There was no mysterious, hidden meaning and purpose to discover. It had simply happened.
The magic of the Dream Catcher had interwoven with the thoughts she’d had just before falling asleep of wishing for a special man in her life. She’d dwelled on what was missing from her life, rather than counting the blessings that she had. Her musings had created the dream of seeing Dakota in the field of wildflowers.
Back in time Dakota had been thinking similar thoughts, acknowledging his loneliness, yearning for a place to belong, a home that was once again his.
Like a silken thread from a tapestry, the Dream Catcher had woven through her dream and onto Dakota’s thoughts, pulling them together, uniting them.
But why?
Oh, darn it, Kathy thought as she dried herself with a fluffy towel. She couldn’t seem to move past believing that there was an important and definite reason for what had happened.
She stopped for a moment and stared at the bathroom door.
What if she’d imagined the whole thing? She’d return to her bedroom, the pretty little Dream Catcher would be hanging on the wall and there would be no Dakota, because he didn’t exist.
What was more terrifying? That Dakota was really there, or that he wasn’t, meaning she was slowly but surely losing her mind?
“Fine, Kathy,” she muttered, “ask yourself some more questions to boggle your brain.”
Dakota. If he was real, truly there, she was going to have to be very, very careful. For that one brief moment he’d had an unsettling effect on her. Man to woman. Like nothing she’d ever experienced before.
That was not going to happen again.
Dakota stood in Kathy’s bedroom, his eyes darting around. He felt claustrophobic in the small space and had to draw on inner strengths to keep from finding the way to the outdoors as quickly as possible. Even the windows were covered in some sort of hard, clear substance that he could see through, but which sealed the room further.
He moved to the end of the bed to stare at the giant Dream Catcher where it lay on the floor, a frown on his face.
The powers of a Dream Catcher were well known and respected by his people. He had, indeed, been carried far into the future to a place like none he’d seen before and was held captive there.
He dragged both hands down his face, then shook his head.
No, he didn’t want to believe that, because he did not want to be here. This was the white man’s world that offered him nothing but danger and a lack of acceptance. He would be feared and, therefore, hated.
Dakota laughed, the sound harsh and short, having a bitter ring to it.
It was no different for him in his own time. He faced danger at every turn from the soldiers who sought him. Indians of all tribes were feared and, thus, hated for the color of their skin and the way they chose to live their lives.
He had told Kathy Maxwell that he wanted to go back to where he belonged. Belonged? He belonged nowhere, as everything he had possessed had been taken away and was no longer his to have.
The white people were greedy and cruel. They’d claimed the Apache land for their own, sending the Indians to reservations like penned animals.
But he hadn’t gone. Not Dakota. For many, many moons now, he’d been alone, roaming the land, hiding whenever he saw soldiers riding near. He’d not spoken to another living being in a very long time.
Until Kathy.
She was the first white woman he’d seen up close, and he’d been startled by the blue of her eyes. It was as though the gods had given her pieces of sky to see with. Pretty eyes. Eyes like the sky, hair like the sun. Very pretty. She would give a man fine sons.
Kathy.
Her name was moving easier through his mind now; and did not seem quite so strange. When he first beheld her, looked at all of who she was, which was the custom of his people, he had felt the shaft of heat streak within his body to coil low and tight. He’d wanted to join with her, man and woman.
That thought must be ignored. The matter of importance was to find a way to have the Dream Catcher send him back to where he’d come from. It was lonely and empty there, but at least he knew it for what it was.
Dakota narrowed his eyes as he stared at the Dream Catcher, willing it to speak to his mind, give him the answers he needed.
But the Dream Catcher was silent.
His attention was drawn to the carpet, and he hunkered down, running one hand over it.
How did Kathy grow soft, brown grass in her house? What manner of soil had she packed hard for her floor to have produced this crop of vegetation?
He placed his hands on his thighs and pushed himself upward to stand staring at the Dream Catcher again.
“Dakota?”
He spun around at the sound of his name being spoken in a quiet voice.
He saw Kathy in the doorway, wearing a red shirt of some sort, and man-pants of dark blue. She’d painted her mouth with light red, and her short, sun-colored hair was damp, curling over her head and brushing her pale cheeks.
The heat of desire rocketed through him again. Was she casting a spell over him, causing him to lose control of his basic needs, the command of himself, that he took great pride in?
“Are you all right?” Kathy asked.
“Yes, I’m all right.”
“While I was dressing I thought perhaps I’d imagined—” she swept one arm through the air “—all of this, you, the huge Dream Catcher. But what has happened to us is true. You are here, Dakota, and we have no choice but to deal with that fact.”
“Mmm.”
Kathy sighed. “I’m exhausted. The day has hardly begun and I’m so tired. This has been a very draining experience. I…Oh, my gosh, I have to get to work. I’m going to be late opening the store.”
She started from the bedroom, then halted her step, turning to face him again.
“I can’t leave you alone all day,” she said. “There are too many things here that would be new to you and you might hurt yourself. Besides, we need to concentrate on finding a solution to this…this mess. I’ll call Sally and ask her to cover the store.”
She hurried into the living room and telephoned Sally, who cheerfully agreed to run The Herb Hogan.
“I’ll be.fine tomorrow,” Kathy said. “I don’t feel well because…because my allergies are bothering me.”
“I didn’t know you had allergy problems,” Sally said.
“I didn’t, either. Life is full of little surprises,” Kathy said. And six-feet-tall surprises, too.
“We have herbs for helping allergies, Kathy.”
