by Norah Hess
D'lise slid Kane a look from beneath lowered lids, curious to hear his response, to see his reaction to the question.
"Have I told you to go?" His lips twisted in amusement, knowing that Raven was jealous of the woman he had brought home.
"No," Raven answered sullenly, "but…" She looked at D'lise meaningfully.
"But nothin'." Kane took her arm and led her toward the door. "Come help me put the animals in the barn."
D'lise pretended not to see the sly, triumphant smile the Indian gave her just before the door closed behind her. She gazed into the flames. Did Kane intend for that woman to live with them in this small room? Was she to sleep on the floor then? That she wouldn't mind, but it would be embarrassing to hear what would go on in the bed at night.
I'll get used to it, she thought. Better Raven takes care of his needs than me.
D'lise busied herself looking over the room. The first thing to catch her attention was the chinks between the walls. Some spaces were more than a foot long. She shook her head. Not only would snow seep through in the winter, snakes could slither between the cracks in the summer.
She looked down at the hard-packed earthen floor. Scattered about were cured furs of bear and panther, disarrayed by careless feet. Once smoothed out, they would probably cover the entire floor of the cabin, she imagined. That at least was on the positive side. They wouldn't freeze their feet in the winter.
D'lise lifted her gaze to the one small window in the place, its closed shutters blocking out the daylight. Her eyes accustomed to the dimness now, she looked at the scanty furnishings. Beneath the window was a table with a rough-hewn plank top, a split-log bench on either side of it. In a corner next to the fireplace was a bed made from poles, its frame laced with strips of rawhide. A cotton mattress filled with straw lay on the bed, half propped up against the wall, a pillow carelessly tossed beside it. A few feet away from her was another rocker.
Did Kane own any bed linens? she wondered, her eyes drifting to the leather-bound trunk at the foot of the rudely constructed bed. Her gaze swung back to the window where miscellaneous items had been hung. There was a shelf right next to it, a small mirror above, and four wooden pegs below. For towels and such, she assumed. Her eyes moved on to a long-handled skillet, an iron spider, and two pots hanging on pegs affixed to the wall. She switched her attention back to the other side of the window where another shelf held a stack of pewter plates and cups and some flatware.
D'lise looked back at the fireplace, where an oven had been built inside the hearth. Well, Kane Devlin, she thought wryly, your place doesn't look like much, but it seems to have everything that's required for housekeeping. At least what D'lise was used to. Tomorrow, when she was feeling better, she'd straighten the place up. Maybe it would look a little better.
Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that the only substance that had passed her lips today was the cup of buttermilk Sarah Patton had given her. On top of that discomfort, the sores on her back were beginning to sting again. She hoped that when Kane returned, he'd have her bag of meager clothing with him. She longed to get into something clean.
If he ever gets here, she thought, her eyes clouded with irritation. He and Raven had been gone close to half an hour. Her lips curled contemptuously, imagining what was keeping the pair in the barn.
That thought started a strange fluttering in her chest, almost a pain. But before she could dwell on the sensation or determine its cause, Scrag was scratching on the door.
"Do you have to go out right now?" she complained, not wanting to disturb her back. The cat scratched more forcefully, looking back at her entreatingly. "Oh, all right," she sighed, and started to ease out of the chair.
She found she didn't need to rise after all. The latch was suddenly lifted and Kane walked inside, Raven close behind him. Giving her a wide smile, Kane held up two dressed-out rabbits. "Big Beaver said I should give you squirrel, but I think rabbit will do as well. How do you feel about havin' rabbit stew for supper?"
"My stomach says it will be wonderful." D'lise returned him a smile that made Raven scowl. "But I didn't hear any gunshots. Don't tell me you ran them down," she teased.
"Devlin no need gun," Raven said coldly, tossing D'lise's bag of clothes at her feet. "He split their heads with his knife." She looked at Kane with admiration.
D'lise thought that was quite an accomplishment, too, realizing also that she had been wrong thinking what she had thought about Kane and Raven. Kane had been out hunting, not lying in the barn with the Indian woman.
