"Who are you?" she asked, seeing something familiar about him, yet unable to put her finger on what, or why.
"Why do you do this thing?" she added in barely a whisper.
Shane cupped her cheek gently within the palm of his hand. So much about her reminded him of Cedar Maid. But wouldn't any lovely Indian maiden? The reminder of Cedar Maid would always be there in any Indian woman he saw. He sorely missed her.
"I don't have time to explain everything to you," Shane said, looking over his shoulder at the cabin. He could still hear the hammering. The trapper was still too occupied to know what was happening out here by the river!
Shane looked down at the petite maiden again. "The trapper paid a bride price for you?" he asked, frowning.
"Ay-uh," the woman said, nodding. "Enough so that my father parted with me willingly. My father is poor. Horses and trinkets given to him by Trapper Dan made him feel rich!"
"Yes, I would imagine," Shane said thickly. He looked her up and down, then looked into her dark eyes again. "You speak in the Chippewa tongue. Where is your village?"
The woman pointed. "Two sleeps away," she said, tears forming in her eyes. "But I can never return. I have been soiled by the white man's hands."
"Yes, I understand," Shane said. "Your name?"
She cast her eyes downward. "My name was left behind at my village," she murmured. "Trapper Dan give me a new name. He calls me Ee-qway-zance, Girl." Slowly her eyes lifted to Shane's. "That name is ugly!''
Shane nodded. "Very ugly," he said. "After today you can live in my house and you can choose any pretty name that you wish. That name will be yours ah-pay-nayforever."
Girl's lips parted in a slight gasp. "You spoke in Chippewa!" she said. Then she smiled suddenly up at him. "I know you! You are the man with the blue eyes and golden hair that my father told me about! You live with the Chippewa!"
"I did, but no longer," Shane said, again glancing toward the cabin. He turned back to Girl and took her hand and led her to his horse. "You stay hidden here. No matter what, don't you leave this spot. Do you understand?"
Girl nodded. "I understand," she whispered, her voice anxious. She grabbed for Shane's arm. "Your name is Shane! I remember now!"
Shane smiled down at her, then turned to his horse and began removing the traps. His arms full, he moved stealthily back in the direction of the cabin. Hearing the continued hammering inside the cabin, Shane felt safe enough to begin placing the traps in the undergrowth in front of the cabin.
After covering the traps with fallen pine boughs and leaves, Shane ran back to cover.
"You set traps for Trapper Dan?" Girl asked, inching over closer to Shane.
"Yes, for Trapper Dan," Shane said dryly. "Traps are for animals, aren't they? I think I'm going to catch a large one quite soon."
Just as he was about to shout Trapper Dan's name to draw his attention, he could not believe his eyes when he saw Melanie suddenly there on horseback. He had been too absorbed in setting the traps to notice a horse approaching!
"God!" Shane gasped, rushing from behind the bushes and waving frantically at Melanie as she dismounted and began walking toward the cabin. "Melanie! Stop!"
Melanie stopped with a start and looked disbelievingly at Shane as he came running from behind the thick brush. He had not been in St. Paul all of this time playing pokerhe had come to Trapper Dan's!
"Shane" she said, then spun around and stared at Trapper Dan as he came to the door and opened it with a bang.
"What the hell's goin' on out here?" Trapper Dan asked in a growl, a rifle aimed at Melanie.
Then Trapper Dan saw Shane approaching. "Josh?" he asked, then realized his mistake. "It's you, the brother," he snarled. "Get outta here or I'll shoot 'er. You ain't got no business here."
"Put the gun down, you weasel," Shane said, still approaching. "You haven't got any argument
with Melanie. It's you and I who have a score to settle."
"I should've made sure there were no survivors hidin' in the bushes the day your Ma died," Trapper Dan said, not lowering his rifle. "Guess I've got to do it today." Then he motioned with his rifle. "Step aside, young lady. I've got better use for my firearm."
"If you plan to kill Shane, you'll have to kill me first," Melanie said, trying to hide the trembling in her voice.
