"We can certainly understand that. We've got plenty of food, and we can help your wounded." Matt eyed them suspiciously. "As long as you are here, you'll have to tolerate her, because she's my wife and she stays with me. Anyone lays a hand on her, they'll answer to me."

  "And me," Cried Ferg.

  "And me," Coon came forward.

  Raz stared at the young man, "And me.

  "Goes for me too," Doolin frowned.

  Colby pushed them all aside and added, "That goes double for me."

  None of them seemed grateful for patching them up. The young man eyed them all, "What kind of a man would stand up for a squaw?"

  "You're in no position to argue young man." Margaret admonished him.

  Matt saw pure hatred in their eyes when they looked at Snow Bird. "Hating her won't bring your kin back. She had no part of it. So, let it lie friend."

  "You've come a long way…" Margaret frowned at them now. "Best you keep quiet and let us doctor you. And around here, you don't start no trouble as you'll be tossed out of here on your ear if you do. This is a shelter, built for people who need it. No one has the right to judge here. This isn't the place or the time for it, son. Like I said, you've come a long way…."

  "You'd be a long way off too, if they were trackin' your butts." Tal said glancing up at the men who offered to defend the squaw. "Look, the kid meant no offense, but we just came from a warring party of Indians and we never expected to see any here. We'd been told this was one of the safest places to come."

  Matt studied the kid, "It's actually a very safe place because we don't allow no fighting. And as for her, she's a pretty small woman, I don't think she could take you." He chuckled.

  Several laughed at that.

  "I don't care I don't want no injun touchin' me." The kid hollered.

  Margaret and Ferg stepped up at the same time, and then looked at each other and smiled. "Look, this is Sutton's Place, and it is a welcome place for any wanting to get out of the bad weather. It's a shelter, and together we all hunt, build and help each other. That's the way of it here. We'll have no more talk about squaws, she's no concern of yours anyway. She was merely trying to help you. You want to stay here, you learn to get along. If you can't, you are free to leave now."

  Margaret finished and Ferg nodded, "That's the truth of it. You want to stay here, you don't start anything. This is a place of survival, and we all pull together and help each other, understand?"

  Tal nodded. "I do, but these here, had kin that got kilt, so they are a bit sore about Indians."

  "You might as well know, we got Indians, Irish, half breeds, Germans, a little of everything here. It doesn't matter if you are runnin' from the law, or just about to get frost bit, if you want to stay you behave yourself. That's the only rule, that and hunt when it's your turn." Margaret told them.

  "Sounds reasonable to me…" Tal said, leaning against the wall as though give out. His expression was one of relief to be safe at last and to have someone else taking care of these men. "Let it lie, Banks. You ain't in no position to be too choosy."

  "It ain't reasonable to me…." The kid hollered.

  "Joe hush up, pick your fights carefully son." Tal told him. "I've brought you here, and it were no easy feat, so hold still. I ain't takin' you any further. You wanna leave, you go on your own speed from here. Understand?"

  That's when Kat stepped in and smiled warmly at the young man. She batted her green eyes at them and smiled. "Then I'll take care of you." She cooed.

  The young man perked up. "Gosh you're pretty."

  She smiled, "You're not so bad yourself."

  He smiled, then nearly passed out.

  Snow Bird went to stand beside Matt. She knew he could handle almost any situation with his calm approach. She trusted Matt completely and knew to keep quiet.

  She was silently thankful for Kat stepping in. She wondered why she had done it.

  She also wondered if it were her tribe that did the damage to the wagon train? Too Tall would naturally be waring against them and if that was true, then her tribe was alive. That sent a sense of relief through her. Still, it was bad that they were waring against each other. She feared for them, and for what they might do, too. She had learned in her time away from her tribe that waring came to no good end. The white man had more guns, and more and more of them came west every day. And although she feared for Too Tall and her sister, she realized that sooner or later, he could be killed, or captured, which would be worse for him. Their chief preferred peace, but the young warriors refused to stay on the reservations.

