Yellowstone Origins: Yellowstone Romance Series, Book 6

by Peggy L Henderson

  “No,” she groaned loudly. If she couldn’t get herself unstuck, at least she could have called Jeffrey, as embarrassing as that would have been, but now her phone was too far out of reach.

  “Riley the klutz strikes again,” she grumbled in frustration. “What else can go wrong today?” She leaned away from the car with her hips, tugging and pulling as hard as she could.

  “Why, when I need my clothes to rip, they don’t?” she called out in exasperation. No matter how hard she pulled, the skirt was stuck and would not budge. It wouldn’t even tear.

  She craned her neck and looked around again, even though the likelihood of someone coming to her rescue at this moment was slim to none. She shook her head, pressed her lips together, and leaned as far away from the car as possible, against her left hip and thigh. She pushed her hands against the car. When that didn't work, she grabbed the skirt with both hands, and pulled. If the material ripped now, she'd fall hard, but it would be a small price to pay to free herself. Riley growled in frustration. The skirt acted like a sling, keeping her pinned to the car.

  Expelling a loud whoosh of air through her mouth, she forced herself to relax. She turned her head and body as much as her skirt would allow, and scanned the area around her again. Still no one in sight. The owners of the few cars here were no doubt at the library for an all-day study session. Why else would they be on campus on the weekend?

  “You’ve got one option left, Riley,” she mumbled.

  Before she allowed herself too much time to think about it, she reached her hands behind her, and unzipped the skirt. She lost her balance when she tried to lift her left leg out of it, and hastily grabbed onto the side of the car. All she needed now was a broken ankle.

  The heel of her shoe caught in the material. Impatiently, she kicked the pump from her foot, and did the same with the other one. Finally, she managed to shimmy fully out of the skirt. She lunged for her keys on the ground, and scurried around to the other side of the car. Her hands trembled when she fumbled to get the key in the lock. Giving the key a quick twist, she unlocked the door and dove onto the passenger seat. She straightened, and leaned back against the seat, sucking in several breaths of air.

  “This has got to be the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done,” she muttered. “Worse than the time you walked through freshly-laid cement in the parking lot at the fast food place.” At least this time, she was alone.

  Riley sat up, and reached across the driver’s seat to unlock the door. Her skirt fluttered to the ground. She leaned over, stretching as far as she could, and grabbed for it. Pulling the door shut, she shimmied back into the clothing. She had to get out of the car and stand in order to tuck her blouse back in and zip the skirt up. Breathing a sigh of relief when it was done, she brushed some strands of hair out of her face that had come loose from her ponytail, and pushed her glasses up her nose.

  After scurrying around the other side of the car, she kneeled to the ground and snatched up her phone, mirror, and all the other little things that had fallen from her purse a few minutes ago. When she picked up the last nickel, she glanced up briefly, and let out a startled squeak. She stumbled to her feet, grabbing hold of her car’s side mirror to catch her balance. She looked again to where a second ago, the figure of a man – an old Native American-looking man – had stood by one of the other cars. Riley blinked. Her heart hammered in her chest. She stared at the spot again. There was no one there. On shaky legs, she stepped into her shoes, and clutched her purse firmly in her hands.

  “You’re really losing your mind, Riley,” she whispered. Maybe tonight she needed to go to bed early for a change, and try for a solid eight hours of sleep.

  * * *

  “You finally decided to show up.”

  Jeffrey Callahan greeted her with a wide smile when Riley walked into the lab.

  She frowned, and waved him off. “You don’t want to know what kind of morning I’ve had,” she grumbled, tossing her purse on one of the long lab tables.

  Jeffrey didn’t seem perturbed. He held out a steaming styrofoam cup to her, the delicious smell of coffee drifting to her nose.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled, and took a sip.

  Guilt nagged at her. Jeffrey knew she liked coffee, and he’d apparently gone to the trouble to have some ready for her. He was a nice guy, but she just didn’t feel any sparks or stirrings for him. Maybe she should give him a chance, and at least go to dinner with him if he asked again. Maybe there was a chance for something to develop. They shared the same interests, after all.

