Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 08:15:21 -0800 (PST)
From: Daniel Running-water <danielrunningwater@yahoo.com>
Subject: Captured Heart / Chapter Three / Incest and Interracial

Captured Heart

By

Daniel Running Water

Chapter Three

Previously in chapter two:

Flames reached high into the night sky, as the cabin that was home to Seth
and his father, burned. Seth's father sat tied to a chair in the cabin,
watching the flames engulf his cabin, fear gripping his heart as he
wondered if Seth would awaken in his room and get out in time to live.

Hawk sat quickly up and noticed the brilliance in the sky, fear grasping
his heart.

"Red Sun wake up, your father's cabin is on fire," Hawk said, standing
quickly and helping Seth to his feet.

They quickly dressed, mounted Hawk's horse, and rode off toward the burning
cabin. Seeing the cabin in flames, Seth jumped from the horse and ran
toward the house, disappearing inside as flames tore through the roof.

"Red Sun gah-ween," Hawk shouted and took off running for the cabin.

Just as Hawk, was about to rush into the cabin, an arm wrapped around his
waist, and pulled him backwards, casting him down to the ground.

Now chapter three:

"Gah-ween, I will go," Swift Eagle said and bravely ran into the flaming
cabin.

Hawk stood up and prayed to the Great Spirit in the sky, for his uncle and
Seth's safety as he fought hard against the flames and smoke to enter the
cabin. But each time that he tried, the smoke choked him, causing him to
back off, coughing profusely.

"Red Sun," Hawk screamed, cupping his hands around his mouth to be heard
over the sounds of the fire.

The smoke was thick and black that bellowed from the cabin's window and
door. Although it had been but a minute or two since Swift Eagle and Seth
had disappeared into the cabin, it felt like an eternity to Hawk. Hawk held
his breath and kept his eyes pinned to the door of the cabin. He jumped
back when part of the roof collapsed, sending a great ball of fire skyward.

"I have lost not only my Red Sun, but also my uncle again," he whispered
and fell to his knees, burying his face in his hand and crying.

The sounds of his mournful wailing could be heard over the sounds of the
fire. Hawk's heart was breaking as he mourned the loss of the only one that
he would ever love. When he looked over at the cabin, still clinging to the
last ounce of hope that was in his heart, he noticed the arrows that clung
to the logs of the structure.

"Father," Hawk said bitterly. "Has hatred caused you to take away the only
one that your son would love, as your father's did to Swift Eagle?" he
asked.

Crying hard, his pain unbearable, Hawk slowly rose to his feet. He slowly
watched the cabin burn and had about lost that last of ounce of hope when
Swift Eagle ran from the cabin, carrying Seth and followed by Seth's
father, Parker.

"Thank you Great Spirit for hearing Hawk's humble prayer," he said looking
upward and ran quickly to Seth, who now lay unconscious on the
ground. "Does he live, my uncle," Hawk asked with tears running down his
face.

"Ay-uh nephew, he has taken in much smoke but is in need of Grandmother
Earth's breath," Swift Eagle said. "Place your mouth to his and blow into
his lungs, the breath of life," Swift Eagle commanded.

Hawk lowered his mouth to Seth's and forced his own breath into Seth's
lungs. After several minutes of doing this, Seth began violently coughing.

"My father," Seth screamed out when fully conscious and trying to sit up,
but Hawk held him down.

"Your father is safe, Red Sun," Hawk whispered as he placed Seth's head in
his lap. "My uncle, Swift Eagle, saved you and your father," Hawk told him.

"Hawk...thanks be to God that you are alive also," Seth said, turning his
eyes up toward Hawk's. "I had noticed the arrows stuck to the cabin when I
ran in and I feared that someone would kill you also."

"Gah-ween my brave Red Sun, your warrior is alive and feared that he had
lost his Red Sun."

"Father...I must go to my father," he frantically said, and Hawk lifted
Seth to a sitting position so that he could see his father.

With eyes wide with astonishment, Seth's mouth dropped open, for not ten
feet from him, was his father in the arms of Swift Eagle, kissing.

"Father?" Seth questioned, not able to believe what he was seeing. "The
smoke and fire must have done something to my father's brain."

