The Last Call for Vengeance – Extended Epilogue

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Claire set out at the break of dawn, her mule loaded down with supplies for the people at the Comanche village. Her sister-in-law had been living with them for the past month, though she and Holt were known to go to the house in New Bedford often, keeping it up to date. They left most of the maintenance to the few ranch hands they had decided to keep, and the housekeeper. 

Willa was right about the tribe. They were a friendly bunch and the more Claire learned about them, the more she respected and appreciated their ways. She found herself more at ease with them than she often felt while in town, with people just like her. 

She rode in silence, thinking about how many people were in need of the supplies she had. There was some kind of outbreak, causing a rash to the children and some of the women in the tribe. Some were close to death and Doc had told her to take everything they had to fight the illness. 

The camp was quieter than usual as she approached. Sometimes when she came to see Willa and Holt and have a visit with her Indian friends, she was greeted before she even crossed into the village by dancing, singing children.

There were no children out running around today. The sky was a bleak grey, adding to the melancholy atmosphere inside the camp. There were some men outside their tipis, cooking over an open fire in pots bigger than her head. Older women sat on mats outside their tipis, rocking little ones in their laps, their arms folded lovingly around the children, humming soft, comforting tunes. 

Claire nodded at them as she passed and was grateful to see their returned nods as greeting. She knew which tipi she needed to go to. The sickest woman in the village was in the bright yellow with brown trim tipi, a blue flag posted on top to wave in the wind and warn anyone coming to the tipi that someone inside was deathly ill.

Claire dismounted in front of the tipi, grabbed a bag from the mule and hurried inside, pushing aside the tipi flap and entering without announcing herself.

The woman was lying almost flat on her floor mat. Her head was propped up some but not too much. Her dark hair was matted against her light brown skin and beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, over her ears, and down her neck. She looked paler than she should. Her eyes were slightly sunken in from the lack of nutrition she’d had for several days.

Claire knew she was getting weaker by the minute. She could only hope the medication pills Doc had given her would do the trick. The woman’s thin body was covered by a thick blanket. Claire pulled the blanket back to give the woman some air. She suspected the fever the woman had been experiencing might be broken, causing her to sweat it out, thereby getting rid of the illness that had her in its grip. 

She soaked a cloth in the water by the bed and used it to dab against the woman’s hot skin. 

“You’ll be all right, Mu-unwin,” she said softly. “You’ll be all right. I’ve got some medicine for you. I’ll put it on your lips so you can take it easily.” She opened the drawstring bag and reached in for a bottle of liquid Doc had given her. It was what he called an antibiotic. She had never heard of such a thing. He said it was an invention from scientists overseas. Whatever it was, she wanted it to work. If it could pull Mu-unwin back from the brink of death, the children who had the illness would recover in a few days.

She turned the bottle and let several drops come from the ridge, splashing on Mu-unwin’s lips. The woman licked at it. She grimaced but nodded and said through a gravelly voice. “I will drink more if necessary, Claire. I do not mind.”

“Are you sure?” Claire asked. “I know it doesn’t taste good.”

Mu-unwin shook her head slowly, as if she had to put in a great deal of effort to do it. “I have not eaten a thing that tastes good in a week. I will be all right for now. I look forward to tasting good food again. As soon as I’m better. Right?”

Claire nodded. “Yes. As soon as you’re better.”

“And you will bring my sweet Haunyhu to see me?”

Claire thought about the woman’s only child, a baby named Haunyhu, a little boy of seven months. The child was in the care of Mu-unwin’s sister, Toong, and brother, Kuanho.

Claire sat with the woman most of the night, grateful that they were left alone most of the time. Willa and Holt came by to see how Mu-unwin was doing but didn’t stay. It wasn’t until late that night that Kuanho came to the tipi to check on his sister and found Claire dozing off in the bed next to his sister’s.

He touched her shoulder to get her attention. “Are you awake?” he asked, his Comanche accent strong but decipherable. 

Claire came to her senses, sitting up, alert once more. Her eyes went directly to Mu-unwin but the woman was sleeping fitfully, tossing, turning and groaning. 

“Oh. Yes, yes, I am fine. I’m awake. Yes.” She cleared her throat and looked up at the handsome Indian. She patted her hair and sat up straight, moving her eyes to the woman on the bed. “I… I think she might be all right in the morning but really, it could go either way.” She kept her voice low and in a whisper. If Mu-unwin was asleep, she didn’t want to wake her. If she was awake, she didn’t want her words to alarm the sick patient. 