  Snow Bird kept silent, this was not the time to discuss things like this. These men were rather hostile to her and she wouldn't be making friends with them. She had learned quickly that some white men were good, and some were bad. And she was not always wise enough to sort the good from the bad. It was not her place to judge them, but she could stay clear of them.

  She looked at Matt, with love in her eyes, and then at Ferg and the boys. They were all good men. Men she could trust. Men that would fight for her.

  She knew too, that there were good Indians and bad. And even though she cared for Too Tall, he was a fierce foe and could be very dangerous. She knew that someday he would fight until his own death. He was a proud Cheyenne.

  Knowing he would reject her child, and her now, she was not anxious to rejoin him. The desire to be with her own people had lessoned the more she fell in love with her husband. She knew she belonged with Matthew.

  It was strange, this feeling of being pulled between the whites and the Indians. There were good on both sides, and bad on both. It was sad that they could not make peace between them.

  When she laid down that night with Matt, he held her close and kissed her tenderly. "I'm sorry for the way they acted toward you. I wish I could say it would never happen again, but I can't."

  She squeezed him and smiled, "I understand. I am only glad that you still care for me. And I appreciate that you stood up and said the child was yours. If they knew, it would only make matters worse."

  "I'll always care for you! And the baby!"

  "I have come to understand much, from you." She whispered, then kissed him hotly on the lips. "You are a good man, it doesn't matter what color you are, or what kind. You are a good man."

  "And you," he kissed her again, "Are a very good woman."

  "I’m glad you like me…" She sighed against him.

  "Like you? I love you like crazy Snow Bird; don't you know that by now? I never thought I would come to love a woman so much. I can't imagine my life without you now."

  "I am glad, for it will take a powerful love between us to sustain us at times There will be many more, like that young one. Hate is much easier than love." She smiled, and the next kiss led them into making love again. She moaned softly as his lips caressed her breasts. "Why do I enjoy it so much…the way you make love to my body?"

  "You're supposed to enjoy it. God made us that way." Matt informed her. "He made you so beautiful, I can't keep my hands off you." He chuckled softly.

  "I find you beautiful too," she smiled.

  "Do I hurt you when I make love to you now?" He asked at her ear. "The baby grows."

  "No, I think the baby enjoys it too, somehow He moves more afterwards. And I have noticed, when you touch me there, he responds too in some way. I think he hears your voice and knows you."

  He smiled. "Good."

  He rubbed her tummy and even talked to the baby as though he could hear him. It pleased him greatly that they would soon have a family. They made love for hours, then went to sleep in each other's arms. The contentment he'd found with Snow Bird astounded him at times. He'd never been happier than with her.

  He'd never let anyone hurt her either. He knew they called him squaw man, that didn't bother him. He only wished like her, that the two kinds of people could learn to live together peacefully.

  But the next day Ferg informed him that the new people were not to be trusted.

  Matt stared around the room. "Why not?"

  "They don't like her, for one thing. They could do her harm."

  Matt frowned, "You think so?"

  "Matt, you got a lot to learn about people. When you stumbled upon us, we took to you both, right off. Just our nature, we don't like to fight people, unless it's necessary. But I tell you truly boy, we better all watch out for her. She's in danger as long as they are here. People don't get over a massacre so easily."

  "I trust your thinking, Ferg. If you say so, I'll watch out for her until we leave here."

  "We all will have too."

  Matt hung his head, "She understands how they feel."

  "Good, then she will understand that they might try to harm her, too." Ferg nodded. "But don't fret, we'll all watch out for her. She's come to be a good friend to us and we care about her too."

  Matt glanced up at Ferg, "Thanks for that."

  "We gotta worry about that baby too. It isn't yours, is it?" Ferg stared at him a long time.

  "No, I knew you'd figure that out. But please don't tell anyone else."

  "No worries about that. But little buddy, it's one of the reasons we like you so much. Is it her husband's baby?" Ferg asked curiously.

