Part 18 (1/2)
Laughing Brook searched Storm's expressive face, gleefully antic.i.p.ating her reaction. It was everything she could have hoped for. ”I won't stay where I'm not wanted,” Storm said. ”I will honor Grady wishes.”
”Where will you go?”
”I don't know, but I'll think of something. I have a room at the hotel. You and Tim are welcome to it. It's paid for until the end of the week. By then Grady should be ready to go home. Tell him-tell him-” Her words fell off. What could she say to a man who didn't want her? That she loved him? That she had never really wanted to leave him? That she had only wanted him to understand how much she deplored violence?
”I think it best that you do not see Thunder again,” Laughing Brook said. ”It will only upset him. I will care for him quite diligently.”
”I'm sure you will,” Storm said dryly.
Chapter Fifteen.
The heavy weight of rejection rested heavily on Storm's shoulders as she walked away from Grady. During those few moments before sundown when she had rushed out of the hotel, she began to realize just how much Grady meant to her. Hearing him tell her to go away had been a shattering experience. She'd expected him to be angry at her for leaving, but she had hoped he'd realize she was forced to act as she had because she had as much pride as he. How foolish she had been to think she could persuade Grady to mend his ways or be reasonable about her request. But Grady Stryker was a man with little patience or forgiveness in his barren heart.
Rus.h.i.+ng out the door of the doctor's surgery, Storm nearly stumbled over Tim's small form crouched on the porch steps. When the boy saw her he jumped to his feet and hugged her fiercely, his little arms barely reaching around her legs.
”Is Papa all right, Storm?” he asked anxiously. ”May I please see him? Laughing Brook told me to stay outside until she sent for me.”
Smiling through her tears, Storm knelt and gathered the child in her arms. ”Your papa is going to be fine, Tim. He is beginning to wake up. I'm sure he'll be pleased to see you.”
Tim's face was radiant. ”I was so afraid,” he choked out as he tried so hard to be brave. ”Where are you going? You're not going to leave Papa while he's sick, are you?”
Bitter anguish clouded Storm's face. ”It's what your father wants, Tim. But perhaps I won't go far and we can still see one another occasionally.”
”It's not what Papa wants!” Tim denied fiercely. ”He told me he married you because he wanted to, and Papa doesn't lie.”
The child's words added fuel to Storm's distress. Grady was ordinarily a very truthful man. She knew he wasn't lying when he told her he wanted her to leave.
”I know how anxious you are. Why don't you go inside and see your father now. Tell Laughing Brook-tell her I'll trade the wagon for the horse she rode to town. She'll find it at the livery. She'll need it to carry your father back home.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned abruptly, mounted the horse hitched to the railing, and rode away. It was the most difficult thing she'd ever done.
Storm stopped at the hotel first, where she informed the clerk that Laughing Brook and Tim would be occupying her room. Then she quickly packed her clothes and left the room. Once in the street she attached the valise to the saddle and stood beside the horse, deep in thought. She hadn't the slightest notion where she was going or what she should do. It came to her suddenly that the cattle feeding on the lush gra.s.s growing on their land belonged to her. She had purchased them with the remainder of Buddy's money, and Grady had insisted that they be treated as her property alone.
If she sold half the herd, she might have enough money to rebuild her cabin on the land she had homesteaded. The deed had been changed to show that her name was now Storm Stryker, but legally the land was still hers. Something else Grady had insisted upon. As long as they were married, it wasn't necessary to divide the land into what belonged to her and what was Grady's, but since Grady no longer wanted her as his wife she felt justified in taking what was hers. Her mind settled, Storm mounted and reined the horse toward the homestead. Since no one would be occupying the cabin while Grady mended in town, she felt safe in staying there.
Storm's mind went in many directions during the ride to the cabin, but her decision never wavered concerning her reluctance to return to Missouri. She had nothing to look forward to in Missouri but a bleak existence. Buddy's parents would certainly blame her for his untimely death, and her own parents, though they loved her dearly, didn't need another child to shelter or feed. She had much to think about, Storm decided as the cabin came into view. She and Grady were as separate as two humans could be, and her future depended on her ability to survive through adversity.
Briefly, she considered selling her quarter section of land to Nat Turner and settling farther west, in Wyoming or Montana. But the thought of Turner making a profit off the land she had won was abhorrent to her. And Grady would be livid.
It was dusk when Storm dismounted and unfastened her valise from the saddle. She spent a few minutes unsaddling the horse and rubbing him down before carrying her valise into the house. Lengthening shadows created dancing specters in the corners of the dark room as she opened the door and stepped inside. Dropping the valise beside the door, she went directly to the table to light the lamp. Suddenly she froze, feeling the hackles rise on the back of her neck. Her senses told her she wasn't alone, and every nerve recoiled at the thought.
”Who's there?” she called out, whirling to face the unseen foe.
”I will not hurt you, wife of Thunder.”
Storm sucked in a shaky breath. ”Who are you?”
