Red as Earth

A Story by thundershine

Native American Indian and Western romance I wrote when I was 16...sadly never finished!

The morning was golden and cheery the day my life changed forever. I
was at Old Moe's General Store picking up some sugar and canning jars
for my Aunt Hilda.

"Howdy there, Gazelle Thompson. What can I do fer ya?" asked Old Moe.

My name is Gazelle. My mother-God rest her soul-when she was alive
named me that. She thought it was pretty.

"I would like me some sugar and cannin' jars fer peaches."

"Sure thing Miss Gazelle," said Old Moe.

He put my stuff in an old crate and set it on the counter.

"Ya know, if I were you-and I ain't- I wouldna walk home alone. Dem
der Injuns are gettin' mighty feisty! I suspect them goin' on the
warpath mighty soon."

I folded my arms. "Don't ya worry 'bout me Ol' Moe. I can take care of
myself mighty fine!"

"I suspect so, but you just be lookin' over yer shoulder from know on."

"Sure thing." I walked out of the store and down the paths of town.

I headed towards my Aunt's place, just five miles from town. She took
me in after my mother died. My father died when I was a little in a
lumber-jacking accident.

I heard a call of a bird off to my left. I liked birds, they had such
pretty singing voices.

I looked over the prairie and took in the sight. The yellow blades of
grass blew in the breeze and the golden sun twinkled softly on the
ground below.

Then, another bird sung off to my right.

"Them birds must be having a sing along!" I said out loud to myself.

All of a sudden, a greasy hand clamped over my mouth. I put up a good
fight, but that smelly hand wouldn't let go!

I turned my head around and screamed in that nasty hand. It was a
Injun! As red as the earth! His beady black eyes bore a hole clean
through me!

I kicked. I clawed. I scratched like an
ol' tom cat, but the Injun still wouldn't let me go.

He tied me up tightly with a scratchy rope and threw me onto a horse.

I must've blacked out from fear, because I don't remember anything
'till I woke in an Injun Teepee.

"Hey, lemme go!" I said.

An old, ugly squaw was leaning over me. She shook her gray braids and
walked out of the tent.

I tried to sit up, but my head swam like a current in Little Jonny's
Creek.

I lay back down on the foul-smelling bearskin and cried like a baby.

I wanted to go home. Now, I was ashamed of my tears, I was almost
seventeen...a grown-up!

A few minutes later, that ugly, old Injun came back in an offered me
something to eat.

"What are ya tryin' to do? Poison me? I ain't eatin' yer food!" I
yelled.

The Injun must've understood my anger, for she tasted a bit of the
stuff-almost as if to prove it wasn't poisoned before she set it down
next to me and left.

After a few hours of stubbornness, my stomach started to growl like a
momma bear. I gulped down the stuff, and to my surprise, it wasn't too
bad.

I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to open the tent and walk out.

I was met by an angry face of a warrior. "In," he said and pointed to
the Teepee.

I was startin' to get really mad and really scared too. So, I said,"I
ain't gettin' in there 'till you tell me what I'm here for."

The Injun acted as if I hadn't spoken.

"Hey, redskin! What am I here for?"

The Injun's eyes darkened and he turned and stared at me with his
black eyes. "You be Strong Bear's Squaw."

"Huh?"

"You be Strong Bear's Squaw!"

"How?"

"You have his papoose."

A light went on in my head. "Wait a minute, I ain't marrying no ugly
Injun!"

The Injun slapped me across the face. "You obey. Go in Teepee!"

I did, really quick too. I had never been so scared in my life. I
planed my escape.

Why did they choice to abduct me? There were many other girls. My Aunt
said I was pretty with my sunny hair and cornflower-blue eyes, but I
wasn't a lady, so the boys only looked and didn't pursue. Hogwash! I
didn't want to get married! All of my friends were boys, and I could
beat any of them in anything! I didn't want to marry any of the boys I
knew! And especially not an Injun!

The next day, I was gonna meet my "future husband." I was as angry as
a snake and was coiling up for a strike.

