Spirit Journey: Historical Western Cowboy Romance Novel (Dawson Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  Chapter Three

  “You can come back now,” Hailey told the group of men who stood with the horses.

  Peanut had needed to nurse Annie, so they’d stepped out of sight to give them privacy. They followed Hailey back to the campsite and Mike checked Peanut’s ankle, relieved that it wasn’t quite as swollen.

  “You’re on the mend, young lady. Not to worry,” he said.

  Peanut smiled as she burped Annie. The baby let out a belch and the others smiled.

  “That’s Mama’s good girl,” she said. “I, um, have to go.”

  Those men who had sat down rose again. One of them would have to hold the baby since Squirrel and Hailey would help Peanut with her personal needs and Jaylyn was still sleeping. Black Fox stepped closer to her. “I will hold Annie for you.”

  Peanut looked uncertain about him taking her baby.

  Squirrel said, “My brother loves children and he has raised many over the years. He can often get babies to sleep when others cannot. Annie will be safe with him.”

  “Ok,” Peanut said.

  Black Fox smiled and reached for the baby. He’d been missing his little ones at home and he was looking forward to spending time with Annie. Annie had other ideas, though. She stuck out her lower lip and tears gathered in her eyes. Black Fox spoke softly to her and Annie’s face cleared for a moment. But when Black Fox moved to take her again, she let out a wail and turned away from him, burying her face against Peanut.

  The chief couldn’t remember the last time a baby had had such a reaction to him. His eyebrows rose and he backed off a little, thinking he’d moved too fast for the baby. He heard a chuckle to his left and saw Owl grinning. He glowered at his little brother and Owl let out a laugh.

  “You should have seen your face, brother,” Owl said. “He’s not used to babies screaming at him,” he told Peanut.

  More laughter followed and Black Fox couldn’t stay irritated with Owl. It was funny. However, it wasn’t only Black Fox who Annie objected to; she wouldn’t go to any of the men. By the time they’d all tried except Skip, Annie was crying hard and clinging to Peanut.

  “Skip, give it a go,” Mike said.

  “Me? Why me? If she won’t come to you guys, she won’t come to me.”

  Mike said, “C’mon. Just try. You’re creative. We need to be able to hold Annie at times like this.”

  Skip wasn’t scared of holding Annie. He’d held plenty of babies. Taking Annie from Peanut required him to get close to her and to actually talk to her. If he kept refusing, he’d look like an idiot, though.

  “Uh, ok, sure.” An idea came to him.

  Peanut heard a bullfrog croak from nearby and looked around for it. The sound kept coming and she realized that Skip was making the noise when he came to her and Annie. The baby also searched for the source of the sound. Skip crouched by Peanut’s side so that Annie could see him, but he didn’t have to look directly at Peanut.

  He changed from bullfrog croaks to chirrups. Annie focused on Skip, who stopped long enough to smile at her, and then went on to do a few bird calls. When he smiled at her again, Annie returned the expression and laughed a little. Chirping like a wren, Skip held out his hands to Annie and then stopped chirping.

  “C’mon, Annie. If you come with me, I’ll introduce you to the best mule in the world. You’ll like him, I promise. C’mon,” he coaxed.

  Annie held out her chubby little arms to Skip and he lifted her from Peanut’s grasp. “Good girl,” he said, rising. He gave Peanut a little smile before leaving the area.

  “Well, how about that?” Dino remarked as the rest of them followed Skip.

  Mike smiled. “Yeah. How about that?”

  *****

  Jaylyn woke late that afternoon. She lay still, getting her bearings. Hearing voices, she rose up slowly on an elbow and groaned. Her whole body was sore and her head hurt. Stiffly, she rose from the bedroll and made her way towards the fire. Jonathan saw her and was concerned because she didn’t look completely steady.

  He got up and went to her. “Here. Let me help you. You don’t need to fall down. You did enough of that yesterday.”

  She liked his smile and chuckled at his funny remark. “Yes, and I don’t want to ever do it again.

  Jonathan guided her to an empty spot and assisted her in sitting.

