Part 20 (1/2)
”I'll think of something,” Storm said dispiritedly as she turned away to busy herself with a task that would take her mind away from Grady and the dilemma that faced her.
Jumping Buffalo looked up from the tedious ch.o.r.e of attaching steel tips to his arrows and stared into the distance, an arrested look on his rugged features. A man driving a wagon was just entering the village. Shading his eyes against the glare of the sun, Jumping Buffalo stared at the man with an increasing sense of familiarity. Something in the set of his ma.s.sive shoulders and the way he held his head gave Jumping Buffalo his first clue to the man's ident.i.ty. Suddenly a broad smile creased his weathered features and he began to walk briskly out to meet the visitor.
Strong, capable hands the color of burnished bronze drew the team of horses to a halt beside Jumping Buffalo. The two men looked at each other for the s.p.a.ce of a heartbeat before the man in the wagon jumped to the ground and warmly embraced Jumping Buffalo.
”It has been a long time, old friend.”
”I have missed you, Swift Blade,” Jumping Buffalo said, thumping Grady's father on the back in exuberant welcome. ”If you have come for your grandson, he is not here.”
Blade Stryker's dark eyes betrayed the anguish in his heart. ”I didn't think he would be, but I had to find out for myself. Shannon is beside herself with grief over the boy. If not for you, we would have no word at all about Tim. Nothing has been the same since Grady left the ranch and took Tim with him. Where is my grandson?”
”Little Buffalo is with Thunder.”
”Thunder,” Blade repeated, swelling with pride. ”He is also called 'Renegade,' is he not? Thunder is a fit name for my son, but Renegade brings him no honor. Even in Cheyenne we have heard of the Sioux renegade who is sometimes called Thunder. Shannon and I are deeply saddened by Grady's pursuit of violence since Summer Sky's death. Lord knows, the boy wasn't brought up like that. Living with the People and learning their customs has been a fine experience for him. What saddens me is the way he has chosen to conduct his life.”
”Living with anger changes a man,” Jumping Buffalo said cryptically. ”Especially a very young man. Thunder was a green youth when he lost Summer Sky. He has changed much from the boy you once knew, Swift Blade.”
”Shannon and I feared we had lost our only son forever until we recently heard a bit of news that gave us hope where none existed before. I pray it is true. That's why I've come in person this time to deliver food and clothing to the People. I deliberately stayed away before because it was what Grady wanted.”
”What is it you learned?”
”When Captain Starke came to Peaceful Valley recently to purchase horses for the army he told me he saw my son in Guthrie, Oklahoma. He said Grady had taken part in the race for land in the newly opened Cherokee Strip. Is that true, old friend? Has Grady finally decided to abandon his violent life and become a farmer? And if it is true, why hasn't he contacted me or his mother? Doesn't he know he is still our son no matter what he has done?”
”It is true, Swift Blade. Thunder-it is difficult to think of him as Grady-won a quarter section of prime land that he is homesteading. I saw him last when he came to collect his son. Laughing Brook accompanied him to care for the child until he felt comfortable with his new surroundings. The reservation is the only home Little Buffalo remembers.”
”Has Grady married Laughing Brook?” Blade asked, surprised. ”It would please me if he has, but I was under the impression that he thought of Laughing Brook as one of his younger sisters.”
”There was no marriage, yet after many moons Laughing Brook is still with Thunder in Oklahoma.”
Blade frowned, displeased by Jumping Buffalo's answer. ”Has Grady changed so much? Has he dishonored your daughter?”
Jumping Buffalo remained thoughtful for a long interval before answering. ”I do not think so. Thunder is an honorable man, and he swore to protect my daughter. I trust him. But there is something else you should know. Thunder is married.”
”Grady is married?” The news was startling indeed. ”If he is married, why is Laughing Brook still with him? I don't understand.”
”Thunder's wife is no longer with him. I will tell you all I know.” Then Jumping Buffalo proceeded to tell Blade everything, from the time he encountered Storm at the cabin until the present. When he finished Blade was more bewildered than ever.
”It appears as if Grady has married an extraordinary woman,” Blade mused thoughtfully. ”I'm anxious to meet Storm and judge her for myself. My son must be a fool to let someone like her go. Her decision to come to the reservation to care for Sweet Gra.s.s was a selfless act of charity.”
”Sweet Gra.s.s and I have come to love the girl and think of her as our daughter. But there is another thing I must tell you about Storm.”
”What is it? Have you found some flaw in her character?”
”If she has a flaw, we have not found it,” Jumping Buffalo said with a smile. ”Since Storm's arrival a change has occurred. And these past few days has strengthened our belief that Storm is carrying Thunder's child. She probably did not realize it at first, but now she cannot deny the truth.”
”My G.o.d! Have you any idea what caused the rift between Storm and Grady? If she is to bear his child, she must go back to him.”