The nasty squaw brushed and braided my hair. She tried to change me
into a Injun outfit, but I bit her really hard.

I was led to the center of the camp. I saw many Injun's there, but I
didn't know which one was Strong Bear.

Then, a tall, fat Injun stepped out of a Teepee.

"Him Strong Bear," said the Injun that guarded my Teepee.

I felt like throwing up. "More like fat bear! Dear baby Jesus help me!"

I heard a bunch of nonsense Injun words and then they forced my hands
into Strong Bear's fat ones.

Apparently, on the new moon we would Wed.

I needed to escape...the new moon was only one week away.

I planned my escape. That very night, I dressed into the nasty Injun
clothing and slipped out of the tent.

I saw a horse outside. I was an expert horsewoman, I beat all of the
guys.

I mounted the horse and started to gallop away. The Injun who guarded
my Teepee heard me and let out a bone-chilling cry.

I hurried the horse ad fast as I could.

The Injuns were on our tails and were gaining quickly. I wasn't
looking were I was going-apparently, neither was the horse. We jumped
over an embankment and plummeted one-hundred feet.

The horse died instantly, I broke a few ribs and my wrist.

I lay there on the dead horse, not able to move. The Injun's must've
thought I was dead, because they left in a hurry.

Night was falling fast and I would freeze to death if I didn't get
somewhere warm soon.

All of a sudden, I heard a horse nicker. I thought I was hearing
things because my horse was dead.

Then, a black shadow came towards me. I thought it was a demon or
ghost. "Please, don't kill me!" I cried out.

The shadow crept closer and I could see it was the figure of a
man...an Injun man.

My mouth went dry with fear. What would he do?

He walked over and looked at me. I could barely see him, for the sun
had set.

The wind whistled by me as the Injun walked even closer. He struck
something and a spark flew up. He grabbed something out of his horses
pack and placed it on the spark.

A fire came to life.

It was then I could make out the Injun's face. What I saw shocked me
to the core.

The Injun had the smooth, black hair of most Injuns, but his eyes
were as blue as the sky. His face was perfectly proportioned as well.
His defined cheekbones and jawbone shadowed over in the dim firelight.
He had a perfect nose too. It was thin and straight, not fat and flat
like most Injun's.

Even though this Injun was the most handsome male I had ever seen, I
still feared him. Injun's were heathens.

He sat down next to me and touched my wrist. I groaned in pain.

Then, the Injun felt my legs. Nothing was broken there. He felt up my
stomach and went he got to my chest, I tried to move out of the way. I
cried out in pain, because my broken rib tore at my side.

The Injun knew that my ribs were broken. He went over to his horse and
pulled out some soft leather. He bound my wrist and my chest with it.

The pain hurt so bad, I blacked out.

I woke up to the smell of cooking.

I turned and saw the Injun. He was cooking up something over the fire.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The Injun ignored me. He pulled his bearskin coat closer.

"You're all the same! You do something nice so you can get something
in return! What are you going to do next? Make me your squaw?!"

The Injun just looked at me.

"Answer me you redskin! Or are you to dumb to speak English?"

The Injun said nothing. He put the food next to my head and walked away.

"Hey! Come back here and take it like a man? Or are you afraid of a
woman?"

The Injun ignored me and kept walking.

I ate the food and them had a good cry. It hurt to cry though. I just
wanted to go home!

I looked up and saw the Injun had come back. He was looking at me
curiously.

I turned my head. I didn't want him to see me cry.

The Injun sat down beside me and apprehensively touched my face.

I tried to move out of the way, but that 'caused my ribs to hurt. I
cried out. "Now look what you did! You stupid Injun!"

The Injun's eyes clouded over. He stood up and walked away. I didn't
see him again until nighttime.

The next morning was really humid. The Injun was acting strange. He
paced back and forth and kept looking up at the sky and shaking his
head.

He looked down at me and back at the sky.

"What?" I said.

The Injun said nothing.

I grew angry. "You stupid idiot! Answer me! Why are you lookin' at me
and the sky weird?"