"Gah-ween Red Sun, your father and Swift Eagle were lovers such as we are,
many winters ago," Hawk told him, while Seth continued to watch them kiss.

Feeling the boy's eyes on them, Swift Eagle and Parker broke their kiss and
turned to see, two surprised set of eyes watching them. Stepping from Swift
Eagle's embrace, Parker knelt beside his son and brushed back the hair from
his face. He glanced into Seth's bright blue eyes and then up into the
handsome face of the warrior that was holding his son.

"Thank you Hawk for protecting my son," Parker said, his eyes holding tight
to those of Hawk.

"Red Sun is my life, therefore his life and protection come before my own,"
Hawk said proudly and looked down into the eyes of Seth. "I love you so
deeply, Red Sun, you are the very air that I breathe," he said and lowered
his mouth to Seth's, pressing his mouth hard to Seth's, exchanging Seth's
air for his.

"My son and your nephew lovers, who would have imagined it," Parker asked,
looking up into the loving eyes of Swift Eagle.

"Ay-uh...who would have imagined," Swift Eagle replied and knelt down
beside Parker, taking him into his strong arms. "Swift Eagle is happy
beyond words to have his Golden Fox back in his arms again."

The final collapsing of the cabin quickly brought the lovers to their
senses. Hawk and Swift Eagle, took their lovers and walked over to their
horses.

"Where are we to live father, for everything that you labored for is gone,"
Seth asked and turned quickly to look into Hawk's eyes, searching for an
answer to his next question when he remembered the arrows protruding from
what was left of the cabin. "Does your father hate me so much that he would
try to kill me and my father?"

Hawk stepped back, Seth's question had been like an arrow through his heart
and his eyes showed his pain, even though Hawk, himself had questioned his
father's hatred. Seth looked at Hawk as if he did not know him any longer,
anger and doubt clung to his gaze.

"Gah-ween Red Sun, my..." Seth interrupted him, cringing now at the name.

"I am Seth William Cooper, I am not Red Sun," Seth stated, bitterness
dripped from his words and pierced Hawk's heart. "I was foolish to think
that you, an Indian, could have ever loved me. Why you and your people are
no better than the whites that you profess to be savages."

Seth words cut like a knife, but Hawk looked beyond his lover's words and
at the love that they shared together.

"I love you Red Sun, you are my very life and my father is a man of peace,
he would never do this to you or your father," Hawk said bitterly, as he
climbed on his horse and rode quickly away.

"Lies, your words mean nothing to me, Hawk. I was so very foolish to think
that a white man and an Indian could ever make it work as lovers."

Seth turned his back to Hawk, no longer able to look into the warrior's
eyes. Seth was letting doubt, fear and yes, his emotions at the moment push
away the man that truly loved him, and he loved also.

"Good riddance," Seth shouted and turned on his heel to face his father,
seeing him in Swift Eagle's warm embrace. "How can you stand there in
that...that savage's arms, like his people have done nothing to us,
father?"

Parker was taken back; he had never seen such disrespect, such anger, and
yes, such hatred in his son's eyes as he did at this moment. Now holding
back his own anger to discipline him for his behavior, Parker came over and
stood before Seth, his hands resting on his shoulder.

"It was not Hawk or even Swift Eagle's brother, Black Bear that did this to
us, Seth. It was white men, which were not more than your age dressed as
Indians that came to destroy and hopefully kill us," Parker told
him. "Although I could not see their faces, which were hidden behind
bandanas, I could see the color of their skin and it was as white as ours."

"No Choctaw hides face when going to war, clearly this was a white eyes
that did this," Swift Eagle added.

Seth dropped to his knees when he realized how wrong he had been to Hawk
and more so, how cruel he had been with his words. Hawk had always loved
and protected him he remembered, but when he should have thanked him, Seth
turned on him with hate and accusing eyes. Still on his knees crying, his
face buried his hands, Seth knew that he had just turned away the only one
that he would ever love.

"I've lost him, father, I have truly lost my Hawk," he cried out, his pain
deep and now it was his turn to mourn.

"No my son, you have not lost him. When you both have had time to let your
emotions settle, love will lead you back to each other's arms." Parker
said, lifting Seth to his feet and embracing him warmly in his arms.

