As the Eagle Flies Read online

  “Uh, yes, I should be embarrassed and you know what? I am. But anyway; may I set down beside you?”

  “Yes, sure. I’m not this way with everybody. But it seems like, I don’t know, I have been expecting you. I know I’ve seen you in my dreams.”

  I sat down, she reached over and took my hand. It fit naturally into mine. I leaned over as she raised her lips to mine. The baby burped. We both laughed. “I guess I had better get up, here take her, she needs changed, there is a changing table over there. I’m going to take a shower.” Faith got up, I took the baby. She dropped her gown and walked toward the bathroom. My eyes followed her all the way till she pulled the shower curtain.

  I didn’t have any trouble changing Alita; although I had never changed a baby before in my life. The shower turned off, Faith stepped out, grabbing a towel she smiled at me. I stood there with Alita in my arms, still staring. She got dressed in a peasant skirt and blouse, she didn’t bother putting on underwear.

  “Come on, let’s join the others. Felicia’s daughter should be home anytime. She took some stock to town; a few old cows. Her name is Alona, she’s sixteen. A regular pistol.” Faith grabbed my hand, I followed along.

  As we came in, Jake and Dad turned to look, they both stood up. I said, “Dad this is Faith and Alita, the baby’s name is Alita.” Then I introduced them to her. I was still holding the baby. Jake was looking back and forth between Faith and me. Dad had politely greeted Faith, then turned his attention back to Felicia.

  Faith said, “Is Alona back yet?”

  “No, not yet, I’m sorry I hadn’t told them about Alona; she is my daughter, she took some stock to market, we’re expecting her anytime. Jake, perhaps you could meet her at the barn and tell her we have company?”

  It was Jake’s turn to be stunned. He nodded numbly, and left. Faith come up and took my elbow, “Would you like to see the barn? We can go along.”

  “Sure, I think maybe Alita would like the fresh air.” Now how would I know if the baby would like fresh air?

  Faith said, as we closed the massive front door, “I think Felicia and your Father would like some time alone. Did you see how her eyes sparkled? I think she likes your Dad.”

  “Wow! I don’t understand what’s happening. But I like it.” I said. We heard Miguel’s old pickup coming down the lane. He stopped beside us. “I had some time, so I checked the right engine on your plane; I can find nothing wrong with it, Senor.”

  “Huh? Not even some oil on the engine from a leak? There was smoke coming out from under the cowl.”

  “No Senor, I even started it up; the oil pressure was normal. I could find nothing wrong. But yes, when you were landing I seen the smoke you speak of, but now it is fine.”

  Faith looked up at me, “You silly boy, of course there was nothing wrong with your plane. You were meant to come here. We were expecting you.”

  “You mean that just happened so we would land here?” I said. She nodded, while taking my hand and putting my arm around her waist.

  As we stood by the corral, we could hear a truck coming down the lane from the highway. It was a brand new diesel 5 ton stake truck. It came roaring in and slid to a stop. A young dark haired girl in jeans and western shirt jumped out. She quickly glanced at Faith and me, then turned her gaze to Jake. They stood there staring at each other.

  “Alona, this is Jake, the one you’re staring at. And this is his brother Clay, he’s mine. The father to them both is in the house with your mother. It’s like the Eagle told us; you remember, in our dreams?”

  Alona drew some circles in the dust with her boot toe. She was looking at Jake through lowered eyes. A small smile was growing bigger, showing her pearly white teeth. She said, in a voice just above a whisper, “Jake, would you like to see my Barrel Horse?”

  “Yeah, sure I would, do you Rodeo?”

  “Yes, of course. I know you do too. Did you win last night?” Jake had his composure back. I seen his chest puff out some, he said, “Sure did, I guess you could call it that anyway, I took second place money on a pretty bad bull. Anytime I stick for eight seconds; I call that winning.”

  “I call that winning too.” She said, as she motioned for Jake to follow her. She wouldn’t have had to do that, because he sure would of followed on his own. Course he was a couple of steps back so he could appreciate the view.