A man stepped out of the shadows. Dressed in buckskins, his tall, muscular form was painfully thin, creating an illusion of fragile strength. His moccasined feet were noiseless on the wooden floor as he moved to where Storm could see him clearly. His braided hair was no longer black but generously streaked with gray. His dark face was creased, his brow deeply furrowed, his eyes sharp and a.s.sessing. Storm recognized a commanding strength in his aging body; the same unyielding strength she found in Grady. At first she thought the man was Grady's father, but she had a.s.sumed that Blade Stryker no longer dressed like an Indian or followed their customs.
”I am Jumping Buffalo, father of Laughing Brook. I have come for my daughter. Her mother has great need of her.”
Storm allowed herself to relax, realizing this man would not hurt her. ”Laughing Brook is not here. She and Tim are in Guthrie with Grady. Grady has been shot.”
Jumping Buffalo turned his dark gaze on her. ”Why are you not with your husband? Are my daughter and grandson all right?”
”They're fine, Jumping Buffalo. Laughing Brook stayed in town to care for Grady until he can be brought home. He was shot defending himself against one of the men who-who-caused Summer Sky's death.”
Jumping Buffalo's stoic features gave away nothing of what he was feeling, yet Storm could tell her words gave him enormous satisfaction. ”It is not like Thunder to allow himself to become careless. Am I to a.s.sume the other man is dead?”
Storm nodded. ”Not only is Bull dead, but so are the other two men who were with him that day in Cheyenne. They were killed in a bank robbery.”
Jumping Buffalo's nostrils flared and his eyes glowed darkly with pleasure. ”It is as it should be. Summer Sky's spirit is at peace now and Thunder's soul will no longer be troubled. I will take my daughter home with me. It is not her place to care for your husband.”
Suddenly Storm became very busy as she struck a match and lit the lamp, flooding the room with light. Then, because she intuitively knew Jumping Buffalo would see through her lie, she faced him squarely and said, ”Grady prefers Laughing Brook. He doesn't need me.”
Jumping Buffalo searched Storm's face, her expression revealing all the anguish she was suffering. ”I am sorry that my daughter has interfered in your life. It is good that I have come for her. Times are hard and food is scarce on the reservation, but her mother is ill and needs her.”
”Do not blame your daughter, Jumping Buffalo. Oh, I'll not deny that jealousy wasn't involved, but Laughing Brook is not the cause of the trouble between me and Grady. Our problem is much more complex. I cannot abide the violent life Grady lives. My first husband died because of a senseless act of violence, and I cannot bear to see Grady killed in the same way. I told him I'd leave him if he engaged in a gunfight with Bull, and he chose vengeance over me. I can't live that way.”
”Thunder did what his pride demanded. He is wounded. Would you leave him when he is helpless?”
”I was given no choice,” Storm said stonily. ”It's what Grady wants. I'll abide by his wishes.”
”I am sorry for both you and Thunder,” Jumping Buffalo said slowly, ”but it doesn't change my decision to take Laughing Brook back to the reservation with me. Sweet Gra.s.s needs Laughing Brook to care for her, and I will not return without my daughter.”
”Laughing Brook must care for Tim while Grady is recovering,” Storm said.
”I will take my grandson back to the reservation with me,” Jumping Buffalo decided.
”No! You can't do that. Grady needs Tim here with him.”
”I will do what must be done,” Jumping Buffalo said philosophically. ”I will leave now.”
”No, wait!” Storm cried in sudden inspiration. Jumping Buffalo stared at her curiously, waiting for her to continue. ”Let me go with you in Laughing Brook's place. I will care for Sweet Gra.s.s so Laughing Brook can remain here to care for Grady and Tim.”
It seemed perfectly logical, Storm thought, since Grady didn't want her and she really had no place to go for the time being. If she quietly disappeared from his life for a short time, he might come to his senses about her. And if she left a note telling him where to find her, perhaps he would come after her.
Jumping Buffalo wore a stunned look. ”You would do that? You must love Thunder a great deal. The reservation is not a pleasant place. It offers little luxury for a white woman unaccustomed to hards.h.i.+p. If not for the beeves and food my good friend Blade Stryker sends me, we would have starved long ago. He is aware that I have been caring for our grandson these many years and did not wish for him to starve.”
”Grady's father knew that Grady and Tim were living on the reservation?” Storm said, more than a little surprised.
”Blade and Shannon both know and were deeply hurt by Thunder's refusal to see them. But they have abided by his wishes in hopes that he will relent one day and bring their grandson to visit them.”
”Grady is deeply ashamed of his a.s.sociation with renegades,” Storm said defensively. ”He fears his parents won't find it in their hearts to forgive him.”
”He is wrong. But who can tell a hotheaded young man what is right and what is wrong? It is something he must learn himself. He also must learn what is important in his life.”
Storm s.h.i.+fted restlessly as Jumping Buffalo's keen eyes seemed to probe into her very soul. ”Will you take me with you?” she asked, suddenly apprehensive. ”If your wife is very ill, we shouldn't waste time.”