Kentucky Bride

by Norah Hess

  She laid a hand on his arm pleadingly. "I'm so sorry and ashamed, Kane. Can you ever forgive me?"

  Kane gazed down into D'lise's upturned face and thought, God, she is so beautiful. But then there came to taunt him another beautiful face, one that had ruined, and finally killed his uncle. He remembered, too, how his lovely wife came alive in Samuel Majors's company, and that she hadn't answered his question about the storekeeper.

  Suddenly he didn't want to know. It would be unbearable if he asked her again and she admitted that she loved another man.

  With a groan, almost of defeat, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into the wall of his chest. "Of course I forgive you," he whispered in her hair. "That bitch Raven was out to cause trouble, and she succeeded."

  D'lise hugged her arms around Kane's waist. "We're wise to her now and she'll never fool us again."

  Kane tilted her chin and fastened his mouth on hers, as if starving for her. D'lise returned the kiss with equal pressure, straining her body into his. He cupped her small rear end and bucked his immediate arousal against her. She gave a little moan and mimicked his action.

  His breath coming in pants, Kane swung an arm under her knees and lifted her in his arms to carry her back to the cabin. Inside, he stood her on her feet and they began to feverishly undress each other.

  Clothes lay scattered all over the floor when again Kane picked D'lise up and laid her on the bright quilt. Her bare arms reached for him as he climbed in beside her, settling himself immediately between the legs she opened for him. He entered her fiercely, as a starving man would rush to a table loaded with food. D'lise smiled in sweet memory as, after that one hard drive, he reached a scorching release.

  She cradled his body with her own while he regained his breath, controlled the shuddering of his body. Then, whispering her name, he grasped her hips, and holding them steady, he began to pump inside her, slow and steady, never breaking the rhythm. She moved with him, urging him on, her fingers mindlessly threading through the hair at his nape, aware only of a deep need, so strong it obliterated everything around her.

  Though each wanted, needed, that release from the ache gripping their bodies, they nevertheless fought it, wanting to stretch time, to anticipate the moment they would tumble together into that chasm where they would experience the little death.

  Finally, their sweaty, working bodies would be denied no longer. With a husky sound, almost a shout, Kane gathered D'lise's slender body close to the well of his hips, and as he lengthened his strokes, the bed creaked and groaned as he drove harder and faster inside her.

  It took but seconds for their seeds of hot passion to spring forth and mingle as they tumbled over and over into that deep well that caught them and sapped their strength, leaving them weak as babies.

  His breathing finally returning to normal, Kane leaned up on his elbows, taking his weight from D'lise. She gazed up at him from slumberous eyes. "It's so good to be with you again… like this, I mean."

  "I missed you too." Kane ran little kisses down her throat, her shoulder. "I suppose I should get back to fellin' trees," he asked more than stated.

  D'lise felt his long length expanding, filling her. She smiled up at him, a teasing in her blue eyes. "There's something inside me that says you'd rather stay here in bed. Something right about here." She bucked her narrow hips, making Kane catch his breath as his manhood again sprang to full arousal.

  "You're gonna break my back, woman, you know that?" Kane growled, sliding his hands under her hips and lifting them several inches off the bed. A soft sigh feathered through D'lise's lips as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her legs around his hips, as his body rose and fell slowly over her, each long stroke more exquisite than the last.

  D'lise's back ached, and there were blisters on her palms. All day, since early in the morning, she had tramped behind the little jackass Kane had got from Buck Thomas. The single-footed plow he pulled turned over dark, rich soil that would produce a lush garden.

  She pulled the little animal in when old Tom called her name. "I'm goin' sang-huntin'," he said. "I know where there's a patch full of four-prongers. I get a lot of money from them there doctors back east for four-prongers."

  D'lise knew that Tom's sang was ginseng, and that it was true that learned doctors set a lot of store in its curative powers. She remembered how Big Beaver had given a root of it to Kane with orders that she chew on the root, that it would help her recover from her bout of fever.

