Broken Wings (8 page)

Maggie came up with a viable solution.
The next time traders passed through, she’d hire them to deliver a
message.

Even with all the adjustments to her
newfound lifestyle, Maggie’s heritage and customs still ached to
come out. She hadn’t forgotten that, in her world, a married couple
used symbols to show their bond—namely a wedding ring.

But this wasn’t a custom of the Washoe.
Maggie came upon the answer when she decided to introduce her own
version of marital expression to her newfound family. In her need
to have material symbols representative of the fact that she and
Tajan belonged to one another, she made a pair of matching
bracelets out of leather and beads.

Upon showing them to Tajan, he was none
the wiser. “What’s this?” He looked at the items in her hand and
then back at her.

“
Well...” She stalled,
thinking she’d have to talk him into wearing them. “In my world
when a man and a woman marry, they exchange gold rings.” He was
never going to go for this. “And since we don’t have any…I made
these.” She held out the bracelets. “If we wear them, they’ll be a
symbol of our love for each other.”

“
This will make you happy?”
he asked.

“
Well...” She thought about
it. “I’m already happy. But this is one way to ensure my continued
happiness.”

“
If this makes you happy...”
And there was that devilishly handsome grin of his again. “We will
wear them.”

Maggie tied the larger bracelet on his
left wrist, just as a wedding ring belongs on the left hand. Once
done, she handed the other bracelet to him and held out her left
arm.

Tajan followed her lead and tied the
bracelet onto her wrist. As he did, he gazed at her, kissing her
with his eyes. She was about to get lost in his eyes when his lips
feather-touched hers with tantalizing persuasion.

The touch of his mouth was as soft as a
whisper. She opened her mouth, encouraging him to come
inside.

~~~~

CHAPTER 16

Among the Washoe, since there was no
ritualistic ceremony to join a man and woman together, couples
simply decided they would unite and from that day forward everyone
in the tribe considered them to be married. And so it was with
Maggie and Tajan.

Their union was well received by the
tribe’s members; especially by Lela, Tajan’s mother. She knew her
son was crazy about Maggie. And she also knew that if Maggie left,
Tajan would never get over it.

Timeko knew what it was like to be the
outsider looking in. Loving someone that you were certain could
belong to anyone but you. When Lela’s father initiated the marriage
between his daughter and Timeko —Timeko never forgot what that felt
like. Even though he had his reservations about the young white
woman, whom he was certain carried a sizeable burden, he accepted
it with grace because he wanted his son to be happy. And according
to his wife, this young white woman was the only thing in this
world that would ever make their son happy.

The children in the tribe also loved
the new pairing. Not only did they have Tajan, who played with
them, but now they had Maggie, too.

Maggie and Tajan’s days were filled
with joy and pleasure as they enjoyed a carefree lifestyle right
alongside the children. They too were prone to play together like
children, rather than act like married adults. Well, maybe
teenagers anyway. It never took long for their playful antics to
lead from one thing to another. When that happened, one of them
always initiated a game of hide and seek with the children, which
is how the couple always made their escape. Disguised as an effort
to find a hiding place, the couple would run off and disappear,
vanishing high up into the hills where the children were never
allowed to follow.

Even though the children never
attempted to go after them, Maggie and Tajan continued on with
their game of hide and seek as if nothing had changed. He could
read her like a book, always knowing where to find her when they
disappeared.

Once he got her in his sights, he’d
call after her playfully. “I will get you, girl!”

Maggie would duck behind a tree,
catching her breath. She could always sense when he was getting
close to her again. She’d dart out like a flash and run off. Every
time Tajan got near her, she’d scream with joyful delight that
would filter through the forest.

Upon occasion, their escapades found
them on the shores of Lake Tahoe. By this time he’d undoubtedly
caught up with her. She’d try to lead him back into the trees once
she saw where they were, but he’d catch her, pulling her back
toward the lake.

The couple’s laughter filled the air
with fun. Maggie somehow resisted his capture, running away. Tajan
continued his pursuit playfully. He picked her up and carried her
back toward the water, laughing lightheartedly while Maggie giggled
and screamed all at the same time. Approaching the water’s edge she
clung to him, as if this was the time he’d toss her in. Of course,
he never did. Planting her feet in a couple inches of water was the
extent of his reprisal.

By then, it was almost time. They’d
head for their special place, now known as Vista Point. By the time
they’d get there Maggie had more often than not caught her second
wind. Her constant jumping around and climbing over the boulders
made Tajan nervous. The more she messed around, the more
uncomfortable he became with her reckless abandon. Eventually,
she’d get to the point of carelessness.

Tajan motioned for her to come down,
but she’d mock him with playful gestures. Sometimes, she slipped
and fell into his arms. The magnetic power between the them was too
much for either of them to overcome, and they ended up kissing.
Their mutual attraction drew them into their own private world,
derived in passion.

On this day, Maggie’s conscious got the
better of her. It seemed that after making love with Tajan she was
always at her weakest. It was then that she was the most
vulnerable.

She lay on her side with her back to
him. He propped himself up on his elbow and glanced down at
her.

With a tender, soft touch he caressed
her hair back out of her face. “What is wrong?”

She turned over and faced him. “I
married you under false pretenses.”

“
What do you mean?” A frown
wrinkled his brow. “Is there another in your white world?” his tone
sharpened. “You left that world behind when I found you. Your world
is with me now.”

She shook her head. “There’s no one
else. There could never be anyone else.” She touched his face,
running her fingers along his strong jaw line. “And you’re
right...my world is with you now.”

“
Then why are you so sad?”
he asked in a much calmer tone.

She hesitated, summoning the courage to
tell on herself. “I have to tell you who I am…or was.” She looked
away, wanting to hide her humiliation. For the first time she was
ashamed of who she was. “My sisters and I—” She looked back at him.
“—we robbed banks. That’s how I got shot. And that’s why I had all
that money with me when you found me.”

“
Did the money bring you
happiness?” he asked much too casually for what he’d just
heard.

She thought about it, before saying, “I
thought it did.”

“
And now?”

“
Well…now I realize,” she
said, “I was wrong.”

“
The white man’s money has
no value here.” His tone was calm, but firm. “But you must never do
it again.”

“
I won’t.” She sighed and
drew him into her arms. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

“
I do not care that you
stole from the white man,” he said. “But you have a new family now
and you must never steal from any of them.”

“
I love these people,” she
said, almost hurt. “I would never do anything to harm any of
them.”

Guilt washed over Tajan and he felt bad
for saying it. He knew she’d probably done some bad things in her
white world. And now that she’d admitted stealing from her own
people he had to be certain she was clear—she could never do it
again. He knew he’d offended her and he couldn’t leave the rift
between them.

“
You are a liar,” he said in
firm, yet playful tone.

“
What?” Fire practically
shot out from her eyes.

“
You must have been a very
good thief... where you came from,” he said, and lay back
down.

“
Why would you say that?”
she didn’t know whether to be mad, or scared.

“
When you came to us you
started with my heart, and did not stop until you stole everyone
else’s.” He laughed, pulling her on top of him. “You stole my
heart.” He kissed her with lips that were more persuasive than she
cared to admit. “Don’t try to deny it.”

“
Oh, yeah…” Laughter carried
her words on the air. “Is that all I’ve managed to get away with?
That’s not all I was after.”

