by Jodi Thomas
‘‘No, it’s too dangerous.’’
‘‘Give me some credit! I’ve spent my life running with the boys. Some towns we lived in, the neighbors thought I was a boy because I could whip anyone close to my size. I’m able to take care of myself, and I’ll have a few surprises tucked away in the folds of my dress.’’ She could tell he wasn’t convinced. ‘‘Plus, you’ll be watching and following me. Once they take us to their camp, you can barge in and the two of us can fight our way out.’’
Cheyenne groaned. ‘‘It’s a lame plan.’’ He removed her hand that was resting on his leg, putting her plan aside as easily as he did her touch.
‘‘Well, I’ve got a lame partner.’’ Jamie laughed as she patted his leg, discovering how much her touch bothered him. ‘‘I’ve waited all my life to pay Kora back for all the sacrifices she’s made for me. Now’s my chance. I can save her and Win’s ranch.’’
‘‘We’ll probably both be killed.’’
‘‘Got any other ideas? Anyone else we get involved will be pulling men off the guard. Logan will be here to protect Win and Kora.’’ Jamie rested her hand on his leg, rooting her fingers into his flesh so she wouldn’t be so easy to cast off again. ‘‘It’s just you and me.’’
Cheyenne was silent for a long moment. ‘‘All right. But don’t do anything foolish. Once you’re in their camp, just play the frightened woman. I’ll find a way to get in and save you, maybe without having to fight our way out.’’
Jamie nodded. ‘‘I’ll go get dressed and then start making myself an easy catch.’’ She patted his leg once more before disappearing.
Cheyenne slowly climbed the stairs, shaking his head. It was a crazy plan that would probably get them both killed, but Jamie was right. It was the only one they could think of. Win had told him to talk anything new over with Kora, but he wasn’t about to tell her what Jamie was planning. Kora would never go along with it, and if he had any sense left, he wouldn’t, either.
Kora sat beside the bed as Cheyenne entered. ‘‘He’s better,’’ she whispered. ‘‘He mumbled my name a few minutes ago and asked for water. He’s pulling out.’’
Cheyenne stood over the bed, staring down at Winter.
He’d do anything for Win, even die, and Win would never know why. The time had come to tell someone in case he didn’t come back and Kora was the one. ‘‘When Win’s village was attacked years ago,’’ Cheyenne began more to himself than Kora, ‘‘I was away with several of the older boys training to be a ‘dog soldier.’ I wasn’t there to help my mother or her tribe. The soldiers killed her without even knowing that she’d been a white woman, raising her sons among their father’s people.’’
Kora listened, knowing the Indian was speaking words long in his heart.
‘‘I returned to find only bodies, mostly women and children. My mother and two little brothers were among the dead. My father lived the night, but didn’t want to face dawn without my mother. I was holding him in my arms when he just stopped breathing.
‘‘A few of the tribe’s children had managed to run and hide. When they returned to camp weeks later, the leader of our people made a little half-breed named Winter go back to the white man’s world. All my family was dead, so I followed Winter. I guess I figured since we were both of mixed blood, we were the same somehow. He looks like his father from the white man’s world and I look more like my father from the Indian world, but we are the same inside. A part of no world.’’
Silently he drew his knife and cut the bandage on Win’s arm. Without hesitation, he then slit into his own wrist.
Kora made a little sound but didn’t move as Cheyenne lowered his bloody wrist over Winter’s open wound. The Indian didn’t explain, he didn’t have to. Kora knew he was offering his own blood to Winter.
After a few minutes Kora gently lifted Cheyenne’s arm and bandaged his wrist. He didn’t make any speeches by telling her he’d die for Win, or how much Win meant to him. He’d proved his point with the action.
As she finished wrapping the cut, Logan stepped into the attic. ‘‘I thought I’d relieve you on guard. Our three guests are preparing to leave. They said they’d like to pay their respects to Mrs. McQuillen before they go.’’
Kora glanced at Winter. ‘‘I don’t want to leave Win.’’
‘‘You stay,’’ Cheyenne volunteered. ‘‘I’ll see them off.’’ He took a few steps, then looked back. ‘‘Promise you’ll stay up here.’’