  She sat down on a tree stump and wiped her sweating face with a piece of rag she took from her pocket.

  "You hadn't oughta plant your garden before you build your fence," Tom said. "A high one, too, one the deers can't hop over and eat every blasted thing that pops up out of the ground."

  Two days later, as D'lise dropped seeds into the long furrows of her garden patch, she mused on what Tom had said about the deer eating her vegetables. She had mentioned to Kane the old man's advice, and he had sighed and said, "When in the hell am I goin' to find time to split rails for a fence?" She had suggested they hire Jason Thomas to do the job, and he had agreed readily.

  Buck's son had jumped at the chance to earn some money, and she could hear the ring of his ax down by their new homesite. She'd go check on how he was doing after a while, make sure Amy Davis wasn't hanging around him.

  Tom had gone to the post and talked to Buck, telling him what had been going on between his son and the hot little Davis girl. According to Tom, Buck had flown into a rage, threatening to geld his son before he'd see him caught by that piece of white trash.

  D'lise grinned. She doubted that Buck would be that drastic in handling his son, but she wouldn't put it past him to give young Jason a licking he wouldn't forget in a long time. He loved the boy enough to do that if he thought it would stop him from ruining his life.

  Her mind swung back to her old friend and neighbor. He never stopped amazing her, his insight into people, his knowledge of most anything one cared to talk about—like his advising her to plant her garden according to the twelve signs of the zodiac. She had been stunned by the illiterate man's knowledge of the signs. He knew every one, its symbol, its body part, its planet and element.

  When she asked him how he knew all this, he had answered, "My pappy learned me, and his pappy learned him."

  D'lise remembered with a smile that the old man had even warned Kane last week not to cut down any more trees until the moon was full. "The wood will dry better," he'd said before thumping his horse with a heel and riding away.

  Kane had laughed, but he waited the two days for the moon to become full before felling any more trees. "He'll only be over here jawin' at me if I keep on cuttin'." He'd grinned, then put an arm around her waist, adding, "It'll give us time to go fishin'."

  She had spent a couple of hours on the Ohio's bank with him, holding on to the long hickory stick, its line drifting in the current of the river. Then Kane's friend, Big Beaver, came paddling down the river, pulling ashore when he saw them. She had soon seen that her company wasn't necessary, as the two men started talking trapping and hunting.

  She had left them to go searching for spring greens, commonly called "garden sass," consisting of dock, poke, dandelion, sheep sorrel, and lamb's quarter. How she and Kane had relished their first mess of fresh greens after the long winter! They were like a tonic, bringing fresh, strong blood to their veins.

  D'lise glanced down the hill to watch Kane. Today he was laying a solid rock foundation for the cabin. For two days they had scoured the area, collecting rocks, lugging them to the spot they had chosen for the new cabin. They needed a lot of them, for the new place would have three rooms—a family room, bedroom, and kitchen, the kitchen being off to one side, giving the cabin an L-shape.

  She hugged her arms. She couldn't wait for the walls to start going up. "Next week," Kane had said as they ate breakfast. He already had the doorsills hewed, ready to be placed on the foundation, and all the logs were notched. She had helped
there, wielding a sharp little hatchet, slicing off the smaller limbs on the tree trunks. She and Kane had worked so hard, two nights had passed without their making love.

  Watching Kane move about, shaping the twelve-inch wall, there came the familiar catch to her breath, the increased beat of her heart. She smiled serenely. If she were to join him, give him a sleepy look from beneath her lashes, his gray eyes would turn stormy, and before she knew it he'd have her on her back, her skirt and petticoat up around her waist, his fingers ripping at the laces of his buckskins.

  Why not? she thought, rising from the stump and stretching like a cat. So what if they spent the afternoon making love in the woods?

  Chapter Seventeen

  It had taken Kane two weeks to split two-inch puncheons for the cabin's floor, and another week to split the shingles for the roof. D'lise stood at his shoulder now, surveying all the hard work he had done.

