Beloved Physician (29 page)

She worked her lips, trying to form words, and finally was able to say, “Chief Tando?”

“Yes.”

Melinda had heard of Chief Tando, that he and his people were renegade Utes, and that they continued to prey on white people and kill them in spite of Chief Ouray’s pleas to the contrary.

Horror came over her afresh, but she had no strength to resist him.

Tando patted her shoulder again. “We will take you to our village.”

With that, he slid his arms beneath her, hoisted her into a cradled position, then stood up. A feeling of panic ran through Melinda.

The chief spoke to the others. “Mount up. Even though it is raining hard, we must go home.” He carried Melinda to his horse, hoisted her up on the animal’s back, then swung up behind her.

Melinda prayed as she rode with the chief on his horse.
O dear Lord, I beg of You! Please deliver me from the hands of these Indians. I don’t believe they will not harm me, in spite of what Tando says. They hate white people. Why wouldn’t they harm me? Or even kill me?

The thought of her plight tightened her nerves and sent her heart pounding.

There was no conversation between Chief Tando and Melinda as they rode west and climbed into the towering Rocky Mountains beneath the dark sky with the wind slapping against them. They, as well as the twenty warriors, bowed their heads against the drive of the rain.

Melinda noticed a herd of deer dash across the path in front of them some fifty yards away. They quickly disappeared in the dense forest that led up to higher ground.

For the next hour the trail grew steeper and the rain whirled
down from the clouds overhead. Then it began to dissipate, and after another twenty minutes, the rain stopped completely. The clouds were breaking up and soon the sun was shining down from a clear blue sky.

Nandano rode on one side of the chief and Latawga rode on the other side. Latawga ventured a glance at the blond white woman sitting in front of his father and saw a strained, somber expression. He started to say something that might ease her fear, but decided to remain silent.

For Melinda, the time seemed to drag by, but finally, as they reached the village, the sun had set and only its glow from the western sky showed Melinda the long rows of tepees. Many cook fires were in front of them, with wisps of smoke lifting skyward. There was a gathering group of Indians who were looking at her with curiosity written on their faces.

Melinda looked them over with a candid eye. There were many young men, whom she decided were more of Tando’s warriors. There were also a good number of young women, whom she thought might be the squaws of the warriors. Some of them carried papooses on their backs and in their arms. She also saw several children that she guessed ran from two and three years old up into their teens. There were many men and women in middle age and a good number were silver-haired, deeply wrinkled, and moved with a shuffling walk.

Tando rode his horse up to his tepee, where Leela stood, looking questioningly at the blond white woman sitting in front of her husband. Two older squaws stood beside her.

The other warriors drew their horses to a halt just behind the chief. Latawga dismounted, glanced at his puzzled mother, and stepped up beside his fathers horse. He looked up at the young white woman, whose eyes were wide with fear in the ashen pallor of her skin.

Raising his hands toward her, Latawga said, “I do not know your name. What is your name?”

Her lips quivered and her voice trembled. “M-Melinda.”

Latawga almost smiled. “I will help you down, Melinda.”

Feeling very weak, Melinda leaned toward him, and felt Tando firmly grip her arms: Tando eased her into his sons grasp. Latawga lowered Melinda into his arms, then stood her on her feet.

A crowd had gathered by this time and from his horse’s back, Chief Tando ran his gaze over the curious faces and said, “After we met with Chief Red Arrow, we crossed the South Platte River to come home. We stopped for a short time in the forest to talk about Red Arrows refusal to join us in making war with the whites.” A scowl formed on his face for a moment.

The people exchanged glances.

Tando went on. “While we were talking about Red Arrow, we saw this young white woman fall from her horse into the river from the opposite bank. She was alone and was being carried swiftly and helplessly downstream. I ordered Latawga to dive in and rescue her, which as you can see … he did.”

At this point, the chief slipped off his horses back and stood beside Latawga and the young woman. “Since our other white woman servant, Joyce, is dead from the fever, I will have this young white woman take her place.”

Melinda’s heart was pounding at those words, and it only got worse when Tando turned to her with a deep frown on his brow. “I heard you tell my son your name is Melinda. Did I understand correctly?”

“Yes,” she said timidly.

“Melinda, you will now be servant, first to my squaw, Leela, then to other squaws as Leela directs you.” He pointed to Leela as he spoke and stepped back.

Leela took a couple of steps toward her.

Melinda flinched and moved back a pace, only to run into Tando. He gripped both of her upper arms, not grasping them hard, just letting her know there was no place to run.

Suddenly, Melinda’s eyes filled with tears. She turned and looked at the chief. “Please, sir. Please let me go home! I beg of you to let me go home! Please!”

The tears began to spill down her cheeks.

Leela stepped up to her, laid a hand on her shoulder, and said in a soft tone, “If Melinda obeys Chief Tando and Leela she will not be mistreated, but the chief has spoken. She will not be allowed to go home. But Melinda should be glad that our son saved her from drowning.”

Through her tears, Melinda gazed at Leela. Even in her distraught state, she noted that the chief’s squaw was quite lovely. She was petite, and there was a grace in her shoulders and shining beauty in her tender eyes. Her copper skin glowed from the reflected light of the cook fire, and two long, lustrous braids hung down her back.

Tando moved up beside Leela and set his dark eyes on Melinda. “You must dry your tears. As my squaw has said, if you obey us, you will not be harmed. But you are now Leela’s servant and will serve other squaws as she directs you. You will live in the tepee next to ours with two widows of our warriors. Please do not try to escape. We will only catch you, and you will be punished.”

Melinda lifted a hand and wiped away her tears. Whiteness covered her face, turning her lips scarlet against such pallor.