‘‘Of course.’’ She smiled. ‘‘Where else?’’
She sat back down beside the bed.
Cheyenne hurried out of the room. He met Jamie at the bottom of the attic stairs.
‘‘How do I look?’’ Jamie asked as she spun in her dress. Her bun was not as smooth as Kora made and her boots showed from beneath the hem, but in a poor light it would be hard to tell them apart.
‘‘You’ll pass. Same hair, same size, but try to move in smaller steps like Kora.’’
‘‘I know what to do!’’ Jamie scolded. ‘‘You just make sure you follow. If I have to kill those three fellows, I don’t want to have to walk back here in this dress.’’
Cheyenne nodded. ‘‘Logan says the men are saddling up now. I’ll move out and get my horse ready, then wait behind the barn. You go stand on the porch. The light is dim there. And don’t do anything foolish like fight when they grab you.’’
‘‘This is my idea, remember.’’ Jamie poked him in the chest with her finger. ‘‘I know what I’m doing.’’
‘‘I’ll remember that when this plan falls apart,’’ Cheyenne answered.
Jamie turned to go, but his hand on her shoulder stopped her. ‘‘One more thing,’’ he said as he closed the distance between them. ‘‘Before you get yourself killed, I want to give you back something.’’
Before she could react, he kissed her hard on the mouth like she’d kissed him that morning.
When he released her, Jamie’s eyes stung, her lips tingled, and her heart raced. She felt the kiss all the way to her toes. ‘‘How dare you!’’ she stormed, more angry that he had such an effect on her than that he’d kissed her.
Cheyenne moved toward the front door. ‘‘I’ll take it back if we live through this.’’
He was gone before she could answer that she’d make sure he did.
TWENTY-FOUR
THE WIND WHIPPED AROUND, CONFUSING THE DIRECTION of sounds. Cheyenne crept in the blackness of the night until he could see the lights from the house. He’d saddled his horse and now all he had to do was wait.
Jamie stepped off the porch just as the three strangers emerged from the barn. They were talking among themselves. One pointed in Jamie’s direction while the other two huddled around him.
Cheyenne saw her walk toward the well, a bucket swinging at her side. Good, he thought, look natural. She was doing a great job of shortening her step to act more like Kora. In the dress he could almost believe she was a lady. Before the three men had moved more than a few feet, a blackness passed between Cheyenne and Jamie. One second she’d been walking toward the well, the next she vanished as though the moonless night had swallowed her whole.
Cheyenne twisted uneasily. There were too many black spots in the yard. He couldn’t see her. The three men were still standing by the barn door mumbling. They seemed to be arguing about something as they tossed a blanket between them like children playing hot potato.
Somewhere in the shadows at the side of the main house, Cheyenne heard the jingle of a harness and the groan of a wagon beginning to roll out. The lonely sound of a harmonica drifted from the bunkhouse, and the cook yelled from the kitchen, reminding Cheyenne that the ranch was still very much alive, though Win was near death.
Cheyenne searched the darkness once more, fear climbing up his spine. Something was wrong, very wrong.
Then he saw Jamie step off the porch once more. She was safe! He’d worried for nothing.
She walked slowly toward the trees as though just out for a stroll. Since
earlier, she’d grown restless. Her steps were jerky, not nearly as smooth. Cheyenne reminded himself she was young, and despite her bravado, games like this one were new to her. He hoped she wouldn’t panic and run before the men could kidnap her. If they were going through with this plan, everything had to go right. Her life was the ante.
The three strangers finally took the bait. They were in the saddle and heading toward her before she had time to turn around. Cheyenne heard her muffled scream as one man tossed a blanket over her head and another lifted her off the ground and onto the front of his saddle.
Somewhere in the darkness a guard sounded the alarm. Men hurried from the bunkhouse pulling weapons ready as they moved. Cheyenne raised into the saddle, allowing the strangers enough lead not to know they were being followed.
But Jamie’s reaction was too natural to be forgotten as planned. She fought wildly, kicking and screaming. Her actions frightened the poorly trained horse, who began circling instead of running. She kicked violently, knocking the man from his horse and landing on top of him. The two others slapped their animals into action without staying to help the downed man. Jamie was on her feet whirling a knife at her captor even before she could pull the blanket from her face.