"Come Golden Fox, I shall take you both back to my lodge," Swift Eagle
said. "Once the night is no more, our boys will realize how wrong they had
been about each other."

Parker helped Seth to his feet and led him to Swift Eagle's horse. Swift
Eagle lifted the boy onto the saddle and walked along side Parker, their
hands clasped tightly together as they walked back to Swift Eagle's lodge.

"Once my nephew releases his anger, he will come to seek your love," Swift
Eagle said, looking up at Seth.

"Gah-ween, even I saw the destruction to his heart that my words caused
him," Seth sadly said. "I've lost him Swift Eagle, and also his love," he
added, his tears returning harder now than before. "He will never forgive
me, never," Seth whispered to himself.

***

Hawk rode through the forest quickly; his anger was too strong to ease. He
had always thought that his father was a man of peace, but now having seen
the arrows that lodged in the side of the cabin, he doubted him.

"I will know the truth father, if you let hatred cause you to do this to my
man. I will declare my love for Red Sun to you also," Hawk yelled. "I do
not care if you are shamed, Hawk will not give up his Red Sun, for he is my
destiny and his, is my captured heart," he added, shaking his fist in the
air.

***

Parker laid a sleeping Seth on a pallet of furs and blankets, while Swift
Eagle added more wood to the fire that was now glowing embers in the fire
space. Swift Eagle lowered his mouth down close to embers and blew; soon he
had a soft fire burning, lighting the teepee with its soft glow. The sounds
of the crackling of the fire, caused a shiver to run down Parker's spine.

"He's asleep, but he still sobs," Parker said, secure in Swift Eagle's
arms, which were comforting as they wrapped around him. "I thought that you
were dead, Swift Eagle," Parker said, looking up into his eyes, he ran his
fingers softly down his lover's cheek and their eyes looked deeply into
each other.

"Ay-uh, I too thought that you were dead, because my father told me that he
was taking you deep into the forest to kill you. Oh how my heart mourned
for you, Golden Fox. I begged him not to and I even promised that I would
never go near you if he would not kill you."

Swift Eagle pulled Parker closer to him and let out a soft sigh, happy to
have his only love in his arms once again.

"I sat for many hours alone in my father's lodge, waiting for his
return. And when he finally returned, I could see in his eyes that what he
had said he would do was done. He looked down at me and said, `it is
finished'."

"And I mourned you also," Parker replied. "Your father brought me close to
my cabin and threatened to kill my wife and son if I ever came close to his
people again. He looked at me with such hatred in his eyes when he told me
that you would be killed for your sin against your people."

"I too begged him to let you live, but I could see that my words fell on
deaf ears, sweetheart," Parker whispered and leaned up and brushed a soft
kiss to Swift Eagle's lips.

"Gah-ween, he did not even try to kill me, but then, the way that my heart
was feeling, I wished that he had. Instead, I was led to the center of the
village and stripped naked, my shame for all to see. He refused to speak
the shame that I brought to him and his people, but only said that it was a
shame that was unspeakable. When he broke my bow and many arrows in front
of my people, I could see the hatred that his heart felt for me in his
eyes."

"How awful that a father could turn on his son so harshly," Parker said,
with tears began forming in his eyes.

"Ah-uh, my father that day let his hatred tell his heart that I was dead to
him. He then called out my brother Black Bear, and told all the people that
he would now be next chief in line, which was something that my brother
never wanted."

"Gah-ween," Parker said as a soft gasp escaped him. "I thought that it was
the place of the oldest son to step into the chieftain spot, so wouldn't he
already be next in line to be chief?"

"Ay-uh, but Black Bear wanted to go west when our sister tribe of Choctaw
left, because he loved a young maid, Snow Dove, whose father was chief of
that tribe."

"That alone must have made Black Bear hate you also," Parker said as he
cuddled closer into Swift Eagle's embrace. "His anger must have been great,
to have to stay behind when the woman that he loved, left."

"Gah-ween, she did not leave, he married Snow Dove before her people
left. He paid a very high bride-price, thirty horses and many hides for her
to her father, for her hand in marriage. Gah-ween, he did not hate me, but
rode to me and took me deep into the forest, far from my people's village
and helped me build this shelter. He would come during the winter and make
sure that I had food for my belly and wood for my fire."

"So you saw your brother?" Parker questioned.

