Prologue

Colorado Mid-Winter 1864

With each sting of the whip on his back, Two Wolves tightened his grip on the rope binding his hands to the post. He looked straight ahead at the Union solider, never flinching, never crying out, and fought the urge to pass out. All around him, he could hear the cries of his people; the women as they were be used by the soliders before being killed and the men as they gave their last war cry before dying a Cheyenne warriors death. He could feel the blood trickling down his back and into his moccasins. With each crack of the whip, he could feel another chunk of flesh being taken from his back. He heard the soldiers talking, but didn't understand their words. He watched as the one in front of him moved away. It was then that he noticed that the whip no longer touched his body. He heard the soldiers mount their horses and then watched them as they left, leaving him there to die. Around him, the camp was quiet, all but for the sound of the burning teepees. Once the sound of the horses were no longer heard, he allowed himself to black out.

In his mind, Two Wolves drifted back to days of his adolescences. Days of when he and some of the other young braves would sneak down to the river and watch the young maids as they bathed. He concentrated on the eldest of the maids, Little Doe. Her mother was a Cheyenne maid that had married a white man. They spent every summer with the tribe and then winters in a cabin up in the mountains, where her father hunted and trapped for them. Little Doe was beautiful with her long hair; the color unlike any he had ever seen. It was a browish/black color like her mother's, but with red tints like that of her father's. Her eyes were the color of turquoise, like the beads she wore around her neck.

Even back then, she was shorter than him, but he could easily rest his chin on her head. It had been a few summers since they had visited, but her body was starting to fill out nicely. Now as a grown brave, with a teepee of his own and his father pushing him to take a wife, it was Little Doe that he wanted. He was waiting for her to return so that he could ask her to marry. She would be old enough now; old enough not only by their Cheyenne law, but by the white law that her father also lived by.

Two Wolves could feel his body moving, but it was not him moving it. He felt the sting of his back as his body moved and that only sent him deeper into unconscienceness. He felt himself being laid down on his stomach, the pain in his back easing up some. He felt his arms drop to his side and the weight of them eased up as well. From somewhere, he could hear Little Doe's voice. She was almost crying as she asked, "Is he alive?". If only he could feel her touch once more. He then heard both her father and her mother as they answered her. "No," Little Bird said. "He'll live," said Charles Andrews, "but only if we get him to the cabin." It was then that he knew that he was going to be okay and allowed himself to black out completely.

Little Doe cried as they had found the bodies of all she knew and loved. But what had hurt her the most was the sight of Two Wolves tied up to the post, the blood flowing from his back. The snow on the ground around him was solid red, as were his pants and moccasins. She knew that had they not gotten there sooner, he would have either bleed or froze to death. She would have lost him then; never having the chance to tell him how she felt about him.

The stretcher that Charles made was just big enough for one person, so Little Doe rode her horse next to the one that carried Two Wolves. It took them until nightfall to reach the base of the mountains; her father wanting to go as slow as possible for the young braves shake. They camped there that night, with her lying next to him, keeping him warm with her body heat. By the next evening, they had reached their mountain cabin. He had slept the whole way in a fevered state. She helped her father bring him into the cabin and place him on the large bed, in her small room, where she slept alone. She smiled at the sight of him there, but knew that it would only be for a short time.

She noticed her mother enter the room with the healing herbs that she always used. Her father, leaving the women to their work, walked to the doorway and stopped. He talked to her mother, but never once looked at her. "He's going to need warmth again," he sighed. "We all know the best way for him to receive it." He paused long enough to take in a deep sigh. "I'm going to check the traps. I'll be back in a little while. Be sure that she is as close to him as possible without hurting him" Before he could walk out the door, her mother said, "But Cheyenne law." Still facing away from them, he answered, "I know. She lays with him that way and he can claim her as his wife. Maybe..., just maybe, he won't remember it." With that, he walked out of her room.

Not a word was spoken between mother and daughter as they placed the herbs on the wounded braves back. Little Bird smiled at her daughter before leaving her alone with Two Wolves. Little Dow deeply sighed before undressing and laying next to him under the covers of her bed. She placed her body next to him; laying her leg over his and placing her arms between them. Soon, she felt not only herself, but his body warming. She then listened in horror as he talked in his sleep about the things that had happened at the village.

Three days passed since Little Doe had laid next to Two Wolves, leaving his side only to releave herself and wash off. Both were done in the same room, so that she was never far from him. She would do all of this quietly, so as not to disturb him. But on the third day, when she turned to get back to him, she saw his eyes open, watching her. She looked down at her nakedness and then back to him. She felt her cheeks flush as she laid back down next to him, getting her body as close to him as possible. "MMMM," he moaned. She could tell that was from pleasure and not pain. "You're mine," he softly said. "You're mine because you're willingly laying your naked body next to mine. You're father will not be able to refuse. He knows the Cheyenne law and that you're now mine." All she could do was smile and snuggle closer to him.

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It's only funny until someone gets hurt, then it's hilarious!