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  Again, The Blade regretted that he had placed Lije in charge of the scouting detail. He trusted Lije's judgment and instincts, but having a son under his command weakened a man, made him worry about one instead of the whole. Yet Temple would never forgive him if anything happened to Lije.

  Where the hell was Lije?

  He pointed his horse toward a hill. He knew this particular countryside well. He was only hours from Grand View. From home. But he couldn't let his thoughts dwell on that. Last night he had dreamed of Temple turning witchlike to love him. Even now he had only to close his eyes and . . .

  He shook his head to dismiss the vision from his mind and galloped his horse up the hill. At the top, The Blade reined in and surveyed the surrounding land from the hill's vantage point.

  "Here you are, Master Blade." Ever anticipating his needs, Deu handed him an old, battered spyglass. All the regiment's equipment was as inferior as that damnable Mexican gunpowder. Roughly twenty percent of Watie's men had no weapons at all. The rest had old muskets, flintlocks, or, worse, Texas rifles, which were just as likely to blow up in your face as fire. The promised uniforms had never arrived. Few of the men had a change of clothes; many were in rags or blue uniforms they'd stolen off dead Yankees. But they were fighters, every one of them. They knew nothing of military discipline and protocol, but they knew how to fight. If they could only get their hands on some of the Union's new repeating rifles . . .

  The Blade sighed and lifted the spyglass to begin a slow, thorough search of the area to the east and north, but he saw no sign of the patrol. On the chance that Lije had circled wide, he checked the northwest quadrant. Still nothing. He lowered the glass, a grimness thinning his mouth.

  "Riders." One of his escorts pointed to the narrow dirt road a half mile distant that ran through the valley on their right. "It looks like our patrol." He stood in his stirrups and waved.

  Turning, The Blade saw the mounted group. Just as he spotted them, the riders swung left and galloped straight for the hill. At first glance, he thought it was the scout patrol except—they had been coming from the south.

  He raised the spyglass and cursed. "Yankees." He pushed the spyglass at Deu and caught up the reins. "Scatter! Now!" He pulled his revolver to snap off a shot as the others sank spurs into their horses. He saw Deu pull up to wait for him. "Go on! I'm right behind you."

  He fired at the onrushing riders and started to wheel his dancing horse after the others, then hesitated. The Yankee in the lead was Kipp. He swore as the first bullets whined around him. He fired another round, trying to slow them.

  Something slammed into his left shoulder. The impact nearly spun him out of the saddle. He grabbed at the horse's mane, conscious of a hot, stabbing fire high on his left arm. With his spurs, he jabbed the horse into a gallop, fighting the numbness that claimed his left side.

  When he reached the flat of the prairie, he looked back. Kipp had topped the hill and was now racing after him, whipping his horse mercilessly. Another rider was a short distance behind him. Alex? He couldn't tell.

  His horse started to slow. The Blade kicked it, then felt the animal laboring, its gait roughening. He looked down. Blood flowed from a small hole above its right shoulder. It had been hit as well. He spied a small thicket of brush just to his left and spurred his horse toward it.

  "A little farther. You can make it," he said as much to himself as to the horse.

  Gamely, it galloped on, bloody foam now spraying from its nostrils. Fifteen feet from the thicket, the horse stumbled and went down, pitching The Blade forward. He landed heavily on his left side. Pain exploded through his body.

  Roll. Instinct told him to roll into the thicket.

  The next time he opened his eyes, he found himself tangled in the undergrowth. Had he passed out? He didn't know. He wasn't sure. Horses. He could hear them. Fighting off the swamping blackness, he staggered and crawled into the thicket, ignoring the clawing branches and slicing thorns. The gun. It was still in his hand.

  Don't go deeper into the brush, instinct warned again. Kipp will expect that. Get to the edge.

  After crashing through the brush like a half-crazed, wounded animal, The Blade now crept with caution and care, moving as noiselessly as possible. The pain in his arm had receded to a fierce throb. He could think now without the blackness swarming around him. A single layer of brush separated him from the tall prairie grass. He paused and crouched low to get his bearings.

