Chapter Five
"Alicia, when is the day of your birth?" asked the Indian, as they approached the ranch.
The blonde seemed startled by the sudden question, and it took her a moment to respond. "Next week, actually," she grinned. "But don't even ask me how old I'll be," she warned, and the Indian smiled. "When's yours?"
"Fall," she responded. "October, I think it is called."
The blonde nodded. "That's right," she said. "What day?"
"The seventh. Alicia, may I ask something?" questioned the Indian, after a moment of silence.
"Sure," urged the woman.
"Why did you stop Daniel? He was right in his anger," the Indian said.
Alicia sighed. Of all the questions to ask, this one had caught her off guard. "For a number of reasons. First of all, a store is not the place to have a fight," she stated. "Second, he was only upset because you're Apache, he didn't know you didn't kill his father. And third, I don't like anyone hurting my friends, for any reason," she finished, and was a little unnerved by the quiet that followed. Perhaps she'd been too presumptuous.
"I am your friend?" was the soft inquiry.
"I'd like to think so," said Alicia. "But, only if you want it."
Smooth, Alicia, she kicked herself. Why not just come right out and ask her if she wants to be friends? Back her into a corner, why don't you?
"Is good," agreed the tall woman. "Have not had… white friend before."
"Well, I've never had an Apache friend before, so I guess it's a first for both of us, huh?" she asked, and Blue Fire smiled, nodding. Nothing more was said until Alicia pulled Thunder to a halt in front of the house, but both women were content with the friendly silence.
"Unload into barn?" asked Robyn, and the blonde nodded, helping carry the supplies into the stable. When all was secure, Alicia announced she was going to fix lunch, and then check the roof of the barn, to make sure it wouldn't leak, since she expected it to rain within the next week.
"Robyn, do you mind talking about the tribe?" asked the woman, softly, as she set the bowls of soup on the table.
The Indian shook her head. "No," she said. If Alicia was curious, she wouldn't deny her what she wanted to know, although she felt a little trepidation as to what the woman was going to ask.
"What happened?" she asked. "I mean, if you don't want to talk about it, I understand, but why did they kick you out?"
The tall woman sighed, and took a moment to collect her thoughts. "I will tell you," she said, and began her tale.
Blue Fire smiled as she greeted the dawn, the light shining down on her face through the hole in the top of her kowa, to allow smoke out and the spirits in. It was going to be a good day for hunting; she could feel it. And, she had had a dream just a few hours before of a large feast, enjoyed by the entire village.
Stretching her tall frame, she dressed in her deerskin clothes, and was searching for one of her favored necklaces, when she heard someone enter her tent. Turning around, she raised an eyebrow at the young girl, who smiled up at her.
"Small Fox," she greeted, turning back around to search her things. The girl didn't say a word, she just pushed the tall woman to the ground, and straddled her hips. "What do you think you're doing?" questioned Blue Fire, certain she could send the girl flying across the room in an instant, and was already close to that point.
"I want you to kiss me," ordered the girl, barely sixteen, and the tall Indian laughed at the command.
"Sorry," she said, and attempted to get to her feet without hurting the youngster, but was held fast.
"I am the daughter of Ndoitcho, and if I say kiss me, you will kiss me!" The girl leaned down, and suddenly found herself on her back, as Blue Fire tossed her aside, and stood.
"And I said no," growled the tall woman, gripping the small wrist tightly, and hauling the young girl to her feet. "Small Fox, not only are you too young, but I do not feel for you as anything more than a sister. Go," she said, but did not turn back to her search for the necklace, keeping a close eye on the young girl.
"Come on, Blue Fire," she begged, clutching at the strong arm in hope, switching tactics, from ordering to pleading. "I've never been kissed yet, and I want to know what it's like!"
"Then go find some nice young boy," suggested Blue Fire. She knew the fact that she felt attraction for women instead of men was no secret, since she was one of the only women over the age of seventeen who was not wed, but doubted the young girl was sure of her own feelings yet.
"Wait until you're ready, Small Fox. What you desire will find you."
"I don't want to wait that long!" complained the girl. "I'll tell my father you disobeyed me," she threatened, and Blue Fire shrugged.
"Tell your father what you will, child," said the tall Indian. "It is not my concern. But push me down again, and you will not like the result." With a huff, the girl stormed out of the hut, and Blue Fire continued looking for her necklace.
Minutes later, she grinned, and took the beads in her hand. In the midst of lifting them over her head, she heard her name called from outside.