  "No, the man Jake killed, at the General Store. He had raped her."

  "Then the baby will be a breed. Well, no matter, if you can love him, then we can too." Ferg shook his head. "She's a strong woman She's been through a lot to be so young."

  "Yeah, she has." Matt smiled. "And I hope I can make a good home for us somewhere and make her happy."

  Ferg put his hand on his shoulder, "You will. I'm sure of it."

  That day Tal kept a keen eye on Snow Bird, but he didn’t' say a word. The others were still too wounded to be dangerous. Matt watched them all the time now. If Ferg was concerned, there was reason to be.

  Tal walked over to Matt and Ferg, eyeing them before saying anything. "How come you married her?"

  "How come you asked?" Matt stared at him now, trying to size him up.

  "Young fella like you, couldn't you find a white gal?"

  Matt bristled on the inside, but he didn't show his anger. Instead, he tried to explain it.

  "I didn't plan it, exactly." He glanced at her and smiled. "But if you knew her, you'd know she's quite a woman. I fell in love with her. She has gentle ways about her, and she is a dandy cook too." Matt admitted. "She doesn't complain, she cleans and cooks without me asking her to. She seeks to understand things. I just simply fell in love with her. She has the sweetest nature and a forgiving heart."

  "But an Indian?" The man frowned, as though his explanation wasn't enough.

  "Somehow that just didn't seem to matter." Matt told him. "I see her as a woman, not an Indian."

  Ferg added, " A lot of trappers marry Indians. Don’t see many whites up this way. There may be more before the winter is over, so you better learn to accept it."

  "I suppose that's true enough. It's best you keep her away from my bunch then. They won't cotton to her." Tal warned. "And I can't be responsible for them, you understand? I brought them here, and that's as far as I can go with it."

  Matt frowned, "Alright, I will."

  Tal walked off, his eyes centering on Snow Bird as he did. It was easy to see now, Tal didn't like her either.

  Matt bristled but kept quiet and kept a heavy eye on Snow Bird.

  Chapter Twelve

  The big snow they'd been expecting hit a few days later. Luckily, they had sent a hunting party out the day before so there was meat to last a few days.

  The wind was so cold it could freeze a man in an hour or so. The snow drift on the porch was six inches at least. It snowed all day.

  But the snow wasn't all that brought problems. Margaret lined the few windows with material to keep the wind from seeping through. Snow Bird helped her.

  "Don't be opening that door, boys. It's way too cold and takes too long to warm the place back up again.

  "We got pots for your private business, so the only time I want to see that door open is when they need to be emptied, and we'll do it at one time, so we don't keep opening it. It's the only way to keep this place warm. We'll bury the waste in the snow to the back of the cabin," she instructed. The pots are on the back porch.

  Murmurings went up.

  When it stopped snowing, the wind continued to keep it frozen. The temperature dropped drastically. It was like living in some snow tent. If no one opened the door it stayed warm inside. The women kept the cook stove going all day, and the men kept the two fireplaces burning. The fireplaces were put on in the front part of the room and one in the back, allowing the entire cabin to remain warm in normal winter weather.

  Realizing that the meat stored in the smokehouse would be difficult to get to, several of the men decided to make the trip to the smokehouse, bring to the cabin and bury it in the snow around the porch until the women needed it. It would prevent a walk to the smokehouse every day and they'd all be able to eat during this blizzard.

  But the third day wolves came calling and they sniffed out the meat.

  Everyone gathered on the back porch to watch as the wolves dug the meat up and devoured it.

  One man stepped outside and threw a stick at them, they howled, but they took the meat with them as they left.

  "Maybe we should stick to bens for a few days, Margaret told the girls."

  Everyone nodded.

  The last hunt had been a good one and there was plenty of it to go around but getting to it could be a problem.