  A smile of anticipation curved her lips. Today the cabin would start going up, and she would do her share of the work by helping Kane to lift the logs, to match up their notches. When the walls became too high for either of them to reach, their neighbors would come to help them. The wives would come, too, each bringing a dish of something they had baked or roasted.

  A cabin-building, old Tom had told her, was part work, part play-time. It was turned into a kind of party with lots to eat and plenty to drink once all the work was done. The men never drank while working, he'd said. A man had to be alert as he lifted the logs and heaved them into place. If he didn't have his wits about him, he could drop a log and hurt a man, maybe kill him if the log fell on his head.

  "Well," Kane said, smiling down at D'lise, "are you ready to get started?" She nodded and they walked over to the stack of logs waiting for them. As they positioned log after log, the sun rose in the sky and grew hot. Sweat ran in rivulets down their faces and soaked the backs of their clothes. When they stopped work for the noon meal, the cabin walls stood about three feet high.

  They ate thick sandwiches of cold beef, drank a cup of coffee, then went back to work. The sun was close to the treeline when the structure became too high for D'lise to reach any farther. She rubbed her aching arms. "I guess that's as far as we can go alone."

  Kane nodded and took his shirt off a tree branch. "While you make supper, I'll ride over to the Patton farm and tell David that we're ready for some help. He'll pass the word to our other neighbors."

  "Oh, I hope they'll come tomorrow," D'lise exclaimed. "I can't wait for the cabin to be finished."

  Kane grinned at her, half amused, half indulgent. There were times when she made him feel like a doting father, ready to give her anything she wanted. "I'll tell David you'll go into a decline if he and the men aren't over here tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn."

  Her trilling laughter followed him as he made for the opposite hill where their neighbor lived.

  Back at the one-room cabin where D'lise had known every emotion—pain, bafflement, love, understanding, trust—she paused a moment to look at her garden before starting their supper. Long rows of tiny green plants were pushing up through the soil. Jason had finished the fence just in time. In this heavy loam, the plants would be a foot high in no time, very tempting to the many deer in the forest.

  Oh, Auntie, she thought, I hope you are aware of how happy I am!

  "I must say, D'lise," Sarah Patton began from her seat on a stump, "Kane sure is buildin' you a fine place. All of Piney Ridge is talkin' about it. Nobody would have thought a year ago that wild wolf would ever marry and settle down, let alone build a cabin practically by himself. Most trappers are lazy when it comes to doin' anything but running their traplines in the winter. In the summer they hang around the tavern, fraternizin' with the whores."

  "I think any man would change his ways for D'lise," Ellen Travis said, smiling fondly at D'lise. The other women laughed in a nice way when her face turned red at Ellen's compliment. She was thankful when her friend exclaimed, "Look, the walls are up!" taking the attention away from her.

  All that was left to do now was put on the roof, hang the two doors, chink in between the logs, and set the glass in the windows. Mr. Davis, the soon-to-become grandfather, had already built the fireplaces and chimneys.

  The last spike was driven into the peak of the cabin, and the men scrambled to the ground. Brown jugs of ale had been chilling in the icy water of the spring in back of the cabin, and they all made a beeline to the small cave from which the clear water flowed. Corks popped and toasts were made to Kane and D'lise's new home. Buck Thomas went to his wagon and returned with a fiddle and a banjo. Waving everyone forward, he led the way into the Devlins' roofless parlor, and handing his son the banjo, he tucked the fiddle under his chin. When a rollicking tune rang out, Jacob Bellows grabbed Claudie around the waist, and much hopping and jumping began. Samuel bowed to Ellen and they joined the dancing. Other husbands and wives took to the floor, and soon everyone was dancing, including the children—everyone but Kane, D'lise, and old Tom.

  Kane looked at D'lise, a smiling query in his eyes. She nodded, and he swung her out onto the floor, lifting her so high her skirts swirled past her knees. Tom watched them a minute, then, picking up an empty jug, joined the musicians and began blowing in it to make a tune.