Suddenly she realized what she’d done. ‘‘What kind of kidnapper are you?’’ She stormed at the injured man, kicking him hard in both legs and banging him on the head with her fist as though he were a drum. ‘‘Can’t you even stay in the saddle?’’ She booted him again and continued her pounding beat against his ears. ‘‘Don’t you even know how to grab someone and hold on? I should kill you for not even knowing how to hold a frightened mount!’’
Cheyenne grabbed her around the waist from behind before she could deliver another blow to the poor man balled on the ground.
‘‘Stop it!’’ Cheyenne shouted in her ear. ‘‘Don’t kill him before he answers a few questions.’’
‘‘Keep her off me!’’ the man yelled.
‘‘Where are your friends going?’’ Cheyenne asked as he struggled to hold Jamie.
The man hesitated. Cheyenne lowered a still kicking, fighting Jamie to the ground.
‘‘I’ll tell.’’ The man held up his hand. ‘‘Just don’t let her at me.’’
Cheyenne pulled her back against his side. ‘‘Then you’d better talk fast, because as you know, she’s hard to hold.’’
‘‘They’re heading for the Breaks Settlement. We was just going to keep her there for a day or two. We weren’t going to hurt her none, I swear.’’
‘‘Who’s paying you?’’ Cheyenne fired the next question as other men came running from the barn.
‘‘I don’t know. I swear. I just saw a woman on horseback bring the money. She told us to make sure Win McQuillen was busy for a few days. I don’t know nothing else.’’
‘‘What’d she look like?’’ Cheyenne shouted over Jamie’s death threats.
‘‘I couldn’t tell.’’ The man crawled away a few feet. ‘‘I couldn’t tell nothing. It was night and she had on a black duster.’’
Several ranch hands reached them, pulling the man to his feet and removing his weapons.
‘‘Tie him up.’’ Cheyenne let go of Jamie. ‘‘I’ll follow the others.’’ He grabbed his reins, when a single fact froze him in place.
The woman heading toward the well earlier had carried the bucket in her left hand!
TWENTY-FIVE
CHEYENNE TOOK THE STAIRS IN DOUBLE TIME WITH Jamie just behind him. They stormed into the attic bedroom as the first hint of daylight touched the horizon.
‘‘Where’s Kora?’’ Cheyenne asked Logan.
Jamie bumped into him from behind and swore at his sudden stop.
Logan stood from the chair by the bed. ‘‘She’s gone down to check on Dan. Almost forgot him, she did, with all that’s been going on.’’
Cheyenne turned and trudged down the stairs. The sick feeling he had in his gut grew worse.
‘‘What is it?’’ Jamie was right behind him. ‘‘What’s wrong?’’
‘‘I’ve got to find Kora!’’ He left unsaid what he feared.
They stopped at the kitchen first, then covered the downstairs. Cheyenne’s worry was contagious. Jamie ran up to the bedrooms on the second floor while Cheyenne checked the barn. By the time they reached the orchard, they were both yelling Kora’s name.
‘‘Where is she?’’ Jamie demanded. ‘‘She’s usually around the house. By dawn she’s always cooking breakfast. She couldn’t have disappeared. She wouldn’t have left us.’’
‘‘I don’t know about leaving you,’’ Cheyenne responded. ‘‘But she wouldn’t leave Winter any longer than needed. In the blackness just before sunup, I thought I saw you by the well, then you vanished.’’
Concern turned to panic in Jamie’s eyes. ‘‘I never walked toward the well. I stayed on the porch until I knew you were in place, then I walked toward the orchard. Do you think one of the two men who got away grabbed Kora?’’
‘‘No,’’ he answered. ‘‘They had no time. Besides, they rode out alone.’’
‘‘Well, if they didn’t take her, she must be somewhere around here.’’ Jamie kicked at her skirts.
‘‘Was Dan in bed?’’
‘‘No,’’ Jamie answered. ‘‘He’s probably started his walk by now.’’
Cheyenne rubbed his forehead, trying to get the pieces to fit after a long night of no sleep. ‘‘You look for him. I’ve got to talk to Winter. If the snakes didn’t kill him, Kora’s kidnapping might.’’
