Yellowstone Romance Series - Bundle (# 2-5) (15 page)

“Chase has taught the children a new game,” Little Bird beamed. “It has something to do with a foot and a ball, but I was not clear. Maybe he meant to say not to use the foot, because it is obviously a throwing game. The ball doesn’t look like a ball, either. He showed me what he wanted, and I sewed him the type of ball he asked for. It is more oblong in shape than round. Very interesting game, this white man plays.”

“The children seem to enjoy it,” one of the other women commented, leaning forward to look at Sarah. “Where does this man come from,
Imaah
?”

“First, tell us how Snow Bird is doing,” Little Bird interrupted.

“She is well, and so is her son. Where is her husband?”

“He has gone hunting with a group of the young men, in celebration of the impending birth. He went to visit our neighbors to the north. Hawk Soaring is with them, too. He will probably come for a visit with the hunters when they return in a few days.” Little Bird smiled brightly at Sarah.

“Hawk Soaring?” Sarah echoed. Why would her aunt mention him in particular? She had been friends with the man since childhood. Her brothers and he had often gotten into mischief together growing up, and Sarah had usually tagged along, to her brothers’ great annoyance. She hadn’t seen him in several months. He lived with another Tukudeka clan who favored the higher mountain ranges to the north.

“Won’t it please you to see him?” Little Bird asked.

“Well, yes, I suppose. I haven’t seen him in a while.” The expectant look on her aunt’s face, and a few of the other women perplexed her.

“You are not excited about the news?” Shining Water asked.

Sarah shook her head. “There is something you all know that I obviously do not.” She laughed.

Little Bird shot her an incredulous stare. “Your father hasn’t told you?”

“Told me what? Please stop speaking in riddles,” Sarah chuckled, suddenly feeling nervous.

“Hawk Soaring has been to see your father,” Shining Water said. “He has asked for you.” Her face beamed, obviously pleased to be announcing this news.

Sarah’s heart dropped to her stomach. She felt nauseous all of a sudden. “When . . ,” she choked out the words, “when did he do that?”

Little Bird looked uneasy. “We thought you knew,
Imaah
. This happened before your parents left for the rendezvous. We assumed your father had spoken to you.”

“No,” Sarah whispered. Her eyes darted to Chase, who was running around with the children, shouting encouragements at them. “No, he hasn’t said anything.” She swallowed back the bitterness creeping up her throat.  Why would her father not tell her? What could it mean? Never had she believed that he would decide on the man she would marry someday. She always assumed that decision would be left to her.

Her parents had commented often lately that she didn’t have a husband, but she had said she wasn’t interested in a man. Did her father believe she needed to marry, and he’d made the decision for her? She’d always liked Hawk Soaring. He was a nice man, and a very capable hunter. There was no doubt in her mind he would be a good provider to a family. But her feelings for him did not extend beyond that of friendship. He didn’t send her pulses racing like…Chase. Sarah blinked back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.

“Imaah
,” Little Bird said gently.  “I can see that your heart lies with another.  Does this white man plan to ask for you?” She patted Sarah’s arm.

“No,” Sarah laughed half-heartedly. Her throat constricted tightly. She couldn’t even swallow. “He has no such intentions.”

Chapter 16

Chase spotted Sarah sitting in the shade with her aunt and several other women. How long had she been there? He hadn’t noticed her coming from that hut. All morning, he’d played an improvised version of football with the village kids. He’d even been able to communicate to Little Bird about making him a football shaped ball. It was a far cry from a real pigskin, but it served its purpose.

He motioned to the kids to keep playing, then strode over to where Sarah sat. She looked worn out.

“Hey.” He grinned down at her. He knelt in front of the women, and stuck his hand in the basket, scooping up a handful of nuts and berries, and flashed them all a bright smile. One of the women swatted his hand away, but she had a wide grin on her face.

His attention returned to Sarah, who sat quietly. She looked like she was about to cry. Her aunt kept darting him curious glances, and the other women leaned their heads together, whispering.

“Everything all right?” he asked. “Nothing happened to the mom and baby, did it?”

Sarah looked directly at him for the first time.  “No, they’re fine.”

“Then why so glum?” He didn’t wait for an answer, and reached his hand out to her. “Come on, Angel, I’ve got just the thing to cheer you up.”

Her eyes widened.