Then Raven bent to lay another log on the fire and she saw pieces of hay in her braids and on her back. She had been right all along. It was confirmed when Kane remarked dismissively, "The little critters were only a few feet from the barn. I couldn't have missed them."
He handed the carcasses to Raven. "Get the stew goin' and put in a lot of herbs. You know where I keep them." Concern etched his face when he looked down at D'lise's pale face. "Are you hurtin'? Is your back botherin' you?"
"Some. I wish I could have a bath and get into some clean clothes. I feel sticky and grimy."
"I can take care of that right away." Kane strode over to the bed and dragged a wooden tub from beneath it. "It'll just take a few minutes to heat some water," he said, carrying the big vessel over to the fire and placing it in front of the hearth. "I'll go fetch some water from the spring," he said, grabbing a couple of pails.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Raven looked up from the meat she was hacking into small pieces. Angrily tossing the chunks of rabbit into a pot, she said disparagingly, "An Indian woman would do such things for herself. She would never expect her brave to prepare her bath water."
"Look, Raven," D'lise flared indignantly, "let's get a few things straight right now. Number one, I am not an Indian woman, number two, it's none of your business what the trapper does for me, and number three, he is not my brave."
"It is good that you know Devlin is not yours." Raven lifted the lid off a cured gourd and took some dried leaves from it. "He has been mine for a long time, and I will allow no woman to take him away from me." She gave a flip of her wrist and the hunting knife she had been using buried its point in the tabletop. "Do you understand?"
"I understand that you are trying to scare me," D'lise retorted contemptuously, "but you're failing to do so. Right now you see a weak woman before you, but that will change. When I get my strength back, you'd better walk softly around me. Also, know this. Even though Devlin is not my man, if I should ask him to send you away, he will do so."
She quickly looked away from the irate woman. She wasn't as confident as she sounded. She seriously doubted that Kane would ask his lover to leave, but maybe she could bluff the hateful woman into believing it.
No more was said when Kane entered the cabin with the pails of water. He filled the big black cast-iron kettle sitting on the hearth and placed it on a bed of red, glowing coals. Then, picking up the other pail, he emptied it into the tub.
"It'll take about ten minutes for the water to heat." He sat down in the other rocker and made himself comfortable. "After you've bathed, I'll put some salve on your back. I have some balm of Gilead. It's real healing stuff."
D'lise nodded, and he asked, "Well, what do you think of my little nest?"
Nest is right, D'lise thought—boar's nest. Of course she couldn't say that to him, nor could she bring herself to praise the dark little hovel. The words would stick in her throat. After a moment she said, "I've been looking at the fur pelts on the floor. They must be beautiful when they're all smoothed out. And of course when the shutters are opened, the room will be nice and bright."
It didn't pass Kane's notice that D'lise's words were hardly complimentary. In fact, she hadn't mentioned the cabin at all. He looked around the room, and suddenly saw it through her eyes. It looked like hell, he thought, eyeing the furs kicked carelessly about, the ashes that had spilled onto the hearth. And dammit, he never had gotten around to putting glass pane
s in the window. He'd have to see to that right away. With winter coming on, it would be as dark as a dungeon in here. It wasn't right to expect a woman to live in the dark all the time. Raven and the other squaws who shared the cabin with him occasionally hadn't minded because they were used to living in wigwams, but a man couldn't ask a white woman to live like a mole.
He smiled at D'lise and said, "Do whatever you want to do to the place, D'lise. I won't fuss you. This is your home. When you're feelin' better, we'll ride over to the post and you can buy whatever you need to to fix things up. Being a rough old bachelor, I didn't fancy up the place much, I guess."
"Thank you, Kane." D'lise smiled gently at the big bearded man, knowing that she had hurt his feelings. "It really doesn't need much done to it; just a little straightening up and it will be nice and cozy."
She breathed a little sigh of relief when Kane's face brightened at her lie, and she added shyly, "And you're not old."
"Compared to you, I am." Kane gazed into the fire, thinking of all the things he'd seen, the things he'd done, things that would curl this innocent's toes were she to know about them.