  “How was your little field trip? Did you find out what you wanted to know?”

  Jeffrey followed close at her side when she headed for the cardboard box sitting on the table at the far end of the room. Most likely it contained the items and artifacts that had been dropped off.

  “No, it was a dead end,” she said listlessly, setting her coffee on the table. She opened the box, and peered inside.

  “I would have gone with you,” Jeffrey continued. “Maybe between the two of us, we could have found the site you were looking for.”

  Riley reached into the box, and pulled out a round little bowl. She held it up, and turned it.

  “I think this is made from steatite.” She ran her finger along the rough edge. “One of the materials found in the Yellowstone area that the Sheepeaters used to make pots and bowls.” Her pulse increased, as it always did when she dove into her research. The idea of holding an artifact that had been used centuries ago by an ancient people was like an adrenaline rush.

  She turned to Jeffrey. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  He smiled indulgently. “I said I would have gone with you to look for that site.”

  Riley laughed. “The park service doesn’t allow access to the sites, even if I did know where they were.”

  “It could have been an adventure,” Jeffrey continued. He stepped closer. “We could have been like the early explorers, venturing into the unknown.”

  “Yes, and get lost in the process.” Riley smiled up at her friend. “Have you ever been camping, or hiking, Jeffrey?”

  He shook his head.

  “We’d lose our way within a hundred yards from our car.”

  Riley turned her attention back to the box to avoid Jeffrey’s puppy dog eyes. She carefully set the stone bowl on the bench, and reached for another item.

  “Might be kind of fun, getting lost together,” Jeffrey said, uncertainty in the tone of his voice.

  Riley pressed her lips together. He was trying to sound assertive, and was probably scared to death to ask her out again. She wasn’t going to encourage him.

  “I wonder who left this here?” she asked, changing the subject. “It’s highly unusual for someone to simply drop off these artifacts without an explanation.”

  “I don’t know.” Jeffrey shrugged. “Professor Allan brought it to me yesterday. He said there was a note on it with your name. It wasn’t sealed, so I took a look inside and knew you’d want to see all this.”

  Riley turned her head again. She’d just reached for an odd-shaped piece of stone. Holding it in her palm, she looked at Jeffrey. “My name?”

  Jeffrey smiled. He reached for her free hand, and took the object from the other. He cleared his throat. “Why do you wear those glasses, Riley? I know you don’t need them.”

  Riley took a step to the side, but she didn’t pull her hand from his. She shook her head slightly. “I guess they make me feel secure. Something I can hide behind.”

  Jeffrey’s forehead wrinkled. “What do you need to feel insecure about? You’re smart, and pretty, and—”

  “And I’m a complete nerd,” Riley finished for him.

  He cocked his head to the side. “Just think of yourself as an intellectual badass.”

  Riley smiled indulgently. “At least I’m a badass at something,” she mumbled.

  Jeffrey’s face sobered, and he stared into her eyes.

  “Brown eyes are really rare for a blonde,�
� he whispered, and leaned a little closer.

  “Everyone in my family has brown eyes, and before you ask, I’m a natural blonde.”

  Riley mentally shook her head. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings. She couldn’t reciprocate what she saw in his gaze. Abruptly, she broke eye contact and nodded at the artifact in Jeffrey’s hand.

  “What is that?” she asked.

  His lips twitched, as if he wanted to say something, then his chest heaved in a resigned sigh. His smile was forced when he looked from her to the object in his hand.

  “Looks like a petrified piece of wood or something,” he said, holding the ancient piece up closer to their faces.

  Riley squinted to get a better look. “It almost reminds me of a snake, but without a body? Maybe an old carving?” she speculated. “Look at those red stones on either side. Those could be eyes, or is my imagination running away with me again?”

  She laughed, acutely aware that Jeffrey hadn’t let go of her hand.

  “I guess it sort of looks like a snakehead,” he said. “Still looks like a petrified piece of wood to me.” He hesitated for a moment, then added, “Riley, can I ask you something?”