The Injun's eyes snapped in anger. He leaned in towards me. "Storm
come. You come with me."

I was shocked and embarrassed. He could understand ever word I said.

I blushed red. "Oh."

The Injun listen me up gently and placed me on his horse." Do not move."

We traveled in the blazing heat for many hours. To my surprise, the
Injun did not take off his big bear coat.

"Why don't you take off your bear skin?" I asked

"Plants in grass cause itch," he said.

"Oh."

We reached a cave at nightfall. The Injun took me off of his horse and
lay me on the ground.

He started a fire and started to cook something. I think it was corn.

He offered some to me and I ate it. It was getting darker and colder
and I started to shiver.

The Injun un-fastened his bearskin and took it off.

I'm sure I looked as funny as I felt. I felt my cheeks grow red.
Injun's don't wear much. He only had two pieces of cloth on, they were
connected with a string.

His skin was smooth and tan and every muscle rippled in the firelight.
The Injun looked at me oddly and then he placed the bearskin over me.
"For warmth."

I looked up at him (making sure I looked at his face). "Are Injun's
always...ah...er half-naked?"

The Injun looked at me like I was weird. "What?"

"You're ah-barely covered..."

"So..."

"Never mind." I mumbled.

The Injun shook his head like I was the crazy one.

The whole night I was tryin' to ignore him, but my eyes roamed back to
his shiny skin. I had never even seen a man this close without his
shirt, let alone practically naked! He wasn't nasty-looking either.
His shoulders were squared and his waist was slim. His belly muscles
were like Aunt Hilda's washboard. His arms had twisted muscles in them
and his legs were as strong as a horse's.

I think he was watching me watch him, because one eye kind of glinted
in the firelight.

Finally, sleep took over and I slept until morning.

I woke up to the sound of heavy rain and angry wind.

"How long is this going to last?" I yelled over the noise.

"Six weeks."

"Six weeks? You mean I have to be stuck in this darn cave all alone
with you for six weeks?!"

"Yep."

I closed my eyes to block out the tears. By that time, my Aunt will
have given me up for dead.

Weeks passed and the same thing happened everyday. I woke up, ate,
whined, ate, and went back to sleep. I couldn't move because of my
broken ribs. So I lay there, day after day.

It was now the end of the sixth week and I was feeling a lot
better...well, at least my wounds were.

The Injun walked over and felt my wrist. "This hurt?"

"No."

"This?"

"No."

"This?"

"Yeah! You're squeezin' my arm off!"

He grinned.

He unbandeged my wrist. "It is healed."

He then reached for my ribs.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Huh?"

"Don't play stupid, I know you're not! You know where your hands are
near!"

The Injun's eyes grew as stormy as the weather. " So, I'm not stupid
now-huh?You think I'm a heathen-huh?!"

I shook my head. He was scaring me. "I didn't say that I..."

"You meant it!"

"I'm just saying, just because you're an Injun, doesn't mean you don't
feel the same feelings white men do!"

"What feelings?!"

I lowered my voice. "Desire."

The Injun looked like he got slapped in the face. He just stared
there, his mouth was wide open. Then, he turned around and walked into
the rain without a word.

He didn't return for two days. I was starving and dehydrated by that
time. He was acting like a baby, pouting that I found him out. I saw
him looking at me at night!

When he returned, I gave him a good tongue-lashing. "So, you finally
stopped pouting like a squaw."

He gave me a dirty look.

"You left me here two days! I haven't eatin and the only water I've
had was filthy rainwater!"

He avoided my eyes.

"Look at me you papoose!"

He did and his eyes blazed with anger.

"So, you were gonna to leave me here to die. Why?!"

"You won't die."

"In my weak condition I could've!"

"You not too weak to yell."

"I'm angry enough to never talk to you again!"

"Good, you have tongue like snake. It would be better if you silent!"

I slowly sat up and started to stand on my feet. All of a sudden, a
dizzy feeling came over me and I fainted. The last thing I remembered
were his strong and bare arms around me.