“Come on,” he coaxed. “The opposition is losing pretty badly. They need a wide receiver who can run fast. I think you’re just what they need.” His grin widened. He knew she had no clue what he was talking about. She hesitated, then reached out to grab his hand. He pulled her to her feet the instant she made contact with it.  She shot a nervous glance over her shoulder at the women, and Chase noticed them smiling brightly, wondering vaguely at the reason. He led her towards the group of waiting kids.

“You want me to play?” Her eyes grew round.

“Yup.” Chase tugged her along when her steps began to falter.

“I don’t know how,” she protested, a slight note of panic in her voice.

“It’s really easy, Angel. All you have to do is catch the ball that this little guy,” he pointed to a young boy with a wide smile on his face, “is going to throw to you, and then you run with it.” Pointing into the distance, he continued, “See that row of rocks lying on the ground down there?” She nodded. “That’s your goal. If you reach those rocks and run past them, you’re safe, and your team scores.”

“That sounds easy,” she said. “All I have to do is run with that ball?”

“Catch it and run,” Chase nodded. “And don’t let anyone on the other team catch you.”

“Okay. If it will help, I’ll try it.” She smiled at the group of kids.

“Excellent.” Chase beamed. He motioned for the kids to take their positions, pointing fingers at kids and showing them where they should stand. Then he handed the ball off to the boy who was his designated quarterback for the opposing team.

“Sarah, you need to stand behind this line of kids. They’re going to try and prevent this guy,” he pointed to the boy holding the ball, “from throwing it to you, and also to catch the ball themselves. Got it?”

She nodded affirmation.

Chase took up a position at the front of the line towards the outside to give the boy the advantage of a clean throw. He nodded his head, and the boy jumped back, aimed, and threw the ball. All the kids started shouting at once, and mayhem ensued. Sarah had to run forward since the throw fell short of where she stood, but she caught it at the last second before it would have hit the ground. Smiling brightly, she whirled around, and ran in the direction of the goal.

His heart beat faster at watching her. She would have been a natural at flag football or maybe softball.  She had the athleticism for it. Chase darted after her. Her head turned, and he caught the surprised look in her eyes when she saw him in pursuit. Her laughter spurred him on, and it didn’t take much for him to overtake her. She screeched when she realized she’d been outrun. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down, twisting his body so she’d land on top of him, then quickly rolled her underneath him.

“You’re not allowed to do that,” she squealed. “That’s not fair.” Her face was flushed from the excitement, and his gut tightened in response to her radiant smile.

“That, Angel, is called a tackle,” he said in a heated whisper, his face inches from hers. If they didn’t have an entire village of Indians as an . . . He pushed himself off of her, and extended his hand to help her up. She shot him an indignant stare, but accepted his hand.

“You should have told me about that. You never said knocking me down was part of the game.” She slapped at the dust on her pants.

He shrugged sheepishly. “For once, I wanted to have the advantage over you,” he said. “You wanna try again?”

“No, I think I’ve had quite enough,” she said.

“Suit yourself,” he shrugged. “I think I’ve had enough for a while, too. Those kids sure have a lot of endurance. We’ve been going strong all morning.”

“They obviously enjoy your game.” She called something to the children, and there were a lot of disappointed groans and turned down faces.

“Tell them we’re taking a time out, and play again later,” Chase offered. She’d obviously told them the game was over.

The children scattered when Sarah shouted to them again, several boys giving chase to one kid who carried the ball. They’d carry on their own version of the game.

“I need to check on Snow Bird,” Sarah said suddenly. “I’ll return shortly.”

“Sure, Angel. I’ll just go and chat with Elk Runner. Your uncle is a real riot, when he’s not trying to kill me. Maybe he has some of that great-tasting meat left that he gave me last night.”

The slow, almost evil grin on Sarah’s face made him nervous.

“What?” he asked, throwing his hands up.

“My uncle gave you some meat?” she asked, her grin widening.

“Yeah,” he said hesitantly.

“Did you like the taste of coyote?” she asked innocently. She laughed. The look on his face must have been quite amusing.

“I was eating dog?” He wasn’t sure whether to laugh, or throw up.

“No, not dog. The Tukudeka value their dogs. But a coyote . . . my uncle has a certain liking for it. He used to try and feed it to me and my brothers, but my mother usually intervened.”

“You could have warned me sooner,” he grumbled, but smiled at her. “It was good, though.”

Sarah suddenly stopped smiling. A distant, haunting look came over her. Chase wondered at the abrupt change in her. Her body language changed, too. She no longer seemed relaxed, but stiff, and ill at ease.

“I will return,” she said solemnly.