”Storm says she cannot live with the violent way of life Thunder has chosen. He has killed two men in Guthrie, one of them Storm's first husband.”
”Then he hasn't changed,” Blade said sadly. ”I had hoped ...”
”It would be remiss of me if I didn't tell you that I suspect Laughing Brook of contributing to the dissension between Thunder and Storm. My daughter is one of the reasons Storm refuses to return to Thunder. And Storm insists that Thunder ordered her to leave him.”
”If that is true, then I don't know my son anymore,” Blade lamented.
”Only Thunder can tell you if it is true,” Jumping Buffalo said. ”But it does not sound like the brave Sioux warrior I have always loved like a son.”
”What will Storm do now that Sweet Gra.s.s has recovered and no longer needs her?”
”I do not know. She may stay here as long as she likes, but conditions on the reservation are deplorable and she would be miserable raising her child here.”
”Grady's wife has a home,” Blade said with quiet authority. ”Her home is at Peaceful Valley with me and Shannon.”
Inside Jumping Buffalo's tepee Storm sat beside Sweet Gra.s.s, brus.h.i.+ng her long blonde hair and thinking of Grady and the child she carried. She looked up as two men entered through the open flap, their bulk blotting out the sun. Storm paused, resting the brush in her lap as she tried to see the men's faces through the filtered light. When Jumping Buffalo greeted Sweet Gra.s.s, the ident.i.ty of one of the men was solved, but it wasn't until the other man moved more fully into the tepee that recognition came to her.
The incredible width of his shoulders and ma.s.sive chest, the narrow hips and muscular thighs; everything she'd ever loved and admired about Grady Stryker was standing before her. At long last Grady had come for her. Leaping to her feet, she threw herself into his arms, repeating his name over and over.
Stunned, Blade opened his arms wide to receive his son's wife. If Storm didn't love Grady, then she was a wonderful actress, he thought as he held her close for a moment until she gained her composure.
Storm realized her mistake the moment Blade's arms closed around her and she lifted her head to stare into the darkest eyes she'd ever seen. Black and quickly intelligent, with a touch of humor, she decided, as she carefully studied this older version of Grady. His father was every bit as handsome and a bit more rugged, with jet black hair liberally sprinkled with silver and a commanding strength so impressive in a man his age that it nearly took her breath away.
”I wish I were Grady,” Blade said with a hint of amus.e.m.e.nt. ”But since I'm not, I'll settle for being your father-in-law. I'm very happy to meet you, Storm. I can't wait to introduce you to Shannon.”
Chapter Seventeen.
Blade Stryker used the kind of logic Storm found difficult to argue with. When he invited her for a walk so they might have a private conversation his questions about Grady and Tim and the kind of life they were living in Oklahoma were filled with concern and yearning. But when he suggested that Storm come to Peaceful Valley she had a million excuses why she couldn't.
”I don't know what has happened between you and Grady and I don't want to interfere, but Shannon and I would love to have you visit, if only for a short time. Or do you have something else in mind? I feel sure Grady would be happy to have you with him on the homestead.”
Storm's teeth sank into her lower lip as she searched for an answer. How could she tell Grady's father that his son didn't want her? Their marriage had been a mistake from the very beginning. Grady had felt a misguided sense of responsibility toward her and she had needed a home. It was as simple as that.
”I-can't return to Grady,” Storm said in a strained voice. ”He's made it abundantly clear that he doesn't want me. Please, I don't want to say things about your son that will hurt you.”
”I have no illusions about Grady,” Blade said bluntly. ”I know what he has become and how he's conducted his life since Summer Sky's death. I also understand what drove him to turn renegade. Grady's life until that time had been storybook perfect. He wanted for nothing. The family was respected in Cheyenne and he had all the advantages money could buy.
”Summer Sky was his childhood love, his soul mate. They married very young, had a son after only nine months of marriage, and another on the way a few months after that. The incident in Cheyenne was such a shock, it changed Grady's entire outlook on life. His hatred for whites extended not just to the despicable men who had caused Summer Sky's accident that day but to all people of the white race.”
”Grady told me he took Tim and went to live on the reservation,” Storm said.
”We didn't know he had turned renegade until rumors reached us in Cheyenne. I worried about Tim, but Jumping Buffalo sent a message saying the boy was living with him and his family. I wanted to go after him immediately, but Shannon stopped me. She feared Grady would resent us for interfering. We prayed that our son would come to his senses one day and bring Tim home. Then Captain Starke showed up and told me he'd met Grady in Guthrie, and I had to come to the reservation to find out for myself what had happened to my son and grandson.”
”Tim is fine,” Storm a.s.sured him. ”Grady would never let anything happen to his son.”
”I'm glad to hear that,” Blade said. ”I was afraid Grady had turned into someone I no longer knew. Shannon is grief-stricken over the way Grady left and the violence that has become a part of his life. But just knowing that he has married someone like you has given me renewed hope.”