  They had five dear, seven turkeys and two wild boars. Not to mention the quail, the pheasants, and the smaller rabbits and squirrels. There was a large assortment of rabbits too, but they wouldn't last too long. Margaret and Snow Bird made large pots of venison chili and, then to change the menu up, they would make stews, although they were running low on vegetables to put in the stew, they made do. Margaret made homemade dumplings one day, in a huge pot. Everyone enjoyed them too.

  Kat cooked beans almost every day, and thanks to the boar they had plenty of bones from the wild boar to flavor it with.

  There was no fruit, but Margaret had gathered a barrel full of nuts before winter set in hard. Her and Snow Bird had spent many nights cracking the nuts to cook with and to offer everyone. Jerky was plentiful too.

  For a treat Margaret would make popcorn and pass it around. She had collected a lot of corn in her day and had cultivated it into hard kernels of corn. Then she popped it on top of the stove. Folks would gather around her stove to listen to it pop and everyone enjoyed it. She'd dribble butter on top of it, when she had it. Butter was a luxury here though and in the hard of winter wasn't available to her much. Sometimes she'd dribble bacon grease on top. Didn't matter it was such a treat everyone loved it.

  The wind blew up a lot, and in the cold of winter some men sat around telling tales of their adventures. Boredom set in too though. Most of the men were hunters and trappers and longed to be outside moving around. Some smoked a pipe and merely listened to the stories. The women huddled around the stoves, cooking was a major job for this bunch. It took all day to keep enough food going. The last hunt the men had managed a lot of meat but unfortunately most of it was stored in the smokehouse.

  Ferg grunted, "We should have built a covered walkway to the smokehouse."

  Matt nodded, "Maybe we could do that before we leave in the spring."

  "Good idea." Coon nodded.

  Raz, Doolin and Colby amused themselves. Raz was good on the harmonica and everyone seemed to enjoy him playing late in the evening, it settled everyone out.

  The wind blew up a lot, and in the cold of winter the wind was an enemy. It whistled through the cracks making a lonely sound. Men stuffed it with whatever was available as the small crack could easily freeze a man.

  Firewood had to be moved inside so the door wasn't opened so much. They'd had three men chopping firewood before the big storm, so they were equipped with necessities.

  It was dark inside the cabin most days as the sun didn't shine, only a gray monotonous sky. Lanterns were lit all over the place, so people could see to get around. A lot of stragglers came in from the weather too. The cabin was now full. Most trappers could read the signs of a coming storm and headed straight for Sutton's Place.

  The storm only lasted a day, but what it left behind lasted nearly two weeks before the sun came out to stay a while.

  ***

  One day, as Joe Banks seemed healed from his injuries, he noticed Rose, the black girl staring at him. Every time he looked at her, she would smile.

  Joe studied on that. She was a pretty black girl, small, with lips that he'd enjoy kissing.

  She was also young too.

  So far, she hadn't spoken to him, just tossed him a smile now and then.

  This went on a couple of days until she got the nerve to talk to him. "You look kind of sad. Aren't you feeling well?" She asked him as she came to sit beside him on the floor.

  He offered her a blanket to warm her.

  Joe stared at her, noting her pretty smile, his eyes going over her. "Just thinking about my sister."

  "Was she in the raid of the wagon train."

  "Yeah. I tried to get to her before they cut her down, but I couldn't. She was dead before I reached her."

  "I’m sorry. I know how it feels to lose the ones you love." Rose told him, her hand going to his as they sat close now.

  He stared at her hand, then his thumb stroked the top of her hand and she smiled at him.

  Rose was young and most of the men she let touch her, were old, so when Joe came along, she was curious if he'd accept her. Especially since he turned his nose up at Snow Bird. Being a woman of color here didn't mean much as the men got raunchy and weren't too choosy.

  "You do?" Joe stared, his eyes going over her now, stopping at points of interest on the way at her full breast held tight by her dress, her small waist and her round hips, then back to her pretty young face, and her luscious looking lips. He'd noticed that Negress women had fuller lips and had often wondered if that made them better kissers.

 

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