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“‘Our stronghold,’ ” Shoshana said, sitting up, her eyes filled with contentment. “Ah, how I love the sound of that. It is so good to know that I am a part of your life now and will be for always.”
“Yes, for always,” Storm said, sitting up and reaching for her. “One last kiss and then we must bathe quickly, eat, and be on our way.”
“I wish we could stay here with the magic we have created beside this lovely stream,” Shoshana said. Then, sighing, she rose from the blankets and gazed wonderingly at the slowly meandering stream. “I bathed there before you awakened. It was so cold!”
“You were there while I slept?” Storm said, his eyes widening. “I normally do not sleep that soundly.”
“It is because so much has happened to tire you,” Shoshana said, taking his hand as he rose to his feet. “Soon everything will be as you wish it to be.”
“I would not say it will be as I wish it to be when it comes to moving my people to Canada, but I see it as the only way for my people to survive,” he said sorrowfully. “The United States Government has done a lot to trick all men with red skins. The Apache no less than the others.”
They waded into the stream, splashed water on each other’s bodies, then hurriedly left the water and wrapped themselves in warm blankets as they sat down before the fire.
“I’ve heard how the government has tricked so many tribes,” Shoshana said, drawing her blanket up to her chin. “How have the Apache been tricked, Storm?”
“In many ways, but I will tell you mainly of one incident,” Storm said tightly. “My father was chosen to go into council with many white-eyes from Washington. The Apache tribe, as a whole, unanimously sent him to ask for peace. My father told the white-eyes that the Apache chiefs had chosen to offer all their mountains, waters, woods, and plains in exchange for peace. Those Americans said they saw that the Apache truly wanted peace. They sent my father back to our Apache people with assurances that the Americans wanted none of their woods, waters, or mountains, but that they desired peace, as well.”
“And then they broke the promise,” Shoshana said sadly.
“Ho, the pindah-lickoyee broke their promise,” Storm said, nodding. “And so it is that most Apache are now on reservations. My band has been spared, but mainly because we live where no white man wants to live, and where no white man has ever found us. Were they to discover our stronghold, I believe it would be the end of our band of Apache. They would come and slaughter us.”
“And this is why Canada looks so good to you,” Shoshana said, nodding her thanks as he gave her a small wooden dish of berries and sliced pemmican.
“This is why we have no choice but to go there,” Storm said. “And soon.”
“I will be happy no matter where I am as long as I am with you,” Shoshana said, enjoying the food and reveling in these special moments with the man she loved.
They ate their fill, then dressed and broke camp and headed once again for the stronghold. As they rode upward on the pass, Shoshana saw flowers that she had not seen before.
“Those lilies are so beautiful,” she murmured as she clung to Storm’s waist, this time riding behind him on his steed.
“After a long winter, glacier lilies bring the first color back to the high country,” Storm said, smiling at her over his shoulder. “Their bright yellow blossoms flourish in the bare earth and melting snow.”
He gazed at the lovely flowers. “The cheerful little lilies follow that elegant black and white boundary up there, drinking thirstily from the steady drip of the vanishing snow,” he said. “They chase the departing snow like a brilliant yellow fire, one wave after another, up and over the ridges. The Apache children of our stronghold, who gather flowers, are taught gratitude and respect for them. The girls are reminded that glacier lilies are the season’s first food for the grizzlies.”
“They look good enough to eat,” Shoshana said, laughing softly and trying not to think about grizzlies. She still could not forget her fear of the panther that still prowled this mountain; the idea of bears was even more frightening.
“They can be eaten,” Storm said, again smiling at her over his shoulder. “But more than a handful will give you a stomach ache. It is best to eat only a few, no matter how tempting their sweet crispness.”
They rode onward, Shoshana taking in everything with delight. She felt as though she had entered paradise.
“Look up and to your right,” Storm said, knowing how much she was enjoying the beauty of his mountain. “I call what you see ‘sun fields,’ because they are filled with the purple and gold fairy slipper. This wild orchid can also be found close to my stronghold. The girls are instructed to take only one of these flowers each year, though they can pick any other flower to their heart’s content.”
“I see so many varieties of flowers and plants; this place takes my breath away,” Shoshana said as they rode steadily upward.
“Yes. There is the sweet-scented royal-blue lupine, fire-red paintbrush plant, the cerise fireweed, and then there are the oxeye daisies,?
?? he said.
Suddenly the lovely sweet mountain air was disturbed by a noise that brought Storm’s eyes around to meet the questioning look in Shoshana’s.
“You heard it too?” Shoshana asked, snuggling closer to Storm.
“Yes, it sounds like someone crying for help, but with a voice not much louder than a tiny bird’s cry,” Storm said, drawing rein.
“Then it wasn’t my imagination,” Shoshana said, her eyes searching around them for any signs of life.
“Let us sit here for a moment and listen,” Storm said, his eyes darting from bush to bush, then into the thick aspen forest at his right side.