He choked back a sigh, regretting for the first time all the wasted years spent with whores and squaws. Because of those years of debauchery, he wasn't fit to even think about taking this fresh, lovely girl to bed, let alone do it.
Anyway, he reminded himself, even if he had always led a life free of depravity, he'd stay clear of becoming involved with D'lise in that way. He knew better than to get tangled up with a beautiful woman. Raven interrupted Kane's gloomy thoughts when she stamped over to the fireplace, picked up the steaming kettle, and emptied half its contents into the pot she had slammed the rabbit into. "Hey, don't use that water," Kane ordered. "It's for D'lise's bath. Why didn't you use the water from the pail sittin' on the table?"
"Hot water make stew cook faster," Raven grunted as she flounced back to the table.
Kane turned around in the rocker and gave her a black look. "Bring that pail over here and replace what you took."
Raven's back stiffened, and it was several seconds before she sullenly obeyed the command. When she straightened from refilling the kettle, Kane said, frowning in annoyance, "And take that look off your face. I won't put up with it, you know that."
So, Miss Raven, D'lise smiled secretly to herself as the woman meekly turned away, you're not as settled in Kane's life as you would have me believe. In fact, you're scared to death I might oust you in his affections.
The big black kettle steamed again, and Kane lifted it from the fire and emptied its hot contents into the tub of water. He walked to the shelf next to the window and returned with a bar of yellow, dried-up soap. He dropped it into the tub, then lifted the lid of the large trunk and took out a towel of fustian and a wash cloth of tanned hide.
He grinned down at D'lise. "You can hop in whenever you're ready. Raven can call me when you've finished."
"Thank you, Kane." D'lise stood up, relieved. She had wondered if he intended to remain in the cabin while she bathed.
D'lise didn't linger at her bath. She was too conscious of Raven's black eyes on her body, the scorn for her thinness that must lie in them. She had carefully kept her back from the woman, so at least she couldn't see the condition it was in and think that Kane had beaten her.
When D'lise had toweled herself dry and pulled on a fresh petticoat, she said to Raven, "You can call Kane in now." Her lips twisted wryly at the heated look Raven shot her way as she stalked to the door, jerked it open, and called out to Kane.
"Everything is comin' along fine," Kane said with satisfaction a short time later as he finished dabbing salve on the two remaining open cuts. "Another couple days and you'll be completely healed."
He gently pulled the petticoat straps back to D'lise's shoulders, then lifted her heavy black curls to hang down her back. D'lise thought for a moment that his hands had trembled, then asked herself why they should. It must all have been in her imagination.
By the time Kane emptied the bath water into the yard, shoved the tub back under the bed, and D'lise had donned a clean dress, Raven announced that the stew was on the table.
D'lise didn't know if the stew was as good as she thought it was or if she was so hungry that wood chips would have served as well. At any rate, she felt that she was certainly eating her share of the meal. She caught Kane grinning once and, unabashed, she grinned back and said, "I was starving."
"Hey, it's all right." His grin widened. "I like to see you eat. It means you're healthy. Tomorrow I'll go huntin' and bag a deer." His eyes twinkled mischievously. "I'll have Raven roast a whole haunch just for you. You can eat until you pop."
D'lise laughed, the throaty peal filling the small room. Kane's body grew still. Her laugh was a beautiful, sensuous sound. He wanted to pull her into his arms and devour the red lips that curved so sweetly. And scare her to death, a small voice whispered.
To take his mind off what he longed to do, Kane asked D'lise, "What about a cup of coffee?"
"I'd love it." D'lise couldn't get used to the idea that she could have that invigorating brew anytime she wanted it.
"I'm afraid we haven't any milk," Kane said, bringing the coffee pot to the table.
"Of course we have milk." D'lise laughed. "Are you forgetting our long-legged cow?"
"Of course!" Kane remembered. "That's why that heifer is bawlin' so. I thought she was homesick for Sarah."
"Ha!" D'lise snorted. "The poor thing is probably in pain from a full udder. Do you know how to milk her?"