I woke with a start. The bandages around my chest were gone and my
head was wet and cool.

"Where am I?"

"You still in cave. You sleep for three days. I give water and food.
I'm no squaw." the Injun flexed his muscles. They stood up like
mountains in his arm.

"Am I OK now?"

"Yes, you can walk around now."

I looked at the Injun curiously. "You never told me your name."

The Injun's eyes widened in surprise. "You never tell me yours."

"I'm Gazelle-you are?"

"Hmm...Gazelle. I am Snow Wolf."

"Why snow wolf?"

"Why Gazelle?"

"My mother called me that."

"My father called me that."

I slowly stood up. Everything became blurry. I almost fainted again,
but Snow Wolf kept me from falling.

He was holding me in his arms, almost like he was hugging me.

I looked up into his deep blue eyes. I made a bold move. "Do you have
a squaw, Snow Wolf?"

He blushed and let me go. "What would I want one of them for? I no
need squaw!"

"Ever want a son?"

"Well, yes, but I can always adopt!" he protested.

"But what about other things squaws can give you?"

"Huh, like what?"

"Love..."

"Huh, that's gets you nowhere!"

I raised an eyebrow. Dare I? I dared. "...Pleasure..."

Snow Wolf stopped in his tracks and stared at me. "Pleasure? W-w-what
you trying to say?"

"That there's advantages for takin' a squaw."

"What do you care?"

"Maybe you shouldna be askin' 'what,' but 'why.'"

Snow Wolf stood to his full height (which was probably around 6.5,
6.6). "Why are you asking questions?"

"Just curious."

"Just curious? None of your business."

"Fine, be bull-headed."

"You the bull!"

"Oh, really? "

"Really!"

"Well, Bull, go find some other grass to chew!"

"Huh?"

"Do you think I'm stupid? You donna have a squaw! Most Injun's are
honorable in those ways! You donna, because you practically eat me up
with your gaze!"

Snow Wolf hovered over me. "What are you trying to say?"

I looked up at him. "You want me."

Snow Wolf's eyes grew as steamy as the fog over Little Johnny Creek. He
grabbed my good arm and said in a low, intimidating voice, "If I
wanted you, I would've had you."

"Not so, I was injured...remember?"

"So?"

"So your honor told you not too."

"Well, it's not now."

"So I am right?"

Snow Wolf dropped my arm and walked away. "No."

"Then, why do you run away?"

"I'm not running."

"OK, then you're hiding."

"I am not."

"Then, come back here."

He stormed back over. The veins in his neck stuck out and his face
grew red, but he said nothing. He backed me into a corner and placed
his hands on the cave behind me."What you trying to prove?"

"That you want me."

"Why does that matter?"

I was feeling kind of fresh, so I said, "'Cause I want you."

He stopped breathing and his eyes widened in surprise. "W-wha?"

"I want to be your squaw."

He stood there with his mouth open, so I decided that this was the
perfect time to kiss him. I leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

He didn't respond, but I could feel him shiver. He was warm and as
hard as a mountainside.

When I pulled away. His mouth still hung wide open.

"You'd better shut that thing before a bug flies in!"

He shut his mouth. "What did you do?" he asked in a choked voice.

"What do you mean-what did you do? I kissed you!"

"Kiss?"

"Yeah, don't you guys do that?"

"No."

"No?! Well, let me show you again."

I leaned in and kissed him again. This time he kissed me back-he was a
natural. He pulled me in. I could feel the knots of his muscles
against my dress.

He pulled away this time. He was breathing funny.

I leaned in to kiss him again-I was feeling kind of frisky-he pushed
me away.

"What? Didna you like it?"

"Too much." He walked away.

He wouldn't talk to me the rest of the night.

The next day, Snow Wolf packed up everything on his horse. The rain
had stopped.

"We go now."

"Where are you taking me?"

"Back to you family."

"I don't wanna go, I wanna stay with you."

Snow Wolf looked at me oddly again.

"What 'bout you family?"

