Scott shifted and leaned against her in a way that their heads almost touched. “What are you talking about, Amber? I’m the one Moira wanted to send to the past, remember?”
“But if I hadn’t come into that room and time traveled, too, you wouldn’t be caught up in this mess. I don’t think this was the way she’d planned for you to be in the past.”
“There has to be a way to get back to our time. It’s too early to lose hope. We’re going to get out of this, okay?” He raised his brows at her, staring into her eyes with a sincere look.
Amber scoffed and lowered her head. Hope was something she’d lost a long time ago. This wasn’t the moment to bring that up, though.
“Thanks for sticking up for me this morning with those guys,” she mumbled.
Scott chuckled. “I think you stuck up for me more than the other way around. I thought you didn’t like me.” His carefree, easy-going tone was back.
“When you’re not acting like some know-it-all jerk, you’re actually kind of nice,” she retorted.
His chuckle turned into a quiet laugh. “And when you’re not acting all glum like the world’s gonna end, you sure know how to take risks and act tough.” He leaned away, then back against her arm in a playful nudge, almost knocking her over sideways.
Amber tightened her lips, or else he might have seen the smile she concealed. For being an entitled rich boy, he sure seemed laid back, maybe even nice and down-to-earth. That side of him had been there since she’d met him, but she’d chosen to ignore it, for whatever reason.
She leaned her head against Scott’s shoulder and stared into the nearby campfire flames. Scott’s body tensed for a split second, then seemed to relax again. Jeb joined his two companions, holding out a canteen to them with a wide smile on his face. It wasn’t hard to guess what he’d put in that canteen.
It was only a matter of time before these three were drunk. When he glared in her direction at that moment, Amber stared back. That weasel wasn’t going to intimidate her. He looked away first, grabbing the canteen from Will’s hand and lifting it to his mouth. Amber glanced around the darkness. The only person still missing was Vin. She adjusted her head against Scott’s shoulder.
“That was quite heroic, what you did, charging after those guys on a horse.”
“I was just trying to act all macho and brave, you know, so I could impress a girl who doesn’t think too highly of me.” Scott’s lower jaw moved against the top of her head as he spoke.
Amber lifted her head to look up at him. “You could have broken your neck.”
Scott glanced down at her. His dark eyes sparkled as they reflected the orange flames from the fire. He winked, and his grin was back. “Among one of my many talents is the ability to gallop a horse over unknown terrain in the middle of the night. There was nothing to worry about.”
Amber sat up straight and leaned her back against the tree-trunk behind them. Scott’s shoulder was more comfortable, but it seemed a little too intimate. She didn’t even know this guy, and there were countless reasons why it would be a bad idea to get to know him better.
“What don’t you know how to do, Scott Kincaid?”
Scott wrinkled his forehead. “Let me think for a minute. I don’t know how to sit around and do nothing. I don’t really know how to take life too seriously. I suppose my folks would say I don’t know how to be responsible, and neither would my ex.”
His voice trailed off with that last reference. Curiosity nagged at her. Scott had an ex. Ex-wife, or ex-girlfriend? The mental image of Scott as a married man wouldn’t form in her mind. He was too carefree for that, but apparently there had been someone in his life for whom he’d slowed down.
Vin Kincaid moved into the light of the fire at that moment. He tossed his saddle a short distance from the other three, and wordlessly settled on the ground. He pulled something from one of his pockets and stuck it in his mouth. Without acknowledging the others, he leaned his head on his saddle and pushed his hat over his face.
“Is there a chance that you and Vin are related?” Amber blurted the question that had also nagged at her since this morning.
Scott was silent for a moment. “I think it’s just coincidence. I suppose there’s a slight chance. My family settled in Montana in the late eighteen-hundreds, when my great-great-great-great grandfather moved his cattle business from Texas.”
“Is your family still in the cattle business?”
“Cattle and horses,” Scott offered. “One of these days I’ll be expected to sit in an office at the ranch and shuffle papers at a desk all day, and stare at speadsheets, but I’m just not ready, yet.”
“Is that what you’re running away from?” Talking to Scott came so naturally. Asking him all these personal questions also kept her mind off her own troubles.
“I suppose.”
There was just enough hesitation in his answer that made it seem as if there was more to it than that. Amber adjusted her back against the tree trunk. Her limbs and muscles ached from the uncomfortable buckboard ride she’d endured. Tonight wouldn’t be any easier.
The ground wasn’t exactly comfortable, and neither was leaning against the tree. Scott would probably let her lean against him if she asked, but she wasn’t going to ask. No doubt he was in as much discomfort as she.
“I guess if you’re related to Vin, there’s a little bit of an outlaw in you, too.”
Amber smiled up at Scott, whose face was impassive. He glanced at her, and something changed in the way he looked at her. It was a fleeting moment, but it caused her pulse to quicken and adrenaline to rush through her limbs, making them feel weak and tingly. She forced her eyes away. She’d been mistaken. The shadows from the fire played on Scott’s face. That look of attraction hadn’t really been there.
