Between Earth and Sky(94)

Sweat trickled down the back of her neck. Her arms ached from the weight of her bags. How many minutes had passed since she left Stover? Thirty? Forty? However much time had elapsed, she could not afford to rest. She ignored the cry of her aching limbs and listened instead to the music of the stream. Silver moonlight sparkled atop its glassy surface. Minnows schooled in the shadows of submerged rocks. An aspen leaf floated past, riding the gentle waves.

At this, she thought of Asku, the time the two of them had traveled together beside this very stream. Her heart felt raw as it always did whenever he crossed her mind. Would things have been different if he’d stayed? Could he have convinced her father to let she and marry? Could he have softened Minowe’s anger?

She shook her head and sighed. Such questions were not fair to ask. He’d worked so hard to win a place at Brown. He belonged there. She pictured him strolling down the streets of Providence in a fine suit and bowler hat, lounging in smoky parlors engaged in heady conversation with his classmates. He and she were trading places, in a way, trading worlds, as would say.

The rolling forest began to thin. She could see the backside of Grandfather’s Bluff in the distance. Her carefully guarded joy burst like wellspring. waited there. He’d take her hand and tomorrow they’d wed. She no longer felt the ache in her limbs. Her feet no longer plodded but skipped through the underbrush. A narrow road appeared through the trees and bowed toward her. She left the stream bank and scampered to the drive. Her heart beat lively now, and it took all her will to pause and listen before leaving the cover of the woods. So late an hour should bring few, if any, travelers, but she could not chance an encounter.

Behind her, the stream murmured along its course. Wind played the leaves like a symphony, stirring them to frenzy, then decrescen-doing into silence.

She surveyed the road in both directions and then walked out of the bushes onto the level ground, laughing at her undue paranoia. Who would be out at so late an hour? And here, a good two miles from the nearest house.

The road skirted around the bluff, descending through the trees toward the plains and farmlands below. When she reached the westernmost side, the forest dwindled into scree and grass. At the bottom of the hill the road merged with several other small drives and cut across the flatlands toward La Crosse.

There, at the intersection, waited . She could see him clearly in the moonlight, clutching the strap of his canvas haversack, rasping his boot back and forth over the gravel. His tied-back hair had come loose at the front and fell like glossy feathers around his temples to below his chin. A rosy flush colored his cheeks. He tugged at his collar, opened the top button, then fastened it again.

Her lips parted and her entire body hummed. The last of her buried doubts and regret vanished. She ran toward him, dirt crunching beneath the soles of her boots. looked up. His entire face smiled and he jogged to meet her. His beaming eyes sent another thrill skittering deliciously over her skin. It mattered not if they made their home on a reservation or within a towering metropolis. It mattered not that she was white and he Indian. All that mattered was that they were together.

The final stretch of road cut steeply downward to the bluff’s base. Alma slowed only enough to keep from falling. Her gaze flickered to the ground to maintain her footing. When she looked up again, had stopped some fifty yards away, his eyes wide and mouth gaping. He said something she could not hear.

A body crashed into her from behind, and a thick arm encircled her waist. She and her assailant skidded forward. Her bags fell from her hands and she wheeled her arms to keep from tumbling head over foot. The body behind her arched backward, pulling them both onto the ground.

Alma turned to her captor. In the pallid moonlight she recognized the trim beard and small blue eyes. “Father?”

How had he uncovered their plan? Her eyes darted back to as she tried to wrestle free. He sprinted up the road toward them.

A rumbling to the west caught her attention. A great glow moved in their direction. The yellow blur sharpened into several separate balls of light. The low rumble grew into a steady beat of horse hooves.

stopped.

“Father, what have you done?” Alma whispered. She locked eyes with and screamed, “Run! Hide away in the woods.”

He stood frozen for the span of several heartbeats. His eyes flickered to the approaching mob, then back to her.

“Forget me! Just go. !”

Finally, he ran. The face of the bluff was too steep to climb, so he doubled back down the road and circled around the base toward the forest. Alma lost sight of him just as the riders reached the intersection. Four broke off and galloped after him while the others reined their horses and waited. Torchlight danced against the hillside.

Her father stood and pulled her up beside him. She fought to break away, but he grabbed hold of both her arms and wrenched them behind her back. “What devil has possessed you, daughter? Have you no shame for your sins?”

He muscled her down the road to where the riders tarried atop their steeds. She recognized the white hair and leathery skin of Mr. Simms. Beside him was Sheriff Gund. Alma’s gaze flickered from his mustached face to the bullet-studded gun belt around his waist. Her heart tripped and sputtered. Her mouth went dry. ran fast, she reminded herself. And he knew the woods. They would not catch him.

She sucked in a deep breath and studied the other men. Mr. Coleman, the farmer Asku had done his first summer outing with, sat among the riders, as did Mr. Krause, the grocer, and the senior Mr. Steele, looking out of place in his posh chesterfield topcoat. The other two riders Alma did not recognize.