"Blue Fire," came a deep voice, and the Indian sighed, setting the necklace down on her sleeping furs.
Stepping out of her kowa, she faced the Chief of the tribe. He wore a feathered headdress, his hair hanging past his shoulders in a sea of black silk, and a numerous amount of necklaces adorned his neck, with beads, teeth, and claws. His leathers were highly decorated, and when the rains came, he would wear a large buffalo hide to keep him warm.
"Yes, Proud Lion," she said, nodding respectfully, her blue eyes meeting his own dark brown, which were hard and angry.
Small Fox stood by his side, as did his wife, Silver Moon Cloud. "Small Fox tells me you forced yourself upon her, in her pure state, and tried to bond with her." Blue Fire was shocked - the child was lying! To lie was a great sin, but the girl did it without a second thought.
"She escaped in time," continued Proud Lion, "and came to me, tears on her face. Her mother examined her, and she found bruises on her wrists, and her shirt was torn from the attack.
"The punishment, for disgracing an innocent child, is exile," he sentenced, and Blue Fire's jaw dropped.
"Why would she lie?" asked Alicia, interrupting the woman's story.
Blue Fire sighed. "Small Fox is the Chief's daughter, and is used to getting her way. When she does not, she will get angry, and does not care who she hurts," she explained. "Since I wouldn't kiss her, she decided to tell her father the opposite, to get me in trouble."
"Oh," nodded the blonde. "Go on."
"Ndoitcho, listen to me," the tall woman pleaded, but he held up his hand. The tall Indian didn't want to leave her tribe; this was her home, and her family! And she couldn't even defend herself.
Being alone was one of the Indians' worst fears - bad things happened if you were out at night alone. That's why everything was done in parties - hunting, traveling, everything. And now she was being kicked out, never to be a part of the group again.
"You will leave now," the man said, "or I will drive you out. Dotth'izh ko', you are never to return to this place, and if I see you near my daughter, you will be killed. Go, now."
"Proud Lion, you don't understand," she tried again, but was cut off when someone hit her hard across the jaw.
"Go! Leave here!" was shouted through the crowd, which was nearly the whole tribe, come to watch her banishment.
"Take her," said the Chief, leading his daughter away, who gave Blue Fire an obnoxious smile over her shoulder, as eight Indians stepped forward. Three had bows and arrows, two had knives, and the rest had their bare hands, ready to fight her.
"I must get my things," she said, but was refused entrance into her own hut.
"Ndoitcho has spoken," said one. "You will leave, now. Take nothing with you," he commanded, and spat at her feet.
Blue Fire paused - she was barefoot, and had nothing but the clothes on her back. No weapons, save her hunting knife, and no sleeping furs. Surely they wouldn't turn her out without water or shoes!
But, they did, and even let an arrow fly at her in their anger. It struck her in the shoulder, and she stumbled, clutching at the arrow in pain. Realizing no matter what she did or said, it would do no good, she rushed off as fast as she could, trying to escape the rain of arrows.
"Oh, Robyn," sighed Alicia, sadly, her soup long since gone cold since the Indian's tale. "I'm so sorry."
The woman just nodded, saying nothing more, but thinking about the rest of her day, which had not turned out to be good at all.
Whistling for her horse when she had evaded her attackers, she smiled when her faithful steed came to her at a trot. Patting his neck, the Indian mounted Moonbeam, and took off down the road, away from the tribe - no longer her home.
Miles later, tired, blood still flowing from her shoulder, although the shaft seemed to be slowing some of the flood itself, Blue Fire glanced up when she heard voices. She looked around, cautiously, after realizing she was near a white man's camp, and there were at least five staying there. Moonbeam had long since taken his own lead, when his mistress became nearly too exhausted to tell him where to go, and he had gone towards the smell of food and water.
"Hey, Gil!" called a voice, and a burly man stepped out of his tent, made of canopy. "We got ourselves a real live Indian! With a right pretty horse, too!"
The man called Gil, a large man with a bushy red beard and red hair, green eyes cold enough to turn rain to hail, licked his lips with anticipation. Pudgy hands slicked back his short, oily hair, and he grinned a yellowed smile.
"This one's mine, boys," he said, to the other much thinner men beside him. "Get her in my tent, but leave the arrow in. If she tries anything, it'll be easy to punish her," Gil explained, and the others nodded. "I'll have my way with her before we turn her in for the money."