"Gah-ween, no, but only the fruits of his love for me that he brought when
he would come in the night," Swift Eagle said and then place a soft kiss on
Parker's brow. "He left the meat of the deer, bear and many vegetables from
my people's garden outside my shelter for me to find in the morning. I know
that it was him, but for him to openly show, one who is dead to our people
love, it would bring shame to him also."

"Does he know that you knew what we did?" Parker asked, turning his head up
to gaze into Swift Eagle's dark eyes.

"Ay-uh he knows, but he had never spoken of it with me, because I have not
seen my brother since that day he built this teepee with me."

Wishing to change the subject, Seth turned his eyes to Seth, and placed a
tender kiss to his mouth. Parker sighed against Swift Eagle's lips as they
felt that spark grow into warm fire.

"Look at how beautiful my boy is, no wonder your nephew fell in love with
him. Although his features and body are more feminine than masculine, his
heart holds much love for Hawk."

Parker gazed at Seth as he slept; he worried about how he would be when he
awoke in the morning. Turning to Swift Eagle, he could see the love that
had never left him, for him in his eyes. Parker reached up and pulled Swift
Eagle's mouth down to his and they kissed, and it was a kiss that spoke of
love never forgotten, and that warm fire grew greatly into a raging inferno
within them.

"Come my sweet Golden Fox, the moon and the stars beckon us with promises
of love," Swift Eagle said, standing and easing Parker up to his feet, his
arm enfolded Parker's waist as he led him outside.

"My heart is rejoicing and my body is aching for you Swift Eagle, and my
captive heart is in need of much love making," Parker whispered against
Swift Eagle's mouth and then he kissed him.

Stepping out into the moonlight, they strolled hand in hand until they
reached a small stream. Swift Eagle pulled Parker to him in love's sweet
embrace and lowered him down to a soft bed of grass with the only sound
around them being the soft rippling of the stream's water. Lying on Parker
and raised up on his hands, Swift Eagle gazed but a moment before lowering
his mouth down to Parker's. Their kiss was on fire, as was their hearts,
and Parker's hands roamed anxiously over his lover's body

"To long my heart has waited to make love to my husband," he cooed,
brushing feather kisses all over Parker's face.

"Ay-uh my sweet warrior, my body has yearned to long for your love making,"
he replied and then pulled Swift Eagle down to him in a torrent of heated
kisses. "For it was only in my dreams that we were together," he added.

Swift Eagle stood and gazing down at Parker, he pushed his loincloth down
past his throbbing manhood, kicking it aside once it lay at his feet and
bent to remove his moccasins. Kneeling down over Parker, he slowly
unbuttoned his shirt, spreading it open; he lowered his mouth down to
Parker's hard nipples and gently suckled them.

Parker arched his back when his senses became flooded with feelings that
had long been denied him. Fisting his hands in Swift Eagle's hair, he held
his lover tight to his chest as Swift Eagle nibbled and suckled softly on
his hardened nub.

"How long my heart has sought your touch...your mouth, my lover," Parker
cooed as Swift Eagle kissed his way across to the other nipple, taking it
more aggressively and causing him to moan throatily.

"Ay-uh, my body has ached for yours for to many winters to keep it warm,"
Swift Eagle said, sitting up and his hands began unfastening Parker's
jeans.

He slowly slid the jeans down and off, followed just as quickly by Parker's
undergarment.

"From now on, Golden Fox will only wear loincloth," Swift Eagle said,
tossing the jeans aside, along with the undergarment.

With the soft light of the moon illuminating Parker's nude body, Swift
Eagle moved his hands slowly over his lover's body, remembering each rise
and fall of his muscles.

Parker's inside were inflamed with a fire that roared through his veins,
leaving him crying out for his lover's touch and kisses, to sooth the
burning of his skin that the fire was causing. Parker looked into Swift
Eagle's eyes and he saw the same intense burning in them as he once again
lowered his mouth to possess a nipple.

"I love you, Swift Eagle," Parker purred, holding Swift Eagle's head as his
lover kissed his way down to Parker's manhood that awaited Swift Eagle's
magic touch.

Sucking in a quick breath of pleasure, Parker thrust his hips up when Swift
Eagle's mouth engulf his throbbing manhood.