  The party-making lasted until the sun was a red ball in the west. The women gathered up their empty pots, pans, and dishes, and herded their youngsters into wagons, while those old enough to ride climbed onto their mounts. D'lise and Kane stood in the doorless doorway waving and calling their thanks as horses and conveyances took off in different directions, the men singing loudly, the women shouting for them to shut their stupid traps.

  "You know, Kane, I think the single girls like me, even if I did steal the most handsome bachelor in the hills away from them." D'lise smiled up at Kane as they climbed the few yards to the old cabin.

  Kane tightened his arm around her waist and gave her a mischievous grin. "You think so, huh? What if I was tell you that they're only pretendin', that each and every one of them is plannin' your demise."

  D'lise jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. "They are not!"

  D'lise had just finished straightening up the cabin and had stepped outside to inspect her rosebush for new growth when old Tom came riding up. "Good morning, Tom," she called, walking up to the mount. "Are you going to the village or have you come to visit?"

  Tom shook his head. "Neither. I thought you might like to go with me green-huntin'. They'd taste awful good with beans and ham for supper." He pointed to a small pail hanging from the saddle. "Maybe we'll find somethin' for dessert too."

  "I'd like that just fine. I'll go saddle Beauty."

  Twenty minutes later, Tom pulled in his mount and pointed to a long, narrow meadow. "Nature's garden," he said. "Here we'll find dandelion, lamb's quarter, cress, wild onions, pepper grass, and wild lettuce. If we're lucky, we might even find some wild strawberries."

  They dismounted and started walking through the wild garden patch. Tom handed D'lise a knife and ordered, "Get busy."

  "But what am I to put the greens in?" D'lise asked.

  "Hell, I never thought of that." Tom chewed thoughtfully on the wad of tobacco that formed a bulge in his cheek. Then he looked at D'lise hopefully. "Iffen you don't mind, we could use your petticoat."

  "My petticoat?" D'lise gave him a wide-eyed stare.

  "Sure, why not. Iffen it gets dirty, you can wash it, can't you?"

  "Well, yes," D'lise answered, if a little reluctantly.

  "Well, get it off, girl, and let's get busy. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't get some rain before nightfall."

  Within half an hour D'lise's petticoat held enough greens for both Devlin's and Spears's suppers and they were working their way home. D'lise could see Kane on the roof of the new building, almost finished with the shingling. She turned her head to say to Tom, "Let's stop by the cabin and see how Kane is coming along," then snapped her mouth shut with an angry frown.

>   She had recognized Raven approaching the building, calling out something to Kane. Kane lifted a hand to her, then a minute later he stood up and walked along the roof to where a ladder leaned against the building and descended it to the ground. Two red spots appeared on D'lise's cheeks when he followed Raven inside the cabin.

  What was that woman doing, hanging around Kane again? And how dare he take the woman into their new home? She wished she could stay until Raven left, see how long she remained in the cabin with Kane, but Tom would think it strange if she stood there like a knot on a log, staring at the cabin.

  She glanced at the old man from the corner of her eye. Had he seen the Indian woman enter the building with Kane? She saw that he hadn't. He had left her side and was digging under a tree farther on, probably looking for the "sang" he talked about so much. She hurried after him, calling out, "Let's get a move on, Tom. I have to start supper."

  Raven, following Kane through the cabin, pretending an interest in the things he pointed out to her, glanced through a window and saw D'lise wheel and walk away. She was ready to leave now. She had accomplished what she had come here for—to raise suspicions in the white woman's mind.

  All the while that D'lise went about preparing supper, washing the greens, peeling potatoes, and setting the table, she kept seeing in her mind Kane and Raven entering the cabin. Her cabin. Were they still there? What were they doing?

  She tried to ignore the hateful little voice that suggested slyly, Maybe that's not the only time she's been to see him. There have been plenty of times when Kane has been alone, times when she could come to the cabin.

  "You just hush up." The sharply uttered words made Scrag and the hound look at her curiously. "Kane gave me his word he'd have nothing more to do with that woman. When he comes home he'll tell me why she was there, how it was all innocent."