Circling around the now hostile Indian, Gil watched his friends surround the mounted Indian, as her golden stallion pranced nervously beneath her.
"Don't touch me," she growled, in Apache, not wanting the men to know she understood English. As they closed in around her, she knew resistance was useless, with one good arm and a spooked horse, and stopped moving. Sliding from the tall horse's back, pulling herself up to her full height, she looked down, and allowed two of them to shove her roughly into a canopy tent. The last she saw of Moonbeam was when a man tied him with their own steeds.
Inside was only the barest of embellishments - a chair, table, and blankets on the floor for a bed. The men tied her hands behind her, pulling her injured shoulder until she cried out in pain, unable to help herself.
Laughing, one stooped down to her level, after dropping her to her knees, and gripped her chin. With hungry gray eyes, and dirty blonde hair, he leaned forward, as if to kiss her.
Snarling, Blue Fire threw her head back, bringing it forward with enough force to make the white man see stars for a moment. "Hela' ndagodinoh'aah niganihi bika'yu shii," she repeated, as the men stormed out of the tent.
It wasn't long before the one called Gil came back, plate of food in hand. Fruits, vegetables, and breads decorated the dish, and he set it down on the table next to the bound woman.
"Hungry?" he asked, offering her a grape. Although she was indeed hungry, the tall Indian refused. "Eat," he grinned, nearly shoving it down her throat, "you'll need your strength for later."
The fruit in her mouth, having been forced, she narrowed her blue eyes, and spat it out at him, missing his face by a mere inch.
"Bitch!" he hissed, slapping her hard across the face, sending her sprawling to the ground. "I'll break you yet, savage! Now, eat!" Unable to get the woman to swallow, he started throwing the goods at her, hitting her face, and oft times her wounded shoulder.
Moving subtly, the Indian withdrew her knife, which had not been discovered in the man's haste to get her into Gil's tent, and began cutting the rope that held her wrists. By the time the entire food plate had been used as ammunition, her hands were free, and she surprised the man by catching the last apple he threw at her.
"What!" he exclaimed, startled. "How'd you get out?" Seeing the knife, he drew his pistol, and ordered her to drop her weapon. When she held it tightly, he grabbed the arrow shaft, and pushed it all the way through to the other side, where the arrowhead could be seen, protruding from her skin. Blue Fire gasped, dropped the knife, and fell to the ground. Placing her forehead on the floor, she clutched at her shoulder, colors swimming before her eyes in her pain.
"Now," he smirked, taking a handful of her hair, and pulling her head up. "Do as I say, or I'll put a bullet in your brain. I know you understand me! Pleasure me," he commanded, releasing her to reach for his belt. Drawing her leg back for a strong side kick, the Indian connected hard with the man's groin, and he doubled over in agony.
Struggling to her feet, she reached for her knife, and glared down at the white man, angry. Startled when the entrance door was flung open, she readied herself for a fight when the other men stormed in, concerned about the commotion.
"Get her!" ordered Gil, still on the ground, and the men slowly surrounded her, drawing their guns. The tall Indian didn't notice the man behind her, and soon everything went black.
When she awoke, it was dusk, and she found herself tied up once again, this time with more rope. The knots were weak, but the cord had been reinforced, so as to discourage her from cutting loose. She knew if she had enough time, she'd be able to slip free of the knots, and then release her feet, which were bound at the ankles.
"Now, this time, you'll hold still," said Gil, entering the tent, unbuttoning his shirt as he walked. "And if you don't…" he growled, grabbing a fistful of her hair, turning her head to the left, proceeded to rip her right ear-drop out of her ear. The woman clenched her teeth as she felt the blood trickle down her neck and shoulder, and glared at the man in front of her, but did not cry out.
"If you screw with me, bitch, your ear will be the last of your worries," he spat. Grabbing her knife, he cut the ropes at her feet, grabbing her ankles and spreading her legs. Slithering towards her, he breathed foul air into her face, and she cringed as he spoke.
"You make a move, and I'll slit your throat with your own knife," he threatened, holding the blade against her neck. Working her hands free, Blue Fire nodded, and attempted to look submissive.
Starting at her feet, Gil snaked a hand up her pants, knife still against the Indian's tender flesh. Just as she knew he'd have to, he removed the knife to work on taking off his own pants, and Blue Fire made her move. Capturing the man's head between her calves, she rolled onto her stomach, and snapped his neck in one swift move.
