Besides, staying in the miserable rooms they lived in had become downright unbearable.
Archie hissed and caught her arm. She froze as a squat Indian woman stepped out of the cabin, rounded it, and disappeared between the house and pond.
Myra and Archie had left wounded Bert back in town. He wasn’t up to being much help anyway. But without him, they couldn’t use burning arrows again. Neither she nor Archie were skilled enough, though Myra intended to start practicing soon. She couldn’t do it now, though. Someone might notice and start asking questions.
“What’s an Indian doing in there?” Archie whispered. They saw the woman emerge from the far side of the cabin, stride across an open stretch, then vanish into the thick woods to the east.
They’d seen the forest cut back from the front door and had slipped up on the side across from the pond. Archie had a gun, but Myra wasn’t going to be party to any killing. While she wanted this land, she’d seen a man hung once and had no wish to die in such an ugly way. She’d get this homestead without turning to murder. But she wasn’t opposed to scaring someone.
“You’re sure this will work?” Archie held up the writhing burlap bag Myra had handed him.
“I’m sure it’ll scare her. Added to the worries of the Indian attack, it oughta move her along.”
“There’s no window on this side of the cabin. How do we—?”
“Hush!”
Archie obeyed. She could see it riled him that he had, but still he kept his mouth shut.
The door swung open, and a young woman showed herself. Kylie.
Myra hadn’t gotten a good look at her before; she’d been on the porch the first day they’d come, mostly standing behind Masterson. Kylie walked down the steps and stood facing the pond as if enjoying the view.
What a waste of time, staring at water.
“Give me that bag.” Myra hated touching it, yet she didn’t trust her brother to do things right.
He seemed eager to hand it over, and who could blame him? Myra untied the rope that fastened the burlap, clutching the bag tight to keep it closed.
After a long old time spent staring, Kylie walked around the cabin.
“Wait here.” Myra rushed for the cabin, quiet as she could manage, darted up the front porch steps, doing her best not to make them creak, opened the front door and, with a wild fling, shook the bag so it opened and the contents emptied onto the floor.
Myra had lived close to the swamps in Alabama and learned many things, including a skill that’d come in handy today. Keeping hold of the bag, she quickly closed the door and ran back into the woods.
She snapped at Archie, “Let’s get out of here!”
She was no killer, but what she’d just done could end up with Kylie scared out of her wits, and that was the goal.
Sprinting to their horses, Myra was in the saddle and racing for town without even looking back for Archie. But he was a dependable coward, and she knew he’d keep up with her.
Kylie thought about the little talk she’d had with Shannon and Bailey this morning. It was all part of her claiming her new life. She’d told them to stop dressing and acting like men and start planning to round up a husband. It was the bossiest thing she’d ever done. They’d taken it well.
Either that or she’d left them speechless.
Once they’d left, she’d helped Sunrise finish the roof of the new chicken coop. Now Sunrise had gone into the forest to gather firewood while Kylie piled up the chunks of kindling left from their building by the side of the cabin. That wood needed to dry before it would burn well. As Kylie stacked it, she thought of all the company she’d had lately. Why, it was almost a social whirl! Then bossing her sisters, and now finishing a building.
It had been a fine day.
Kylie headed for the cabin, pleased with her accomplishments. Walking up the steps, she swung the door open and hurried across to the stewpot, hoping to get it warmed up as soon as possible so they could eat. The morning’s work had left her famished.
She pulled the pot forward, then turned to the woodbox and reached for a piece of kindling to stoke the fire.
A rattlesnake lashed out at her from the woodpile.
A shriek tore from her throat and she leapt back. She tripped over her own feet and fell, screeching.
The snake went straight for her, its hissing head quickly pivoting as it got ready to strike. On her backside, she spun to face it and clawed away, afraid to turn her back. The snake lunged forward, and she felt the impact on her boot.
Though she felt no sharp fangs cutting her skin, the snake’s six-foot-long body coiled around her skirts. She screamed again, scrabbling along, desperate to escape, but she brought the snake with her. It wrapped tight around her ankles.
