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“Where is Stephanie?” Damon asked guardedly. “We’ve got to make sure she never finds out who dynamited the train. I would wager that she’d side with the Navaho against you.”
“Stephanie?” Adam said, rubbing his chin in thought. He then grew pale. “Damn it, Damon. She left the scene of the accident before me. I took the shortcut you showed me. But she should’ve been here by now.”
“I’d best go, then,” Damon said, lifting a wide-brimmed Stetson hat onto his head.
Adam walked him to the door and gazed cautiously outside, then went on to the horses with him. “Guess she’s been sidetracked. I wonder what’s keeping her?” Adam said, nervously raking his fingers through his hair as he peered into the distance.
“Don’t worry about her,” Damon said, swinging himself into his saddle. “As long as she don’t know nothin’ about our plans, what can she do?”
“Yeah, what can she do?” Adam echoed. He waved good-bye to Damon, then sauntered back into his private car. He was unaware of the pack mule that Stephanie had taken to the other side of the cars and left there with her photography equipment until she returned, after she warned the Navaho about the schemes of her brother and Damon.
Feeling victorious over the Navaho, Adam went to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a shot of whiskey. He held the glass in the air. “To Sage, Runner, and the whole damn tribe of Navaho,” he said, in a mock toast.
He chuckled and gulped the whiskey down, then poured himself another, and another.
Stephanie rode hard across the land, still stunned by what she had heard. She had cast her loyalties to Adam aside the minute she had heard what he had told Runner about her having used him for selfish purposes. It hadn’t taken her long to decide what she must do today. She wouldn’t allow the Navaho to take the blame for what her brother and Damon Stout had done.
And she must make haste to do everything possible to right the wrongs done to the Navaho. She knew very well that the white man’s law with the Indians could be hasty and harsh.
Finally, she reached the Navaho village and drew a tight rein in front of Runner’s hogan. Her entrance into the village being anything but quiet, Sage came hurriedly from his hogan just as he saw Stephanie rush inside Runner’s. He could tell that something was wrong, so he followed her inside and listened as she told Runner what had happened, and what she had heard her brother and Damon laughing about.
Sage stepped forward and placed a hand on Stephanie’s shoulder, causing her to turn around with a start. “You say that Adam paid Damon to blow up the train, then cast blame on my people?” Sage said, anger swelling within him.
“Yes, and while I was there, at the wreckage, I heard my stepbrother even try to cast the full blame on Thunder Hawk,” she said, her eyes looking into Sage’s. “I’m sorry, Sage. I wish I could have known what he was planning. I would have done everything possible to stop him.”
Runner took up his rifle and brushed past them.
Sage grabbed him by the wrist. “Where do you go in such haste, my son?” he said, his jaw tight.
“To kill Adam,” Runner hissed.
“That is not the way to deal with men like him,” Sage said, dropping his hand to his side.
Stephanie rushed up to Runner. “No, please don’t do anything hasty,” she pleaded. “The authorities will take care of Adam and Damon once they are told the truth. Let us all ride to Fort Defiance together. I will tell the authorities at once what I saw and heard. They will arrest Adam and Damon. The courts will then decide what is to become of them.”
Runner’s eyes widened and his heart pounded within his chest. Was this truly real? Was Stephanie saying that she would go against her stepbrother, on behalf of the Navaho? Did this not prove that he had been wrong to have believed anything Adam had said about Stephanie being a part of a plan to dupe Runner? If she had such fierce devotion to Adam, why then would she be t
here now, in Runner’s hogan, ready to defend the Navaho?
“You would do this for my people?” Runner asked.
“Yes, for the Navaho, but especially for you, Runner,” Stephanie said, her voice breaking. “Darling, don’t you see? I would do anything for you. Even condemn my stepbrother in the eyes of the law. Doesn’t that prove enough to you that you have been wrong to believe Adam over me?”
Runner drew her into his embrace. “I was wrong. Can you forgive my ignorance? I apologize for ever having doubted your sincerity and love for me.”
“Yes, I forgive you,” Stephanie said, tears warm on her cheeks. “How could I not when I love you so much?”
She cuddled close as he tilted her lips to his. A blissful joy spread through Stephanie to know that she had her man, and his love, back again.
She smiled to herself when she thought of Adam, and how he would be shocked to see that his schemes had backfired in more ways than one. He had brought Stephanie and Runner together again, and their bond would be even stronger. And soon he would have lost everything, while she and the Navaho would have gained everything, especially the respect of those who realized they were victims again of greedy white men, who would do anything to rid the land of the Navaho.
“We must leave for Fort Defiance now,” Sage said, interrupting Runner and Stephanie’s kiss.
As Stephanie eased from Runner’s arms and gazed up at Sage, he could not help but smile down at her, for he did see that she was someone who genuinely cared for the People. As his Leonida had done, he could see that Stephanie could fit into the life of the Navaho. Stephanie’s love for Runner was genuine enough to give her the courage and strength to adapt to a new life, a new people. He saw that, in part, she had already adapted.
They went outside together, and as they waited for Runner and Sage to get their horses, Stephanie explained everything to Leonida—about the wreckage, who were going to be blamed, and about Adam’s deceit.
“Long ago, when I knew Adam’s mother, I saw how she taught him strict morals,” Leonida said. She looked into the distance, as though reliving those days of long ago, when she had been among those that had been taken as Sage’s captives. “I grew to know Sally and Adam much better when we were brought together as captives in Sage’s stronghold. Adam and Runner were best friends. Adam knew right from wrong. It seems as though he has forgotten his mother’s teachings.”