Leela said in a soft voice, “Perhaps in time, Melinda, you will learn to like it here and learn our ways.”

Melinda felt horror at that awful prospect. Her head started spinning and her knees buckled. She fell to the ground.

Leela bent over her, saw that she was unconscious, and looked up at her husband. “Carry her into our tepee, and I will take care of her.”

Tando picked up the limp Melinda and Leela followed Tando into the tepee. He laid her on a sleeping pallet on the floor and moved outside.

Leela knelt down and with a soft cloth, dabbed the tears from the girls face. Then taking the white hands into her own dark-skinned hands, she rubbed them briskly.

Melinda started to become aware of what Leela was doing and her eyes fluttered open. The two women stared at each other for a moment; then Melinda sucked in a deep breath, preparing to let out a scream. Leela let go of one of Melinda’s hands and clamped her own over the girls mouth, stifling the scream.

As Melinda looked at her wide-eyed, Leela said, “You must learn now that to scream will only get you into trouble. You will be given work to do, but none of it will be unreasonable. I know you will miss your people, wherever they are, but you are now the property of Chief Tando and Leela.”

Melinda blinked and swallowed hard, looking at the squaw with tear-filled eyes. She knew she dare not try again to scream. It would not help, anyhow, she told herself. There was no one to hear her scream and come to her rescue.

“Stand up now,” Leela said, “and let’s get you out of this stained dress. You and I are near the same size. You can wear something of mine.”

When Melinda was on her feet, Leela handed the trembling girl a dark brown deerskin dress. While Leela looked on, Melinda slowly slipped out of her soiled dress and put on the one Leela had given her. She was surprised at how soft it felt against her skin and looked at Leela with astonishment.

Leela smiled. “It is nice, isn’t it? I will teach you how to make your own.”

Melinda’s eyes were full of shadow. Her voice quivered across the tepee. “Ma’am, I have a young man who loves me, and I have promised to marry him. I also have parents who love me. If I do not go back to all three of them, it will break their hearts. They will think I am dead. Please, ma’am, please ask your husband to let me go home.”

Leela shook her head. “It would do no good. It would also make him very angry at me. You must accept being our servant and not complain. Our son saved your life, and we will feed and clothe you.”

At that moment, the dreadful fear of being with these savage people strangely began to dissipate. Melinda thought about her heavenly Father and knew He was always with her. Hebrews 13:5 came to mind. “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

A gentle peace filled her heart.

Melinda looked at Leela. “Thank—thank you for the dress.”

Leela smiled. “You are welcome.” She bent down, took a pair of beaded moccasins from a basket, and handed them to her. “These doeskin moccasins will feel good on your feet, too.”

Melinda sat down on the pallet, removed her sodden boots and stockings, and slipped her feet into the moccasins. She stood up and took a walk around the inside of the tepee. Indeed, they felt good to her feet. A tiny smile crossed her pale features. “Thank you, ma’am.”

Leela said, “You can call me by my name.”

Melinda let the smile grow a little. “All right. Thank you, Leela.”

Still feeling the gentle peace from God, Melinda thought,
Tim and my parents will no doubt have the army scouring the plains and the mountains for me. Surely in a few days the soldiers will come to my rescue. In the meantime, I will be much better off if I do as I’m told and obey these people. At least the chief’s squaw is kind to me
.

Suddenly another thought popped into her mind.
Maybe the Lord has allowed me to be captured by these Indians for a short time so I can be a witness to them! Lord, You know how difficult this situation is for me, and You know how terribly frightened I am. But the Indians need Jesus. They need salvation. Please give me the wisdom and courage to talk to Leela and these people, and help me to recall enough Scripture to plant the seed of the Word into their hearts
.

Even more peace seemed to invade her inner being. She looked at Leela and said, “Since there is work to be done, what would you like me to do?”

Leela frowned slightly. She was perplexed over the sudden transformation that had come over the white girl.

Melinda saw the puzzlement in Leela’s dark eyes and resolved with Gods help to tell her of Jesus and His love.

A
t the Kenyon house, Hattie was standing on the front porch, looking in the direction of the South Platte River. Melinda should have been back an hour ago. Even if she had taken refuge somewhere when the rain came down hard, it wasn’t raining any longer. She should be home by now. If all was well, she
would
be.

Hattie let out an uneasy sigh and began imagining all kinds of things that could have happened to her. With each thought, what she imagined became worse. Panic was beginning to squeeze her chest.

“Oh, dear Lord,” she said with a quivering voice. “Where is she? Is she hurt? Has someone kidnapped her? Or—or did something happen that took her life? Is—is she dead?”

With the latter thought, a floodgate opened in her mind, washing old memories to the surface. She recalled the very first time she laid eyes on the pretty blond girl at the railroad station in Topeka ten years ago, where the orphan train was and the orphans were lined up to be inspected by the prospective foster parents. At first sight of her, she and George both knew they wanted to take Melinda home.

Hattie thought of the day shortly thereafter, that they went before the judge in Topeka and went beyond the status of foster
parents. They adopted her and changed her name from Melinda Scott to Melinda Kenyon.

Sweet memories of how the girl had endeared herself to both parents ran through Hattie’s mind.

She drew a shaky breath and fixed her eyes toward the field where she should have seen Melinda riding home on Abe when she first came out on the porch. No sign of her. “Oh, please, Lord. Don’t let anything be wrong. Please bring her home to me right n—”

Suddenly Hattie spotted movement on the wet, grassy field some three hundred yards away. She blinked and squinted to bring the moving figure into focus. Was it a horse?

She watched intently as the dark figure came closer. After a few more minutes, she saw that it was definitely a horse, moving slowly toward her.