"It'd be a waste to kill someone as purty as you," Trapper Dan said, leering at Melanie. Then it came to him that Girl should be finished bathing. Where was she? Without averting his eyes, he leaned his head sideways and called over his shoulder. "Girl! Where are you, Girl?"
Girl stepped out into view. She walked boldly to Shane's side. "Shane come to rescue me!" she shouted. "I never stay with you no more!"
"Why, you bitch," Trapper Dan snarled. He took two steps from his house, then his face contorted as he stepped into one of the hidden traps. The steel teeth of the trap snapped shut onto one of his legs, throwing him to the ground. Blood spurted in all directions. Trapper Dan screamed with pain and dropped his rifle. As it fell to the ground, it discharged. Melanie screamed and fell to the ground in a heap.
"Help me!" Trapper Dan screamed in a painful gurgle. He clutched at the trap. "Girl, come and help me! You're my wife! You can't leave me here sufferin' so!"
Shane bodily set Girl aside. "Don't go any closer to the cabin," he ordered. "Only I know where the traps are set."
He rushed to Melanie, his heart pounding. He searched over her frantically for a gun wound, then sighed with relief. She had not fallen from a wound. She had fainted!
Grabbing her up into his arms, Shane carried Melanie to where he had his horse reined. Girl followed him and knelt down beside him. "Let Girl help," she said.
Shane kissed Melanie's cheek, gave Girl a trusting look, then went back and stood over Trapper Dan. "You will die slowly," he said. "You will have time to remember all the settlers you killed the day my mother died. You will remember how Cedar Maid died, and why. You stole too much from me, trapper. Now you will pay!"
Sweat was pouring profusely from Trapper Dan's brow. His face was twisted grotesquely with pain as blood continued to flow from the jagged wounds of the trap. "Free me," he begged. "I will pay you well!"
"I do not need anything that belongs to you," Shane said. He glanced at the cabin. "But I have come to claim that which was my mother's. Trapper, you had better hope that I find it among your things or I will bring another trap and place your other leg in it. You think you are suffering now? Think of the suffering two traps will cause!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Trapper Dan said, breathing shallowly, already feeling lightheaded from loss of blood.
"You stole my mother's wedding ring the day she died," Shane accused him. "But of course you don't recall just one tiny ring. You stole many things that day!"
"A . . . ring . . . ?" Trapper Dan said, coughing. "A ring . . . ?"
"Yes, a ring."
"I have many rings."
Shane leaned over Trapper Dan and grabbed hold of his thick red hair. He gave it a hard yank. "Tell me where you keep them," he growled.
"Only if you promise to release me," Trapper Dan said, looking Shane squarely in the eye. "Release me. I'll tell you."
Shane raised a hand and slapped Trapper Dan across the face. "You are in no position to bargain," he shouted. "You are going to die, Trapper Dan!"
Trapper Dan closed his eyes. His head bobbed clumsily forward when Shane released his hair.
"I don't need you to tell me where the ring is," Shane said, moving around the other traps, then on into the cabin.
A vile stench, a mixture of dried urine and perspiration, made Shane's nostrils flare. The cabin was cluttered with all sorts of debris. The furniture consisted of a crude table and two chairs, a bed with yellowed, wrinkled blankets, and a storage cabinet.
Shane went to the cabinet and searched it first. He started throwing pans, books, papers, and jars from it. He looked inside boxes, finding odds and ends of all sorts. He went t
o the bed and dumped it
over, then stopped and stared down at a wooden box that had been hidden there.
Moving to rest on his haunches, Shane lifted the box and rested it on his knee. His fingers were trembling as he removed a pin that was holding the lid in place, then slowly raised the lid and peered down at an abundant assortment of ladies' and men's rings, brooches, diamond-encrusted combs, men's diamond stickpins, and necklaces of various gems.
Hatred swelled within Shane. No doubt every jewel had been taken from someone he had killed. Now Shane wondered if letting him die slowly within the jaws of the trap was a horrible enough death for him. Perhaps he should be scalped alive. Shane would gladly do the honors if it were not that he could not let Melanie witness the act.
"Melanie," he said, reminded that he had left her in a deep swoon. He must hurry and go to her. He had to reassure her that everything would be all right. Soon his vengeance would be complete.