"How I have missed your mouth on me," Parker moaned his head moving side to
side as feelings of ecstasy engulfed him. "I fear that I cannot hold off
long, because I have missed your magic and its remembrance is, even now,
causing my seed to rise upward for escape," he said, fighting with all of
his strength to hold back his climax.

"Ay-uh my love, I too have missed the sweet taste of your essence," Swift
Eagle said, lifting his head and gazing into Parker's lust filled
eyes. "Surrender your seed, do not deprive your husband of it sweet taste,"
he said and lowered his mouth back down of Parker's cock.

"Aiiiiieeeeee," Parker yelled a few minutes later, shattering the silence
of the night as his manhood erupted; spewing his seed into Swift Eagle's
waiting mouth.

Parker's hips were thrusting upwards, as his seed continued to shoot from
his throbbing manhood, relieving the ache that had long been in his
balls. With Parker's need spent, Swift Eagle relinquished Parker's flaccid
manhood, kissing his way back up to Parker's mouth, and taking it captive
in a long, heated kiss.

"Take me my husband and fill me, my body is burning inside for you," Parker
pleaded, needing to feel his lover's manhood deep inside him. "It burns so
hot with desire that only you can soothe," he added.

Swift Eagle spread Parker's legs with his knee, and while he kissed him,
Parker reached down and wrapped his hand firmly around the hard, fat shaft
of Swift Eagle, guiding it to his rosebud that was anxiously awaiting it.

Swift Eagle's hand cupped Parker's ass, lifting him upward as he thrust his
cock deep into Parker's velvet, hot sheath.

"Oh Swift Eagle, how I have missed that in me," Parker purred and
rhythmically, slowly, Swift Eagle began moving in and out of Parker.

"Ay-uh...ay-uh my love, to long we have been denied our love. But tonight
we renew our love and it will be stronger than before," Swift Eagle said,
lowering his mouth down to his man's.

Swift Eagle's mouth crush against Parker's mouth, he parted his lips with
his tongue and kissed him heatedly, their tongues danced together in
Parker's mouth. His raised himself up, bracing himself with his arms and
taking Parker's hands captive above his head. His desire rose up within
him, burning and completely consuming him as his need became urgent.

Parker also felt the fire within and he surrendered to the fire as their
bodies shook and moved in complete harmony together. Parker moaned in
sexual bliss, thrusting his hips upwards and meeting each thrust of Swift
Eagle's cock as it pounded deeper and harder into him.

"Give me your love...fill me once again with your seed, husband," Parker
howled, his hips rising furiously to meet each urgent thrust that his lover
gave him.

It was as if time had never forgotten the two lovers, they moved together
in complete harmony, taking them so high in their sexual ecstasy, that only
eagles could soar, this high.

"Ay-uh...ay-uh my love...take my seed," Swift Eagle howled and thrust once
more into Parker's hot, moist sheath, stopped and blasted his seed deep
into his lover. "Aiiiiieeeeee," Swift Eagle screamed, totally surrendering
his seed to his lover and his senses became lost in its sweet ecstasy.

Parker remembered that feeling and when Swift Eagle resumed his urgent
thrusts, Parker erupted again between their sweat covered bodies, his hips
moving higher and faster to get more of his lover's manhood, deeper inside
him.

With their bodies exhausted, their seeds spent, Swift Eagle pulled his cock
from Parker and together they laid there side by side, quivering and
moaning as the aftershocks of their lovemaking shook them.

"How I have sorely missed you my husband," Parker purred, a well satisfied
man, turning on his side to cuddle close to his mate.

"Ay-uh my man, I too am happy to be in your embrace again," Swift Eagle
whispered and softly took possession of Parker's mouth with his.

"At least you have found love again, father," Seth whispered as he walked
quietly away from the scene, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that
he had left unseen. "I shall never know the sweet embrace of Hawk again as
he makes love to me."

Seth walked over to where he saw a horse tethered and quietly untied
him. He led the horse far away from the teepee before mounting him and
riding away into the night.

***

"Did you do as I told you, James," Jared said sarcastically, looking at his
son, his eyes seething with hatred toward Black Bear and also the Coopers.

"Yes father...it's done," James sadly said.