Chase wondered at her behavior. He watched her walk off toward that hut she’d spent the entire night in, then spotted Elk Runner and some men sitting around a large campfire, a shallow basket between them. When he approached, he noticed a bunch of small stones in the basket. They were obviously playing some version of a dice game.

“You want play?” Elk Runner grinned broadly, and motioned for Chase to sit down beside him.

“No thanks. I think I’ll just watch.” He pointed his fingers to his eyes, then at the basket. Elk Runner shrugged, then picked up the basket and gave it a toss. The stones flew in the air and landed in a scattered array in the tray. The men all shouted and laughed at once. Chase had no clue what the little symbols painted on the stones meant. Elk Runner scoffed, and tossed some kind of animal fur on the ground.

“You want more eat?” Elk Runner motioned with his fingers to his mouth. Chase held up a hand, waving it in front of him.

“Not what you’re cooking, man,” he said. Elk Runner’s grin broadened. The other men laughed.

He continued to watch the men play their dice game, but his eyes kept darting to the hut at the far end of the village, wishing Sarah would reappear. Why had she suddenly clammed up like that? They had a few tense moments and arguments yesterday on the way here, but she’d relaxed and turned almost playful just before they reached the village. Had she wanted him to kiss her again? He didn’t know what to make of that look in her eyes when she’d stood so close to him and told him he was a good man. He chuckled at the memory of her words.
Yeah, right.

His back straightened when he spotted Sarah ducking out of that hut again. He was about to excuse himself from the men, when Elk Runner cuffed him on the shoulder.

“
Imaah,
” he nodded toward Sarah, “beautiful woman, no?”

Was this a loaded question? Chase didn’t know how to answer. Elk Runner seemed to enjoy a good laugh. It might get him in a heap of trouble if he answered the wrong way, and he didn’t want to do or say anything to embarrass Sarah. Of course she was gorgeous, he wanted to shout. Any man would think so. He merely shrugged. “She saved my life,” he said. “I’m very grateful to her for that.”

“She marry soon,” Elk Runner commented with indifference, but Chase felt the man’s eyes boring into him. His stomach constricted as if he’d been sucker punched when the meaning of Elk Runner’s words sank in. Sarah was getting married? Why hadn’t she mentioned that to him? Was she marrying one of them? His eyes involuntarily moved through camp, as if he’d be able to single out her intended husband. The majority of the people here were older men and women, and children.

“My son . . . go hunt . . . celebrate new child,” Elk Runner kept talking. Chase wasn’t sure he wanted to hear more. “
Imaah’s
soon husband . . . go with him. Come home, two days.”

Okay, so the guy wasn’t here.
What difference is it to you, Russell? You won’t be here much longer anyways.

“That’s great for her,” he managed to say with as much cheer as possible. At the moment, he just wanted to get the hell away from everyone and be alone. He was about to push himself off the ground, when Elk Runner’s hand rested on his shoulder, applying pressure to keep him sitting. Chase raised his eyebrows at the man.

“Sometime . . . two men,” he held up two fingers in front of his face, “want same woman.”

Chase groaned silently. Was it that obvious that he had the hots for Sarah? Elk Runner was extremely perceptive. He didn’t know what else to do, so he laughed.

“If you’re thinking I’m interested in Sarah, you’re wrong. I’m trying to get back home. I won’t be here a whole lot longer.” He sure hoped he sounded indifferent.

“You good . . . strong man,” Elk Runner insisted. “You no want wife?”

“Nope.” Chase shook his head. “I kinda like my freedom.”

Elk Runner laughed. “My brother White Wolf say same thing many years ago.”

Chase sighed. Why was he having this conversation with this man? “Yeah, so did he ever get married?”

“Marry good woman . . .
Imaah’s
mother.”

“Your brother is Sarah’s father?” Chase’s mind reeled. “What can you tell me about her mother? How did your brother meet her?”

Elk Runner’s forehead wrinkled. “
Imaah
ask same question two days ago.”

She did, did she now. That was interesting. He knew she didn’t believe him that he came from the future, or that he thought her mother came from the future. But apparently he had planted a seed of doubt in her mind.

“Yeah, so what did you tell her?”

Elk Runner shook his head. “You ask
Imaah
.” His tone told Chase he wouldn’t be arguing the point. Then the man smiled brightly again, and slapped Chase on the back. “You go . . . I show how hunt bighorn . . . soon, no?”

“Uh, thanks, Elk Runner, but like I said, I won’t be here long. I have to get home.”