Amber mentally shook her head. Scott was easy on the eyes and her first impression of him had clearly been the wrong one. She closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of the wood crackling in the fire. Crickets and other bugs made noise all around them. The steady sounds were soothing on her exhausted mind. A coyote yipped off in the distance. It sounded more like a laugh, as if it was mocking them for the predicament they were in. What would tomorrow bring?
“Rest your head against me, Amber, and try and get some sleep.”
Amber strained to hear. She’d almost been asleep when Scott’s quiet invitation drifted out of the darkness. She complied automatically. His shoulder was much better than the trunk of the tree. If he said anything else, she didn’t hear him as she succumbed to fatigue.
A rough nudge startled her awake. She opened her mouth to protest when a hard hand clamped over her lips. Her eyes flew open, but there was nothing but darkness.
“Quiet,” came the warning close to her ears.
Panic flooded her, sending adrenaline rushing through her limbs. She scrambled to move, to get away from whoever’s hand was over her mouth. Jeb was the most likely source.
“I’ll move my hand as soon as you promise to not make a sound.” A quiet, low whisper in her ear prompted her to freeze. She nodded.
In the next instant, the ropes around her wrists loosened, and she was free.
“He’s letting us go, Amber, but we have to be quiet.” Scott’s voice was close to her other ear. Amber blinked to make sense of what was happening. Her eyes strained to see.
“Take this,” the other voice said, but the words were directed at Scott. “And here is your pack. I made sure most everything was back in it after Jeb dug through it. He didn’t know what most of the things were, anyhow.”
“I appreciate this,” Scott said.
“Can’t do much but cut you loose. I can’t even give you a horse, or the others’ll wake up. Find the river due south of here and it’ll get you back to town.”
A warm hand reached for Amber’s, hauling her up off the ground. She stumbled and fell against Scott. Her legs were stiff and sore, but she gritted her teeth, and held back a groan.
“Thank you,” Sco
tt whispered to their rescuer, then pulled Amber along with him, further into the darkness.
Chapter 8
Scott held tight to Amber’s hand, dragging her along as he made his way through the darkness. It had been a long time since he’d been this fatigued, both in body and mind. Giving in to the tiredness right now would be a dumb thing to do. He liked a good challenge, and this one was sure to test him to his limits. All he had to do was get Amber out of this alive.
They would have to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the outlaws before morning. The likelihood that Jeb might be crazy enough to try and go after them was slim, but it wasn’t worth the risk to find out. Most likely, he’d look for a little while, but give up the chase after a few hours at most. For that reason, it was important that they covered as many miles as they were physically able.
“Do you know where you’re going?” Amber panted next to him, stumbling along over the uneven terrain.
“Not really, but I know we’re putting distance between us and those idiots back there.”
“Why did he let us go? Maybe this is a trick.”
Scott shook his head, even though Amber wouldn’t be able to see him do it in the darkness. He’d wondered the same thing, but it didn’t make sense that Vin Kincaid would set them free only to chase them down again.
“Vin seemed different from those other three. Who knows why he cut us loose? I’m just glad that he did. Now we can figure out how to get back to town, and from there, back home.”
Amber slowed her steps. “Vin Kincaid was the one who freed us?” She sounded surprised.
Scott laughed. “You think Jeb would have done it? Or one of the other two? They’re too scared of Jeb to make a move, unless he tells them what to do.”
“Maybe Vin wonders if you’re related, too, and that’s why he let us go. Just think. It’s not every day you get to meet one of your ancestors.” There was a hint of laughter in her voice.
Scott chuckled. The thought that he had interacted with a family member from the past was a bit creepy. From all accounts, the Kincaids had always been wealthy cattle owners, both in Texas and in Montana. It didn’t make sense that there was a petty thief in the family’s history, but the possibility was certainly there.
“I’ll have to look at the family tree a bit closer when we get home, I suppose.”
Amber stopped completely. Scott turned to face her, even though her outline was barely visible. “You’re confident you’re going to get home?”
Scott took a step closer, but it was still impossible to make out her features. If this had been a trip in the Montana wilderness, he’d feel more confident. Survival in the past was an entirely different scenario. He plastered a smile on his face.
“I am confident we’ll get out of this, and you should be, too.”
She laughed. “Do you even know where we’re going? I can’t see a thing out here, and we’re in the middle of nowhere, in another century.”
Scott reached for her arm. “I’ll have a better lay of the land once the sun comes up. Until then, we need to keep moving.”
“Lay of the land?” Her voice rose suddenly, competing with all the night bugs and little critters that scurried around. She stumbled back and yanked her arm from his grip. “All Vin told you was to find the river. Why couldn’t he tell you exactly where it was? Or why did he drag us as far as he did, and blindfolded, no less. He’s playing a game with us. This is his sick way of killing us without getting blood on his hands.”
“He said to head south, so that’s what we’re doing.” Scott kept his voice even. Amber was understandably afraid. For all her bravado, she’d probably never gone hiking before, much less in the dark.
“How do you know we’re going south? I don’t even know which way is up and down.”
Scott laughed again. He closed the distance between them, his hand lifting to the general area where her face should be. His fingers connected with her cheek, then found her jaw. He tilted her head upward.