  Riley brought her free hand up, and touched a finger to the object. It was hard and solid. She slid her index finger over one of the red stones embedded in it, just as Jeffrey pulled his hand back and dropped the artifact in his lab coat pocket, no doubt to have her undivided attention.

  Instantly, everything in front of her vanished, and her world tilted on its side. She fell to the ground, and called Jeffrey’s name. Blinking, she groaned at the swirls of dizziness in her head.

  Her temples throbbed, but she forced her eyes open. Unfamiliar sounds surrounded her, like the chirping of insects. They seemed to be louder because of the otherwise complete silence all around. She sucked in a quick breath of crisp air that was nothing like the stale smell in the lab.

  “What just happened?” she called. Her eyes widened. She moved to sit up, moisture seeping through the fabric of her skirt where she sat on the ground. Jeffrey groaned somewhere next to her.

  Riley blinked again, and squinted into bright sunlight. She scrambled to stand. The heels of her pumps sank into soft and damp earth.

  “What’s going on? Where are we?” she screeched, trying to stand upright. She fell forward, catching her balance just in time before landing face-first in the marshy grass.

  She sucked in several quick breaths, her head turning as she gazed out on a vast meadow. Snow-capped mountains lined the horizon on one side, and hills covered in a thick blanket of pine trees rose in all directions. Crickets, cicadas and countless other bugs chirped and hissed in the grasses. She took a step forward, but her shoe remained stuck in the dirt.

  “What’s going on, Riley?” Jeffrey moaned, still lying on the ground. “What happened?”

  Riley shook her head, trying to clear her mind and make sense of what was going on. This had to be some sort of dream. Her research, her conversation with the ranger the other day, her bizarre glimpses of an old Native American . . . her mind was playing tricks on her. She’d done too much studying lately, staying up too late, and her brain was going into overdrive.

  The area looked eerily familiar. She’d just driven through here the other day, past those columns of rhyolite that stretched into the sky a short distance away. The Tower Ranger Station should be just up ahead somewhere, but there was no paved road. Stunned, she shook her head again.

  “Nothing is familiar, Riley. Lots of places look the same,” she mumbled.

  That still didn’t explain where she was. How had they simply left the lab at the university?

  Riley’s head snapped to Jeffrey. She glared at him. “What did you put in my coffee?” she shouted in anger.

  Jeffrey stared up at her, a stunned expression on his face. He looked as confused as she was.

  “I didn’t put anything but a teaspoon of sugar in your coffee, the way you like it,” he retorted. He groaned, and stood on shaky legs, wiping his hands on the ends of his white lab coat. He looked at her, then at his surroundings.

  “What’s happening? How did we get here?” Wide-eyed, he stared at her again.

  Riley’s heart beat furiously in her chest. Her mind groped for understanding, but nothing that made sense came into focus.

  “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t know.”

  A cold wave of panic rushed down her spine. Unless she woke up from a dream any moment now, this was real, and somehow she and Jeffrey had been transported from the lab to this meadow. She shook her head. Teleporting from one location to another was impossible. Her academic mind simply wouldn’t accept something so silly, just the way she’d merely joked about time travel with Dan Osborne the other day.

  “Did you have coffee?” she asked, turning to Jeffrey. He nodded.

  “Since we’re both experiencing this, maybe someone slipped something into the coffee, some hallucinogenic drug.” Riley spoke out loud to rationalize what was happening, even if it still didn’t make sense. “We should just sit and wait for the effects to wear off.”

  Jeffrey nodded again. “I hope you’re right, and this is simply in our heads.”

  Riley glared at her lab partner. “What are you seeing, Jeffrey? Where are you?”

  He glanced around. “We’re standing in an open meadow. There’s forest everywhere, and hills, and over to the left is a mountain range with snow. Looks like many of the places in Montana.”

