Nakoa's Woman Read Online Free PDF Page A

to the ground. Maria tried to turn the bay back, but horse and rider fought each other in mounting terror, the bay wheeling and thrashing and refusing to be turned back. Sobbing, Maria beat him without mercy, choking upon clouds of rising dust and the agony tightening in her throat.
    “Maria!” Ana screamed.
    Around and around the bay turned as if he were pursuing some mad game of chasing his shadow.
    “Maria!” Ana screamed once more and when Maria looked toward her she saw the Snakes brandishing the locks of her golden hair.
    There was a woman’s scream. Maria heard it clearly. It had no beginning and no end, as if it had always existed in its own horror. The earth shatters the living and gives the living an end, cover, burial, but this thing, this scream, could never end, could never be shattered into even an echo. Its sound had torn her into pieces, and fragments of herself clung stubbornly to the bay that was once more racing for the hills.
    Behind the thundering hoofs of the bay, flames from the wagon train and prairie grass licked the sky. The bloody sunset generated its own force; the prairie wind was quickened and its low sad sound reached her ears, its breath touching her face and stretching out across that broad land in the split second before the bay plunged into the shadow of the forest.
    In the early darkness, Maria saw branches of the dense trees sweep down at her. A blue jay screeched excitedly. Suddenly a limb hit her upon the side of her head, and she was swept from the horse. She lay stunned upon the ground, and when she opened her eyes, she remained inert, watching the patterns that the branches above her made against the sky.
    The bay stood quietly by her and remained even when there was the sound of the Snakes’ horses moving toward them. With effort, Maria got to her feet and held onto the horse for support. Blood rushed from her head wound and even began to cover a part of her bodice. Everything became blurred and indistinct. It seemed as if two Snakes had found her, and one swiftly dismounted and seized her. She struggled to see his face and met his eyes. They had no expression. They bore no hatred for her, no lust, not even an expression of mild anger. Yet he was going to kill her, as swiftly and silently as possible. In a great roaring he was strangling her, and she put up a tremendous struggle to breathe.
    Suddenly the iron hands loosened their hold, and air burst into her starved lungs. The Snake looked at her in amazement, his hands clutching desperately at her shoulders. He made a low cry, almost indistinguishable, then slid to the ground. An arrow had been driven deep into his back. Maria looked up at the other Snake; amazement was upon his face too, and he slid swiftly from his horse. He drew his knife, his eyes searching the darkness all around them. There wasn’t a sound. The bay then moved slightly, and the silence returned.
    With her heart hammering in terror, Maria began to inch toward the bay. She had just touched the horse when there was a sudden flashing of movement, and almost before she could see it, another Indian, a giant of a man, had come and had broken the Snake’s neck. Just as swiftly, he bent and cut and seized the Snake’s scalp. As she watched him in horror, he kicked over the corpse at her feet and just as neatly scalped it. The ripping of the flesh, the smell of the blood brought Ana to her mind, and she screamed. The Indian stifled her cry and threw her to the ground, covering her body with his own so quickly that she did not even have a chance to take a fresh breath. He would suffocate her. He would strangle her as surely as the other had almost done.
    It was now completely dark. There was no light beneath the thick trees at all. Maria heard the approach of other horses. The rest of the Snakes were calling out to their companions. The Indian’s grip upon her tightened. His weight crushed her breasts and tortured her throbbing head. The Snakes rode all around