"I only have an Aunt....everyone else is dead."

"Huh."

I walked next to him. "Where do your people live?"

"Have no people. Killed by white men."

I stared at him in shock. "White men killed your people, yet you took
care of me-why?"

Snow Wolf looked over at me and said nothing.

I pressed on. "Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

He stopped and turned towards me. "Because I..."

"You what?"

He grabbed my good hand. "I love you."

I felt as giddy as a school-girl inside. "Does this mean I can be your
squaw?"

"No."

"No?!"

"Cause I love, you must return. The life of Indian is not for you."

"Snow Wolf, if you don't take me with you, I'll follow you 'till the
day I die!"

"No, you stay with white people."

I was frustrated. I stood on me tipsy-toes and kissed him the best I
could.

He moved to pull away at first, but then he responded.

We kissed for probably five minutes. He finally pulled away with a
shaky breath and said, "N-n-no, no. We can't marry."

"Yes, yes. We shall!" I kissed him again.

He pulled away forcefully, almost hurting me. "No..."

I kissed him again.

He pulled away and stared to run.

I ran after him.

He would've easily outrun me, if his foot wouldn't have stuck in a hole.

I sat on his lap (I was getting desperate). "Marry me Snow Wolf."

He tried to push me off of him, but I held to him tightly.

"Don't, please get off. You only making this harder."

"A warrior begs to a squaw now? I'm not giving you up! Marry me!"

"No!"

"Yes!" I said and I kissed him again.

"No," he said pulling away.

"Yes," I said kissing him again.

"Nooo......" he said pulling away with a gasp.

I kissed him hard this time and I pressed myself against him (trying
to make his hormones change his mind).

This time, he didn't pull away. I did.

"Fine, we marry," he said.

I grinned ear to ear.

"After you get my foot out of stupid hole!"

We traveled to Snow Wolf's adopted tribe. When the Injun's first saw
me, they didna like me, but Snow Wolf convinced them to let us marry.

The Wedding was weird. At first, the squaws tried to smear me in bear
grease, but I'd have none of that.

Then, they braided my hair and put the ceremonial dress on me.

They brought me out to Snow Wolf and placed my hands in his. Many
unmarried squaws gave me evil looks-apparently he was the catch.

The ceremony lasted long, but finally, it was nighttime and I was led
to Snow Wolf's Teepee. I was kind of nervous, but more excited.

I opened the flap and went in.

Snow Wolf was standing in the corner.

I walked over and kissed him. His skin was greasy and smelled like
bear fat.

"They put bear fat on you! Ugg!"

Snow Wolf grinned. "You no like?"

"No, it's gross!"

Snow Wolf played with the tie on my dress. I pulled away. "We're not
doin' anything until you wash that stuff off!"

"Wha?"

I grabbed his arm. "Come."

I led him out of the Teepee and out of the camp.

"Where you taking me?"

"Come," I said.

We ran threw the woods until we reached a creek.

"Why are we here?" Snow Wolf asked.

I grinned mischievously. "To swim."

"To swim? But I thought we were..."

He stopped abruptly, for I had taken off my Wedding outfit and was nude.

"Swim," I said with a laugh and I dove into the water.

Snow Wolf stared at me in shock. Then, he grinned. "I like swimming!"

He took off his outfit and dove in. The shimmering moonlight shone
down on his nude body. Everything about his naked form shouted out
"virility."

I splashed him and he splashed me back. "Well, aren't we going to do
it now?"

He stopped. "Do what?"

I pressed myself against his naked body. He shivered.

"Need I say more?"

He grabbed me and lifted me onto the cool earth. We made passionate
love under the stars that night. I'm sure the birds and critters were
wonderin' what all the noises were! Ha!

We woke the next morning with the sun on our face.

"Wake my squaw."

I opened my eyes. "Who is this strong warrior next to me?"

He grinned. "Come, let's head back to camp."

I sat up. "We better get dressed."

"You look better not dressed," said Snow Wolf.

"So do you," I said.

He grinned.

..............To Be Continued...............