Apache Dream Bride

Oh, she didn’t know. She was confused, tired, excited, frightened, all in one jumbled maze.

She had so many questions with no answers.

Three (#ulink_7b9d1c29-8efe-5beb-b65c-7990a6cdab7a)

Dakota suddenly rolled to his feet, startling Kathy back to attention.

“The Dream Catcher,” he said, “must be kept in a safe place. I don’t want to stay here, in this world, and if anything happens to the Dream Catcher, I’ll have no hope of returning to my own time.”

“We can slide it under my bed,” Kathy said, pushing herself off the sofa.

“Fine.”

Kathy stopped and looked directly at him. “I realize that this whole scenario is overwhelming. Your traveling through time, and encountering all the new and strange things that you’ve never seen before, must be very unsettling. Even so, I can’t help but wonder if you’ve considered staying here.”

“No.”

“Dakota, what would you be going back to, other than loneliness and danger? Do you really want to spend the rest of your life on the run, hiding from the soldiers, never able to settle in one place?”

He splayed one hand on his chest. “I didn’t choose the way of my existence, it was the white man’s doing. The choice I did make was not to go to the reservation with my people. I’m prepared to live with the consequences of that decision.”

“But you don’t have to, don’t you see? You’d be accepted here, judged only by who you are as a man, not by your heritage. Oh, Dakota, you’ve said yourself that the Dream Catcher has great powers. Couldn’t it be possible that you were meant to be here for some reason?”

“Such as? Do your people need to be taught how to live off the land, fish and hunt for their food, build shelters to live in?”

“Well, no, but…”

Dakota shook his head. “Then the Dream Catcher has no purpose for my being here.”

“You don’t know that to be true.”

“Kathy, there’s no point in discussing this any further. I intend to do everything possible to enable me to go back to 1877.”

“But…”

“That is enough! Let’s put the Dream Catcher under the bed.”

Kathy sighed, then they carried the Dream Catcher into the bedroom and carefully maneuvered it beneath the bed.

Back in the living room, Dakota folded his arms across his chest and frowned as he looked at Kathy.

“There’s something disturbing me that I cannot put to rest,” he said. “Why are you alone? Is there something about you that doesn’t please the men of this time? I beheld you, which is Apache custom. I have seen you on the outer side and sensed who you are within. You please me, Kathy Maxwell. I would give serious thought to making you my woman.”

“I…” Kathy started to reply, then snapped her mouth closed as she realized she had no idea what to say.

A strange warmth swept through her as Dakota’s words echoed in her mind. What he had said was one of the most exciting, yet frightening, things she had ever heard. Dakota’s woman.

Oh, stop. She wasn’t going to dwell on it a second longer. Dakota was simply curious about the customs and social structure of this era.

You please me, Kathy Maxwell.

Kathy, she scolded herself, just cut it out right this second.

“Well, you see, Dakota,” she said, wishing her voice was steadier, “choosing a life’s partner is much more complicated now. It’s done more slowly, carefully. I have to be as pleased, as you put it, with the man as he is with me. Just looking at someone, beholding them, isn’t enough.”

“Why not?”

“Because there are discoveries to be made first.”

“Such as?”

“Well, values. You know, your stand on truth, trust, fidelity. Then there’s stuff like what do we have in common? How do you spend your leisure time? How do you feel about security, a home, children, a woman who has her own business and wouldn’t give it up for the world? Then there’s…Oh, good night, you aren’t really interested in all of this, are you?”

He nodded. “It fascinates me. You’ve listed what people in this time must discover about each other, and most of it is reasonable.” He paused. “No man has pleased you as you made these discoveries?”

Kathy shrugged. “No. Emotions come into play here, too, you know. There has to be love that is real and rich and deep. But, no, I haven’t found the man I want to spend my life with.”

“I please you.”

Kathy blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“You beheld me. I can tell from what I’ve seen in your eyes that you desire me. You have had thoughts of joining with me, man to woman.”

A flush of embarrassment heated Kathy’s cheeks. “Well…um…you’re a very handsome, well-built man, Dakota. I’m a healthy, normal woman who…Oh, for Pete’s sake, this is ridiculous.”

“No, it isn’t,” he said, shaking his head. “I did not ask to come here and I do not intend to remain. However, while I’m here I wish to understand this world. To learn and enrich my mind. A man who isn’t constantly attempting to add to his knowledge is lazy, worthless. You have customs that are new to me, things you can teach me during my stay.”

“But what if when you go back you don’t even remember having been here?”

“So be it. It’s important that I live for the moment I am in. That’s the Apache way. Each beat of our heart is to be cherished.

“Apaches also pride ourselves on our patience. If we encounter an enemy who outnumbers us and it would mean certain death to engage them in battle, we withdraw to fight another day when we will be assured of a victory. That isn’t cowardly, it is wise. We place high value on life, living. We don’t treat lightly the gift of the body we were given to walk the earth in.”

“That’s a lovely philosophy,” she said quietly. “People in this time era could use some of that kind of common sense.”

“I haven’t betrayed the Apache way,” Dakota went on, “but I’ve had to struggle to maintain my patience. My people were robbed of their land, their way of life. They were herded like animals to the reservation, never again to be free. Patience will change nothing.”

“I’m so sorry about what was done to the Indians back then. I’ve only read about it, but I realize you’re suffering the pain of it right now.”

“I’ve been alone these many moons,” he said, his voice gritty, “and questions with no answers have plagued me. Now I’ve been brought here where I don’t wish to be, but at least I can ask questions and have them answered. I can learn.

“I am a man, Kathy, a proud Apache brave. All I wanted was a place, a home, a sense of self and worth. I wanted a woman of my heart and sons of my seed. The white man hasn’t killed my body. I won’t let them crush my spirit.”

Tears filled Kathy’s eyes as she heard the raw emotion in Dakota’s voice, saw it on his face and in the depth of his expressive dark eyes. Before she’d realized she had moved, she had wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and rested her head on his chest.

“No one is going to crush your spirit,” she said, tears echoing in her voice. “We won’t let them, Dakota. We won’t. I’ll teach you whatever you want to know about this era, if that’s what you want, if that will make you feel better about being here.”

Dakota encircled Kathy with his arms, then buried his face in the soft tumble of her curls, savoring the fragrance of flowers.