  Hoofbeats drummed the ground to his right and stamped to a halt. "We have him now!" It was Kipp's voice—not twenty feet away. The Blade turned to face it. Through the thick leaves he could see the legs of the horses, then the blue pants of two riders. Was it Alex with Kipp?

  "He's in that brush, I tell you. He's there, I can smell him. Come out, Stuart!" Suddenly, there was a cracking report of a revolver. Instinctively, The Blade ducked, but the bullet pierced the brush well away from him. Kipp was firing blindly.

  "Come out, Stuart! Or do I have to come in there and drag you out like I did your father? You're a snake and a traitor. You should have died long ago. This time you will. Come out!" Again he fired.

  At the mention of his father, The Blade involuntarily tightened his grip on the revolver in his hand, his thumb automatically going to the hammer, his forefinger gently hooking itself around the trigger. With great stealth, he wedged his way through the last layer of brush into the tall grass.

  "This is your last chance, Stuart!" Kipp challenged. "Either come out and die like a man—or I'll come in and kill you like the snake you are!"

  The Blade straightened slowly, bringing the revolver up to bear. Neither Kipp nor Alex noticed him. Both concentrated their attention on the broken branches in front of them, their guns aimed at it.

  "Are you looking for me, Kipp?"

  Kipp swung around, a snarl of rage claiming his face. As his pistol lifted to take quick aim, The Blade squeezed the trigger of his own cocked gun. It bucked in his hand. Kipp yelped, the fingers of his right hand splaying, dropping the gun as a red stain spread quickly down his right forearm. He grabbed the wound and started to bend to retrieve his gun.

  "Try it, Kipp. Go ahead and try it," The Blade pulled back the hammer again. Alex was behind Kipp, his line of fire blocked by his father. "Throw your gun into the grass, Alex." The Blade never took his eyes from Kipp. "I don't want to kill you."

  There was a movement behind Kipp. Then the sunlight glinted on blue steel as the gun arched through the air and landed somewhere in the grass near The Blade's fallen horse. Moving slowly and keeping the revolver pointed at Kipp, The Blade worked his way to their horses, his left arm hanging limp at his side.

  "What are you waiting for?" Kipp jeered. "Why don't you kill me? You've wanted to do it for years. This is your chance. Pull the trigger, Stuart. Come on, shoot me."

  "Be glad you are Temple's brother, Kipp." The chestnut's reins were still looped around its neck. It snorted suspiciously when The Blade came up on its right side, but the horse continued to stand quietly. Keeping the gun pointed at Kipp, The Blade put a foot in the stirrup, then quickly and fluidly swung into the saddle.

  "You are a coward, Stuart. All traitors are. Your father was."

  "I never met a man who deserved to die as much as you do, Kipp." Unexpectedly, the horse tossed its head, breaking his concentration for an instant. When he looked again, Kipp was pulling something from inside his jacket—a pocket revolver. Reacting instinctively, The Blade fired. Kipp backed up a step and pressed a hand to his stomach. The gun slipped to the ground as he pitched forward.

  Alex rushed to his father. "He's dead." The rage of anger and grief twisted his face. "He didn't have a gun!"

  Alex's words barely reached The Blade. Weakness was setting in. He had to get out of there while he still had the strength. The chestnut struck out across the prairie at a fast trot.

  Alex came to his feet, yelling. "You murdering bastard! You'll die for this!"

  Furiously, Alex searched throu
gh the trampled grass near his father and found the gun his father had dropped. Quickly, he raised it and sighted down the barrel, cocking the hammer. He squeezed the trigger without flickering so much as an eyelash. The resounding report echoed and reechoed across the prairie. He smiled when The Blade slumped in the saddle. The startled chestnut broke into a canter.

  Alex turned back to his father's body, the smile fading. "I killed him for you," he said.

  Then, with gentle care, he picked up his father and cradled him in his arms. He carried him to the ground-hitched black mare. She shied briefly at the smell of death, but Alex crooned to her. None too certain, the mare let him lift the body onto the saddle and snorted her dislike for the burden.

  Deu galloped more than two miles before he realized The Blade wasn't behind him. Worried, he rode back toward the sound of scattered gunfire. Ahead, he saw the returning scout patrol had surprised the attacking Yankees, putting them to rout. With the Yankees in full flight, they broke off contact. Although he didn't see The Blade among them, he did see Lije splitting off from the others to meet him.