  Faith gave me a wink, as we watched them walk off toward the barn. “I think they like each other, don’t you?” Faith said, then added, “Would you like to see our swimming hole? It’s just a short way. Alita likes to crawl in the grass, there’s a lot of shade there.”

  “Sure, I reckon.” I said, as I adjusted Alita’s position in my right arm, as I still had my left arm around Faith. The swimming hole was a natural slow backwater off of the river. The grass grew right down to its edge.

  Faith sat down cross legged with her peasant skirt flared out around her. She said, “Just put her down beside me.” I did so. Alita immediately started to crawl toward a Dandelion plant. She picked it and started to put it in her mouth, I grabbed it and said, “Hey not in your mouth; let’s put it in your hair.” I put it above her ear, she gurgled at me. Then I picked her up and went to set beside Faith. Faith took her and put her in her lap. Alita leaned back between her breasts and started to doze off.

  It was pleasant sitting there in the shade and listening to the water and the birds and the bees. Faith cocked her head at me and said, “Well, what do you want to know about me?”

  “I reckon just about everything. You seem to know more about me, than I do you.” I said, as I took her hand in mine, and looked at the well manicured nails. Then I said, “I’ve never seen a ranch girl with nails like yours?”

  “There’s nothing to say that a ranch girl can’t keep herself up, just because she lives on a ranch, is there?”

  “No, of course not. But I get the impression that you haven’t always lived on a ranch, have you?”

  “No, I haven’t, you’re right. I grew up in the Napa Valley in California. I had a Basketball scholarship to Arizona State. That’s where I met Theodore, he was an Agriculture Major there. We got married right after graduation.”

  “Basketball? You don’t look like a basketball player.” I said.

  “What does a basketball player look like?” Faith said, pinching my hand a little bit.

  “Well you know, sort of butch, I guess?” She pinched me a little harder.

  “Do you think I look Butch?” She said.

  “No, not the least little bit, you’re beautiful. But on second thought, from what I seen in your room, you have muscles in all the right places.” She smiled.

  “Yes, and I bet you do too. Would you like to go swimming? Alita is asleep.”

  “Well, yeah, I guess. But we don’t have any suits; we’d have to go back to the house to get them.” I said.

  “We don’t need suits, nobody can see us.” Faith said as she laid Alita in the grass. Then she stood up and said, “Come on, stand up, I’ll help you with your clothes.” I did as instructed. Ever since we got here I was doing what I was told. I guess I was still in shock. She unbuttoned my shirt and pushed it back off of my shoulders. Her fingers made a trail down toward my belt buckle, before I knew it, I was stepping out of my jeans. She started to pull my shorts down, I stopped her.

  “Not till you’re, you know, take yours off.” I said. She smiled and dropped her skirt, like I said she didn’t put any underwear on. Then she slowly took her blouse off. I stood there transfixed. Then she reached out and pushed my shorts down a ways, then used her right foot to push them down all of the way. She had a big smile on her face.

  I said, “Hold on a second. Do you know what you’re doing? I’m sort of old fashioned. I’m not saying that I’ve never had sex before, but somehow, between you and me, I want something more. What about you?”

  “Of course silly, we’re going to get married. I told you I’ve had dreams about you. And I don’t mean in just a general way. I know
every bit of your body. For instance, I haven’t seen your backside, have I? No…what would you say if I told you that you have a heart shaped birthmark on your right hip? Now think about me, you may not think you have ever seen my body before, but think hard, close your eyes and tell me where I have a mole, you couldn’t of seen it before in the bedroom, because it’s hidden.”

  I closed my eyes. Her body came into my mind. On her inner thigh, up close to her groin was a mole, it couldn’t be seen, where it was at. She was right I had seen her in my dreams, in a very intimate way. I thought they were just sex dreams; I didn’t know they were about anybody in particular. I opened my eyes, she was standing close up to me. “See, I told you.” Then she took my hand and we got in the water…..

  We lay beside each other, drying in the soft breeze. Alita was still sleeping. Faith’s breasts were swelling with milk, one of them was dripping a little bit, I wiped it away. Faith sighed, “I suppose I had better wake Alita up, I feel like an old milk cow that needs milked.” Alita latched on with enthusiasm. I sort of envied her.