One by one he sorted through the rings. He would know his mother's. When he was small, he had admired the ring. She had explained that it sealed the bond between her and his father. It was a symbol of their love. Often he had looked at the inscription on the inside of the ring. He hadn't been able to read it, but as he ran his finger over the inscription, his mother had told him that his father had engraved a message of love to her before he gave it to her on their wedding day. He could not recall the exact inscription, except that
his mother's and father's name were written there, also.
His heart raced when he picked up a gold wedding band. He closed his eyes and ran his fingers along the inside. A great warmth spread through him when he felt inscribed words etched into the gold. "Mama," he whispered. "Tell me about it, Mama. I want to hear it again."
His mind went back to the last day he had seen his mother. While traveling in the boat, she had removed her ring and entertained him by telling him about it again, and reading the inscription to him. If he thought hard enough, he could hear her soft, sweet voice even now. Tears sprang from his eyes and a deep sob tore from his throat. At this moment, he missed his mother more than ever. This ring brought her closer, as though she were there, embracing and comforting him.
Wiping a tear from his cheek, Shane placed the ring before his eyes and read the inscription. It read: "To Amy, my true love, forever and ever. Jared."
Shane brought the ring to his lips and kissed it, then clutched it hard within his hand as he rose to his feet. Leaving the cabin, he stopped and bent over Trapper Dan. "You sonofabitch," he hissed. "I found my mother's ring. Not only my mother's, but many more."
Shane coiled his fingers through Trapper Dan's greasy red hair and gave a hard yank. "I lived with the Chippewa for most of my life because of you," he growled. "Did you know that I learned the art of scalping quite well? Perhaps I'll take your scalp to place on my scalp pole."
Trapper Dan grimaced and looked up at Shane, wild-eyed. "You've got what you came for," he cried. "Your mother's ring! Let me go. I'll never cause you trouble again."
Shane straightened his back and stared down at the blood still oozing from the wound, the severed bone protruding from the skin at a strange angle. "No, I don't think you will be causing anyone else heartache," he said smoothly. "Soon that leg will become gangrenous. You shouldn't last long after that. That is, if you last through the night without something wild coming to feast on your leg." Shane smiled slowly at Trapper Dan. "Or perhaps on your face?"
"Oh, God, have mercy," Trapper Dan cried, reaching a hand to Shane.
"At this moment I don't even know the meaning of the word mercy," Shane said. He turned and made his way carefully around the ring of traps he had set.
"You're no better than the savages you lived with!" Trapper Dan shouted.
"No, I guess not," Shane said from over his shoulder. "And I have you to thank for that, don't I?"
He broke into a run, then stopped when he saw Melanie walking toward him. Safe from the threat of the traps, he hurried to her and drew her into his arms. "It is done," he said, his cheek resting in her hair. "Vengeance is mine."
"You're all right?" Melanie murmured, pulling
away, looking him up and down. She smiled. "Yes, I can see that you are."
"And you?"
"I feel foolish."
"Why?"
"For having fainted."
"It was the blood?"
Melanie smiled sheepishly at him. She placed a hand to her stomach. "Perhaps not," she said softly. "Perhaps it was because of something wonderful."
Shane gazed at her hands resting over her stomach, then he looked quickly up at her. "Are you saying . . . ?"
She interrupted him. "Yes, darling," she said, snuggling close to him again. "I think I am with child."
Shane held her tightly. "Nothing would make me happier," he whispered, then he held her away from him. He held out his clasped hand and opened it. He revealed the gold wedding band. "This was my mother's. Now it will be yours."
Melanie placed a hand to her throat, choked with emotion. Tears streamed from her eyes as she let him place the ring on her finger. "You found it?" she murmured. "This is truly your mother's?"
"It was among Trapper Dan's belongings. But now it is in its rightful place."
"It is so beautiful," she murmured. "I will wear it proudly."
"We must have the wedding ceremony soon," Shane said. "You must carry a child beneath your heart with a husband at your side!"