  Lije reined in his lathered horse. "The whole damned countryside is crawling with Union patrols." He looked past Deu. "Where's the major?"

  "I don't know. I thought he was right behind me."

  Lije rose up in his stirrups to scan the sweep of prairie. Nothing. An uneasiness gripped him. "Something's wrong." He kicked his weary horse into a jaded canter. Deu joined him.

  A half mile farther on, they spotted a chestnut horse grazing in a hollow, a rider slumped over its neck. "Master Blade was riding a bay," Deu said when they rode closer. "But that's his coat. I've patched it too many times not to recognize it."

  It was the longest two hundred yards Lije had ever crossed. When they reached him, Lije peeled out of the saddle before his horse came to a complete stop. Deu was right behind him.

  The chestnut horse moved off a couple steps, then fell to grazing. Lije got a sick, cold feeling in his stomach when he saw the spreading blood stain on the back of his father's coat. He approached the horse slowly, talking softly, not wanting to spook it. The instant he had the reins in his hand, he moved to his father's side and lifted his head. There was a groan and fluttering of the eyelids.

  "He's alive," he said, hope lifting.

  "Lije?" The voice was weak, the word faint.

  "I'm here. Deu is with me. Don't worry, we'll take care of you."

  "Kipp . . ."

  A muscle leapt visibly in Lije's jaw. "What about him? Did he do this?"

  "S'dead," The Blade mumbled, the words stringing together. "Killed 'im . . . can't tell . . . Temple . . . hurt His voice trailed off in a wavering sigh, a limpness stealing over his muscles.

  "He's lost consciousness." Lije battled back the need to rage and curse. Dammit, he should have been with him! He should have been at his side. This was his fault.

  "Master Blade will be all right. We'll take care of him," Deu said, but he sounded as worried as Lije.

  But Lije knew if his father was going to live, words weren't going to save him. And no doctor traveled with their raiding party.

  "Find Duncan," he told Deu. "Tell him what happened, and tell him we're taking my father home."

  20

  Grand View

  Cherokee Nation

  September 1863

  "Eliza," Temple whispered, shaking her stepmother's shoulder. "Eliza, wake up.

  "Mmmmm, what?" Eliza stirred, drowsily lifting her head. "What is it?"

  "There's someone outside. I saw him from the bedroom window." The minute she saw Eliza's eyes snap wide open, Temple stepped back from the bed. Eliza threw back the covering sheet. "It might be a deserter or a runaway slave looking for something to eat. I only saw one, but there might be more. I don't know." She turned toward the open doors to the second-floor veranda and listened for a moment. The walnut stock of the Colt navy revolver felt smooth and oddly cool in her hand. "I sent Phoebe to wake Susannah and Sorrel. I’m—

  "I'm already awake," Sorrel said from the bedroom doorway. "Why are you two whispering anyway?"

  Temple swung around to angrily whisper, "Sssh, not so loud. Someone's outside."

  "Who?"

  "We don't know."

  As Eliza pulled on her cotton wrapper, Susannah rushed into the room, with Phoebe at her heels. "Temple, we can't find—There you are," she said when she saw Sorrel near the door.

  "All of you stay here," Temple ordered. "I'm going downstairs and find out who is out there."

  "Not alone, you're not," Susannah retorted.

  Temple started to argue with her, but she recognized that stubborn tone. "Very well, come along," she murmured irritably and moved into the hallway.

  Just as she reached the top of the staircase, she heard the front door open. With greater care, Temple started down the steps, clutching the gun tighter, her palms sweating. She looked back once, reassured by the sight of Susannah one step behind her.

  In the heavy silence, every little sound seemed magnified, the swish of her nightdress, the soft pad of Susannah's feet behind her, the creak of a floorboard. Suddenly, she saw a figure outlined by the paleness of the foyer wall. It was moving toward the stairs.

  Gripping the gun in both hands, she raised it and pointed it at the dark shape. "Who are you? What do you want?" she demanded. "Speak up quickly, or I will shoot."

  "It's me. Lije."

