Indians

Chapter 7

Indian?

Joe watched the sun as it rose in the sky. It was just about time to leave. Polly was still sleeping. He was somewhat amazed that she had slept so well under the circumstances they were currently living in.

He glanced back over his shoulder to gaze at her sleeping form in the old rocking chair she'd been in all night. She had not moved at all until now. Slowly she opened her her eyes and gaze around the room. She pushed the cover he'd put on her away and it fell to the floor at her feet. She stood up.

"What's going on?" she inquired. "Why are we in this cabin and why have we spent the night here?"

She moved away from the chair to the low burning fire to get warm. "My family must be worried sick."

Joe moved away from the window. "And they will continue to be worried," Joe assured her. "We are not returning to the town," he stated softly.

"I see," she replied. "Then you have, in fact, she stated in a voice just an octave higher then it had previously been, "kidnapped me."

Joe felt the need to laugh but held it back. "No, my lady," he replied. "I've come to take you home where you're suppose to be."

"Home?" She inquired. A puzzled look crossed her face.

"Home," he supplied. "You are more then half Indian, you know?"

"Indian?" she inquired. "I'm white," she corrected him.

Joe laughed. "Look at your skin have you never wondered why you tan so easily. Look at your face. Do you not see the high cheek bones Indian's have?"

"I have brown hair!" she supplied as her part of the argument.

"I would assume your father also had brown hair. I can assure you that your mother had black."

"My mother?" she inquired?

"Yes, your real mother," he answered.

"You were living with your aunt," he inquired, "Were you not?"

"Yes, she replied, "My mother died in the crossing I was told when I was but an infant."

"Your mother died because of your father," Joe informed her. "He is also dead." Joe crossed the room to stand beside her. "Would you like some breakfast before we leave?"

"My father is dead?" she asked sounding somewhat shocked. "My aunt said he ran off with some bar dancer lady after my mom died and she was stuck with me."

"Your father raped my chief's daughter," Joe informed her. "She died giving birth to you... a wagon train, which was heading west came close to our tribe and saw you. Sometime during the night they came in and stole you."

"Your telling me that my aunt isn't really my aunt?" Polly asked. Her eyes had grown wide with disbelief.

"I'm telling you that you belong with your father," Joe assured her. "I have been looking for you for ages."

"You?" she inquired.

"Me and many others of my kind have been searching for you."

"How do you know I am who you say I am?"

Joe laughed as he turned to fix a bowl of food for her from the kitchen shelf.

She noticed how his body moved. He was a sexy man. He was tall, lean and quick in his actions. His eyes, were a frosty shade of blue and filled with emotions he never expressed. Perhaps, now she knew why.

"You have a birth mark on your shoulder blade," he told her as he handed her the bowl of food. "I saw it when your dress got ripped. "My chief's daughter was born with that birth mark and she had brown hair like yours," He pointed out. He turned to make some food for himself.

"We have to eat and leave," he told her. "I'm sure the search parties are not done looking for you."

"What if I don't wanna go?" she inquired as she took a bit from the bowl. She felt starved.

"You've little choice," Joe informed her. "I have my mission and I will carry it through."

"Once you're returned, I can get on with my life. Find a bride and have children...It is the way," he informed her.

"And me?" she inquired.

"You're the chief's daughter," he told her. He took a bite from his bowl of food. "You've already been promised to another."

"What?" she almost screamed. "I'm not gonna just marry anyone....I...I..."

Joe laughed. "Yes, you certainly wasn't happy with the one they tried to match you up with." he sat his bowl down on the counter. "I can't blame you either. He was and will always be a loser. Natalie is the perfect match for him."

"and," he thought, "You are the perfect match for me as well." His gaze traveled over her body admiring her long brownish hair in the dawning sun's light. She was a beautiful woman. Way too good for the one they'd tried to pair her up with in the white man's village, and way too lovely for the one his chief had promised her to as well.

The sound of horses approaching caused them both to stop talking and look out the window.

"They've found us!" Joe informed her.

"We have to go."