2000 Kisses (23 page)
She consulted Mae's map once. After that she had no need for it. She followed her peak and it guided her without error.
Where the valley floor rose into the foothills, she
slowed and rolled down a window. Hie pungent scent of juniper and pinon filled the air, while thesun beatwarm upon her shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a brown shape running alongside the ear. A coyote, she thought in awe.
Another brown form emerged from the opposite side of the car. In loose, loping strides they paced her up the winding road. There in die sunlight, when Tess should have felt uneasy, her fear vanished. The presence of these wild creatures seemed as natural as the rest of this day's magic.
By the time she wound along the twisting gravel road and passed a tangle of fallen boulders, the coyotes had vanished. She stopped the car where die road ended in a steep slope. With water and hat in hand, Tess set off along die path, as Mae had described it.
Then something stopped her.
The broad brown path seemed wrong somehow. She scanned the rugged landscape from horizon to horizon. Above her rose an ancient twisting pinon, and something whispered that this was die way. Once underneath those tangled branches Tess saw a smaller path, now overgrown widi scrub. As she took her first step, an eagle cried high overhead, and for the space of a heartbeat, the air seemed to shimmer. Tess shivered at the sound of muffled drums, but she did not stop to question what pulled her along that steep, twisting path.
She simply followed its wild call.
At the top of the slope, she came to a dead end. Fallen rocks blocked the way where there should be none. But how did she know they did not belong?
Suddenly tow did not seem to matter. Only the climb mattered. She fought her way forward, pulling herself up
over the slope from rock to rock, scratching her hands and cutting her legs. At the top she came to a ledge— and beyond that a village of stone that slept in the shadow of the curving cliff, slept as if waiting for the laughter of returning families.
Or as if waiting for some lost magic to restore its life.
Tess looked up. Marks covered the weathered stone. Animals. A sun. A handprint, captured in deep red hues.
She hesitated, drawn to touch that handprint. Around her the air seemed to hum, to glow. Suddenly she couldn't breathe, and there was a blur of something like clouds before her eyes. Dazed, she walked through the whiteness and found her way to the other side.
But not to the village. Not to the cooking fires, the laughter, and the barking dogs. Up she went, where the path rose to the high cliffs. To the place where she knew her warrior would be waiting.
Into golden sunlight she climbed, following his marks. First a broken twig, then a feather left carefully on the ground. The air was still here, sweet with the scent of juniper, but she did not pause to enjoy it. Another sign, a circle of small stones. Beyond that a precious bead of carved jade.
She collected them all in her sack of leather. But where was he? What game did he play here, so close to her father's village? If she was discovered, if he was found here with her
—There was a movement at the corner of her eye. She was grabbed, spun, pressed back against the warm wall of the cliff. And his mouth closed
hard upon hers, searching, better than all her dreams.The scent of juniper faded. The weight of sun-lightfled.
This was all.
“It is not safe,' she whispered
.“No part of life is safe. But I have the trail watched. None will follow us without a warning,” His eyes were hard when he shoved away her tunic. He gazed at her as if she were a stranger, then he drew her close to savor the softjullness of her breast and hips. His fingers moved tower, lingering in the shadow of her thighs. He had thought of little but this, even in the dark pine forests where he stalked his kill. This, he had wanted, hungered for with burning blood, The first time after so many weeks he was not stow, not gentle. Nor were her own fingers gentle where they gripped his shoulders and dug hard, leaving white marks.
He felt heat churn within her, moving higher as her body tightened in need. Her hair was a black cascade around them as he brought his mouth to her hot sweetness, pleasing them both with his skill. He could not see her this way enough, could never have enough of her touch. While her broken cry still stirred the warm air, while her back was rigid with pleasure, he tossed away his hip cloth. His fingers locked with hers, pinning her against the cliff face, the only stability in a world of churning pleasure. He bit her mouth, then buried himself in her heaL They both trembled, thighs locked and hands tense.
Both cried out in their joining of the spirit.
Far below in the hot valley, the drums began.
When her eyes opened, the song star blazed in the darkening sky to the west.
“A visitor has come.
”He stirred inside her, his fingers buried in her hair. “You can see so far, little witch?” He smiled, one hand drifting gently over her breasts.
She shivered at the instant return of desire, even now, after their bodies had joined with blinding completeness. '
7
know the sound of the drums. It is not an enemy or a stranger. It is someone who has come from a great distance, but he walks in peace.
”Something stirred in the warrior's eyes. “Perhaps he comes to take you for a mate. You are a rich prize, after all. You are daughter of the chief and maker of great clay magic.
”She pulled away with a gasp. “Do not tease about this.” Pain filled her heart.
“I do not tease.
”
The warrior rose, pulling her hands to his chest while his eyes measured her with painful intensity. “Go with me. Walk with my people and share our songs. Follow us when the snow comes to the high passes and share my furs before the fire.
”This was not mocking, she realized. There was truth in his words and in his trembling touch.
It was what she had prayed to hear him ask— and also what she had feared, for this question meant the end of the life she had known since she was a child. It would mean many words, much arguing. In the end, it would mean leaving this valley she loved.
'My father would never allow it. We are field people, you are of the mountains. All around the fires I hear the grumbling that your tribe has used the river waters, which are lower this year. We cannot live without water.” She drew a painful breath. “He would never allow me to go, not to a man he considers his enemy. “
“I can give him many furs. Parrot feathers traded from the south and carved stone from the mountains to the north. Even your father does not have such things as this.”
It might be possible, she thought. But it would take much time, much discussion and persuasion. She sensed that they did not have time, that already change stalked them in the gathering twilight. “Perhaps. I cannot be certain.”
His lips curved, his face strong arid beloved in the shadows. “Then come here tome. I will show you what we can be certain of Remember this now and as long as the sun shall rise'
With the brush of his lips, she forgot about her father's power and all her uncertainty in the future.
The drums did not still. The sunburned beyond the mountains and stars came to tight the darkness of the sky. The pounding throb of the skins continued, calling all of the tribe from the fields and canyons.
“I must go.” She pulled away, feeling an ache in all her muscles, which had been well used in this peaceful glade.
He slid his fingers into hers. “Stay. One more
hand span of light Just until the moon is mid-heaven.
”She was painfully tempted. But staying would bring greater danger—especially if she had been followed. She pushed away, slipped on her tunic, and found her deerskin bag. “Do not ask this.
”“Then I will ask to come with you. I will speak to your father tonight and convince him that you honor us in joining our people.
”“No.” Her voice was strained with her panic. “He is old, set as the rocks in his ways. I must talk to him first and soften his surprise. I am his only daughter,” she explained.
“Andyou will be my only wife,” her warrior said. “Tomorrow I will come for you, bringing feathers and dressed skins.
”Her heart yearned, but she shook her head. “Not tomorrow. Not the day after,” she whispered.
She turned, moving gracefully over the rocks. “Do not follow me. It is not safe for either of us.
”“Then I will watch you. Every step. Feel me as I stand here behind you, and know that I will protect you always.
”It was as he said. She felt the burn of his eyes upon her all the way down the path, through the forest ofpinon back to the canyon floor. And leaving him brought clawing pain to her heart as she walked into the deep shadows of the cliffs.
Tess was alone. She was thirsty and hot and confused. She looked around her, seeing but not seeing, remembering
things that were no longer there. As she moved from sunlight to shadow, her hat fell and was forgotten. Even the water bottle slid unnoticed to the dry rocks. She was lost in remembering, caught in sounds that were muffled, locked in a fragile past. Only the shadows saw, gathering around the red boulders.
Only the coyote watched, still on the highest rock.