  "Lije!" On a surge of joy, Temple lowered the gun and lifted the hem of her nightdress to run down the steps. "It's Lije," she called back to the others. "Phoebe, light the candles. Hurry." Almost immediately, light flared behind her, spraying a dim glow that reached to the bottom of the staircase where Lije stood. Temple ran straight to him. "You're home. I can't believe it." She went into his arms and laughed when she discovered the gun was still in her hand. "I thought you were—It doesn't matter what I thought." She drew back and reached up to stroke his cheek and run her fingers into the sides of his hair. "Look at you—your hair, it's positively shaggy. When did you cut it last, for heaven's sake? But you look wonderful. So wonderful."

  She kept chattering away, her face shining with happiness.

  Lije thought of all the worry and grief and fear she had known for so many years. It should have made her bitter and unlovely. But it hadn't. His mother was too strong, too indomitable. She would need that strength again.

  He had to stop her, he had to tell her. He searched for the words, fought for them, even though he knew what a blow they would be. Guilt rose again. My fault. My fault.

  "I know I should ask why you've come, what you're doing here," Temple rattled on. "But I don't care."

  "Yes, you do," he said quietly, but she paid no attention.

  "You look tired, worn out. I'll bet you're hungry, too. Phoebe, go see what we have in the kitchen that you can fix for Lije. And make some coffee. We have real coffee," she told him.

  "With not an ounce of chickory in it."

  Lije looked past her at Susannah. She knew he wasn't here to visit. Her gaze was full of apprehension and questions.

  "How is your father? I wish he could have come with you," Temple added wistfully.

  "He's here, Mother. Outside." He saw the shock overtake her expression—and the fear that followed. "He's been shot. Deu is with him."

  Temple swayed. She had lived so long in fear of this day that, for a moment, she couldn't react further. The words she had dreaded to hear had actually been said.

  But he was alive. The Blade was still alive.

  "Where is he? Take me to him."

  Struggling under The Blade's leaden weight, they carried him into the house and up the stairs to the master bedroom. When they had maneuvered him onto the bed, Temple sent Phoebe downstairs to fetch her medical basket.

  "Sorrel, I want you to bring those bandages we planned to take to the hospital at Fort Gibson." She pushed her daughter toward the door. "And be quick about it."

  "How did it happen, Lije? There's been no word of
fighting in the area." Eliza carefully untied the sling that supported his bandaged left arm and shoulder.

  Lije hesitated fractionally, then replied, "A Union patrol jumped us. He took a bullet in the shoulder. It broke the bone. Deu and I set it the best we could, but there wasn't much we could do. He was shot in the back. The bullet is still in there." He saw no reason to mention Kipp right now.

  Temple dropped the boot she had pulled off his foot at the same instant that Eliza turned to look at Lije. A second later, she retied the sling. "Help me roll him onto his side and remember to be careful of his shoulder."

  "Where are my scissors?" Temple went to look for her sewing basket. "We'll have to cut his shirt and jacket off of him."

  Within minutes the clothing lay in pieces on the floor. Eliza took one look at the wound low in his back and said, "He needs a doctor, Temple."

  "The closest one is at Fort Gibson," Lije said. "As soon as the Union army finds out he's here, they'll arrest him and hold him prisoner."

  "Master Lije is right," Deu inserted. "Those Union soldiers would like nothing better than to get their hands on one of Colonel Watie's troop officers. Master Blade is getting a reputation to match the colonel's."

  "Then we'll have to take the bullet out ourselves." Temple stared at her husband's lean, muscled back. His skin, the color of teakwood, looked smooth, except for the dark hole that was so close to his spine. Somewhere inside was a bullet.

  Temple could feel herself shaking and knew she had never been so afraid in her whole life.

  "Temple, are you sure—" Eliza began.

  "Yes!" Temple whirled on her, rigid and pale with determination and fear.

  Eliza paused, then said quietly, "Very well, I will do it. Susannah, you can help me."

  "He is my husband. I—"

  "Exactly." Smoothly and efficiently, Eliza took charge. "Lije, you and Deu help me shift The Blade onto his stomach. We will need more light, Temple. It would be a good idea to close the drapes, too. We wouldn't want a passerby to wonder what we're doing up at this hour of the night."