"Good heavens, no." Kane looked insulted. He looked at the silent Raven. "Do you know how?"
She shook her head. "Indians don't own cows." There was a slight sneer in her voice.
"Well." D'lise stood up. "It looks like I'm elected. I've milked many a cow in my day."
"But are you up to it?" Kane rose also, a concerned frown on his face.
"I can give it a try. I feel fine after that good stew." D'lise smiled at Raven in an attempt to bridge the hostility between them, to bring about some kind of harmony, if only to halt the cutting exchanges between them.
When Raven ignored her praise, only staring down into her cup of coffee, D'lise shrugged her shoulders. So be it. They would continue to snap and snarl at each other.
Night was slipping over the timbered hills as D'lise and Kane walked toward the small barn that was, surprisingly, sturdier than the cabin. The grass was wet with dew, and a heavy fog hung in the still, cool air. D'lise was saying, "What a beautiful evening," when Kane stopped suddenly, his hand catching her arm as he stared to the right of them. She followed his gaze and gasped.
Only a few yards away, a bear was lumbering across the clearing, heading for the forest. "Will he attack us?" D'lise choked out in breathless alarm.
"Shhh," Kane whispered. "Stand real still. Bears have poor eyesight, and chances are he won't see us. Luckily we're upwind of him and he won't smell us. They can catch a scent half a mile away."
With breath held, they watched the bear move heavily and clumsily along, his big head swaying back and forth. When he finally disappeared into the woods, D'lise let out her breath and asked anxiously, "Do they come around often?"
"Not too often. Snowy attracts them, and now, of course, your mare and the cow will. But don't worry, they'd never get through the heavy doors I put on the barn and cabin. And they could never claw their way through the logs."
He nodded toward the big expanse of timberland the bear had entered. "There's where they live mostly—along with wolves and panthers. Don't ever go in there alone."
D'lise shuddered. "I won't go near it."
They were at the barn then, and Kane was unlocking a padlock attached to a heavy chain that held the split-log door closed. D'lise gave an awed gasp when he pointed to the deep scratches on the door. Most were old ones, but along the frame fresh pieces of bark had been torn away from the logs. She didn't need Kane to tell her that the bear they had just seen was the culprit.
The barn was dry and warm, smelling faintly of old hay and manure. By the dim, gray light coming through a small window high on a wall, D'lise could make out the three animals, each in its own space. Not surprisingly, all three were in a nervous state, thanks to the bear. She took the wooden pail from Kane and entered the cow's stall. She spent a few minutes soothing the animal, scratching the backs of her rough ears and running her fingers gently down the wide space between the brown eyes.
"I shall call you Spider because of your long legs," she said softly. Two stalls down, Kane, calming the horses, grinned. What a name to give to a cow, he thought.
When Spider had settled down somewhat, D'lise knelt beside her and started coaxing milk from her plump teats into the pail. As the cow's udder was relieved of its load, her pain was relieved as well. D'lise smiled when Spider began to contentedly chew her cud.
When the stallion and mare had calmed down, Kane walked over to Spider's stall. A crack of laughter exploded from his throat when he saw D'lise squirting milk into Scrag's open mouth. "That cat beats all," he said when D'lise stood up, a good gallon of milk in the pail.
D'lise looked at her pet and smiled gently. "He's been doing that since he was a kitten. Rufus would never have allowed me to put some in a pan for him. As far as he knew, none of us ever drank his precious milk. It was taken to the post and sold."
Kane remarked with a teasing grin, "I bet you managed to get some though."
"The boys and I usually had a dipperful every day," D'lise answered, leading the way out of the barn.
Raven had lit a candle in their absence, and after Kane found a clean dish towel, D'lise used it to strain the milk into a large glazed crock. After placing a plate over it, she looked up at Kane with a smile. "In the morning I'll skim off most of the cream that will have risen overnight, and in a few days I'll have enough to churn some butter."
Kane almost smacked his lips. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had that golden goodness spread on a slice of fresh, warm bread. He looked at D'lise to say so, then noticed the weary droop to her shoulders. He musn't keep her up any longer.