“I appreciate you staying with my sister,” Kuanho said, taking a seat next to Claire on the mat she’d been lying on. It surprised her but she didn’t mind it. He lifted his knees and circled his arms around his legs, giving his sister a concerned look. “She has never been a very strong girl, not like Toong and me. Every sickness the bear, the white man or the opossum bring to us, Mu-unwin has contracted. We certainly feel lucky to have had her this long.”

Claire blinked at him. “I did not know she has been sickly for a long time. Since she was born?”

Kuanho nodded. “Tell me, Miss Claire. How does such a sickly child born to a healthy family continue living without being jealous of the well-being of the people they love? This would cause me great pain.”

“I’m sure she felt her fair share of jealousy if she was always sick,” Claire agreed, scanning the sleeping woman in front of her with sympathetic eyes. “But you and your tribe are a very loving people. I’m sure she got over those feelings.”

“She has always treated us well,” Kuanho said with a nod. “We do wish to see her recover and raise her child.”

“How is the baby?” Claire asked curiously. “Has she been able to see him at all?”

Kuanho shook his head. “She will not see the child until she is better. She does not want him to become ill.”

Claire nodded, turning her gaze back to the sleeping woman. “I know how much she wants to see him. She misses him dearly as I’m sure he misses her.”

Kuanho moved his eyes to his sister, as well, running them up and down her thin body with worried eyes.

“Tell me, Miss Claire,” he said, his voice low. “What are her chances? Do you think she will make it through the night?”

“If she does, she will recover,” Claire replied in a whisper, turning her head to face him. “If she is too sick, she will not make it.”

“It is already getting late. When will you know?”

Claire licked her lips, looking at Mu-unwin as she slept. “I wish I knew,” she breathed. “I am glad you are here. If you could stay and help me keep an eye on her, that would be wonderful. I need to know if anything changes but I don’t believe I can stay awake all night.”

“We will take shifts,” Kuanho offered. “I will watch her for two hours. Then I will wake you and I will sleep for two hours. How does this sound to you?”

Claire grinned. “I would like that very much, Kuanho. My eyes are so heavy. I am very tired.”

“I’m sure you are. You’ve been staring at her for hours now.”

Claire giggled softly. “I haven’t been staring. And if I have, it is only out of concern for her.”

“I am sure of that,” Kuanho nodded as he answered. “There is a mat there for you to use and a roll pillow that is clean and germ-free, as you say.”

Claire was grateful to see the comfortable mat covered with a thick blanket of animal skins just behind her. She crawled to it, reaching out for the roll pillow and dragging it along with her. She knew she would be asleep as soon as her eyes closed.

She was right. She pulled out of dreams several times to open her eyes and see the young Indian hovering over his sister, tending to the fire or sitting in quiet meditation. It wasn’t until the morning light woke her that she realized he hadn’t kept their two hour bargain. He’d stayed up with his sister through the night and apparently noticed no change to wake her about.

She pushed herself to sit up, rubbing her eyes with both hands. She stretched her arms above her head.

“Good morning, Kuanho. You could have woken me. You didn’t need to stay awake for her all night.”

Kuanho gave her a melancholy look. “There was no need to wake you.”

Claire didn’t like the way his voice sounded. She frowned and crawled over to where he was sitting next to his sister. She looked down at Mu-unwin, noticing immediately that the woman was completely still.

“Oh no,” she whispered, chills running over her body. She looked at Kuanho with sadness and regret in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Kuanho. I thought I got her the medicine on time. How terribly sad.”

She reached up to rest her hand on his shoulder, not caring that it might be considered inappropriate touching. Kuanho was an unmarried man so there was no woman to upset by what she was doing.

“It is not your fault,” Kuanho said quietly, never taking his eyes from her face. “She was always very sickly, as I told you last night. I am sure she is in a sanctified place of peace and wellness.”

Claire lowered her head, saying a prayer for the woman she’d tried to save. The little baby was now an orphan. “What will happen to her little boy?” she asked softly.

“I will take him in. Toong cannot care for the child permanently. She has her own children to raise. I do not. I will take him in.”

“You do not have a wife. Will there be any objection?”

Kuanho shook his head. 

“I do not believe I will be without a wife for his whole life.” When he looked at Claire, she was surprised to see the corner of one side of his lips raise slightly. “Do you think I will be?”

Claire was taken aback by the question. She wasn’t even sure how to answer it. It was true she’d been visiting a lot and Kuanho had been a very attentive helper. But could he be suggesting that there might be something between the two of them?

She thought about it for just a moment. He was a handsome man, strong and tall, his muscles lean. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on the young man’s body. She wondered how old he was. Surely he couldn’t be more than his early twenties, which meant he was probably about five years younger than her 28. 

Were the Indians opposed to weddings between a younger man and an older woman? Did age mean anything at all to them?

“No,” she replied in an amused voice. “There’s no reason why you won’t have a wife very soon.”

