," Phoebe nevertheless reiterated. "Yes I still love him. It doesn't matter to me what race he was born into. I love the person that he is…"

The Shaman looked at her with amazement.

He had not expected her to be this way. In a way, it told him that he might have more to learn about these white people, who were not all as evil as he had imagined.

"It will be hard," he uttered suddenly. "Very hard…"

Phoebe had not really needed him to say this, as she had guessed herself. However, she could see that the old man had changed attitude toward her.

"Can you help us," she ventured.

"Don't know…Will try."

He then smiled softly toward her, and she felt better for the first time since last night. He had done nothing yet, but she knew that Jolon trusted him, and she felt that if anyone could help them, it was this old man.

He turned around slowly:

"Better go…"

Phoebe still needed to know:

"Where is Jolon? Is he ok?"

The Shaman just turned his head toward her:

"He ok, for now…"

"Thank you." Phoebe told him softly.

He smiled again, and then went out of the tent.

Phoebe sat back on the cot with mixed feelings. She was relieved that Jolon was ok, but she still couldn't understand why he didn't tell her about who he was.

In the end however, she thought that they had had so little time, maybe he just would have told her eventually… Or probably, like the old man had said, he didn't feel like a white man anymore…

Jolon was prepared for their summon, but when the young Cobena entered the tent, he still jumped. This one was looking down on him with a smirk, which told Jolon that he at least knew what had happened. Most probably along with many in the village… It had already started…

"The Council wants to see you now."

Jolon nodded affirmatively, if without enthusiasm, and got up, ready to follow the young warrior.

However, this one stopped him and stared curiously:

"I guess that now I understand why you didn't want us to go near them… You wanted them for yourself."

Jolon had to repress the urge to hit him, as he knew that it only would make things worse. Instead, he stared at him severely and Cobena shrugged as he stepped ahead of Jolon. He didn't even look back to see if this one followed as it was unthinkable for him not to.

Jolon took a deep breath and prepared to face his judgment.

Entering the tent, he first saw the council, of which no one looked at him directly. He knew that it was a bad sign. His mentor was there as well, but his eyes expressed sorrow. Jolon's heart sunk.

Then he saw her. Noayak was standing stoically beside her father. She stood so still and quiet, he almost might have thought that she had not seen him. However, when he met her stare, her eyes expressed a mix of anger, but also of regrets. It broke his heart that it had to come to this.

The chief was the one who gave him the council's decision.

His voice was hard and unforgiving:

"Jolon, you have betrayed our tribe. We have given you a good life, a family, and you have turned against us… Now we do not have a choice but to punish this affront. The council has decided that only exile from the tribe would constitute a proper sentence."

He stopped and turned away from Jolon, as if in his mind the young man had already left.

So did everyone else except the Shaman.

Jolon stood there, disbelieving, but not willing to let them know of the pain that they had caused him. He knew that they expected no less.

After a moment, he simply left the tent without a word, knowing that the decision couldn't be appealed. He had read it clearly in his mentor's expression.