CHAPTER 25
In that frozen moment, Kiowa steals the longest glance at Anoki. Her soft features come together in complete perfection. He overlooks her blemishes since he's used to seeing painted faces. Half of Anoki's face is as smooth as a pearl. Her eyes are a light walnut brown. Her high cheekbones give every facet of her beauty a different elegance with each turn of her slender, petite neck. His heart feels a spark, which forces his eyes to see those facets.
Am I falling, or am I flying? he wonders. He inhales, detecting the aroma of vanilla, lavender, and honeysuckle. Do not show too much interest or she will doubt your true intentions, he thinks, lowering his smile to a frown. Do not show too little interest or someone else will, he counters his thoughts. The back-and-forth lifts his frown to a flat, cornerless smile. Think of something to say.
"How have you trapped the wild in your skin?" he asks her, but she doesn't respond.
What is wild about my skin? Anoki thinks, then shrugs, realizing her face must be worse than she thought.
Kiowa can't help but wonder why her rustic skin has more of a red undertone than his.
Why do your lips look like two wild rose petals pressed together? He sees her small frame expand and fight for a shallow breath. Oh, if Moon Beam were here, he would calm me. You would be the first person I would let pet him and take his sacred magic from me.
Anoki struggles to steady her swirling head. In all the effort to keep a stern face, she held her breath too long. She blinks several times, trying to understand why the stars have lost their place and swim in her eyes. She loses strength and feels herself falling. She watches helplessly as a closing circle of darkness forms around Kiowa's handsome face. His head turns sideways, then disappears into fading black.
Kiowa's biceps flex as he extends his arms and swiftly catches her. "You're as light as a feather and as pretty as a dove," he says softly. He wants to kiss her, but his lips recede like waves on a beach. That is against Indian law! he chastises himself.
Before this night, I did not even know a woman could be so beautiful. Fire Boy and Water Boy, are you demigods playing some trick on me? Or did you plant a heap of treasure in my hands because I killed Black Bear?
The wind catches loose strands of her fine raven hair and sweeps them across his face. They brush against his cheek. He holds her firm with one hand as he presses the tickling fibers to his skin and inhales.
"So this is how a spider catches a butterfly," he whispers, careful not to make any sudden moves. "Which of us is which? If I am the butterfly, I feel so light I could float above your string. If I am the spider, I set you free, but only to draw you back again."
He closes his eyes and inhales. He feels her spirit leap from her body into his mind and run on a never-ending coast. In his vision, she rides a white horse. Glittering stars explode like shooting comets that cross the sky with long glittering tails.
The spark catches and ignites a burning sun of passion in his heart. Warmth rises from his chest to his cheeks. "You are safe with me little bird," he whispers between hushed whooshing. The closer he pulls her in, the warmer he feels. What is this powerful sunlight that cascades across my sky and paints my world the colors of the sun? For some reason, the stars do not disappear, but come closer and dazzle all around her. A moon of hope shines its powerful rays on her face. Her spirit reaches for him, and he wants nothing more than to take her hand and follow wherever she leads.
When he opens his eyes, he speaks so softly he nearly whispers, "What joyful winds do you stir inside of me?" He gently touches the palm of his hand to her cheek. "I did not know my heart could have love in it until tonight. I thought it was emptied by Chief Black Bear. Am I awake, or am I asleep? Am I hungry, or am I full? I am confused. Paw says that love is blind and it can happen at any moment. But when my eyes rest on you, I cannot help but feel your beauty pour into me and fill me up. No arrow could hit its mark if the bowman's eyes are closed. I must keep my eyes wide open. I must be hungry, but not for food. What, then?"
What time passed must have been only seconds. But in the eternities of love, time is conquered. It vanishes in a thousand moments.
You have created a starry heaven of possibility inside me, Kiowa thinks as her beauty pours into his eyes and fills him up.
He tries to hold the moment, but her short gasps bring him back to the harsh reality of this world. He is running from the Navajo. Or running to her? He can't decide. However he's doing it, he is running.
"Peace," he says. "Be not afraid. Taime blew me into your life, and I am here to protect you."
Fading in and out of reality, Anoki catches words. Glances. Impressions. All of which mix, make no sense, then evaporate. She knows only one thing for certain. She is waking in strong arms. Arms she feels supremely safe in.
Who is this man that catches this tumbleweed? she wonders. She blinks and pushes on his firm chest in a way that lets him know she can stand on her own.
Kiowa lifts her back onto his horse and asks, "Can you ride?" He hands her the reins.
Anoki takes the leather straps. A new fear emerges. It annoys her that so many fears have been revealed in one night. What happens when he leaves?
He swats his horse and sends wounded father and brave daughter sprinting off into the night. They disappear in the darkness.
Kiowa circles back to the village and reunites with his band. He looks at the scalped Navajos and smiles at their limp bodies.
"You are all going to pay for what you have done! One way or another, I promise that I will see it to its end!" Kiowa pledges with a blood oath.
Makes Trouble proudly holds fistfuls of bloody scalps up, along with the reins to six Navajo horses, which nearly lead him rather than him lead them. He smiles when he sees Kiowa. "They are going to be so mad when they find us."
Paw and Two Moons pull eight pinto horses by their reins. The raid is successful.
"Where's the girl?" Two Moons inquires.
"I sent them out on our horses. I think Night Wind will lead them to the last place he had good water," Kiowa answers.
"Up in the pine forest? That is good. They will be safe." Paw nods.
Makes Trouble and Kiowa mount new horses, as Paw and Two Moons ride up beside them. The group slips into the night.
"Where we do we go now?" Two Moons asks his brother.
"The Hopi cannot come to our village. They are outsiders. No one will welcome them," Makes Trouble blurts out.
Kiowa's face sours. "We will decide what to do with them if we meet up with them. If we don't, they can keep our horses. We have many more than we came with. That is a good trade!"
"Look!" Paw catches a distant flicker of motion. "The Navajo are coming back. They must have felt so confident in their raid, they lit torches. They have greater numbers than us." He counts their growing lights and huffs.
"Why are they lighting torches?" Makes Trouble asks.
"They will need light to track us in the dark," Two Moons respond.
"Should we lead them back to the tribe?" Kiowa wonders.
"Yes, Kiowa, lets wake our tribe in the middle of the night with the war cry of who knows how many Navajo hot on our heels?!"
"Next time we use Cheyenne arrows. That way the Navajo will not be looking for Kiowa." Makes Trouble smirks.
Two Moons agrees. "Aiye! I have a quiver of Cheyenne arrows back in my tepee."
For a brief moment each man plays out several different scenarios of how their actions will bring the wrath of the Navajo. They rattle some off and come to one solid conclusion.
Paw speaks what everyone thinks. "Navajo need no reason to attack. They will just attack."
"By now they will have dispatched riders to bring the rest of the warriors, and who knows how many that will be?" Two Moons wonders.
The calmness of the warriors is remarkably out of character for the dangers they now face.
Authors thoughts: I'm a sucker for a good love story. Kiowa, that great bandit who wants to steal Anoki's heart, but he can't because he's on the run. I won't bore you with many details, I'll just say that Anoki and Kiowa have an incredible love story to share. Read on to find out what happens next!
Or go buy the book on Amazon. Yes you can get it on kindle. Search for "Harvest Moon," by Zachary H. Lovelady. Also come see the characters on instagram. "harvestmoonofficial" is my user name.