Recovering her knife, she got to her feet, and steadied herself when one of Gil's buddies came running in.
"Hey!" he cried, drawing his pistol, and cocking the hammer. With a growl, Blue Fire threw the knife, hitting the white man directly in the chest. His gun went off, burying a bullet in her thigh as he fell to the ground. It took all of the Indian's strength to get up off the floor where she'd fallen, retrieve her knife, and cut her way out of the back of the canvas tent.
Cutting the rope that tied her horse, she shimmied onto his back, and urged him away from the camp as fast as he could go. The white men were soon on her trail, firing shotguns as they rode, one eventually hitting Moonbeam, and felling the large animal in an instant.
With the strength she had left, Blue Fire wandered into the forest, stumbled down a hill, and lay in a ravine, certain her own death was just a matter of time.
"Are you okay?" asked Alicia, wondering about the Indian's faraway look. The woman nodded, and finished her soup in a hurry, reminding Alicia they needed to check the roof of the barn before it rained, praying the blonde didn't ask anything else.
The days passed, with Blue Fire checking Mystic's foal several times a day, making sure the young horse would not have a relapse of the cough. Each report of good health she made to Alicia made the blonde smile, which in turn made Blue Fire glad she'd been able to heal the young colt.
One night, after a long day spent grooming the horses and making sure their feed was fresh, and refilling their buckets with clean water, the two women sat at the kitchen table, eating a stew Blue Fire had prepared for dinner.
There was silence for a while, both enjoying the meal, before Alicia couldn't stand the quiet any longer. She was a talker, by nature.
"Blue Fire, can I ask you something?" The Indian nodded. "I know you've been teaching me Apache, like I've been teaching you to read, and I really appreciate that," she said, and smiled a little to herself. The one or two hours Alicia had set aside to teach and be taught were going well, and she enjoyed the time immensely.
"But, do you know what the Indians called America? I mean, before the white men came?" clarified the curious blonde, but she was met with silence.
"Yes," said the Indian, at last, in a tone that Alicia couldn't identify. "Ours."
The blonde started - she hadn't been expecting that answer. Deciding not to press, she simply nodded, and hoped the tall Indian wasn't angry with her.
"Sorry," she said, quietly, and Blue Fire looked apologetic.
"No," said the woman, "it is okay. I did not mean to, as you say, snap at you. You may ask me whatever you want, Alicia. It is only right, since you are helping me so much with your language.
"Can we read later tonight?" she asked, hopefully, and Alicia smiled.
She was tired, but knew the woman enjoyed the book, "The Last of the Mohicans" by John Fenimore Cooper, so she nodded. "Sure," she agreed, taking their bowls to the sink. "Thank you, Robyn. The stew was delicious. Why don't you find the book, and I'll be out there in a little while," she offered, and Blue Fire nodded, leaving quickly to look for the novel.
The blonde sighed as she sat down at the now clear kitchen table, and placed a stack of papers in front of her chair. They were bills and debts she still hadn't paid. She had money from the yearlings she'd sold, and added it up in her head.
Four hundred dollars short, she realized, tears coming to her eyes. If I don't start doing something fast, I'm going to lose the Ranch! I promised Matt I'd keep it up, Alicia remembered, thinking of her late brother, but how can I, when the money's gone?
Blue Fire came in to see what was taking Alicia so long, and was startled to find tears falling from the woman's green eyes. Going to her side, she knelt down beside her chair, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Alicia, what is wrong?" she asked, concerned. The blonde just shook her head, and pointed to the papers. Blue Fire frowned. "To Jake Salone, one hundred dollars," she read, carefully. "Who is Matthew Winters?"
"My brother," explained Alicia, drying her tears as best she could. "These are the loans he had to take out in order to get the ranch, and the first dozen horses. Since he didn't get them paid before he got sick, it's up to me, and I just can't do it!" she cried. "I don't have the money, and I don't have the colts!"
Robyn sighed as she gave the blonde a quick hug, and then allowed the woman to cry on her shoulder. "It's okay," she assured her. "I will think of something. Come, we will go to bed, now."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Robyn!" said Alicia, sniffling. "You wanted to read tonight!"
"It is all right," she smiled. "We will read tomorrow. Now we rest. Good night, Alicia," said Blue Fire, as the woman walked into her bedroom, and the Indian lay down on the couch.
I must think of a way for Alicia to get the money she needs, she thought. Praying for guidance, she soon fell asleep, and dreamt of horses.