Paloma and the Horse Traders by Carla Kelly Read Free Book Online Page A

knew better than to look to either side,
leaving that to Eckapeta, who had come away from the garrison with
another Spanish lance, this one wrested from the hands of a guard
at the gate. “Just keep my babies safe,” she whispered to the wind
that snatched her words away. I will think about what we will do
once we are through the gates , she told herself. Eckapeta
will get me there .
    She braved a glance around and saw nothing out
of the ordinary. Her horse pounded along, lathered now and
breathing audibly. She patted the animal, wishing she could let him
know somehow that she would never punish him this way, if her need
hadn’t been so great.
    “ There they are!” Eckapeta shouted,
pointing with the lance to a thicket well back from the road. “Use
your quirt, Paloma!”
    She did as the woman said, forcing more effort
from her horse. Her heart seemed to beat in rhythm with her horse’s
stride, as she dug in her heels and wished suddenly for spurs on
her riding boots.
    Still there was silence. She dared a glance
toward the thicket and saw the warriors, chief among them a man
with a horned owl headdress, the same mask repeated on his horse.
She shuddered and looked away.
    And there was the Double Cross, her dear home,
with its sturdy gray stone walls and gate closed, even though their
neighbors teased them that all was well now in Valle del Sol, since
Kwihnai had promised never to attack again.
    “ Don’t you trust anyone?” she
remembered Pepe Calderón, their nearest neighbor, teasing Marco
only last week.
    “ Not when my wife and children are
within my walls and no one has transported us to Santa Fe, where
fat people live,” Marco had replied. She closed her eyes and prayed
that the Calderóns had forted up.
    “ I’m dropping back,” Eckapeta
shouted at her. “Don’t look behind and don’t stop. Crouch over your
horse.”
    Has it come to this? Paloma thought. She
swallowed tears and did as Eckapeta demanded, bending low, trying
to turn herself into a horse, as the Comanches did. She clung to
her horse, giving him his head because she trusted any animal that
Marco had trained.
    She heard the Comanches then, and the wailing
sound of war put wings to her exhausted mount. As they raced toward
the Double Cross, she saw the gates open and mounted guards ride
out with their own lances and bows and arrows.
    “ Pease don’t hit Eckapeta by
mistake,” she shouted.
    She flew toward the guards, then past them into
the Double Cross. Yanking on the reins, she leaped off before her
horse came to a stop. She ran back to the gate and watched as
Eckapeta stopped, threw her lance, and found a target. Her knife
followed, claiming another victim. Then she rode for all she was
worth.
    The gates were barely open now, but Paloma knew
what her guards were doing. As soon as Eckapeta was through, the
Double Cross riders followed her. The gate slammed shut and the
stout crosspiece banged down, cradled firmly in iron
holders.
    Eckapeta dismounted and Paloma grabbed her,
holding tight. They clung to each other, then Eckapeta held her
off, assessing her with calm eyes. She touched Paloma’s
belly.
    “ Is all well in there?”
    Paloma nodded. “I think so. I doubt any child
of Señor Mondragón is easily dislodged by a little
ramble.”
    Forehead to forehead, they laughed, then
Eckapeta gave her a little push. “Get your babies under the floor
in the chapel, and your house servants. You, too.”
    “ Oh, but ….”
    Eckapeta gave her a fierce look. “Little
Sister, don’t argue.”
    Chastened, Paloma put her hands together and
bowed her head. “Yes, nami ,” she whispered, even as her
tears came.
    Eckapeta’s voice was gentle then, the same
voice she used when she held Claudio or Soledad. “What would Marco
say if I did any less? Go, my sweet Star in the Meadow. I love you
as my own.”
     
     

Chapter Six
    In
which the Truce of God suffers
    “ I should
get some pretty bauble for Paloma,” Marco told Toshua, as