~~~~

CHAPTER 17

Maggie could have easily remained with
Tajan and his people, sharing and living out the rest of their
lives blissfully happy. That is, if the outside world hadn’t come
crashing back down around them. When it did, neither of them
expected it. Therefore, neither of them was ready for
it.

They’d been out most of the day. And
now, as they headed back to camp they laughed and talked,
enthralled in each other. Tajan was carrying a batch of trout he’d
caught. Maggie had a basket of wild berries and edible roots and
bulbs that she’d gathered while Tajan was fishing.

“
I want to give your mom
some of the pine nuts I found,” she said. The elders’ circle in the
middle of the campsite dragged her attention away from Tajan. She
scanned the circle, more out of curiosity than anything else, since
she knew it had to be a pretty special occasion for it to happen
without notice. An important visitor, perhaps?

The last person she expected to see was
her grandfather Bradford Fuller.

Maggie froze. Her basket of goods fell
to the ground.

Tajan glanced back and forth between
Maggie and the tribal council. He zeroed in on the older white man
sitting amongst his people and recognized him instantly.

Bradford Fuller was a frequent and
welcomed visitor among the Washoe. He was in the habit of traveling
up three or four times a year to visit and trade with the
tribe.

Maggie’s reaction to the familiar guest
twisted Tajan’s nerves around his gut. He turned to her. “Do you
know him?” he asked, even though he didn’t want to know the answer.
He didn’t need one. He could tell by her reaction that the white
trader, who also happened to be a frequent visitor among his
people, was more than a simple trader to her.

She looked at the council and then back
at Tajan. “He’s my grandfather.”

Tajan’s nerves instantly relaxed. He
took her hand, ignoring the spilled basket, and led her toward the
group.

Bradford Fuller’s gaze landed on Maggie
and Tajan, and his face paled. It was as if he’d seen a
ghost.

Which of course was the logical
conclusion since he’d thought she was dead.

Mary had returned home with the news of
Molly’s death. She and her grandfather had waited for Maggie to
show up, but their wait was in vain. After weeks of waiting and
nothing ever coming from it they accepted the notion that Maggie
must’ve suffered the same fate as her sister Molly.

“
That’s my granddaughter!”
Bradford pointed to Maggie. He wrestled his urge to jump up;
instead, he waited respectfully for Timeko and the tribe’s chief to
stand so he was free to go to her without offense.

Maggie dropped Tajan’s hand and ran
into Bradford’s arms.

“
We thought you were dead,
too,” he said.

She backed away, surveying his face
with a grave look. “Too?”

“
Your sister Molly—” He
nearly choked on the words. “—is dead.”

That proved to be a little more than
Maggie could handle. Her ability to reason deserted her, then her
thoughts faded and consciousness abandoned her.

Maggie slumped toward the
ground.

* * *

Bradford Fuller gave his granddaughter
precious little time to recover from his difficult news. It didn’t
take him long to drag her off, hoping to make her see the error of
her ways.

Maggie strolled in the direction of
Vista Point with him following behind. She leaned against a giant
boulder and he stood over her like a troubled parent.

She tried her best to ignore him
because she knew what was coming. She didn’t want to hear it and
she certainly didn’t have to like it.

But that didn’t stop him. “You
understand that you have to leave here,” he said, “don’t
you?”

Maggie could almost feel the fire
flickering from her eyes. “I can’t leave him.” Her tone was
undeniable and her words final. “I could sooner stop breathing than
to leave him.”