"Tell me then, I need details James, damn it boy, when are you ever going
to learn," he shouted, slapping his son across his face, knocking to the
floor.

"They're dead alright?" he yelled. "I tied Mr. Cooper to a chair and gagged
him before setting the cabin on fire. I also watched as his son, Seth run
into the burning cabin and he never came out, ok pa, is that detailed
enough for you," he shouted back as he reached his pinnacle of tolerance
for his father's abuse .

"You couldn't even kill them, could you," he screamed at James.

"I'm not as cold blooded as you, nor would I want to be. I truly wish that
I had died that day along with mother," James snarled.

"How dare you take that tone with me boy, why I will beat you into
submission, you ungrateful brat," he shouted, walking toward James.

"I don't think so father, I have had enough of your beatings," he yelled
and shoved his father away before he ran out of the room and headed
upstairs to his bedroom.

Slamming his door shut and locking it, he fell onto his bed, crying over
the loss of Seth in the fire.

"Why Seth, why did you have to run into the burning cabin," he asked softly
to himself. "Why couldn't it be that damn injun, Hawk," he asked as he
buried his face deep into his pillow and cried.

"How dare lock your door on me, boy," Jared yelled, storming into James'
room after he kicked the door in. "What right do you have to push me as you
did and to disrespect me, your master," he shouted pulling his son from the
bed by his hair and shoving him down to the floor.

"I have as much right to mistreat you as you do to abuse me," James yelled
back, and then he repeated the words that he had heard his father speak
endless times in his young life. "Well father, to be respected, one has to
show respect also, and you don't respect me. And for that matter father,
you have never once showed love to me."

"Why you ungrateful brat, how dare you talk to me, your father, like
that. I have housed you and kept your worthless belly full all these
years," Jared said as he slowly removed his belt and gazed angrily at
James. "I will show you how a man tames a worthless animal such as you."
James saw something now in Jared's eyes that, until now, had never been
there, loathing and a need to end James' life.

"No father...oh God please don't hurt me again," James' begged and his eyes
pleaded for love instead of hatred and abuse. "I'm sorry father, I will be
all that you wish me to be," he promised, but also saw that his words did
not reach him.

James rose quickly and steadily backed away from Jared, until he was in a
corner of his room with fear showing his eyes.

"Remove your clothes, because if I have to remove them for you, it will be
much harder on you, boy," Jared demanded, slapping his belt softly across
his palm.

James knew in his heart that he would not see morning. He realized that he
welcomed his own death, for with death, he would be together with Seth
again. Slowly, James' hands moved to the buttons on his jeans and as he
unfastened them, his eyes held his father's gaze, bitterness and hatred was
all that he had in them. It was something that James had always felt from
his father toward him. Now it was his turn to return those same feelings
back to him.

Jared had never wanted James; he already had two daughters who had died
from consumption before James was even born. But instead of rejoicing when
James was born, he turned his heart to stone against the boy. His precious
wife, Beth, had died giving birth to James, and he blamed James for her
death, taking out the pain that he felt for her loss, on James, vowing one
day to end his suffering when he would end the boy's life.

"All of them, I expect all of your clothes removed," Jared screamed at
James, angry that he'd just removed his jeans.

Jared's anger was so great this evening that he wasn't tolerating any
disobedience, especially from his son. He literally ripped James' shirt
from his body and once he had the boy naked, he began whipping him with his
belt, shouting profanities at the boy as his hatred went
unbridled. Meanwhile, outside in the hall, James' mammy Bessie feared that
tonight would be the night that Jared would kill the boy.

"Please dear Lord, don't let Massa Jared kill his boy," she prayed,
flinching each time that James screamed out in pain.

"Oh God stop this please... father stop...please stop," James screamed out
each time he felt the belt tear into his skin. "I'm sorry father, I will
never show you disrespect again, I will do whatever you ask of me," James
promised, holding his arms up to protect his face, which did no good
against Jared's brutal assault.

"Damn it boy, I tried to make a man out you, but you were to much the sissy
to ever be a man," Jared screamed, bringing down his belt once again on the
blood covered skin of his boy.

Great cuts and welts, inches long, covered James's back, ass and legs, and
yet Jared continued to beat the boy. Finally unconscious, James' body fell
to the floor, blood covering his body from the top of his back down to the
back of the boy's knees, Jared's belt leaving great welts on the boy's
body.