She slammed hard against the cupboard. Pulling herself to her feet, her hand landed on a knife. Her butcher knife. She grabbed it, turned, and aimed for the snake’s head and slashed it hard, severing its head.
Thankfully her boots were made of thick leather and had protected her from venom, as well as the knife.
She ripped the snake from around her legs. Even headless the snake hung on. As she struggled with it, her eye caught another, larger snake slither out from the cold fireplace. It hissed at her, gathering itself to strike.
The door flew open. Aaron stepped in, gun drawn. His eyes followed her gaze. He spun, saw the snake, and blasted it.
“Rattlesnakes!” Kylie screamed. “Two of ’em. Careful, there might be more.” She whirled around, looking in every corner. “Get me out of here!”
Aaron rushed to her, relieved her of the butcher knife by tossing it on the table. Then he ripped the dead snake loose from her body.
Just as the coils finally let go of her, Sunrise came running in. She entered with an arrow notched in her bow, surveying the bleeding snakes and then Kylie.
Breathless, Kylie sprinted for the door, but Aaron caught her and hoisted her into his arms. “I won’t put you down until we’re sure there aren’t any others.”
Kylie threw her arms around his neck and nodded.
“This is a good cabin. Tight, well built.” Sunrise’s calm voice penetrated Kylie’s panic just a bit. “These snakes did not crawl in.”
“Someone put them here.” Aaron stated it as an absolute truth. “Just like the flaming arrows.”
Hearing their voices soothed Kylie, and although she was by no means calm, she was able to think again. “Someone wants me dead.”
“No,” Aaron said. “These aren’t poisonous snakes.”
“They are. They’re rattlers. I’ve seen rattlesnakes before.”
“They look like rattlers, but they’re gopher snakes. Whoever did this wasn’t trying to kill you.”
“They’re not . . . deadly?” Kylie tried to get herself under control. All she could think of was to run and never stop running.
“No, Kylie. They’re big and ugly and startling, but not dangerous. They’re just here to scare you out of your wits.”
“Scare me out of my cabin, you mean. And off my land.” Kylie lifted her eyes to meet Aaron’s.
“That’s right,” he said with an angry tone. “Whether he ordered it or not, this is because of Coulter.” Aaron’s arms tightened around her, and she felt like he was the only solid thing in her whole world.
“As soon as you’re calm, I’m going to go see him and demand some answers, and this time I’m not leaving until I get some.”
“No!” Kylie said. “You can’t leave me.”
Kylie wouldn’t let go. Her breathing sped up, but her lungs seemed unable to grab ahold of air. Pinwheels of light exploded in her head. The world darkened at the same time she saw bright explosions. Her vision was like looking down a long tunnel.
“I can’t stay. I can’t . . .” Her voice rose to a near scream.
A sudden splash of cold water against her face startled her out of the panic. She blinked and saw Sunrise holding a tin cup, now empty.
“Better now?” Sunrise asked. Though the w
ater seemed cruel, Kylie quit gasping and panting. It had worked.
But it didn’t change a thing. “I can’t stay here!”
Aaron took her by the hand. “Then come with me to Coulter’s.”
“You go,” Sunrise said. “I will stay and make sure there are no other snakes in the cabin. Then I will hunt the real rattlesnakes, the ones who put these beasts in here.”
Kylie didn’t like that plan at all. “No, you shouldn’t stay in here, Sunrise. Who knows what these folks will do next? Forgive me—I never should have asked you to come out here when I knew I was in danger.”
“Don’t worry yourself. I know how to handle all kinds of snakes, rattlers, or men. Do you need more water thrown in your face?” The strong response from Sunrise made Kylie feel safer, just as Aaron’s arms did.
Kylie shook her head. “I feel a little better now, thank you.”
Sunrise rested a hand on Kylie’s shoulder, and some of the woman’s strength seemed to help steady Kylie’s wobbly spine. Sunrise said quietly, “I stepped too far away, my girl. I am sorry I was slow to come.”
Kylie reached up and clasped Sunrise’s strong hand. It was all right. No one could watch over her every minute of the day and night.