  “I guess we had better be getting back, I should help set the table. Ester does all of the cooking, they think I don’t know how.” I held Alita while Faith got dressed, then Faith took her and I started to get dressed. Faith watched my every move.

  We walked back hand-in-hand. Alita was gurgling and cooing and pointing to all of the animals. “Faith,” I said, “you know this is not going to happen again till we get married?”

  We stopped walking, Faith looked up at me and said, “Yes,” in a soft voice, “I know, it’s just that I couldn’t help myself. Even before Theodore died, I had dreams about you once in awhile. I didn’t know what they meant, then. I thought they were just sex dreams, like you know everybody has.”

  “I know, I have been having the same dreams and I thought that was just what they were, dreams. But now we know that they were more than that, color me old fashioned, but I believe that sex and marriage go hand-in-hand.” I said, as I leaned over and kissed her.

  We continued walking, with Alita on my right hip and Faith pressed tightly up against me on my left side. I can remember my mother carrying Jake on her hip; just like I had Alita. It may not be manly to carry a baby that way, but it sure was easier.

  When we got back to the house, Jake and Alona were just coming from the barn. They weren’t holding hands, but they might just of well had been. They were walking side by side, joking and laughing. Alona’s eyes sparkled, they couldn’t take their eyes off of each other.

  When they seen us approaching, they stopped in their tracks, and stared. I couldn’t blame them, you really couldn’t tell where Faith left off and I began; as close together as we were. Plus I guess with the baby thrown in the mix, we were quite a sight to them.

  Alona said, “Faith, Uh, what’s going on, you just met him?”

  “Not really, we’ve known each other for quite awhile; you remember, our dreams. Anyway, we’re getting married.” Faith said.

  “What about Teddy, he’s only been dead for not even a year; don’t you think that it’s a little fast?”

  Jake spoke up, “Uh, Alona, I know my brother; he usually doesn’t do things on the spur of the moment. If they are going to get married, knowing him, I’m sure it’s forever.”

  “Well, I guess so, it’s just that it took me by surprise.” She turned to look at Jake, their eyes met, she forgot all about us.

  As the four and half of us went into the hall setting room, we seen Dad and Felicia setting there, sipping Margarita’s. Felicia turned to us and said, “Would you like a drink, I can ring for one?”

  I said, “Just some Ice Tea for me and the Mrs. The kids there might like some soda pop.”

  Felicia, looked at Faith, “Ah, I thought so. Karl and I have just been discussing your up coming marriage. Would you like to make it a double wedding?”

  I thought my announcement would take them by surprise, but they had turned the tables on us. All four of us stood there dumbstruck. Alona said, when she found her voice, “you mean you two are getting married also?”

  “Yes, we weren’t in as big of a hurry as Clay and Faith, but since they are getting married, we might as well do the same. No use to have two big weddings; when one will do.” Dad said. Then he took Felicia’s hand and kissed it. Her eyes were just as happy as my new wife’s were.

  Felicia looked at Alona and Jake, “I’m sorry, but you two will just have to wait, you’re way to young to get married.”

  “Huh, Uh,” Jake stammered, “we hadn’t even thought about getting married, have we Alona?”

  “Well…no, not yet. But I do like you Jake. But marriage at this time, no, I guess not.” She took Jake’s hand, “We can wait, can’t we Jake?”

  “Yes, of course, we both are too young, you sixteen and me only seventeen.”

  Dad said, “Damn right you will wait. Even though your hormones are in high gear right now. Oh I know Clay and Faith aren’t a very good example. But hey, they’re a lot older than the two of you. They have waited their turn. The same goes for Felicia and me, we’re almost three times your age, so I guess we have the right.”

  Felicia said, “That’s right Karl, I can remember my Grandfather saying, ‘just because I have a little snow on the roof, that’s no sign the furnace has gone out’.”

  Alona said, “Really Mom, that’s gauche, I’ve never heard you talk that way, for heavens sake act your age.” Felicia, stuck her tongue out at her daughter, Faith giggled and took Alita from me and handed her to Felicia, “Here Felicia, hold your Granddaughter; Clay and I have to set the table for dinner.” Then she took my hand and hustled me out of the room.