  “You look more rested,” Eric commented.

  “My mind feels clearer, but my body feels worse,” she said.

  Mike said, “That’s not uncommon after the sort of physical trauma your body went through. It’s a miracle that you didn’t sustain any injuries other than scrapes, cuts, and bruises, but I’m glad you didn’t.”

  “Me, too. I see Peanut is sleeping again. I’m glad,” Jaylyn said. “When Claude pushed us, she curled herself around Annie right before she started rolling. I slid down feet first. Both of us hit those boulders. They came loose and rolled down after us. I saw them coming and tried to get Peanut out of the way, but her leg still got trapped. I wasn’t strong enough to move them.”

  Raven said, “I’m not surprised. It wasn’t easy for us to move them, so you couldn’t have.”

  “Here, Jaylyn.” Mike passed over two aspirins to her and Squirrel gave her a cup of tea. Jaylyn took the pills.

  “Where is your home, Jaylyn?” Raven asked.

  “Near Mystic.”

  Black Fox’s gaze sharpened. “Mystic?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  He grunted. “It used to be called Sitting Bull.”

  A chill wind blew through Reckless and he visibly shivered. His family had witnessed this behavior many times and they knew that something not of this world was occurring. A powerful dreamer, Reckless had the ability to communicate with spirits and received signs of things to come. Deceased family members often came to impart information to him.

  Jaylyn looked around as everyone froze, their gazes locked on Reckless, who closed his eyes. She started to speak, but Black Fox held up a silencing hand. She fell quiet, a little embarrassed. A hand closed around hers and she looked up at Eric, who smiled reassuringly at her. She smiled back and they returned their attention to Reckless.

  Reckless heard the sound of rushing water and the cry of an eagle. He smiled, recognizing his spirit helper, with whom he had a strong bond. He waited patiently for these sounds to fade, knowing that they were merely a signal to him that he had entered the spirit realm. The sound of living water was sacred to him since he’d drowned twice in a river and had been brought back from the spirit world. The eagle often took him places during his vision quests.

  These sounds were replaced by the crackling of a fire, but Reckless knew that it wasn’t their fire. It belonged to someone else. Opening his eyes, Reckless looked across the flames to see the smiling face of his cousin, Runner.

  “Hau, cousin,” Runner said. “You are close enough to communicate now. This is good. It means that you are on your way.”

  The boy had grown, but his handsome face was the same, the devilish grin matching the light in his black eyes.

  “You have caused many people great pain by running away,” Reckless said sternly.

  Runner sobered. “I know, but it was necessary. I was called here, and I knew you would follow me eventually. I could not come home until you did. It is too important.”

  “What is too important?” Reckless asked.

  “Is Grandfather with you?”

  “Yes.”

  Runner smiled. “Good. There is much here for him to see. For you all to see. Brown Stag has much to talk to all of you about, but he wanted to do it in our sacred homeland, where our people first came forth into the world. There is such power here, Reckless! It vibrates inside my body, just like you said it would when great power was upon me.”

  Reckless shivered again. “You have seen Brown Stag?” His great-grandfather had been Reckless’ first spirit guide, but he hadn’t seen him in years. It was normally his parents who came to him now.

  “Yes,” Runner sai
d. “He said that it was important for you to come and he knew that if I came first that others would follow. He wanted as many to come as possible.”

  “Why now? Why is this so important?”

  Anger leapt into Runner’s expression. “You all need to see it now before it gets any worse.”

  “Worse? How?” Reckless asked.

  “You will see.” Runner smiled again. “It is good to see you. I—”

  The vision changed and suddenly Reckless was no longer sitting with Runner. A vast prairie spread out before his eyes, the land teaming with bison and antelope. An underground lake rose in his vision, the water crystal clear below a ceiling of intricate natural artwork. Again the vision changed and he heard a baby cry. Four red flames danced in a circle and then scattered in different directions, blown away by a whistling wind that grew in volume until it seemed as though Reckless’ eardrums would burst from it. He put his hands over his ears, but it didn’t help.

