Later
that evening...
The sky turned dark blue. It was soon gonna be night. The window was open and a very little breeze caused the very lacy curtains to move. There was no gaslight in the room, only a candle burning on the night stand.
Calamity Janeway threw her arm over her man and smiled like she was really a cat. It figured. All the time during the afternoon that the Warrior showed her how much she was in his blood, he called, "Oh, Kat! Oh, Kat! My little kitten!"
Yes, Katie Janeway purred. She was no more angry at her varmint of a husband who pokered to get her before the altar. That story was explained to her just after Angry Warrior showed her a third time how much she got in his blood and she admitted how much he got under skin and in her hair and in her blood too.
"Your Marcus was a weasel, Katie."
"Chakotay," she purred and Chakotay almost wanted to show her again how she got in his blood and how he had to let his blood boil all over again on account of Katie melting into him, "Marcus is old news. I got you under my skin. Always have."
"That be mighty generous of you, Katie, seeing as how you chased me all over Wyoming and Montana just to get me out of your hair."
"It's different now."
"I noticed that, but I shall not tell our grandchildren."
"Why did Marcus poker me away, Chakotay?"
Chakotay rose on his elbow and looked into the eyes of his Kat.
"He was already married, Katie."
It looked like Calamity considered her options for a few minutes and decided being pokered for was better than being someone's polygamous side-lady. She believed Chakotay. The last few times she saw Marcus Jeremiah Johnson, she noticed his shifting eyes, but thought he was maybe sick with passion. He was sick all right. She turned cold for a second and Chakotay wanted to kiss away all her troubles again. Katie looked at him and knew that his hair that shone shiny black and his eyes that looked dark and brooding and his dimples that looked like deep grooves when he laughed and his tattoo that reminded him always of his people and mostly, his persistence in following her all over Montana and Wyoming and once down to Mexico and back and telling people that Calamity Janeway was his woman and would always be in his blood, was the reason she didn't kill him and forgave him for pokering for her. He was worth chasing, the varmint.
She thought it be a mighty fine tale to tell their great-grandchildren that their great-grandmammy was pokered for by their great-grandpappy.
Yes, Sir. It sure beat telling them their grandpappy died like a dog in the war. A cowardly, lily-livered dog worse than the ugly coyotes of the plains. Chakotay Angry Warrior Fleetfoot was her man, and that he was gonna stay till they both expired from age. Only thing, she had no trouble living with Chakotay for the rest of her life, but she had trouble with "Fleetfoot". Janeway sounded much better on the generations to come. Just a few more 'I can't get you out of my blood' wild rompings in bed, and then she'd drop her next bombshell. She'd have Chakotay Angry Warrior Janeway eating out of her hand.
"I...see."
"He was a coward, Katie."
Katie, alias Calamity Janeway, who never lived far from her two precious Colts and later never too far from her microscope handed down three generations - understood. Marcus was a coward. Katie Janeway didn't mind anymore. Chakotay did it because she got in his blood and Marcus did it because she got out of his blood.
Even
later that evening...
Sitting on the bed near the open window with its very lacy curtains, and with Chakotay relieved of the pain and the rammed roddiness only temporarily - he figured they had a whole night to get mightily properly acquainted - they stared out into the dark night that had descended on Goose Creek.
"Hey, that's a shooting star," said Calamity.
"The sky spirits once told you can make a wish."
"No matter. I got mine."
Chakotay, he turned to look at her. He wanted to eat her again right away, but she held him off. It must be said that it was only halfheartedly, but Chakotay understood. They had time. Calamity can talk all she wanted to, and he'll listen like a good husband should.
"So, we have our horses, I have my woman and a ranch that once belonged to Marcus Jeremiah Johnson - "
Calamity looked at him with consternation, then a slow smile spread across her features. It was quiet for ten minutes after that.
"So we have our horses, we pack our saddle bags. There's a whole world out there to discover, Chakotay..." Calamity purred and purred and knew the moment Chakotay was with her. He nodded, too taken in by her beauty and her feistiness and her crack-shot-ness and her spunk and totally lost himself in the depths of her blue-grey eyes.
They looked out at the sky a long time. A long time.
"Say, Chakotay, who knows, in five hundred years, our descendants will say 'Look, there's a whole universe out there. Let's go discover it'."
Chakotay couldn't stop looking at his Calams. A slow smile crept across his features.
"See, Calamity Janeway? I told you we could make a fire without rubbing two sticks together."
*********
END.
The author is sad to note that one animal was killed during the writing of this tale.