She would let Aaron take her away. She would leave Sunrise to clean up the mess and chase after evidence of who had done this latest attack. What she wouldn’t do is ever sleep in this cabin again. Not for a single night.
Whoever wanted her gone had won.
Aaron carried Kylie out of the house and straight to where his horse stood, unhitched. He lifted her into the saddle. No snakes up there.
“Watch her while I saddle her horse, Sunrise.” Aaron wasn’t sure Kylie would let him go, but she managed it. It felt wrong to take even a step away from her. He wanted to hang on. Every time he shut his eyes, he heard her screams.
When Kylie’s mustang was ready, he helped her onto her horse and mounted up himself. As they were about to head out, Sunrise said, “Send Tucker if you can find him. He might be at Coulter’s.” Then she melted silently into the woods.
Though he’d put Kylie on her own horse, Aaron kept wanting to pluck her off and carry her in his lap, hold on to her tight, soothe her. She startled at every dancing limb and each time a shadow flicked ahead of them on the forest trail. She rode so close to him, her horse bumped his several times.
He didn’t want her so scared and defeated when they faced Coulter. Aaron was positive she’d just tell Gage she was leaving and the land was his. That didn’t give Aaron much power to strike a bargain.
The trail widened into a mountain meadow of lush grass, swaying in the breeze. He spotted a tumble of boulders piled near the base of a bluff along the meadow’s edge. There was a tranquility here. It was so open there wasn’t much to frighten anyone.
“Let’s sit a spell,” he said.
Kylie looked at him, her eyes wide. “Have you never heard the words snake in the grass?” She glanced down at the thick grass, as if the ground were crawling with rattlers.
“It’ll be all right. We’ll sit on those rocks over there.”
“Don’t snakes sun themselves on rocks?”
Aaron decided to stop talking. He took her reins and guided both horses toward the rocks. Dismounting, he made quick work of switching to a halter on both horses and staking them out to graze. He went to help Kylie off her horse, but she had her hands gripped on the pommel so hard her knuckles were white. With some resistance she finally let go.
He carried her to a big flat rock off a ways from the others. “Look at this boulder, Kylie. No place for a snake to hide.” He toted her like a crate of vegetables, in a complete circle around the slab of stone, and he had to give her credit for obeying him.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “Can we sit here awhile?”
Kylie shrugged, and he took that as a yes and set her on the boulder. It was hip-high to him, waist-high to her. Her feet dangled so they didn’t reach the grass should a snake be hiding there.
Together they listened to the shushing of the wind and the quiet cropping of the grazing horses. An eagle shrieked overhead, drawing his eyes upward. The noble bird with its shining white head played on the drafts of air, rising and swooping until, a few moments later, it soared out of sight.
Aaron turned to the pretty woman beside him. She’d been watching the eagle, too. The tension that had gripped her since she’d jumped in his arms back at the cabin had finally eased some. Her color was better, her shoulders less rigid.
“What do you want to do, Kylie?”
Turning away from the vivid blue sky, she looked at Aaron. Her hair, usually coiled neatly at the nape of her neck, had come loose during her desperate fight with the snake. He slid his fingers into its lustrous strands shot through with a hundred shades of blond and light brown, and his eyes moved to her lips. He knew what he wanted to do, what he had to do. There was no longer much choice.
“I can’t go back there,” she said.
The dead certainty of her words only made it more definite. He was done fighting what had been obvious since the first moment he saw her, when she’d fallen off that roof and he caught her.
He put his arm around her shoulders, and she leaned against him, resting her head on his chest. Aaron didn’t trust himself to speak. He had to claim Kylie Wilde, make her his in every way possible. He knew this might not be the life she wanted, but maybe it was time to do what was best for her. What was best for the two of them, together.
He suspected her family had been handling her like that, ignoring her wishes, for the better part of her life, and she was used to it at the same time she hated it.
“I have an idea, Kylie.” He had no idea what to say at a time like this, but no man did. No man made a habit of proposing. If he did it right, he did it once in a lifetime. So how could he expect to get any practice?
She managed a smile for him. Her lips trembled a bit, but the smile held. “I’m listening.”
