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Laughing and crying with unrestrained joy, Skylar and Rayna held on to each other as though they would never be able to let go. Eventually, though, Skylar’s questions began spilling out one on top of the other as she and Rayna stumbled down to the floor of the ravine.
How did you get here? How did you find me? How is Father? The questions came too fast to answer, but when Rayna hugged Skylar to her again, she told her that when she had seen their father last, he was well. It didn’t seem like the proper time to explain that she had heard nothing from their parents since she had written them of Skylar’s ordeal. If something had happened to their father, they would at least be able to share their grief this time.
Cherishing the sight of her sister, Skylar stroked Rayna’s golden hair lovingly. “I had given up all hope of ever seeing you again.” She smiled wistfully.
“I should have known you would come for me.”
“Yes, you should have,” Rayna agreed, not caring that tears were still streaming down her face, because they were tears of joy, not weakness.
“I’m only sorry I didn’t find a way to protect you from the horror of what you’ve suffered.”
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Skylar shook her head. “It was not all suffering, Rayna. My journey took me away from you, Mother, and Papa, but it took me to something I had never imagined I would find.”
Rayna searched her sister’s face and discovered a strength and serenity in her eyes that had never been there before. “You’ve changed, Skylar.”
“Yes, I have. In ways I don’t even understand myself yet.” A movement caught her eye, and she looked beyond Rayna to the two men who were moving toward them. A happy smile lit up her face as she recognized Meade.
“Major Ashford!” She flew toward him and embraced him. “What are you doing here? Oh, how good it is to see you.”
“It’s a great pleasure for me too, Skylar,” he said fondly. “I’m so happy to know you’re finally safe.”
“I feel safe.” She turned toward her sister. “Rayna, did the major tell you how kind he was to me on the way to the reservation?” She looked up at Meade again. “I will never forget that kindness. It sustained me more than you can know.”
“I should have been able to do more,” he said regretfully.
But Skylar shook her head. “No, Major. Nothing could have changed what has happened to me. It was a journey I had to make, and I gained much more than I lost.”
Rayna placed a loving arm around her shoulders. “Even more than you know, Skylar. There is someone else you have to meet,” she said, drawing her toward the third member of the rescue party. “This is Case Longstreet.”
Skylar smiled and extended her hand to him graciously. “You are the one who confronted Sun Hawk this morning.”
Case had been watching her, devouring every word and gesture. He had always known his little sister would grow into a lovely woman, but he had not expected this. Her clothes were ragged and her face was stained with smudges and tears, but she was poised and eloquent. Her manner was graceful, and her eyes held a serenity that warmed his heart. His sister had grown into everything he had dared hope she would be, and much, much more.
Though he longed to gather her into his arms, Case could only take her hand and press it between both of his. “Yes, I gave Sun Hawk the promises General Crook made to both of you.”
Skylar didn’t doubt for a moment that the promises were good ones. “You risked your life, following us as you did,” she told him. “If it had been necessary to protect me, Sun Hawk would have killed you.”
“I know.”
“Thank you.”
“I had good reason to risk so much,” he told her as he slowly unbuttoned his coat. Beneath it was the Thunder Eagle necklace. “Do you recognize this?”
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The sight took Skylar’s breath away, and she gingerly reached out to touch the medallion. A flood of memories came rushing back to her. Images that had always been nothing more than phantoms took shape in her mind. She saw that necklace on a beautiful woman and remembered running into that woman’s arms. She remembered touching the beads one by one and hearing her mother laugh because Skylar’s hand was tickling her throat. She saw a tall, handsome man who made her feel safe and loved as he put his arms around both of them. She saw her dark-haired sister and remembered the face of the brother who had teased and adored her.
For the first time, Skylar saw past the hideous memories of her parents’
death to the pleasures of her earlier life. Images flashed one after the other, and with them came a knowledge that filled the dark void in her heart where only shadows had lurked . . . until now. She looked up at Case with a kind of wonder. “You are my brother.”
A coil of happiness constricted around Case’s heart. “Yes.”
Skylar felt tears on her cheeks. “I remember loving you,” she said, her voice tremulous.
“And I have never forgotten loving you,” he told her as he opened his arms. She stepped into his embrace and felt as though she had come home.
From his hiding place atop the hill Sun Hawk watched his wife embrace the golden-haired woman, then the soldier, and finally the Apache. Their words reached his ears, but meant nothing to him. He knew only that they were happy words. Skylar was where she belonged, where she wanted to be. These people would take care of her now. She no longer needed him.
He watched until his heart could bear no more. Then he quietly made his way along the top of the ridge and down toward the horses.
It seemed like a long time before Case let Skylar go, yet it didn’t seem nearly long enough, either. They couldn’t make up for the lost years in a single moment, but there would be time to discover each other in the years ahead.
Standing in the little circle that Meade, Rayna, and Case had formed around her, Skylar shook her head in amazement as she looked at her sister.
“I have so much to tell you.”
“I know,” Rayna said, and found her gaze drawn to Meade. “I have a lot to tell you, too.”
“You must meet my husband, Rayna.” Skylar’s radiant smile took on a rapturous glow. “He has changed my life.”
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Until that moment, Rayna hadn’t been able to believe that Skylar was in love with Sun Hawk. Now she knew it was true. “If you love him, he must be very special indeed.”
“He is,” she replied, then glanced around, looking for Sun Hawk. It took her a moment to realize that he had not followed her down the hill. She could hardly blame him, since he had no reason to trust these people as she did. She looked up at Case. “The promises General Crook made . . . you believe them, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And Sun Hawk won’t be punished for rescuing me from the soldiers?”
“If there is punishment, it will be very light,” he assured her. “Perhaps a few days in the stockade at the most.”
Skylar moved away from him and looked up toward the place where she had left Sun Hawk. “Ciká!” she called out in Apache. When there was no answer, she called, “My husband!” again and told him it was safe. “The promises of the Gray Fox are good ones. We have nothing to fear.”
The words echoed, but no one answered. A stab of fear pierced her as she recalled how fiercely Sun Hawk had made love to her and the strange, sad looks he had given her afterward. With a sickening sense of dread, she realized that he was gone.