  Gradually, the din faded and Reckless heard Brown Stag say, “Come, Grandson. Bring your father to me.”

  Reckless’ head came up. “My father? My father walks the spirit world with you, Grandfather.”

  “Do as I say, Grandson.”

  “I don’t understand! What does that mean?”

  His eagle cried out, but it quickly turned into an owl’s screech. The sound of rushing water filled his ears and he knew that he would find out no more information. He allowed himself to fall back into his body even as confusion swirled in his mind.

  When Reckless opened his eyes, he wasn’t surprised to find that a couple of hours had elapsed. Time passed differently in the spirit realm than it did in the physical world. Reckless’ eyes touched on those who sat around the fire with him, his heart filled with questions.

  Reckless’ gaze met Raven’s. “Your son is alive and well. He has been calling us, willing us to come. He is entering into his own power. It is my belief that he was able to reach me because we stepped onto sacred ground a couple of days ago. He and I are connected now, given even more power by Wakan Tanka as we come closer to the Wa-shun Wakan. That is where we must go.”

  Black Fox grunted in approval and smiled at the Lennox women. “It was not by chance that we came upon you three.”

  Reckless also looked at them. “Four. They are four, not three. I have seen it. They are the Four Red Winds, sent by Wakan Tanka to guide us to Wa-shun Wakan and Pte Tali Yapa. Brown Stag awaits us there at the lake within Wa-shun Wakan.”

  Raven asked, “Four? But there are only the three of them.” He looked at Jaylyn. “Was there someone else down in that ravine with you?”

  Jaylyn shook her head, confused by what was happening. “No. It was just me, Peanut, and Annie. I swear.”

  Reckless smiled benevolently at Peanut. “She carries the fourth wind inside her. The new life within you is strong and has resisted death’s pull. Wakan Tanka has blessed you with another child. One with an important destiny.”

  The color drained from Peanut’s face and she grew slightly dizzy. “How could you know that? I didn’t tell anyone.”

  Jaylyn’s mouth dropped open. “Pollyanna Pearl Lennox! Are you expecting?”

  Tears burned in Peanut’s eyes and she nodded.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Jaylyn asked, moving over to her sister.

  “I didn’t tell anyone—not even Claude. I was going to once we traded in the gold. I didn’t want to tell him until then. Sort of like a surprise, I guess. We were going to get married and settle down and be so happy. I thought he loved me and Annie. Now I know that all he wanted was the gold. He didn’t care about us at all!”

  Peanut covered her face with her free hand, holding Annie in her other arm. Her shoulders shook and Annie picked up on her mother’s distress. The baby cried, her wail cutting into the quiet of the night. Jaylyn put her arms around the both of them, trying to calm Peanut and Annie.

  Loud bullfrog croaks sounded and Annie stopped crying immediately, her blue eyes looking for their maker. She found Skip and smiled at him, holding out her arms to him. He grinned and trotted over to take her from Peanut. Once he had Annie in his arms, Skip took her back to where he’d been sitting by Black Fox. She frowned at him, but she seemed to feel safe with Skip holding her and stayed quiet.

  Mike wished that he’d have known that Peanut was pregnant before giving her laudanum, but it couldn’t be helped now. He wouldn’t give her any more. Instead, he began brewing willow bark tea so that it was on hand overnight to ease Peanut’s pain. He decided to add some chamomile to help calm her, too. The last thing he wanted was for her to miscarry from the physical and emotional trauma she’d been going through.

  The sisters clung to each other. Jaylyn rocked Peanut, reassuring her that everything would be all right, that they would figure it all out.

  Raven crouched down by Peanut. “Your sister’s right. Sometimes we don’t always know why things happen, but there is always a reason. You’re not alone, remember? We will help you. You helped us find Runner, so we owe you. If not for you, we might have searched for months without finding him.”

  Peanut’s tears slowed. “I don’t understand. Reckless, how did you know that I’m pregnant?”