“I don’t know about very soon,” Kuanho said in a joking tone. “But soon enough.”

Claire would have giggled, but the deceased woman in front of her kept her mood somber. “I should inform the chief about your sister. I will express my condolences and tell him that I did try to save her.”

“He knows you tried, Miss Claire,” Kuanho said in his deep voice leaning forward to pull the covering quilt over the body of his sister. “Everyone knows how you have cared for our people and helped us. We appreciate you very much.” He gave her a long, direct look right in her eyes. “I appreciate you.”

A strange feeling ran through Claire. She blinked as her breath caught in her throat. 

“Will… will you come with me to tell him?”

Kuanho nodded. “Of course I will.”

“I will gladly help you with any arrangements you need to make for her burial.”

“You are very kind.” Kuanho pushed himself to his feet and offered her his hand. “You go through such lengths to be of service. It is very noble.”

“Thank you.” Claire’s cheeks flushed. “Thank you very much.”

She accepted the blanket Kuanho held up to wrap around her shoulders. She clutched it in front of her chest and leaned forward to step out from the tipi when Kuanho pulled back the opening flap.

The air outside was crisp and clean, filling her lungs with new oxygen. She breathed in the scent of cooking meats and breads, lifting her chin and closing her eyes to the sun’s rays.

“It is a beautiful day,” she whispered. “Isn’t it?”

“It is, Miss Claire. Mu-unwin would have been very happy to see it.”

Claire was sure Mu-unwin would have been happy to just be alive that morning, even if it had been raining or snowing. 

They walked together to the chief’s tipi, not saying anything to the other people watching them walk by. She was sure it was obvious by the way they looked they did not have good news. In fact, one of the young women who watched them pass gasped as soon as she saw them, her hands flying to her mouth. She turned away, a sob escaping from her, her shoulders jumping as it came out.

Claire felt sorry for her. Mu-unwin had been a nice young woman, friends with everyone in the tribe, with no enemies that Claire was told about. 

Now she was leaving behind a large grief-stricken family and a baby who would not remember her. 

An idea formed in Claire’s mind. She had been desiring change, admiring Willa and Holt’s ability to move from the village to the town whenever they wanted to. That’s what she wanted to do, as well. And if she married a man in the tribe, she wouldn’t even go back to town, except maybe to keep working in the clinic, as helpers were always needed and qualified nurses were rarely found.

Chief Rippling Waters looked up when the two of them went in the tipi. Again, nothing was said and nothing needed to be said. He could tell what had happened and gestured for Kuanho to sit next to him.

“My heart is with you, son. Her spirit is free from pain. She has experienced it all her life. Now, she is at peace.”

Kuanho nodded. “It is not her spirit that concerns me now, papa,” he said. “It is her child. Her son. My sister, Toong, cannot handle another child. She is of weak countenance with the three she has. I would like to care for the child. I need your permission for this.”

The chief looked from him to Claire and back again. “You are unmarried. Are you certain you wish to take on this burden without a wife to help you?”

“I will help him,” Claire spoke up, hurriedly. She moved her eyes between the two men, both of whom looked at her. Kuanho looked surprised. The chief did not.

“You will act in the capacity of a mother to the child?” The chief asked.

Claire nodded. “Yes. I would be happy to. I… don’t have to live with Kuanho, I mean, unless he wanted me to, and…”

“I cannot live with a woman I am not married to,” Kuanho said firmly. 

Claire shut her mouth and looked down at the ground. She could feel the heat in her cheeks as she blushed furiously. “I understand,” she murmured, embarrassed.

“But I do not wish to deny you of your desire to care for the baby,” Kuanho continued, his voice gentler than before. She looked back up at him. “If you wish, I would like to… get to know you… more. This might help in the future. For Haunyhu… and for us.”

Claire licked her lips and chewed on the bottom one nervously. “I would like that,” she whispered, unable to look up at the chief. 

“This is with your permission, Chief Rippling Waters,” Kuanho said, bowing at the older man. The chief nodded at him.

“Yes, son, this is acceptable to me. We are an accepting tribe. You are welcome here, Miss Claire. Despite the loss of our dear Mu-unwin, you have saved others and we are appreciative. You are welcome to join our tribe.”

“Thank you,” Claire whispered. She forced herself to look up at Kuanho, the strong Indian who had offered her his affections. She would be just like Willa, a woman with two families. 

She would marry, have children and live a happy life with both her kind and the kind of her new family, the Comanches.

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OFFER: A BRAND NEW SERIES AND 2 FREEBIES FOR YOU!

Grab my new series, "Legends of the Lawless Frontier", and get 2 FREE novels as a gift! Have a look here!

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