Gift stepped meekly into view behind Melanie. Shane saw her and eased Melanie from his arms, turning her to also see the Indian woman. "Melanie, I hope you don't mind that I have invited Girl to live with us," he said, beckoning for Girl to come to him. "Trapper Dan paid a bride price for her and she cannot return to her village. I now realize that I should have taken Cedar Maid with me when I left. Perhaps if I take Girl in, that will make up for my ignorance."
"Girl?" Melanie said, looking questioningly up at Shane. "That is her name?"
"She left her Indian name behind when she left her people," Shane explained, looking down at Girl as she now stood before him and Melanie. "Trapper Dan has called her Girl while she lived with him. She thinks that is the name he assigned her."
Melanie looked at the beautiful Indian woman and smiled. "Would you like a different name?" she asked softly. "One more suited to you?"
"Ay-uh, that would please me," Girl said, smiling from Shane to Melanie.
"Daphne is a name that I have always loved," Melanie said, moving to Girl. She took her hands affectionately. "Would you like to be called Daphne?"
Girl nodded anxiously, her eyes beaming. "That is pretty," she said. "I will like being called Daphne."
Shane looked at Melanie questioningly, suddenly struck with wonder over Melanie's coming to
Trapper Dan's cabin. How did she even know the man?
''Melanie, why were you coming to see Trapper Dan?" he asked suddenly.
Melanie's eyes wavered. What would he think when she told him that she had known for a long time that Trapper Dan was in the areathat she had been shown only yesterday where he resided! What would he do when he discovered that it was Trapper Dan, and Melanie's brother, who had been the cause of all of Shane's torment? She had so wanted not to be in the position of telling him, especially about Terrance.
Someone yelling for help in the distance reprieved her momentarily from revealing truths to Shane that would make her uncomfortable. Shivers rode her spine when another shriek filled the air. It was a cry of stark fear.
Melanie's insides grew cold as she looked quickly up at Shane. Had he recognized the voice?
She had!
It was Terrance! He was in trouble!
"Shane, it's Terrance," she said, looking anxiously in the direction of the cries. She ran to her horse, grabbed its reins and mounted. "I must go to him. He's in danger."
Though she had sent Terrance away, there was no doubt that she still loved him, for at this moment her heart was pounding with fear for h
im. No matter what he had done to Shane, she wouldn't want anything to happen to him. He was her brother.
Melanie's hair blew in the breeze as she rode away. When she heard Shane on horseback behind her, grateful tears burned at the corners of her eyes. He had every reason in the world not to help Terrance, yet he was prepared to.
But would he, if he knew the truth?
Chapter Thirty-one
Melanie rode hard, then drew her reins tight, stopping her horse when she finally saw Terrance only a short distance away from her now. A sick feeling swept through her. Terrance was on his horse, a bluff at his back, cornered by Wild Thunder, the Stantons' prize longhorn which had escaped only a few days ago.
Melanie stifled a cry of fear when she looked away from Terrance at the longhorn. Angry and frightened, its bloodshot and bulging eyes were burning like bull's-eye lanterns. A great Brindle bull, Wild Thunder was seven years old and at the apex of his prowess. His powerful neck showed a great bulge just behind the head. A big dewlap accenting his primeval origin. He seemed mad through and through, having taken a position on a rise of open ground perhaps a hundred yards from Terrance.
Melanie could tell that the longhorn had been pawing dirt for a long time. As she watched him, scarcely breathing, he lifted the dirt with his forefeet so that it went high up in the air and fell in part upon his own back. He often stopped to hook one of his hornsthe "master horn"into the ground, goring down to a kind of clayish damp that stuck to the tip. He even hooked both horns in, one at a time, and kneeling, rubbed his shoulder against the ground.
His powerful lungs bellowed out streams of breath that sprayed particles of earth away from his nostrils. Now, with earth plastering his horns, matting his shaggy frontlet, and covering his back from head to toe, he was a spectacle.
"Melanie, for God's sake, do something!" Terrance shouted, afraid to move. The longhorn was hellbent on attacking him!
Terrance watched Shane ride up next to Melanie, an Indian woman clinging to him. "Shane! Kill the damn longhorn!" he shouted, his voice ragged. "Shoot him!"
When Passion Calls Page 28