Before Aaron said anything, he leaned down slowly, holding her gaze. He saw such vulnerability in her eyes that he couldn’t resist. He touched his lips to hers and then eased her closer to him. Her hands slid up his chest. At one point she hesitated, and he thought she’d push him away, but then she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight.
A minute later, he was holding her on his lap, just like she’d been the night they first met. He should have recognized his fate and just hauled her to town and married her then and there.
When their next kiss turned fiery, Aaron ended it while he still could. Moving his hands to her shoulders, he gently pushed her away from him. She straightened, cleared her throat. He thought maybe her terror had finally subsided. The worst of it, anyway. With a slight shake of her head she focused her eyes, and it looked like she was back to her old self again.
“I can’t go back, Aaron,” she repeated. “I just can’t. I’ve been trying while we ride to work up some backbone. I thought I could live out here for three years. I probably could survive on a homestead if no one was trying to shoot arrows at me or bully me into leaving. I’m worthless at frontier skills, but I’d do it for my family so long as my sisters kept the food coming and did my repairs. And if I had Sunrise there to do all the things I can’t. But now, after the snakes . . .” She shuddered.
“I hate that you had to go through that, Kylie. How did you ever survive the war?”
Kylie’s chin came up. Her jaw tightened, and her eyes flashed with renewed spirit. “That’s the right thing to say to me. When the going gets tough, I remember the war. I survived when many didn’t.” She sat up straighter. “I let the snakes get past my defenses, and only now when you asked about the war do I remember how I learned to be tough.”
“You said you were at the siege at Vicksburg. Where else did you fight?”
“I was only in a few battles, but they were so wretched. They struck such terror in me that I could barely function. I never ran, though. Deserting . . .” Shaking her hea
d, Kylie went on, “Maybe running took more courage than I had. I froze more often than I fought. I . . .” She stopped again, swallowed hard.
Aaron saw the fear in her eyes. For a whole year after the war, he’d seen that same fear every time he looked in a mirror.
“I killed a man,” she said. “I shot into a crowd of charging men. I don’t even remember pulling the trigger. But a man got too close, and he had his bayonet fixed and was screaming as he charged straight for me. There was such hate, such rage in his eyes. I knew I’d die if I didn’t fight back. My gun roared, and I saw the pain in his face. He didn’t go down right away. He kept coming, and somehow I dodged that bayonet. Then he collapsed on top of me and died. I might have been unconscious for a while, I don’t know. Maybe I was just scared out of my head. I just lay there, drenched in his blood. I was so shocked by it all, I didn’t move. I spent the whole rest of that battle pinned under a dead man as cannons pounded around me and more men fell and died.”
With a humorless laugh, Kylie added, “Yet I don’t get to count my years of service when I homestead.” She shrugged. “Maybe that’s fair. I was poor at soldiering. Maybe I didn’t earn that exemption.”
“I don’t know how to fix that. And I’m sorry you saw such ugliness.” Aaron took one of her clenched fists and eased it open, threading his fingers through hers. “I’m sorry I saw it. I’m sorry anyone had to see it.”
“We won that day, which was a good thing.” She went back to her story. “If the Confederacy had won, I’d have been found and taken prisoner. Instead, the Union controlled those few yards of bloody grass, and they dragged me out from under that man and took me to the infirmary. I was so soaked in the man’s blood, they assumed I was wounded. In all the chaos it took them a while to realize nothing was wrong, not physically. I was in such shock they didn’t know what else to do with me, so they left me in a badly needed bed as long as they could.”
Aaron lifted her fingers to his lips and kissed each one.
“I had nightmares of that man running his bayonet through me. I’d close my eyes and see him coming and hear him screaming. I finally pulled myself together and got out of the infirmary, but I was so afraid to go back. Everyone was, but I was determined never to go through that again. I marched into my commanding officer’s tent prepared to admit I was a woman and demand I be sent home. Pa would’ve been so ashamed of me. I was already practicing my lie, how I’d lead Pa to believe I’d been found out in the infirmary and sent home, that it wasn’t my fault.
Tried and True (Wild at Heart Book #1) Page 16