"If you think that you will escape my wrath by fainting like some woman,
you have much to learn sissy boy," Jared said, looking down at the boy and
then he struck him two more times before he walked from the room angrier
than when he had entered it. "When I return, I will finish what I started,"
he screamed. "I will kill you," he added.

When she heard the front door close, Bessie hurried into James' room and
with her hand to her mouth, she gasped hard at the bloody sight.

"Oh Massa James," Bessie said softly and kneeling down beside James, she
lifted him gently onto her lap. "Massa Jared did real badly this time to
you," she cried, holding James snug in her arms as she gently rocked him
back and forth.

"Bessie, did Massa Jared kill his boy this time," Billy, Bessie's husband
and Jared's stable man, asked entering the boy's room, fearfully.

"No, but get me the ointment Billy, and bring me warm water and bandages,"
she ordered, still cradling James. "Remember to use the back stairs, we
don't want Massa Jared coming back and turning his wrath on us," she added
and Billy nodded his acknowledgement. "Yes'sa, he did real badly on my boy
this time," Bessie said as her tears rolled down her face.

James began to moan but Bessie continued to gently rock him and hold him
tight. He clung to her as he would have with his mother, if she were still
alive.

"Now you just rest in Mammy's arms, Massa James. Ole Billy is gone to get
the ointment and then Mammy will make all your troubles better," she said
with her comforting voice.

"Not even you can make what's wrong, right, Mammy," he sadly said, tears
flowing from his eyes as he continued to cling to her. "My father wishes
that I was never born and would have killed me if he didn't have more
pressing things to do," James added, now realizing how much his father
loathed him. "I wish that I had never been born," he added as his tears
fell.

"Now Massa James, ya'll don't be talking like that. Ya'll know that your
ole Mammy loves her baby boy," she said, comforting him with her kisses on
his head.

She also remembered how Jared vowed the day that James was born to make his
life a living hell when his Miss Beth had died giving life to James. Why
she even remembered how he whispered to himself that he would one end the
boy's life. But Bessie had heard his evil words, and she too vowed that she
would protect James as best she could.

From her own breast, Bessie had let James suckle, feeding him the same milk
that her own child took from her breast.

"Yo daddy loves ya child, but he just don't know how to show his love," she
lied.

"That man wouldn't know what love is because he's evil and only knows how
to hate," James said, just as Billy stepped into the room with the things
that Mammy had sent him for.

"Well now Massa James, a son should never disrespect his father, right or
wrong, he's still your father and he gave you life," she said. "The Lord's
commandment says to honor thy father and thy mother and He will reward you
with long life if'n you do," she said, but even she could not believe how
James could honor a man such as Massa Jared.

Billy rushed into the room with the needed supplies in his hands. He knelt
down beside Bessie and laid the things on the rug.

"How can a son honor a father who is the devil himself," James whispered,
looking up into her eyes, and flinching from the sting of the ointment as
she applied it to his raw back.

"Now you just lie still there and let yo' mammy ease your pain, honey
child'," she said.

Once she had finished with James, he refused to sit there wallowing in his
pain. He got up and walked to his wardrobe and pulled out fresh jeans and a
shirt. It caused him great pain to wear the clothes, but he refused to live
any longer with such a tyrant as his father. Slowly, painfully, he
descended down the servant's staircase and stealthily, yet painfully, moved
out the door and across the yard to the barn, fearing his father's return.

"Where is you going Massa James at this hour," Billy asked, coming into the
barn right behind and watching James as he placed a saddle on his horse.

"I don't care where I am going Billy, as long as my father is not there I
will be content," he said obstinately. "Now ya'll go back inside Billy,
that way ya'll won't be able to tell my pa which way that I went," he said
as he climbed up painfully onto the saddle.

"Yes'sa Massa James," Billy said and hurried out of the barn. "Ya'll be
careful now, hear me?"

Billy ignored Billy's warning and rode his horse from the barn, taking off
like a bat out of hell once he was clear of the barn. He had no idea as to
where he would go, so he headed back to the cabin that he and his friends,
John and Tyler, had burned.