“Look up,” he said, close enough to her head to inhale the fragrant remnants of the shampoo she used in her hair. A sudden feeling of protectiveness swept through him. The need to keep Amber safe and get her out of this mess slammed him like a kick to the gut. He took a small step back, but the scent of her hair lingered in his nose.
“Wow. I never realized there were this many stars.”
Amber tilted her head back without any further prompting from him. Scott smiled. He glanced up at the night sky, too. It had never looked brighter, not even when he’d been out in the wilderness, far from any towns. The slight wonder in her voice sounded much better than her usual gloomy tone.
“I’ve heard about using the stars to navigate, but how do you even know what to look for? There are so many up there, it’s just as confusing as stumbling through the darkness.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Scott moved next to Amber. He brought his hand around the back of her head and guided her to point her eyes to the Big Dipper. “Do you see those four stars that make up almost a square, and then the three that create what looks like a handle?”
Amber nodded. “I’ve seen the Big Dipper before.”
“Now look over there,” Scott continued, tilting her head to Ursa Minor. “That’s the Little Dipper. Now draw an imaginary line from the two outer stars on the Big Dipper’s bowl to the Little Dipper’s tail. That’s the North Star, Polaris.”
“I think I see it. I’m still not sure how that helps, or what that can possibly do to get us out of here.”
Scott held his hand to the back of her neck for a few seconds longer than necessary. The tips of his fingers slid along her silky hair to where it hung just above her shoulders. Amber tensed, obviously aware of what he was doing.
What are you doing, Kincaid?
Scott dropped his hand and stepped back from her. What the hell had come over him? He barely even knew this girl, but what he did know should be enough to keep him far away. Instead, she was drawing him in without even being aware of it.
Amber was wary of relationships, that much was clear. Maybe she was gun-shy because her last one had ended badly. Obviously not bad enough that she had ill feelings about Chris. In fact, she talked highly of her ex, whereas she didn’t think too much of him.
Scott shook his head. What was he even thinking? His last relationship had ended on a sour note, too. He was in no hurry to find a new girlfriend, just like he was in no hurry to get home and start facing the real world again.
“Scott? Are you going to answer me, or are we just staring at the stars to pass the time?”
He cleared his throat. “No, there’s definitely a reason why we’re staring at the stars.” To be safe, he took another step away from Amber. “The North Star is the only star in the northern hemisphere that doesn’t change its position relative to the rotation of Earth. Other stars will appear in different locations at different times, but Polaris always shows up in the same spot.”
“Okay, so we have a fixed point in the sky. That still doesn’t help us find the river.”
“No, but it helps us go in the right direction. Lucky for us, the Earth’s northern axis always points at Polaris, which means that when you’re looking at that star, you’re always facing the North Pole.”
Gravel crunched beneath Amber’s feet. She moved closer to Scott, shrinking the distance he’d tried to create between them.
“So, because we know that the river is south, all we have to do is keep Polaris to the back of us.” Amber reached for his arm. She sounded like an enthusiastic schoolgirl who’d just mastered a difficult concept. Scott laughed.
“That’s right. You can navigate in any direction, now that you know where the North Star is.”
“There really isn’t anything you don’t know, is there?” Her voice was too close. Her question was genuine.
Scott eased his arm away from her grip, but took hold of her hand.
“Let’s keep moving. We need to cover a lot mor
e ground before it starts to get light.”
Amber fell in step beside him. She remained quiet as minutes ticked by. Scott adjusted the pack on his shoulders. Without it, he wouldn’t be as optimistic. Vin had handed him a canteen, and hopefully his knife and multi-tool were still in his pack. Those were currently the most important things in his gear. Those, and perhaps his flint that he kept on a small chain along with his keys.
Scott peeled the canteen from his shoulder after they’d walked for more than an hour, as best as he could tell. He stopped, and held it out to Amber.
“Here, take a drink, but not too much. We have to conserve until we know if we can find water when it’s daylight.”
Amber took the canteen, and handed it back seconds later.
“Are we going to run out of water?” Her voice was more subdued than before. She was exhausted, but she hadn’t uttered a word of complaint.
The faint outline of a gray sky lined the horizon to his left. It couldn’t be much longer before sunrise. Hopefully, he’d find somewhere to make some shelter, and then they could rest, and he could look for a water source.
“Can you keep going for a while longer?” Scott focused on her outline. With each minute, the sky lightened a little more.
“I can if you can, but I really think you’d make better progress without me.”
Scott replaced the cork on the canteen and slung it around his shoulder, reached for Amber’s hand, and continued walking. There was no longer a need to hold her, but the feel of her hand in his had been a constant presence throughout the night. Besides, it would help her to keep up with the pace he’d set, which wasn’t as fast as he would have walked on his own. She was right about that, like she was right about a lot of things.
“I could be back in Heartsbridge by now if I didn’t have you along.” He kept his voice light, and hopefully she’d recognize that he was simply teasing. “But when you’re out in the wilderness, you don’t abandon your hiking partner.”
Timeless Bond (Timeless Hearts Book 8) Page 6