‘‘Kidnapping!’’ Jamie screamed as she followed him back into the house.
Win came awake inch by painful inch. His limbs throbbed, his stomach felt as if it were gnawing away at his backbone, and his head pounded war drums.
‘‘Kora,’’ he whispered as he rolled over and reached for her.
‘‘Win?’’ someone said. ‘‘Win, can you hear me?’’
Reluctantly he opened one eye. Kora was several feet away by the window. Cheyenne and Logan were on either side of his bed.
‘‘Water,’’ Win whispered, feeling as though he’d die if he didn’t have a drink soon.
Logan placed his hand on the back of Win’s head as Win downed several swallows before the old man pulled the cup away as if rationing.
Leaning back, Win let his gaze rest on Kora. She was looking out the window, her hair catching the morning sun. He opened and closed his fingers, wishing he could touch her. All through the night he’d been fighting his way to Kora, reaching for her, trying to hold her. But the wind kept whirling her around, blowing her away from him.
Logan offered him another drink.
This time Win closed his hand around the cup so it wouldn’t be pulled away.
The old man laughed. ‘‘He’s going to be fine. He’s fighting me for the water.’’
Slowly the room came into focus. It was late morning, maybe early afternoon. For some reason he was still in bed.
As Win’s mind cleared, he looked down at his arms, bandaged in several places. Without inspection he could feel bandages on his legs, also. ‘‘What happened?’’ he mumbled. ‘‘The last thing I remember I was pulling a cow out of the mud.’’
Winter closed his eyes. Memory came back in flashes, like stills flipping through a stereoscope. Three men offering help. The ropes. The snakes. The ride home. The
blackness.
Logan interrupted Win’s thoughts. ‘‘Three men brought you back snake bit.’’
‘‘I was-’’
‘‘We know,’’ Logan said. ‘‘It wasn’t an accident.’’
‘‘Kora.’’ Win tried not to let his frustration show that she hadn’t even bothered to turn from the window.
Slowly she twisted. It took a moment for Win to take in the woman before him. It wasn’t Kora, it was Jamie, and tears were streaming down her face.
‘‘I’m sorry, Win!’’ Jamie cried. ‘‘I wish it were me and not her.’’
‘
‘Kora,’’ he whispered and let the black of sleep melt over him once more.
Logan looked across the bed at Cheyenne. ‘‘What do we do?’’
‘‘We save the ranch. If they’re planning to move the cattle tonight, we must have every hand in the saddle and well armed. Kora’s kidnappers will find us, we don’t have to go looking for them. I’m surprised we haven’t had word yet of the terms. Until we do, we think of the ranch.’’
‘‘No!’’ Jamie cried. ‘‘We save my sister.’’
Cheyenne shook his head. ‘‘The ranch has always been the most important thing in Win’s life. We have no idea where she is. We can’t have men everywhere looking for her. We’ve got to save the ranch.’’
‘‘But whoever has her might hurt her.’’
‘‘If infected cattle cross this land, thousands of head are going to die and that will hurt a lot of people. Win can bury his dead beef and burn the grassland and survive, but it will spread to the smaller ranches. It could mean their farms and ranches being bankrupted. Families having to move or going hungry.’’
Jamie ran to the stairs. ‘‘Then I’ll find her myself. She must be near crazy with fright by now. She’s always had me around, you know.’’
Cheyenne was a step behind her. He grabbed her by the arm. ‘‘You don’t understand. Someone has to stay here and guard the ranch, look after Winter. At least until the doc gets here.’’
Jamie jerked free of his grasp. ‘‘No, you don’t understand. Someone has to find my sister!’’
• • •
Kora sat at the table, trying not to breathe. The smell of dirt was so thick in the air she could almost feel it coating her lungs each time she inhaled. Closing her eyes, she tried to picture her bedroom with Win, the clean air, the sunlight, the warmth of his arms about her.
Andrew Adams rattled around the kitchen area, tossing empty cans aside that he hadn’t bothered to throw out.
She knew she should probably be afraid of him, but all she felt was angry and irritated. ‘‘Untie me!’’ she demanded.