  “I am what our people call a dreamer. You might call me a sensitive or a psychic, but my power is not easily defined. When I was younger, I drowned twice and both times Wakan Tanka brought me back from the spirit world. I have one foot in each world and communicate with the spirits. They help me during times of trouble and sometimes warn me about danger.

  “Or, like now, they help me communicate with others like myself. My young cousin is also a dreamer, but until now, he has not had the kind of power necessary to communicate over long distances. I know you may not believe me, but I speak the truth,” he explained.

  Peanut said, “It’s hard to doubt after what you just did.”

  Reckless smiled and then looked at Black Fox. “I would speak to my chief in private,” he said formally in Lakota.

  Black Fox rose and he and Reckless walked a ways down the trail together. Black Fox waited for Reckless to speak.

  “Before my vision ended, Great Grandfather spoke to me. He said that he wants me to bring my father to him. I asked him how I could do that when my father walks the spirit world with him, but he did not answer me. Do you know what that means?” Reckless watched his uncle closely.

  The sudden tension in the chief’s posture and the surprise in his eyes told Reckless that he did.

  Black Fox closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them. “It is not my story to tell. Stay here.”

  “Why?”

  “Stay here,” Black Fox insisted.

  Confusion kept Reckless company while he waited for his uncle to return.

  Black Fox came to the fire again and caught Owl’s attention, motioning for him to follow him. When they were alone, he said, “The time has come, brother. Go to Reckless.”

  Owl’s heart filled with fear, but he nodded and steeled himself for the coming conversation.

  Chapter Four

  Reckless had been expecting Black Fox, but it was Owl who walked towards him out of the darkness.

  Owl smiled tightly at Reckless. “Let us walk.”

  “Where is my other uncle?” Reckless asked.

  “At the fire. He is not who you need to talk to about this. I am,” Owl replied. “A long time ago, your father went out on a hunting trip and their party was attacked by a large group of Kiowa. Most of their party were killed, but a few escaped and made it home. Your father was not among them. We were told that he was dead. You know that it is our custom for a woman whose husband has been killed to marry her husband’s brother if they are agreeable. This happened after my first wife, Blue Star, died, so I was unmarried.

  “I was married briefly to your mother, Reckless. We made a fair match, even though we were not in love with each other. We respected each other and were very fond of each other and that was enough. We were also a comfort
to each other in our time of grief. This happened in December and we were only married for the rest of the winter. Your father returned around the end of March. You were born not quite eight months after his return,” Owl said.

  Reckless stopped walking and stared at Owl. Confusion filled his expression and his chest rose and fell rapidly with the force of his turmoil. “You are my father?”

  “No. He Who Runs was your father in all ways but one, Reckless,” Owl said. “He was so happy to have a son and he loved you as much as any father loves his child.”

  Reckless’ mind went back in time to a conversation he’d had with his parents after his vision that had led the tribe to their new home in the canyon after the army had burned their old camp. He’d spent four days in the summer sun out on the rock ledge at camp, searching for a safe place for their tribe to live …

  He wanted to see his parents and walked in the direction of their campfire. Halfway there, he got dizzy again and had to stand still. Brook supported him, worry etched on her face as she watched his eyes close. In a few moments he moved on again and they reached his parents’ fire.

  Eagle Woman saw her son’s condition and put a hand to her mouth. She would have come to embrace him, but he said, “Mother, please do not touch me. Forgive me for not using proper etiquette.”

  Smiling, she made do with touching her son’s hair and pressing a hand briefly to his cheek. Reckless smiled back at her and then sat down awkwardly. The skin all over his body was bright red and burned with every movement. Sighing, he closed his eyes again until some of the pain subsided.

  He Who Runs watched him with concern. “My son, you should not be up walking around yet. You are not strong enough.”

  Reckless opened his eyes and said, “I needed to tell you something before I forget it.”

  “What is it?” his father asked.

  “Grandfather said to not forget the promise you made to Wakan Tanka all those years ago. I do not know what that promise was, but he said you would remember it, that you promised to tell the truth. I do not need to know what that is, so do not feel compelled to tell me or anyone but who it involves,” Reckless said.