  Riley nodded absently. If this was the effect of some mind-altering drug, what were the chances of her and Jeffrey experiencing the same things? Seeing the same things? It made a tiny bit of sense to her that her mind would take her to the place from where she'd just come, but Jeffrey hadn't ever been to Yellowstone. He was right that many places in Montana looked like this, but the meadow and the columns of rocks held a certain familiarity like she'd just driven through this area yesterday. The air smelled different, too. Clean, crisp, and pristine. The fragrance of the grass, the earth, and the pines in the distance, seemed almost amplified.

  Without warning, Jeffrey grabbed her arm. Riley took a startled step to the side, and squealed. Her other shoe stuck in the marsh, and damp earth oozed between her toes.

  “Someone’s coming,” Jeffrey whispered, and pointed into the distance.

  Riley squinted. Jeffrey was right. A group of seven or eight people emerged from the tree line, moving in their direction. Slowly, she reached for her glasses, and pulled them down her nose.

  “What the heck,” she whispered. Her hallucinations were becoming more outlandish by the second. Unless her eyes were failing, the group of dark-haired men looked like they wore feathers in their hair, and dressed in primitive buckskin leggings and breechcloths. A few wore shirts, the rest were bare-chested. All of them carried bows or lances, and wore quivers of arrows on their backs.

  “This can’t be good,” she whispered.

  Next to her, Jeffrey stood straighter, and began to wave his arm in the air. “Hey! Over here,” he called loudly.

  Riley tensed. She cursed out loud. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “They can help us get back to the university,” Jeffrey said, smiling.

  “Are you crazy?” she hissed. “We still don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

  “We need help, Riley. Probably best to get to urgent care and have some blood tests run to see what’s in our system.”

  Riley frowned. Maybe he was right. Her eyes followed the movement of the men coming toward them. Their pace had increased. Some looked to have their bows drawn. She shook her head from side to side. Something was seriously wrong here, and her fight or flight response kicked into high gear.

  Chapter Three

  Cameahwait raised himself slowly from a crouched position and stepped out from behind the tree into the clearing. He held his bow in his left hand with a sure grip, the shaft of the arrow held in place between his left index and middle finger, notched and ready. He nudg
ed with his chin, and raised his right hand, pointing with two fingers in front of his eyes. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that Matunaaga was right behind him and had understood. If his shot failed, Mat would be ready.

  He moved further into the open, and waited, his eyes focused on his target. He raised his bow, drew the sinew string back slowly to its full extension, aimed, and released. His arrow flew straight and true and found its mark. Cam sprinted from the trees, and ran across the clearing, his hand wrapped firmly around the bow's grip. He reached his right hand over his shoulder, pulling another arrow from the quiver on his back, and strung his bow again.

  Cam slowed as he approached the buck his arrow had brought down. The animal lay still, a clean shot through the heart. Had he missed, and only wounded the deer, he would have ended the creature’s suffering quickly.

  Cam released the tension in his bow. He dropped to one knee, and placed his hand over the buck’s heart, giving silent thanks to the deer’s earth spirit for its sacrifice, and to the sky spirits for a successful hunt. He raised a fleeting glance at his companion. Wordlessly, he handed Mat his weapon, then dressed the deer with his knife, tossing the entrails aside. He heaved the carcass off the ground and slung it over his bare shoulders behind his head. Standing up, Cam adjusted the buck to distribute its weight more evenly across his upper back and neck, then led the way across the meadow.

  A shallow stream cut through the tall grasses. Off in the distance, a small band of perhaps a hundred bison grazed the lush meadow. A group of Pronghorn kept close to the lumbering beasts, using the massive creatures to guard them against predators. Cam splashed through the stream, the cool water seeping into his moccasins. The day had been unusually warm, and he’d stripped to all but his loincloth and leggings for this hunt.

  Silently, he and his companion headed in the direction of the mountains in the distance. No words were needed between him and Mat. They’d hunted as a team since they’d been brought together as young boys. Mat was like a brother to him. They understood each other, knew each other’s thoughts before they spoke them, and Cam wouldn’t hesitate to lay his life down for his friend.