  As soon as we got out of the room, she plastered herself against me and kissed me. She pulled away and looked into my eyes. I guess I broke the spell when I said, “Uh, Honey, you just left two wet spots on my shirt, don’t you have a nursing bra to absorb some of that?”

  “Oh you, of course I do.” Then she kicked me lightly in the shins. Of course it didn’t hurt, she was still barefoot. I pulled her back against me and kissed her, for a long time…I didn’t care if my whole shirt got wet.

  “We broke and she said, “I don’t know why I’m making so much milk, I have enough milk for three babies. I guess I should donate some; is there some place that can be done?”

  “I don’t know, maybe you could ask your doctor, he might know?” I said.

  “Yeah, I guess I will call her tomorrow. I’ll have to use the breast pump again tonight, I think I have a lot of bottles in the refrigerator. No use to waste it, I guess.”

  How did I go from a care free bachelor to a husband and father, in a matter of hours? It wasn’t as if I didn’t like it, because I did. But it sure was mighty fast.

  “The dishes are in the cupboard, over there. You set the table, I’m going to call my Doctor, she said I could call her anytime.” Then she went to the phone in the hall. Set the table? I had never sat a table before in my entire life. “Hey, how many places do I set?” I called after her.

  “Eight,” she called back, “Miguel and Ester eats with us.” I went to the cupboard, all of the time trying to remember how my Mother used to set the table. I had just finished when Faith came back. “She said we could come in tonight, she would meet us in her office. She said there was a shot she could give me; to cut the flow down a little bit. Will you drive me in?”

  “Of course, blow in my ear and I’ll follow you anywhere.” I said.

  “Oh, I’ll do more than that, after we’re married.” Then I got another kiss…

  After supper, Faith fed Alita, then left her in the care of Alona and Grandma. We went out to the five car garage. In one of the spots was a restored 50 Ford Pickup. It was cherry apple green in color. Faith said, “This was Teddy’s pride and joy, it looks stock, doesn’t it? But it’s not, there’s a fairly new Mustang V-6 under the hood; he said it was supercharged. I haven’t driven it, in fact I’ve never even rode in it. He had just finished it the w
eek before he was killed in that plane crash. Do you want to take it?”

  “Yes, of course. I would love to, I’ve always been a little bit of car nut myself.” I said, as I slid behind the wheel. Of course that was after I helped Faith in the passenger side. It did have seat belts and after market airbags.

  The transmission was a dragsters dream, it was one of the sidebar shifts, it wasn’t just a three speed though, it was a five speed. It took me a few seconds to get the hang of it. The motor just sat there and growled. Oh yeah, there was one other thing that wasn’t stock; a built in child restraint seat. I guess he was thinking ahead.

  I felt a little funny, it was like stepping into another man’s shoes. I guess I shouldn’t worry, Faith sure wasn’t. We couldn’t set side by side; cause of the child seat in the middle. I guess that was okay, we were buckled in anyway.

  I idled out of the garage and down the lane. When I hit the county road, which was paved. I goosed it, it fish tailed from side to side before I could get off of it. “Whew, this is one hot rod,” I said, Faith said,

  “Isn’t it though. Oh, you were talking about the truck, yes it is too.” She said with a smile. I looked at her, “Patience, my love, patience.” I said with a leer.

  We pulled up in front of the clinic. I went around and opened the door for Faith. I reached in to help her out, she grabbed me and pulled me down and kissed me. Of course I put up a fight, NOT!

  She was leaking again, that cut our kiss short. “Damn, that sure puts a damper on my ardor,” she said.

  “Yeah, mine too. But I guess that’s good, at least till we get married. I sure hope that shot the Doc is going to give you works.” I said.

  The Doctor was waiting for us. She was a young Navajo girl. Turned out this was her first practice. She looked at me, “Sioux?” She said.

  “Uh, no, Northern Cheyenne. Close, but no cigar.” I said.

  “I hope you don’t smoke!” She said.

  “Uh, that was a joke, of course I don’t smoke.”

  “Good. Because second hand smoke is bad for babies, well really for anyone.” She said.