His mind, as he galloped along, went back to the cabin. He thought of how
he and his cohorts had dressed as Indians, hoping to give the appearance
that they had killed Seth's father and burned the cabin. He hadn't counted
on Seth returning to the cabin, especially when he saw him sneak off with
Hawk. But return he did, and when he ran into the burning cabin, James'
heart went inside with him.

"If my Seth is dead, then so shall I be," he vowed as he kicked his feet
into the horse's side and took off even faster. "At least in heaven we can
be together Seth," he said and rode off fast into the night

***

Hawk's anger was still brewing, as he rode his horse back to his
village. He was determined to have answers as to why his father could so
cold-heartedly try to kill Seth and his father.

"You have always been a man of peace, father," Hawk reasoned to himself as
he remembered his father's words. "Son, we must find a way to live in peace
with the white eyes, because to war against them, means death to our
people," Black Bear had told him.

Hawk also could not get the look of hatred that was in Seth's eyes when he
looked at him earlier and his ears still burned with the fire of his
accusing words. He loved Seth deeply and to see such anger and hatred in
his eyes, it was more than Hawk could bear.

"I love you Red Sun, and I will make you love me again," he swore, urging
his horse on faster toward his village.

As Hawk grew closer to his village, he could hear a great wailing coming
from his people. He pulled up for a moment, because he knew that they only
wailed like that when a love one had died. Hawk kicked his feet into the
horse's side and hurried his pace toward the village as fear once again
tried to grip his young heart.

"Gah-ween," he said, pulling the reins up hard and coming to a stop as his
eyes took in the carnage that was all around him.

His heart rose in great anger and sorrow as he looked at his people's
suffering. He looked at the numerous men, women, and children that lay dead
on the ground as he slowly rode further into the village.

"Gah-ween, father," he said and quickly dismounted. "They never had a
chance," he thought as he hurried along, his eyes meeting the wondering
eyes of his people.

He ran toward his father's teepee and stopped abruptly when he saw Miss
Anna and his father's body lying side by side, just outside the teepee's
entrance. Their bodies covered with blood, as was the others that lay dead
close by.

"Aaaaaaaagggghhhhhh!" he wailed as his own pain became too hard to bear.

"Hawk, is that you," Miss Anna whispered, her eyes opened and looking up at
Hawk.

"Ay-uh," Hawk said back, lowering his ear to her mouth.

"Jared Thornton," she whispered before succumbing to unconsciousness.

"Is she dead?" Hawk's best friend, Black Wolf asked, kneeling down beside
Hawk and watching him as he held his hand in front of Anna's mouth.

"Gah-ween, she just fainted."

"Oh Hawk, what did we do to earn such wrath from the white eyes," Black
Wolf asked, himself covered with the blood of his mother.

"I do not know, Black Wolf, but I now know who did this and they shall pay
with their lives," he vowed, kneeling down beside his father and giving out
a loud wail.

"I heard one of the white eyes call the one leading them, Jared." Black
Wolf said, confirming what Anna had said.

"Ay-uh, I know of this man and his evil son also," Hawk said, sadly
smiling, because he now had a target for his vengeance.

"You are now chief, Hawk," Black Wolf said, reminding him that now, because
of his father's death, he was the new chief.

"Ay-uh and my first duty as chief will be to avenge my people's death," he
vowed, looking into the heavens as his own tears now flowed from his
eyes. "But first we much prepare and bury those we love," he said sadly and
Black Wolf could see the pain that his friend and chief was feeling, it
lingered in his eyes.

"Yellow Blossom, would you care for Miss Anna," Hawk asked, as he and Black
Wolf carried her into his father's teepee.

"Ay-uh my chief," she said and followed them inside.

***

As Seth approached the smoldering cabin, his eyes saw James near the ruins
of the cabin as he dismounted his horse. Pulling his horse to a stop, Seth
quickly got down and crept stealthily toward the boy.

"It was you that did this to my father and I," Seth accused as he stepped
from the shadows, his rifled pointed at James.

"Seth!" James said in shock, not believing that Seth was alive.

"On your knees and beg for God's forgiveness, because I am going to kill
you," Seth said, as he raised his rifle and aimed.

To be continued...

Again, my faithful readers, I would appreciate your comments. You can send
to me at: danielrunningwater@yahoo.com

Thank you,

Danny