thought.

"Come," Nalte told her, catching her arm and leading her across the

camp.

She saw more shadows. The camp might sleep, but men were on guard.

She started to shiver, realizing that now she had no defenses. She had

enjoyed a certain safety with Jeremiah and David, so much so that she

could even be sorry that Jeremiah had been killed so coldly. But now.

She had come here as Nalte's prize.. That had been yon Heusen's plan.

The darkness lay all around them, and Nalte was leading her toward the

largest tepee. It glowed in moonlight, and she could see the designs and

colors upon it, the scenes of warfare, the furs attached to the flaps.

Smoke rose from the hole where the structure poles met at the top

indicating a fire within the tepee.

"Get in," Nalte said, thrusting her inside.

She nearly fell, but she regained her balance and stood quickly, ready

to fight him whatever came. He let the flap fall over the entryway and

crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. She moved backward,

noting the amusement that flickered in his dark eyes. She stumbled upon

something, looked around and saw that blankets and packs of clothing

were neatly rolled against the sides of the tepee and that there were

several cooking utensils by the fire that burned in the center of the

tepee. Its smoke escaped through the high hole.

There was a woman in the tepee already. A young, very pretty woman, who

stared at Tess with wide eyes. Tess stared in return, coloring as dread

filled her. Nalte had wanted a blond woman: He already had a wife. He

intended to rape her here in front of his first wife.

He took a step toward her. She tightened her fingers into fists at her

side.

There was no escape here. This was not a place like the haphazard

Comanchero dwelling. If she could escape Nalte she would only be caught

by his warriors.

Jamie had been so close! Rescue had been within reach. But now she

couldn't even hope that he would come against the Indians. Nalte would

kill him.

Tess gazed from the young woman to the Indian.

"You are a savage!"

she shouted. Tossing her hair, she stared at him defiantly.

"I don't want you. I don't want to be here! I was kidnapped for your

entertainment! And now here sits your poor wife, and you think that

you're going to ... that you're going to ... No!" she shouted, for

the flicker of amusement had deepened in his eyes, and he was striding

toward her.

She lashed out wildly, her fists pummeling his chest. He seemed to

barely notice her effort, and bent low to pick her up and throw her on a

blanket roll. She opened her mouth to scream, but he did not come close

to her.

He stepped back, watching her.

"This is not my wife. This is my sister. And because of her, you will be

safe from me this night. With the light we begin the ceremony that makes

her a woman." He smiled at the woman, and there was deep affection in

his gaze, but it faded when he looked at Tess again.

"It is an important ceremony, a religious one."

He turned and found another blanket roll. He had dismissed her entirely,

Tess thought. She stared from the war' riot to the young woman, longing

to bolt for the opening. Nalte was already stretching out comfortably on

his blanket.

The woman tried to smile at Tess. She patted the ground, indicating that

Tess should sleep.

Tess swallowed, keeping a wary eye on Nalte. She pulled out a blanket

and carefully lay down on it. Stretching out, she pretended to close her

eyes.

But she kept watching Nalte. When he slept, she would try to escape. If

she could return to the trail in the mountains, she could possibly find

Jamie.

Was he alone? she wondered. Or was Jon out there somewhere with him?

She was exhausted, and tears threatened her eyes. No matter how hard she

tried, or how she fought, she never seemed to escape the fate that yon

Heusen had intended for her.

Jeremiah and David were dead, and she could pray that Chavez was dead,

yet it had done little for her. She was where von Heusen had intended

she should be, and she was certain that men braver than she and far more

knowledgeable of the rugged terrain could not escape the Apache.

Nalte was finally sleeping. She rose very carefully and tiptoed across

the dry earth flooring of the tepee to the slit.

She glanced at Nalte again. His eyes were closed, his features immobile.

She started to slip beneath the flap.

A hand wound around her ankle, bringing her down hard upon the floor.

In seconds the fierce warrior had crawled over her. His eyes were ebony

in the night.

"You have courage," he told her.

"But you are stupid!"

"You speak of our savagery!" she charged him.

"You deal with the despicable Comancheros, you buy rifles and women from

them!"

"My sister is my only family," he told her in turn, "because the others

were killed. Killed by white men. Beaten, skewered, broken and left to

die. My mother died this Way, my sisters. Babies, little babies. I have

not brought you here to kill you. Not unless you force me to."

"You are holding me against my will."

He touched a long strand of her hair. He seemed reflective for a moment.

"You will come to understand me," he told her.

"You will learn our ways, and you will be happy here."

"I cannot be happy!" she told him desperately. "We are not savages!"

She shook her head, moistening her lips.

"No, no more so than we. But I am not what you wanted. I" -- "You are

more than what I wanted," he interrupted, and he was smiling.

"Now go back to sleep or I will forget that I keep a sacred vigil this

night."

"Nalte, please" -- "Go back. Now."

She felt the tension in his arms and saw the fierce glitter in his eyes

and she knew that his warning was not without good reason. Hastily she

retreated. She curled into her blanket, pulling it around her ears. She

shivered. She didn't hate the Indian, but he didn't understand that. She

was not repulsed by him, but she had to be free, for she was not part of

his society. She wanted revenge. She wanted yon Heusen hurt as he had

hurt her.

And she wanted Jamie. She was in love with him, and that hurt more than

anything else. If it weren't for him, she could bear anything that

happened.

But he was out there, somewhere. And she could never forget him.

Morning came, and the blanket was pulled away from Tess's shoulders.

She gasped and opened her eyes, expecting to discover Nalte, but it

wasn't him. Several women stared at her.

They spoke to her, but she didn't understand them.

They pulled her to her feet. She protested, but was ignored. Nalte's

little sister smiled at her encouragingly. She had little choice, for

the women set upon her arms and drew her along with them. They left the

tepee to enter the family clearing. The sun was just beginning to shine

down upon the camp.

Men and women were busy, moving around. Some cleaned their weapons,

others watched her with curiosity.

The women moved around with buckets of water or with bowls of food.

A soft word was said to her, and she was moved forward. No one was cruel

to her, but she couldn't have escaped the women who were determined to

escort her.

She heard the stream before she saw it, as they walked a trail that

brought them through trees and dense shrubs.

From the trail she could hear the tinkling melody of the water,

reminding her that she was very thirsty, and that there was a certain

personal necessity she had to take care of. She was glad to he with the

women, even though she flushed when they tugged at her buckskins,

indicating that she was to strip and bathe.

Still, she felt better once the water was against her skin and once she

had swallowed huge mouthfuls of it. She realized that the women were

disappearing between a bank of trees, and she was certain the trees had

to be the latrine. She followed them, and thought longingly once she was

done of disappearing into the brush, but' even as the thought came to

her, she saw that two of her keepers had come for her. Again, they were

not cruel, but the women with the ink-dark hair and the huge dark eyes

placed firm hands upon her and took her to the stream.

There they ignored her. It was Nalte's sister who gained everyone's

attention. Once she, too, had bathed, she was dressed in a soft, pale

buckskin dress with shades of yellow coloring on it. A yellow paint was

smeared over her face, and her hair was lovingly combed out and let

loose to fall beneath her shoulders. Necklaces were placed upon her,

beautiful pieces of beads and silver cones, and one rawhide strand with

a claw upon it. She smiled during it all, flushed and lovely.

It was her ceremony day, Tess remembered. And then she realized that she

had not been forgotten after all. A woman called for her from the bank

of the stream. She had no choice but to crawl out and let them stare at

her. They whispered over her nakedness and she flushed, backing away

when they would have touched her. Her pale skin was very different from